The Mage Versus the Outlaw
The outlaw Pellinore—no, Pellinore of the Black Round Table—was boldly stepping forward to face the Archmage Werner Alton. Even though he knew exactly who I was. Even though he understood my reputation perfectly well, he still chose to stand against me.
“Hmm. Using a dagger instead of a longsword or a blunt weapon despite that massive build… That’s unexpected.”
Pellinore let out a small snort of laughter, readjusted his grip on the dagger, and answered in a proud voice.
“How romantic. Fine, I’ll admit it—that does sound a little cool.”
From the very beginning, the moment a thief revealed himself and chose to fight in such an open space, he had already started at a disadvantage. Yet here he was, willingly giving up the first move simply because he outnumbered me… Just how much did this guy love playing fair? And a thief obsessing over honor on top of that? It was so stupid it was almost… endearing.
On top of that, he had abandoned weapons that could have taken full advantage of his massive physique simply because he called himself a thief… He was so overflowing with romanticism that it sent a shiver down my spine.
“Very well. I, Werner Alton, shall fight you with everything an Archmage has to offer.”
This guy was stubbornly clinging to his identity and pride as a thief while facing me. In that case, the least I could do was fight him purely as a mage. I pulled out the magic tome Enoch from within my robes.
“Page 104. Open the Chapter of Lightning.”
The book flipped open with a soft rustle, revealing a page adorned with lightning patterns and a dragon.
“O thunder that shakes heaven and earth━”
"O dragon, swim across the earth!"
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
Pellinore’s subordinates gripped their weapons and glared at me. If they threw their weapons right now, they might have had a chance. But they didn’t resort to such cowardly tactics.
The moment I finished the incantation, Pellinore and his men charged at me. But they were all swallowed whole by the jaws of the thunder dragon. It was a spell on an entirely different level from the ‘Lightning Serpent’ magic I usually used. They should have died instantly.
Just as I was about to relax, a voice rang out.
“You’ve got to be kidding me… You’re still standing after taking that? No—how are you even on your feet?”
Pellinore was standing tall without a scratch. That alone was incomprehensible, but even his subordinates were completely fine. They looked as fresh as if nothing had happened. Only Pellinore himself was covered in soot and breathing heavily.
It was logically impossible. The thunder dragon’s jaws had swallowed every last one of them. So why was only the strongest among them, Pellinore, the one who got hurt? What the hell just happened?
“It seems you possess a unique constitution, just like the others of the Round Table.”
“Hahaha! Explaining your ability in such detail—you really are an idiot!”
Explaining your own ability in exhaustive detail was already stupid enough, but the fact that he absorbed the damage instead of his subordinates… Pellinore was without a doubt the greatest fool in the world.
Pellinore and his men charged at me once again. All of them rushing forward with daggers drawn was actually quite threatening.
“I’ll admit it. You lot are far more troublesome opponents than that Gawain bastard.”
Here, instead of counterattacking with martial arts like I used to, I had to defend myself as a mage. That was the bare minimum courtesy I had to show while dealing with these idiots.
"Wings of steel, protect me."
Large steel wings sprouted from my back, folded once, then spread wide, blasting them away. Of course, the ones who slammed properly into the walls were completely fine. The only one spitting blood was Pellinore.
“That was enough damage to kill everyone here several times over… and you’re still standing? You said your constitution absorbs impact. Does it also grant you the indestructible body of a diamond?”
“Yeah, that’s the right answer.”
It was certainly annoying. Even when I dodged their attacks and launched magical counterattacks, Pellinore’s subordinates wouldn’t die. And Pellinore himself, who absorbed all that damage, was several times more troublesome. Even after taking damage that would have killed a normal person hundreds of times over, he still hadn’t turned into a pile of bleached bones like Jeong Mong-ju.
Pellinore was earnestly pleading with me to join the Black Round Table. But I had no intention of compromising. Just as Professor Helmut had said, you don’t negotiate with terrorists. And the Black Round Table bastards were the worst kind of scum among terrorists.
“How many times do I have to say no? No matter how small it may be, I cannot overlook atrocities like what I saw the Black Round Table commit today.”
“So you would ignore the deaths of those right in front of you to prevent tragedies in the future? In that case… I will become the thief who has cast aside righteousness and save those who have been abandoned first.”
If I had to tolerate small evils in order to prevent greater ones… I didn’t have the confidence to look at the people who would be sacrificed to those small evils. Just as His Majesty the Small Emperor had said, no matter how minor the evil, committing it is still wrong.
Pellinore swung his dagger at me with a look of resignation. Dodging the chain scythes and hidden weapons his subordinates were throwing was already difficult enough, but the dagger swings from this walking tower of muscle were ferocious too.
I had wanted to save this spell, but… I didn’t want to die, so I had no choice but to use it.
“Tsk… Page 101…”
Dodging Pellinore’s dagger was becoming increasingly difficult. Maintaining the limits of a mage’s evasion techniques while avoiding his strikes was exhausting. My body was already covered in clear cuts from where the blade had grazed me. The robe I had been wearing was completely torn to shreds, and the shirt underneath had long since been dyed red. There were no deep stab wounds, but the number of shallow cuts was overwhelming.
“Open the Chapter of Flames.”
"O inferno that judges the sinners of hell━"
⟨ HELLFIRE ⟩
In the brief moment I was chanting the spell, Pellinore seized the opening. I had anticipated that much and managed to dodge, but I was stabbed in the shoulder by an unexpected attack that his enormous body had been concealing. A dagger thrown from afar pierced straight through my shoulder, but I endured it.
“Purify those swallowed by evil.”
Flames erupted from the ground and began to burn Pellinore’s subordinates. It was a spell the young Werner had developed—one that burned only people, not objects. As his men screamed while being consumed by fire, Pellinore vomited blood. There was no way he could remain unscathed after absorbing dozens of times the damage of being burned alive.
“How about that? Your proud subordinates won’t be able to move anymore. Even if the damage is gone… there are times when a person simply cannot move…”
Pellinore’s men were screaming as they burned. Even though he was absorbing all of that damage himself.
“I’m an orphan too, you know. We’re both equally lacking in refinement and education. And I only noticed because you proudly blabbered about your own constitution while going on about honor and fairness.”
Pellinore had already revealed the limits of his ability with his own mouth. In that case, there was only one thing I could do. Burn a large number of thieves all at once. If I clumsily attacked just one or two and they started getting cautious, it would all be for nothing. On top of that, if the building caught fire, not only me but the other children would die as well. Therefore, I had no choice but to use the ‘Hellfire’ spell that Werner had developed.
It was the ultimate fire-attribute magic capable of burning many enemies to death at once, and it could be used indoors without any fear of the flames spreading. It was a shame that the spells recorded in Enoch were one-use only and could no longer be cast after this, though.
“I really have to admit it.”
Enemy or not, some things deserved to be acknowledged.
“You’re the coolest bastard from the Black Round Table I’ve seen so far.”