Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Resentment Pursuit -4
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A pair of shooting stars plummeted into a remote forest. Yet the massive destruction that should have followed never came. Just before impact with the ground, they had used their magic power as reverse thrust to land.
Silently.
The Violet Magic Tower Master descended without a sound.
Crunch.
The Capital Knights Commander created a crater ankle-deep but managed to land.
Flutter flutter scatter.
Birds and mice fled in all directions through the woods. The beasts' keen senses had foreseen the natural disaster about to ravage the forest.
The Tower Master extended her hand to summon her staff. At the center of its spiraling bone frame, a crystal spun quietly.
Whirr. Whirrr.
The Knights Commander clenched and unclenched her fists, heightening her senses. The machinery built into her golden power armor hummed like an engine, activating various support spells.
Before the tension of battle could build, a youthful voice emerged from behind the armor.
"Shall we introduce ourselves? I'm Lulu."
"...Wanna go back."
"No way. Normally I'd let you off if you hate fighting this much, but... the grandpa who always played with me's off on a long trip lately, y'know? I'm pent up. Can't hold back much longer. And~ besides~."
The Knights Commander slapped both hands to her hips with a snap.
"Grandpa raved about you. Said your power's so unstable it lacks polish, but if we really clash, it'd drag on for a good while."
"...Grandpa?"
"You dodged grandpa's sword jab, right? The one in that young boy's form. The shorty. You know."
She remembered.
The Tower Master recalled the minor scuffle at the Violet Magic Tower. They hadn't even unleashed their metamorphoses—just light jabs—and yet the tower's outer walls had been shredded.
As the Tower Master sank into reminiscence, the Knights Commander snapped her fingers. Ah, right. She pulled a notice from her bosom.
"Ahem. Yeah, ignore all the pointless stuff. Unauthorized entry to Crown Hall, failure to report blah blah. On the following grounds, Yuna Yurensuto Violetiris is hereby banished from the city."
"...Shouldn't you say 'listen carefully' or something?"
"What's to brag about the 3rd Team Leader chickening out? Screw what the randos think—the point is I wanna fight you."
"......"
The Tower Master narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the Knights Commander.
No malice. No sense of duty. A tail seemed to wag behind the Knights Commander. She looked just like a mischievous puppy pestering for playtime.
The Tower Master voiced her honest impression.
"...Puppy?"
"Play with me!"
No denial—just an instant reply. The Tower Master let out a soft sigh.
Well, no rush. She'd be livid if this girl had barged in mid-clash with the warlock, but now they'd agreed to head back to the inn together.
He wouldn't charge the Redburn Duke's villa alone, either.
If a quick play session covered for moving without reporting, it might even be a net gain. The Tower Master raised her staff, aiming it at the Knights Commander.
Still—he was waiting. Time to wrap this up fast.
Reading her intent, the Commander grinned ehehe and thumped her chest.
"Alright! First off, lemme intro my metamorphosis! It's called 『Glutton』."
"......"
"Turns anything I eat into mana. Even dirt boosts it, and the max cap just keeps climbing—no limit. Used to be temporary, but... I hit Apotheosis! Get me?"
"...Pig."
"Not a pig."
『Glutton』
Mana conversion from ingestion / Infinite max growth / Apotheosis unlocked
Whirrrrr—! Grgggggrrr.
Mana swirled into a vortex. The power overflowing from the Knights Commander's body fueled every magic circle in her inefficient power armor—with mana to spare.
Mana cloaked the armor's surface. Densifying steadily, it hardened like crystal, radiating an intense blue glow too bright to stare at.
The Tower Master frowned.
Illusion Magic was still magic. It exploited gaps through clever forms, but at root, just a mana technique. Blanket it in brute-force mana, and she had no counter.
Like folding a paper airplane into a tornado's maw. It'd shred apart in the mana gale, never touching the eye.
"Yeah, bad matchup. Illusion Magic... that shady crap warlocks love. No physical punch, right?"
"......"
"That's the weird part. Grandpa's sword... how'd you block it? Illusions don't faze grandpa. Ah, so damn curious. Means... you've got a trick. I wanna see it."
Sizzle. Thud.
Each step the Commander took pulverized the dirt beneath her boot, scattering it. She was a walking sun.
Pure mana waste.
Efficient use of that much mana could've launched dozens of grand spells with pocket change left. Instead, no finesse—just draped over her body, squandered.
Normally, play the long game.
Mana burst or pour? Time was fatal poison to fast-burners. Mana wasn't infinite; the assault would end eventually.
"Red Tower'd blast you back with pressure, Gold'd bury you underground, Blue'd float you in water to lock movement. Violet...? Mom hologram?"
"If you want."
"I'd punch mom. Bitch ditched me and ran."
But that casual bluster...
"Alright, light one to start—!!"
"『Nightmare of the World's End』, 『Subtraction』, 『Mirror Forest』."
⟨ Illusion Magic Barrage ⟩
The Commander gathered mana and thrust out her hand.
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
A mana beam dwarfing a man's width lanced out. The mental illusions slid off the mana barrier; Subtraction canceled out; half the hundreds of clones—manifesting as if always there—were mulched.
