Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: 34. The Mage (2)
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The colossal form of Okua, pieced together from corpses, made for a massive target.
And Moyong Chan, facing it down, wasn't giving it any room to dodge.
[Unbelievable.]
Okua's voice rippled through the air.
Then the sun came crashing down on him.
A massive flash erupted outward.
Yuri, watching the spectacle, raised a hand to shield his eyes.
Within the blinding white blaze, Okua's writhing silhouette flickered.
"Worth dragging the old man out after all..."
Yuri muttered.
Ever since witnessing Marirose's fireball sweep the battlefield, he'd been nagging Hernando daily to cast a spell for him.
He knew dispel magic prevented it, but he'd kept at it anyway.
For a moment just like this.
Hernando had channeled all his pent-up frustration into crafting this fantastical attack spell. Okua had to be roasted through and through.
Soon the flash dimmed, and a shockwave burst forth.
Yuri was caught in it and tumbled backward. Having expended his last shred of mana, he was utterly powerless.
"Ugh..."
He rolled across the ground before coming to a stop.
Lifting his gaze, he saw Okua standing dazed amid black smoke, charred pitch-black.
It wasn't dead. But the damage seemed severe; it couldn't move.
Moyong Chan and the knights, who had been prone, charged toward Okua.
Yuri was certain of victory.
But the joy didn't last.
"Akuak Kai?"
An unfamiliar voice came from overhead. Yuri glanced back cautiously to find an Orc Warrior standing there.
Its eyes curved wickedly.
"Uk aku ma kuku..."
Then its axe rose toward the sky.
"No, you bastard..."
Yuri fumbled for Guilty. But that was all he could manage.
He couldn't even stand.
The Orc Warrior's grotesque face loomed over his vision.
Just as the axe blade began its descent—
Someone rushed in, slamming into the Orc Warrior with their body and knocking it down.
"Are you alright, Your Highness?"
"You're..."
Yuri's eyes widened.
"Sven Gain?"
"Yes. Sven—no, Sven Gain."
It was Sven Gain, whose friendship with Yuri had blossomed from gossiping behind backs.
Gripping his sword, he kept his eyes on the Orc Warrior and continued.
"Get back. I'll handle this one."
Yuri slowly rose to his feet.
"Thanks, Sven."
Sven didn't even glance at him.
"Consider the debt paid."
He was striking quite the dashing pose.
But Yuri refrained from teasing him. Posing like that took guts—and real guts made it genuinely cool.
"Fine, I'll forget that gossip about Joachim."
"Pardon?"
"You've got plenty more dirt on you. Brioll, Burzen, the Holy Kingdom, the Empire, Klein Duchy, and..."
"No..."
In the meantime, the Orc Warrior hauled itself up.
Sven let out a hollow laugh and assumed a stance.
"Anyway, leave this to me."
"You sure you can take it?"
"Doesn't matter if I can. I have to."
Yuri couldn't help but chuckle.
The once bratty kid had grown up. Wolf Gain owed him a bow at this point.
"I trust you."
He stood.
But noticing Yuri's battered state, several Orcs closed in on him.
"Your Highness!"
Brioll's soldiers swarmed over. They surrounded him protectively.
"You lot..."
All faces familiar—guys he'd shared meals and card games with.
"We'll protect you."
"Fall back, Your Highness."
"Just leave it to us."
Orcs were tough for regular soldiers. Orc Warriors, even more so.
Yet they stood firm, weapons raised against the Orcs.
Yuri said,
"It's dangerous. You're no match."
"We're good."
The soldier was one he'd played cards with. From Yuges under Genad's domain, always teased as Genad's lackey.
"You've always led the charge, Your Highness. Today, stay back."
Yuri's chest tightened.
"Hard to believe you were ever Genad's errand boy..."
"No, I'm not!"
The Orcs advanced with savage snarls. An Orc Warrior lurked among them.
No matter their resolve, the soldiers couldn't hold out long against those monsters.
Yuri forcibly lifted Guilty.
"Your Highness!"
That's when several knights staggered over to join him. Not just Brioll's—others from different nations too.
All were knights Yuri had aided at some point.
"We'll take the Orc Warrior."
And clash they did.
A brutal melee erupted.
Yuri felt a strange emotion wash over him.
In his past life, some had died fighting for him too. But not for Yuri the man.
Simply because he was a prince.
This time was different.
So he hoped more than ever they wouldn't die.
And someone answered that hope.
"Your Highness."
A figure appeared at Yuri's side.
"Asana. I told you not to stay."
"Should I go again?"
"No..."
It was Asana.
Yuri had ordered her to retreat before facing Okua. But she'd stuck by his side instead.
"You want them to live."
"You up for it?"
Asana excelled at assassination, not open battle.
"Of course."
She nodded lightly as always, then melted back into the shadows.
Reappearing at the Orc pack's rear, she slit an Orc Warrior's throat.
Caught off-guard, the Orc Warrior clutched its neck dumbly. Artery severed. Blood gushed endlessly.
The Orc Warrior staggered and collapsed.
"Haha..."
Yuri laughed.
"Guess I didn't waste my life this time..."
Unlike his past one, squandered away.
Yuri swept back his sweat-matted hair and looked around.
Incredibly, even after that spell, Okua wasn't fully dead.
But it was crumbling slowly.
Its body—once human corpses—melted in the flames into a fused lump of flesh.
Moyong Chan's sword beams kept slamming down relentlessly.
Unreal power output.
How many humans could fire sword auras like that nonstop? Truly one of the Ten Strongest.
And Okua, enduring such assaults—what a monster.
