Chapter 58: The King of the Hungry Ghosts (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 58: The King of the Hungry Ghosts (3)
It happened just after the eyes and ears of everyone present were veiled by a blinding white light.
By the time their stolen vision began to return, what the mercenaries and Alon saw before them was—
“……!”
A massive crater.
Nothing remained.
Not the grass that had been growing there.
Not the ruins that had stood upon it, whose history was so ancient one couldn't even guess its age.
Even Argonia and Maverick, who had been standing close to him, had vanished without a trace.
And standing in the center of that pit was—
“…….”
The Outer God, his lips curled into a deep, twisted smirk.
““…….””
Despair began to color the faces of the mercenaries.
Myaon, who had been holding her bow, and Himan, who had been deploying magic until moments ago, both stood with their mouths agape in disbelief.
And then.
Heh—!
With a grin, the Outer God moved.
“!”
Appearing instantly before Himan, who was still wearing a dazed expression, the Outer God swept his hand from left to right as if pronouncing a sentence of death.
Himan, knowing full well what kind of result that action would produce, instinctively leaned his body back to evade the invisible slash. He attempted to use Blink immediately after, but—
“How will you dodge from top to bottom?”
At those mocking words and the downward motion of the hand—
Crunch—!
By the time Himan’s body split in two and collapsed to the ground, the Outer God was already standing before Myaon.
“Ugh!”
Having witnessed Himan’s demise, Myaon had already nocked an arrow and was prepared. The moment he appeared, she tried to release the bowstring, but—
“Kagh—!”
Before she could let go, the Outer God’s kick connected, sent her flying across the clearing and slamming her into the ruins on the opposite side.
“Now, only you are left.”
Kailas spoke, his smile deepening.
* * *
With four guild masters taken down before they could even put up a proper fight, the battle was effectively over.
For Alon, the situation was at its absolute worst.
His plan had failed from the very beginning.
The Ice Crystal Flower Spear, which had drained almost all of Alon’s mana, had dealt no damage to the opponent.
And the guild masters, who were supposed to buy time for him to prepare his magic, had all been defeated.
“…….”
Alon lowered his gaze slightly.
Two empty potion bottles were already rolling on the ground at his feet.
Risking the danger of being torn apart by mana poisoning, he had consumed two mana recovery potions. His tiny mana hole was filling at a rapid pace.
However, even as his mana returned, his mind could no longer churn out a new plan.
With his original strategy shattered, the Outer God he had to face was simply too overwhelming.
But the even greater problem was the magic.
‘I’ve never even seen that magic before.’
Alon had faced Kailas numerous times in Psychedelia, so he was well-acquainted with his stats and abilities.
The reason the guild masters had been able to hold out as long as they did against an Outer God was precisely because Alon’s information had provided them with an absolute intellectual advantage.
But just now, the magic Kailas used—the magic that utilized Phrases and Sentences just like his own—was something even Alon was seeing for the first time.
In other words, Alon’s informational advantage had vanished at this point.
Not only that.
‘……So that is magic.’
Alon felt a sense of futility as he stared at the crater behind the god, where nothing remained.
Though the nature of the magic might be different, they both used the same system of Phrases and Sentences. Yet, the Outer God’s magic was qualitatively on a different level from Alon’s.
……In short, from skill to information to planning, everything was at an overwhelming disadvantage. Even the mercenaries were merely staring up at the Outer God, having lost their will to fight.
In this desperate situation that led only to death, Alon looked at the mocking Outer God and—
“…….”
After a brief silence.
“Fame of Snow Mountain—”
He deployed his magic.
“Decision.”
At Alon’s command, the air gathered in the atmosphere once more, forming dozens of small grains.
“Rotation.”
As those grains began to spin clockwise according to the next Phrase—
Heh—!
Kailas, wearing a thick smirk, immediately moved his finger.
A simple motion from left to right.
However.
Creeeeeak—!
‘There is still hope.’
Starting with the invisible slash heading toward Alon freezing as it touched one of the grains floating in the air.
“Line, help me.”
The battle began once more.
* * *
Many factors existed in a battle between mages, but ultimately, two things were truly important.
First was the speed of magic manifestation.
Second was the tactical exchange.
To win against a mage, one had to predict what magic the opponent would deploy and how, and then act one step faster.
Furthermore, one needed a manifestation speed comparable to the opponent’s to seize the advantage.
No matter how much one dominated the tactical exchange, it was impossible to cope if the manifestation speed couldn't keep up.
From that perspective, Alon’s fight against the Outer God was bound to be a losing one, but—
Clang, clang, clang—!!
Currently, Line was by Alon’s side, parrying the Outer God’s attacks.
K-k-k-k-grind—!!
Even though he had deployed it more than three times already, Line continued to deflect the invisible slashes that squeezed through the gaps in the remaining magic. Watching her, Alon felt his hands trembling.
The number of empty mana potions on the ground had surpassed five, and his skin was beginning to turn a bruised blue.
Mana poisoning.
His pounding heart and his mana hole, which was recovering at a speed incomparable to its normal state, allowed Alon to cast one more spell.
