Chapter 549 - Venting (3)
Virente's Magic Association.
In the assembly hall, where different spells clashed and turned the place into chaos, a death rattle that seemed about to snap at any moment brushed against their ears.
Thud.
Gotric, ambassador of Bohemirn magic tower, collapsed with a dagger piercing through his throat.
A broken, dislocated cervical spine.
The pool of blood that spread across the cold floor quickly grew larger.
"Ambassador, Gotric."
The ambassadors of Helion magic tower and Ostea magic tower swallowed their saliva.
Cold sweat ran down their backs at the thought that they, too, might be executed like that.
Whoosh.
Right after, light flowed into the bracelet Grave was wearing.
The communication device had connected.
Without even the need to send a voice, by itself it was the signal that Maron had been dealt with in the High District and Lucard Maniacs had been captured.
'Time to retreat.'
And just at that moment, he sensed two presences of immense magic power, approaching the Association from the southern part of the magic city.
"Oh!"
"This magic power!"
Recognizing their identities, the Association's advisors brightened.
Crack.
After making sure Gotric was dead, Grave jerked his chin back.
"The objective has been achieved, we withdraw."
The mages of Black Hour leapt out the shattered window and cast
They only exhaled in relief, thankful just to have survived.
Boom!
The heat of
The Association's mages, who had hastily halted their flight, each protected themselves with barriers of elemental attributes they had mastered.
Hooohk.
At the front, Grave darted rapidly through the buildings.
One by one, Black Hour mages who had been stalling the Association's forces from gathering at the designated position joined up.
"Any deserters?"
"None."
Naturally so.
Black Hour──the elite unit selected from among the Transcendents.
No matter how unfavorable the terrain or the numbers, they were not weaklings who could be easily subdued by Association mages who had never even experienced a proper slaughter.
Thus, after escaping the Magic Association, they halted above the city center nearby.
For two magi, each exuding a grim and oppressive aura, blocked their way.
"You, Black Hour...! I wondered why things were quiet lately, and it turns out you attack the Magic Association in Virente, not even the front line?! Have you gone utterly mad?!"
The Association president, whose home ground had suddenly been violated, shouted in fury.
"..."
The Ostea tower master remained silent, gaze fixed.
Grave spoke.
"It's the bastard who let in the dogs of the Tower Alliance that's at fault. If it were up to me, I'd raze Virente to the ground... but today we only came as a warning, so we'll be on our way."
"Who said you could leave!!"
From the Association president's mana circuits, blue magic surged fiercely. His rank was upper 6th circle, and his mana reserves were outstanding.
A being close to the apex of mages.
If he linked up with the Ostea tower master, Black Hour under Grave's lead would be halted and bogged down.
And when the Association's reinforcements arrived, they would be captured or killed.
Naturally this had been considered.
It was part of the plan from the start.
"No, you won't be able to help but let us go."
"What?"
The time had come.
Tick.
Grave flicked his finger.
From the palm he had kept concealed, a small sound was heard.
An artificial artifact, [Linder's Pocket Watch].
The legacy of Linder, one of the first members, who created it, capable of accelerating or slowing the activation of a magic circle connected to it that was being delayed by magic stones.
One of Black Hour's field reports on its usefulness.
The watch's hand rotated sixty degrees, accelerating the activation of distant magic circles.
Dozens of magic circles, secretly planted throughout the city before infiltrating the Association, reacted in succession.
Kwaaang! Kwagwang! Ku-goong──kwagwagwagwagwagwang!
Flames spread with explosions, centered on large buildings.
Collapsed debris settled onto the streets.
The citizens had long since fled to safe zones, so there were no casualties, but crowds still remained in the square.
"What are you, no, stop!!!"
From inside the massive clock tower erected in the square's center, a shockwave burst.
Despite the president's urgent voice, it didn't stop, and the nearly split structure was pulled down by gravity.
When it struck the ground, at least hundreds of casualties would occur.
Whoosh.
The Ostea tower master moved.
Unleashed his special magic.
From the tower master beneath the clock tower, condensed magic surged, forming a dome-shaped barrier that encompassed the entire square.
Boom!
Though staggered for a moment under the enormous weight of the clock tower, the Ostea tower master focused further.
To minimize damage to the citizens and the magic city, he forcefully pushed it toward an empty lot.
"Ooohhh!!! Well done! Ostea tower master! Then I shall take care of these madmen..."
"It's not over yet."
Grave Rudworth smirked under his hood.
"Do you think we're the only ones who attacked the city?"
Kwaaaang!
This time commotion arose far away, in the High District. The residential area where the upper class was concentrated.
A very important place, where most of the foreign dignitaries stayed. If anything happened, it could become an international issue.
"To hold the city and its people hostage, you vile, filthy, cowardly...!! Tell me at once! Just how many of you are there!"
