Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 307
Chapter Title: Master of the Incarnation (5)
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Shirone, without a thought to wipe his blood-slicked lips, turned to look at Ekasi.
“Who are you? A lowlife like you dares to step up?”
“Teacher Bosun is the person I respect the most. You'd do well to shut your mouth.”
“Then you'll have to die too. Bosun is one of the men I hate most in this world.”
True to his nature as a combat mage, Ekasi was not swayed by the provocation. He gripped a handspan-long club from within his robe, held it out before him, and spoke in a cold voice.
“Spear of Mana, Freeze.”
As he opened his palm, the club didn't fall but spun in place. As if pulled by centrifugal force, shafts extended from both ends, transforming it into a spear longer than he was tall.
Ekasi gripped the spear with both hands and spun it around. A cold wind reached all the way to Shirone.
After a dazzling display of spearmanship, he took his final stance and aimed the spear. Where the blade stopped, ice fragments fell with a crackling sound.
Ekasi's specialty was cryomancy. He was a typical combat mage who had focused on honing his magical spearmanship.
The magical weapon, Freeze, in particular, was an expensive armament that any cryomancer would covet. It came with a base high-efficiency option of 128 percent mana amplification, and for cryomancy alone, it could gain an additional 146 percent amplification.
On top of that, the point of freezing mana—the spear's blade—had a special mana amplification option, a whopping 280 percent, making it an absurdly overpowered weapon.
Therefore, when Ekasi cast a cryomancy spell on Freeze's blade, he could achieve a staggering 554 percent mana amplification.
*‘For something made by humans, it's quite the piece of work.’*
Shirone carefully watched the ice continuously falling from around Freeze's blade.
The ability to freeze the atmosphere was something only an authority on cryomancy like Shina could achieve. Even if he was borrowing the power of a magical weapon, Ekasi's combat prowess could not be underestimated.
“Blizzard Blade.”
Ekasi, muttering in a cold tone, closed the distance with a teleport.
As Freeze swiftly cut through space, the air along the blade's path froze. A long, rope-like line of ice formed with a crackling sound before shattering and falling to pieces.
“It's shameful to use this on an amateur, but...”
Ekasi thrust the spear along the shortest path.
When Shirone activated Berserk, Freeze's blade pierced through it, unleashing a shockwave.
Shirone and Ekasi retreated simultaneously. Then, with a spring in their upper bodies, they charged at each other.
An ultra-close-quarters battle unfolded, where a single mistake meant death.
Seeing Ekasi approach, Shirone slammed his Photon Cannon into the floor. The impact was powerful enough to shake the ground, but Ekasi had already leaped into the air.
Lying suspended in mid-air, he gripped the end of Freeze's handle with one hand and swung it as he spun.
A ring-shaped tube of ice formed along the spear's trajectory. A spot on it was stained red with blood.
As Shirone ducked, his back was thinly sliced, and frozen blood burst out, tearing through his flesh.
“Krrgh!”
Shirone kicked off the floor and escaped Ekasi's attack range. But he couldn't hold on for long and collapsed.
The terror of Freeze lay in its ability to turn even a minor wound into a fatal one. The pain intensified as if his back was on fire, and he felt his consciousness fading.
Ekasi held his spear back and watched the state of his prey.
“Your movements are quite impressive. But you're still immature. Be content with becoming fertilizer for my legend as the strongest.”
Just as Shirone was about to retort with burning eyes, something rolled to a stop at his feet.
It was a fresh truffle.
The dessert served at his parents' meal. The same dessert that had hidden a lethal dose of poison within its sweet chocolate.
Shirone turned his head, his face devoid of spirit. Bosun, who had kicked the chocolate over, stood there with a sneer.
“How about it? Want a taste now? It's quite delicious.”
“...I've changed my mind.”
Shirone's face twisted like a demon's.
“All of you, die.”
Dozens of laser beams shot out from Shirone's body.
There was no need for targeting; sparks erupted wherever the reckless beams scraped against the walls. The Grand Hall shook violently.
The nobles were thrown into a panic.
They, who had thought only Bosun's faction would be the ones to die, finally realized this place wasn't safe when Shirone began his indiscriminate terror.
“Dammit! What are you all doing! Kill that bastard, now!”
Personal bodyguards rushed at Shirone. As dozens of swordsmen drew their blades and charged, Bosun's men also unleashed a concentrated barrage of their respective specialties.
Shirone, standing hunched over, activated Berserk.
As a heartbeat resonated from the infinite unit, a form of pure energy, so fast that even the movement of its veil was invisible, occupied the space.
The floor where Shirone stood crumbled like a cracker, collapsing into a deep hemisphere. The mere wind pushed back by the veil of light sent people flying to the walls.
However, the people present were far from ordinary. The first assault failed, but they quickly reformed their ranks and charged at Shirone again.
At their vanguard was Ekasi, with Freeze leading the way.
The wind torn by the spear blade froze into a blizzard and spread behind him. Shirone countered with his Photon Cannon, but Ekasi made a wide detour and instantly took Shirone's blind spot.
*‘This is the end.’*
At the same moment he swung Freeze, a red flash glinted before Ekasi's eyes.
“Kuhk!”
A thin laser grazed past Ekasi's nose as he leaned back.
Losing his balance, he slammed his back onto the floor and stared at Freeze in disbelief. The blade had been sliced off, and the severed end was melting and dripping like crimson lava.
*‘Dammit, what kind of magic is this?!’*
A light that can cut through metal.
Just what level of high output must one command to reach such a state?
The mass-enhanced Photon Cannon was absurdly heavy, and the energy-enhanced laser was terrifyingly sharp.
