Chapter 231
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: Song of Fire
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jaymer and Taymer were twins.
Their skills had always been rated as inferior compared to other legion commanders in the past.
However, there was another reason they had risen to the position of legion commanders.
Their synergy was the strongest in the empire.
Clang—!
A sharp rapier grazed Aiden's forehead.
Fresh blood trickled down his cheek.
'I missed...!'
The battle had erupted in an instant.
From the very first exchange, Aiden could clearly feel the gap in their skills.
Even so, he pressed forward without retreating, probing for openings in the enemy.
Right then, [Beast Body] warned him of the danger.
Kagak—!
In a split second, he twisted his leg and arched his back, and the rapier shot through the space where his neck had just been.
It was Taymer's ambush, hidden behind Jaymer.
"Good instincts."
"Moves just like a beast."
The two exchanged brief words, and as Taymer retracted his rapier and swung it backward.
A dagger sprang from the empty air and clashed against the rapier.
"But we're no slouches in instincts either."
"......"
Maya, who had been concealed in the shadow dimension, glared at them intently.
Like Eleanor, she could sense it.
Those two were connected on a spiritual level.
She didn't know exactly what role that played.
"Just smash it to pieces."
She had realized it during the battle with Richedaimon.
Her power was a natural counter to their legions.
Maya's body burst out of the shadows and shot toward Taymer's back.
[Shadow Step]
[Spectral Rush]
All sound and presence vanished.
Jaymer's rapier thrust belatedly toward her, but she evaded it with ghostly, blurred steps.
The fangs of Acanthus aimed straight for Taymer's heart.
The absolute opening created in the moment of attack.
With unwavering confidence in the strike she couldn't possibly miss, she thrust forward—only for his shoulder to twist.
"......!"
As if he'd known the attack was coming all along, Taymer spun from the waist, redirecting the rapier he'd been swinging at Aiden toward Maya.
Kakang—!
She barely blocked with the Acanthus fang in her other hand, but the whip-like rapier sent her body flying.
As she soared through the air, Maya caught sight of Jaymer pulling his rapier hand back into a thrusting stance.
Shk—!
A very brief sonic boom rang out as the rapier targeted her abdomen precisely.
It would pierce her.
That's what she thought—
When a jet-black [Shield] appeared.
The obsidian [Shield] that materialized exactly between Maya and the rapier absorbed the blade's force but was quickly pierced through.
The attack, concentrated on a single point, was that powerful—but Maya had already slipped into the shadow dimension during that fleeting gap.
"Their minds are linked. They show no openings—it's chilling."
Jun clicked his tongue after watching the brief exchange.
Level 7 powerhouses with perfectly synchronized breathing.
Their ability seemed to be exactly that.
Mental link.
Sharing all senses with each other made their combat style devilishly tricky, beyond mere difficulty.
And not only that...
[Gale Fury]!
While their attention was on Maya, Aiden unleashed a burst of wind energy and successfully slashed Taymer's back.
But as the man rolled across the ground several times, covered in sand, and stood up.
"......?!"
He was dusting off his armor without a single wound.
"Eleanor, did you see that?"
"Yeah... Those lunatics. They drew power from their army below."
The source of their absurd regenerative ability was none other than the legions camped at the base of the canyon.
"Not content with sharing senses—they have regeneration too."
"Quick on the uptake. It's like you already know something about us."
Jaymer, having missed Maya, fixed Jun with a cold gaze.
"But it seems that ability isn't yours."
"......"
Their eyes widened ever so slightly.
They did share senses—that was their ability—but regeneration was different.
It belonged to the remaining legion commander, the summoner Clement.
"Come to think of it, the one who summoned the Mega Clover isn't here. High chance it's the other one not present. The same guy who scouted us last time?"
"Impressive that you've figured that much out. But... so what?"
The situation wouldn't change regardless.
The brief clash had clearly revealed the skill gap.
They lacked the power to kill a legion commander in one blow, and even if they found an opening like now, recovery nullified it.
Unlike them, with no stamina limits, their foes were flesh-and-blood beings.
Defeat was inevitable for one side.
"You have to compare to see which is longer or shorter. And... whose side do you think time is on?"
"What?"
"Urk...!"
At that moment, Taymer—who had just finished regenerating—spewed red energy.
To their non-flesh bodies, it was akin to coughing up blood.
"How...?"
Clement's summoned beast, the 'Serpent of Resonance,' embedded in their bodies should have drawn spiritual power from the legions for recovery.
What anomaly was this?
"The Serpent of Resonance... is dying?"
The serpents inside their bodies couldn't die unless struck externally.
Yet as they felt its energy waning, Jaymer finally turned his attention to their surroundings.
The volcanic ash erupting amid the lava flows.
Each time it touched their flesh, their mana was gradually dissipating.
"These particles... not ordinary mana clumps. They're infused with attributes. I see. So that ability blocked our initial attacks too."
The slash he'd launched earlier to destroy the volcano from across the canyon.
It had vanished, wreathed in unknown flames—likely due to the fire-attuned mana filling this place.
Meanwhile, Maya, flung far away, rode the shadows back to Aiden's side.
"Maya, you okay?"
"Yeah."
Her side had been nicked by the rapier, but golden holy power rippled over the wound and healed it instantly.
"Our recovery isn't inferior either."
Eleanor's steady voice came from behind, as holy magic enveloped the two.
Vitality coursed through their bodies.
They felt like they could fight all day without tiring.
The twin legion commanders let out hollow laughs.
"You're definitely not like those idiots who surrendered to you."
"Your existence is a massive obstacle to our great cause. But..."
"Even without the Serpent of Resonance, do you think we'll go down easily?"
