Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Ancient Lich, Skeval (2)
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Change always comes suddenly.
Daily life shatters in an instant.
Aphria Academy.
The cradle of learning in the heart of the capital was plunged into unexpected chaos. It all began with one student collapsing.
During an exam, a student vomited blood and fell. Then, vanished without a trace right there. The circumstances clearly pointed to some kind of spell at work.
-Unknown.
-The method is different. The system is entirely alien.
But no one knew what spell it was.
-...Can't track it.
Even in Aphria Academy, where top scholars of magic gathered, not a single one could provide answers about the missing student.
Time passed.
Nothing was known, and only time flowed on.
-Dean Aaron!
-Dean!
One missing student had already caused chaos, but the incidents didn't stop there.
-...An entire department, five students...!
-Over here too! Students convulsing during class...!
A few more students collapsed.
They didn't vanish. Instead, they convulsed violently.
-...This is.
A few professors examined the students and gave their diagnosis. Their voices trembled faintly as they spoke.
-Demonic qi poisoning.
They could hardly believe their own words.
The faculty erupted in disbelief.
-What in the world...!
Demonic qi poisoning in the middle of the capital?
It was incomprehensible. Unimaginable events were happening one after another.
-Huh?
And then.
-L-Look over there!
The chaos reached its peak as the Harmain Forest near Aphria began to be shrouded in a black curtain.
-Wh-What's that barrier?
-Barrier! Isn't there a barrier interpretation professor? Professor Rempel, what the hell is that thing!
The blackened barrier instilled fear just by looking at it. Students backed away. Even the professors hesitated to approach.
But staying away didn't solve the problem.
Screeech, creeeak.
The barrier expanded in size.
It stretched outward, surging toward Aphria like crashing waves. Its speed was unnatural.
"...Ah, haha."
One professor burst into laughter at the sight of the approaching black wave. It was the laugh of someone losing their mind.
"Everyone, run."
Professor Rempel, the barrier analysis specialist.
He laughed as he stared at it.
'Why... why here of all places.'
The moment he saw the barrier, Rempel realized it instantly.
What it was.
What its appearance here meant.
He couldn't not know.
"Hurry, run."
Professor Rempel turned back.
He looked at the other professors with shaking eyes.
"That's."
Anyone versed in barrier studies would recognize it. It was the epitome of an unsolvable enigma.
"That's the barrier of the ancient lich, Skeval."
Skeval.
At that name, the professors' faces drained of color. No mage was ignorant of its weight.
One of the Demon King's Four Heavenly Kings.
One of the four calamities that once burned the kingdom.
'Why would such a being come to Aphria?'
No one could answer that question.
The chaos only grew. In the midst of it, Professor Rempel spoke up.
"Move. We need to get as far away as possible. Take the students and go... ."
He said the words, but even Rempel didn't believe they could escape.
Screeech, creeeak.
The barrier approached much faster.
No matter how fast they ran, escaping it seemed impossible.
"Hurry... ."
Rempel's voice grew quieter.
His plea to run was swallowed by the clamor, unheard.
Rempel stared vacantly at the barrier.
The black wave engulfed Aphria.
And then.
"...Huh?"
Having watched the barrier to the end, Rempel noticed the sudden change.
Aphria's rooftop.
A flash of light erupted from there.
Flash!
The flash was instantaneous.
Followed by cracking sounds as the rooftop split open. Something rose from above it.
'...Mana?'
Mana surged from the rooftop.
Different in quality from the crashing black wave. Fundamentally different structure. Radiant mana gathered.
The surging mana obscured the view.
Hidden by the rising glow, the figure on the rooftop was invisible.
Only one thing was clear.
The rising mana's color was ashen gray.
Smash.
Soon, the ashen gray clashed with the black wave.
BOOOOM!
A thunderous roar shook Aphria like an earthquake. Street trees swayed in the gale. The ground trembled.
"Wh-what?!"
"What was that sound...!"
The running professors staggered.
Some fell. Sprawled on the ground, they stared toward the impact's origin.
