Chapter 232
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 232
Chapter Title: Warrior of the Sun
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Intense flames erupted into bloom.
The fire-attribute mana that Jun had summoned danced gracefully, as if rejoicing in delight.
Mana held no such thing as emotion.
It wasn't a living being, nor even a spirit.
Yet there was something it desired.
A 'will' to become something.
They longed to become the wind and race across the plains.
To become water and form vast oceans.
At times, to become raging infernos that scorched forests.
To become earth, the mother of all.
Jun clothed them in the garb of attributes.
Not mere attributes born of nature.
Pure blazing fire attributes, forged from the imagery in his heart.
The mana donned those garments of attributes, and soon it became a fierce summons.
That summons warped the dimension with intense force.
And another dimension connected to this world responded.
The world of spirits.
The spirit realm, long severed, opened a door to this world.
"Wh-what have you done...?"
"What the hell are you doing, you bastard!"
Jaimer and Taimer gaped in horror at the miraculous sight of dimensions linking, glaring at Jun.
But Jun offered no reply.
He simply stared at those existences beyond.
"......"
Countless presences could be felt.
Even Jun, who couldn't sense souls, felt them so vividly.
Among them, a particularly powerful presence reacted to his mana.
Was it drawn to the blazing fire filling this place?
From its rippling form beyond the dimension, he guessed it was a salamander.
'Even a salamander would be enough.'
If a fire spirit descended into this place brimming with fire attributes.
And absorbed all that fire attribute here, it would deal meaningful damage even to those level 7 powerhouses.
More than that, it would be variable enough to shift the tide of the entire war.
That was his conviction.
When it was thus.
"......!"
The spirit realm suddenly fell silent.
Just as the flame lizard was about to cross, it recoiled.
Not just it.
Other curious spirits trembled and retreated, and something else emerged from beyond.
"......"
An utterly, profoundly intense presence.
Fire itself seemed to take interest here.
[Word Spirit, 'Odyssey of the Lazy Pilgrim' influence reduced by 50%.]
Only after releasing the Word Spirit could he finally gasp for the breath he'd been holding.
He lifted his head to gaze at the being that had crossed the dimension.
And the other spoke.
-It's been ages since I visited another world.
It gazed this way languidly, as if savoring the song of fire Jun conducted.
Jun recited its name from the writhing memories of his past life.
"Ifrit......"
The supreme ruler among fire spirits.
In that instant, Jun felt his mind go stark white.
As if his body had frozen and plummeted into ocean depths.
He'd felt this sensation only once before, in life.
Mana exhaustion.
From beyond the dimensional rift. Just sending its will here drained an immense amount of mana.
With the Word Spirit released, he could finally breathe.
He looked up at the being that had crossed.
The other spoke.
-A novice spirit summoner? No, not spirit magic. It's governed by entirely different rules. You've simply heightened the attributes to the extreme and forcibly torn the dimension? Impressive.
Jun barely managed to speak.
"......Bigger fish than I expected."
-Your power intrigued me that much. But it's all too incomplete to wield my full strength.
Of course.
This magic wasn't for summoning spirits proper.
It merely opened the spirit realm to borrow a fragment of their power.
That an Ifrit had been drawn by such magic was astonishing.
Jun's blazing fire attribute was that remarkable, worthy of the supreme fire spirit's interest.
-This method displeases us. Though drawn by the fragrant attribute, we can only watch. We can't properly sense this world beyond the boundary. We can't even use half our power that way. That's why your mana drains so fast.
"......"
He hadn't considered that far.
Jun had meant to offer his attributes here in exchange for their power.
By human logic, it wasn't a fair trade.
-If you want more details...... yes. Ask that special mage in your world. She'll know.
"A special mage? Spirit summoners are rare among humans."
-Not a spirit summoner. A mage like you. A woman who communes with us as the soul of her dead little sister.
"......!"
Someone flashed through his mind.
"......So the 8th circle's secret was that."
Ranes.
As her name crossed his thoughts, Ifrit continued.
-Still, I'm glad to have seen this much. Leaving a gift should be fine.
With that, Jun's mana began draining like an ebbing tide once more.
Ifrit wasn't just sending its will now; it was directly influencing this world.
"Kuh......"
His mana circuits heated up in an instant.
All the blazing fire attributes filling this area were absorbed by Ifrit, replaced by its own flames manifesting here.
"......This is."
A giant of fire.
The fire giant bearing a fragment of Ifrit slowly rose.
-Farewell, child of man. Until next time.
With those final words, the dimensional rift closed, cold winds howling through the canyon once more—but immense heat soon overwhelmed the chill, asserting its presence.
