Chapter 421
Chapter 421
-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 421
>Chapter Title: The 31st Horse Overturns the Game Board
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Eorian, crushed beneath the feet of the Shadow Viper, did not struggle for survival.
The moment he escaped the invincibility granted by his authority, he extinguished his life's flame.
Eorian let out a thin, elongated breath.
"Finally... liberation..."
"Eoriaaan! Protect me! Me... me..."
Thud...
[You have slain the compelled guardian Eorian.]
[The power held by Eorian returns to Maradum.]
[Maradum awakens a new power.]
[You acquire additional rewards.]
Whoosh-!
The black pillar returned somewhere.
And then.
Thud.
Kang Seol descended through the anticipated door.
His indifferent gaze clashed with Maradum's despair-filled one.
Crackle...
A new crack appeared on the Time Stone gripped in Maradum's hand.
"This... this can't be. I am the almighty sorcererraaa!"
Light burst from the Time Stone in Maradum's grasp.
The target was Kang Seol.
Whooom...
Kang Seol easily dodged the beam of light, then...
Splash-!
Slashed off Maradum's arm.
"Arrrghhhh!"
"...I was aiming for the stone."
With that single strike, Maradum's current predicament became crystal clear.
He would die before they could count to ten.
"You inferior beings... dare... dare to defy... time itself!"
As Kang Seol swung his sword once more, thinking it was all over, Maradum resorted to his final measure.
[Maradum uses charged Calamity to unleash a disaster.]
[Maradum uses the Time Cocoon.]
[Protected by the power of time.]
[Time Rupture will soon activate.]
Whoooo...
Maradum was enveloped in an eerie blue light. Ridiculously, everyone thought it beautiful.
Crackle...
Just as Kang Seol unleashed slashes toward Maradum's position.
"Stop! Kang Seol, leave this to me."
"...What?"
Rumble...
Maradum's magic activated.
"Everyone, halt."
[Maradum uses Time Rupture.]
[All things with will come to a stop.]
[Resistance is possible through will.]
Fwoooosh-!
As the blue light exploded outward, everything froze like a snapshot.
Inanimate objects and living beings alike.
Those with will struggled against Maradum's spell.
They couldn't move their bodies, but they held onto consciousness for a moment.
'Why... did he stop him?'
'What the hell...'
Such thoughts filled their minds as they lost consciousness.
A short while later.
Twitch...
Sss...
Twitch...
Ssss...
Crack...
Crackle...
Uur's body froze over.
Then, he took a step forward.
Uur was moving.
Alone in a world where everything had stopped.
The reason he blocked Kang Seol's attack was perfectly justified to him.
Forcibly destroying the Time Cocoon could disrupt the timeline.
If that happened, it would take months to rediscover the coordinates of the star tomb they'd originally come from, wasting time here.
Of course, there wasn't enough time in that brief moment to explain all this.
Even so, it was fortunate that Kang Seol had listened and halted his attack.
That didn't mean Kang Seol's approach was wrong.
No, it was largely correct.
If it had been a typical raid party facing Maradum instead of Kang Seol and Uur, they would have chosen that method every single time.
And they would have spent months here thinking it was the right choice.
Because they knew no other way.
But Uur knew.
A way to return without wasting unnecessary time here.
Crack...
Crackle...
Uur advanced slowly, like a snail crawling.
Maradum, the world, phenomena—all frozen. Amid it all, only Uur moved. Why could he move?
If Maradum's consciousness still lingered, he would have screamed.
For the monster before him was slowly approaching to kill him.
Creak...
Creeeak...
Uur's body wasn't moving under his own control.
The mana enveloping his body, the frost, was propelling him.
Uur was the origin of sorcery.
Living mana itself.
Even if all of Pandea's sorcerers lined up, only Uur could perform such a feat.
He was loved by mana.
- Come on, let's see. Sorcerer.
Uur and Maradum were still quite far apart. Yet Uur was certain he could reach him.
No such madness existed anywhere. Regardless of possibility, Uur had chosen the overwhelmingly difficult path simply to save time.
That's who Uur was.
Perhaps the term "incomprehensible" wasn't meant for the Time Stone, but prepared for Uur.
Ssh.
Maradum's pupils seemed to shift slightly. His will likely still endured.
- ...I know you're watching, sorcerer.
Uur was confident of victory.
- Behold my triumph. Then surrender.
Crackle...
Crackle...
The frost human advanced mercilessly.
But only for a moment.
- ...Oh dear.
Creak...
Clunk! His body jammed.
Uur realized something had gone wrong.
- It's consuming far more mana than I thought...
He had reached the supreme realm, but wasn't in perfect condition.
This wasn't about realm.
It was raw numbers.
To put it precisely, Uur was practically naked right now.
He wore mere clothes that served only as basic garb, unfit for his stature.
Hubris incarnate.
That became the problem.
- ...Need to think of something.
Uur pondered.
A great sorcerer would find the path again.
He had handled everything alone since birth.
Never any true collaboration. Even his occasional aid to Kang Seol was for his own sake.
Never for Kang Seol.
- Need to... replenish mana.
Mana...
Mana...
Nothing worth coveting here for Uur.
The Calamity sorcerer Maradum specialized in time magic, but wasn't exceptionally powerful. ...At least not in Uur's eyes.