In the previous clash, they'd simply overextended to quickly take out one foe.
No—in a situation with the serpent, it hadn't even been overextending.
Taymer had recovered and returned in no time, after all.
And in the ensuing battle, they proved it.
Shf!
Rapiers slicing through the air.
Each time, Aiden and Maya's bodies bore small wounds—inevitable ones.
The twins' movements, sharing senses, were overwhelming for Aiden and Maya to follow, and once they committed to an attack, they revealed no gaps.
That wasn't all.
Aiden and Maya's levels were still insufficient to match the pure physical prowess of Level 7 users.
They were barely bridging the gap now with astonishing talent and Jun and Eleanor's support spells.
Injuries accumulated gradually, and while Eleanor's holy magic kept aiding them...
The twins still showed no openings.
Roar...
On top of that, the heat billowing from the volcano since earlier was gradually weakening.
The large-scale spell's duration was ending.
Jun alone couldn't sustain a spell of this magnitude, which was why he'd only cast support magic during the fight so far.
Yet for some reason.
Even as the situation increasingly favored them, Jaymer and Taymer felt a tightness in their chests.
No, it was displeasure.
'What is it?'
'What's wrong.'
At this rate, victory was assured for them.
The mage had claimed time was on their side, but while it might not be for those below, it was for them.
The legions down there were bypassing via an alternate route toward the castle, and the Mega Clovers were still hurling massive boulders at the human lines.
They'd lost a fair number trying some strategy while this mercenary band stalled them, but...
The tide of battle was clearly turning their way.
So what was this nagging unease?
In that instant, Maya's sword grazed Jaymer's throat.
It was a spine-chilling strike.
'How?'
He'd only been briefly distracted—not enough to allow an attack like that.
"Jay."
Then Taymer spoke up.
"These guys... they're adapting to us more and more."
"What?"
Jaymer's eyes flashed confusion, but Taymer could clearly feel it.
Aiden.
The golden-haired youth's movements had been off since earlier.
As if reading their thoughts and moving a beat ahead to counter.
His swordsmanship was plain, solid, nothing more—but...
'It's eerily disrupting me and Jay's rhythm.'
At first, even Taymer hadn't fully noticed, but after taking Aiden's [Gale Fury], he'd been wary of repeats and watching closely.
That golden-haired warrior was adapting to their movements in real time.
Growing mid-battle.
Absurd as it sounded.
"......"
The mage watching them silently had a relaxed expression.
His intrigued gaze on the fight suggested he didn't doubt victory at all.
"Kuh...!"
His conviction solidified the second time he took a hit.
Taymer signaled as Maya ghosted in, and Jaymer tried to respond—but Aiden's sword was already targeting Jaymer's back.
Seamless linked assault in a flash.
He evaded with superior reflexes, but in that moment, Aiden shielded Maya with his body.
The brief lapse in tracking Maya.
The cost was steep.
Piht!
A dagger flew silently and embedded in Taymer's thigh.
It pulsed with potent spirit energy.
As he barely yanked it out and retreated, Taymer realized the source of his growing displeasure.
"They're not reading us... they're mimicking us."
"Memorizing our moves after just a few clashes and using them in real combat...?"
An unfair talent gap.
Denial rose instinctively, but they knew such a being.
"Isn't it the feat our king displayed?"
"And that red mana we've felt since earlier..."
"Not just fire-attuned mana. I see. He carries the king's bloodline!"
Jun's fire mana, plus the flame mana from the 'Salamander's Blessing' Aiden wore—both masked the mana of the first emperor.
The twin legion commanders' eyes gleamed red as they sensed it.
* * *
'I'm still lacking compared to them.'
That was Aiden's impression from the initial exchanges.
The more they clashed swords, the clearer the gap became.
For Aiden, freshly entered Level 6, each was an opponent too much to handle alone.
Yet Aiden could see it.
They reacted hugely to each of Maya's attacks.
Thanks to Jun's spell making recovery difficult, unlike before.
Aiden didn't miss that odd difference and poured all focus into supporting Maya.
Then a wondrous sensation electrified his body.
Until now, Aiden had become the wind himself.
Sharp winds tearing foes and slipping away—he'd viewed the world that way, all combat flowing from it.
But wind blends naturally with anything.
Not becoming it himself, but perceiving surroundings sparked subtle shifts.
Those shifts led Aiden's vision to an entirely new world.
First, he saw Maya's movements, and the enemies' responses like a finely composed melody.
'If I were in her place.'
He superimposed himself onto Maya and the twin commanders' motions.
The next outcome dictated Aiden's action.
Jaymer's counter to Maya's read.
Maya's response to that counter.
Taymer anticipating and moving.
The moment two rapiers and two Acanthus fangs crossed like stars connected in a painting.
He placed his dot on that beautiful canvas.
Red mana wreathed in fire dove precisely into the intersection.
"That's talent for you."
Jun read Aiden's movements.
He couldn't wield a sword, but as the saying went—even a temple dog recites poetry after ten years.
Watching Aiden's growth for two years beside him, he noticed the change.
Aiden's innate talent.
Battles with countless strong foes and spars with knights had fertilized it to full bloom.
Why they moved that way, what that foot placement meant.
It all entered his eyes and was interpreted.
"Guess it's my turn to move now."
Having seen that far, Jun focused his mana as if there was no more need to watch.
He unleashed the spell he'd prepared since earlier.
Or rather, something ambiguous enough not to call a spell outright.
But it was definitely magic.
Drawing patterns with mana to warp phenomena.
The world named it magic.
Jun decided to call it this.
[Spirit Magic]
[Song of Fire]
Living as a Mage in the Hero's Party 232