Chapter 328
Chapter 328
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 328
Chapter Title: Reinforcements (1)
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The lake at the heart of Lake Village, the village's pride and joy.
A grand hotel stood tall atop a massive hill that overlooked the lake in its entirety.
The hotel boasted nearly a century of history, and once upon a time, it had been graced by dignitaries from across the continent.
Royalty, nobles, tycoons—the like.
Of course, that golden era hadn't lasted long, thanks to the Pied Piper who expanded his territory.
Even so, the hotel had steadfastly guarded its glory from that hilltop for nearly a hundred years.
Well, it looked like today was the end of the line, though.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—!!!
Fwahahahaha—!!!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—!!!
The hotel was crumbling under the clash of three Grand Master-level mages.
The shattered roof and walls at the top were proof enough.
Yet they weren't satisfied. From the hotel's pinnacle, phenomena rivaling natural disasters erupted upward—an iceberg, a pillar of fire, lightning.
The massive elemental spells generated tremendous physical force just by activating, shaking the hotel as if an earthquake had struck.
“Hraaaah!”
Amid the barrage of spells exploding like fireworks, Philip leaped high, claiming the sky.
He drew a shrunken sword from his bosom and chanted a spell.
With three chants, the sword Philip drew grew to rival the hotel in size, its rigidity and weight surging to absurd levels. It pierced the hotel from top to bottom.
Like the blade of a giant from myth.
The oversized sword sliced through the hotel like cake, accompanied by a roar beyond words or letters. It demolished the structure and churned up the earth.
Power transcending common sense, befitting a Grand Master.
Though it failed to hit the target.
“You still don't get it? That sort of thing doesn't work on me.”
Theador, undaunted by the overwhelming might, dodged lightly and ran up the blade. A feat possible thanks to his School of Life techniques reinforcing his body.
Truly infuriating.
He could attack from range but insisted on close combat—Philip's specialty—just to flaunt the vast skill gap.
So very Theador.
'But I can't complain. He's genuinely superior...'
Philip thought to himself and grinned.
Wasn't it exciting? At his age, to be the challenger. How could he not burn with fighting spirit!
Regardless of the shitty situation, it had been about twenty years since Philip last felt this thrill as the underdog.
“Shrink!”
Philip shrank the massive sword back to normal size.
Theador lost his footing midair as the blade rapidly contracted.
But he didn't panic. Vast mana reserves and superior physique let him regain balance swiftly.
Of course, Philip's response didn't end there.
Philip wielded the sword—now man-sized in one hand—while blasting mana from the other. He seized control of the crumbling hotel debris, using it to pressure Theador from all sides.
Bricks, man-sized cement chunks, rebar—they assaulted from every direction. Theador unleashed mana to form a barrier, repelling the onslaught.
No damage inflicted.
But that was fine. Philip's goal was just to pin him down.
Pouring mana into the sword to its limit—intending to discard it after one use—he layered on weight and reinforcement spells, maximizing its power, then swung down.
The sword arc fell like a silver meteor.
Simple, yet overwhelmingly potent.
As if to prove it, an explosion rivaling the hotel's size erupted at the impact, scattering debris and sending shockwaves rippling through the earth and mist.
Force enough to cleave anything.
Yet Philip was the one screaming from the dust.
“......Urk!”
Philip's strike shattered even the sword he'd used as a weapon, but astonishingly, Theador blocked it at the cost of one arm—and followed up with a mana bolt that blew off Philip's entire shoulder.
Pain no human body could endure.
Philip clutched the wound and retreated. Theador swung his remaining arm to crush Philip's head like a watermelon.
Crack!!
As he swung, Theador felt heat from his half-severed arm—Philip's attack.
Tilda had targeted the wound with her house's signature Ice Eye, flash-freezing it.
Chill rivaling poison spread from the wound, necrotizing the arm in seconds.
“This is somewhat—”
Seizing the opening as Theador glanced at his frozen arm, Philip emergency-healed his missing shoulder with mana and channeled a spell through his feet.
A massive explosive wave erupted from underground, slamming into Theador head-on. Philip was flung back by the backlash.
Reduced to tumbling from his grievous shoulder wound.
Yet Philip gritted his teeth, refusing to waste the hard-won chance.
He channeled mana through his feet again, unleashing a multi-explosion spell.
Mana clumps burrowed like moles in multiple directions before detonating, rivaling an aerial bombardment in scale.
The ground shook once more, mist roiling.
Sensing Theador's mana shield weaken, Philip shouted.
“Tilda!!!”
Tilda, who had held back on large spells to avoid losing control, unleashed her pent-up mana in response.
Starting from herself, she released chill and ice that slowed even the mist's flow, freezing everything except Philip.
Especially around Theador, caught in the blasts, she conjured icebergs rivaling mountains.
Boom—!! BOOOOM! Bang!!! KABOOOM—!! Thud! Thump!! Boom—!!
The rapidly rising ice range shattered Theador's weakened mana shield, inflicting meaningful piercing wounds.
