Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Devil's Cradle (9)
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It was a good thing he'd hidden the subjugation squad in the fog before Moritz went into full rampage mode.
Now he only had to look out for himself, without worrying about anyone else. Myra was there, but she had the skills to handle herself, and in fact, she needed to take on that role.
Of course, limiting the people he had to protect to just himself didn't make the situation any easier by a long shot.
Kwaaaaang!
A ferocious blaze erupted with the explosion, blasting away the incoming wave in its entirety. As expected, it packed a terrifying punch.
But right behind it came a second and third wave of muddy water, overlapping as they surged forward.
Shooooaaaah!
There was no point in trying to compete with raw power head-on, so there was no need to focus on single-shot potency. The waves' sole purpose was to disrupt Moritz's vision with short, rapid bursts.
The issue was the shockwaves from explosions near the spirit breaking through the water wall. So why not just make sure they couldn't explode anywhere near the spirit?
"Playing dirty tricks like that!"
Moritz spat out the words through gritted teeth, quickly realizing Galen's intent.
Visibility was already poor amid the spray, flames, explosions, and steam all mixed together. Now, with turbulent waves forming a wall between them, he couldn't even aim at Galen beyond it.
Moritz never imagined Galen had precisely figured out the mechanics of his Phantasmal Inferno. He just assumed the enemy was getting clever.
The problem was that this cleverness had coincidentally hit the mark. Not that it was coincidence, but Moritz had no way of knowing that. He swung his flames in irritation.
Kwang! Kwaaang! Puffuffung!
He blasted away the front wave, then the one behind it, triggering a chain of small explosions along the path to forcefully clear everything in the way and regain his sightline.
"Just blow them all up!"
Moritz's brute-force approach was crude, but it would have worked if Galen only had Water Flow Manipulation.
The flames exploded faster than he could gather the dispersing water.
But Galen had his spirit too, and it could regurgitate the water it'd swallowed at an incredibly fast rate. All Galen had to do was push it forward, keeping the muddy wall regenerating.
Of course, Moritz's firepower was so intense that the clash point between water and fire kept getting shoved toward Galen's side.
"Then I'll just make sure you can't blow them all up."
Pushing the water was simple enough that he didn't need full power, so Galen invested that spare capacity into offense.
Snatching water from the shattering, evaporating waves, he roughly gathered it in the air above and hurled it at Moritz.
It looked modest compared to its grandiose name, but dozens of water blobs materialized in the sky each second, raining down at an angle anyway.
Set to two-finger potency, they weren't individually devastating, but even the Water Spirit Orbs that Carnea had desperately blocked were two-finger spells. For a mage, getting hit meant blood and pain.
Moritz was no exception, so he couldn't just let them be.
Puffuffung!
Just a flick of his eyes upward triggered dozens of explosions in the air, vaporizing all the incoming water.
But that narrowed his field of view forward, and the muddy waves pressed on during that brief opening while he looked up.
"Such a pain in the—"
Mid-sentence, Moritz whipped his head around. His eyes flashed.
Kwang!
The high-speed light spear was forced off-course by the explosion's pressure. It stabbed deep into the ground.
Truth be told, what irked Moritz most wasn't Galen's counterattacks, but Myra's long-range spear throws.
They were instant kills on hit, so he had to read and intercept every trajectory. But whenever he focused on Galen, one came from the side or back, constantly breaking his rhythm.
Luckily, Myra wasn't spamming Miracle of Radiant Light nonstop, or he'd have been in real trouble with attacks from both sides.
Even so, it was infuriating enough. The best move was to take out Myra first.
Kwaang!
Myra, bolstered by Miracle of Fortification, sensed the telltale signs of an impending explosion. She hurled herself sideways.
"Ugh!"
She couldn't fully evade, but avoided a direct hit, which wasn't enough to drop her. Miracle of Healing and Miracle of Vitality kept her going.
If he could keep attacking, he might accumulate damage, but Myra wasn't his main target.
"You'll have to pay attention this way too."
"You damn bastard!"
In the end, they circled back to the original standoff.
Moritz, the recipient himself, knew best that the demon's power wouldn't last forever.
He needed to finish these two quickly and handle the rest, but they kept tripping him up, making him increasingly anxious.
On top of that, Galen's magic felt like it was gradually strengthening, spurring Moritz's impatience even more.
He hoped it was just an illusion, but if the demon's power was waning, making Galen's spells seem stronger? It'd only get harder to catch him as time went on.
Unfortunately for Moritz, it wasn't an illusion. It fit too perfectly to be wrong.
The demon's power was indeed slowly fading.
