Chapter 211
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: I Don't Know Either!
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A short while ago, it had been a sewer buried underground.
But now, in the aftermath of a 9th-class magic formula skill exploding, it had completely collapsed, revealing the sky above. A single figure gazed down at the scene.
Bloody scraps of robe caught in the debris.
Shards of a staff snapped into pieces and embedded in one corner.
And above all, a presence that could no longer be felt anywhere in the world.
Rimon Asfelder, the black-haired young man who had been silently taking it all in, suddenly muttered to himself.
"So he had potential but no manners, huh."
He shook his head briefly.
Then Rimon glanced sideways.
His eyes fell on the spot where two faint ethereal forms had lingered just moments before, and he continued in a low voice.
"Consider yourself lucky, Magus Lord. Out of respect for your final choice, I'll spare you the chase all the way to the afterlife to cut you down."
With those brief words to himself, Rimon vanished back into London's fog.
Sheathing the sword that had sliced through the starlight bursting out like an escapee the moment Karl's body was engulfed in light...
Whoosh.
Syr stared for a moment at the two dolls in her hand as they suddenly burst into flames on their own, eventually crumbling into ash and scattering.
Then she chuckled softly.
As she let the ashes drift from her palm into the air, she murmured in a languid voice.
"Remember it as a parting gift, you rude boy. This is how real magic is used."
The citizens of London could never have imagined it.
Just today, their fates had shifted several times.
First, when Rose had evacuated the civilians in advance, sparing them from disaster.
Second, when Edward, the crown prince, died before obtaining the Seven Axes, reducing the prophesied catastrophe.
Third, when Karl chose suicide instead of renewing his contract, averting London's destruction.
As a legendary witch and a prophet, Syr could vaguely sense these shifts in fate. She smiled.
'It's finally over.'
She didn't care whether the Londoners lived or died.
But she was pleased that all these events had linked up to prevent Karl's rampage.
Because it meant she had thwarted the prophecy of her own death at the hands of Karl, who wielded the stars' power fueled by his hatred of witches.
It made her efforts—stepping forward on behalf of the 27 witches of the magical lineage—worthwhile.
Screeeeech!
"The barrier...!"
Mommy, what do we do about this?!
That was why.
London's Great Barrier shook from the effects of Karl's final spell, Chaos Scream.
And while souls writhed in agony from the aftermath and shadow monsters rampaged anew, Rose and Yuna Kyung panicked.
But Syr calmly observed the situation.
'In terms of magic formula skills, it's about 10th class? But it feels closer to the fundamental power of the stars than a mere skill.'
Items embedded throughout London.
The noise designed by Karl over decades to destroy the Great Barrier, resonating with its pillars to unleash dozens of times the performance.
Sensing the mystery within it precisely, Syr narrowed her eyes.
'Hmm, definitely. Comparing it to a constellation's power makes it clearer. What's sealed in that violin is surely...'
As Syr pondered leisurely, Yuna Kyung urgently called out to her.
Witch sis, do something about this! We have to stop that weird noise!
"I can't stop it."
What?
"To be precise, I have no way to stop it."
Syr shrugged.
No matter how great a witch she was—the pinnacle of the Silver Age—there were limits.
She was already pouring immense magical power into sustaining the London Great Barrier. She had no spare capacity for more.
And honestly, even if she did, there was no way to stop it anyway.
"That rude Magus Lord made those items as wedges driven into the Great Barrier."
Just as the sound-activated barrier used sound as a medium to interfere and resonate.
Like injecting medicine with a syringe.
Or concentrating a hammer's force with a nail.
Those items allowed external forces to more directly impact the Great Barrier.
"Forcibly ripping out or breaking those resonating wedges would only damage the barrier itself."
Smashing a syringe mid-injection could be disastrous.
Besides, the noise bounced and amplified between the pillars, so it would persist long after the caster's death.
Yuna Kyung gaped at Syr's calm explanation.
Then what do we do?!
"That's why I said I have no way to stop it."
Rose's face darkened at Syr's firm words.
If even the legendary grand witch—who knew the London Great Barrier better than anyone—had no solution, then no one did.
What if the barrier collapsed again?
Could the Blue Dragon Clan and Makers Guild members alone hold back the endlessly spawning monsters?
Even if they did, by the time the monsters were gone, London would be in ruins—except for Cisepent Earl's Castle.
The chaos that would engulf the British Empire and all of Europe...
As Rose felt suffocated imagining it, Syr suddenly spoke.
"But that kid seems to think he can stop it anyway."
What?
"...?"
