Chapter 190
Translator: uly
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Festival's Start #1
When the ferocious dragon surge finally subsided.
“Groooah—.”
The hunter spat up blood and dropped to his knees on the ground. His palms were filled with shredded flesh, blood streaming down in rivulets.
He looked like he was in a lot of pain.
I felt a surge of confidence seeing my attack land more effectively than expected. At this rate, even if that guy didn’t forfeit, I had a solid chance of winning, right?
No—.
No.
This was complacency. In any story, any medium, protagonists always unleashed greater power in moments of crisis.
In fact, the hunter from the original work grew more dangerous, like a wounded beast, the more grievous his injuries. That was why I tamped down the excitement from my successful grand magic.
Soon, my talent 《Calm Thinking》 activated, restoring some semblance of composure. From my restored calm, the hunter’s wounds didn’t seem all that serious.
Just some skin torn off his arms and hands—hardly life-threatening or enough to decide the match.
Swoosh—.
The man rose to his feet. He didn’t look like he was planning to forfeit. If he were, he would’ve pretended to collapse from that last hit.
“Fuu—.”
I steadied my breathing briefly. My unnecessarily racing heart and tension slowly ebbed away.
I recalled that mages needed quick shifts in mindset, almost like a talent in itself. In that sense, my 《Calm Thinking》 was pretty useful.
And through it, I reached this conclusion.
I needed a more intense attack.
Thorough destruction.
“You’ve got good eyes now. The eyes of one prepared for death.”
Srrrring.
The hunter picked up the dagger from the ground.
Its blade was already jagged and torn like a saw, making it look even more vicious.
Gripping it in one hand, he extended the other palm toward me, as if gauging the distance. Before he could fully catch his breath, I prepared my next incantation.
Whooooosh—.
The mana in the air rushed into my mouth. I vividly felt it course through my heart and spread to every corner of my body via my veins.
“You’re wide open!”
Swoop—.
At that moment, the hunter hurled the dagger at me. It grazed near my left neck again.
Clang! Thankfully, the magic barrier nullified it, but it was enough to disrupt my breathing. The problem was his attack didn’t end there.
Swish.
Having thrown the dagger, he seized the moment my stance faltered and closed in flat under my chin.
“—A mage who gives up too much distance!”
Buzz—.
My hairs stood on end.
I couldn’t dodge this one.
“Mana Shield, huh—.”
He was way too close.
This time, I might lose all my mana shields and roll on the ground with a fatal wound—. The hunter clearly thought so too.
“It doesn’t block everything.”
Slash—!
I felt the dagger slicing up from below, tearing my clothes.
My abdomen burned like it had been seared by fire—his attack might’ve shredded the shield and gashed my belly.
A slight pain registered, but I gritted my teeth and hugged the man’s body with all my strength.
“What?”
In the brief pause as his movements halted in surprise at my unexpected action, I completed the incantation I’d been chanting.
“Farewell!”
Whoosh.
A fierce wind of magical power enveloped my body. A twisting tornado erupted in all directions, crushing and shredding everything in an instant.
Zzzzzzzzap—.
Even amid the tearing of all things, my body clung tightly to the hunter’s.
I’d learned from my duel with Kasim that even a close-range mage needed at least one approach tactic.
If the long-range grand magic, Heaven-Rending Spiral Tempest, gave the opponent even a moment to prepare, this short-range mana explosion left no room to dodge or defend.
The problem was that my opponent, the hunter, was a man with abnormal endurance and will.
Even as the tornado ripped him apart in the center, he thrashed to break free from me.
“━━—.”
I even felt like he was trying to say something, but the gale roaring like thousands of shrieking birds drowned it out.
One thing was clear: if he escaped now, I might never get another chance.
With the resolve to snap his waist using the arms holding him, I squeezed out every last drop of mana from my body.
“Grooooaaah!!!”
My tightly shut eyes saw nothing now.
