Chapter 274
Chapter 274
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 274
Chapter Title: Re-battle (3)
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The corridor in front of the guest quarters at Roselia's Grand Temple.
Crunch—
A grinding sound echoed softly through the space.
The imperial delegation, who had been waiting in dead silence like mice before a cat, all swallowed hard in unison.
Dozens of people stood frozen in the middle of the hallway, unable to advance or retreat, their eyes fixed warily on one person.
'What's going on? Did someone screw up?'
'It's suffocating...'
Everything had gone smoothly up until they arrived here—passing through the temple's gate to the holy city and exchanging greetings with the church's heavyweights.
The sudden change hit right after that.
"...Your Highness? Are you alright?"
It started when Riley, the princess leading them as the delegation's representative, abruptly stopped in her tracks.
She scowled with a grave expression for a while, but now she was radiating clear displeasure and a chilling aura from her entire body.
"......"
One of the imperial knights, unable to bear it any longer, cautiously addressed her. But she ignored the reactions around her, staring silently into empty space with a face like a block of ice.
All while quietly stewing in her boiling rage.
'So that's how you want to play it?'
If things had gone according to their plans, she might not have figured it out until everything was over. But thanks to the Chains of the Oath, she was receiving real-time updates on the situation.
She was already certain who was behind the attack on Hesperon.
'Duke Hermanhart.'
The family of the former crown prince's maternal side and supporters, as well as the current empress's birth family and the emperor's in-laws.
No one else in the empire had the guts to pull off something this bold except her greatest political rival, House Hermanhart.
'I was even planning to show some mercy.'
Of course, that "mercy" was purely by her own standards.
The compromise she thought was generous would have felt like utter subjugation to them.
At this rate, they'd lose not just honor and titles, but lands and wealth stripped away from all sides. Naturally, House Hermanhart, who claimed to be the empire's top noble house, wouldn't sit idly by.
This scheme was probably part of some backroom plot to tilt negotiations even slightly in their favor.
'They must have seen us as total pushovers.'
But their circumstances meant nothing to her.
She was already irritated, twisting her mood for the greater good of minimizing the empire's chaos. And now they handed her the perfect excuse on a silver platter!
"Count Filteim."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Her chilling voice flowed into the quiet corridor, and the grand magus who had been following silently behind her bowed politely.
She was undoubtedly still just a girl in years, but the subtle dignity emanating from her made the air around them heavy.
"I have a message to send to Marquis Lawrence right now."
This delegation included two transcendents, but she couldn't use those participating for the empire's prestige and escort duties for personal errands.
But with the tide already turned, she had plenty under her direct command.
'If you choose resistance over submission...'
Arranging for someone to move at her slightest "request" wasn't hard.
Even if they were one of the so-called transcendents.
'I'll have to break that stiff neck by force if needed.'
In the suffocating air, Riley's eyes gleamed coldly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Irritating.
That was Starb's sentiment once again as he let Hesperon slip away right under his nose.
"You slippery rat bastard!"
Bam—
He swung his sword, wreathed in pitch-black energy, slashing away a sudden barrage of black threads flying at him, grinding his teeth.
The attack wasn't a major threat to him, but threads materializing out of thin air and lunging were annoyingly persistent.
Roooar—
Every time his heart pounded fiercely, black mana swirled through his body.
A unfamiliar sensation, different from channeling energy through his aura circle as before.
But one he had to get used to now.
For someone who had lost not just his aura but everything he'd built, this was his only lifeline.
To get revenge on those who reduced him to this state.
'What the hell is that guy? It hasn't been that long since then!'
But that revenge hit an unexpected snag from the very first step.
Now able to wield black mana unlike before, Starb could sense the reason more clearly.
'His magic and physical skills are top-notch, but whatever. The problem is those bizarre magic tools and his right arm. The tools I've seen before, sure... but...'
When those who pulled him from that hell first proposed revenge, he eagerly took their hand and accepted the black mana.
