Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Sand Ghost
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As I walked out of the arena, a barrage of criticism and jeers poured down.
From the perspective of the spectators who came to watch the fight, I must have looked like a lunatic who slaughtered demons and monsters, so this kind of reaction was already expected.
After all, the hero of humanity, conversely, held the same meaning as a brutal slaughterer in the demon realm.
In the first place, Grelktar, who treated me favorably, was the exception.
"Kill him! Kill him! Tear Astal Kaiseroth to pieces!"
"Glory to Demon King Ergosum! Glory to Perseikon Hollow!"
Listening to the resentful voices of demons and monsters, I ironically felt that I had lived my life correctly.
Because among those speaking like that, there probably wasn't a single being that hadn't killed or eaten humans.
I deliberately avoided harming innocent monsters or demons. Those I killed were only those who crossed a certain line—either by threatening first or committing crimes.
"...The 'Mad Mage' isn't a wrong description."
I couldn't help but laugh at Siren's introduction of me. I was indeed a mage who would commit crazy acts to save others.
To ensure no one died before my eyes ever again, I spent my entire life studying magic.
For this, I joined the Hero's Party as a mage and wrote a will, pretended to date the Saint Victoria through a contract relationship, and even did the stupid act of rejecting her heartfelt confession.
If anyone knew I did these things while hearing all of Victoria's inner thoughts, they would surely treat me as a madman.
- Where did this gutter-born wench roll in from, daring to look down on my beloved Astal? I can't even grab a hammer and flip the arena...
Hearing Victoria's inner thoughts even from a distance, I ended up thinking that I absolutely must not lose.
Because the Saint, who was living on borrowed time due to the flowers blooming on her body and who used harsh words to hide her feelings, had now fallen in love with me.
"Lord Astal─! Do your best!!"
Victoria, who was shouting to cheer for me even from the heart of enemy territory.
Since a Perception Hindrance spell had been cast beforehand, it was a voice only I and my comrades could hear.
To respond to Victoria's feelings, I clenched my fist and raised my arm high towards the sky.
If I waved or acknowledged in the direction the voice came from, Victoria or my comrades could be in danger.
"The opponent of the Mad Mage, Astal...! Is the ghost of the desert that devours everything, a legendary monster said to have never been defeated even once. Sahart!"
Immediately after Siren's introduction, my opponent appeared.
A monster that appeared, stirring up a blinding sandstorm, obscuring the previously clear view.
"Krrrrrrrrrl─!!"
Sahart, who looked like a giant antlion with several human arms attached, let out an ear-splitting shriek the moment it saw me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The moment I saw that monster, I recalled the story Grelktar told me yesterday.
Ultimately, any living creature, regardless of its form, can have its attack and defense patterns predicted by carefully observing its movements.
And to achieve victory in this arena where no one can truly die, it's crucial to first render the opponent immobile.
"...Guess I have to try."
The monster before my eyes was a type I was seeing for the first time, even after surviving a year wandering the demon realm.
Even if I used the Coresword to slice and incapacitate it, the fatigue and pain from the recoil could negatively affect the next battle.
"Human, tasty... Eat! Crush into pieces with jaws!"
"You're not even an orc, yet you talk stupidly. Are weird cries and that the only things you can say?"
"No! Human, I will kill you!"
Watching Sahart clack its massive jaws with a metallic sound, I immediately unraveled the magic circle and wrapped it around my entire body.
First, I should be most wary of those jaws. Originally, it's a creature that digs sand pits called antlions to hunt prey.
Pshwoosh─!
As if angered by the taunt, Sahart burrowed underground, demonstrating its power by turning the entire ground I stood on into sand.
Judging by the flow of magical power I'd been seeing in my vision and the constant elemental transformation around its jaws, it seemed it wasn't just a brute-force type despite its appearance.
'The opponent is an earth mage. And a fairly high-level one at that.'
At minimum, a Dragon-grade mage, just below Sage-tier.
Because beings who can control space like this to summon sandstorms and transform elements to turn solid ground into quicksand are rare.
"No matter how much of a flying, crawling mage you are, a human cannot escape my Sand Hell!"
Sheer cliffs and swirling ground. The arena floor, now completely turned into grains of sand, had become difficult to even stand on properly.
Sahart used the grotesque human arms on its back to scatter sand in bizarre motions, trying to sweep me into its maw.
"Ah─! Here it is! Sahart's patented technique! [Graveyard of Mages]! By scattering sand with various spell-disruption properties, it blocks all magic the opponent possesses!"
Watching this, Siren and the spectators cheered joyfully, rooting for my opponent. They seemed to think that using this method would leave a mage helpless to die.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ They don't seem to know, but magic nullification is only possible when the practitioner's level is the same or lower. That was the reason why Bellamora and Durhan could see through my Perception Hindrance spell, and why Sahart cannot block my magic now. The rules set by Odin, the chief god who defined all things related to magic, including a mage's realm, and taught magic to humanity so they wouldn't be devoured by monsters and demons anymore, were absolute.
Except for me, who can temporarily cross that boundary by combining various magics.
To counter it, I used the thread-like magic circle wrapped around my body, just like last time, to cast the gigantification spell—Megamorph.
In an instant, my body swelled like the giants from myths, growing taller than even the spectators seated in the highest parts of the arena.
"...Impressive. Originally, Megamorph shouldn't enlarge the body to this extent. Did unraveling the magic circle like a thread cause a different effect?"
The Obsidian Knight, looking down at me from the upper tier and laughing. Durhan seemed to find this spectacle amusing, not even sparing his applause.
By unraveling the magic circle like thread and wrapping it around the body, one could expand the spell's effective range across the whole body or dynamically respond to the opponent's attacks as if wearing armor made of it.
Thanks to my increased size, Sahart's Sand Hell no longer worked on me, and I grabbed the jaw of the creature rummaging between my feet and lifted it up.
Seeing Sahart struggling desperately not to leave the sand, like a tree with deep roots, I almost felt a pang of pity.
"What is this! The invincible technique that has devoured countless mages has been breached! Sahart is in crisis...!"
Hearing Siren recite its achievements, sensing something strange, I realized this creature had indeed eaten other humans.
"Hey, you idiot! You should have dismembered its limbs before it could cast magic!"
"If you win here, you can burn the Hero's Party alive or ravage the women all you want!!"
"Sahart! Sahart! Sahart!"
Seeing the spectators, who in this situation were far from cheering for me, the mage of the Hero's Party, but were instead filled with thoughts of ravaging and killing my comrades, I changed my mind.
Indeed, only odd ones like the orc Grelktar were worth counting on one's fingers.
Because the idea of a monster or demon regretting their sins or stopping their evil deeds was something that couldn't exist in this world.
"Kriririk! Let go, human...!! I am the one who will kill you and rise to become one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings...! I cannot die here...!"
"Ah, really? The Four Heavenly Kings here now seem to be like that Death Knight who became one after the first hero begged the Demon King to spare his life..."
I cupped the entire Sand Hell containing Sahart in my palm and spoke. Such shocking facts were best revealed when all attention was focused.
"Maybe if you die once and are reborn, you could become one of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings too? Of course, you'd probably be utterly useless."
With a sound of tearing air—*BANG, KWOONG*—I slammed Sahart onto the ground. Seeing it squirming like a worm with its back already broken, I smiled bitterly.
"Not yet, I'm not dead yet...! Continue the match...!! Soon, I will celebrate victory by drinking the blood and chewing the flesh of the lover you cherish─"
-CRUNCH!
Disgusted by Sahart, who continued to howl even after defeat, I ended it by grinding it under my foot.