No matter that Theador was an outlier among Grand Masters—damage he couldn't ignore.
Tilda didn't stop, injecting chill into the wounds to necrotize them.
A fight that should have ended by all logic.
But Theador, far from agony, injected his mana through the wounds, wresting control of Tilda's spell in a mana tug-of-war.
“Damn it. Even for you, this is too much!”
Seeing Theador manipulate the space in that split second, Philip hurled his weapon one-handed with expert finesse, shattering the surrounding ice and disrupting the spell.
Then he flung countless shrunken weapons around Theador, releasing the shrink to expand them instead.
Bang—!! KABOOM! Boom! Craaaash!!! Boom! Crunch!!
Swords, spears, axes from East and West, across eras. The thrown cold weapons grew enormous, slashing and piercing the earth.
Like dropping metal bombs instead of explosives.
The descending metal masses were disasters in themselves. Even Theador struggled to block them—especially injured.
As expected, he couldn't fully dodge the blade barrage. Limbs severed, deep gashes exposing innards.
Victory sealed again. Yet Theador erupted mana from his battered body, forming a membrane like an amniotic sac. It enveloped him like a fetus, rapidly regenerating his damage.
Visibly fast.
“......!!”
Philip and Tilda were aghast at the regeneration magic, leagues beyond mere body repair or healing boosts.
They had barely cornered him, only for instant recovery.
Thankfully, at their age, they didn't gawk—they reacted swiftly.
Tilda aided Philip's movement via the frozen ground ice before he even asked, letting him blitz at high speed.
Philip seized scattered giant weapons, shrank them to hand-size, and hurled them at Theador with all his might.
Shiiiing—Boom!!
The flashing blades met Theador's reformed mana barrier.
Philip tried detonating the weapons like grenades via infused mana, but it failed this time.
No more mercy. Theador manipulated the blocking barrier to envelop and compress the explosions.
Effortlessly.
Philip snatched and shrank more weapons, raining them down, but Theador injected mana through his feet, countering the onslaught with a single massive landslide.
No—overwhelming it.
Even with Tilda's ice gripping the ground, earth surged endlessly, swallowing the throws and threatening to bury Philip.
Detonating weapons? Mere fireworks in the landslide.
Tilda conjured a massive iceberg to freeze the earth and halt Theador, but he amplified his earth control, absorbing the chill and shaping a giant serpent to pulverize the ice in one go.
Philip grabbed a spear to pierce the earthen snake, but his legs sank into the ground. Something bound his arms.
Theador had turned Philip's footing into a swamp and restrained his hands with earthen tentacles.
Like any mage battle, the tide turned in an instant.
As the serpent's compressed jaws opened to devour Philip, multiple fire dragons appeared, biting the snake to halt it—and lunging for Theador atop it.
Tap—!
Theador dodged the fire dragons with agility unbelievable for his eighties, then conjured a massive mountain with magic to escape.
Securing distance, he spoke.
“Unexpected. Didn't think you'd show up here.”
Theador's gaze fell on Kevin.
Flames and salamanders cloaking his body, he emerged from the mist with Terence.
Everyone was stunned by Kevin's sudden arrival.
They now realized the surrounding mist was no ordinary fog.
But nearly as shocking were the salamanders cloaking Kevin.
Druid-exclusive spirit arts.
Now in the realm of magic, but still requiring more than talent—spirit selection. No one knew when Kevin had reached such proficiency.
“Can you use spirit arts?”
Theador asked, but Kevin ignored him, directing Terence to check on Philip.
“Elder. Are you alright?”
“I'm fine. Just a scrape... More importantly, how'd you get here?”
“Well... It's a long, complicated story.”
Terence hemmed and hawed, unsure how to explain.
How to say Kevin's aide Xenon used the World Tree to scout, seized mist control, and sent them here?
They were here, but it still felt unreal.
“Then explain at length. I'll wait patiently.”
Theador brazenly addressed Terence as if they were equals.
After trying to kill Philip moments ago.
Not the attitude for an equal.
Then again, maybe natural. Despite his age, he'd overwhelmed One Master Tilda and Honor Grand Master Philip alone.
Even so, that demeanor... As Terence quietly seethed, Kevin called Tilda in a calm voice out of place.
“One Master Tilda.”
“...What?”
“Just in case, Yareli is safe. No need to worry.”
Kevin interjected irrelevantly. Necessary, though.
Tilda, hearing of Yareli, showed relief and glanced at Terence, who nodded confirmation.
“Where is she?”
Somehow, they'd all ignored Theador to chat among themselves.
“Gave her a task. To rescue our students trapped in the secret lab in the village.”
“Foolish move.”
Theador cut in again, irritation lacing his tone.
“Do you even know who's guarding—”
“—By the way, I've assigned a very reliable person to Yareli, so no need for excessive worry. Let's focus on our own jobs.”
Kevin ignored Theador again. Deliberately.
“Heh... Cheeky lab rat.”