Chapter 129 – Episode 129. Battle of the Strongest (2)
Archen’s escort knight, Darkan, the war god’s priestess, Verdia.
Shrine Melia, who belonged to the warrior party that attacked the demon 1 century ago. Brukenstein, the essence of witchcraft, inherited the vision created by alchemists over the centuries…
And Bardos, who showed a near-perfect success rate as an adventurer in the past, and finally rose to the top of the top 10 with the title of ‘solver’.
Even with that reputation alone, he could attract a lot of wealth and prestige in the sunny world, but Bardos gave up his life in the sunny world and chose to turn into a solver in the dark.
The reason is simple. Because he didn’t want to take on the responsibilities that came with his fame.
It was an adventurer’s life that he wanted to lead a free life, but is it reasonable to force him to take responsibility for giving his life on the battlefield just because his strength and ability have been proven?
Of course, there was no paradise in the place where I ran away from such a troublesome place, but at least here, if I proved my strength, I could live without any responsibility.
Such freedom made Bardos feel comfortable.
It’s so comfortable that it feels like inflammation.
‘Still, I knew it would happen one day, but I never thought the day would come when the Archmage would come to kill me himself.’
Is there anything strange about touching the hero who belonged to the party?
Bardos, who made fun of his own situation, smiled and looked down at his men spread out on the floor.
It was a group made up of people who could be used in the shadows, but all of them were incapacitated by a single magic shot by a wizard.
I don’t know if I’m out of breath, but it’s a good thing. After all, for him, the organization was just a good excuse to receive a request.
‘Anyway, people can gather together, and organizations can start all over again.’
It’s a pity that I have to spend most of the money I earn, but considering my abilities, that’s only a matter of time.
So what he should be concerned with is now, not later.
How to overcome the present to face the future.
“How have you been tracking this far?”
“Agari.”
-Bang!!!
The side wall explodes as soon as you open your mouth.
The shabby building collapsed helplessly under the lightning-like attack from her hands.
No, it was definitely lightning.
Just one flick of a finger.
That was all the moves the archmage made to create lightning.
“Shut that mouth. I didn’t come all the way here to ask you questions.”
“… Hey, the right to ask questions belongs to you alone.”
Bardos laughed bitterly, removed the cigarette from his mouth, and spewed out blue smoke.
Yumir’s face began to contort violently, as if he felt her nerves being scratched even by such a relaxed look.
It is natural.
I don’t know how he tracked himself, who was so good at erasing traces, but whatever it is, he won’t be able to forgive himself once he’s reached this point.
“Still, I haven’t heard the answer yet, so I’ll have to open my mouth, but from now on, you’d better try to save at least the strength to open your mouth.”
-Pazu means!
The concentration of mana was growing thicker as if in response to those emotions. A high-output plasma generated by that physical force.
However, unlike Mana, who runs wild, she doesn’t show a single wavering in her eyes glaring at her.
“Unfortunately, I am a person who does not know how to control my strength. By the time you beg for your life, your whole body might have been burned, so take care of yourself.”
Mana is energy that responds to a person’s will.
As if to prove that an emotional person can never use magic skillfully, a terrifying torrent of lightning was raging behind them.
Not all of it to destroy her, but purely to incinerate her target.
– The Quagga River!!
A whirlwind of thunderbolts formed like that began to sweep the area.
Everything in contact was burned and ground, and fragments began to erupt violently from the point where the lightning that extended indiscriminately from it crashed.
“…What a crazy bitch.”
An act of destruction to the extent that such words would come out.
Bardos, who was avoiding the lightning and fragments, took a deep breath and focused his attention on Ymir who used the magic.
Usually, when it comes to wizards, their actions are stopped for a while due to the recoil after using big magic.
She took advantage of that gap and tried to throw her memorized words, but even at this moment, her gaze was directed precisely at herself, as if she had forgotten to even catch her breath.
-Quaaaaa!!
A wave of flames surged up with the flick of the fingers that followed immediately after.
The moment it stretched out to cover the entire surface, Bardos broke through the confinement of flame, drawing mana into his body.
An attack focused only on range. If you have the ability to withstand the heat, you can survive for a while.
‘If we approach after breaking through here… !’
Yes, originally, it should have burrowed into his bosom in that state.
– Damn it!
At that moment, the two feet faltered on the frozen floor.
As soon as he stepped back to avoid the awl that surged up behind him, the fragments behind him began to coalesce and form a giant hand.
As if she was pressing herself in that state.
-Kwagang!!
Bardos’ body was struck by a spear of thunder that approached from her side, scaring her to dodge the attack.
Right after the electric current splattered on her arm, which was guarded by her mana, Bardos’s eyes widened as he confirmed the damage.
“… Heh heh, this is true.”
She had bruises and burns on her arms, even though she brushed them off as best she could. It doesn’t affect her movement, but she inflicted this kind of injury on none other than herself.
When I first met her, she taught me that it is not wrong to think that ‘she is the one who can kill herself’.
‘The youngest archmage… I have the ability to rise to that level. That’s it.’
Each and every magic I’ve used so far is high-grade killing magic. With that level of magic, she was pushing herself by linking up again and again as if dealing with her basic magic.
Without a hint of tiredness, while maintaining those bloody eyes.
If the target was an army rather than an individual, he would have had to be prepared to be half-destroyed with the attacks he had so far.
“… Wizards have a problem with this. Looking at the book, he doesn’t know how much trouble his actions are causing to those around him.”
However, no matter how little people choose a place to infiltrate, it is definitely in the middle of the city.
Wouldn’t scorched earth in this way not only attract attention, but also harm civilians?
“Isn’t that what a kidnapper bastard would say?”
“It doesn’t.”
