Chapter 226
Chapter 226
Chapter 226
A New Phase (3)
"I did feel something was strange."
Gray said, looking at his counterpart who resembled him.
"The spell technique of Bellatrix, hidden so cleverly within the empty ruins. That technique that only I could recognize was definitely targeting me specifically."
It wasn't for attack, defense, or any other purpose.
Since it was merely a carved technique without any magic imbued in it, even Elli, who specialized in exploration, had missed it.
"Hehehe..."
"At first, I thought it might be Mother, but thinking about it, Mother's level couldn't create such a technique."
His counterpart agreed.
"Right. She still hasn't broken through the 8th class barrier yet."
"So my next assumption was that it might be an ancestor of Bellatrix who had achieved greatness, but the way the technique was hidden was similar to how I used to secretly make hideouts in the magic tower when I was young."
A simple camouflage built with his own rules.
Therefore, there was only one person in this world who could recognize it.
Gray slowly raised his staff and aimed it at his counterpart.
"What are you exactly? You're too high-level to be a simple doppelganger."
He resembled his now fully adult self to a spine-chilling degree.
There were cases where ancestors and descendants had similar appearances, but that was within reason... This was like looking at another version of himself.
To Gray's question, his counterpart twisted his gaze slightly sideways and said:
"Who would I be? Gray Bellatrix, that's you yourself."
"..."
"If I had to express it... you're my past self... shall I put it that way?"
"You're saying something like you is my future self?"
"Why, is it hard to believe?"
Mockery. And contempt.
Gray's expression twisted slightly at those emotions naturally readable in his counterpart's eyes.
"Nothing is impossible in the world of magic."
"Keep all possibilities open, for only then can you reach the truth."
Another Gray received Gray's words.
A phrase that all those entering magic learn first.
And it was also the basic philosophy of the Bellatrix school.
Gray aimed his staff and said:
"If you're really my future self, you'd be stronger than me now, at least?"
"Obviously."
"Then it should be fine to test that."
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
Immediately, three massive magic circles appeared behind Gray.
Seeing this, future Gray chuckled.
"Triple casting... Starting modestly?"
"Hell Fire, Prismatic Eraser, Elemental Collapse."
Three spells that ranked at the top for destructive power even among 8th class magic were deployed with just their incantations.
ZZZZZT!
The three spells that were deployed curved in smooth arcs and rushed toward where his counterpart stood.
"Oh?"
The word "Not bad?" slipped from his counterpart's mouth, but Gray's magic didn't end there.
"Hold Person, Magic Elimination, Space Block."
Complete follow-up processing to ensure the enemy couldn't escape.
Gray's strike definitively threatened his counterpart's life.
Even with Gray's method of certainly killing magicians, future Gray's expression remained unchanged.
"Usually I'd just deflect with a shield, but that wouldn't be fun."
GRIP!
He forcibly grabbed the surrounding magic flow that was scattering due to Magic Elimination and returned it to its original state.
GASP!
Gray's expression wavered slightly at that absurd brute force act.
"Now, let's see..."
Like conducting an orchestra, future Gray's hands began moving brilliantly.
As if thousands of strands of magic threads were moving from future Gray's hands, they began advancing toward the interference magic spread around and the attack magic flying this way.
'...Magic interference!'
In the short time of barely 1-2 seconds.
Future Gray began using magic threads to unravel Gray's magic in reverse order.
"...!"
Dispel.
A simple method of returning the opponent's magic to its original magic, but it's generally known to be impossible unless there's a skill difference of two levels or more compared to the opposing caster.
Moreover, what Gray had deployed now was five 8th class spells.
9th class... no, even Giovanni at 10th class couldn't be free from this attack by any method other than defense or evasion.
"...Damn!"
Cutting threads is simple, but unraveling them is hundreds of times more difficult.
But his counterpart was unraveling threads that had become so tangled they were indistinguishable, with very fluid and precise hand movements.
"Where do you think you're going!"
The moment the three attack spells were about to be dispelled and scattered by future Gray's hands, Gray desperately manipulated his magic power to try to detonate the three spells near his counterpart.
"As expected, not bad, my past self."
"Shut up!"
With the destruction magic scattered, a magic manipulation battle suddenly unfolded.
If Gray won this battle, the 8th class spells floating around would sympathetically detonate and explode all at once.
If he lost, magic backflow would occur and he would suffer considerable internal injuries.
WHOOOOSH!
A massive magic wind arose between the two beings, engaging in fierce offense and defense.
Truly a feast of top-tier magicians where tremendous calculations and precise judgments were harmonized like calculating moves in Go.
In that battle of wits that would make even great magicians gasp in amazement, Gray realized that his calculations were gradually being pushed back by his counterpart.
'...Damn!'
His counterpart gradually turned the tide as if toying with him.
It felt like an opponent in arm wrestling whose knuckles were about to touch the floor was gradually widening the angle as if they had been holding back until now.
Future Gray, who was gradually encroaching on his territory, spoke as if urging him to choose:
"Use the Blue World. That's the only way to reverse this situation, isn't it?"
"Shut up!"
