Chapter 42
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Witch's Forest (4)
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The lightning whip shot out with ferocious momentum, only to be blocked.
Countless zealots had lost their lives, but even more had rushed in to take their places.
At the cost of innumerable lives, they had adapted to Jun's [Lightning Whip].
[High-Speed Chant]
[Wind Cutter]
As if by magic, the lightning whip vanished without a trace.
In its place, a new spell filled the void.
A storm raged.
Winds gathered and sharpened into blades that tore even flesh to shreds.
Compressed blades of wind, brimming with deadly intent, hurtled toward the enemies.
There were still plenty more spells where that came from.
That was the reason for all the desperate struggles, the reason he tore at his hair every night.
They would analyze [Wind Cutter] too?
Then blazing flames would await them next.
Under those roaring infernos, countless more lives would flicker out.
But Jun's body—his very talent—wouldn't allow it.
"Hngh...!"
Hot steam leaked from his mouth.
The mana circuits threading through his veins glowed a deep purple.
The agony that never grew familiar, no matter how many times he endured it, came crashing over him.
"Damn it... the golem soldiers aren't ready yet?"
Even so, his spell incantation didn't stop.
The horde still hadn't pushed far into the plaza's entrance.
All because of one person.
Just as the blades of wind began failing to pierce their shields...
Rumble-rumble-rumble――
Wooooong!!
A sound like a mountain itself crying out in anguish echoed as the last remaining golem soldiers crumbled to the ground.
"At last, the wicked witch's puppets have fallen!"
"Ooooh! The bishop approaches!"
"He shall usher in a new heaven!"
The fourth phase had begun.
The endlessly surging forces of the cult formed a circle, kneeling in unison to offer their prayers.
On a battlefield where their comrades had died in droves, they suddenly held a prayer meeting.
They really have to be stark raving mad.
But Jun didn't interfere with the lunatics either.
The fourth phase was the trickiest, but it was also the key turning point for clearing the dungeon. No need to introduce unnecessary variables.
Any moment now...
The bishop would arrive.
Sure enough, as they prayed, a soft glow descended from the sky, forming a staircase in the empty air.
The light coalesced in the void, and soon, a figure materialized there.
The bishop of the Erbonac Order, Ahraham.
An elderly man with deeply wrinkled skin appeared, draped in a robe adorned with ornate patterns.
"My faithful servants. Your desperate pleas have summoned me to this place――."
"You're taking your sweet time."
The moment the bastard appeared, Jun's magic circle activated.
[Ice Brake]
The magic circle etched into the ground surged with Jun's imagery and activation mana.
In an instant, his surroundings transformed into a frozen wasteland.
A wide-area binding spell among the fourth-circle magics.
And no fewer than ten of them activated simultaneously.
The holy knights and crusaders belatedly raised their shields to defend, but they were helpless against the merciless frost.
"Aiden!"
On that cue, Aiden—who had been waiting for the signal—leaped into action.
[Detecting Target]
Aiden vaulted toward the coordinates Jun had set.
His target: the bishop Ahraham, suddenly isolated.
Meanwhile, as the zealots prayed, Jun gathered the mana they had drawn in and began chanting a new spell.
[Ice Spear]
What rose in his mind was a ballista firing from a pristine white tundra.
A massive ice spear materialized beside Jun, ripping through the air toward the bishop.
"H-How dare you...!"
Fury instantly twisted the kindly old man's face.
But he couldn't mount any real defense against Aiden charging straight at him or the incoming spear of ice.
Just like in the game.
His entrance might look like a boss monster's dramatic reveal.
In truth, it came paired with an ultra-rare spatial teleport within Blackout.
A cheat ability that let him join allies instantly, no matter the distance.
But it had one drawback.
Right after teleporting, he couldn't use his powers for a brief window.
That was the reason they had dragged out the grueling third phase—and Jun's one shot at clearing the dungeon.
"Graaaah――!"
[Charge] → [Bash]
Aiden vanished like the wind mid-air, slashing deep across Ahraham's chest.
Right behind, a massive ice spear impaled the bastard's heart.
"We did it!"
"Nice one, Aiden!"
Ahraham's body, skewered by the ice spear and gushing blood, began to freeze over.
The sight evoked red roses blooming on a human frame.
But Jun still eyed Aiden with a tense expression.
"It's not over yet. Let's move."
As Jun said, plenty of enemy forces remained.
"Th-the bishop has fallen!"
"Kill those wicked devil spawn!"
"Our justice lives on! Prove it!"
Beyond those bound by [Ice Brake], more holy knights and crusaders poured in from the rear.
"All the golem soldiers holding the outside are down. Now they'll swarm like bees for real."
And on top of that, the bishop wasn't dead yet.
Once [Ice Spear]'s effects wore off, he'd absorb the zealots' life force and revive.
Time was on the enemy's side.
Aiden, having heard the explanation, stared in horror at the bishop trapped in ice.
"To the cabin!"
"Right!"
It had been a while since the sounds of pursuers faded from the city.
Maya had surely gathered all the materials needed to clear the dungeon by now.
The two dashed across the city toward the cabin.
"Maya... still not here?"
The cabin sat alone in the city center.
No sign of anyone else.
"Aiden, stand watch outside. The Heavenly Church thugs will start moving soon."
"A-alright!"
In this time-sensitive moment, interference from the Heavenly Church would be fatal.
Jun kept his guard up to the end, casting detection magic.
Two presences stirred inside the cabin.
"Damn it, Bernard! Snap out of it!"
The cabin interior was a wreck.
