Chapter 144
Chapter 144
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: Erased Name (7)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hamel felt like he was dreaming. It all seemed so unreal that no words came out of his slack-jawed mouth.
“……”
When they first met, it had been hard to believe Galen was a Gem-rank mage. Even though he'd arrived with an official church document stamped by Archbishop Varga himself and accompanied by Diana from the Holy Knight Order, whom Hamel knew personally.
Honestly, up until just moments ago, he'd still harbored some doubts.
He'd witnessed the armored monster dismantle a Radiant Spear with its magic, and he'd thought it impressive that Galen held his own with water magic without being overwhelmed.
But it hadn't looked all that flashy on the surface. By the time Hamel arrived on the battlefield, the wall of waves was busy holding back the encroaching mist in a stalemate.
Yet once the civilians had been evacuated, the display Galen put on utterly surpassed imagination.
Setting an entire street ablaze could be chalked up to a massive fire breaking out—something plausible enough.
But what about a colossal earth golem, towering like a hill if not a full mountain, rising from the ground only to collapse and bury the whole area? Landslides happened on mountainsides, not flat ground.
“Fortunately, it's buried good and deep.”
Galen said it casually as he lightly flicked his sleeve.
The flames that had still been raging fiercely around them suddenly calmed noticeably.
They'd kept burning by feeding on the mana of the Vanity Inferno, even though there was nothing left to consume.
In other words, once the mana was reclaimed, the ordinary flames had no choice but to die out quickly.
The street, lit only by scattered embers, was now piled high with earth. The fallen giant golem formed a massive mound, like a colossal grave.
“…Lord Galen.”
Hamel finally managed to speak. His voice trembled slightly as he addressed Galen, who turned to look at him.
“I'm no expert in magic, but… this hardly looks like water-element magic to me……”
“I told you earlier, didn't I? Water probably wouldn't cut it, so I'd use something else.”
“No, I thought you meant some other tactic… I never imagined you'd pull out entirely different spells. Fire and earth, no less, at that level……”
Galen had learned a few more spells, but he decided to keep quiet for the old man's mental health.
Hamel, exerting the utmost responsibility of his position as acting archbishop to forcibly maintain his composure, finally let out a deep sigh.
“Thank goodness I treated you myself.”
“Pardon?”
“If I hadn't infused holy power directly, forgive my impudence, but… I might have had no choice but to doubt if you were even human.”
“Did a demon come to mind?”
Galen asked with a chuckle. There was only one being a priest would suspect upon sensing a reaction to holy power.
Hamel didn't answer. It was too grave an insult to voice aloud.
Of course, his silence itself was answer enough. Hamel knew that, but the shock had been so great it was an impulse he couldn't hold back.
“…My apologies. I lost my wits and spoke nonsense for a moment.”
“No offense taken.”
Galen shrugged as he watched the old man bow his head in apology.
Having been born in the land of the Red Demon in his previous life and enjoyed games titled after demons, he didn't take offense at the word alone.
He knew full well what it meant in this world, but Hamel hadn't used it to insult him.
“From a mage's perspective, it's practically a compliment. Means my magic defies common sense, right?”
“…Just to be clear, that means defying it in a bad way, so don't use that line on other mages.”
“Don't worry. If I didn't know that, I'd have been flaunting my full power from the start.”
Galen was well aware his existence strayed so far from the norm that even a priest would invoke demons.
A twenty-something Gem-rank was preferable, at least. That was just extraordinarily fast progress within the established framework.
Put simply, compared to other Gem-rank mages, there was a huge age gap, but they were still in the same league.
But mastering multiple schools of magic—each to a depth that rivaled veteran mages?
Extrapolated to the extreme, it meant Galen alone could replace every other mage in the world.
That was why he'd hidden his other magics until becoming a Gem-rank. Hiding them forever was impossible anyway, so at minimum, he needed power that wouldn't make him beholden to others' whims for safety.
Hamel couldn't read Galen's innermost thoughts perfectly, but he knew full well that revealing the truth would send the world's mages into an uproar. He asked worriedly,
“Then… will you be alright? If you wish, we can try to control the information as much as possible……”
“I'd appreciate that. We can't hide these traces completely anyway, so just keeping quiet about it is fine.”