"Scatter."
The twenty-five members of Black Hour split into exactly five groups. The Association president ground his teeth as he moved to pursue Grave.
Do they capture even part of Black Hour, or do they secure the High District.
The decision was swift.
"President!"
"Go to the High District! Now!"
He commanded the mages who had come late as reinforcements.
While they rushed off to defend the High District, where no one was present, the first group slipped through the prepared emergency exit into the underground to regroup.
"Lucard?"
"Here."
Adrian, who had arrived first at the meeting place, showed the blue cube, [Arkeo].
Inside the sealing-type artifact, borrowed from Verden, was Lucard Maniacs, beaten half to death and unconscious.
On top of that, he had layered three more external seals using the magic item lent by the Ostea tower master, sealing inside and out.
It was to prevent any possible forced magic circle tracking.
"Successful."
Thus the first group made their way through the sewers, out of Virente's domain.
[Bohemirn magic tower's ambassador Gotric and Lucard's escort, Maron, killed. Lucard Maniacs secured. First group. Mission complete, my lord.]
***
[──First group. Mission complete, my lord.]
From Virente, the message was relayed through the central signal device, reaching the communication tool.
Well done.
So Verden replied, then looked down below.
"Keuk, krk, rgk."
Kullus, his throat crushed, gasped desperately, resisting violently. He wished at least to grab an ankle, but he could not.
For only his head and torso remained.
Verden's Destruction annihilated essence, and Dahit's Annihilation erased things.
Thus the magic of Ruin was the natural enemy of regeneration.
Even Isabella, with her monstrous regenerative power, after taking a Lysandro fruit potion, needed considerable time to restore the arm that had been erased without even ashes remaining.
Naturally that concept applied to the transplant of Gluttony as well.
"No, don't."
Crack!
Verden pulled out the Red Fragment in Kullus's chest. Overflowing vitality. The same thing he had seen in the Principality of Riviant.
With the source of regeneration gone, Kullus was gradually engulfed in black flames, unable to exist further, and was completely annihilated.
The Red Fragment was stored in subspace.
"Now only three remain."
In less than a few minutes since the battle began, the 6th-circle-level Kullus was dead.
Even if he hadn't pioneered a magus path, the disparity was overwhelming.
Hiram gripped his staff with both hands.
"Stop him no matter what!"
Abram and Enette focused their mana and qi as they charged. Verden, cloaked in annihilation, collided head-on.
Boom! Boom! Kwaaaang!
The exchange, beginning from the lowest floor, shook the entire underground laboratory.
From the rear, fire-type spells blasted indiscriminately across the range. By the effect of [Essence of Wood Flame], the heat stacked, and the extreme of high temperature gradually rose.
Whether Test Subject 70 and 108 were caught in the blaze or not, Hiram did not stop his magical calculations. The power of an elder who had not awakened a magus path.
Yet the more he did so, the deeper his dismay grew.
For the movements of the intruder who had introduced himself as Test Subject 77... were far too identical to those of Dahit we he remembered.
'Impossible.'
Natural intelligences each possess their own individuality and originality, an intrinsic temperament that cannot be encroached upon.
Thus, no two beings in the world are the same.
Even in trivial gestures and meaningless steps, countless differences exist, so how could one possibly reproduce another's movements perfectly?
'Then what in the world is that....'
One more doubt remained.
For someone to face Hiram, Test Subject 70, and Test Subject 108 alone, yet contend with ease without so much as a scratch, the realm was limited.
One who had reached the extreme, or a Transcendent.
"...!!"
Hiram was swept away by the wave of annihilation that spread in all directions.
Abram, with a blank expression, used a 6th-circle enhancement spell to raise his resistance while simultaneously wrapping himself in a thick barrier of mana to respond.
As Test Subject 108, who had undergone organ transplantation and carried both another's mana circuits and heart, it was a simultaneous computation he could manage.
Crack.
But perhaps because it was too much to cast, part of his bodily tissue tore away. His abdomen was damaged from the wave that shattered his barrier.
It was then.
Enette, who had endured Ruin with her sword barrier, charged with her blade lowered.
Slaaash!
An upward slash that surged from below.
She linked her movements with her center of gravity, adding speed and power. She wildly unleashed one massive sword aura after another.
Verden instinctively read the trajectory and slipped past them.
Thud!
Enette stomped down hard.
In an instant, she leapt low and spun extremely, bringing her greatsword down.
'Flamboyant swordsmanship.'
Claaang!
The strike that cleaved the air split apart the lowest floor of the laboratory, crushing it as if slicing through.
At once, Verden stomped down on the flat of her blade touching the ground.
He altered the computation midway, shifting attraction to repulsion.
Kwaaaang!
Enette lost her grip on the greatsword. Smashing through several walls, her body battered and wounded, considerable shock piled up.
