Chapter 191
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Master of Magical Power
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“What? Havier?!”
In the already chaotic [Checkpoint], Dexter's bewildered voice rang out.
He had just heard from Jun on the opposite side of the island that Havier was with Belles from the Lanes Mage Tower.
“This... this is...”
For a moment, Dexter's face went pale.
'My misjudgment. I should have at least given him a heads-up!'
He hadn't mentioned the situation out of concern that Havier might worry unnecessarily.
He never imagined the usually docile Havier would take action like this.
But the next piece of news was so bizarre it blew those thoughts away entirely.
“Havier is helping?”
Dexter stared at Eleanor as if asking what nonsense this was.
She was the one relaying the information from Jun.
“Uh, yeah. Apparently, the magical power dwelling in the Third Prince has some special ability that could help with this incident?”
“What in the world does that...”
As far as Dexter knew, Havier's combat prowess was limited to a few self-defense spells.
What kind of power could someone like that possibly have?
“And about that Sea Serpent...”
But before Dexter could dwell on it, Eleanor passed on more details from Jun.
There was some unidentified magical power connecting Dermaan and the Sea Serpent.
If it snapped, who knew what catastrophe might unfold, so he just needed them to buy time until he resolved it.
'I was about to tell Lord Aden to take out the Sea Serpent, even if it meant some sacrifices...'
In truth, someone of Aden's caliber could handle a Sea Serpent in the ocean without issue.
He could sprint across those raging waves and sever its head from its body in a single stroke.
That was the level of skill Aden possessed.
'But it might grow even stronger in that state...'
If so, before Aden could kill it, the lives of everyone on the island would be at risk.
And sure enough.
Shwaaaaa...
As rainwater poured from the black sky, problems began arising even in the [Checkpoint], which should have been safe from monsters.
“M-monsters!”
“W-what?! What the hell? How did those things get in here?!”
“Monsters are crawling up from the sea!!”
The Sea Serpent cleverly advanced sea monsters without moving itself.
Purple liquid coursed through its veins.
With an overwhelming sense of omnipotence surging through his body, immediate changes took place.
“Wh-what...”
Belles, watching the scene, widened his eyes in shock.
The pure yet mad magical power already swirling around Jun had made him question if this was the same person.
Now, even his appearance was drifting further from human.
'This... this is...'
Human magical power?
This wasn't ordinary mana. As someone from the Mage Tower, Belles had met countless mages and even faced the Tower Lord himself. He was certain.
Only then did Belles realize that the power Jun displayed at the banquet was just the tip of the iceberg.
At the banquet, Jun must have made him look like a child.
'Is he really human...'
A twinge of fear even crept in.
'Stay calm.'
But that fear sharpened Belles' mind instead.
True to his combat mage training, the sense of crisis cleared his head.
'This isn't what's important right now.'
He forced his gaze away from Jun and focused on his own spell.
Was it Jun's chilling glare?
With even greater concentration than usual, Belles hurriedly prepared his magic.
“Hoo...”
Jun finished his preparations and strode out from the protective barrier.
Shwaaaaa—!!
Fierce rain and wind soaked his body, and cold water energy subtly infiltrated his mana.
'The power is about what I expected. In the game, I just brushed it off as a monster skill... How is this even possible?'
Manipulating water attributes over such a vast area was no easy feat.
It wasn't something you could do with a casual wave like Dermaan.
Pouring out energy to blanket an entire island without any backlash? Impossible.
'No way.'
Observing as a mage for a moment.
Jun promptly cast [Shield].
[Enchant Supporter]
[Enchant Magic: Intensity Convergence]
[Enchant Magic: Rotation]
[Attribute: Water]
Bang—!
The water stream, far more compressed than before, shot out like a cannonball, but the [Shield] didn't break as easily as last time.
“Falling for the same trick twice is once too many.”
If he had no intel, maybe, but how could he not know this attack pattern after facing it countless times?
“...”
This time, a different form of mana was detected.
Jun immediately activated [Burning Step] and leaped aside.
Whoosh!
A spear of water erupted from the fiery trail left by [Burning Step].
If his reaction had been a second slower, he'd be skewered by now.
“Cute tricks.”
But Jun wasn't just defending.
He stomped the ground, sending a wave of blue mana rippling outward.
To seize control of the surrounding mana and prevent spears from erupting underfoot again.
'Still, pure defense won't cut it.'
To achieve his goal, he needed to at least cripple it, if not kill it outright.