If he'd intended total secrecy, he'd have stuck to Water Flow Manipulation to the end. Even dragging it into a prolonged fight with the scraps, he'd have won eventually.
He just hadn't seen the need to buy time at the cost of more damage.
His abilities being exposed might make things a bit annoying going forward, but it was something he'd have to face eventually.
And honestly, it wasn't much to worry about. People already struggled to believe a young whippersnapper like him was a Gem-rank; they'd have no trouble accepting he wielded all sorts of magic freely.
“Sorry about the mess with the street, though.”
“Don't worry about that. Think of it as redeveloping a chaotic district while we're at it.”
“Once it's all wrapped up, we'll clear that dirt pile back to normal.”
“…Wrapped up?”
Hamel latched onto the ominous word in Galen's statement and pressed him.
“Isn't it over?”
“Sadly, no. The opponent's Altered Realm is still alive and kicking.”
“Buried under there… and still?”
“Seems the mist blocks physical force to some degree.”
When the spirit punched it, shattering on impact, the armored monster had stayed dry, like wearing a transparent umbrella that shed the water aside.
Separate from burning through Water Flow Manipulation's mana, it had withstood the Water Prison's weight too, even if water leaked in bit by bit.
In short, it wasn't buried defenselessly.
“But it won't last long. It's a powerful spell with heavy mana drain to begin with, and now it has to support that mound's weight on top.”
“What a relief. I thought the battle wasn't over yet.”
“If it wasn't, we wouldn't be chatting so leisurely. Hm, guess I need to lend a bit more help.”
The spirit, which had returned to Galen's wrist unnoticed, hopped down. The transparent cat climbed to the top of the dirt mound.
Shwoooo!
The cat grew endlessly.
Galen usually kept the spirit's size moderate because larger bodies consumed more mana to move.
But if it just stayed still, it didn't matter. It only needed a one-time mana infusion to grow initially.
The enormously enlarged spirit sprawled out atop the mound and flopped down.
Grooooan!
Now the armored monster had to bear the weight of both earth and water.
“That should finish it off soon, right?”
“Heh.”
Hamel chuckled dryly at Galen's nonchalant words, but something sparkling caught his eye.
As Hamel's gaze turned that way, Galen followed suit.
There, streaking along the battlements—not the hue of torches, but platinum light—was rushing toward them.
It had to be a priest's Radiant Light, so not an enemy, but the only bishop left in Cairo was Hamel.
The two soon got their answer.
The owner of the Radiant Light leaped from the wall and came dashing toward them as if flying.
“Eh, Lilia?”
“Brother! Oh, Bishop Hamel’s here too?”
“What brings you here? What about the operation?”
Lilia beamed innocently at Galen and Hamel, who greeted her warmly but with questions.
“It’s all done safely! I came back alone first, worried something might happen in the city. But the gates were shut when I got back, so I figured trouble really had broken out……”
She hadn’t waited for the gates to open—instead jumping straight up to the battlements and rushing over. She’d sensed this was the scene from the flames.
“I see. Good to hear the Holy Knights wrapped up too. Perfect timing. Bishop Lilia, could you take over Lord Galen here?”
“Pardon?”
“He’s been poisoned.”
“P-poisoned?!”
“Don’t phrase it like that; it’ll cause misunderstandings.”
Galen gave a wry smile, feeling oddly sorry as Lilia startled. Hamel smiled bitterly too.
“It’s the truth, isn’t it? That plague was vicious enough to count as poison.”
“A-are you okay?!”
“It’s not that serious.”
“Bishop Lilia’s skills surpass mine, so please handle Lord Galen’s treatment.”
“Got it!”
Lilia grabbed Galen’s hand and pulled him close without hesitation. Clasping his hands in prayer, she immediately invoked a miracle.
“Can I leave the cleanup to you, Lord Galen?”
“Yes. We’ve got it between us. You can head back to command now.”
“Thank you. Then.”
Hamel bowed and leaped away.
Lilia, who’d been so focused she hadn’t noticed, soon looked distressed.