What advice do you give to my subject?
After a self-deprecating laugh, Bardos hid himself in the darkness of the building again and began scattering potential weapons into the air under the hood he was wearing.
– Whiririk!
Mana’s childish memorization dances with the strewn wires in the darkness, and it all begins to trickle towards Ymir.
A flash of light that traces its trajectory while reflecting the flames burning around it.
For an ordinary magician, it was a surprise attack to the point of being pierced through the body before being aware of it. Even if he was guarded, if he had little mana by memorization, he would easily rip off the mana shield.
– Kkakkang!
However, as if ignoring such common sense, the memorizations she had blown were so absurdly blocked in front of her.
At some point, by the translucent curtain that surrounds her.
-Pazu means!
And the spark that bounces again is beyond the mana shield.
As soon as the storm of lightning and flames attacked him again, Bardos, who was dodging the attack and cutting through the ruins, glared at the veil surrounding Ymir and exhaled deeply.
‘Mana Shield… No, it’s a little different.’
A normal mana shield is a mass of magical power created by combining pure physical force.
Its shape tends to take on the shape of a haze caused by distorted light, but the one in front of me right now doesn’t show that phenomenon at all.
Just as a well-forged Aura Blade takes on the shape of a sword without shaking.
The ‘translucent black curtain’ she deals with also had a crystal-like quality in itself.
‘Oh yeah. Is that it?’
Black crystal.
The nickname she had was triggered by her unique magic, which she showed off in her magic battle that she applied to her own advisor before becoming her archmage.
Making the characteristic of mana that exerts physical force in response to will close to carbon, one of the elements, and transforming it into the most durable form.
The carbon tube (hard carbon) made through it is known to boast the strongest durability among all existing defense magic.
The pseudonym of the black crystal was given to the caster’s body surrounded by it as if it were ‘as if it were imprisoned in a black crystal’.
She was the first and youngest archmage to overcome a mage’s worst weakness: vulnerability to defense.
“The bastard ran away like a rat and fell asleep!”
Yes, it must be because they are protected from magic with such absolute durability that they can unleash magic so boldly.
Once again, Ymir uses the frictional heat of his fingers to ignite the fire.
All of those attacks are less precise, so it’s not difficult to dodge them, but the numbers are increasing.
Firepower is also firepower, but the range and secondary damage caused by the terrain destroyed by that power cannot be ignored.
-Kwagang, kwagang!!
Bardos, who ran across a place that was practically a bombardment area, fired at Ymir, burning the tobacco he was holding in his mouth even more.
“It’s definitely a lady who became a great wizard through magic warfare.”
It is a story known to those in the know that he became a great wizard in order to take revenge on his advisor who humiliated him.
If her freedom to attack is guaranteed, there will be no one within humanity capable of unleashing as great firepower as her, not even within her tenth stronghold.
As far as ‘firepower’ goes.
“But a game is a different game.”
Yes, all of the magic I’ve used so far is only effective when used against troops or large species.
It’s not efficient to shoot at just one person, and there’s no guarantee that it can be dealt with reliably.
-Pupperpung!
The solution is right there.
Bardos, who had narrowed her distance to the line allowed by her, soon began scattering the tools in her arms all around her.
“What is this… Bomb?”
No, it’s just a simple trick.
A smoke grenade that coalesced lumps of ash, solely focused on obscuring the opponent’s vision.
However, if the basis of the opponent’s control is the mana shield, it will be effective.
‘No matter how solid the magic of the carbon tube is, the basis is the mana shield. I’m sure it has defensive abilities, but a shield shouldn’t be considered just to protect itself.’
Before protecting the body, it is also necessary to prepare for the status of the caster.
For example, it allows light to pass through the curtain to free the field of view.
Filter only the air from beyond the veil so that breathing is not a problem.
“Coke!”
Yes, at this moment, the tear gas component present in the smoke is interfering with her breathing.
No matter how much the body can fire bombing magic, magic requires a high degree of concentration and calculation.
If something happens that interferes with your concentration, such as choking your breath, you won’t be able to use your magic properly.
“Don’t be too upset, lady. Because I can’t help it if I want to live.”
Even if he’s a great wizard, it’s the same as being a human who dies if he’s stabbed once in a vital point.
Concerned about the possible counterattack, Bardos soon opened up the distance and began tossing the memorized words at Ymir’s neck.
To slit her neck, unable to gather mana due to distraction.
– Kaang!
But at that moment, a flash of light rushing in from the side struck memorization.
Bardos, who saw the memorization that fell helplessly with a metallic sound, held his breath and looked back at something that blocked the attack.
‘What is that?’
Is it magic
No, it’s not magic.
What fell in the air along with memorization was something elongated. A stick with only a pointed metal stuck at the end was an object commonly referred to as an ‘arrow’.
‘With an arrow…’
Scary to recognize it, Bardos swallowed his breath again.
After that, his gaze slowly began to move in the direction of the arrow’s flight.
Just opposite the slums on the outskirts of the city.
Likewise, the sense of incongruity felt from the bell tower on the border.
‘At that distance, he accurately deflected the memorized words with an arrow?’
– Wedges!
A rush of air followed.
The moment I heard it, I began to feel the string of tension that had been loosened being pulled tight again.
***
… And.
-Good luck!
The sound of pulling a string resounding quietly from the top of the bell tower.
Then the green-haired girl, feeling the quiver of her protest, sighed deeply and reached for her quiver on her own back.
“Whoa.”
Take a deep breath
The girl raised her eyes again to the target, and then, pulling on her string, began aiming again at her target.
For a time beyond a human lifetime in her mouth…
“… Hunt, start.”
She lived as a hunter and put her words into her mouth that she had repeated countless times.