The guards watching the situation finally realized it. They had misjudged the situation from the very beginning.
From the start, Shirone had considered everyone here an enemy. If so, in a place gathered with the highest nobles, the combat power of their allies was bound to be limited. It was a classic setup for guerrilla warfare.
A guard who had thought that far asked cautiously.
“Commander, perhaps we should activate the mana control device...”
“Why are you even asking, you bastard! Get your ass over there and activate it now!”
Shirone saw the guard run off but indifferently turned his gaze away.
In any case, he didn't have much time left to fight. Half of his consciousness was already in the afterlife. He couldn't tell if his legs were moving or if he was just hallucinating that they were after his limbs had already been torn apart.
*‘I’ll kill them, all of them...’*
There was only killing intent and rage.
If he could kill everyone here, he wouldn't mind dying right now. If he could just soothe the gut-wrenching indignation, he didn't need to think about what came next.
“Keuk!”
Stopping in the center of the Grand Hall, Shirone bent over and vomited blood.
Even the durability of his Adamant Body had reached its limit. The process of his mind collapsing was filthier than any other feeling.
The Immortal Function could theoretically draw upon infinite mental power, but the human body has its limits. This was the end.
As Shirone's movements ceased, the people stopped as if on cue. In the silence, stone debris fell from the ceiling.
“Is it... is it over?”
The people who had been fighting Shirone looked as anxious as if they were trapped in a room with a ghost. Their eyes were hollow, and their faces glistened with sweat.
“Kill him! What are you doing! I said, kill him now!”
The swordsmen, coming to their senses, hastily corrected their stances and charged at Shirone. Dozens of swords flew towards the staggering Shirone, aiming for every part of his body.
Shirone was quietly waiting for the end. And realizing the end had come, he softly murmured.
“Halo.”
With a *bang*, light exploded, and a halo was born.
The halo, born above his head like an angel's, formed a perfect circle, ignoring the process of creation itself. The shocked swordsmen dropped their swords and clutched their heads.
The nobles weren't shocked by the halo's form. But their thoughts were paralyzed for a different reason.
Having seen its power blow away the colosseum earlier that day, it didn't feel real. Then, they finally understood.
If Ataraxia was cast here, the royal castle would vanish without a trace. This was the true end.
The gathering speed of Ataraxia was more than ten times faster than what he had demonstrated at the colosseum. The super-mana amplification circle, which completed its concept in an instant, radiated a brilliant, multicolored light as it awaited the end.
None of the nobles thought of running.
They might be useless in a fight, but they had climbed to their positions with their intellect. No one was stupid enough to be unable to assess the reality of the situation.
No matter how fast they ran, they couldn't be faster than Shirone firing his Photon Cannon. If even one person stepped out the door, that moment would be the end of Kazla.
“Shirone...”
Amy covered her mouth and burst into tears.
Shirone's staggering form was a sight too painful to behold. Blood vessels all over his body had burst, blood streaming down, and even his once-black pupils were red like pools of collected blood.
Having reached the final destination of his life, Shirone was actually crying. Hot, bloody tears streamed endlessly down his cheeks, his face crumpled like a child's.
He forced the words out with a choked voice.
“You... you were the ones who tormented me first.”
Amy couldn't bear to watch and collapsed to her knees.
“You tried to kill me. I didn't do anything wrong, but you tried to kill my mom, my dad, and my friends!”
No one responded to Shirone's anguished cry. It looked like an attitude of repentance, but in reality, everyone was racking their brains on how to escape the situation.
Bosun's mind, in particular, was working faster than anyone else's.
He had underestimated Shirone too much. No, that didn't make sense. He had only assessed him based on the facts. If one's level could improve simply by getting angry, everyone in the world would be a great mage. What on earth had happened to him?
*‘Even if the garrison arrives now, it'll be too late. Where did I go wrong? Have we really lost? No. Does it make sense for the kingdom to be destroyed by a single person? It can't be. No, it's something that must not happen.’*
Bosun took a cautious step forward. But when Shirone glared at him with his red eyes, he immediately froze.
Shirone was currently insane and holding a bomb of mutual destruction. Negotiation was the only way to survive.
“Alright, I get it. I get it. Let's talk this out. First, I apologize for tormenting you. I'll compensate you in any way I can. So, for now, get rid of the halo and...”
“Kneel.”
Shirone said in a raspy voice.
“All of you, kneel. Nobody move. There's something I must hear before I end this.”
Bosun blinked, then knelt without hesitation. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, this was no time to be swayed by emotions.
“There, is that good enough? Are you satisfied now?”
Shirone glared at the nobles behind Bosun.
When Bosun turned his head and gestured with his eyes, they began to kneel one by one.
Even Amy and Reina knelt.
Shirone had seized the initiative with his strategy of mutual destruction. If a situation was created where he seemed to have allies, someone would inevitably try to exploit that weakness.
But Orkamp and Eliza thought the opposite.
Shirone had brought down the Theraze faction. He would become a proud son of the kingdom and lead Kazla into the future.
Eliza approached Shirone, her face filled with emotion.
“My son, you've saved the kingdom. I'm so proud. Come here. Let me tell you how proud your mother is of...”
The Photon Cannon flew towards Eliza's head.
A royal guard who had been kneeling leaped out like a beast, embraced her, and fell. The heavy mass slammed into the wall, carving out a clean hemispherical crater. Had it hit a person, their head would have been blown off.
“Sh-Shirone...”
Terrified, Eliza trembled, her face pale. The afterimage of the Photon Cannon was still burned into her retinas.