While answering roughly, Gray's brain spun rapidly.
'That bastard, is that his purpose?'
If his counterpart's skill was higher than his own, there was no need to respond in such a playful manner.
For some reason, his counterpart subtly wanted him to use the Blue World.
'I absolutely can't give him what he wants!'
Moreover, he wasn't alone on this battlefield!
-Starlight Blaster, fire.
"Hm?"
ZZZZZZZING!
Just as Gray's strength was about to reach its limit, hundreds of multicolored rays began striking down from beyond the clouds toward where future Gray stood.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
With a minor earthquake that occurred instantly, Gray's two hands, which had been overwhelmed by his counterpart's skill, regained their freedom.
"Are you alright, Count Gray?"
"Yeah, you intervened at just the right time."
"When combat occurs, intervene only in dangerous situations. I have faithfully carried out the order."
Elli's avatars, who had been stealthily waiting quietly until now, intervened to save Gray the moment he was clearly being pushed back.
"Let's run. Right now he's an opponent I can't handle."
"I don't sense divinity from the opponent. If we attack together, there's sufficient possibility."
The avatars currently attached to Gray numbered five hundred.
This alone was enough to take down a minor god or intermediate Demon King.
But Gray shook his head.
"No, it's not at that level... The opponent is probably..."
"This is too much. Hey, my past self, where are you getting help from others during a one-on-one fight? We weren't originally that kind of person, were we?"
FLINCH!
As expected, a light gust blew through the dusty area where dust clouds were rising, and future Gray in perfect condition suddenly popped out from inside the crater.
"And you're even trying to run away? Are you really a human of the Bellatrix family? Is that how Mother taught you?"
"This bastard...?"
Gray's eyes, which had been briefly intimidated, immediately twisted with anger.
...Whether that should be considered trash talk or not was a matter that required some consideration, but anyway, Gray lost his last chance to escape due to momentary anger.
"Now, I'll say it once more. Try using the Blue World. That's the only way for you to survive."
At his counterpart's ominously surging magic power, Gray's eyes began to sink slightly.
***
"Hmm, hmm, hmm hmm!"
Humming softly, Rebecca was organizing Rudian's bedroom.
While everyone was busily moving around with post-processing and whatnot, it was the same before, it's the same now, and it will be the same in the future.
For Rebecca, who had no status or title, such matters were no different from affairs of a distant country.
"Sister, we said we'd do that!"
"It's fine. You just do what you were doing."
The succubi, who had now become Rebecca's direct corps, tried to stop Rebecca from doing such work...
'As if I'd let them clean where Rudian stays!'
Since there was no telling what tricks those creatures might pull in the bedroom, this was the duty of the mistress of this mansion.
Actually, she knew that even if they pulled tricks, they'd be caught by Adi's eyes before Rudian, and that even if they succeeded in their tricks, they wouldn't work at all anymore.
In short, that was just an excuse.
"Hehehe... If I put a little livani scent, he'll feel a bit of the scent of home, right?"
Rebecca, who sprayed daisy perfume that grew near Baran village on Rudian's pillow, immediately buried her face in that pillow.
"Ah, this is nice..."
Rebecca, who rubbed her face against the pillow for a while, seriously considered whether to take a nap like this with her drowsy feeling.
'If I fall asleep like this, Rudian will come back around evening and wake me up.'
Or maybe just sleeping together would be fine...
"You look happy..."
TWITCH!
At the gloomy woman's voice that reached her ear without any presence, Rebecca's mind snapped awake.
"..."
Rebecca, who slowly rustled and raised her upper body, carefully turned her head toward the direction where the voice came from.
A dark red form that had appeared in the shadowy corner of the room where her gaze was directed.
That form began rambling on with a trembling voice as if cursing Rebecca, as if jealous of her.
"You really look happy... I'm jealous to the point of envy. While I'm suffering like this because my love for Abel isn't reciprocated... even while loving another man, you can make such an expression... Amazing, really..."
"Who are you?"
Rebecca completely got up from her position and faced her opponent.
When she glanced sideways at the mature silhouette she saw, she initially thought it might be that 'purple girl' that Rudian brought from outer space...
Unlike Ktuna, who had at least some dignity, her opponent was so miserably ruined that the nickname 'witch' would suit her.
"...Huh, what?"
Deep dark circles, dry dark red hair, her skin was relatively young but her gloomy impression ruined everything.
An appearance that probably would have become quite a famous beauty if she had taken care of herself.
But what Rebecca was most flustered about was something else.
Rebecca carefully asked her opponent:
"By, by any chance... are you my mother who I was separated from when I was young?"
"What?"
Her opponent's impression and feeling resembled her considerably.
With Rebecca's imagination, this level of speculation was the limit, and she could immediately see her opponent's expression becoming extremely distorted.
"This damn bitch..."
TSSSS!
"...!"
The power of a Demon Eater that was not completed with the solid center of the Red World, but completed within wounds full of scars from unstable power endlessly running wild and exploding.
Even if it was power sewn together like rags, a completed form was still a completed form.
That power began exploding toward Rebecca.