Krakakakakaka—.
━W-We’re done for—!
━The signboard’s flying off!
━This is dangerous, isn’t it!?
Amid the crowd’s murmurs and the ominous twisting and tearing of everything, as my consciousness began to blur—.
“That’s enough, Taeo.”
A voice rang clearly in my head. It was a slender, gentle feminine tone—one I’d heard countless times from Aira.
Swoosh.
Thanks to it, I regained my senses and released the magic.
Thud.
At the same moment, the man dropped to his knees before me and slammed his face into the ground. He didn’t move or speak anymore.
Did I win?
My knees and calves, drained of all mana, trembled so badly I couldn’t stand. Without Elga’s morning training, I’d have collapsed right then.
Wobble wobble.
As my shoulders swayed like a pendulum, someone steadied me. Long hair-like strands brushed against me, and a fresh mint scent made me think it might be Aira.
“Sir Taeo, splendid match.”
It was a beard swaying, not hair. An old man was supporting me—Hainax the white-bearded mage. Oh.
“Sir Taeo, the victory is yours. Under the order of light and salt, justice and equity stand rightly!”
With the sage’s declaration, a roar of cheers erupted—waaaah—and my vision flashed, my head spun, nausea rising.
Ah, this must be mana exhaustion.
I truly felt the moment all the mana dwelling in my body had been sucked dry by that final technique. But it was worth the risk.
Seeing the stretcher-bearers approach the fallen hunter and carry away the protagonist atop it, the realization hit me: I’d come this far.
* * *
I sat in the contestant lounge, taking a rest.
My head throbbed like it would split from mana exhaustion, my stomach churned, and I couldn’t focus at all.
For some reason, Elga—beaming with excitement beside me—was vividly recounting the match.
“That weird bullet-like magic to control distance and keep him at bay. Your legs were faster than I expected. I told you, right? A mage’s legs are crucial?”
“Grooo—.”
“It proves my theory that mages need physical training too! The effects of my daily morning and dawn sessions are showing, aren’t they? Right?”
“Grooo—.”
Elga spoke with overflowing pride, as if her contribution was the greatest in this victory.
She was right that the training helped, but her voice echoing in my head made me want to puke.
Smooch.
Then, something cold and damp touched my forehead.
“Here’s a towel with ice in it. And Lady Liones, isn’t it a bit much to be so loud in front of someone suffering mana exhaustion?”
It was Mirna. She gently wiped my face with the towel. Elga scowled, looking annoyed.
“Mana exhaustion? Can’t you just tough it out with mental fortitude?”
What kind of ignorant nonsense.
But too weak to retort, as I whimpered, Mirna scolded her for me.
“How uncultured. This is why non-mages are…! Don’t you know Sir Taeo needs rest since he’s depleted all his mana?”
“I don’t. The loser got up fine and walked out on his own two feet. How does the winner end up suffering like this?”
From Elga’s words, the hunter had already recovered and left. Tough guy. His recovery was unnaturally fast even in the story.
Still, knocking down a guy like that, even once, quietly boosted my confidence.
Guess I’m kinda strong now.
“Well, that last spell was pretty impressive, beyond expectations. That Angelic Halo Heaven-Rending Tide or whatever? The massive vortex.”
Elga genuinely praised my magic without holding back. But Mirna let out a “pfft” chuckle.
“Angelic Halo Heaven-Rending Tide? What kind of spell name is that? Lady Liones, you’re more clueless about magic than I thought.”
“I didn’t name it. He did it himself, right? Funny, huh?”
At Elga’s question, Mirna changed her tune.
“What a splendid name. Magic works best with evocative titles for self-suggestion.”
“What’re you on about? Anyway, that’s siege-engine level. Top 5th-circle grand mages pull that off. Heard you hit 5th circle?”
Who had I told about becoming a grand mage? My head wasn’t working right. Probably Hainax or Aira.
