Chapter 190: Say You Want To Live - 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 190: Say You Want To Live - 6
Instead of engaging in psychological warfare, Wolfen had resolved to kill me with nothing but strength and Qi.
Damn it. He saw right through my weakness in a straight-up physical fight. The coward.
Sigh. I guess the easy part’s over.
Now, all I could do was stall for time. Truly, genuinely stall. I had to use every tool at my disposal to buy as much time as possible.
“Finishing move!”
The revolver had five bullets. Now it was empty.
An empty gun is useless. I boldly threw it.
“Gun Throw!”
Clang. The flying gun was blocked by his shortsword. Having created a precious opening by throwing my own weapon, I immediately rolled on the ground and vanished into the gap between two buildings.
It was a narrow path between buildings, a tight squeeze where two people passing would have to get uncomfortably close.
I sprinted down the alley and drew my next card.
The 8 of Diamonds. All Things Long and Thin.
Chains, wires, threads, metal shards, rubber. Mana-conducting cables.
Of the various types of knots contained within the card, I chose wire. I hooked a pre-knotted wire onto a railing on one side. Clank. The knot passed through the railing as if by magic and caught firmly.
After setting up three wire traps in an instant, I deliberately plucked one of them—twang—to announce its presence. Wolfen, who had followed me, saw the taut wires and hesitated to charge in recklessly.
‘…Traps? Annoying. It would be difficult to break through with brute force.’
Haha. How do you like that? Since ancient times, traps have been the best way to catch a beast. You, who decided to rely on strength alone, can you really enter this alley?
‘I’ll have to kick off the walls and jump over.’
That’s cheating!
Tap, tap. Wolfen lightly kicked off the walls on either side, launching himself ten meters into the air. He landed with his feet on one wall and slid down the incline with ease.
There was no time to stand and watch. My trump card of a trap having been neutralized, I immediately threw myself out of the alley. Behind me, Wolfen closed the distance in an instant.
‘Got you. You won’t escape now.’
I had just rounded a corner, and Wolfen was drawing his shortsword to strike my back. The moment he landed on the ground at the end of the slope, intending to change direction…
Woosh. The ground beneath him gave way. He plunged downward, still in his perfect landing pose.
For a brief moment, having lost his footing, Wolfen was utterly bewildered.
‘A trap? When did he…?’
The road was just a thin layer over dirt. I had cleared out all the earth beneath it, so when someone as heavy as Wolfen landed, the pavement simply vanished as if sucked into the ground.
A sinkhole trap, created with Earth Art. Reading Wolfen’s confusion, I immediately drew a card I had been saving.
The 10 of Diamonds, Sword and Shield.
A small buckler appeared in my left hand, and a straight sword about the length of my forearm appeared in my right. I thrust the buckler forward toward Wolfen’s head while simultaneously stabbing with the straight sword into his blind spot.
It was a picture-perfect strike, my entire body behind it, aimed at my opponent’s perfect vulnerability.
Thwack. The buckler struck Wolfen squarely in the face. At the same time, my straight sword slashed his shoulder. His collar tore, and blood spurted from the wound.
‘A solid hit.’
But there was no time to savor the achievement. Even in his surprise, a clear intent to attack was directed at me.
‘But it’s light. I can take it.’
Wolfen’s head, which had been knocked back by the buckler, snapped forward, his eyes glowing ominously. A pitch-black blade shot up from his left. The dark Qi, which seemed to swallow even light, was aimed precisely at my life.
Reading his killing intent, I gritted my teeth, twisted my arm and waist, and pulled the buckler back. I unleashed the small bit of Qi I had, not holding anything back, and wrapped it around the shield.
Screeeech.
The sturdy buckler deflected the darkness-shrouded sword at an angle. A clash of sword and shield. Logically, the shield should have the advantage.
But a battle between a Qi-clad sword and a Qi-clad shield is decided by whose Qi is stronger.
Crack. The buckler, after holding for a moment, shattered pathetically. It broke and fragmented like frozen bread dropped on the ground, its duty as a shield fulfilled. The shortsword, having smashed the buckler to pieces, left a long, deep gash on my left arm.
“Aaargh!”
God, that hurts!
There was no time to groan in pain. To block his attacks, a sword was more necessary than a shield. I tried to pull back the straight sword that had cut Wolfen’s shoulder, intending to slice off his arm.
However.
“Weaker than I thought.”
Grab. Wolfen caught my straight sword with his empty hand. The blade, with his bare hand.
And just like that, the sword was stuck fast, as if embedded in rock.
“Tch!”
If I get caught like this, I’m dead. I let go of the sword and immediately rolled backward. Blood was pouring from my crushed left arm, but I had no time to tend to it.
In contrast, Wolfen walked forward as if the wound on his shoulder was nothing and muttered.
“It was all just petty tricks. From alchemy to all sorts of games, they were all deceptions to hide your weakness.”
So he’s seen through everything.
Well, it would be strange if he hadn’t noticed after my shield failed to block his sword and I gave up my left arm.
Still, I couldn’t afford to lose my composure. I had to stall for even a little more time.
I feigned nonchalance and raised my bleeding left arm.
“Ta-da. What do you think? Wasn’t that fun?”
“Quite. Magician, you may have more talent as an assassin than I do.”
He placed a hand on the shoulder wound my sword had inflicted. A shimmering aura seeped into the cut, and the blood hardened into a black crust, quickly stopping the bleeding.
Having effortlessly nullified even my best shot, Wolfen removed his hand and murmured.
“One thing. This world is about power. In the end, the powerless are broken, and the powerful reign. That is the way of the world.”
“I understand your epiphany, but so what?”
Wolfen looked down on me as if I were a naive child.