Yet she ignored it, planting herself again.
'Even though I lessened the force, for her to withstand 7th-circle magic like that. She must have an innately high resistance.'
Then a little more force should not threaten her life.
As Enette rushed in, Verden instantly closed the distance.
Three exchanges.
Enette rolled across the floor, curling up as she fell.
At that moment, from behind Verden, mana concentrated densely, crimson light bursting forth, illuminating the darkness in splendor.
"Haaahhh!"
Hiram had finished his computation.
Quadra Casting.
Kwagwagwagwagwagwang!
From the staff wreathed in flame──the artifact──a rain of extreme heat poured down. A destructive force that could annihilate an entire town.
The radiating fire devastated the front all the more.
Beside him, Abram ignored his wounds and cast
Heavy masses poured like a rainstorm, tearing the ground into a wasteland.
'Now!'
Just as Elder Hiram sensed the chance to escape.
A black meteor formed in the air, fell, and exploded. Hiram plummeted, dropping [Essence of Wood Flame].
Exposed directly to the annihilating heat, a deep groan spilled from his lips.
"Ghhhuuhh…!"
"To think you believed you could distract me with just that. Your judgment has grown so dull compared to when you conducted the unofficial experiments."
Fwoosh.
At Verden's gesture, all the nearby flames extinguished.
"..."
Abram, as if determined to protect his master, imbued Enette's sword lying on the floor with layers of enchantments.
The blade, with penetration raised to the extreme, was launched with
There was no need to even dodge.
Verden clasped his hands toward Abram.
───!
A jet-black flash pierced straight through.
The light that deflected the sword penetrated Abram's heart in one stroke. His mana dispersed. Ruin, ignited from within, soon engulfed his whole body.
"Ah… ah…."
Test Subject 108 let out a grotesque moan, falling to his knees.
Rest in peace.
Abram, or rather the doll that wore Abram's shell, closed his eyelids. He entered a deep sleep that no one would ever wake him from.
Ssshh.
Verden turned his back.
A shadow approached.
Hiram, half his will to resist gone, stumbled backward until he struck the wall.
"Y, you, who are you... How can you use the magic of Dark Moon and unique spells? You cannot be Dahit himself…! A, and a Transcendent besides. How could a Transcendent be with Bohemirn magic tower...!!"
"Well, in your eyes, who do I look like?"
Hiram, meeting those heterochromatic eyes, swallowed hard.
"No way, truly Test Subject 77…?"
"At last you recognize me. In that sense, let's greet again. It's been a while, Hiram."
Verden grasped Hiram's wrist.
"By the way, I did tell you, not to give up so easily."
Black flames flickered.
Before he could resist, his right arm burned black below the shoulder.
"Gwaaaahhhhhh!"
Hiram collapsed, screaming.
Slish!
In that instant, killing intent brushed his throat.
Enette, having retrieved her greatsword, slid across the floor, drawing her arm in close like a spring, and thrust her blade.
Thuck.
Verden caught the blade.
[Calamity of Manifestation].
The flames condensed in his gauntlet devoured the sword aura.
Verden gently cupped Enette's forehead with one hand.
"Rest."
Thud!
The internal shockwave of pure mana spread from crown to toes. Her whole nervous system paralyzed, she fell to her knees.
Even so, she remained conscious.
Had her mind been fully intact, he might have expected much from her, but either way, pushing her further here would only result in grave injury.
'In that case.'
Imprison.
He drew a magic circle using ten mid-grade magic stones taken from subspace.
Positioned above the circle, Enette was bound. The same technique he had used on Adrian, brainwashed in the autonomous territory.
The reason he did not immediately dismantle the Coercion was because he needed to examine the structure of the forced magic circle carved into Enette.
"T, to think you can even implement the tower master's unique magic circle...."
Hiram's eyes trembled, then his expression hardened. Though still disbelieving, he glared at Verden.
"...I cannot speak of anything."
"Of course not. The Coercion branded upon you surely carries a powerful restriction that forbids divulging Bohemirn magic tower's secrets."
Verden reached out.
"Then I shall release it."
"What... Gggaaaaahhh!"
Destruction's mana flared, directly interfering with the forced magic circle.
Since Elder Hiram was not a subject of mental brainwashing, there was only one Coercion branded on his body.
Crackle!
He shattered all the central nodes forming the array and then drew the entire thing in, ripping it out completely.
"Now you can speak."
"H, how...."
Writhing in agony, Hiram stiffened as if frozen. His eyes, once filled with pride as a Bohemirn elder, quivered.
That was, unmistakable fear.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere in the east of the Central Continent.
"Hohohot! I have arrived, Lord Rayshen."
Omar Boldrak, elder of Bohemirn magic tower and fervent supporter of Rayshen, arrived at the false meeting place.