Yuna Kyung and Rose blinked as they followed Syr's gaze.
The Makers' headquarters, the magic tower.
With all guild members aiding the castle's defense, it now stood empty. But someone had appeared at its summit.
The dim fog made it hazy.
But Rose and Yuna Kyung recognized him instantly.
No way, what is Team Leader doing up there in the middle of all this...?
Yuna Kyung muttered awkwardly, then her eyes widened.
Rimon had set down the case on his back and pulled out something pitch-black.
"...A violin?"
An instrument in this chaos?
As Rose and Yuna Kyung stared in bewilderment, Syr gave a short nod of admiration.
"Not bad for a kid. Good thinking."
Good thinking? How?
"Didn't I say that violin interferes with constellation power? He's going to use it."
Ah...!
If he couldn't destroy the items, he'd intervene directly in the constellation power resonating with them.
A clever reversal only possible because Rimon had the Abyssal Heart Violin.
"But whether it'll work... that's another question."
Syr narrowed her eyes.
So far, Rimon had only used it to melt starlight fragments that absorbed that power.
Could mere playing dispel a skill-manifested, massively amplified constellation force from countless items?
Even she, a grand witch, couldn't say.
As Yuna Kyung and Rose watched anxiously after hearing her explanation,
Rimon calmly positioned the Abyssal Heart Violin on his shoulder and raised the bow, showing no unease.
And the moment the bow glided across the strings—
Ziiiiing.
A single melody enveloped London.
Ever since Rimon arrived at the earl's castle as a performer,
Rose had heard his violin playing several times. She had no doubt.
He was a virtuoso, one of the few in the world who could match him—even including Julia.
But at this moment,
She realized her belief was a ridiculous illusion.
Ziiing.
Her body stiffened.
The melody was so beautiful it stole her soul, leaving her an empty shell.
Her only response was her heart pounding wildly,
Thrilled to the point of bursting, boiling her blood with fierce beats.
The more she focused to hear it clearly, the sharper her senses grew, while her consciousness dizzyingly faded.
Rose fell into the performance, utterly entranced.
Ah, look! It's working!
The ethereal melody seemed to soothe the constellation power embedded in the airborne noise.
The churning fog calmed, and the souls' anguished cries faded. Yuna Kyung cheered.
"No, it's not enough yet."
Syr pointed out coolly.
Rimon's playing had stabilized the barrier, but not removed the constellation power.
It prevented immediate collapse, but maintaining the barrier at this level was precarious at best.
Ziiing—
It happened right then.
Another faint melody layered atop Rimon's violin.
This sound...?
Yuna Kyung whipped her head the other way, chasing the unexpected but strangely familiar second melody.
Her beak dropped open as she looked toward Cisepent Earl's Castle, still locked in fierce battle.
Julia sis!?
Ziiiiing.
'Rimon?'
In the shelter beneath Cisepent Earl's Castle,
Julia, who had taken refuge with the servants, shot to her feet without thinking.
As his teacher, she knew instantly it was Rimon's playing.
Of course, much was still inexplicable.
Why he was performing amid this warzone, or how the sound reached this sealed shelter.
But Julia grabbed her violin case without hesitation.
The moment she heard it,
She somehow knew.
Her playing was needed.
Rimon's melody was only half-complete, and only she—who had practiced with him—could fill the rest.
"Hey? Miss, what are you doing?"
"I'm leaving."
"What! Are you crazy? Monsters are rampaging out there!"
A nearby servant tried to stop her in panic.
"No time for talk. Help me or stay here. Your choice."
Julia didn't budge.
Of course, she was scared too.
But as a performer at the pinnacle of her art, fleeing before a performance was unthinkable.
"I mean, what the... "
The servant was at a loss.
It wasn't just that he couldn't manhandle an earl's guest or let her go alone into danger.
He was overwhelmed by the aura of a world-class virtuoso.
After fumbling uncertainly for a moment,
The servant looked around for help.
But the other servants and maids averted their eyes, unwilling to meet his gaze.
Most were ex-criminals anyway; they didn't want the headache.
"Screw it! I don't know anymore!"
That's why
He suddenly yanked up the newbie servant beside him—his friend.
"Come on, let's go!"
"What? Why drag me into this!?"
His friend panicked.
"Why? You hoarded items from your street vendor days, right? When else would you use them!"
"No, those are just for self-defense...!"
"Use 'em for self-defense now!"
The ex-street vendor friend in tow,
Guided by Max Powell, Julia escaped the shelter and raced through the castle.
Toward the spire, where her melody would resonate best.