Chapter 177
Chapter 177
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.41 – Until My Heart Beats (3)
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- Tyr, you monster in human form! You madman who knows nothing of the human heart and lives only by instinct like a foolish child! I regret it!! Taking a demon like you as my disciple......!
"......Why is this suddenly coming to mind?"
Tyr blinked.
His severe forgetfulness led him to magically 'delete' useless memories as quickly as possible.
Because the emotions they left behind were deemed unnecessary.
Yet now, a memory he was sure he'd deleted resurfaced.
The day he killed his master and became the Lord of the Mage Tower, 400 years ago...
-And the final words his master left behind, no different from a curse.
"Hmm, that's strange...?"
Tyr scratched his cheek.
This was a first for him.
So.
"Time for some research!"
He was thrilled to have a new subject to study.
He'd have to resume his research on the brain.
As Tyr nodded lightly to himself,
thud, thud.
"Is the strategy meeting over now?"
He spotted his two toys approaching.
The resurfaced memory was pushed aside as Tyr focused on the toys, smiling brightly.
He looked forward to how they'd entertain him this time.
"You're not going to swing swords or spears like brutes again, right? Sorry, but I'm bored of that. Try something else."
I'll wait.
Tyr spread his arms wide, inviting them to try anything.
He wasn't just ignoring them—he was outright looking down on them.
They weren't even enemies in his eyes.
More like pitiful, worthless rats.
No knight could endure such an insult without burning with rage.
"-Really? Then swear you'll wait while we prepare."
"...Huh?"
"What, getting cold feet now?"
"N-No, that's not it..."
Even faced with the ultimate insult, they remained unfazed.
Contrary to expectations.
Tyr was a bit flustered, but
"Fine, go ahead! As much as you want!"
His fluster vanished quickly, and he permitted it without hesitation.
Dismissing them as insignificant insects—what could they possibly do?
Arrogant behavior, but he had the power to back it up.
So it wasn't arrogance; it was simply fact.
No matter their method, they couldn't defeat him. The outcome was already set.
Tyr even urged them to try anything.
Hoping they'd entertain him.
"......"
"......"
The two knights showed no reaction to their treatment.
But that was only on the surface—their eyes flickered with fury.
A scorching blaze ready to erupt at any moment.
Whoosh!
Their blazing aura melted the snowfield, turning the blizzard into raindrops.
A miraculous sight born of rage, their body temperatures rising as well.
"Let's begin."
"Got it."
They started what they had to do.
Pfuk!
Kwajik!
...Huh?
Tyr froze, his expression rigid.
He couldn't comprehend the situation at all.
"W-Why are you fighting each other?"
He gasped in shock as the two men suddenly struck one another.
The blue-green-haired knight yanked the spearhead from his own weapon and stabbed the large knight's wing joint, while the burly knight slammed his fist into the blue-green-haired knight's chest center.
'...Internal strife?'
No way? That couldn't be?
Even a grand archmage who'd lived over 400 years was stunned by the unforeseen turn, left speechless for a moment.
Whoosh!
"!"
But soon, he felt a sensation he'd never experienced since becoming a grand archmage.
A chill...
Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump.
His heartbeat pounded like massive war drums in his ears.
An unfamiliar yet intense surge overwhelmed his body, making the vibrations within crystal clear.
Lee Han gritted his teeth, feeling the fierce energy transmitted through his wing joint.
Ferocious—no, utterly wild.
An energy that seemed ready to shred his insides to pieces.
This was battle aura!
Roooar!
Not ordinary battle aura, either.
It belonged to one of the kingdom's top experts—a knight even Lee Han couldn't guarantee victory against.
And with the alien energy called crimson battle aura, Lee Han's body trembled uncontrollably.
He had to endure this mad power threatening to destroy him from within!
Crunch-crunch!!
Conversely, Rak endured his own agony.
Lee Han's full-force strike forcibly tore apart and reassembled Rak's flesh in a horrific sensation!
Pain rivaling bone-crushing torment, yet Rak bore it through sheer willpower.
The knights' suffering lasted less than three minutes, but those minutes felt like three hours of excruciating torment.
They rawly withstood each other's compressed power, enduring the agony of having every tooth yanked out, minute by minute.
A trial of endurance.
They risked their lives to skip a process that normally took half a year at longest or three months at shortest.
Even if they survived, their lifespans would shorten.
That's how much they'd staked.
And the knights who'd bet everything
"...I'd rather not do this insane crap again."
"Agreed."
returned from the brink of death, faces pale as ghosts.
A slight mistake, or inferior skill, would have killed them.
Yet they lived because they were exceptional knights.
One had forged a steel-like body through relentless training.
The other possessed talent unmatched by any.
A gamble only they could pull off—and they succeeded.
"How long will this last?"
"About 15 minutes."
"...Short."
"Yours will last less."
"20 minutes?"
"......"
"Well, it's your first time. I've tested it on my kids before, so I could handle it."
"...Suddenly, I pity the disciples learning under you."
Even knowing their lifespans had shortened, they didn't care.
Focusing only on the 'now' and the 'present'.
To them,
"......You guys are insane?"
the madman called them crazy...
Tyr stared in astonishment.
Amazement.
For the first time, the grinning lunatic sobered up with a serious gaze.
