Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: 34. Mage (1)
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Pides saluted Yuri and immediately broke into a run toward the rear.
His body soared.
"Be careful!"
Yuri waved at his retreating back before turning his gaze elsewhere.
Now it was time to hunt the shamans.
He could feel the flow of mana, stiffened by the dispel.
By tracing the source of this stagnation, he should be able to find the shamans.
Impossible for ordinary people, but Yuri sensed he could do it.
He closed his eyes and sharpened his senses.
He felt the points disrupting mana bonds and suppressing its flow. At first blurry, they gradually sharpened into focus.
"There, there, and there."
"Pardon?"
Rolang and Jared, standing beside him, stared at Yuri.
"There are shamans in three spots. I'll take this one."
"Uh..."
There was no time to explain.
As Yuri dashed off, Rolang and Jared exchanged glances before splitting off in different directions.
Yuri glanced at Okua.
Mo Yongchan stood blocking it, while the other knights hung back, occasionally supporting with attacks.
They looked just like knights from old tales battling an evil dragon.
He hadn't known in his previous life that Okua was such a monster. He'd only learned this life that it was tied to black magic.
What other truths were still hidden?
"Ku'ar!"
Yuri shouted. It was the orc word for shaman, something Kori had taught him.
"Ku'ar!"
He yelled repeatedly.
The orc group that had fallen back to observe reacted. Amid their ranks, a blindfolded orc shaman hid among the escorts.
Yuri leaped forward and brought Guilty down.
Exhausted as he was, his senses were sharper than ever. He could even see the faint wobbles in the spears and axes flying at him.
Yuri twisted his body, dodging like an acrobat.
The blindfolded shaman accepted his fate with calm composure, welcoming the blade. His chest split vertically, spilling blood and innards.
The moment the shaman died, orcs charged from all sides.
Yuri targeted the loosest gap in their formation and bolted. Axes rained down.
No space to dodge.
Then he would deflect them.
Yuri summoned Heart-Soul Severing and swung in one fluid motion. The axes hurtling toward him flew off simultaneously.
He slid between two orcs standing side by side, whipping Guilty around swiftly.
Blood erupted from both their flanks at once.
The instant he broke the encirclement, Yuri spun back and leveled his sword. The orc horde hesitated, not daring to approach.
He was incomparably stronger than when he'd first joined the Allied Forces.
But there was no time to bask in his growth.
"One down..."
Yuri backed away from the orcs, scanning elsewhere.
Rolang and Jared hadn't gone alone; they'd moved with other knights to strike the shamans.
Shamans fell one after another. He could feel all the disruptors of magic had been slain.
Now it was time to rain down fire.
Dispel only made it vulnerable, but a mage's firepower was devastatingly destructive.
Yet no response came.
Yuri sank halfway to his knees, staring at Okua.
The entity that had become Okua's corpse-form lashed out with massive limbs, pressing Mo Yongchan. Mo Yongchan and the remaining knights fought back against the monster.
Yuri realized.
"Ah..."
A shaman still remained.
Wasn't the very form of Okua, forged from gathered corpses, already black magic incarnate?
The moment he grasped that, Okua's enormous arm swept across the ground.
Several knights got caught in the attack and flew through the air. The Third Knight Order Captain and Graham, who had shown such prowess until now, were smashed into the dirt like bugs.
How could he stop such a being?
Yuri gripped Guilty.
"If only I could dispel that..."
Magic assembled externally was inherently easy to unravel.
Just remove that constraint.
Hernando was an exceptional mage. It wasn't for nothing that Mo Yongchan acknowledged him as a grand ally.
If Hernando gathered the mages and unleashed their spells, victory was possible.
Yuri took a deep breath.
His mana was already parched. His core cracked like drought-stricken paddy fields.
Forcing more power could damage his foundation of true essence.
But Yuri didn't hesitate.
The scant energy of Heart-Soul Severing responded to his will, rearing up.
His vision desaturated once more.
Yuri peered into what he called "the world beyond," the underside of the phenomenal realm.
Black tendrils writhed around the monster Okua.
That was the true form of the black magic disrupting mana coalescence.
The sheer scale of it nearly made Yuri drop Guilty.
It seemed impossible.
But he had to do it.
Only he could.
He raised Guilty.
A chilling whisper echoed in his ear.
'Never fear the enemy.'
He nodded.
'Act on your convictions.'
He tightened his grip on the sword.
'To the end, fulfill Brioll's duty.'
Yuri wasn't so foolish as to ask what Brioll's duty was.
The battlefield became one with his body.
Soldiers staggered as they swung their swords; knights faced unwinnable foes.
No one shirked their role.
And he was Yuri Brioll.
He had work to do.
"I swore an oath."
Muttering that, Yuri clenched his core.
White energy flowed from Guilty's blade.
All available mana was consumed. In its place, he forcibly drew up the true essence lingering in his flesh.
Blood trickled from his nose and mouth; his legs buckled.
With trembling hands, he raised Guilty high. The tip wavered ceaselessly.
But he never stopped.
He saw it.
The souls of the sacrificed screamed in agony. Even in death, they found no salvation, forced to become part of the black magic polluting the world against their will.
"I sever you."
The trembling gradually subsided.
His breathing steadied.
Glare locked on the enemy.
He slashed.
A single sword beam cleaved the sky in two.
The mages waited at the rear under guard, maintaining dispel.
"Impressive."
As Hernando watched the battle with arms crossed, Eisen the imperial mage approached and spoke.
"Me?"
"No, the Third Prince."
"Ah..."
Yuri at Brioll's vanguard pierced enemy lines, shattering their formation. His breakthrough power was always astounding.