Becoming a dark knight and regaining some power, he confidently stepped into this operation.
Just kidnap one guy who wasn't even the heavily guarded princess herself—what could be so hard?
Sure, that guy had ruined everything and tangled the situation, but this time he could prepare more thoroughly.
From what he'd seen firsthand, the guy's skill level was nothing special, right?
Yeah, definitely.
That's what he'd thought... until...
"Grr! What the hell is that? I've never even heard of such a thing!"
He'd poured time and capital into a spatial seal strong enough to stump even a grand magus, timed perfectly for this moment.
All that was left was to chop off the resisting guy's limbs, kidnap him, and slip away.
Shiiik—
Splash!
Another masked assailant dissolved into a spray of blood.
They weren't pushovers by any means, but the materialized curses Hesperon wielded boasted tremendous lethality.
Under certain conditions, instant kills.
Luckily, their long cooldowns and the counter-magic from the spellcasting masks slowed things down.
Otherwise, everyone except Starb might have been wiped out, letting the target escape pointlessly.
'But that's over now!'
The moment Hesperon's attack ended, Starb's eyes flashed with black light as he seized the opening.
Black mana erupted from his body, spreading outward and igniting the surrounding air.
Booom—!
Then he kicked off the ground at terrifying speed, charging at Hesperon.
Starb and the masks were all veterans of countless battles.
They had already roughly grasped the mechanics of Hesperon's abilities.
To perform that unique 3D maneuver, he needed the curses scattered around; lethal attacks consumed them in bulk; and emitting energy like this could somewhat suppress curse spread in the air.
'I have to catch him here! Even if it kills him!'
So now, forced back to the ground, was the perfect chance.
To eliminate him while he was growing at an alarming rate in real time.
'If I miss him here, who knows how much stronger he'll get? Can't let that happen!'
For that, he needed to go all out.
He knew the dangers of black mana well, even if he'd reluctantly accepted it.
Of course, he'd been constantly wary and suppressing it since gaining the power.
'A little burst should be fine.'
He'd make them regret their arrogance soon enough.
Thump—
His blackened, corrupted heart pulsed, swirling black mana through his body.
The destructive energy seeped into every cell, shattering his body's limits and rampaging wildly.
Thump—
A different sensation from handling aura.
Unlike aura, which reinforced the body to contain greater power, black mana's destructive nature ignored the user's safety entirely.
It sought only more power, more destruction.
Thump—
The rampant force surged to his very scalp.
He could prevent total mental erosion through peak enlightenment, but not some corruption of his thoughts.
Violence, murderous intent, bravado, obsession rampaging in his mind.
But Starb didn't care.
He tore through the air in an instant, crossing space—
"Pff—haha!"
"Hup?!"
—reaching Hesperon's face in the blink of an eye.
Boom—!
First strike: Shredded the black threads enveloping the area.
Second: Smashed the barrier blocking between them.
Third: A massive sonic boom from clashing right hand and sword vibrated the surroundings.
"Urk! No wonder this transcendent seemed too easy!"
Hesperon, flung back, bled from his mouth but swung his right arm desperately.
Dozens of black threads bound Starb's legs, canceling his charge—but only briefly.
They disintegrated under the black mana cloaking him.
'Still, I bought some time!'
Hesperon used Hand-to-Hand Combat to recover his crumbling balance and calmly countered the follow-up.
In the storm-like assault, he desperately endured using magic, tools, physical skills, curses—everything.
Five, six, seven...
But when Starb's sword strikes reached the ninth...
'Ah, this is really dangerous.'
He felt his limit.
He'd held out impressively, but the tenth was impossible.
His irregular tricks were all exposed from stalling.
The transcendent dark knight charged head-on without mercy.
Assassin masks blocked retreat, closing in; caster masks prepared something from behind.
'This is checkmate.'
In the end, he prepared to unsummon.
