Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Tarkania's Relic
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Kwaaaaaaang!
Puuuubububung!
"Huh!"
The deafening explosion jolted me back to my senses.
Shwaaaaaak.
At that moment, chunks of stone debris hurtled toward me.
"Shield!"
I shouted the spell instinctively.
'Damn! I have no mana!'
Even as I deployed the shield, for a split second I thought my mana was gone.
Ziiiiing!
Kwaaaaaang!
".....!!"
But before the incoming debris, a deep blue shield radiated an intense chill.
It deflected a boulder the size of an adult's head and held firm without a scratch.
Whiiing, whiiing.
And from the mana core near my waist, I felt it.
'4th Circle?'
Mana that hadn't been detectable moments ago had recovered up to the 4th Circle.
"Heh heh heh. Get out of the way! How dare a mere guardian like you prance around before the great Tarkania's staff!"
"Let's melt her. Heh heh heh."
"If its master is dead, it should just vanish on its own. But it thinks it's a dragon just because it gobbled up a piece of the dragon heart. Heh heh heh."
'No way! That woman!'
The blonde beauty with the golden eyes that had once driven me wild like a crazed stallion.
She hovered in the air above the massive stone building, radiating murderous intent.
And at the center of the building she glared at.
'Kid!'
The unawakened Dragornia Rokoroia kid trembled before the black mages.
In the kid's hand was a one-meter black mana staff.
From the crystal orb the size of a child's head poured an immense negative-dimensional mana, and the space around it swirled madly with distorted mana flows.
'Those bastards!'
And then I saw them.
Three black beasts standing behind the kid, grinning wickedly.
Not even liches, yet their gaunt faces peeked from under tattered robes, cheekbones protruding from shriveled flesh.
"Rokoroia, what are you doing? Kill that guardian already. With Tarkania's magic staff in your hand, you can incinerate that wench in one go. Command it now, my sweet little baby....."
A voice that sent chills down the spine, seductive from the skeletal black mage's elongated skull.
"Ugh....."
The kid, stripped bare from the waist up, grimaced in agony as if resisting the mage's words.
It looked like a desperate struggle against some force.
"Heh heh heh. Give up. You think you can break free from the Tears of Binding without even awakening? Obey us like always. That's a good child."
The bony hand of the black mage stroked the kid's pale upper body, coaxing and soothing.
It was revolting.
The filthy actions of those who had forsaken their humanity churned up bile in my stomach.
"You've done well. Guardian, you've toiled for millennia safeguarding Tarkania's relic. Now rest in peace. Consider it an honor to die by the staff of your creator, Tarkania. Heh heh heh."
The black mages mocked the golden-eyed woman trembling with rage.
But the woman called the guardian said nothing, just floating in the air.
She probably couldn't approach or attack Tarkania's relic.
Srrk.
At that moment, the guardian woman, who had been glaring murderously at the black mages, turned her gaze to me.
'Hmm.....'
It was all sorrow.
Her golden eyes, once devoid of emotion, now overflowed with raw feeling—pure sorrow.
A profound, heart-wrenching grief that stabbed at my chest just to witness.
"Huh!"
"You! How are you here!!!!"
Only now did the black mages notice me.
"Oh? Do you all know me? I'm meeting you skullheads for the first time."
I played it cool, taunting the black mages.
"You bastard! Do you even know where this is!"
"So where is this place that you're all freaking out? Coffin-dwellers who'll get cursed for having no flesh for the ants to eat."
One of the most infuriating things in the world is dealing with someone grinning while cursing you out.
Already destructive and impulsive from black magic's influence, the black mages fell for my provocation hook, line, and sinker.
"Die! Dark Spear!"
"Blade Fire!"
And they unleashed black magic straight at me.
'5th Circle mages!'
I provoked them to gauge their spellcasting ability.
Though I only had 4th Circle mana now, having wielded near-7th Circle mana recently, I could assess their level from their chants and the surrounding mana reactions.
Piiiing!
Shuuuung!
But knowing it didn't solve the next problem.
Black magic infused with its tyrannical mana charged at me to tear me apart.
"Hyaah!!!!"
For knights, mana quantity and speed are proportional.
Thanks to my superior athleticism and Master's grueling training that kept me alive, I dodged the spells and launched myself away.
