Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Thousand Kills Star is a Genius (Or Not)
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A halo floated above Enoch's head, and as he fully unleashed his presence, the street stirred in commotion.
“Ugh…! M-Master?”
“What the hell, two Masters in some backwater like this…!”
Purple lightning crackled between the slits of the masked man's eyes.
The lord frowned at the sight.
“A Master like you, pulling this kind of stunt.”
“You swung first with that sword?”
Enoch, saying only what he wanted, took a step forward.
One step.
Lightning surged from the ground at the same instant.
Kwarrrck-!
The lord spurred his horse and leaped aside.
The horse, left standing in place, neighed and tilted its head in confusion.
The bolt of lightning had veered around the horse, targeting only the lord.
“Insolent fool.”
Realizing the man was toying with him, the lord channeled power into his sword.
Fwaaa-! A brilliant light lingered on the blade.
But Enoch's eyes, watching it, held an odd glint.
“You're no Master, after all.”
“Don't spout nonsense.”
“Aura without a star infused is just a clump of sword energy.”
Enoch lightly swung his hand.
Kwaang-! The lord swung his sword in response to block it.
But the moment he sensed the flow of mana in the air, he immediately pulled back.
Pzzt-!
The lord swallowed a groan as lightning flashed in the empty space.
Enoch nonchalantly cracked his fingers—snap, snap.
‘The gloves were pretty good, huh.’
He'd rushed out without them, so Enoch was bare-handed now.
He hadn't noticed much when wearing them, but without, it felt oddly empty.
As Enoch stared silently at the lord, a massive shout erupted from among the mercenaries.
“Treason! Aid the lord!”
Max patted the screaming man's shoulder as if to say well done.
‘Him being a Master was unexpected. Now I have to help the lord and take him out.’
He was already on bad terms with the guy.
Honestly, he hadn't thought it'd come to this, but for some reason, that kid's gaze toward him felt deeply unsettling.
In that case, better to eliminate him first before he got targeted later.
It'd also put him in the lord's debt—one stone, two birds.
No, once entangled with a Master over grudges, half-hearted thinking wouldn't keep you alive.
He had to deal with it here, dragging the lord in if needed.
Max raised his axe in response to the shout.
“Aid the lord!”
Countless mercenaries raised their weapons in kind.
Max's men, those siding with the lord for now, and those swept up in the mood.
Enoch was instantly isolated.
He suddenly thought.
‘Come to think of it, I still don't know the city's name.’
He'd look it up later. With that in mind, Enoch drew mana from within his body.
Pzzzt-! Lightning sparked across his entire form.
With the slowly rotating halo atop his head, Enoch took a careful deep breath.
‘Thunder God's Transformation ends here. Pushing output further strains the body.’
This faint, almost imperceptible flicker of the halo was optimal.
And it was more than enough.
The realm of Master.
His senses for the Thousand Kills Star Thunder God's Art were returning.
Boom-!
He stomped down, and lightning spread like mist around him.
The mercenaries hesitated and fell back.
At the same time, acceleration.
Pzzt-!
Enoch appeared before the lord in an instant, bending both arms.
Brutal Slaughter.
Countless slashes overwhelmed the lord.
The lord gritted his teeth and countered.
He swung his sword without respite, deflecting every attack.
But Enoch's strikes weren't mere martial arts.
The Thousand Kills Star Thunder God's Art he'd been using—it was finally feeling natural.
His movements were the incantation, the mana flowing in his body the magic circle.
The myriad slashes of Brutal Slaughter triggered myriad spells.
“What…!? Multiple spells at once…!?”
The astonished lord gasped, gathering his power.
His sword shone brilliantly.
Soon, the blade tinged deep navy slashed forward as if to erase everything ahead.
Kwaaaaaang────────!!!
Rising smoke billowed up.
Chaos was what mercenaries loved most.
“Charge!”
“Waaaaah…!”
Shield-bearing mercenaries led the front.
Spear-wielders followed, then lassos and nets flew from behind.
“Eri.”
[Krit!]
At Enoch's call, the materialized Eri swatted away everything incoming.
Soon, Enoch extended his hand.
Eri hopped onto it eagerly.
“Do good.”
[Kwang!]
He tucked Eri into his chest.
Leaving mid-dantian control to Eri, Enoch finely adjusted the Thunder God's Transformation while reciting the formula etched before his eyes.
[Under a single bond, become a single star and tear all before you to death.]
Embarrassing in hindsight, but it was his most honest realization.
The foundational heart method of the Estor family, now fused into the Thousand Kills Star Thunder God's Art.
Its newly inscribed first line summoned the star in Enoch's heart.
“Aah….”
A star dwelled in the mana coating his hand.