Crouched amid her mirror images, the Tower Master watched trees rip free at the roots. Calling it a "beam" was generous. Just raw mana spew.
Like the gap between blowing into a recorder... and huffing breath into empty air. Brain-dead simple.
Simple made it strong.
Targeted Illusion Magic? Useless. The Tower Master switched to light-based spells.
"Withdraw the light, close your eyes. 『Blackout』."
⟨ Light Deprivation ⟩
Light vanished from the area. Pitch darkness swallowed everything. From afar, it'd look like a massive black orb had spawned.
Of course, robbing sight alone wouldn't cut it. She'd sense via mana anyway—this was just prepping light for the follow-up...
"Who turned off the lights! Where ya at! Not running, right?!"
"...Can't sense mana?"
"Don't need it to win!"
Beeeeeee—!!
In the lightless void, ominous mana gleamed; a faint high-pitched whine tickled her ears. The sound of a mana stone battery rupturing in a botched experiment.
The Tower Master's spine crawled.
"...Area self-destruct?!"
"Can't see? Blast it all at once!"
Kwaaaaaaaaang──!!
......
"Cough, cough cough. Blech..."
The Tower Master spat grit from her mouth. Thoughtless brawlers relying on size and AOE forced equal weight-class response.
Shielding from the blast had drained her mana hard. His illusion-taught "scientifically robust structure" applied to her barrier had blocked efficiently, but still...
The Knights Commander strolled from ground zero, nonchalant. Still swathed in vast mana.
"Blocked that, huh? Round two?!"
"...How much mana do you even have, you...!!"
"Enough to force your ace, at least. Show me what you showed grandpa—!!"
"......"
The Tower Master bit her lip.
Wouldn't if she could help it.
It kept surfacing. Unbidden. Power bloomed from a garbage heap—using it alone stabbed her heart with pain.
Still. To sap that oversized hound's strength, prime time for a flex. And now, a haven waited to mend her heart.
"...Said I'd go on a date with you."
That alone fueled her.
Eyes closed.
She inspected her soul's form. Half white, half black—with a mismatched gem crudely stitched along the divide.
The gem's name: Gate.
A door forcibly sewn into her soul via horrific experiment. The old Violet Tower's secret—a force crumbling the boundary of illusion and reality.
Yuna Yurensuto Violetiris unlatched it. Eased the door ajar.
"Burnt Offering Apotheosis—『Illusion Realm: Gate Open』."
⟨ Fantasy Boundary Rift ⟩
Kuuung.
A resonance only her soul could feel echoed.
Something hugely wrong. The Knights Commander blinked.
"......Huh?"
Crackle. Craaaaaack.
A cross-shaped fissure split the air behind the Tower Master. The void-wound widened, warping reality on a grand scale.
Familiar sensation. Like stepping through a dimension gate. She'd felt this misalignment entering the demon realm via the eastern front gate.
Gripping her reeling mind, the Tower Master closed her eyes and whispered.
"Won't open fully... but you seemed curious. There—shown you."
"......"
"Here, illusion blurs with reality. Things vanish. Non-things appear. Lose your grip... and we both might scatter. Careful."
"...You're no one to yap about self-destructs—!!"
Told her so.
No proper bloom. Forcibly wrenched open, enlightenment-free Apotheosis jammed in her skull. Imperfect power bred wild instability. End it quick.
Judgment for the intruder crashing their sweet time too—she swung her staff with bottled fury.
"Surrender now, and it's just five hits."
"Dunno the spell, but I ain't yielding easy..."
Guuuuuuuu.
A colossal shape forced through the gate. Neck-crane tall, a pristine white giant. An absurdly hypertrophied variant.
The giant balled its fist. The Commander gawked upward, dazed.
"...Ha, surrender?"
"One."
Meteor-fist plummeted. She snapped up her guard.
Kwaaaaaaaaang──!!
===============================================================
Two poachers trekked through the woods near Crown Hall.
"So, green-antler deer swarm here, huh?"
"Yup. And get this—no mountain patrol since morning. Let's cash in big today!"
"Still weird. All on vacation?"
"Don't overthink. Good luck like this? Seize it."
Imperial woods—poaching banned without permit. Which meant prime, pricey game.
No pesky patrols? Jackpot. They buzzed to score big...
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
When the forest suddenly shredded amid a boom.
"Wh-what the fu—!"
"Wha-what's happening...!"
Poachers clutched heads, flattened prone. They waited out the chaos, then peeked to assess.
Panic gripped them. Then they witnessed apocalypse.
Everything sucked toward the woods' heart. Trees, squirrels—even their own forms. They glimpsed their stretching, warping backsides. Trailed by inky abyss.
That was the Tower Master's hand devouring local light.
They figured their eyes gone bad. Had to—else admit the world crumbling.
Thrashing in lightless dark...
Kwaaaaaaaaang──!!
Blinding blast erupted from the forest. Trees uprooted wholesale; shockwave hurled the poachers skyward.
After tumbling forever, barely clinging to life, their final sight: a white giant, sky-scraping, meting judgment to the earth.
"......"
"......"
They could only smash foreheads to dirt in desperate prayer.