Puuuuk!
Pubububububung!
The black magic struck where I'd stood moments ago.
Black sparks and flames erupted, charring a five-meter radius pitch black.
'Argh, so frustrating! These guys are barely a fist's distance away!'
If I'd recovered to 6th Circle mana, they wouldn't stand a chance.
'Huh?'
Surprisingly, even as I breathed, negative-dimensional mana was accumulating in my body.
Whiiing, whiiing, whiiing.
'Just a bit more like this... 5th Circle!'
Thanks to that staff called Tarkania's, negative-dimensional mana filled the building.
All I needed now was time.
"Hold on, fellas! Hear me out before you kill me!"
As I dodged, all three prepared to bombard me again.
5th Circle black magic, no less.
Too powerful for me to evade right now.
"Heh, the dead man talks a lot."
"If you kill me, you'll be in danger too!"
"What a joker. With the Staff of Despair of the great black mage Tarkania, who reached 9th Circle, in our hands, no one in the world can touch us. Heh heh heh."
'W-what? 9th Circle black mage!!!!!!'
I'd heard tales of dogs eating grass.
But a human reaching 9th Circle magic—black magic, no less? Never in my life.
Even Idal, the golden-eyed reaper called the strongest mage in human history, my Master, hadn't broken past 8th Circle.
The shock hit hard even amid the danger.
'Human limits aren't 8th Circle, huh.....'
Master had once said it.
To fulfill his dream of 9th Circle that he couldn't achieve.
"The golden-eyed reaper Idal is my Master! And he might warp here any moment!!!!!"
I name-dropped Master while thrusting my left arm high.
The dimensional transfer bracelet from Master Idal, which I'd never revealed to anyone.
Any mage would recognize it.
"Gasp! The golden-eyed reaper Idal!"
"Ugh... That bastard's still alive!!!"
The black mages bit perfectly.
Their pitch-black faces turned to shit-brown at Idal's name.
Even with a 9th Circle mage's relic, they couldn't jump straight to 9th Circle.
Moreover, Master had the worst infamy among mages.
He'd told me himself.
Black mages, who boosted their power with filthy deeds, were the top scum among mages, and he'd personally fireballed hundreds of them locked underground.
I hadn't believed it then, but coming to the continent proved every word true.
"N-no way! Idal died to the continent's magic tower alliance attack."
"Come on, you really believe that? Master told me they begged on their knees to stay quiet, and he was just laying low to train for 9th Circle."
"9th... 9th Circle!!"
At "9th Circle," their shit-brown faces turned ashen gray.
How viciously had he ravaged the continent for black mages—the infamous villains—to cower like this?
"And this bracelet proves I'm his disciple. Just recently, he poured all the world's magical wisdom into it and gave it to me."
Whiiiiiing.
I couldn't activate it, but I could feed it mana to make it glow.
"Grgh....."
"Idal....."
From the black mages' rapidly changing expressions, my stalling had succeeded.
'Master, thank you!'
Master's gracious gift, discarded as useless till now.
Finally shining bright after so long.
"Raaagh! Kill him! Rokoroia! Kill that bastard!"
"Master's enemy! The one who burned our senior brothers! Kill him now!!!!!"
"You too, taste it! The savory flavor of burning to death!!!!!!!!"
"Kuh!"
An unexpected twist.
The black mages, unafraid of Idal, lashed out in frenzy.
Paaat!
Purple radiance burst from the kid's eyes, who had resisted their commands until now.
"Luparaia!"
The kid pointed Tarkania's Staff of Despair at me and uttered the activation word.
Chwaaaaaak!
'Gasp!'
In that instant, I saw it.
A net of darkness unfurling toward me.
"Uh....."
No place to dodge, and my body wouldn't move.
Overwhelming magic power bore down on me.
Like an orc before an ogre, my soul and body froze in terror from the mana's dread.
All I could do was watch with wide eyes as the darkness swallowed me.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
In that moment, faces flashed by.
Artemis praying for me daily without fail, the elf Narmias singing pure love songs, my loyal right-hand Derbal and the knights, and my parents and Master.....
That saying about your life flashing before your eyes like a lantern show at death.
'Ah.....'
A final sigh I couldn't voice.
