Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: The Wizard's Battle (2)
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Nade and Iruki, having cast Teleport, appeared before the cliff of the Uncrossable Bridge. The eyes of the two, who had witnessed the humiliation Shina endured, burned with fury.
“How dare someone like you do that to our teacher…”
“What’s this, there were some sane ones left? Wizards, I swear…”
Lucas was just as displeased. For a so-called archmage to miss his target was a blunder. Besides, it was his job to deal with anyone who was still in their right mind.
“She was a teacher? My apologies. She should have just about reached her destination by now. The ground, that is. Hehehe.”
The moment Lucas finished speaking, Shirone, clutching Shina, teleported up from below the cliff. His gaze was no different from his friends’. How corrupt must one be to throw a person off a cliff?
“I won’t forgive you.”
Lucas paid him no mind. He was just annoyed that his workload had increased.
“Hey. What’s the plan? Is this part of the operation?”
Lucas made sure to clarify who was responsible. He didn’t want any arguments when it was time to settle the final payment. Canis didn’t shy away from it. With Arcane absent, he was the leader.
“Arin, stand back.”
“But, Canis…”
“You don’t need to step in. Focus on controlling the people. I’ll handle this.”
Fighting while maintaining mind control over hundreds of people was too much to ask. As Arin slipped back into the crowd, Canis, now unburdened, approached Shirone’s group.
“Who are you? How did you break free from the mind control?”
Iruki said.
“Isn’t dark magic a bit outdated? There are plenty of ways to counter it.”
“Nonsense. If it were that easy to break, those people behind you wouldn’t still be under its spell.”
*He has a point…*
Canis looked up at the sun. Being on the mountain peak, the light was still strong at this time of day. But an archmage’s disciple shouldn’t need to worry about conditions when facing mere students.
Lucas, who had been watching with his arms crossed, shouted.
“Hey, what are you going to do? This wasn’t in the contract. If you double my pay, I could take care of them for you.”
“I don’t need your help. I’ll handle this myself.”
“Suit yourself, then.”
Lucas stepped back, licking his lips. He acted as if he wouldn’t interfere, but his true intentions were the complete opposite. He would pretend to be uninterested, wait for the fight to start, and then cut them down from behind. That would be the end of it.
“Come on, hurry up. I’m a busy man.”
Shirone and Canis slowly closed the distance. Through Synesthesia, Shirone could sense Canis’s Spirit Zone; it was a sphere roughly fifty meters in diameter, similar in scale to his own.
“I’ll take this one. You two, keep that swordsman in check.”
At Shirone’s words, Iruki glanced back at Lucas.
“Him? From the looks of it, he’s not going to get involved.”
“You never know how he’ll act when the time comes. He’s vicious enough to throw Teacher Shina off a cliff.”
Shirone said, turning back with cold eyes.
“Don’t believe a word he says.”
Iruki swallowed hard. Having switched his mind to combat mode, Shirone’s gaze was completely different from his usual self.
Shirone began to gauge the timing. Photon Output boasted an exceptional activation speed among offensive spells. But the dark element was no slouch in speed either.
No signal could be read from Canis’s eyes. Like the black pupils of an orangutan, only an uncertain future swirled within them.
They were not human. They were the eyes of a primal animal, something only one who had survived countless life-or-death situations could possess.
What kind of life must one live to acquire such eyes?
The two wiggled their fingers. And the moment a bird took flight with a flutter of its wings, they moved simultaneously. Photon Output and the Authority of Darkness moved in a dazzling display, blurring the eye.
Shirone cast Teleport and shot upward. The Authority of Darkness, which had been following him vertically, melted away in the sunlight.
Canis sneered. His target wasn’t Shirone’s body, but his shadow cast upon the ground. Realizing the nature of dark magic too late, Shirone hastily teleported off the cliff. As his shadow vanished a thousand meters below, the Authority of Darkness, having lost its target, dissipated like a flame.
As Photon Output was fired like a machine gun, Canis cast Shadow Wall. A thick wall of shadow rose up before him, absorbing all the photons.
*Incredible power. To block light with darkness.*
A dark power strong enough to defy the natural order. Shirone, who had amplified the power of his Photon Output through thousands of rebounds, could guess just how strong Canis’s mental fortitude was.
*Then how about this?*
Shirone focused photons in his hand, clenched his teeth, and threw. As the Photon Cannon shot forward, Canis maximized the thickness of his defensive wall. The corner of his mouth had barely lifted into a smirk when the Shadow Wall exploded, and a flash of light burst through.
*What is this?*
Feeling a chill, Canis instinctively cast Dark Skin. Just as his body turned black, the Photon Cannon slammed into his abdomen.
“Gah…!”
The limit of impact that Dark Skin could absorb was surpassed the moment of collision, and the shockwave rattled his internal organs. Canis’s body flew with both feet off the ground and disappeared into the forest.
“Canis!”
Arin couldn’t believe it. Physical force contained within light. Light was pure energy. If it contained even a small amount of physical force, all planets near a sun would have been shattered.
Lucas’s expression also turned serious for the first time. A spell that fired a fast-moving beam of light to strike a target. If he had been in Canis’s place, his chances of dodging it would have been fifty-fifty at best.
*This isn’t just bad luck; I might have really stepped in it this time.*
A murderous glint appeared in Lucas’s eyes. This job wasn’t turning out to be very profitable, but he still had a final payment to collect. His twin swords vibrated as he fixed his gaze on Shirone.