Crack, craaack!
Their gazes fixed on Aphria's research building.
The rooftop of the research building, first to meet the barrier.
"....."
Some stopped in their tracks, others sat dazed on the ground, staring blankly.
The barrier approaching Aphria had halted.
The black wave was frozen mid-surge toward the research building, as if time itself had stopped.
Tick, tick.
Soon, cracks formed in the barrier.
Crack, craaack!
The barrier crumbled powerlessly.
At its center yawned a massive hole.
Thud.
Someone leaped into it.
Their hooded robe hid their build and face. But even from afar, the emblem on the robe was unmistakable.
Once symbolizing the Ashen Mage Tower.
Now, it symbolized one person alone.
Someone recognized it.
"...Raniel."
"The Ashen Mage, Raniel."
2.
Craaack!
"Ugh...!"
The moment she escaped the sub-plane and returned to reality, Resti staggered. She grabbed a nearby tree to steady herself.
Overusing mana played a part, but a bigger problem loomed.
'Can't... breathe...!'
Her breath was blocked.
Breathing was agonizing.
'Where... is this...'
Resti scanned her surroundings with trembling eyes. The heart of a forest. But which forest made breathing this hard?
Suddenly, one tree caught her eye.
Its bark was unique.
Smooth, without a single crack.
The instant she saw it, Resti realized where she was. And why breathing was so difficult.
'...Harmain Forest!'
A place saturated with mana.
Resti coughed dryly and slumped down, leaning against the tree. She arduously lifted her head.
The ancient lich, Skeval, was already gone.
Bone fragments marked where he had been.
"...Urp!"
A foul stench emanated from the embedded bone shards.
Instinctual revulsion hit her, and Resti dry-heaved.
Already struggling to breathe, the demonic qi leaking from the shards made it worse.
"...Ugh."
Her mind grew hazy bit by bit.
The saturated mana warped the surroundings. Senses twisted, eyes bloodshot.
Step.
Now even hallucinations began.
Step, step.
Footsteps echoed in her ears.
No one should come here, yet the steps grew closer.
Thud.
The footsteps stopped.
Resti looked toward the sound. Through her blurry vision, something appeared.
Everything distorted and warped.
But the figure in her sight was sharp.
Ashen hair swayed.
Narrowed blue eyes gleamed.
"....."
Silently, she removed her robe. The cape-like robe draped over Resti's shoulders.
"...Ah."
Instantly, Resti could breathe.
Still hard to stand, senses tangled, but at least air flowed. Resti named the figure before her.
"...Professor Lania?"
Lania van Trias.
She knelt, meeting Resti's eyes. Slowly, she raised her arm.
Tap.
Then placed her hand on Resti's head.
Mana from her hand expelled the lingering demonic qi from Resti's body.
"Good work."
A short phrase.
With it, Resti felt her tension melt away.
Pat, pat.
Lania brushed off her knees and stood. Before stepping away, she glanced at Resti.
Then asked.
"Did you see where it went?"
To that, Resti slowly raised her hand, pointing in a direction. The way Skeval had gone.
She didn't know why.
The opponent was the ancient lich Skeval.
No matter how skilled this professor was, Skeval was on another level. The mage's nightmare.
'The Ashen Mage, Raniel.'
Only a legendary mage like that could face such a titan.
'It should be that way...'
Yet somehow, without a shred of doubt, she pointed the way Skeval had gone.
"Thanks."
A faint smile.
Then she turned and walked away.
"....."
Resti watched her back silently.
In the shaking forest, she alone was vivid.
3.
The ancient lich, Skeval, reflected on his life.
His centuries-long existence was vast.
Most memories had faded, but some endured through the eons.
Those concerning magical scholarship were such.
Skeval had devoted centuries to magic.
He spent time mortals couldn't fathom pursuing truth.
Called a once-in-a-generation genius, he dedicated his life to magic. Not content, he transcended life as an undead to continue his research.
To reach the stars.
To seek truth.
For that alone, centuries passed.
