Chapter 25
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Fairy Queen (2)
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The fallen butterfly appeared to drift slowly on the wind, but its speed was far beyond what anyone might expect.
In an instant, the distance between them shrank—
Light of Life
A brilliant light of life sliced through the space between Jun and the fallen butterfly.
As soon as the light of life clashed with the fallen butterfly, they repelled each other like water and oil.
He couldn't even turn his head, his focus stretched to the breaking point, but it had to be the holy magic cast by Eleanor after she'd shaken off her status ailment.
Yet it seemed insufficient for her to stand alone against the queen of this corrupted forest—the light of life began to be gradually pushed back by the fallen butterfly.
"It's enough...!"
But that brief moment. That desperately needed time for Jun—Eleanor had bought it for him.
A blood-red fireball swallowed the wayward mana into its maw.
The crimson flames then shot forward, beyond Jun's control, straight toward the enemy.
True to its nature as a flame that devoured anything, it sought out the most flammable target in this space.
-...!
As the scorching form bore down on her, the Fairy Queen spread her wings.
Though torn in places, they posed no issue for evasion maneuvers.
That monstrous Fairy Queen had chosen evasion over defense.
It meant the energy packed inside posed a threat even to the queen of the corrupted forest.
Just as the crimson flames veered past the Fairy Queen, Jun's magic activated once more.
Detecting Target
A mana targeting point formed and locked onto the Fairy Queen.
The crimson flames recognized it as prey as well, pursuing the targeting point straight to the Fairy Queen.
A chase of hunter and hunted.
But in the end, the crimson flames lost.
Unable to find sustenance, it consumed itself, signaling its end.
Jun summoned his mana once more.
He twisted the targeting point toward the crimson flames. The moment it connected, the spell pattern shifted on the fly.
An absurd feat, but the fruits of Jun's persistent practice over the past year, combined with his finely honed imagery, made it possible.
Of course, he couldn't overhaul the spell's fundamentals entirely.
'Overloading the mana pattern is within reach, though.'
Detonating this ravenous blaze that devoured even itself—that much he could do.
Kwaaaaaaaaang——!!
-Kyaaaaaaaah——!!
The forest ignited.
The air itself burned, and the greedy flames devoured even the surrounding oxygen with reckless abandon.
The Fairy Queen within that radius fared no differently.
Corruption's power resisted the blaze, but even as it waned, the flames clung tenaciously to their prey, refusing to let go.
"Kuhak..."
The explosion's aftermath reached even Jun.
Immense heat enveloped him in an instant. Fortunately, it freed him from the violet butterfly's influence...
But his skin reddened and blistered, bubbles boiling beneath.
"You damn..."
It was his first time getting hit by his own spell, so Jun hurriedly pulled out a potion vial and splashed it over his face.
"Kuhuh..."
Amid the excruciating pain of his flesh searing.
The urge to pass out surged within him, but Unyielding Will and Steadfast Heart denied him that mercy.
"Jun!"
Eleanor's voice called from afar, followed by warm light seeping into his body.
Experiencing a priest's holy power firsthand for the first time, Jun turned his gaze to the Forest Guardian.
Following the back of Luke, who would finish it off himself.
"Kuh, ugh...!"
The reason Luke, climbing the Forest Guardian's body, survived Jun's magic unscathed was purely thanks to Jun's efforts.
Jun had lured the Fairy Queen as far from the blast as possible.
Even so, the scorching heat tormented Luke, but he pressed on without giving up.
He finally reached the Forest Guardian's chest.
"No...!"
But its core was nearly fully repaired now.
Perhaps because the Fairy Queen had registered Jun as a threat, the regeneration had paused briefly, but the gap was far smaller than before.
At this rate, even the space for his sword would soon vanish.
Hurriedly, Luke drew his blade and concentrated his aura into it.
"Enough—die already!"
He swung down with a lifetime's desperation infused.
Blue aura blazed fiercely, clashing against the forest's essence.
Jiiiiiing—!
A powerful repulsion shoved back the blue light.
His sword felt like it might fly from his grip, but he gritted his teeth and held firm.
Even as his palms tore and bled, his eyes never left his blade and the forest's essence.
Crack—
Was it an illusion born of desperation, or the result of his will?
A faint crack seemed to appear in the forest's essence.
So thin it was nearly invisible without total focus...
But it had an effect, without doubt.
-Kyaaaaaaaah——!!
Otherwise, that monstrous queen of the forest wouldn't be screaming.
A gaze filled with hatred bored into him.
Yet ironically, that emotion twisted Luke's lips into a grin.
"Hahat... Yeah, it hurts you too, huh?"
The monster that had crushed dozens of humans in one go was directing hatred at him, a mere level 3.
It struck him as ridiculous.
"Haaaaap!!"
Perhaps fueled by that sentiment, Luke's muscles bulged as he slashed down even more ferociously.