"So young, yet such accomplishments. In swordsmanship and judgment."
"He's valiant."
"What do you think?"
"Of what?"
"This battle."
"The Allied Forces will win."
"Heavy losses?"
"Fewer the better."
Hernando responded indifferently to Eisen's words.
He didn't care much for imperial mages.
Mage Towers dotted the continent, but the empire's were thoroughly mundane—more like state-run mage academies than true towers.
Far from Hernando's ideal of a mage.
"If I may ask, which tower are you from, Sir Hernando?"
Eisen probed slyly. Hernando shrugged.
"The main branch."
"Oh..."
The main branch was the origin of all towers, accepting only the most talented. Even the empire's branch couldn't match it.
"Impressive."
"No need. You're impressive too, Sir Eisen."
"May I ask your rank?"
Mages kept personal details secret unless revealed. Few knew Hernando was a Grand Wizard.
Hernando answered humbly.
"Master Wizard."
"Pardon?"
"Master Wizard."
Not entirely false.
A mage reaching Master Wizard gained unique magic, promoting to Grand Wizard.
"Really?"
Eisen eyed Hernando up and down, skeptical.
"Yes."
"Impressive."
"Yes."
As Hernando fell silent, Eisen cleared his throat loudly and continued.
"I'm an Expert Wizard."
"Impressive achievements."
"When the Allied Forces wrap up, come to the empire?"
"What?"
"The empire welcomes fine mages. A Master Wizard would be treated royally."
"No thanks."
"Satisfied with Brioll?"
"That's part of it, but..."
Hernando shook his head.
"The war isn't over yet. Not the time for that talk."
"The Allied Forces will manage either way."
"What do you mean?"
As they spoke, a massive roar echoed.
Both heads snapped around.
Suddenly, an ancient wyrm and wyverns appeared. The battle, which had seemed in hand, began tilting again.
Then Yuri did something, and Mo Yongchan appeared to duel Okua.
The situation turned frantic.
An anomaly occurred.
Just when it seemed Okua was dead, a pitch-black monster began rising from corpses.
Eisen's eyesight was poor, but Hernando saw clearly.
"Corpses."
"Pardon?"
"Corpses clumping together and rising."
"Impossible..."
"And yet it's happening."
Hernando groaned.
How many lives sacrificed for that?
Okua must have grown that much stronger.
Yuri's safety worried him.
Without slaying Okua, the Allied Forces couldn't win.
"Better to retreat..."
Though he knew they wouldn't.
Hernando clenched and unclenched his fist.
The tide kept worsening.
'Grand Wizards do not intervene in human history.'
Bound by those rules, he couldn't overcome dispel.
"Don't worry too much."
Eisen was nonchalant.
"Even if we lose, we'll be fine. The orcs took heavy hits too."
"People are dying."
"That's war."
Then a soldier raced to the rear. He moved fast, employing Mana Circulation Method.
"Sir Hernando! Sir Hernando!"
The soldier called his name.
Hernando stepped forward. A face he'd glimpsed at the command tent.
"Sir Hernando!"
"Me?"
"His Highness says drop the fireballs!"
Panting before Hernando.
"F-fireballs. His Highness said fireballs. He said you'd understand..."
Hernando tilted his head. Yuri knew about dispel.
"With dispel up, fireballs are impossible. His Highness must be mistaken."
Ignoring Eisen, Hernando peered at the battlefield.
Yuri never spoke idly in combat. If he said that, there was a way.
Hernando raised his spyglass.
He saw Yuri directing Rolang and Jared. They soon scattered in three directions.
Blindfolded orcs marked their paths.
Aiming to eliminate shamans.
If they truly killed them all, casting spells wasn't impossible.
Hernando tested mana in the air. The area resisted proper assembly due to dispel.
Eisen said,
"Oh, the prince aims to wipe out the shamans."
"Yes."
"Still tough. Even without shamans, no."
"Why?"
"Can't you see?"
He pointed at Okua like he knew everything.
"Look at that. Okua has become the vessel of black magic."
"Meaning..."
"Yes. The empire knows black magic well."
Eisen crossed two fingers toward Hernando.
"Okua generates dispel on its own."
"I see."
Hernando calmly watched Yuri again.
Eisen was right, but somehow he felt Yuri would pull it off. Because of his unbelievable feats so far?
To a mage of Heavenly Mandate Observation, intuition held meaning beyond mere hunch.
"Sir Hernando?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
"Preparing."
Hernando arrayed mana in the air.
"As I said, dispel..."
"Just a moment will do."
Hernando said.
"If I get even a brief window to control mana, it's possible."
"That brief..."
Then it happened.
Hernando and Eisen whipped their heads around. Even the waiting mages stood, staring at the field.
In that instant, every mage sensed the anomaly.
"N-no way..."
Eisen pointed dumbly.
At its end stood Yuri.
Brilliant sword energy flared from his blade, like grasping a beam of light.
He stared long at the empty sky, then slowly raised his sword.
And slashed.
Stagnant mana surged like a broken dam.
A miracle occurred.
"Dispel's broken."
Hernando kept his word.
The instant dispel vanished, he formed seals and chanted.
So fast it stunned Eisen beside him.
The spell assembled in a blink, igniting the sky in brilliant light.
"My god..."
Hernando shouted at the awed Eisen.
"What are you doing?"
"Pardon?"
"Just going to watch?"
"Ah, understood."
Startled by his momentum, Eisen formed seals. The waiting mages unleashed their own spells.
A wondrous sight.
Another sun rose over the midday plains.
Around it, countless stars great and small twinkled.
"Ahh..."
Humans and orcs on the battlefield gaped skyward.
And then.
The sun tilted.