Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: The "Boom—! Crack—! Kaboom—!" Strategy
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Some time ago, I had discussed with Graktar how we should deal with Durahan.
Durahan was a Weapon Master who could skillfully wield every kind of weapon, and he was also known as the First Hero who had once fought the Demon King.
Even if I were to deploy every spell I knew or draw out my core sword and drag the fight into a battle of attrition, there was no guarantee it would work.
“The answer’s simple! We go with the ‘Bam—! Crack—! Boom—!’ strategy!”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean…?”
At the time, Graktar had thrown punches into the air while spouting incomprehensible nonsense.
The combination of onomatopoeic words that sounded like explosions made even me—someone often called a genius Mage—tilt my head in confusion.
“To put it simply, aim for Durahan’s helmet! That bastard’s body and head move separately, after all!”
“…Go on.”
“First, use explosion magic to hit him with impact and separate the body from the head. Then use freezing magic to prevent spell chanting, and after that, use fire magic to grind everything into dust!”
As Graktar continued explaining, I finally grasped what he was trying to say.
Durahan’s defining trait was that his body parts moved independently. The most terrifying aspect was that you had to fight both the head—which chanted various spells—and the body—which freely wielded weapons—at the same time.
“Durahan’s helmet and armor won’t turn to ashes that easily.”
“With strength and technique, anything’s possible!”
“That’s not the issue. If he’s the First Hero, there’s no way he wouldn’t have prepared countermeasures against magic.”
Even after hearing Graktar’s confident voice, I shook my head. It made no sense for someone of the First Hero’s caliber to have no means of resisting magic.
Just Kyle’s flame armor Ignite, created by his Holy Sword, already had the property of burning mana itself, preventing weak magic from even approaching.
“Bellamora used dreams to nullify physical attacks and magic, and if you search the world, there are plenty of items designed to resist magic.”
That was exactly why I infused magic into physical things like fists and swords when fighting. In the Demon Realm, there were even enemies like Basilisks, whose scales outright repelled magic.
“The most orthodox method would be to load Silence Magic into your fist and bind the helmet with threads so it can’t do anything, but…”
I first voiced the standard method used in battles between Mages.
Those who could use magic without chanting were rare, so depending on when and how Silence Magic was used, the odds of victory increased greatly.
“Then his vision would definitely be obstructed, and his body movements would slow down! When facing an enemy left with only armor, it’s best to aim for the gaps and stab!”
But—
“…However, Durahan’s helmet is probably engraved with rune characters, so there’s a high chance that level of preparation won’t work.”
The opponent wasn’t an ordinary Mage, but a Death Knight—Durahan, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army.
When I had examined the inside of the helmet with eyes that could see mana, I had clearly glimpsed rune characters that looked as though the Chief God Odin himself had engraved them.
“Then what are you planning to do? There’s no solution!”
“No, there are plenty. We could sink him into the deepest ocean where he can never escape, helmet and armor included. Or throw him into a volcanic crater.”
Scratching my chin, I considered the possible options. Even if an existence couldn’t die, there were ways to seal it so it couldn’t move.
“Then why are you worrying so much…?”
“There are too many unknown variables.”
I imagined the situation of fighting Durahan in my head and let out a deep sigh. The most critical variables were three.
First, I didn’t know what the rune characters engraved on Durahan’s helmet actually meant.
They were characters mastered by the Chief God Odin—capable of producing phenomena more powerful and mysterious than ordinary magic—yet I had no information about them.
“The runes on the helmet, countermeasures against the Holy Sword Durahan wields, and the black horse he summons—we have to assume we’ll be dealing with all of them.”
Second was the Holy Sword bestowed by the Chief God Odin.
Originally a weapon given by the gods to kill the Demon King, I had no idea what abilities a sword meant to drive away evil and tear through darkness might possess.
Lastly, there was the pitch-black horse that looked like Durahan’s familiar. The difference between a mounted knight and a regular combatant was worlds apart—disabling the horse first was essential to winning.
“…In the end, your way might be best, Graktar.”
While combining countless possibilities in my head, I arrived at the optimal move to face Durahan.
“The *‘Bam—! Crack—! Boom—!’ strategy, huh?! Hahahahaha! I knew you’d like it too!”
“No—more precisely, I mean targeting the helmet first and breaking it. That seems like our best chance.”
If we did that, Durahan would have to dismount to protect the helmet, and two of the three major variables would be resolved.