And Galen's magic was genuinely getting stronger bit by bit. If Moritz learned the truth, he'd clutch his head in hypertensive agony.
Clashing against Moritz's Phantasmal Inferno had leveled Water Flow Manipulation by 2, and pummeling the demon had done the same for Spirit Creation.
Strictly speaking, with their progress bars, they were late 55 and late 40, so it was a bit over 1 level each rather than full 2, but it was still a major win.
'Fighting strong opponents really does help a ton.'
He'd long known that sparring with Lilia yielded more exp than solo training.
This wasn't sparring—it was kill-or-be-killed—but they were locked in combat, and Moritz's strength made progress skyrocket.
'Yeah, thanks for the generous exp, but...'
The problem was, this wasn't a sparring match he could call off whenever.
By clinging to the Phantasmal Inferno's weakness and with Myra's support, he was holding out, but mana was draining fast.
Even one-on-two, he was tanking most attacks, and demon-boosted Moritz was a clearly superior mage.
'If the demon power just amps output, fine. But if it boosts total mana too...'
In the latter case, Galen's mana would run out first. Even if Water Flow Manipulation depleted, Spirit Creation would have some left, but the spirit alone couldn't handle the flames.
It had to be the former, or the demon power had to fade before his mana did. Otherwise, no win.
'Or the bishop's spear lands once. Or even just one more person to harass him, and we'd turn it around.'
Galen chuckled wryly at his own greedy thoughts.
Moritz's original plan hadn't even included him, so wasn't the current mess unfair enough? Asking for more might make him sound like a thief.
As Galen and Moritz dueled viciously, each harboring their insecurities about who would fall first...
The one who cracked first under greater anxiety and tried a gamble was Moritz.
Shweeeeek!
Their duel was never just between them, so predictably, Myra's spear flew in.
Pung!
And just as predictably, Moritz reacted.
But the explosion was unusually weak. The spear grazed past Moritz without veering much. It tore his side shallowly.
The wound was minor. Having blocked spears multiple times, he'd calculated and deflected with minimal mana.
That freed up power turned toward Myra.
Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!
Deliberate blasts chained off. Myra's dodges couldn't keep up with the sudden escalation. Overlapping shockwaves engulfed her.
That was the moment.
Peruk!
A light spear pierced Moritz's shoulder. The wind-cutting sound was drowned by the prior explosions.
"Gaaak!"
Moritz screamed. It wasn't a graze—it nearly severed his arm.
Moritz, struck by the unexpected blow; Galen, urgently shifting the water to draw Moritz's gaze; and Myra, tumbling but trying to recover—all froze in shock.
The spear had come from an impossible direction. Only Bishop Myra in the squad could use Miracle of Radiant Light.
All three eyes snapped toward the spear's origin.
There, peeking from the fog, was Lilia releasing her throw stance.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Lilia! What in the world?!"
Galen and Moritz blanked out briefly, while Myra, barely landing, shouted. Even trying to stay calm was hard.
Lilia beamed innocently and yelled back.
"No idea!"
"Don't give me that!"
"I really don't know! It just worked!"
So, apparently...
The super-genius cleric, already wielding her fifth miracle freely at eighteen, had awakened yet another one at this perfect timing.
"Wow, this is ridiculous."
"Not like you can talk..."
Galen shook his head, and Myra, hearing with enhanced senses, muttered softly.
Moritz's eyes rolled back. Rage so intense it drowned out the pain consumed his mind.
"You goddamn world!"
Blood vessels burst, turning his eyes blood-red as he bellowed.
"My lifelong pinnacle! Stolen so casually by snot-nosed brats?! Where's the justice?! Why else would I ally with a filthy demon!"
"...I get it, Lord Moritz. Honestly, even I'm pretty stunned right now."
Even the bishop empathized briefly with the demon contractor.
But only briefly—Myra didn't forget her duty.
"Still... you shouldn't have reached for the demon. That's not overcoming—it's running away."
"Shut up, all of you!"
Flames surged around the unhinged Moritz.
The fiercest yet, but also the most unstable blaze they'd seen.
"Lilia! Focus on evasion—only attack when you're dead sure!"
"Got it!"
Myra and Lilia moved, and Galen refocused, drawing up mana.
The abruptly halted fight restarted just as abruptly.
But the one-on-two balance tipped sharply into three-on-one.
For a mage lacking a warrior's toughness or a cleric's healing, a half-severed arm was too grave.
No matter how focused, pain could be endured with grit, but blood loss's toll on the body was unavoidable.
In the end, before his mana or demon power fully depleted...
"You... damn... genius... brats..."
The mage, cursing his own talent, was swallowed by the turbid waves.