All emotions weathered away. No joy, no sorrow—nothing remained.
Only the simplest one filled the void.
"Ashen."
Rage.
"Detestable ashen gray."
Skeval's bones creaked.
The contract was broken. All five fragments prepared for the altar shattered.
Plans ruined.
Everything destroyed.
At the center, as always, stood that mage.
"Again, again, again!"
Skeval's eyes blazed with fury.
It was always like this.
Five years ago—no, even earlier. It began with the kidnapping of Stella, the star-child born to the royal family.
Seven years ago, Skeval contacted a royal mage.
Even that was difficult. Breaching layers of protective barriers, sacrificing life vessels, he corrupted him. Turned him traitor.
The plan succeeded.
The corrupted royal mage was powerful. Kidnapping the star-child was no issue.
If only for one variable.
If not for that mage lingering there then, the plan would have worked.
That was the start.
From then until now, every plan Skeval devised was thwarted by one mage.
No matter how perfect.
No matter how much mana sacrificed, life vessels consumed to weave spells.
That mage always ruined it. Whenever plans failed, that mage was there.
"Always."
Skeval halted.
"Always, you stand at the end."
He raised his arm.
The tip of his skeletal finger pointed at the mage blocking his path.
Ashen gray hair.
At the detestable gray, Skeval felt rage.
Blue eyes.
Unyielding blue eyes in any situation—Skeval harbored hatred for them.
"Hey."
The mage smirked.
"Long time no see, bonehead."
That voice stirred an irresistible impulse in Skeval. He wanted to tear the mage apart right then.
"Ashen Mage, Raniel."
Her appearance had changed, but Skeval recognized her instantly. How could he not?
Ashen mana.
The detestable gray remained.
Of course, Raniel wasn't the only one with ashen mana. It was common among those tied to the Ashen Mage Tower.
However.
Like the one before him.
In Skeval's memory, only the Ashen Mage Raniel possessed ashen mana laced with starlight. Her mana shimmered faintly with it.
Crunch.
Even that starlight was detestable.
The starlight of those touching truth—Skeval loathed it.
"You're always like this."
Skeval clenched his extended hand.
"Always appearing before me to ruin my plans. You know that, ashen one? If not for you, the capital would have fallen to me long ago."
If the gray hadn't interfered.
"The star-child Stella would have fallen, becoming the altar's saintess serving the star's shadow."
Skeval listed what should have happened.
"The battlefield would have crumbled by now. Mages who haven't even lived a century couldn't break my barrier. If not for you, if only not you... ."
So many failures because of her. Too many.
Skeval glared at the gray figure with rage-shaking eyes.
"But?"
Meeting his gaze, the gray one tilted her head.
"What the fuck does that matter?"
Then, as always, she shrugged leisurely.
"If you're pissed, do better yourself."
"...What?"
"Works for me."
Crunch.
His clenched bones creaked.
"Why, ashen one."
Skeval spat each word like chewed gristle.
"Why won't you fall? To kill you, to counter only you, I researched countless things."
His skeletal finger pointed at her heart.
"Even my god cursed you. The star's shadow cursed you. Yet why do you live?"
Pointing at what dwelled in her heart, Skeval screamed.
"Why!"
Grind, graaand.
"Why can you bear that curse unscathed? Only you survived. Only you!"
The grinding of bones grew louder.
"Not enough with one, so I cast a new curse. I planted the shadow's larva I'd nurtured in your essence. Yet why still live?"
Skeval's whole body trembled.
His enveloping demonic qi reacted with the saturated mana. Sparks flew with crackles as he shouted.
"Even bearing that curse!"
You.
"How, just how... ."
Why, only you.
"Can stand as a human?"
Doing what I couldn't.
"Why!"
The ancient lich, who had lived centuries, felt inferiority. To a young mage not even half a century old.
"....."
The gray one, listening quietly, spoke.
"Oh... ."
She exclaimed briefly.
Then pointed at herself with a finger.
"This your doing, you fucker?"
Crackle.
A vein bulged on her forehead.