Chapter 331
Chapter 331
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 331
Chapter Title: Assembly (4)
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"Are you alright, Senior?"
Does this look alright to you?
She wanted to snap back like that, but even speaking was too much effort. Raniel let out a hollow laugh as she accepted Kalt's support to stand.
She had drained every last drop of her mana dragging it all the way down here, and now her chest throbbed with every breath. Her body was a wreck—no part of her unscathed after punching through an archmage's pinnacle spell with nothing but her bare flesh.
'And one of my eyes...'
It had nearly gone blind.
Recovery would fix it eventually, but she'd never again be able to share senses with a unique constitution like the Watcher. It had been madness from the start. One slip, and she could've ended up a vegetable.
'I shared the vision designed solely for the Watcher to endure, even if just briefly, so...'
She had braced herself for it, to some extent.
Her head throbbed, making Raniel wince. She wanted to collapse anywhere, right now...
'But still, I have to see it.'
There was still something she needed to witness with her own two eyes.
Something she had to see.
Leaning on Kalt, Raniel planted her feet and rose. Then, with a light shove, she pushed him off her.
"..."
Kalt stared at her wordlessly.
Raniel tried to say something, but her throat caught, forcing out a dry cough. In the end, she mouthed the words to him.
Go, kid.
Kalt nodded and stepped forward.
Raniel watched his back.
He was the one who had supported her for so long. The one who had reached superhuman heights alongside her after facing countless trials. The sword of Kuntil in Kalt's grip gleamed silver-white in the darkness.
His back felt so reassuring.
It wasn't just Kalt who had grown.
Up ahead, centered on Kalt, the kids were confronting the madman in their own ways. Raniel gazed at the backs of the children she had taught.
Rak, Belnoa, Chloe, Aila.
And Resti, descending from the shattered ceiling on her familiars, joined their ranks. These were the ones who had begun to shine in just a single year.
Variables the madman hadn't foreseen.
Variables she had created.
Watching their backs, Raniel smiled. Her time hadn't been wasted. Others had stepped onto this harsh path at its very start— a path she had thought she'd walk alone until her dying day.
Damn, I taught them well.
With that thought, Raniel narrowed her eyes.
The sensory link with the Watcher had long since severed. The divine eyes that pierced, analyzed, and comprehended had left her side. But even without them, Raniel was certain.
Of her disciples' victory.
It was baseless intuition, but she trusted it completely. She had no choice. Their backs shone so brilliantly in her eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
The madman scowled.
They were still children. Far from superhuman mastery, insignificant compared to the heroes who had stood against him centuries ago. Even if they had some standout talents, that was all.
No matter that the ashen one had struck him.
No matter that his body burned in ashen flames.
He could still win. Crush them.
So the madman believed. From the start, his assessment of them as a threat hinged on the ashen mage joining the fight.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Clap of palms unleashes shadows. Dozens of circuits unfolded above as shadows oozed stickily between his palms. Most burned away from the ashen mana infiltrating his own, but...
Not all.
This was enough. He hadn't earned the title of archmage for show. The madman wielded the survivors with ruthless efficiency.
"Rise."
The shadows rippled at his call.
They poured like a waterfall toward the hole in the top layer, transforming into a torrent of spears and blades. The wave of shadow-forged weapons surged toward the divinities.
And Rak and Kalt moved.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Galatrick Style, First Form: First Sight Kill ⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Kae(?) Grace Style, First Form: First Sight Kill At the exact same instant, they slammed the ground. Every sword strike began with one step. Stomping down hard, Rak and Kalt assumed the same stance.
Roots of the same technique flashed simultaneously. Rak's fingers cracked as he swung the first holy sword. Kalt swung the blade inherited from Kuntil. The two arts overlapped.
Shwaaaaaack!
The oncoming wave of spears and blades split apart. Filth scattered. Rak and Kalt charged along the path they carved.
The madman's shadow writhed.
He kept weaving circuits to counter. Thorns erupted from the filth, terrain warped, and massive spells flashed from completed circuits.
🔥 High-Order Spell: Inferno Hell 🔥 The shadows bubbled and boiled.
Temperature spiked in an instant. Yet Rak and Kalt didn't stop. They merely kicked off the altered terrain and kept running. What gave them such confidence?
What did they believe in?
It didn't take the madman long to realize. Distortions rippled through the space under his mana control.
Child of the Stars, Stella.
Sweating profusely, Aila was wresting control of the space. Forming mana scattered. The madman scowled and tried moving his shadows, but to no avail.
Kiiiiing!
The madman jerked his head back on instinct. A platinum flash grazed past him right after. Shadows touched by it crumbled like burned paper.
The star-blessed one, the Brave.
Chloe glared at the madman, arm extended. Starlight converged in her palm again. Mana rising from her body was directed once more by Aila at her side.
Accelerated and stabilized incantation.
'This...'
The madman kicked off the ground.
Spinning shadows everywhere, he tried to escape the two swordsmen dismantling walls and terrain as they charged. But it didn't last.
Kwajik, kwang!
Kalt accelerated in a burst.
A space cluttered with walls and obstacles.
The perfect terrain for Hound Kalt. He rebounded off walls and debris, accelerating. Silver-white flashes tangled chaotically, closing in.
Srrip.
A flash sliced a strand of shadow.