Most of the furniture lay smashed and scattered across the floor, victims of some violent force. On the one relatively intact section of flooring, a hunter lay collapsed in a pool of blood.
Up close, he was bound head to toe in glowing crimson vines, unconscious.
"What happened?"
"The Heavenly Church! That vile curse-weaver ambushed us!"
Weylin stood helpless before his fallen comrade.
Behind them, where the fireplace had been, an entrance to an underground passage now stood revealed.
They must have been attacked right after finding the spot.
"His heart's still beating! Mage! Help him!"
Even as Weylin pleaded desperately, Jun didn't let his guard down.
Drawing a bit closer to inspect Bernard, he could definitely sense curse energy.
"A curse starting from the wound?"
"Y-yes. Right after that bastard's dagger struck him, this――."
The moment Jun took a step closer for a better look at the fallen Bernard...
Shing――!
Weylin's sword aimed straight for Jun's head.
Meanwhile.
[Charge]
Aiden, standing guard outside, merged with the wind and left his position.
A sword stabbed into the spot where he'd stood moments before.
The dark crimson aura coating the blade made Aiden's split-second decision look wise indeed.
Had he drawn his sword to block, it would've cleaved right through blade and all.
No matter that it was a Luminous Edge.
"Tch. Quick reflexes."
The one who appeared alongside the sword was the man whose face was wrapped in bandages.
His clothes bore clear scorch marks in places, suggesting even he hadn't escaped Jun's magic unscathed.
"Heavenly Church..."
Aiden tensed at the sudden foe, assuming a battle stance.
He knew full well the situation heavily favored the enemy.
Can I even take this guy?
No defense meant anything against aura.
That halved Aiden's options right there.
And the enemy's movements rivaled those of Giovanni, commander of the Black Forest Fortress.
Mid-fourth level at least.
At least he's injured from senpai's magic.
Pretending otherwise, but his stance was off—subtly skewed.
Noticing that, Aiden glanced toward the cabin.
If this guy was here, the curse-weaver was nearby too.
"Acting all cocky, huh? Let's see how long that lasts!"
Whether Aiden's wandering gaze bruised his pride, the enemy struck first.
Aiden widened the distance in response.
In a sword-on-sword fight, you never gave an aura user the closing range lightly.
The enemy knew it too, charging bull-like.
Aiden read the wide horizontal swing and leaped back—just as the tree behind him toppled, bisected in one stroke.
"Is running all you know?!"
His movements were simplistic, hampered by the injury from Jun.
Overly large motions suggested he couldn't manage finer control.
Still, closing in recklessly was risky. Aura held an overwhelming edge in close quarters.
But that aura wasn't invincible.
Maintaining it guzzled mana. Stall long enough, and victory would smile on Aiden.
Except time wasn't on Aiden's side.
Senpai!
Commotion erupted from inside the cabin.
Something had gone wrong.
Reading Aiden's mind, the bandaged man sneered.
"Worrying about others with death staring you down. Nothing awaits at that road's end."
"What...?"
"You old-world humans are all the same. Eyes fixed forward, never glancing at the sky, the earth, or your backs. Blind to what unfolds there."
"Nonsense!"
Desperation drove Aiden to close in first.
That brief exchange...
It gave him the breathing room to calmly assess himself.
He'd let the sheer power of aura intimidate him into assumptions.
He was seasoned against monsters, but human foes were still unfamiliar—Aiden's mistake.
Senpai said something once.
The past month, packed with training.
Watching Jun tackle dungeons coolly, adapting seamlessly to surprises, Aiden had asked:
—How can I stay as calm as you, senpai?
Jun had given a wry smile.
—Just experience. You learn where mistakes happen by living them.
When Aiden pressed on when those mistakes cropped up most, the answer came:
—People have this misconception. That you only screw up in high-pressure spots. Sure, often—but too much leeway breeds errors too. Leisure lets thoughts multiply.
He was right.
Obsessed with draining the aura, Aiden had grown complacent with time—missing the enemy's tells in his tunnel vision.
Now refocused, he zeroed in on those oversized movements.
At first, he'd chalked it up to the injury from Jun.
But now? Not entirely.
Footwork sloppy, aura maintenance shaky.
Sword swings riddled with openings.
The destructive punch packed more than Giovanni's from the Black Forest Fortress, but the finesse? Far inferior.
The urgency over Jun's possible peril sharpened Aiden instead.
His narrowed focus gained clarity, piercing the veil of aura to reveal the enemy's flaws.
No matter how strong the attack, it means nothing if it doesn't land!
Speed was his forte. He read the moves. Variables aplenty to exploit.
The bandaged man's lips curled at Aiden's sudden shift.
"In the end, that tunnel vision blinded you to the world!"
He figured Aiden was panicking into reckless charges.
Made sense.
The kid was stuck at layer two, after all.
The aura-wreathed sword whipped toward Aiden's path precisely.
In the bandaged man's eyes, Aiden's head flew, face slack in defeat.
Countless had died on that blade already.
But...
"...?"
Kagagagak―!
No smooth bite into flesh—instead, the harsh grind of steel on steel.
"How?!"
The aura failed to cleave the sword. No aura from the enemy blade either.
Instead...
Not his own unstable aura, but vivid crimson mana cloaked Aiden's sword.
Inferior to aura by miles, but enough to glance the strike aside—for a split second.
The bandaged man's eyes bulged.
He realized too late what that mana was.
"You...!"
But his words never finished.
Aiden's sword was already arcing for his throat.
Slash―!