Chapter 79
Chapter 79
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Authority of Shatter
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Over a dozen fire spikes relentlessly pursued Lee Si-woo.
The spikes, trailing long tails of fire, approached Lee Si-woo’s mana shield, only to flicker out like candles in the wind.
After confirming that Harman had neutralized the fire spikes with Breaker, Si-woo spoke to Yahalong, who was tucked under his arm.
“Sir Yahalong, you have the map, right? Is there a secret passage leading to the heart of the ruins?”
Yahalong, whose broken neck bone had somewhat healed thanks to his troll’s vitality, answered.
“There is, but… even if we go, as long as the Ancient is chasing us…”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan, so please show me the way. I’ll get you out of these ruins alive, one way or another.”
At Si-woo’s claim of having a plan, Yahalong’s eyes wavered.
Soon, deciding he had nothing to lose, Yahalong took a smartphone from his inventory and turned on the navigation.
“Go straight until the three-way fork, then turn left, then an immediate right. After that…”
Who had time to listen to all that?
With a swift motion, Si-woo snatched Yahalong’s smartphone and checked the map displayed on the navigation app.
The winding and complicated paths were just like the streets of downtown Seoul.
Si-woo was reasonably intelligent, but memorizing such a map after a single glance was impossible for him.
Fortunately, however, he had reliable support.
‘Harman, can you memorize this?’
-I have already memorized it all. I will guide you from now on.
As expected of a mage whose intellect was second to none, he could apparently memorize a map like this with just a single scan.
A smirk tugged at Si-woo’s lips at Harman’s confident words. He then spoke to Yahalong, who was looking up at him with a bewildered expression.
“Sir Yahalong, you trust me, don’t you?”
Startled by Si-woo’s sudden question, Yahalong asked back in confusion.
“What? What’s this all of a sudden…?”
“Don’t forget. I will definitely come back to save you. So for now, just pretend to be dead. The Ancient probably isn't very interested in you anyway. Still… just in case, please understand if I get a little rough.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Si-woo kicked Yahalong in the abdomen.
The kick was so powerful that Yahalong slammed into the ruin wall with a harsh groan.
Still, he hadn’t kicked hard enough to rupture his organs, so with the vitality of a troll that had survived a broken neck, he wouldn’t die.
‘Well, I don’t know if the Ancient will actually ignore you… but if you die, you die. What can I do? Even for me, escaping from that monster while carrying you is impossible.’
Embedded in the wall as if he were a stuffed trophy, Yahalong looked at him with the eyes of a baby bird abandoned by its mother, but Si-woo heartlessly looked away.
Yoana, who had been chasing him with terrifying speed, glanced at Yahalong before ignoring him and continuing her pursuit of Si-woo.
Regardless of how it happened, Yahalong had survived.
“Lee Si-woo! Stop struggling and stand right there! There’s nowhere to run even if you go deeper inside!”
Si-woo also knew there was no escape, but he didn’t care.
His goal was to head deeper into the ruins to find a way to break the barrier, not to find some non-existent escape route.
‘If there were a way to escape, Death-Ground Fortune would have shown me the path. The fact that it didn't… must mean the only way to live is to destroy the barrier and induce outside intervention. Therefore, I must find a way to destroy it as quickly as possible.’
His battle with Yoana had been brief, but it was long enough for Si-woo to realize he had no chance of winning.
Throughout the fight, he knew that Yoana was holding back, aiming to capture him alive rather than kill him.
‘Even with the Ancient holding back, I was hopelessly outmatched, and none of my attacks were very effective. In the end, the more we fought, the more my mana would be depleted, and I would be captured. Fleeing while I still had some strength left was the best option.’
Si-woo glanced behind him.
The distance between him and Yoana had closed to a stone’s throw.
At this rate, it was obvious he would be caught in less than a minute.
*Swoosh.*
A pair of translucent wings sprouted from Si-woo’s back.
It was a flight-type artifact, the Wind Wings.
“Tch… A flight-type artifact?”
Only then realizing that Si-woo had been saving an ace up his sleeve, Yoana belatedly broke into a full sprint, but it was too late.
Having soared into the air, Si-woo steadily accelerated, gradually increasing the distance between them.
The only fortunate thing for her was that the ruin’s low ceiling prevented Si-woo from flying too high, and while his speed had increased, it was just enough to keep from being caught, not fast enough to escape her line of sight.
“Really, it’s been a while since someone gave me this much trouble. Fine, struggle all you want. It won’t matter. You’re still in the palm of my hand.”
Si-woo didn’t bother to reply to her enraged voice.
He was too busy following the path Harman was relaying inside his head.
‘I can feel it. There’s something up ahead.’
Beyond the maze-like passages, Si-woo could sense an extraordinary aura.
His heart pounded with an unfamiliar excitement, despite not knowing the source of the aura. Si-woo quelled the strange feeling with a light breath.