That star was his feeling for Leone, and his own proof.
The star he raised, and thus himself.
Hence, aura was imagery.
The brilliant miracle of the heart's form becoming a star, infusing one's mana.
Tzzzzz……
The rampaging lightning calmed, taking clear form while cradling the star within.
This was true aura.
A manifestation of the star, leagues beyond clumsily clumped mana.
At the same time, Enoch realized.
Aura infused with one's imagery was akin to a minor divinity.
As many as the myriad crossroads of life's path, true Masters each held their own unique divinity.
And Enoch's divinity was…,
“Wait. Not the time.”
The trance shattered.
A realm he could enter at will, yet the sinking elation still felt unpleasant, so Enoch glared at the lord.
“Didn't you hear? Monster Wave's right around the corner. No time for us to fight.”
“What do you know? Can't even escape a bunch of monsters?”
“Then who guards this city? Its people?”
Hmph. Enoch snorted.
“People guard themselves. You can hope for help, but it's not a right.”
“I'm the lord. I have the duty to protect them, and they the right to be protected.”
“I'm not the lord.”
It rang true, so the lord fell silent for a moment.
“…Don't you have any humanity? Put our grudge on hold and repel the Monster Wave first.”
“I don't like humans.”
An elf, maybe, but did he really have to step up for humans?
Enoch voiced his genuine doubt.
“And you attacked first.”
“…….”
The lord's brow furrowed.
No excuses about maintaining discipline or the guy being weird for answering back.
Further talk would just run parallel, meaningless.
With clashing values, persuasion was futile.
In that case…,
“Whatever. Mood's ruined. Annoying.”
Enoch reined in his hostility.
The lord blinked, but Enoch just clicked his tongue.
“Plenty of opponents even without you.”
With one step forward, lightning infused his form.
Mercenaries scattered as Enoch's figure blinked rapidly forward.
“Hmm.”
Enoch tilted his head before Max, who arrived in an instant.
Max smiled, sweating profusely.
“W-What's up?”
“…….”
“I mean, he's our city lord. Couldn't not take a side. Right?”
“…….”
“P-Plus, I didn't even step up much. Let's keep it friendly, yeah?”
Enoch's hand moved.
Max twisted and swung his axe simultaneously.
Too late.
Slap-!
Enoch's hand smacked the sweat-slick bald head.
“O.”
Max's legs gave out, and he crumpled.
Enoch wiped the sweat from his hand on a nearby mercenary's clothes and nodded.
“Satisfied.”
Whether Max was the mastermind or whatever held no interest compared to that gleaming bald dome.
He didn't seem like a threat anyway.
If he did become one…? Well.
Wouldn't that be fun?
Blink-
Enoch's form vanished from the spot.
*
The ramparts.
The lord bellowed, infusing mana into his voice.
“Hold your positions! If everyone fulfills their role, the walls will never fall!”
Far off, a black wave surged.
Each tiny dot a monster.
Even in his long life, the lord had rarely seen this, and he couldn't hide his unease at the sudden Monster Wave.
‘What the hell's going on?’
Dungeons had been popping up more frequently lately.
Meaning the mana flows were abnormal.
It was just this much now, but would it stay that way?
The lord doubted it.
Of course, he didn't think this was beyond the demigods ruling the continent.
Likely negligence on their part, or fallout from one of their schemes.
To those lofty beings, petty lives were bugs underfoot.
Best not expect mercy.
Then bugs had to survive as bugs.
“Everyone, take up arms! Our homeland…….”
Rumble────────!!!
Thunder roared in the clear sky.
Purple lightning streaked across the blue.
All eyes turned to that single bolt.
“That is….”
The lord was no different.
He glared at the purple line slashed across the sky.
“What the hell is he thinking….”
He gritted his teeth, pondering.
He was a Master too, but couldn't hold off that many monsters alone.
But if that unknown Master helped, the Wave would be manageable.
Should he open the gates and charge?
Trust that madman?
Worse, it'd rack up heavy soldier casualties.
Decision made, the lord shouted.
“All units, stand by! Stay alert until ordered!”
*
Enoch leaped toward the distant monster horde.
The ongoing Thunder God's Transformation flooded him with uncontainable omnipotence.
‘Plenty of time left.’
At this output, about two hours.
No reason not to dive in.
[No! What are you doing, you lunatic!]
“What?”
[Why crawl into that on purpose! Can't you hear Leone's heart breaking!?]
Enoch froze.
But it was fine.
Leone had said it.
“It's okay if you don't lose. You'll praise me for it.”
[You bastard, are you a genius!?]
“Yeah.”
[That wasn't praise, idiot!]
Could spirits get high blood pressure?
Undine had finally solved that age-old riddle.