Chapter 365: A Single, Decisive Match
Chapter 365: A Single, Decisive Match
For a moment, a dazzling flicker of light filled my vision. I instinctively shut my eyes against the intense streams of light pouring in from all directions. When I opened them again to a stinging sensation, an unbelievable sight unfolded before me.
The 'Protective Magic Power Nullification Formation' had stopped manifesting. The deep blue barrier that had been rising as if to envelop the city at any moment had halted its growth midway, like an unfinished fence. In its place, dozens… no, perhaps hundreds of streaks of light leaked through the gaps in the breached wall, filling the air. Then, the lights illuminating the area began to grow in intensity.
So much had changed in the time it took to blink, but that was only the beginning. Just as I felt the light intensify, the half-formed barrier showed signs of slowly rising once more.
And before I could even react, it happened.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted, so powerful it shook my very eardrums and left them ringing for a moment. At the same time, I saw the walls of Barbara, which had stood so firm until now, come crumbling down.
“Get back! Run!”
I heard someone’s desperate shout, but it was immediately drowned out by the brilliant explosion of light that erupted as the wall collapsed.
The last thing I saw was the deep blue barrier rising to encircle the city and an explosive wave of light mercilessly sweeping over the Eastern forces' camp.
Flash! Crash!
A moment later, with the sound of a protective shield shattering, my vision turned completely white.
…….
………….
…………………….
When my vision, which had gone dark, began to return in a blur, I felt the cold ground against my back. I hadn't lost consciousness, but it seemed the shock had been so immense that I had collapsed without realizing it. A pulling sensation at the back of my neck urged me to stay down, but I pushed myself up with both hands.
At first, my mind was blank. But after calming myself with a deep breath, the situation around me slowly came into focus. Most of the other Users were also down, letting out pained, simmering groans.
The streams of light that had dominated the area were gone, but something felt wrong. For some reason, I felt a faint unnaturalness in my body. I reflexively checked myself over and confirmed there was nothing wrong with my movements. That left only one other possibility.
On a hunch, I glanced down. I could see a yellowish magic clinging to parts of my body. Like an electrical discharge, the magic sparked with light, and I could feel an extremely unstable flow of mana from it.
This is…
Vwoooom!
Just then, a deep sonic wave of mana I’d heard before hummed in my ears. I snapped my head up and saw the massive barrier tightly enveloping the city. A yellow current was running through it as well, and its light was gradually fading, as if affected by the unstable mana flow.
But the moment I looked at the magic circle drawn on the ground, I realized that thought was a complete misunderstanding. The 'Protective Magic Power Nullification Formation' was no longer imbued with mana. Its light had faded, just as it had when I first arrived in Barbara. This meant that the device maintaining the activated magic circle had been intentionally destroyed.
Why would they go through the trouble of activating the magic circle only to turn it off again?
I didn't know their objective, but the thought that they still had a hidden card to play suddenly crossed my mind.
The barrier, having turned translucent, slowly vanished as if melting into thin air, finally revealing the scene within. The West Gate's wall had completely collapsed, and on the now exposed ground, the rubble of broken bricks was piled up like a mountain.
But the broken wall wasn't the important part. The enemy, seemingly unwilling to give the Eastern forces a single moment to breathe, immediately played their next card.
I felt the illusion that the hazy mist lingering nearby was being sucked away somewhere in an instant. No, it wasn't an illusion.
Kwoooosh!
A moment later, with a roar of something surging upwards, a ferocious torrent of water shot up vertically from the center of the city view before me. It was dozens of meters high, making me feel as if I were standing before a waterfall.
In an instant, the waterfall became a single, furious wave.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
It closed the distance in a flash. The wave charged violently, sweeping away everything in its path, including the piles of bricks that had formed an unintentional barricade. The wave stopped abruptly at one point before instantly crashing down, violently striking the area where the Eastern Users were gathered.
CRASH!
Was this really the sound of water hitting the earth? But before I could even ponder the question, I felt my body being thrown backward. Following the wave of light, this wave of water once again mercilessly swept through the Eastern forces' camp.
*
Perhaps because my whole body had been struck, my ears were now ringing. I had deliberately kept my eyes open, but my vision was filled with nothing but the churning sky. I could only perceive through my senses that I had been swept up by the wave and pushed back by its pressure.
After the violent wave passed, I exhaled the air in my lungs in an explosive burst.
“Pfft.”
Droplets of water sprayed out with the sound, falling back onto my face. Annoyed by my soaked hair, I shook my head vigorously. The briny smell of water sharply stung my nose.
The Eastern forces' formation, already broken by the wave of light, was now a scene of such chaos that it was embarrassing to say we had ever formed a line. I could see Users scattered everywhere on the muddy ground. A few managed to get their bearings and stand up, but they were a tiny minority. Most of them seemed unable to recover after the successive waves.
