The Magician's City (10): Valion
At the name Valion, Sepia recoiled in pure terror. The former duke and current Greatest Sword of the Empire—why in the world was he here?
“What’s with that face? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Valion spoke with a sly grin, smoothly adjusting the distance between them. The polished movement snapped Sepia back to her senses. The Valion she knew was an old man on the verge of his twilight years, not this vigorous young swordsman. In other words, this was Valion, yet not the Valion she remembered. A youthful version of him had been manifested here.
The Valion who had witnessed the pinnacle of the sword could defeat the current Sepia even if she died and came back to life. But this young Valion, who moved with footwork meant to close even this short gap, was an entirely different story. After all, if Valion was a genius, then so was she.
She was the vessel that the Golden Magic Tower had finally unearthed to contain the very essence of magic. The final puzzle piece that would twist the ‘Fate of the Stars.’ That was Sepia. Therefore, no matter how great Valion might be, at the same age she—raised with the full power of the Golden Magic Tower—believed herself stronger. That was how Sepia thought.
She arranged her elemental weapons and widened the distance from Valion. The fundamental nature of combat between mage and swordsman always came down to a battle of reach. The swordsman sought to close the gap; the mage fought to keep it open. Under normal circumstances, the moment the distance had already been narrowed, Sepia would be at a disadvantage. But a first-rate mage was someone who compensated for even that weakness.
For Sepia, who had already reached the fourth circle at the tender age of fifteen several years ago, countless countermeasures against swordsmen had been prepared. Mounting a disk-shaped stone construct, she shot backward. Right after, Valion kicked off the ground and hurtled forward like an arrow.
In the pouring rain of elements, Valion spun his sword in a fluid circle.
Dragomil Two-Handed Sword Art — Form 2: Dark Dragon Ascension
A heavy current of air drew a perfect circle. Every spell shattered like an egg hurled against stone.
“A young mage who uses dozens of spells at once. I’ve never heard of anyone like this before?”
Valion calmly dissected Sepia’s fighting style. She wasn’t simply hurling raw elements—she was a mage who deployed dozens of intricately composed spells from various elements. Such a thing was rare enough to be unheard of throughout history. If one paid any attention to the world at all, rumors should have reached their ears. The fact that he knew nothing about her identity struck Valion as genuinely strange.
In truth, Sepia’s fame was immense. But this was a virtual world. No matter how famous she was in reality, there was no reason for a virtual entity like Valion to recognize her.
“At least tell me your name. What is it? Shulin?”
“You don’t need to know!”
Sepia launched her elemental weapons while preparing her signature magic. A black light swirled in Valion’s eyes. It was the first awakening of Refinement magic—physical reinforcement. With terrifying speed he sliced through every elemental weapon, then charged straight at her, cutting through the air.
A colossal spear of flame pierced him. Her signature magic, Annihilation, had activated perfectly. Yet Sepia gritted her teeth. Valion had simply stepped onto the spell and kept rushing forward.
Against an agile swordsman with a body like that, slightly faster and more precise magic was necessary. In that case—
Water surged upward and took shape. Splash. Chains of water swirled around Sepia’s body before stretching toward Valion. New rings multiplied as if replicating themselves, extending the chains. Valion stepped on the remnants of Annihilation and soared into the sky to evade.
Boom! A mass too dense to be water slammed into the earth. The Annihilation exploded far behind him. Valion floated through the air, sword tip leveled at Sepia. It was obvious from his expression that he believed, having dodged every attack, it was now his turn.
A massive misconception.
Splash! A new ring formed near the middle of the water chain, lunging for Valion. Clang! When he struck the chain aside, the sound of metal clashing against metal rang out. A flawless defense. Exactly what one would expect from the future Greatest Sword of the Empire.
However, Sepia’s magic was far from over.
“Linked Azure.”
The rings proliferated. Wherever connection was possible—any link in the chain—new rings bloomed without hesitation. In an instant, dozens of chains formed and assaulted Valion from every direction at once.
Got him.
The joy of defeating the future Greatest Sword of the Empire made Sepia cheer inwardly. That was the exact moment.
Valion murmured softly.
“Your magic is outstanding, but your ability to link spells is frankly terrible. You should accumulate more real combat experience.”
