Chapter 103: Malaka Ruins (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 103: Malaka Ruins (3)
The reason mages currently couldn't use mana within the Malaka Ruins was due to mana scattering.
The foundation of manifesting magic lies in drawing out the mana within one's body and arranging it. However, this space caused mana to scatter into the air the moment it was drawn out, making any array impossible to form.
This meant that even Teon, who had engineered this situation, was currently rendered magically powerless.
Yet, there was only one reason Alon remained an exception.
‘I can hold the mana array in place with the Phrase of Fixation.’
It was because he could use Phrases that forced the laws of magic to apply regardless of the circumstances.
‘...If it weren't for the hints on the walls, I might have ended up as bug food while trying to find a way out. Well, it’s not like the current situation isn't dangerous, either.’
However, he wasn't exactly relaxed.
Even if he could use magic, this environment that forcibly scattered mana was extremely disadvantageous to Alon—no, to any mage.
‘No matter how much mana I pour in, it takes time to arrange it, so the efficiency is low. On top of that, I can't use my gauntlets or bracelet. That means my limit is three spells at most.’
Alon calmly assessed the situation and looked around.
Mutant species shaped like mosquitoes as large as humans were flying through the air, emitting the threatening high-frequency buzz characteristic of insects.
It wasn't just the air.
On the moss-covered stones.
On the walls of the ruins.
On the floor.
Behind his back.
The entire ruins were covered in these hideously grotesque insects.
"This is impossible—!"
While Alon was checking his surroundings, Teon’s shocked voice rang out from ahead.
"It should be impossible to use magic here...!?"
Teon stood there, mouth agape in shock.
Despite the heated reaction, Alon focused all his senses on calmly analyzing the current state of affairs.
‘I have to finish this in one go.’
Countless area-of-effect spells that could resolve this crisis flashed through Alon’s mind. There were many he could use, but unfortunately, none were viable right now.
If he used an area-of-effect spell here, there was a chance Evan and the other mages would be caught in it—no, it was a certainty.
However, he didn't have enough spell casts to pick off the insects one by one. As Alon agonized over the dilemma...
‘...Wait, if the mana is scattering...?’
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Decomposition."
He opened his mouth.
The faint magic he had been gathering until a moment ago was suddenly nullified. The magic decomposed into tiny particles in an instant and scattered in all directions.
Lamentations escaped the lips of the mages who had been clinging to a sliver of hope.
"A-As expected, of course it failed—!"
Teon regained his confidence and brandished his ink-black staff.
At the very moment the insects hovering in the air turned aggressive...
Behind his expressionless face, Alon thought calmly.
‘As I thought, even if it scatters, the mana doesn't disappear.’
He looked around. Even as the malformed insects lunged at him, seeking his life, he did not despair.
Because right now, he could see it.
He could see the mana he had decomposed naturally drifting through the room due to its unique properties.
Furthermore, the moment he realized that his control over the mana permeating the room was working exactly as intended since he hadn't released his seal yet...
"Phew—"
Alon let out a light sigh. Keeping his left hand in its seal, he formed the Wisdom Fist Mudra with his right.
"Clear Light."
Crackle—!
Once again, a sphere of lightning manifested above Alon’s hand, emitting a brilliant radiance far different from before.
"Acceleration."
Simultaneously, the lightning devoured the surrounding air, bestowing a magnificent Clear Light upon the vicinity.
And just as the needle-like mouths and legs of the mutants were about to touch Alon’s body...
"Designation."
A flash of light was unleashed.
K-K-K-K-Boom!
The lightning spheres Alon created began to ruthlessly pierce through the flying insects without warning.
The head of an insect plunging down from above.
The torso of an insect moving sideways to crush his hand.
The body of an insect curving through the air, baring its beak toward his heart.
Tracing trajectories of blue light, the bolts pierced only the insects as if they were guided.
The flash, which swept away all the insects in a mere heartbeat...
Crunch!
...vanished only after finally piercing the heart of Teon, who was frantically trying to swing his staff again.
"..."
Soon, a rain of mutant carcasses began to fall onto the floor of the ruins.
Limbs fluttered down.
Green ichor dripped onto the heads of the mages.
Yet, not a single person moved to avoid the insect remains.
Even Rian, despite being drenched in green fluid, didn't even think to wipe it off as she stared at one spot.
At the place where Marquis Palatio stood.
"Ah..."
A low exclamation escaped Rian’s lips. She herself couldn't identify what emotions were mixed into that long, quiet breath.
And Alon, the center of all that attention...
‘Ugh... I think I’m gonna die...’
He had invested a bit too much mana. Feeling the symptoms of mana depletion after only two spells, he wanted to cry behind his stoic mask.
* * *
Immediately afterward.
After finishing emergency treatment by quickly downing a potion, Alon realized that the mana flow had returned to normal the moment Teon died.
"...Marquis."
"What is it?"
"What on earth was that? I've seen something similar during practice, but I've never seen magic like that."