'Tch, but the gains from this real battle aren't bad.'
Thinking about it, hiding for a day and a half wasn't long.
He'd just need to inform Riley ahead of time...
As he planned to leave a word and vanish...
'Huh?'
A sudden sensation made him hurl his body backward.
"Urk, what is this?"
Starb, charging ferociously at Hesperon, sensed it too.
His sharpened instincts screamed danger.
He forcibly halted, threw himself back, and unleashed black mana.
Right after.
Kabooom—!
A fierce pillar of fire erupted where he'd been heading.
Not ordinary flames, but superheated hellfire laced with viscous mana that incinerated anyone caught in an instant.
"Damn! What the—?!"
And it wasn't just aimed at him.
Roooar—
The grand magic hit Starb and all masks simultaneously. Except a tiny few with sharp senses and luck who dodged, all burned to ash without a scream.
"Hah, what gutsy bastards. Daring to pull this in Jeron of all places."
As everyone raised their guards amid the sudden shift, a voice laden with immense mana boomed everywhere.
An overwhelming presence accompanied it.
Starb, gritting his teeth, looked up at the sky.
"Marquis Lawrence...! How are you here?!"
There floated the master of the palace mage tower, Grand Magus Marquis Lawrence—who should have been cooped up in the palace.
Having torn through the meticulously prepared spatial barrier.
'Even a grand magus couldn't detect us from this distance, they said!'
Recalling the briefing from the operation's planner, Starb ground his teeth.
Everything went wrong whenever it tangled with them.
"Hah! Is that really you, Sir Starb? But that appearance..."
The elderly man in an archaic robe and staff, peering down with narrowed eyes, furrowed his brow gravely.
Seeing Starb's ruined eyes, arms, and body, he seemed to grasp the situation and nodded slowly.
"...I see. So that's how it ended up. Black mana, though."
But the fleeting pity vanished quickly.
With a displeased tilt of his head, he slowly extended his staff.
"I came because I couldn't refuse the request... but even without that, I can't just stand by now."
Black mana, an impure power; black mages and dark knights wielding it.
All taboos in current society, especially now amid the Immortal King war—social evils to exterminate on sight.
And they were scheming in the capital?
One being a former imperial noble and palace guard captain?
'We almost got embarrassed again.'
This was less fulfilling a favor and more him owing her thanks.
It meant a hole in the palace mage tower's defenses, part of capital security.
Also implying lingering external influences inside the tower.
Like the princess assassination attempt before.
"Come to think of it, I have a score to settle with you lot. Do you know how much hell you put me through?"
With Marquis Lawrence's irritated words, the air churned and mana boiled.
Summoned magic circles intertwined, manifesting their mysteries.
Vmmm—
Of course, as a grand magus, he suffered no direct harm, but he couldn't deny the setback to the rising palace mage tower's momentum and position.
He'd had to work hard to mend ties with Riley, the next emperor.
"...Whew, that was close."
In the hair-trigger tension...
Hesperon, casually wiping blood from his mouth and slipping back, muttered nonchalantly.
Starb, not in top shape; Marquis Lawrence, always rated higher.
And combat mages from the tower joining to encircle...
The situation was effectively over.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has met the conditions and gained enlightenment. The Right Arm of Craving, having devoured resentment and reached satisfaction, grows. The entity has gained enlightenment through repeated real combat. Skills Introduction to Magic and Hand-to-Hand Combat merge and evolve into Magic Martial Arts. -Heron, are you okay? I rushed you to hurry, but you didn't get hurt anywhere, did you?
Riley's cautious voice came again.
Almost a whisper, wary of disturbing a crucial moment.
-Nah, I'm fine.
As if timed perfectly, the system message appeared.
Now he was far from a proper mage, but he'd never been one anyway.
...No, thinking deeper, Hesperon's real ace stat was...
Kuuung—!
"Gahack! La...wrence...!"
Thud—
Connections. Yeah, that was it.