It's been a while since I've been beaten this one-sidedly.
But perhaps due to my Mind’s Eye, my mind was not confused, but exceedingly cold and calm. The wave had put some distance between us and the city wall. Although we had been hit by two surprise attacks, grasping the situation was the priority, not panicking.
First, my body was fine. And that, to me, was a mystery. I knew the identity of the wave of light. It was a 'Mana Bullet.' Hundreds of them had detonated at once, creating the optical illusion of a wave.
But despite taking a direct hit from the wave of water, there were no negative effects. In fact, I could feel the unstable flow of mana I'd been sensing gradually stabilizing.
My continued questions prompted me to activate my Third Eye, and I was able to identify the wave that had just hit us.
『Elemental Magic: Tide of Purification』
Tide of Purification…?
A thought flashed through my mind like a beam of light, and I shot to my feet. The jumbled puzzle pieces in my head began to fall calmly into place. A quick scan of my surroundings confirmed my suspicion. The traces of the 'Mana Bullet' that had been clinging to my body were now completely gone.
“Haha…”
An empty laugh escaped me. At the same time, I was inwardly amazed at the opponent who had devised such a plan.
A 'Mana Bullet' is, simply put, a type of magical tool that affects the flow of mana. It has the characteristic of restricting magic that is heavily influenced by the fundamental flow of mana, such as long-distance communication, by making that flow extremely unstable.
However, when hundreds are detonated at once, it's a different story. The effects stack over and over, strengthening the field effect to the point where it can interfere even with the flow of mana that Users directly channel.
From this perspective, the enemy's strategy was a masterpiece of timing and combination.
It was obvious that a field effect of this scale would be a double-edged sword. But the enemy defended against the edge pointed at them with the 'Protective Magic Power Nullification Formation.' In other words, they timed it perfectly, raising the magic circle at the exact moment just before the 'Mana Bullet's' effect took hold. It was a chillingly precise timing that I wasn't sure I could replicate myself.
And the Tide of Purification that followed probably had two purposes. The first was to completely scatter the Eastern forces' formation. The second was to purify the very field effect they had just created.
The Eastern Users had been hit by the 'Mana Bullets' just as they were about to manifest their magic, and their internal mana would have been thrown into disarray. Even though we were hit by the Tide of Purification now, it only removed the field effect. While it might vary from person to person, the already disrupted mana doesn't recover immediately but slowly, over time.
In short, the West Gate forces' formation was shattered, and the mages and priests had their mana usage restricted. This was our weakest moment since the battle began.
And what the enemy was aiming for was this exact moment. The reason they had relentlessly pushed without giving us a moment's rest was to create this very opportunity.
Waaaaaaaaaah!
As if in response to my thoughts, a great roar began to sound from the front. Faint ripples spread across the water pooled on the ground as countless Users charged forward at once.
Kraaaaaaaang!
Ssssssssssssss….
But following the enemy's war cry, a monstrous roar echoed across the plains, and the sight of the water soaking the ground beginning to swirl rapidly again told me it wasn't over yet. I reflexively turned my head and saw a monster nearly ten meters tall appear near the wall. It was a giant in human form, wielding a massive club and glowing with a golden light.
『(Former) King of the Giants: Kushan Thor (Currently in a tamed state.)』
A demigod?
The king of the giants. In other words, a Giant Lord. Now, I couldn't even manage an empty laugh.
The enemy began to swarm forward, led by the giant. The pooled water began to take shape, one form after another. Rather than being picked off one by one by clumsily linking warp gates and blocking formations, their leader chose to gather their forces in one place and carve out a path for themselves. It seemed they had mobilized all their capabilities and hidden trump cards, as if they were staking everything on this battle.
In contrast, the Users of the West Gate forces were staggering to their feet, but they still seemed to be in a state of confusion.
I stared ahead for a moment, then fixed my eyes on the giant. I circulated Eternal Flame once, and the unstable remnants left in my body burned away completely. Feeling vitality surge through me, I calmly gripped the sword at my waist.
At the same time, I poured all my mana into it.
Kiaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
『‘The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world.’』
『The seal on the Demonic Sword, Caligo Abraxas, has been released. The transformation begins.』
Feeling the formidable darkness in my right hand, I slowly began to step forward.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The giant had already closed half the distance.
By now, the personnel from the other cities had probably all returned to Barbara. If so, in this situation, our numerical superiority was as good as gone.
But we weren't at a complete disadvantage either. If the West Gate Users could quickly come to their senses and buy some time, we could wait for reinforcements from the other units. In the end, what we needed was time.
I briefly paused my advance.
Kushan Thor. He was different from the king of giants I knew, but this was undeniably a confrontation with a demigod.
For a moment, I wondered if I could do it, but that thought was quickly replaced by the conviction that I had to.
I immediately kicked off the ground and shot forward.