Chapter 175: For the Story Not Yet Known (6)
Chapter 175: For the Story Not Yet Known (6)
As long as I could jam a dagger through the cracks in that broken shield, I could make this work.
With that thought, I prepared a lightning-attribute spell.
Since my usual low-grade magic would never be enough to shatter her shield, I had to pull out every elemental combination I’d theorized but never actually practiced.
I endured the harassment from the Fisherman and Melonia with my own body as I recited the chant. Perhaps because of my injured shoulder, I felt a shallow gash open on one of my legs.
It didn't matter. The magic was complete.
“Igni Spark!”
Flames shot out like bolts of lightning. Thanks to the combination of two powerful elements—lightning and fire—the raw power was formidable.
However, its trajectory was predictable, and its range was far too narrow.
Melonia gathered her shields, concentrating them into a single point.
Crackle!
The intense lightning scorched the reinforced shield. Though a few cracks appeared, it wasn't enough to break through.
I had to think of another combination.
“Ugh….”
While darting around to prepare the next spell, I was struck in the back by Melonia’s mana cannon while trying to dodge a net.
Fortunately, I had deployed a shield and a magical tool reflexively, so I avoided a direct hit. If it only ended with a small gouge of flesh from my back, I’d call that a win.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, I manifested a different combination of magic.
“Lightning Web!”
A spell that combined the water attribute to cast a net made of lightning.
It was slower than Igni Spark, but its wide range made up for it.
As expected, Melonia couldn't dodge and was caught in the net. However, the power was still lacking.
I couldn't keep up with the speed at which she repaired her defenses by pouring in her own mana and vitality in real-time.
I hadn't expected to succeed on the first try anyway. I calmly prepared the next spell.
Another wound opened.
I failed.
One more wound.
Another failure.
One more wound, and a magical tool shattered.
Even so, I failed.
No matter what I did, I couldn't reach her. Where was I going wrong? Was it because these were crude spells cobbled together on the spot?
I had consumed a significant amount of mana trying to compensate for the lack of refinement with raw power.
My mana pool had already dropped below half. My stamina wasn't much better.
Even with the effects of potions and buffs still active, I had been moving too violently. My breath was hitching in my throat.
The sheer number of wounds was also a problem. Even if none were life-threatening individually, I had lost too much blood.
It was a good thing I’d downed a mental defense potion earlier. Under normal circumstances, I might have already fainted from the pain.
…Even after all this, I couldn't see a way out.
No matter how many I slaughtered, the monsters still surrounded me.
And Melonia just watched from above, cocooned in her shields.
She had the eyes of a predator waiting for its prey to collapse from exhaustion.
A sudden surge of anxiety washed over me.
Had I miscalculated? Was this really the suicide mission Carla and Elisha said it would be?
…It didn't matter now.
I had already reached my conclusion, and this was my choice.
My body could still move, and I had enough mana left.
That meant I could still fight. Melonia’s patterns were finally starting to become clear.
A battle where I had to minimize the effects of her charm was unfamiliar, but I recognized all her attacks.
Yes. I could still fight.
…But how?
Every means at my disposal was failing.
No matter what I tried, low-grade magic couldn't reach Melonia. The exchange so far had made that painfully clear.
Come to think of it, when I fought Edmerec, the other students led by Elisha had handled the clones.
Was it too optimistic to think I could defeat an Archbishop-class opponent one-on-one?
Just because I was determined didn't mean it would actually happen, right?
Once the seeds of doubt were sown, they burrowed into me like insects.
Perhaps that was why my body, which had moved with perfect precision until now, suddenly began to falter.
“Ah.”
The fact that my body moved exactly as I thought meant that if my thoughts became clouded, my movements would grow sluggish.
Anxiety breeds hesitation, and hesitation leads to death.
An axe and a spear flew at me simultaneously from both sides.
I missed the timing to parry and the window to dodge. I still had the shield from my magical tool, but it wouldn't be able to block a second strike, even if it stopped the first.
Mana Explosion? That might work. But could my battered body withstand the recoil?
If I lost consciousness for even a second, it was over. By the time I opened my eyes, I’d likely be missing a limb.
After that, I’d be neatly packaged and presented to Melonia.
The negative future was clear as day. Yet, I had no way to escape it.
Wringing every last bit of strength from my body, I crossed my dagger and staff in front of the axe.
It was a final, desperate struggle—an instinctive reaction even though I knew my injured shoulder wouldn't be able to take the impact.