***
Etella was somewhere in the mountain range, about 800 meters from the Uncrossable Bridge. And before her stood Arcane, who had become an unofficial Grade 3 Archmage forty years ago.
From Arcane’s perspective, she was an unwelcome guest. Even after resting, he had only recovered about sixty percent of the mental energy he had exhausted casting Abyss Nova.
But that thought was fleeting. Arcane narrowed his eyes as he realized the true caliber of the woman blocking his path.
*Oh, what’s this?*
She wore large, dorky-looking glasses. With her well-developed chest, she had the appearance of a gentle lamb who wouldn’t know the first thing about fighting.
But he could feel it on his skin. Just by standing there, all the energy flowing through her body was completely unobstructed.
Her eyes, in particular, were a masterpiece. The spirit of an ascetic, something unattainable by anyone who hadn't transcended worldly passions, radiated from her pupils.
She was a seeker of truth.
And one far too exceptional to be a mere teacher at a magic academy.
*Good enough to have broken my Abyss Nova.*
Etella, too, was tense, facing an authority on dark magic who had made his name as an archmage before she was even born.
“I have heard of your great name.”
“Which holy order are you from?”
Arcane had guessed Etella was a monastic without even hearing her speak. But her answer far exceeded his expectations.
“I am Bishop Etella of the Karsis Holy Order. Why would someone who once made a name for himself with dark magic commit such a horrific act?”
“A bishop, you say.”
Arcane burst out laughing, as if finding it absurd. For someone not yet thirty to hold the rank of bishop was unheard of back when he was in his prime.
Especially Karsis, which was one of the most prominent holy orders on the continent, with over two thousand dioceses. And a bishop was a position responsible for an entire diocese, equivalent to at least the head of a city.
“Where is Alpheas?”
Etella remained silent. She didn’t know where he was either, but even that fact could be information for the enemy.
“I can practically hear the gears turning in your head. It doesn’t matter if you tell me. I never thought that cunning brat would fall for my magic so easily.”
Just hearing him call Alpheas, who was over sixty, a ‘cunning brat’ made her feel firsthand just how long the archmage before her had lived.
“Why are you looking for the Headmaster? If this is about a grudge, I believe it’s proper to settle it face to face. If you release the students from your mind control and withdraw, I can arrange a meeting.”
“Gahahaha! It seems the brat has built quite a reputation in my absence. But child, Alpheas is not the man you think he is. He’s the most foolish and arrogant bastard in the world.”
“His past doesn’t matter. The Headmaster of today is a man respected by his students.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Arcane playfully stroked his chin. When he thought about it, his memory of Alpheas was limited to that of a brat in his twenties, burning with the passion of youth.
“Now I’m curious. What on earth did that brat do to earn such respect? Let’s hear it.”
Etella saw through Arcane’s tactic. It would soon be time for the sun to set. It was a ploy to stall for time until nightfall, when dark magic was at its most effective.
“If you’re waiting for darkness, then stop. As a teacher, I cannot stand by and watch you commit any more evil deeds.”
“What did you say?”
Arcane scowled, displeased. How dare a child, 120 years his junior, treat him like some wizard who needed to stall for time.
Casting the Authority of Darkness, Arcane’s shadow swallowed the trees. The branches rustled loudly, and the trunks began to bend toward a single point.
“Did you think I was afraid of you just because the sun is out? If so, you have gravely underestimated this Arcane.”
Etella looked up. The trees in a radius of several hundred meters all tilted inward, weaving together like a net to form a massive dome. As the sky was sealed off, the surroundings grew darker than night.
“Die. You insolent thing.”
Arcane sank into his own shadow. It was Dark Port, a specialty of dark magic. By assimilating with darkness, it erased the concept of distance, allowing him to instantly travel to any place where a shadow existed.
The ability to approach without a trace was Dark Port’s greatest strength. The moment Arcane, having closed in from behind, cast the Authority of Darkness, Etella’s body turned into a flash of light and moved away. Dozens of shadow hands clawed at empty air.
With Arcane casting Dark Port again, a high-speed battle unfolded. It was as if there were dozens of Arcanes and Etellas. When Arcane cornered Etella in a narrow radius, she chained Teleports at extreme speed from where she stood. Her upper body appeared as countless overlapping afterimages, and the shadow hands passed through the intangible illusions.
*A bishop of the Karsis Holy Order. She’s quite skilled, indeed.*
Even Arcane, filled with rage, couldn’t help but be impressed. The vastness of her mind couldn’t match his, but her technique and senses were at a level that far transcended her age.
“Then I’ll just have to poke at your weak spot.”
Etella’s eyes wavered in bewilderment. The Authority of Darkness intensified, and over a thousand hands flew at her simultaneously.
A magical power of truly unfathomable depths.
The Zoner’s detection ability was worthy of being called a magic in its own right, but even so, she couldn’t dodge thousands of hands at once.
As the shadow of a branch grabbed her wrist, Etella abruptly halted her movements. If she tried to teleport in this state, her arm would be torn off.
“Ughhhhh…!”
The shadow’s tension was tough like rubber. But Etella’s physical strength was also considerable. Clenching her teeth, she pulled her arm, and the middle of the shadow snapped with a tearing sound.
*She knows martial arts, too? A sturdy child.*
Arcane said with a cruel smile.
“If that’s your preference, then I shall oblige.”