‘This place where I can feel the aura must be my destination. Alright, let’s go. I don’t know how to destroy the barrier yet… but I’m sure I’ll figure something out when I get there.’
***
With the help of Harman, who had memorized the ruin map, Si-woo used a secret passage and successfully reached the deepest part of the ruins.
The place he arrived at was a cavern with a bizarre atmosphere. The walls were completely covered with small, palm-sized statuettes, and in the center stood a towering statue of a faceless god, exuding an immense presence.
‘A faceless god, worshipped by tens of thousands of statues…’
The Ancient, Yoana, was looking for the Faceless, and here stood a statue of a faceless god.
Could this truly be a coincidence?
No, it couldn’t be.
Therefore, it was highly likely that the master of this statue was what Yoana was searching for.
‘Let’s say the Ancient is searching for traces of the faceless god. Then why on earth did she ask me about the Faceless? There’s no way she would know I’m operating as the Faceless Lord…’
As Si-woo was lost in a train of thought, the statue suddenly emitted a brilliant light.
The light was so intense, like the sun rising right before his eyes, that Si-woo squeezed his eyes shut.
While the radiance was merely blinding to Si-woo, it seemed to have a different effect on Harman, who spoke in a dazed, almost mesmerized voice.
-This… this is the light and presence I felt when I first saw you, my Lord. Ah, I see now. That statue is of you, my Lord.
‘What?’
Before Si-woo could even form a question, the light from the statue flowed into his body.
No, to be precise, it seeped not into his flesh but into his soul, eventually reaching Barathrum.
Meanwhile, inside Barathrum, the young Butler who had been observing Si-woo’s encounter with the statue murmured to himself.
“The energy is rising at a frightening rate. At this rate, Barathrum might just grow…”
As the young Butler predicted, the light from the statue brought a great change to Barathrum.
Its tier, which had been stuck at 2, grew to Tier 3.
「Tier 3」
Facilities: 【Mine】 【Library】 【Hall】 【Scales of Absurdity】 【Castle】 【Sky Corridor】
Functions: Invisibility Mode, Mental Ringtone Mode, Save & Load
Cells: 6/10
Authority: Shatter (破却)
As the tier rose to 3, a new section for Authority was created.
When Barathrum awakened the Authority of Shatter, the young Butler, as its steward, naturally understood how this power was used and sent a message to Si-woo.
It was to inform Si-woo, who couldn't access Barathrum, about the new authority.
*Ting.*
[Butler: The light from the statue has caused Barathrum to grow, and the Authority function has been activated. The Authority of Shatter is…]
Reading the long message from the Butler, Si-woo’s eyes lit up as he learned how to wield the Authority of Shatter.
‘Now I see why Death-Ground Fortune led me to these ruins. I don’t know the reason, but this faceless statue has a deep connection to Barathrum.’
The moment he saw the statue, Barathrum had grown, and a new authority had been born.
This couldn’t be a coincidence. Perhaps he would have to wander around searching for ruins from now on.
The benefit the statue of the faceless god had brought him was so immense that it was well worth the trouble.
‘Thanks to the statue, Barathrum’s energy, which was nearly depleted, is now at its maximum. The key question is how much energy is required to activate the authority…’
As Si-woo drew upon Barathrum’s energy to activate the authority, a faint radiance shimmered over his skin.
At the same time, Si-woo detected a strange magical current surrounding him.
He instinctively knew that this was the magical element that constituted the barrier, forbidding mages of the 3rd Circle or higher from entering this land.
‘Is it… possible?’
Si-woo raised his right index finger, and the energy from Barathrum flowing through his body gathered at its tip.
With his finger glowing with a soft radiance, Si-woo poked at the magical current.
*Zzzzt.*
A tingling sensation, like an electric shock, shot through him, and Si-woo’s eyes rolled back.
Barathrum’s energy was consumed at a rapid rate as the light gathered on his fingertip grew brighter.
The authority had been activated.
The effect of the Authority of Shatter was simple.
It destroyed any magical effect he designated.
In a sense, its effect was similar to the Breaker that Harman had used to nullify 2nd Circle magic, but on a profoundly different level.
The main reason Harman could use Breaker on 2nd Circle magic was that he was a mage who had reached a higher state. The Authority of Shatter, however, could destroy any magical effect, regardless of its level.
In other words, as long as he had enough energy, he could destroy even a barrier created by the high-ranking mages of the twelve magic towers.
‘…I don’t have enough energy. And not just a little. It’s nowhere near enough…’
How could a wide-range barrier created by the high-ranking mages of the twelve magic towers be easy to break?
Even with Barathrum, Si-woo’s current resources were woefully insufficient for such an attempt.
But Si-woo did not give up.
‘Death-Ground Fortune led me here. So it can’t be impossible. I will do it. No, I must do it.’
Just then, to make matters worse, Yoana, from whom he had managed to create some distance, entered the cavern.
“Caught you, Lee Si-woo! You have nowhere left to run… Wait, what are you doing right now?”