As the fire giant rose, it extended a hand, and a colossal flaming sword shot skyward endlessly.
"What is that?!"
"Block it!!"
Sensing the overwhelming aura, Jaimer and Taimer charged at it.
The giant's sword was aimed at the army camps.
Aiden and Maya tried to interfere with the twin Thousand Commanders' sudden move, but forcing level 7s at full power was impossible.
Wuuuung—!
They poured soul-linked power into their rapiers.
In that moment, Aiden and Maya bit their lips.
Realizing the enemy had a hidden card, just as they did.
Whether truly going all-out or not, the two level 7s ignored Aiden and Maya closing in and thrust their rapiers.
Normally, adding one force to another doesn't simply make two.
There's loss when filling each other's gaps.
But the twins' technique defied that.
Their perfectly honed synergy pierced forward with devastating might.
Even Jun's [Shield], or Aiden and Maya's combined efforts, couldn't evade those rapiers now.
A sure-kill technique to slay one of the four here—they unleashed it at the fire giant.
Shiiik!!
The twins' rapiers caused a sonic boom.
The shockwave flung Aiden and Maya back, right at their heels.
And.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!!
Space was pierced.
Space itself distorted, sucking back the turbulence just created.
The world's flow sought to fill the void.
The strike pierced the fire giant, extending to rend clouds apart far beyond.
Heading to distant stars as a black dot vanishing.
Yet.
"......!!!"
Though half its body was gone, the fire giant didn't vanish.
Instead, it voraciously absorbed surrounding mana, annihilating the area's mana briefly.
'Blazing fire attribute!'
Absorbing Jun's mana, the Ifrit-forged fire giant.
Like the 'Black Mirror' the orc lord once slew, it burned all nearby mana to swing its sword.
—————!!!!
Sound was swallowed first.
Then the world lost its color.
Sky, earth, horizon—all turned pure white.
As if equal before the giant's swung sword, everyone's vision was devoured by white.
Kururung...
The sound, fled far, echoed belatedly beyond the canyon.
The flash consuming the world faded like a sunset, color returning.
What of the ground swallowed by white?
"Th-this is what exactly......"
A soldier nocking an arrow atop the walls muttered blankly.
Half the ground he saw was engulfed in stark white flames.
That half had been a realm of crimson calamity.
Shieldbearers blocking all attacks.
Spearmen splitting soldiers' hearts from behind.
Hundred Captains severing knights' necks with flags planted.
Mega Clovers pounding walls with boulders.
All vanished without trace in the white flames.
That was the aftermath of the white flash's graze.
"Insane......"
"Warrior of the Sun......"
"The Warrior of the Sun has wrought a miracle."
In the landscape where only searing white flames marked the enemies' former presence, all who witnessed thought the same.
—The Warrior of the Sun has performed a miracle.
Before the white flash, the fire giant atop the cliff had shocked them.
Yet some didn't forget their duty amid the spectacle.
Puuk—!!
Aiden and Maya.
They struck the twins' unguarded backs.
Precise strikes at necks and hearts.
They shouldn't have landed.
No matter how brilliantly Aiden and Maya bloomed, they couldn't threaten level 7 necks so quickly.
But Jaimer and Taimer, having poured everything into slaying the giant, couldn't respond.
"How... could this......"
"Our army......"
Not even the Resonance Serpents could heal them now.
Most troops under them had perished in the white flames.
"Ahh......"
"Our king......"
Was despair at failing their duty to the end?
The two couldn't even glance at Aiden and Maya delivering the final blows, scattering into emptiness.
No, they seemed to vanish.
"......! Aiden, Maya!"
"Huh?!"
The Resonance Serpents parasitizing them sucked their hosts' energy in an instant.
[Flare]
Jun's magic slew one first, but the one Aiden and Maya targeted leapt off the cliff.
The arm-thick serpent sprouted wings midair, gliding leisurely to the opposite cliff.
"It got away after all."
The last remaining Thousand Commander watched it all.
Summoner Cleman growled lowly.
"In the end, only the final bastion remains."
He'd hoped not to use it.
Not even in the worst scenarios.
He'd prepared it only to reassure the other Thousand Commanders, never intending actual use.
But now his mind changed.
"Succeeded in communing with the spirit realm? Nonsense."
Someone had done the impossible.
He recalled info from his legion commander, Pommel.
From 'that one', an otherworldly being freely traversing space.
It had found a new vessel.
With absurd talent.
Surely that being was the white-haired mage glaring from the opposite cliff.
"Must kill him here."
His instinct screamed so.