Valion raised his sword. The Dragomil style was a sword art modeled after dragons. Many humans admired dragons—the progenitors of magic and the apex of all life. Even in the ancient days when gods roamed freely, dragons had carved out their own domain without yielding an inch.
The Dragomil style consisted of seven forms in total. So far Valion had used only two: Form 1 and Form 2. One for piercing an enemy’s defense, the other for defending against their attacks. Then what form would be effective when attacks poured in from every direction like this?
The answer was Form 3.
Dragomil Two-Handed Sword Art — Form 3: Dark Dragon Thousand Streams
A black line lingered in the air. Every water chain was sliced cleanly in half and crashed to the ground.
Sepia desperately prepared her next spell, but Valion’s accelerating body was faster. He landed on the very disk-shaped stone construct Sepia was riding, pressed his sword to her throat, and asked.
“So, what exactly is your—”
Kwaaaaang!
The disk exploded. Sepia transferred to a new magical construct and fled with everything she had. For now—for now she needed to regroup—
…Huh?
Sepia opened and closed her mouth in confusion. Why was the world slowly tilting? Why was strength steadily draining from her body?
Thud.
Sepia fell. Once she hit the ground she crawled forward, then looked down. Her legs were gone.
“What a nasty habit you have, young lady.”
The agony that arrived a moment later tore a scream from Sepia’s throat. Valion scratched his cheek with a troubled expression and slowly approached her.
“This should suffice.”
Valion’s blade flashed beneath the sunlight. Even while screaming, Sepia’s mind raced. Sword energy that could precisely sever an enemy’s legs in the very instant of an ambush. This was the future Greatest Sword of the Empire? Adelian, you insane woman. What the hell are you thinking, unleashing something like this—!
“Consider it an honor to die by this Valion’s blade. Now rest.”
At Valion’s closing line, Sepia squeezed her eyes shut and braced for the coming pain. But nothing happened.
What?
Feeling strange, she opened her eyes. The dark world brightened again, and Valion—still standing with sword drawn—entered her vision. Only he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at an entirely different spot.
Valion spoke.
“Looks like we have quite a few guests. Did someone throw a party without informing me?”
“It is a party,” a familiar voice brushed past Sepia’s ear. The newly arrived intruder continued speaking.
“When you raise your disciple later, please tell him to create a few more spells.”
There were many advantages to a virtual space. The greatest was that life was never truly at risk. Even if an arm was severed, a leg cut off, or a heart pierced, it was all virtual. None of it affected reality. Therefore, anything done here would not count as breaking her promise with Kelton. Just as harming oneself in a dream did not violate Kelton’s conditions.
After such a long time, I enjoyed magic through all sorts of methods and leisurely climbed the tower. The moment I reached the tenth floor, however, I blinked. A woman I had seen once before was crawling across the ground with both legs gone.
From the conversation, it seemed the man who had cut off her legs was Valion. I found myself impressed. Adelian, that madman—even prepared Valion? Well, it was a young Valion rather than one in his prime, but Valion was undeniably the Greatest Sword of the Empire. His talent had no choice but to be extraordinary from the start. The proof was right there. Hadn’t the future of the Golden Magic Tower been reduced to that sorry state?
“My name is Valion Dragomil. What is yours?”
“It’s Ruina.”
“Ruina. What is your purpose?”
“Well, you see…”
I quickly assessed the situation. The label on the tenth floor read ‘Cooperative Battle.’ In other words, Valion had not been created as a one-on-one opponent. He was an enemy meant to be defeated by working together. I wasn’t sure exactly how strong a Valion around twenty years old might be, but seeing that he had reduced Sepia to a crawling animal, he had clearly reached at least the second stage of Refinement magic long ago.
The wisest choice would have been to stall for time until new allies arrived on the tenth floor, or simply restart the stage and fight alongside Sepia, but…
I slowly drew up my mana.
As I said, virtual spaces had many advantages. Even death was fake here. In a place like this, there was simply no reason to avoid a fight. Besides—
Whoosh.
Flames blazed inside the lantern. A red line carved itself through the air. Rumble. A wooden giant rose from the earth. Valion charged toward me, slicing the explosion apart with his sword. I prepared another spell.
If not now, then when? I might as well use as much magic as I want. Don’t you think?