The naming sense was terrible, but as a way to fight Durahan, it seemed the most practical.
Thud—! Clang!
Because of the punch I drove straight into Durahan’s face, his head made a crisp sound as it rolled far across the arena floor.
Taking advantage of the moment when Durahan’s body faltered after losing its head, I didn’t miss the opening. I drew my core sword and swung—
And then—
“Kaha, kahahaha!! Kahahahaha!!”
A deafening laugh echoed from afar, making my ears throb.
The source was Durahan’s helmet. Like a madman, he raised his voice while blocking my blade.
“So you used your head. Did you think taking out the helmet first would let you subdue me easily?”
“……!!!”
Contrary to my expectations, Durahan didn’t dismount to retrieve his head, and he displayed monstrous strength as he knocked my sword aside.
Because of the height difference created by his mount, I had no choice but to kick off his armor midair to create distance.
“As expected, you’re an interesting one. What Mage in this world would unravel magic circles like thread and think of forging a sword from a mana core?”
“…As expected, ordinary methods won’t work.”
I wiped the blood trickling from my inner ear. I was starting to grasp what kind of rune characters were engraved inside the helmet.
Word Spirits.
His very words carried the power to destroy or repel objects. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to injure my body, which was wrapped in magic circles like thread.
Would Silence Magic even work on that?
For now, I could only test it.
This is why I connected threads to Durahan’s helmet beforehand.
The technique of unraveling magic circles into threads and wrapping them around one’s fists could be applied like this too.
Shrrrk—!
Grabbing the thread wound around my hand tightly, a round coil completely enveloped Durahan’s helmet from afar.
“With something like that, you won’t be able to stop me. How disappointing.”
Just as planned, it was a coil loaded with Silence Magic—yet his voice still came through.
Perhaps rune characters and magic differed at the most fundamental level. It seemed there was no way to block characters engraved by a god who defined and classified magic itself.
“Become rigid. Turn to stone. And stop.”
Boom—!
This time, a crushing pressure slammed down as if something had struck me from above. My body felt unbearably heavy, to the point I couldn’t breathe properly. I failed to notice Durahan’s horse charging toward me—
Faced with a weapon that distorted the surrounding scenery as if cleaving space itself, I had no choice but to raise my core sword to meet it.
“…The spear that pierced and killed the greatest creature in the world—Javelin.”
Clang—!
I barely managed to knock its trajectory off course with my core sword, but the impact was enough to shave away my body even through the magic circles.
Had I tried to dodge instead of blocking—or trusted the thread’s defensive power—I would have ended up with a massive hole in my body.
Looking at such a weapon, I let out a hollow laugh.
It was laughter born from how revolting and pathetic it was that someone wielding weapons like this had surrendered to the Demon King Ergosum.
I had never assumed that a Weapon Master would fight using only a single Holy Sword. Bringing multiple weapons like this into battle was the natural approach.
But—
If he had possessed such power from the start, if he had held weapons this strong—
Shouldn’t he have at least tried to cut off the Demon King’s head?
My grip on the core sword tightened. One reason was disgust at a First Hero who surrendered without fighting the Demon King. The other was my resolve to never lose to someone like him.
“This time, it’s the hammer that killed the smallest creature in the world—War Hammer. Let’s see if you can endure this too.”
“Ha, damn it. You really have a filthy way with words.”
Boom—!
With each swing, the ground trembled. The hammer that split the earth forced me to create footholds in midair to respond.
If it were me, I would’ve used this in advance to reshape the battlefield into advantageous terrain. Watching an opponent who didn’t even do that made him seem pitiful.
No matter how great the weapon or how outstanding the abilities, if the user was foolish, they could be countered in such an absurd way.
“Quit the cringeworthy talk and draw your Holy Sword already.”
I stretched my hand toward the sky and cast the rain-summoning magic I had used before, watching as dark clouds gathered and the surroundings grew dim.
“You’ll pay the price for ignoring the saying that you should never face a Blue Magic Tower Mage in the rain.”
What I was about to use wasn’t Enchanted Raindrops, which embedded magic circles into raindrops, nor was it unleashing various sword energies with the core sword.
It was the extreme of magic conceived by someone who had lived their entire life as a Mage.
A magic that could one day unite Kyle’s Holy Sword, Victoria’s Divine Power, Anima’s spirit magic, and even Taryon’s mysteries into one.
It seemed it was time to use Idea.