Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: The Use of a Treacherous Subject
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‘What’s with him all of a sudden? Has he lost his mind?’
Dalion looked at Beonald, who was smiling as if certain of victory, and had a strange thought.
Had he beaten him so severely that his mind had snapped?
How could he look so relaxed while being beaten one-sidedly?
“…I won’t need this anymore.”
‘He threw away his sword?’
Even discarding the sword, which could be called a swordsman’s life, Beonald struck a bizarre stance.
To Dalion, the absurdity doubled at the notion of facing him bare-handed. Even with a sword and strange magical tools he couldn’t win, so what was he doing unarmed? He was so flabbergasted that words slipped out unintentionally.
“Have you been hit in the head or something?”
“Why? Are you scared? Come on in.”
“Hoo… I’ll finish you off.”
Sssss…
Taking a deep breath, Dalion focused his mind, drew up his strength, and shot forward toward Beonald as if an arrow had been fired.
Preparing for any potential traps, Dalion kept a slight reserve in his movements, wary that Beonald might be scheming something or preparing another method. But Beonald was still taking his attacks one-sidedly.
‘What’s this? It’s nothing special.’
“Kkhuk!”
Beonald rolled across the ground again, getting covered in dust. Dalion found it even easier than when Beonald had his sword, and could only marvel at why he was doing this.
But if this was how it would end, Dalion saw no reason to refuse finishing him off. He pursued Beonald, raining down blows with the intent to kill.
“Die.”
“…Ugh! Kkaaaah!”
Breaking bones, crushing muscles, Dalion attacked with the intent to kill, but strangely, even as Beonald rolled on the ground and became a mess, he showed no sign of giving up.
He was just enduring more tenaciously with the power of his aura. The overwhelming battle situation remained, where Beonald couldn’t even inflict a single scratch on Dalion’s fingertips.
“…Hoo~ I’m getting tired from hitting you. What on earth are you thinking, holding out like that?”
“Hah? Hahaha, hahahahahaha! As… I… thought… maybe?”
Covered in wounds and staggering, Beonald stared defiantly at Dalion and spoke arrogantly.
Dalion became convinced he had truly lost his mind. Thinking to end his suffering, he composed himself and stirred his magical power.
“Hm?”
At that moment! As if he had tripped over a stone, Dalion’s left leg suddenly stiffened.
He looked down at his leg with startled eyes. There, the cloth was torn, revealing his bare leg, and some unknown ‘spell formula’ was inscribed on it, glowing.
And around it, other spell formulas, not glowing like tattoos, densely covered his body.
“Don’t tell me… you noticed?”
Dalion looked at Beonald with a renewed expression, and Beonald, who had been sprawled on the ground, drank a potion and struggled to his feet.
“Hah… Hah… Ugh! We share the same ‘major’… how could I not notice? Hah… Hah… Just because I’m a person from 500 years ago… aren’t you underestimating me too much? You magic book bastard.”
“…….”
“I’ve heard there are many crazy mages… but in my lifetime, this is the first time I’ve seen someone engrave spell formulas on their own body to make a… magic book, no, a magical artifact! You insane bastard!”
Having grasped the principle of Dalion’s body, Beonald spoke as if astonished.
The sense of incongruity began when Dalion came close enough to attack, when a faint light shone inside his robe, and when Beonald touched Dalion and felt a strange texture.
During several exchanges, Beonald focused entirely on defense to solve this mystery, and as a result, he figured out what principle was applied to Dalion’s body.
“Ordinary spell formulas engraved on a person’s body… like slave brands or criminal brands, those are ultimately for subjugation, to prevent escape by taking life or inflicting pain. Usually, they aren’t engraved on the body. In the past, I’ve heard of special formulas called ‘runes,’ but only a very few were engraved on the body. No one engraved them on themselves like a magic book as you have.”
“As expected of Lord Beonald von Neumel. Your analysis is very accurate.”
Swish… Flutter!
Dalion grabbed and threw off his robe, revealing what was underneath.
Beneath the robe that disguised him as a mage, a heavily built physique with steel-like trained muscles was revealed, along with densely inscribed magical spell formulas.
And except for the left leg part where Beonald had tampered, those numerous formulas kept glowing and fading, indicating Dalion was using magical power.
“As I thought……. But if that’s the case, your body should deteriorate each time you activate a formula. How did you overcome that? And how did you engrave such a large amount and remain intact in the first place?”
“Everything is calculation. The optimization and efficiency of the formulas, and training to reduce the burden of magical recoil and the wounds from engraving—all were meticulously calculated to achieve this result. Thanks to that, I can now not only engage in physical combat but also magic……”
Whoosh!
Instantly, Dalion Dana created a massive fireball above his palm.
Simultaneously, the spell formulas on his body corresponding to this ‘Fireball’ magic glowed, indicating the magic was being activated.
His body was both a magic book and a magical artifact. All engraved magic could be instantly activated or deactivated anytime, anywhere, with just willpower, repeatedly.
“…That’s truly an impressive achievement. Even I would have bestowed upon you the title of Archmage. You have solved all the chronic problems of mages and opened countless possibilities.”
“Thank you for the praise.”
“But there must be limits. Because you engraved them on your body, you can only manifest those formulas up to the limit of magical power your body can withstand, right? That’s why magical artifacts are usually engraved on steel, mithril, or adamantium, for no reason.”
The operation of magical power for formulas engraved on the body is ultimately limited to what the body can endure.
Magical power can somehow be replenished from external sources, but the human body engraved with formulas is ultimately made of blood, flesh, skin, and bone.