Even as my mind whispered of defeat, my body stubbornly sought a way to survive.
Just as I was about to swallow the bitterness of that irony—
Drip. Splat.
Suddenly, a dark red rain began to fall from the sky.
“Mwili unayeyuka!”
“Kila mtu kukimbia!”
“nisaidie! Ukimshika….”
Simultaneously, the Fishermen drenched in the rain collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony.
“What is this…?”
The creature swinging the axe at me dropped its weapon as its fingers began to melt away.
The one thrusting a spear from the other side tripped as its knees dissolved, causing the strike to miss me by a hair’s breadth.
Pitter-patter.
The droplets fell incessantly, like a sudden summer shower.
I knew this magic. I had seen it with my own eyes not long ago.
Blood Rain.
A gruesome blood magic that melted any enemy it touched. Yet, it had no effect on me.
With creaking movements, I lifted my head. In the distance, I saw Iona, her face etched with urgency, reaching out toward me.
She had fired off a support spell while in the middle of fighting Ayla and another Archbishop-class opponent.
…Even though she must have known that doing so would leave her wide open.
BOOM!
Sure enough, Iona was struck by a massive gray mutant—Wilfried—and slammed into the ground with a thunderous roar.
She wouldn't die, but she would undoubtedly be forced into a disadvantageous position. This single choice might even lead to her death.
Iona knew all of this. And yet, seeing that I was in danger, she cast the spell anyway.
She did it while facing her sworn enemy, risking her own life.
I didn't know why she made that choice. But one thing was conveyed to me with startling clarity.
Iona’s will.
I could feel her absolute determination not to let me die here.
Even if this was just a temporary reprieve and I would soon face the same danger again.
Even if it put her own life at risk.
It didn't matter. Because Iona herself had already decided that was what she would do.
She was different from me—someone who jumped in because I thought I could, only to falter when it seemed impossible.
…I lacked will.
The moment I realized this, it felt as if something had struck me in the back of the head, snapping me into focus.
With the magic I currently possessed, no matter what I tried, I couldn't overcome this hurdle.
I couldn't wipe out the endless swarm of monsters.
I couldn't even put a single hole in the shields of the flying Melonia.
But what did that matter?
A mage is a being who craves.
They wish for miracles that shouldn't exist, yet they do not pray to anyone.
They simply reach out desperately and seize the result with their own hands.
Thump.
The moment I made that vow, my heart began to beat with a heavy resonance, as if responding to my resolve.
My core squeezed out mana as if having a seizure. Perhaps as a reaction, my vision stretched as if being pulled, and the sounds around me became muffled, like I was underwater.
But even in the midst of this, one thing remained unchanged.
Thump.
The sound of my heart echoing in my chest.
Thump.
A violent assertion of self, as if screaming that I was still here.
Thump.
Driven by this pulse, I carved my existence into my surroundings.
And I carved my will.
Thump.
I needed power. The power to sweep away these loathsome monsters and drag down Melonia, who had been looking down on me and mocking me from above.
I already… knew the way.
It was simple. If low-grade magic wasn't enough, I just had to use intermediate magic.
The image of the intermediate spell was already in my head. If so, there was no reason I couldn't cast it.
Thump.
My mana was insufficient. My understanding was lacking. If I failed, it was the end. How would I handle the aftermath?
There were countless reasons why it was impossible.
However, none of those were reasons for me to give up.
Thump.
I reached out, even knowing it was impossible.
This wasn't about relying on some stroke of luck.
What I held in my heart was nothing but the absolute will to make it happen.
Thump.
My heart raced. My core went wild in tandem.
…And following the resonance of the core, the surrounding mana began to stir.
My overflowing will saturated and dominated all the mana in the vicinity.
Thump.
I didn't hold back the tingling sensation rising in my throat; I spat it out all at once.
“『Divine thunder, lightning’s glare, flash of light—strike in this fleeting moment.』”
Words imbued with power were a sentence of judgment.
Everything that heard my heartbeat moved busily to execute the command.
The mana boiled, the sky turned black, and the sound of small thunderclaps echoed from all directions.
A panicked Melonia hurriedly fired mana from her fingertips, but my final declaration was a fraction faster.
“『…Thunder Calling!』”
As if it had been waiting, a massive bolt of lightning struck down.
KRA-BOOM!
The world was dyed a brilliant, blinding white.