Though both high bishops, her greater achievements and innate senses let her peer deeper into Galen’s condition than Hamel could.
“This is all the treatment you got?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, the healing worked fine… but the remaining poison is so potent, separate from that… it’s not purifying at all……”
“They called it something weird like Abyss of the Forest. It’s the poison that caused the great plague—what do you expect?”
“It must hurt right now. The poison’s still eating away at you.”
“I can bear it. You look more pained than I do. Don’t worry so much.”
“But… if I hadn’t gone with the Holy Knights… if I’d just stayed by your side……”
“Lilia.”
Galen cut off her sullen mutter firmly.
Meeting her puppy-like eyes, he said emphatically,
“Don’t regret things like that.”
“Huh?”
“How could we know the enemy would use decoys, or that the culprit was a Gem-rank? We did our best, and we resolved both sides safely. That’s what matters. Wounds heal with treatment. So no regrets. You’re doing great, Lilia. Always.”
He wouldn’t deny she had her quirky side.
But since meeting Lilia, not a single operation had gone awry for Galen.
Easy tasks became effortless, tough ones succeeded in the end, and even casual jobs yielded unexpected gains.
This time was no different. He’d been hurt worse than ever, but as he said, treatment fixed it.
He’d gained new magic too, and slaying the foe would net a hefty experience haul. For such sweet rewards, this hardship was worth it.
“……”
Not sure how well his sincerity landed, but Lilia fell silent for a long while.
With their gazes locked, Galen started feeling a tad awkward. He cleared his throat lightly.
“Anyway… we decided on separate ops together, right? Even if we say you were at fault a hundred times over, I share half the blame. So really, no self-recrimination.”
“…Okay.”
Lilia’s expression softened as she resumed moving. Her eyes curved into gentle arcs.
“You always say the nicest things, Brother.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve said some harsh ones too.”
“Oh? Have I?”
Her fresh smile signaled she was back to normal.
“Anyway, back to treatment: luckily, no lingering effects!”
“Good to hear. I was worried it’d be like the Family Head’s illness.”
“He’s older, and maybe the timing of treatment was off. They say symptoms appeared long after visiting the plague zone, so probably faint poison slowly gnawed at him over time. Healing miracles aren’t omnipotent.”
Galen, on the other hand, had taken a heavy dose but received Hamel’s aid before permanent damage.
“You’ll need ongoing treatment for a while, though. No clue when the poison will fully clear.”
“No rush. I can suppress it with mana between sessions.”
“With mana? Don’t mages get plagues too?”
“I borrowed the culprit’s magic.”
“You cheated again?!”
“Cheated? Is it?”
“Totally!”
“Anyway, it lets me suppress the poison a bit. Turns out the guy carries it in his own body.”
“What a weirdo… Ah, is that why you buried him? To seal the poison too?”
“Not intentional, but that’s the result.”
“Huh? But did you even have earth golem magic, Brother?”
“You know the spell for making earth dolls?”
“That was a grave.”
“Well… I massively oversized a shoddy one—cobbled together, barely movable—then toppled it?”
A single colossal earth doll, made by dumping every scrap of Territorial Advance mana into bloating it up.
Absurdly huge, too flimsy to move properly—fit only for collapsing.
Against a physical powerhouse like a warrior or priest, they’d have dodged. It worked because the foe was a slow mage. Extreme tactics.
“Well, that’s you exploiting his weakness perfectly.”
“Won’t work twice, though. Not that there’ll be a second time. But seriously, why isn’t this guy dead yet?”
They’d chatted quite a while, after all. As Galen grumbled,
Zzzing—
His senses prickled sharply.
Even Lilia, a priestess without mana sense, tilted her head.
“Something feels off.”
“The Altered Realm’s suddenly shaking. Not mine—the opponent’s. Death throes?”
Galen didn’t know why. He’d never killed a Gem-rank mage before.
But one thing was sure: a quivering Altered Realm like this was far from stable.
How could an absolute, unwavering ultimate technique unleash its power while wobbling uncontrollably?
So Galen dismissed it casually.
Fwoosh!
At that moment, the ground trembled ever so slightly.