- ...No, there is.
Nearby, a still-hot lump of mana. To Uur, who could see it, its presence burned intensely.
- Kang Seol...
Creak...
If he squeezed out the barely remaining mana now, he could reach Kang Seol.
Then possess his body and advance...
No, that wouldn't work.
- That's... not the way.
He couldn't reach Maradum that way.
Think.
He had to think.
Uur, supreme sorcerer.
- ...Ah.
He thought of it.
He had thought of it.
And despaired.
The method he conceived was something he'd never tried, nor wanted to.
Yet, in this situation, it was the only way.
- ...Can I do it?
Could someone like me share half with another?
Uur hesitated.
Even so, he had to.
For one named Uur always triumphs.
Crack...
Crackle...
His hands rested on Kang Seol's shoulders.
- Kang Seol, can you hear me?
No reply came.
No matter how strong one's will, none surpassed Uur.
Even Uur teetered on the brink of losing consciousness to time's flow.
- I've never understood anyone. That includes you, Kang Seol.
He hesitated.
By his knowledge, this method required mutual reliance.
Kang Seol's heart was unknowable, and his own unyielding.
- I thought you lucky. Somehow wormed into Alcatron, somehow reached me, somehow claimed me.
Uur's mutterings continued.
- Somehow gained power, somehow survived. Somehow shattered trials, somehow grew. Truly somehow... achieving everything you desired as if on display.
Uur paused, despising himself.
- Yeah, nonsense. No such luck exists in the world.
Ssss...
Chilling energy poured from Uur's palms.
- Time's passed since we met. I still can't understand you. No, perhaps never. But...
Sss...
His hands slid to Kang Seol's back. Changes began there.
- Now, I respect you.
Kwaaaaa-!
[The sorcerer 'Frost Storm Uur' assumes Night Raven form.]
[Absorbing stats from 'Frost Storm Uur.']
[Insufficient rapport.]
[Unstable state.]
...
Crackle...
Insufficient internal synchronization with Kang Seol; on the verge of ejection.
Immense energy surged from Uur.
- Don't make me laugh; that's all the interpretation says.
[Frost Storm Uur's sorcery activates.]
[Supreme Art: Interpreting Night Raven.]
[Interpreting Supreme Art.]
...
Mana raged moment by moment. But only briefly.
...
[Supreme Art interpretation complete.]
Whooooooo...
Unlike other sharp, angular Night Ravens, Uur's was blunt.
A body molded from clay, undulating like fluid.
Hummm...
Blue chill spewed endlessly from its eyes and mouth.
Uur wondered if this form was closest to true magic.
[Job: Sorcerer state.]
[Shadow Hand is transforming.]
[Can wield Frozen Truth.]
[Can use sorcery.]
[Spell power greatly increases.]
[Mana greatly increases.]
[Mana recovery rate greatly increases.]
- Hey, Kang Seol. Can you hear me? This feels kinda...
No response from Kang Seol.
Uur was used to solitude.
- ...Whatever. But this mana...
Kang Seol's mana exceeded Uur's expectations. As if he'd devoured a dragon, it was monstrous.
Adorned in exceedingly rare gear from the start, how much effort had he invested for this?
Crack...
Crackle...
The Night Raven stepped toward Maradum, one foot at a time.
Still awkward steps, but much improved.
- Time magic should vanish from the world. It defies reason.
Even against an overwhelming foe, one couldn't easily resist its flow.
Deeming them truly annoying, Uur reached Maradum's Time Cocoon.
He placed a hand on the barrier.
[Frost Storm Uur's sorcery activates.]
[Interpreting Time Cocoon.]
[Interpreting magic.]
...
Computation slowed? Interpretation took time.
No, not just time was consumed.
- Tch... taking mana too.
Uur's mana was depleted from the start, and Kang Seol's had been wasted testing against Eorian.
Far from peak condition, mana teetered precariously.
[Magic interpretation complete.]
Then, as the cocoon opened.
Thump...
A simple mana shockwave from Maradum.
A pre-set magic trap for the moment of release.
Utterly.
Utterly unforeseen.
- Tch... damn it...
Uur berated himself.
Failure echoed in his mind for the first time in ages.
A mistake.
An inexcusable, fatal one.
Against time sorcerers, one needed several times normal focus. Absolute concentration and overwhelming skill were the only counters.
Yet he'd briefly lost that focus.
Ejection imminent.
Death, or eternal withering. No, that was worst-case; Uur would find a way.
The issue: it would take an era.
Memories of Alcatron imprisonment resurfaced. That endless time.
- That... I don't want...
Uur's grim predictions were always right.
Thump...
His mind was about to eject from the Night Raven.
But at that instant.
Whooo...
Something strongly pulled him back into place.
- ...What?
Fwoooosh-!
The Night Raven's eyes turned blue. A power wave stronger than Uur's control emanated.
And.
Slash...
A sharp hand severed Maradum's remaining arm.
Uur merely watched.
- Kang Seol... you hadn't lost consciousness.
Whoom...
Was that Kang Seol's final struggle? The blue light in the Night Raven's eyes soon faded.
- ...Unpredictable guy. More experienced than me, huh?
One thing beyond his prediction.
Kang Seol's existence.
And here, another event defied Uur's expectations.
Tok...
Roll...
The bead rolled.