Kalt slid to a landing, spun once, and exhaled shortly. His eyes gleamed ferociously even in the dark.
'What the hell...'
The madman felt genuine fluster now.
He scattered spells. Tried overwhelming with familiars. Nothing worked. When he led with numbers...
"Rise."
Resti's familiars rose in equal measure, seizing the shadows. Ashen mana within them disrupted the shadows.
The moment his attention was drawn, Kalt and Rak leaped from familiar to familiar, closing distance in blinks.
"Concentrate."
Intercepting with massive spells was impossible.
All spells went to checking the Brave accelerating her incantations from afar.
'Annoying.'
They wouldn't break easily.
Each had boarded their trajectory in their own way.
Each sharp in their niche, maximized when together. Imperfect alone, but supplemented by others.
Complete.
They were already complete.
The moment he realized that, the madman noticed something else. Someone outside his sight. And by then, it was far too late.
Tak.
Someone cloaked in writhing shadows landed right beside him at his flank. The shaman contracted with a primordial god. Belnoa gripped empty air with hands turned dragon claws.
Kwajik.
In the madman's eyes, a goddess draped an arm around Belnoa's neck. Her sweet voice rang out. The goddess smiled at him.
"Where do you think you're looking down from?" ⟨ Descent Command ⟩
Belnoa swung the gripped space.
"Come down, you irreverent wretch." The wind's grain reversed.
Gale winds howled inside the mana tower, barren of breeze moments before. The raging winds ensnared the madman floating amid woven shadows, dragging him earthward.
Kwagagagak!
The winds crushed him down.
As he gritted his teeth and disrupted the gale, the madman spotted starlight circuits blanketing the area. A colossal stellar circuit.
"What a pain."
The madman barked a hollow laugh.
Shadows briefly shielded him, but they burned away in the searing starlight. The stellar circuit spat a spell.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Mid-Order Spell: Burning Shadows were pulverized by the heat.
Even a mid-order spell rivaled high-order might, making his shadows scream. Remnants of ashen mana devoured starlight and flared massively once more.
Burning, he resisted.
Offering his harbored grudge-spirit, he unleashed a massive curse. Shadows everywhere surged, morphing into a colossal beast's maw. A filth ritual to devour the entire layer.
But the madman overlooked something.
He saw it.
A boy leaping toward him, bounding off floating stone shards. The first holy sword blazed in the boy's hand.
Throb.
The madman's body flinched.
He'd never forget the pain of his soul being sliced by that damned sword. Flinching, he instinctively backpedaled, weaving shadows to flee.
Sring.
A passing flash severed his woven shadows. Kalt spun, facing him expressionlessly, and drew his sword hilt.
Clank.
Chains bound to the hilt burrowed into the madman's shadows. His movements slowed instantly. In the stretching perceived time, the madman took in his predicament.
Kwaaaaaang!
Kagagagak!
Starlight exploded outward.
Dragon storm whipped around it.
It shredded the filth beast's maw he'd summoned. Filth splattered everywhere, burning away from ashen mana in the shadows.
Splashing filth.
Seething, burning shadows.
And through it all, the boy with the holy sword closing in. The boy's fierce gaze flashed in the dark, red trail behind. Rak kicked the crumbling stone floor and leaped again.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Accel Rak's body accelerated.
Steam rose from his heated flesh.
Rak detonated every stocked spell. His body enhanced, fingers gripping the hilt cracked and broke.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Galatrick Style, Kae(?) Grace Style Ultimate: Formless Sword Shapeless blade traces uncanny trajectory
The formless sword traced an eerie path.
Srrip.
A flash rent the area in an instant.
A diagonal slash from ceiling to floor across the layer. It carved the madman at an angle. Starlight flooded the sword's path.
'A familiar strike.'
The madman let out a final hollow laugh.
Familiar. Incredibly so.
Crude in form and polish, but its foundation mirrored the first hero, Ganikalt van Galatrick. Absurd.
"...Everything's gone wrong."
That damned ashen one.
Muttering like a skull, the madman's vision went pure white.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
The layer collapsed.
Amid crumbling stone floors, the madman tried to rise but couldn't. His link to the filth spread everywhere was severed. Shadows had burned away in the starlight flood.
Exposed now was human flesh.
From gaps in the oozing shadows emerged an aged man's body. The madman finally stood, but only briefly.
Kwajik.
Something bit his ankle.
Unable to stand, he dropped to one knee. Looking back, a familiar in wild dog form gnawed his ankle. Then, clack. Heeled shoes approached.
Its summoner drew near.
"...">
Resti Eleanor.
She stopped before the madman.
A knight followed her. One the madman had summoned, but control had long been stolen by Resti.
The knight knelt to Resti.
Offered his sword on both hands. Ashen mana she had wrought cloaked it. Taking it, Resti looked down at the madman. He tried to sneer, but no laugh came.
It wasn't just the knight stripped of control. The madman, too, lost his to the original owner. The man who clung to will until the end raised his head.
"...Resti."
The elder, half-swallowed by shadows, looked at her.
Resti bit her lip, meeting his gaze.
"Yes."
The elder smiled.
He said little.
"You've grown well."
Truly.
With that, the elder closed his eyes.
Resti bit her lip hard and raised the sword.
Puk.
The blade pierced the elder's heart.
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