—Crack!
The slash was blocked the moment the magic manifested.
As if he had been waiting for that split second, Kailas moved instantly and appeared right before Alon’s eyes.
“Hup—!”
Cling—!
As the chains lashed out fiercely, the Outer God widened the distance and used his magic again.
It was as if a cat were playing with a mouse.
With the heart of a supreme being watching a final, futile struggle.
Even though he could end it, he was simply toying with Alon.
Yet, despite the humiliating situation, what filled Alon’s mind was not anger, but cold reason.
In that state.
“Crystallization.”
Alon continued his defense once more.
Defend.
Defend.
Defend.
And defend again.
As if he had no strength left to attack.
With his skin turned blue from his fingertips to his shoulders, he continued to maintain his guard.
That sight, which was beyond desperate and looked like a mere death throe—
““…….””
Some watched with eyes full of despair.
Some with eyes full of disappointment.
Some with emptiness and frustration.
Everyone watched.
But even in that situation, Alon stubbornly blocked the slashes.
As if this were his final act of defiance.
With eyes that had turned blue and bloodshot from mana poisoning.
He simply continued to deploy the magic he was permitted.
And then.
Finally, the chains handled by Line, who had been blocking the Outer God’s attacks alongside Alon, snapped.
Heh—
The moment Kailas’s smirk widened, as if the inevitable had finally arrived.
‘Now.’
With a brief thought.
“Crystallization.”
Alon set up the grains once more to block Kailas’s vision—
“Ice Snow.”
—and Alon preceded with a Phrase different from any he had used before.
Pure white frost began to cling to the mana gathering before his Hand Seal.
“Form.”
That frost soon expanded its reach to Alon’s surroundings.
“Fame of Snow Mountain—”
The sentence he barely spat out while forcing himself to swallow his own blood created a massive hexagonal crystal in front of him.
“Inevitability of the Blind—”
The hexagonal crystal instantly expanded, devouring the surrounding atmosphere, and once again, it formed a spear.
No, it was something so beautiful it could hardly be called a spear.
However, Alon, who had created it while forcing down the blood boiling in his mouth, did not utter the final Phrase.
‘This isn't enough.’
This was the best possible situation he could create to win against the Outer God.
He had drunk every mana potion he possessed just for this moment.
He had maintained a war of attrition that was nothing short of suicidal for someone with such a small mana hole.
Through that, he had succeeded in making Kailas let his guard down.
And his body, which was now practically in a near-death state, unlocked another constraint he had set in advance.
The constraint that allowed one to twist the laws of the world when using magic in a near-death state.
All that remained was to prepare the final blow to kill him while his vision was obscured by the ice that had blocked the slashes.
But he knew.
That this alone would not be enough.
The reason Alon had manifested this magic anyway was because of what that thing had said.
The next stage of the Principle.
Self-Embodiment.
‘But, as expected, you still know nothing.’
Alon recalled the Outer God’s words.
His words surely referred to that.
So, he had to do it.
He had to manifest the final move here and now—the one the Outer God wouldn't be able to block, launched in the moment his guard was down.
‘Think.’
His thoughts accelerated.
His head, feeling as if it would explode from mana poisoning, frantically conjured and discarded countless thoughts at once.
A maddening thumping sound hammered against his heart without rest.
A pain as if his brain were melting.
But even so, he did not stop.
In every corner of his mind where thought was possible, he searched for a hint to move to the next stage of the Principle.
And in that moment.
[It is the Hand Seal.]
A voice echoed in Alon’s head.
[Delusion and enlightenment are originally one and the same.]
[When you reach it, you shall obtain the key.]
Along with a black flickering, whatever had uttered those words vanished instantly, as if it had said all it needed to say.
Without time to identify its nature, Alon, who had found the final piece to reach the next stage of the Principle, unhesitatingly released the Hand Seal he had been holding and formed a new one.
He wrapped his right hand around his left, which had only the index finger pointing straight up, bringing them together.
The completed Wisdom Fist Mudra.
And then.
Alon saw it.
The object that had been a spear with beautiful patterns until moments ago twisted strangely, taking the form of a key.
At the same time.
“!”
The ice dissipated, revealing the Outer God who had been acting leisurely until just now.
His relaxed expression stiffened. Before he could even blink—as if his previous actions had all been a joke—he appeared before Alon and reached out his hand without hesitation.
“!”
Clang, clang, clang—!
Line’s chains blocked the path in front of Alon as if they had been waiting from the start.
And there, a variable occurred.
The Outer God immediately twisted his body and flicked his fingers toward Line, who was defenseless after protecting Alon.
“Ah.”
A low exclamation escaped Line as she foresaw her death.
However.
Alon’s hand, having already anticipated the situation, was already grabbing her clothes and pulling her in.
Slash—!
The slash narrowly missed.
“—”
As a price, blood erupted from Alon’s hand, which had been pulling her, but he unhesitatingly formed the Wisdom Fist Mudra again.
“Ice Crystal Flower Spear.”
He spat out the final Phrase.
The moment the created key was inserted into the massive crystal and turned—
—A glacier arrived upon the plains.