'I need to force it onto land.'
To do that, make it realize ranged attacks were futile.
'The problem is our elemental matchup. Especially that trident. That's the real pain.'
The trident called the 'Claws of the Thunder Wolf' absorbed lightning attributes.
That's why it didn't react to Jun's [Lightning Call] earlier.
'Can I destroy it?'
Artifacts had durability; brute-forcing lightning might work, but it wasn't efficient.
What about fire then?
'This might have a shot.'
But it wasn't ideal either.
Fire magic weakened naturally in a water-saturated environment like this.
Though for Jun, it wasn't much of a hindrance.
'Just theoretical until now.'
No chance to test it properly, but conditions were perfect.
'Over such a wide area, its mana control can't be that strong. In other words, it's just pulling mana from the sea and dumping it on land.'
Gauging the foe through a mage's lens, he promptly executed his plan.
'Is that... magic?'
Watching Jun and Dermaan's battle, Havier forgot his own plight, staring entranced at the spectacle.
Analyzing attacks, countering, even preempting them.
The flawless, calculated movements transcended human limits, like a transcendent being.
'Me too...'
A long-forgotten dream resurfaced.
The dream that vanished under his mother's shadow.
Lately, it had stirred, leading him to seek Jun's advice several times.
Perhaps that's why Havier analyzed Jun's combat intently.
'He's preparing something.'
Jun, who had focused on evasion and blocking, now began subtle counterattacks.
[Fireball]
A fireball brimming with imagery.
Lacking [Flare]'s penetration perhaps, but could you ignore that blood-red blaze dripping embers?
No.
For the first time, Dermaan fled his position to dodge Jun's attack.
The range was too wide to just twist away.
And that wasn't all.
Boom—!
The crimson fireball hit the water surface, erupting spectacularly and scattering flames everywhere.
Fire mana retaining its blaze vividly even atop water.
Spreading like oil fire—mana dominance that sent chills down the spine.
They exchanged attacks relentlessly.
Dodging, predicting, sealing.
But who held the edge? None other than Jun.
'Unbelievable. Sustaining fire mana this long over the ocean?'
Jun and Dermaan devoured each other's domains like Othello.
Jun eroded the sea with fire spells.
Dermaan countered with water from the downpour, trying to shrink Jun's territory.
But Jun showed no openings.
Rumble!
Finally, Dermaan unleashed non-water attacks.
His trident, infused with lightning, shot blue bolts.
But lightning was Jun's forte too.
[Lightning Whip]
[Enchant Supporter]
[Enchant Type: Flame Pursuit]
The lightning whip entwined in red flames clashed with the blue bolt.
Rumble, fwoosh!
Jun seemed pushed back momentarily, but only briefly.
Soon, the red flames on the [Lightning Whip] devoured the blue lightning, reversing the energy flow.
'No way an artifact's attack holds dominance!'
As Jun predicted, the engulfed blue bolt boomeranged back at Dermaan.
“...!!”
Dermaan tried cutting his mana to halt it, but too late.
Jun's fire mana had saturated the area.
The flame-infused lightning exploded right in front of him, spraying fire everywhere.
Fwoosh!
Blood-red flames encircled Dermaan in an instant.
Jun extended his hand, tightening the blaze around it.
“Devour it.”
The flames surging over the sea bared their fangs at Dermaan.
In that moment, Havier recalled dragon 'Dragon Words' from the 9th layer monsters.
Of course, it was different—merely commanding mana under his control.
Grrr!
Dermaan counterattacked immediately.
Slamming the Claws of the Thunder Wolf unleashed water energy from around him.
A power struggle ensued.
The victor was obvious without waiting.
Cough—!
Dermaan spat blue blood.
While water attributes were endlessly devoured and absorbed by flame pursuit, he'd summoned massive amounts in a short time.
Finally, pride broken, it retreated into the water.
“...?!”
But no paradise awaited escape.
A condensed lightning orb lay in wait underwater.
[Electro Circle]
Zzzzt!!! Boom!!
“Kuhak!!”
Blasted out by the exploding lightning wave, Dermaan pierced the rising flames and soared far into the air.
Splash—!
Even submerged, his body burned.
Desperately drawing in water to extinguish it, Dermaan slowly resurfaced.
His once-pale corpse-like skin bore melting scars, and his brown carapace was scorched red.
Did the burns provoke it?
“Guess it's time to get serious.”
Water attributes around it began to shift.