As it retreated steadily, Okua suddenly swung a fist.
Moyong Chan, focused on attack, was blasted far away. With him gone, the remaining knights couldn't stand against it.
Knight bodies sailed through the air again.
Okua was still holding on.
But its aura was fading fast. The black haze rising from its form had grown faint—that said it all.
Yuri glanced skyward on instinct.
Magic was manifesting once more.
After the fireball came a massive spear studded with barbs. Perfect for hunting behemoths like Okua.
[Graaaaaah...]
The moment Okua, swatting knights aside in frenzy, looked up—
The spear hurtled toward it.
As if sensing its doom, Okua froze.
The spear pierced its chest dead center.
Okua dropped to its knees.
[This isn't... the end.]
With those final words, Okua collapsed completely.
The corpses bound by dark magic scattered apart. Flame-fused parts dangled in grotesque mockery.
Okua's fall broke the remaining Orc forces' will to fight.
Whether controlled by dark magic from the start, they barely resisted before the Allied Forces annihilated them.
Yuri slumped to the ground.
"Hahaha..."
He burst into laughter.
They'd done it.
Killed Okua—the one who'd routed the Allied Forces, slain Moyong Chan, dominated the plains, and shrouded the continent in terror.
Saved countless lives.
Altered fate.
"Waaaaah!"
The Allied Forces, realizing victory, roared in triumph.
Joy flooded the plains once thick with despair.
"Your Highness!"
"We won!"
"Hooray!"
Brioll's troops rushed to Yuri.
They piled onto him as he lay there.
"Guh!"
More soldiers stacked on.
They squashed him flat while chanting his name—a time-honored celebration akin to a dogpile, dubbed the "hamburger."
Yuri squirmed, but the pile only grew.
"Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!"
"S-Stop...!"
"Yuri! Yuri!"
One soldier noticed Yuri's pallor and shoved them off.
"Hey, hey! You'll kill the prince!"
The hamburger collapsed.
The soldiers surged back, hoisting Yuri up.
This time, a proper toss-up.
Yuri soared high into the air, then plummeted, over and over.
Normally he'd escape in seconds, but after endless battles and burning his qi, he dangled limply like a ragdoll.
Without mana, he was just an eighteen-year-old boy.
"Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!"
As Brioll reveled in victory, other nations cheered too, each in their own way, celebrating the Allies' triumph.
Just before Okua's fall, Hernando watched the battle unfold.
The mana infused in his fireball could raze an entire city.
Eisen, feeling its might up close, shifted his attitude dramatically.
"Incredible. You truly are a master."
"Doubting me?"
"No, not at all."
Hernando kept his eyes on the field.
Even after that strike, Okua lived. Weakened visibly, but alive.
A monstrous thing.
"Need to make another."
"Another one?"
Eisen's eyes bulged.
"You can pull off another of those?"
"No."
He'd burned through plenty of mana himself.
"We'll link mana and cast together."
"Even that..."
Mana linking let multiple mages weave one spell.
The lead mage had to juggle various mana types simultaneously—a feat demanding top-tier control.
Having witnessed Hernando's prowess, the mages obeyed without question.
Hernando drew the magic circle, positioned the mages, then took the center.
Before chanting, he called his apprentice.
"Cori."
"Yes!"
Cori had watched from afar.
"If we collapse, keep everyone away. No touching."
"Got it."
Mages often collapsed from mental exhaustion post-ritual. Even a light bump could kill.
Cori nodded, and Hernando flashed a grin before beginning the incantation.
An otherworldly resonance spread.
Like echoes, the other mages chanted a beat behind him.
The magic circle glowed.
A breathtaking sight.
Hernando's massive magic spear materialized in the sky. The backlash felled a couple mages.
But Hernando pressed on.
Soon the spear impaled Okua.
Their foe crumbled.
As the circle dimmed, everyone atop it collapsed.
"Sir Hernando! Sir Eisen!"
Cori called, but none stirred. Guards moved instinctively, but Cori blocked them.
"Sir Hernando said no touching."
Guarding the circle, Cori watched the battlefield.
With Okua gone, the Allies devoured the Orcs.
The war seemed over.
Cheers of victory echoed.
Cori smiled.
"We won."
Suddenly, he jolted back.
Something was there.
"Wha..."
A black, hazy serpent slithered forth. It seemed distant, then closed in instantly.
Their eyes met.
Cori felt crushing terror.
The serpent flicked its tongue a few times and kept coming, ignoring Cori entirely.
"Th-there's a snake..."
The guards ignored him. They couldn't even perceive it.
Soon it passed the circle and loomed before Hernando.
"N-no..."
Hernando had asked.
Keep everyone away.
Yet now the black serpent bared fangs at him, jaws agape.
Cori clenched his fists.
Something pounded in his chest, defying the fear.
'That's what magic is. Making your wishes real.'
Hernando's words.
In that moment, Cori wished with all his heart.
May that serpent not harm Hernando.
As he stepped forward to shield with his body—
Something glowed in his grasp.
"Huh...?"
The serpent's head whipped around.
Cori instinctively knew: this was his only chance.
Before it could react, he thrust both hands out.
A beam of light shot toward it.
A swirl of indefinable colors.
It enveloped the serpent.
Like dawn banishing night, the serpent's form dissolved in an instant.
The serpent shrieked.
[Impossible...!]
With that, it vanished without a trace.
Cori collapsed, gasping.
He had no idea what had just happened.
Just then, Hernando stirred.
"Cori...?"
"Sir Hernando!"
His hood slipped off as he whipped his head up, but Cori beamed regardless.
"We won!"