"At first, I wondered why the weird behavior..., but now I get it! You shared your powers—your 'years'!"
Tyr understood.
As a mage, it was especially easy for him to grasp.
One reason mages value masters is that upon the master's death, they inherit everything.
Not just wealth or research, but the master's 'mana'—the greatest asset a mage can claim.
Inheriting mana isn't merely adding power; it's imprinting the master's lifelong mana flow—their experience—onto your body.
Sharing years, a stepping stone to higher realms.
Of course, the master dies after passing it on—a minor flaw.
Thus, most mages abandoned the practice, and to inherit mana,
...you kill them. With your own hands.
Why Tyr killed his master, too.
Dared to refuse when Tyr wanted it? Then die.
Yet to think such an act...
"Knights can do it too...!"
Tyr's eyes sparkled with wonder, but the knights scorned him.
"You think we're lunatic spellcasters like you?"
"What bullshit."
"...That's too much, you guys."
Tyr pouted at the harsh treatment, but the knights just snorted.
As if it disgusted them.
And moreover.
"What we did isn't that vile crap you do, you rotten demon."
There exists a technique called Force Transmission.
Its principle mirrors a master passing internal energy to a disciple, allowing the disciple to reach higher realms.
Similar to the mana inheritance Tyr described, but theirs was merely inspired by it.
It was...
"That!?"
"Curious? Feel it for yourself."
"Aw, too harsh."
"......"
"...Heh, kidding. Go for it."
Tyr spread his arms again, indifferent to their actions, while Lee Han and Rak
"Let's see how long you keep smiling."
obliged.
Thus.
Bam!
"...Huh?"
......Tyr felt pain in the next instant.
"Finally landed a solid hit..."
Lee Han savored the satisfying impact.
Beating not just any spellcaster, but the rottenest one, was cathartic enough.
And he
Whoosh!
"Let's hit you a thousand more times, you mad monster."
had no intention of stopping at one.
...Barrier and memorize didn't activate?
'Why?'
Tyr questioned why his barrier and defensive spells hadn't deployed.
A first since becoming a grand archmage—no, in over four centuries.
Given just ten minutes, he could pinpoint and fix the cause...
Boom!
...But the knights showed no patience.
Smack!
Lee Han had always been swift and agile despite his bulky frame.
Yet his current speed was incomparable to before.
Like the wind itself, his explosive charge was unstoppable, forcing him to focus his mind amid power he could barely control.
'This is Fighting Technique? Insane!'
Fighting Technique.
A method harnessing battle aura's explosion within the body as raw power.
Lee Han finally understood bodily why it was essential for knights and still hailed as the pinnacle.
'That's why it's so explosive! Unbeatable!'
Up to dozens, even hundreds of times amplification.
Depending on control, his physical prowess could multiply accordingly.
Without control, though, the body would collapse under the blast.
A razor-thin balance, yet Lee Han unleashed it full-throttle, consequences be damned.
Not just any Fighting Technique, but Duke Galahad's finest knight's, fused with Heavenly Killing Star's energy.
Normally unmanageable, but Lee Han's freakishly sturdy body endured it.
Kaboom!
Mountain-Shattering Strikes rained down with otherworldly might.
Uncontrollable power widened their range, battering the entire mage tower.
The watching mages from afar...
"Gaaah!"
S-Save...!
Splat!
...were reduced to pulp.
And Tyr, taking it head-on,
Bam!
"Again...?"
reeled from another barrier-piercing blow.
Drip...
No matter his transcendent mana, a mage's frail body made it far from light.
Any ordinary mage would die instantly.
Only his body modifications, granting iron-like durability, kept him alive.
Even he couldn't survive endless hits.
'Must block...'
As he prepared to chant a defense spell manually for once, alas,
"-You rogue, you've been hiding something this good."
Crunch!
he wasn't the only hunter.
Rak gripped short clubs in both hands, assuming position.
He'd detached the separated spear shaft into two, and now
Whoosh!
swung them at blinding speed, pummeling Tyr.
Indiscriminate strikes evoking [Kali Arnys].
Not mere speed.
Crackle! Zap-zap! Zzzap...!
The barrier crumpled.
Every memorize-deployed defense shattered under his assault, crimson battle aura swelling massively with each swing, soon radiating scorching heat.
Roooar!
A knight born with the anomalous Heavenly Killing Star energy had never unleashed it at full power.
It harmed others and host alike—a double-edged sword.
But now was different.
Indestructible resilience, Lee Han's achievement forged into his body.
With Lee Han's fierce energy shielding and empowering Rak's internals, the killing intent was no threat—it obeyed like a leashed beast.
Bang!
Boom!
Kaboom!
Overuse risked brain invasion, turning him into a murderer...
'But that's for later!'
Rak knew to slay this monster, he must become one.
He loathed this energy lifelong, but needed it now.
Roooar!!
Crimson Blaze.
Rak's crimson battle aura ignited into flames.
Fueled by Heavenly Killing Star, the blaze consumed his body, turning it red.
His clubs became crimson flame weapons, their power, speed, and blaze finally
Sizzle!
melting and shattering the barrier.
"......Ha, fun."
Tyr laughed joyfully amid the encroaching crimson blaze.
For the first time in over four centuries, the grand archmage felt mortal peril—and it thrilled him like never before.
'So this is...!'
A deathmatch.