Crack-crack—!
This time, he heard it clearly. Saw it too.
The forest's essence spiderwebbing with cracks.
But the Fairy Queen wasn't just taking it lying down.
Just before corruption's power could infuse the Forest Guardian—
Kwagwagwagwang—!!
Blades of wind shot toward the Fairy Queen.
Jun's magic once more, mana summoned anew, irking the Fairy Queen's nerves.
Unlike before, lacking imagery, it wasn't full power—but it succeeded in briefly obscuring her vision.
Puk—!
But the Fairy Queen knew that full well.
"Guhk..."
A branch pierced through his gut.
A branch erupting from the Forest Guardian's body in response to the Fairy Queen's power had impaled Luke's side.
Only now did he realize how Benjamin had met his end, but the realization came too late.
"Ah, di...!"
Strength drained from his body.
The fiercely burning aura dimmed, and the sword was repelled from the forest's essence.
"Haaaaaaaah!!"
A voice rang out from behind.
In his fading vision, Luke saw a young man leaping high into the sky, gripping a glowing red-hot sword.
Golden hair gleaming brilliantly, eyes filled with azure resolve targeting the enemy's heart.
Kang—!
Aiden's sword plunged through the crack Luke had made, fully piercing the forest's essence.
Aiden's strike landed true.
Unlike all the futile flailing before, his crimson blade sharply pierced the forest's essence, which shattered in a wave of deep purple, vanishing completely.
The forest guardian, the Forest Guardian, collapsed.
Like an ancient tree unable to bear its own weight.
The forest died.
Not metaphorically—trees withered in real time, the woods crumbling away.
'Phase 3, huh.'
The phenomenon right after destroying the forest's essence to kill the Fairy Queen.
At this point, the raid could be considered a success.
Deprived of her power source, the Fairy Queen entered a prolonged groggy state.
About 10 minutes, time-wise.
In a normal raid, this was when you'd unleash everything and end it.
'If you don't kill her in that window...'
The area-wide instant-death pattern kicked in immediately.
With the forest's power gone, pure corruption took its place—the crystallized essence of decay.
That born corruption annihilated everything around it.
Back in his Lee Jung-jun days, he'd tested it once experimentally—a full party of level 6s wiped without a chance.
'Gotta escape before that hits...'
The problem was the adventurers and mercenaries' conditions.
The Fairy Queen's area status ailment [Cycle of the Forest] had ended, but its aftereffects lingered.
'That's why I wanted to wrap this up before she joined.'
Grabbing just Aiden, Eleanor, and the wounded Luke and bolting was an option, but he wanted to save everyone if possible.
Not just ethics holding him back—survival afterward mattered too.
To pass the Imperial investigation cleanly later, these survivors were essential.
But even Jun couldn't dispel all their status ailments at once.
'Damn. So many spells I need to learn.'
Recalling yet another spell for his post-escape list, Jun turned to his last hope.
"Priestess Eleanor. Think you can manage it?"
"Haa..."
Fatigue etched the face of the priestess with the black eyepatch.
She'd been drained of life by fairies as part of the assault team, tended wounded without rest, expended holy power in the raid, and just escaped [Cycle of the Forest] herself.
"...It'll take some time."
"How long?"
"About eight minutes."
"...Too long. Any way to shorten it? We need it done in three max."
"No way. You'll have to choose. I can only save half."
A priestess of the church serving Ariklotos, god of healing who prized life above all, weighing lives on a scale.
Someone might point fingers, but idealism had no place here.
Through her eyepatch, Eleanor met his gaze.
Asking Jun, who'd led the operation thus far.
Who to save.
"......"
"......"
In the brief silence, Jun found the situation utterly infuriating.
Why did struggling to survive force these choices on him?
A year ago, he'd pondered lunch at the office tomorrow—this was brutally harsh.
But he was no office worker now; he was a mage, and the operation commander for this raid.
"Hoo..."
Before Jun could answer, Eleanor entered focus.
If he didn't choose, she'd decide on her own.
Even that irked him.
It just pissed him off.
But he was a mage, and over the past year, he'd strived to view the world through a mage's lens to survive.
What was a mage?
Observe, imagine, project, derive results.
That was a mage, their gaze ever surveying the world coolly through those four steps.
At least, that's what Jun believed great mages were.
"......"
So he observed.
What?
The adventurers who'd fought on the front lines, risking death before their own sins?
Or the mercenaries who'd embraced even their enemies to survive?
No.
Mages didn't solve problems dictated by others.
The only one who could question them was the world's logic itself.
Thus, before "who to save," he needed to see "what saves them."
In other words—
Jun focused intently on Eleanor.
"Eleanor. That staff..."
The black-eyepatched priestess's single staff.
Only now, amid everything else, did it catch Jun's eye.
"How do you have that...? Ah."
