Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Grimudo Climax (1)
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Even barking dogs have their grades.
A dog that barks out of fear won't bite when real danger strikes. It just tucks its tail between its legs and runs. But some dogs, when crisis hits, tear in like rabid beasts. They don't care how badly they might get hurt. They just bite first and see.
—Hellfire!
The moment it entered her field of vision, Parnel unconsciously calculated a spell. Hellfire. One of the most powerful single-target fire spells. If it lands properly, it's a grand magic so devastating that finding something it can't incinerate would take longer than just burning the world.
It pierced the silent stillness, becoming the only light in the darkness as it slammed into Grimudo.
Flames erupted in all directions, triggering a massive explosion. Yet the enveloping darkness didn't lighten in the slightest, and from within the blast, a man with hands clasped behind his back leisurely continued on his way.
The light is brilliant. The heat is quite fierce.
But what does that have to do with me? He hadn't even bothered to erect a barrier.
It wasn't worth the effort.
"Mana... how..."
Parnel's face twisted in frustration. If the staff she gripped weren't a royal treasure, it surely would have snapped under her vise-like grip.
Grimudo did nothing. Not even the minimal effort of swatting away the fireball. Yet his mana was so vast that simply existing formed a natural barrier, dampening the attack.
Like how wildfires rarely ignite in humid conditions.
What Parnel was trying to do was even worse—like trying to start a fire underwater. No one was stopping her, but success was impossible.
—Calling Thunder!
Part of the thick clouds overhead suddenly crackled with lightning, unleashing a barrage toward Grimudo.
One bolt, two bolts, until eventually a rain of thunder crashed down from the sky. Parnel threw caution to the wind, no longer conserving mana, and activated all her Big Cores. This wasn't an enemy she could beat by holding back.
A prolonged battle? Against Grimudo, skimping on mana meant instant death right here. No need to think about what came after—there'd be no time anyway. Only by going all-out in this moment was there even a slim chance of victory.
Swoosh.
This attack finally drew the Demon King's gaze. Grimudo turned his head toward the onslaught of lightning.
And that was it. As his gaze shifted, his mana followed his line of sight.
Rumble! Boom!
Crack!
Countless shapes materialized in the darkness, seizing and shattering the bolts. Shadow hands tore lightning strands apart; jaws like crocodiles devoured lightning dragons.
Not a single bolt reached Grimudo's vicinity. They all shattered pitifully before arrival.
It wasn't even Mana Aura. It was a method they didn't know.
No, no one in this world wielded mana like this. The cultivation method of converting mana into one's own law-force was lost to the world.
"What the hell is that...?!"
Even Harmael shuddered. Grimudo's combat was utterly unpredictable.
His entire approach to handling mana was completely different. Suddenly, the Demon King's gaze fell on Parnel.
Was it an illusion? Sweat pouring down her face, Parnel thought he looked like he was smiling.
"Not bad. You've got some spirit. You're the best of this lot."
Praise that wasn't praise. Parnel trembled with humiliation.
He was the enemy of her house, the true target of her vengeance. No matter how brilliant the Citadel Republic's apprentices or heroes, they couldn't have toppled the kingdom without Grimudo's aid!
"But I don't see the face I'm looking for."
The Citadel royal family's ultimate spell began calculating.
Elemental Finishment. Grimudo watched it prepare openly, yet kept saying his piece. To be ignored was the most abject contempt, but Parnel neither bristled nor raged at it.
He was the enemy, the archfoe, but she had to acknowledge it. Had to accept it.
That's what Grimudo was. Even as she launched her attack, she held no conviction of success.
"Where's that priest? Already dead?"
Fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning. The five elements surged toward the Demon King.
The earth heaved and shook; endless thunder plummeted; winds of destruction and azure flames, glacial ice assaulted from all directions. As if the whole world conspired to torment him. To rip him apart and burn him to ash.
But if the world clashed with the Demon King, which would shatter was obvious.
Grimudo merely lifted his foot lightly. Then gently pressed down on empty air.
In that instant, a shockwave that could pulverize mountains shattered the ground and roared through the sky. It crushed Parnel's spell like a child kicking over a sandcastle. The hellfire-scorched earth trembled as if in an earthquake, aftershocks rippling endlessly.
Rumble!
The deafening noise and impact nearly drove Harmael mad. Of course, that was because she was merely a spectator, watching without any fighting spirit.
For a moment, she genuinely felt relief that she wasn't in Parnel's place. The power Grimudo displayed was sheer insanity.
'How... how is this possible? How do you even beat that?'
Terror stood her hair on end. Unifying the continent? She instantly understood why he showed no interest.
Even a continent-spanning empire would crumble like an anthill under his foot if he willed it. They were simply on different levels.
"Is that all the tricks you've got?"