If pushed beyond its limits, the body will inevitably collapse. That Dalion Dana must have built that robust physique to increase the limits of his magic. And on the side, he learned that strange martial art too.
“But it’s true you must have optimized the formulas to the extreme for engraving on the body. And undoubtedly, an incredible effort bordering on self-destruction went into cultivating and maintaining that body. I can’t help but applaud.”
“I appreciate the good evaluation. However, even if you only blocked one of my legs, my full strength is still……”
Thud! …Tuk! Thud… *Crackle*!
As Dalion tried to move his magical power again to activate formulas in other parts of his body, a sound of something snapping was heard.
His skin split and tore, the formulas twisted, and magical power leaked out wildly.
Startled by the beginning of his body’s collapse, Dalion looked at Beonald with a more bewildered expression than one of pain.
“Wh-what trick did you…?”
“Nothing much, really. I just slipped in one line in the formula I engraved on that leg. ‘Amplification Enchantment’—use more magical power to increase the effect. That’s all I added.”
“Ugh! Th-that’s all?”
“Yeah, you must have thought you engraved optimized formulas, precisely calculated the burden of magical power and the limit your body could withstand, and found the optimal value. But that’s not the optimal value. That’s the ‘limit.’ You’ve been moving while filling a cup to its absolute maximum. And you managed to move in that state through physical training and formula control, but the problem is it collapses quickly at the slightest crack or mistake.”
Calmly explaining Dalion’s misstep, Beonald leisurely sheathed his sword again, drank a potion, and caught his breath.
After all, Dalion’s body had already begun to collapse. Blood was flowing from all over, and although he had withdrawn his magical power to stabilize it, he was at his limit just trying to regain control of his body.
But realizing a flaw he had been unaware of until now was more shocking than the physical pain.
“…Ugh! Th-that can’t be!”
“Anyway, withdraw your magical power and don’t try to move anymore. Once something is broken, you can’t force it to move before it’s completely repaired. It will only accelerate the destruction. Forcing a broken cart forward only breaks it more.”
Beonald spoke kindly, but Dalion looked at him with incredulous eyes, quite shocked by how meaninglessly the situation had reversed.
But on the other hand, he realized he had underestimated someone he shouldn’t have—Beonald, who in that short time, even while being beaten to near death, analyzed his body and even engraved a formula.
“To think… I would be defeated like this.”
“Hmph, since you lost to Beonald von Neumel, don’t feel too self-reproachful. Ah~ damn… now the pain is setting in everywhere.”
Thud!
As the excitement of battle faded, excruciating pain washed over his entire body, and Beonald collapsed. He had endured with potions and tonics, but strictly speaking, he was now completely exhausted.
But he couldn’t stop here.
Because there was still one more enemy left to defeat.
“What’s that?”
“…Ugh… damn! This is something I was really, really saving… damn!”
Then, Beonald took out a potion from his bag in a bottle adorned with jewels and drank it. This was an emergency medicine—an elixir he had only heard of in legends—one bottle stored in each of his ruins.
The cost to make just one bottle was an amount that would startle even Beonald. It was something to be used only in truly critical, life-or-death situations, and using it now felt terribly wasteful.
“Hoo… But the effect is good. Ssss… Huaaah~ Ehtcha!”
But the efficacy was proper. Beonald felt the painful aches disappear and his condition improve.
Well, given the astronomical sum spent to brew this one bottle, it would be unfair if it didn’t work. Beonald struggled to his feet.
Then he went over to Dalion, who was still kneeling silently, enduring the pain, and poured the remaining potion on him, helping with treatment.
“What are you doing?”
“The match is decided anyway, and you can’t do anything in that state. And since you have talent and abilities too precious to waste, I’m saving you. So obediently tell me where that old man, Dalkan Dana, is. Where is he?”
“Hoo… I’ve lost anyway, and it shouldn’t cause much trouble, so I’ll tell you. The ancestor is not here right now.”
“…What?”
“The ancestor… left this place the day this laboratory was destroyed by the item you sent, Lord Beonald.”
“…Left this place? A mage wouldn’t abandon his workshop.”
Even if it was destroyed, Beonald thought he wouldn’t leave since all the facilities and materials he was researching were here.
And that’s why, from the lich he met on the way down to this guy, the defenses were so well-prepared. But if Dalkan Dana isn’t here, what does that mean?
“The ancestor’s research and calculations were already complete. All that remained was gathering the necessary materials and magical power… and the issue of testing. But he spent too much time preparing for that, and you, Lord Beonald, ruined it. Moreover… you wiped out centuries of work in an instant.”
“Destroying things is always easier……. So where on earth did he… wait, don’t tell me that old man went to ‘Benofis’?”
If the research and calculations were complete, ultimately a place to execute them was needed, and if the most needed thing was ‘magical power,’ then only one place came to Beonald’s mind.
‘Benofis.’ Beonald’s territory, the land where the ‘Star Vein,’ the heart of the star, exists.
Since it’s the heart of the star, magical power gushes forth almost infinitely. That place would allow Dalkan Dana to complete the large-scale spell he desired.
“Yes, that’s correct. The ancestor isn’t some villain from a fairy tale or legend, you know.”
“Damn… I have to chase him immediately!”
“It’s useless even if you go. Because present-day Benofis is currently occupied by a demon legion.”
“…Damn! What the hell, then?”
Thud!
Beonald plopped down on the ground as if feeling hollow.
What does that make him now? He fought using all sorts of tricks to stop Dalkan Dana, and he’s not even here!
Shocked, he stared at the gaping hole in the sky, inwardly cursing the goddess who had set him on this task.