"You probably won't see it again."
‘Because I’m never using it again.’
Alon clutched his throbbing head and made a vow.
The magic he had just used was a combination of two Phrase magics.
First, he utilized the room's property of scattering mana to intentionally decompose his mana and spread it everywhere.
Then, using the scattered mana that was still under his control, he specifically arranged the mana arrays attached to the insects and Teon.
While doing that, he wove a Phrase that guided his magic toward those specific mana arrays.
That was how he completed the magic from moments ago.
However, as he just said, he would likely never use this magic again. To begin with, this method was only possible when mana was scattering in all directions, and controlling it this way was far too inefficient.
The proof was the headache that still refused to subside.
"...Is that so? It was quite impressive."
"Magic isn't meant to be used for show."
"No, well... I just meant it looked cool."
They had been talking for a short while when...
"Marquis, I'm sorry. And thank you so much."
Alon received Rian’s gratitude.
"There's no need to bow so deeply."
"Of course there is. If it weren't for you, Marquis, I would be dead by now. Truly, thank you so much."
As she bowed a full ninety degrees, Alon told her once more that it was fine.
"So, I was wondering if—"
Just as Rian raised her head to say something...
Rumble—!
The ruins suddenly began to vibrate.
The mages, who had been recovering their tools to leave the ruins, tensed up again.
But contrary to their expectations...
"Stairs...?"
As soon as the massive tremors stopped, what appeared in the central arena—where there had been nothing before—was a staircase.
The stairs led underground.
Every mage there realized it instantly. This was the place where the item Teon had mentioned was located.
But that realization was brief.
"Please take this item, Marquis."
"...Are you sure?"
"Of course. Everyone else has already agreed."
When Alon turned his gaze at her words, he saw the other mages bowing their heads in unison.
"It's my first time seeing mages bow their heads as a group," Evan whispered.
"...Then I shall not refuse."
Taking the item, Alon walked down the stairs into the basement without hesitation.
There, he found a pair of doors with text written before them.
Just like before, it was written in the strange Ancient Language that Alon could somehow read.
The door read:
‘To the Magus who fled to the end and did not forget the Phrases, Unification leaves his will.’
"..."
Alon stared at the characters for a moment before opening the door.
With a bone-chilling creak, the door opened to reveal a room that, contrary to his expectation of darkness, was bright enough to see clearly.
Inside, Alon saw two things.
One was an egg. A pitch-black egg placed upon an altar, looking as if it would suck in all the light in the world.
The other was text.
Specifically...
"...Union of Shadow and Light?"
The words appeared to be the key to Self-Embodiment.
After confirming the sentence written on the wall behind the deep ink-black egg, Alon approached to examine the egg more closely—
"Hm?"
—and discovered a sentence written in the same Ancient Language on a piece of old parchment lying next to the egg.
Two warnings in total.
Reading them, Alon easily realized what Teon had been trying to do.
‘...Was he trying to turn the Spirit Dragon into a Shadow Spirit Dragon...?’
He didn't know the reason, but that much seemed to be a fact.
‘Someone intentionally drove a mage to make the Spirit Dragon go berserk and become a Shadow Spirit Dragon... I see.’
He naturally thought about who might be behind Teon, but then another question popped into his head.
It was a question regarding Cretenia Siyan, the Queen of Asteria.
‘The ambush was Teon’s doing, so she likely wasn't involved in that... but seeing as she sent me here, she definitely knew something...’
Of course, rumors that Alon used primitive magic had spread to some extent among mages, but even so, there were parts that didn't make sense.
‘Well, once you go there, you’ll understand why I told you to go to the Malaka Ruins.’
She had clearly told Alon that.
And the true value of these Malaka Ruins could only be grasped if one could read the Ancient Language.
In other words—
Cretenia Siyan knew for a fact that Alon could read the Ancient Language and that being here would be beneficial to him.
‘...What is she?’
Alon’s expression grew even more puzzled, but only for a moment.
‘...Let's head up for now.’
Pushing his concerns aside, he picked up the ink-black egg and began to climb back toward the surface.
...The egg was incredibly heavy.
* * *
At that same time.
"He should be arriving soon."
Siyan was returning to Teria in a carriage so large it could practically be called a room.
At her remark, the secretary, who had been silent until then, spoke up.
"Your Majesty seems to care a great deal about Marquis Palatio."
Care, care...
Siyan leaned deeper into her backrest.
"Does it look that way?"
"Forgive me, but yes."
"Well, I suppose I do."
"If I may be so bold, may I ask what it is about him that captures your attention?"
"What it is about him—"
She thought for a moment at the secretary's question, then let out a soft laugh.
"I wonder—"
Instead of answering, she turned the question back to the secretary.
"What do you think it is?"
"..."
The secretary did not dare to answer.
However...
The Golden History Eye reflected in the secretary's vision seemed to be shining a bit more brightly than usual, though it might have been an illusion.