Only now did Grimudo show interest, eyeing Parnel as her legs shook from mana exhaustion.
Tricks. Her grand magic, reduced to mere tricks. That's all it amounted to for him.
Parnel quivered with powerlessness. Grimudo eyed her, then asked curiously.
"What's wrong? Last time you came at me just fine. Or have you already lost your nerve?"
"Who said I'm scared... I just ran out of mana."
The only difference was that back then Kyle had been there to restore her mana, and now he wasn't—but that massive gap was irrelevant anyway.
Against Grimudo, it was just the difference between lasting a bit longer or not.
"If I'd had mana left, I'd have fired off Fireball or whatever."
"You two look familiar too. Not coming at me?"
"Grimudo... Ancient Demon King."
As the hero and demon hunter fell silent, a new face spoke up.
The saintess Araidel, pale-faced but quickly composing herself, sang a hymn to steady her nerves. She opened her eyes wide, staring straight at the Ancient Demon King, a brilliant halo blooming behind her.
"As the saintess chosen by the Goddess, I will block your atrocities. Mother, grant me strength! Give me the power to face this great evil!"
"Sorry, but"
Grimudo's response was simple.
He just opened his palm and slashed it across.
"I'm not interested in you."
Araidel's back split open along the path of his hand. A void-brand etched into empty space.
Magic came from dragons. It was their grace to ground-dwellers, a gift without price, a form of benevolence.
—Transcendent Magic. Horizon of Annihilation.
In exchange, Grimudo had traded his own scholarship for draconic knowledge. Naturally, the dragons had no choice but to reveal far more to him.
Grimudo's mastery rivaled magic's origin: dragons. Transcendent Magic, said to be dragons-only, shattered common sense here and now, cleaving Araidel's back and birthing an abyss.
A line of darkness devouring light. An absolute line of death that rent her halo and swallowed it. Less an attack than a judgment. An irrefutable verdict.
"Archbishop—at least the Archbishop..."
"Too late for that. Our only shot is trying to escape from inside."
Whoosh!
A vast line of darkness, rivaling the horizon in scale, engulfed Araidel and Lrwenheim whole.
Normally, anything swallowed by that dark inversion field would be instantly pulverized. But ones like Lrwenheim and Araidel wouldn't die outright. Still, by the time they clawed their way out, everything would be over, and they'd have little strength left.
"Saintess...!"
Yurinel reached out toward the saintess vanishing into the void, her expression dazed.
Of course, her hand merely swiped empty air. Only the Demon King's voice remained, mocking her.
"Yurinel Rackphonsia."
Yurinel froze mid-reach. She never dreamed the Ancient Demon King would remember her name, let alone speak it.
"Didn't you say you wanted revenge on me?"
The Demon King smiled. He still remembered the uninvited guests who'd sought him out.
They were among the few joys in his long life—welcoming such visitors. Even before the hero party's visit, the hermit Geher and the silent Rayman had challenged him, and sporadically before that.
"Or after one loss, have you decided to abandon revenge? I don't care either way."
"Grimudo! What business do you have with the hero?!"
Harmael chimed in from afar, offering unsolicited advice.
"That guy's our demons' enemy. Just kill him. You can manage that easily!"
Ha ha.
Grimudo merely laughed. The instant the sound hit her ears, excruciating pain stabbed into Harmael's head. Reflexively trying to block it, she realized this was an attack beyond dodging or parrying.
Black, dark energy invaded through ears and eyes, becoming shadowy hands that throttled her brain. Her vision flickered; nothing was visible. No thoughts came. Not even simple ones like where she was or who she was. She lacked the mind to think!
Thud!
No longer able to levitate, Harmael plummeted to the ground.
Even in agony, she groped at her head—it was intact, no blood. Yet her brain screamed in torment. Utterly bizarre and horrific.
No thoughts surfaced; her mind went blank.
Like dwarves hacking her brain with axes. Clutching her head, Harmael screamed.
What was it? What hit her? What technique was this? Even such obvious questions wouldn't form.
"A mental attack."
Hearing Grimudo's explanation, Yurinel and Lucia gasped.
"An ancient method, used only in bygone eras. You know how to wield mana, but not how to enhance and attack or defend with mental arts."
"Mental... attack?"
Even Lucia Western, of the demon hunter clan, had never seen such a freakish assault.
Monsters or spectral beasts sometimes targeted minds, but Grimudo's was on another level. Just look—Harmael rolling on the ground from one hit.
This guy still had such cards left? Lucia stammered without realizing.
"Why... why didn't you use it last time? Were we that much of a non-threat to hide it?"
"Not that I didn't use it."
The Demon King just laughed.
"You blocked it. Probably that priest."
That was his biggest reason for coming here.
"But where is that priest now?"
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