“Indeed, you’ve reached the 5th circle. Heh, as expected of the man chosen by Mirna Draco. Another proof my eyes don’t deceive.”
“Now places will buzz coming to fetch you. Flaunting grand magic before all those people. When’d you get this strong? Kept it secret from me too.”
“Lady Liones, does Sir Taeo owe you his secrets?”
“What? Don’t pick fights when you know nothing.”
“It’s hilarious coming from someone who knows nothing.”
Blah blah.
The two women’s bickering rattled my skull to the bones, like my body was a giant pipe echoing their voices.
Mana exhaustion—truly awful.
I scraped together what little mental strength I had left and opened my mouth.
“Ah—. Leave me alone for a bit, please.”
“It’s your fault, Mirna Draco!”
“Lady Liones, maybe it’s because your voice sounds like you swallowed thirty cats in heat?”
“What’d you say?”
They growled at each other even as they left the room. Once they were gone, the lounge fell quiet, save for distant cheers.
━That was a lethal strike—!
━Oof, that last one had to hurt—!
Other matches besides mine and the hunter’s must’ve been scheduled.
Whatever.
I rose from the makeshift cot, regulated my breathing.
My body craved meditation time to piece together my shattered mind.
That’s when I recalled the being called ‘Truth’ I’d seen beyond that bizarre door.
If I sat cross-legged like that guy, hands in mudras, maybe I could recover mana faster. The thought bloomed in my mind.
No basis for it, but like a thirsty man craving water, my mana-starved mind chose the pose.
I placed my hands near my dantian and sank my consciousness inward for a moment.
Hummm—.
To my astonishment, tremendous mana seeped into my body.
Like water gushing from a punctured full plastic bag—a spring bursting forth. Was this what it felt like to have one’s mind cleansed?
I was deep in meditation when.
Step step.
Someone approached. Unlike Elga or Mirna’s steps, it was light and silent, like a cat walking on tiptoes—no presence at all.
Rustle.
Opening my eyes, I saw a man wrapped head to toe in black bandages sitting in the opposite chair, staring at me.
“Did I interrupt your meditation?”
“No, I just finished.”
“Good, then.”
His speech was clipped, like slicing taffy on a cutting board with a sharp knife. No need for extra flourishes, probably.
The brief silence that followed.
In it, I assessed him. Though he lost and I won, he looked far better off.
Probably because he’d held back against me.
No reason for him to go all-out; he needed to conserve energy. Novel protagonists valued efficiency.
“The barrier holds the answer. Is that certain?”
“Yes. Go there, and you’ll find what you seek.”
“…….”
He fell silent. Seizing the gap, I recalled the original story’s episode. Act 2, when this ark became the final bastion.
After felling the saintess, the hunter escaped the ark with the suicide squad, heading to the barrier—the root and origin of it all.
Then, after the final battle there, he achieved his goal and a happy ending.
That lingering aftertaste surfaced in my mind.
The story’s conclusion.
Sitting across from the protagonist who’d carried it from start to finish, conversing—it felt surreal.
“Not the face of a victor, huh. Anyway, I kept my promise to you.”
Waaaaaah—.
A massive cheer erupted then. The hunter rose.
“One confession.”
Confession?
This black locust of a man uttering “confession”? Did he have that soft side? My head spun at the sudden declaration.
As I fidgeted, he spoke in a cold, ruthless but clear voice.
“—Was.”
With that, he vanished into the shadows amid the cheers.
Once he was fully gone, I felt a mix of relief and faint regret.
What if I’d adventured with him?
No, hypotheticals were useless.
Either way, the story had changed completely now.
A total break from the original episodes weighing me down. No more seeing the protagonist, no more fretting along his plot.
Refreshing. Like shedding heavy gear after a long march—shoulders lighter.
But a question lingered.
“More than that, that arrow was actually aimed at me…?”
I nearly died for real. What a jerk.