The last cry of life, yearning to exhale freely.
Puuuuk!
The sound of flesh shattering echoed in my ears.
"Guh....."
And the groan of pain escaped.
".....!!!!!!"
But there was no pain, and my lips hadn't groaned.
My eyes snapped open.
"Gasp!!!"
A startled breath burst out.
'G-Guardian!'
When had she flown to my side?
The guardian blocked the inescapable net of darkness with her own body.
Her golden eyes quivered.
She couldn't speak, but her eyes pleaded endlessly.
Help the kid over there.
Kill the evil black mages.
Protect her sacred land—the nameless guardian.
Whiiiiiing.
At the same time, a thrilling response from my mana core.
5th Circle mana recovered.
No—expanded beyond other mages', nearing 6th Circle in my mana core.
Srrrrk.
She was melting away.
The guardian's body dissolved like rock in lava under the massive dark net.
"Raaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
My roar of fury exploded.
Paat!
Mana blazed from my body like an active volcano.
I was laughing.
The guardian, who sacrificed her life for me without hesitation, smiled with her golden eyes.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
"Raaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
".....?"
A 9th Circle spell no one could dodge.
Even unawakened, the Dragornia Rokoroia could wield it.
Under the Tears of Binding's control, Rokoroia yielded to the black mages' rage and unleashed the staff's dormant power of darkness.
But something unforeseen happened.
Tarkania's guardian, who seemed powerless, shielded Neruman's lord and Idal's disciple with her body.
Stunned by the guardian's unexpected act, the black mages faltered.
The chilling roar snapped them alert.
Paat.
"Ugh!"
And they saw it.
Pitch-black eyes blazing as it charged at them.
Their bodies wouldn't move.
Rokoroia, collapsed after unleashing overwhelming power, was unusable.
They needed to blast it with magic, but the black mages' souls fled in the face of killing intent they'd never felt before.
Puk!
"Krraaak!"
Kwaduk!
"Uaaaak!"
Kwak!
"Guh!"
The bastard's savage fists and feet pummeled the black mages' frail bodies.
The face struck by a fist caved in halfway, the waist kicked bent in a V-shape and snapped, and the last, hit in the back by an elbow, had its spine crumble.
Black mages' bodies, neglected for magic training.
Worse, degraded by black magic's side effects, they faced death from a soul strike infused with mana-fueled rage.
Kkodadang.
The black mages' worm-like bodies hit the floor.
"Tell the depths of hell... Kaier sent me."
A cold voice reached the black mages as their minds faded.
"Fire!"
Followed by the spell chant.
Hwaruru.
Warmth spread through their bodies.
Had they stayed conscious, excruciating pain would have followed, but shock-blocked nerves spared them.
They burned brightly in the magical flames.
Without unleashing their dark desires, leaving only pathetic regrets in their exposed-bone flesh.....
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
".....!"
Gone.
The nameless guardian who had shielded me and melted away.
Nothing remained where she had been.
As if nothing had ever existed.
Hwaruru.
The black mages' scrawny bodies burned readily in the magical flames, flesh or not.
They should thank the gods for dying before committing more sins in life.
"Umm..... Aaaah....."
Then, a woman's pained cry from my feet.
'Mana poisoning!'
The girl called Rokoroia trembled, clutching the Staff of Despair that wouldn't release from her hand.
The price of wielding unmanageable negative-dimensional mana.
Left like this, her body would burst from the mana.
Whiiiiiing.
The Staff of Despair emanated vast negative-dimensional mana.
The cursed staff of a 9th Circle black mage tempted me.
Take it, become one with me.
Swik.
I reached out my right hand and grasped the staff.
My left hand cradled the smooth body of the girl called Rokoroia.
Magical knowledge surfaced in my mind.
The best way to save a mana-poisoned mage was to share mana mutually.
Best done mouth-to-mouth, where bodies breathed.
Zizzizizik.
A searing sensation in my right hand.
"Hup!"
The smooth skin of the writhing girl in my arms, and the moist lips on mine.
Her smooth tongue, desperate for survival, pried my lips open and invaded.
Gulp.
And unwittingly, thick tears flowed.
Another day vanished just like that.
If asked who gave their all, I'd say.
I loved today...
To the point of death.....
TO BE CONTINUED