A scene flashed like lightning.
With it came the priestess's true identity, but Jun shoved it aside for now.
'Her identity isn't the priority.'
The issue was the staff the black-eyepatched priestess held.
"That staff is definitely..."
At a glance, just a worn staff with lots of hand grips.
An unremarkable item anyone might carry.
The only oddity: along the handle wrapped in cloth, the wood grain formed a distinct pattern.
So naturally etched into the grain that without close scrutiny, it was imperceptible.
Yet Jun's Bright Eyes skill missed not a single detail.
And astonishingly, that pattern dredged memories from his Lee Jung-jun days to the surface.
His Exceptional Memory skill performing its duty.
"End of Lamentation..."
From the late-game world-scale raid boss in <Blackout>.
The pinnacle gear for mages, with acquisition so hellish that even in the hardcore community, only a handful had it.
And now, it stood before Jun's eyes.
"E-Eleanor, priestess. Wait, just a sec."
"What the hell are you doing?!"
As he reached for her staff mid-focus, the startled Eleanor recoiled.
Ignoring her, Jun lifted her hand and examined the staff's handle closely.
'If my memories are right...'
He pulled a potion from his pouch and downed it. Its efficacy much diminished from repeated use, but he needed it now.
To soothe his still-overheating mana circuits, even a little.
With his other hand, he focused his gaze on Eleanor's staff.
Tracing the grain pattern downward, he felt something snag at his fingertip.
He brushed away the cloth there to reveal a small groove.
"Priestess Eleanor. No time for details. But... we might save everyone here."
"What're you talking about?"
"You knew this staff was an artifact, right?"
"What?"
Evidently hearing this for the first time, the black-eyepatched priestess glanced at her own staff.
From her reaction, she clearly didn't know its true nature.
"Quick explanation. This staff has a [Conversion] property."
"Conversion...?"
"Pulling in external energy and transmuting it into another power."
Jun pointed to the groove.
"This part handles the [Conversion]. Get it?"
"Hoo..."
Perplexed by Jun's sudden lecture, Eleanor looked confused, but he showed rather than told.
"Focus on the staff."
"...Got it."
Jun pressed his thumb into the groove, and Eleanor concentrated as instructed.
Then, a blue wave appeared in her vision.
No—like a wave crashing over her.
Was this what the sea looked like? Vast waves roiling beyond the horizon, the blue form dizzying her eyes.
Realizing it was mana, she stared at Jun in shock.
"Focus......"
But Jun had no breath left for more explanation.
His hand already on the choker.
The incantation, [Lazy Pilgrim's Odyssey], was only 5% unsealed.
But that sufficed now.
Mana flowed along his faintly red-tinged circuits.
His body heated again, but far less than before.
This time, she would wield it, not him.
"Mana... to holy power..."
Fragmentary words, but Eleanor grasped it instantly.
'Convert it.'
Take in Jun's sea-like mana all at once, transmute to holy power.
That instant, bile surged up her throat.
"Whe, wheek!"
"Don't resist—convert......"
"What kind of insane mage..."
Shouldn't you warn a girl first?
Unlike mage Jun, Eleanor's circuits were utterly mortal.
She'd nearly suffered major internal damage, biting her lip as she refocused.
At least her near-miss gave her the gist.
Will it earnestly. If mana can become anything, holy power embraces all.
The two forces synergized.
Through her staff, Eleanor overlaid holy imagery on the incoming mana wave.
And wielded the holy power without a shred of doubt.
A priestess must trust her power implicitly, unswayed by illusion, to perform.
'O Light-Bringer of life to the world. This humble one beseeches Thee.'
The blue wave began to glow.
Like the sea reflecting dawn's first light.
But the light didn't stop—it expanded its domain.
Eleanor had never seen such warmth in her life.
And so she felt it too.
This cozy, enveloping light stirred dangerously tempting urges.
A sense of omnipotence.
The emotion no mortal should feel wielding divine might—a fleeting hubris that startled her back to herself.
"Foc, us......"
Jun's pain-twisted voice yanked her to reality.
This wasn't her power.
A miracle from the mage before her, a possibility granted by the divine.
She was merely borrowing it.
A truth she'd known but forgotten in the haze—it brought her to her knees.
Sphere of Light
The vast sea of light refracted into a spherical form.
Merely a meter in diameter.
Yet in the forest where death descended, the light of life settled.
"......"
Even Jun, vision blurred by overheat agony, felt peace steal over his face.
'A scene utterly unlike my magic.'
So different from his blood-red <Fireball>, this gentle glow.
Could Jun ever infuse his spells with such imagery? He pondered.
A landscape beyond his imagination yet.
But no further thoughts came.
At the edge of his vision, among the stirring survivors, he spotted Aiden rushing over.
His overtaxed body, lulled by the warm light and comrades' sight, severed its link to his mind on its own.