The sight of Si-woo floating in mid-air, his glowing finger touching the empty space, was anything but normal.
Yoana’s appearance made Si-woo even more anxious.
His mouth went dry, and his back became damp with cold sweat.
Yet, even in that state, Si-woo tried to calmly find a way to overcome the situation.
‘There’s a way. I just haven't found it yet. There has to be…’
Si-woo’s eyes fell upon the small statuettes that filled the walls.
Statues of worshippers, kneeling as if in reverence to the faceless god.
Si-woo saw a possibility in those statues.
‘These small statues also contain energy! With this…!’
Si-woo shouted in a voice like thunder.
“Come to me!”
As Si-woo’s voice echoed through the cavern, the tens of thousands of statues responded as if they were worshippers answering the call of their god, all emitting light at once.
Then, a tremendous wave of light surged toward Si-woo’s index finger.
Si-woo pointed his finger, now charged with the immense energy from the tens of thousands of statues, at the magical current of the barrier floating around him.
“Shatter—!”
As if responding to Si-woo’s command, the magical current rippled like a small boat on a stormy sea before breaking into countless pieces.
This was the Authority of Shatter.
The power of a Divine Word that could break any magic in the world.
Just as Si-woo, having exhausted all his energy and focus, faltered in mid-air, Yoana appeared without a sound and thrust a silver knife attached to the back of her hand.
Sensing the danger, Si-woo hastily activated his mana shield, but the silver knife passed through it like a phantom blade and embedded itself in his abdomen.
*Stab!*
“Gah…”
Harman, recognizing the strange energy shimmering around the silver knife, cried out in utter shock.
-A Dimension Weapon! To think the dimensional weapon that neutralizes all mana shields… actually exists?!
Recognizing the knife thanks to Harman, Si-woo muttered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“Dimension… Weapon?”
Yoana replied in a cold voice.
“You recognize it? Well, I suppose it’s not surprising that someone who wields the power of the Faceless would know of a Dimension Weapon. Yes, this is our Ancients’ exclusive anti-mage armament, the Dimension Knife.”
Realizing that if she had used this weapon from the start, he would have been sliced to pieces long ago, Si-woo let out a hollow laugh.
“So… you were toying with me?”
“I wanted to interrogate you in one piece if possible. But my mind changed when I saw you use the power of the Faceless. You are… too dangerous. So I’ll have to take a limb or two.”
Her killing intent stirred, and she twisted her wrist.
The movement of the knife churning his insides was excruciatingly painful, but Si-woo gritted his teeth and endured.
Seeing no sign of resignation in his eyes, Yoana scoffed.
“Still haven’t given up. Well, one who follows in the footsteps of the Faceless should have this much courage. Good, that spirit. Let’s see if you can maintain it after losing both your legs…”
*Thwack!*
Before she could finish, Si-woo’s palm was already pressed against her side.
A flame of mana blazed at the tips of his right hand, flickering ominously.
It was his secret technique, which was a death sentence to any mage below the 2nd Circle if it landed.
It was Homage.
However, despite taking an unexpected blow, Yoana was completely unfazed.
“Homage? Honestly… I’m surprised. I didn’t think you’d have a move like this prepared. But it’s a pity. Any other 2nd Circle mage would have been incapacitated by that strike… but I’m afraid we’re not called one of the Four Great Royal Species for nothing.”
The mana brand burning on Yoana’s side sizzled and went out.
Homage had failed to take effect.
As his final gambit was rendered useless, Si-woo’s eyes trembled.
“It… doesn’t work?”
“Sorry, but my mana control, based on mana circuits instead of a magic root, is equivalent to the 5th Circle or higher, regardless of my actual rank. It’s impossible to disrupt my control with something like Homage. But… I’ll admit it. Though it failed, your cunning and methods are truly chilling.”
-Impossible, to have the mana control of a 5th Circle mage at the 2nd Circle… Heh, seeing is believing… It seems they are not called a Royal Species for no reason.
This time, neither Si-woo nor Harman had anticipated this.
They had never imagined that Homage, a technique with absolute power against 2nd Circle mages, would be useless.
Yoana grabbed Si-woo by the scruff of his neck.
“This won’t do. I was originally just going to take your legs, but you are far too dangerous. Not just your legs, but both your arms as well… Who’s there?!”
Yoana, mid-sentence, sensed a presence and whipped her head around.
And there, having appeared out of nowhere, stood a figure in a faceless mask with his hands clasped behind his back.
On the shoulder of the man, whose mask was marked with the number 44, sat a wind peacock, preening its feathers. It let out a brilliant cry as it looked at Si-woo, as if to boast, ‘You should know you’re alive thanks to me!’
No. 44 spoke.
“I’ll give you five seconds. Let the child go and disappear before then. If you do, I’ll spare your life. But if you are still here after five seconds…”
No. 44 continued in a low voice.
“You will die here, dog of the Black Night.”