“If you wanted to live, you shouldn’t have stood in my way. You were foolish, Magician. You dreamed a dream far too big for your station.”
“Haha. And is your dream so humble that you’d borrow the Military State’s power to clean up the back alleys and seize the unclaimed territory?”
“To be among the weak is the only way to truly reign.”
“How small-minded.”
“It’s called knowing one’s place. Unlike you.”
He’s serious. Wolfen really was a typical relic of the kingdom era—strong against the weak and weak against the strong.
Ah, how boring.
For all his power, his actions were no more than those of a common man. He was just a little stronger, a little more rational, and a little luckier than the average person.
“How dull. You’re the type who only survived because you were lucky.”
I lamented as I flipped my hand over. One of my few remaining diamond cards appeared in my palm.
The 7 of Diamonds. Magic Wand.
The card instantly transformed into a long staff with a curved handle. But this time, Wolfen didn’t even seem wary as he trudged toward me.
“I’ve seen through it all. I will no longer be fooled by your cheap tricks. I will walk right up to you and take your life, and not even your grand deceptions will save you.”
Ah, really. Is this the end?
My left arm throbbed. A magician’s hands and arms are his life. After taking this much damage, is this how it has to end?
It was then that something fell from the sky with an urgent voice.
It was a golem.
『Get back!』
With those words, the golem stood in front of me. Unlike the immobile surveillance golems, this was a synchro-type that could move on its own.
Wow. It’s been a while. Good to see you.
Swallowing the feeling of tears welling up from the stinging pain in my left arm, I asked.
“Captain. Did I buy enough time?”
The synchro-type magic golem stood protectively in front of me and shouted.
『Affirmative! Sir, if you can just hold on a little longer…』
The Captain didn’t even get to finish. Wolfen’s dagger embedded itself in the golem’s torso, and its voice faded as if cut off. It creaked and then collapsed powerlessly.
Toward the Captain, who hadn’t even lasted a second before shutting down, I cried out.
“Captainnnnnn!!”
You were supposed to last a little longer! What’s the point of a cool entrance if you make such a pathetic exit! It’s so anticlimactic!
“You’ve wasted too much time.”
Because you announced it like that, Wolfen is getting anxious and trying to kill me now!
‘No more dragging this out. Die.’
Thud. Wolfen kicked off the ground in a single bound and raised his shortsword. He no longer wasted his aura, containing it entirely within his body and his blade. He came straight for me, intent on killing me.
A clear killing intent and the power to see it through. Before that, a helpless me could only offer my neck…
But to overcome such a situation is the pinnacle of magic.
To escape from a desperate crisis with no apparent way out, in a manner no one could have imagined… that is what it takes to be worthy of the name Magician.
“Did you happen to think that the only cards I have…”
I flicked my right arm. A new card appeared at my fingertips. I deftly caught it between two fingers.
The one card I had prepared in advance for the Shadow.
The weapons forged from diamonds were nothing more than a setup for this single card.
“…were weapons?”
The card I flipped over was the Ace of Clovers.
Unlike the sharp, angular red diamonds, the image of a round tree, rooted in the earth, was revealed to Wolfen.
‘A cheap trick. I won’t be fooled. Whatever comes out, I will keep my eyes wide open and respond.’
I am the boy who cried wolf.
Repeated lies breed deep distrust, forcing the other party to maintain an unwavering stance.
Thank you. For watching my final magic trick so intently.
I flipped the clover-adorned card over and released the magic sealed within. The condensed mana flowed into the single clover, causing it to glow white-hot.
Wolfen frowned at the shining card.
‘Trying to blind me with light? What has he hidden?’
Wrong.
I’m not trying to blind you with light. The thing I’ve hidden is light.
As he watched the clover grow brighter, an ominous thought belatedly flashed through Wolfen’s mind.
‘…Could it be, magic? No way!’
Too late. The magic was already cast.
Let there be light.
“Piet Lux.”
Because he had gathered all his aura, the darkness that usually shrouded his body was now gone. Since he hadn't scattered his Qi around, he was incapable of a versatile response.
In other words, Wolfen was completely defenseless.
The condensed light at the center of the clover exploded.
Every shadow on the street vanished. For a moment, an incandescent white light began to pour forth from the face of the card.
An overwhelming amount of light, as if a window had been opened directly in front of the sun.
Even eyelids couldn’t filter it out. It felt like I could see the shadows of my own bones and veins through my translucent skin.
Light is what erases shadow. Struck head-on by his antithesis, Wolfen quickly covered his eyes, but the light had already stolen his vision for a moment.
“I’m glad your Qi has a dark attribute. It seems you haven’t been blinded. Though you’ll have trouble moving for a while.”
“You bastard…! Magician!”
Darkness may cover the eyes, but light blinds them. You and this magic are in a clear hierarchy.
His sight lost, Wolfen leaped back, swinging his sword wildly in all directions. A dark aura once again erupted from his entire body, a defensive measure against any attack I might make while he couldn't react.
But it was useless.
I’m better off than you, who took a direct hit, but I can’t see very well right now either. I can’t attack anyway.
“Ghk…!”
“Thank you for watching until the end, Wolfen Fenshtein. You were a boring person, but a decent audience. However, to defeat someone who follows the logic of power, one must be stronger than you. In that sense, I am unqualified.”
“I’ll kill you. On the honor of the Shadow, you and everyone around you! I’ll kill you all!”
“Ah, yes, yes. Well then, goodbye.”
With that farewell, I fled down the escape route I had scouted earlier. The street, swallowed by light, concealed my form even better than darkness. No one saw me escape.
Of course, I couldn’t see either and ended up running into a wall, but, well, whatever. I succeeded in escaping into a building.
My role ends here. It was risky, but it worked out somehow.
Now, it’s the Military State’s turn.