Chapter 74
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: You Are Indeed a Prophet
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, around that time.
Did they notice the shift in Dilia's eyes?
The two Abyss Worshipers who had been watching her burst into sneering laughter, as if it were utterly ridiculous.
"Thinking of fighting us?"
"How amusing. Fine, we'll play with you for a bit."
They wagged their fingers mockingly.
As if telling her to put on a show.
And in that instant.
Dilia had already completed her incantation. It was one of the fastest-casting spells with ample destructive power: Star Thunder.
⟨ Star Thunder ⟩
Stellar mana poured down like lightning.
Krarung!Kwaaang!
The ground shook, and trees turned to charcoal—a strike of considerable power. Yet when the smoke cleared, no Abyss Worshipers remained in sight.
'They dodged it?'
How? Dilia bit her lip. She unleashed Star Thunder again.
Kwang!Kwaaang!
The second, then the third bolt hurtled forth.
But the result was the same.
The two mages slipped away like eels, as if they had anticipated the strikes' paths.
Why won't they hit?!
As frustration made her stamp her feet.
"...!"
Her golden eyes widened.
An Abyss Worshiper had closed in right before her—the noseless mage.
"Your incantations are quick, but that's all you've got."
With a grotesque grin, he slammed his fist into Dilia's solar plexus.
Peok!
Her breath caught in her throat for a moment.
Dizzying pain wracked her body.
Her small frame launched into the air, crashing into a corner of the forest.
"Kuhk, kuhk! Kuuh."
Dilia coughed violently as she staggered.
Unable to adapt to the pain she'd never felt before. But the agony wasn't over.
"Eut! Ahk!"
Quint had approached and roughly seized her hair. He forced her gaze to meet his, grinning wickedly.
"Even if you can wield Stellar Magic, without experience, you're no different from a child swinging a knife."
It was mockery.
Yet despite the humiliation, Dilia didn't give up. Even with her head gripped, she ceaselessly drew up her mana. To unleash a spell far stronger than Star Thunder.
But she couldn't.
She barely completed the incantation, but her mana refused to flow.
"Wh-what... why won't the mana..."
"Move?"
Quint cut her off.
"Simple. Because I'm watching you."
The eyeballs dangling from his neck all stared at Dilia. The moment her eyes met theirs, they widened.
She finally realized.
Dozens of eyeballs connected to Quint. And each emanated intense power.
"N-no way... all of those are...!"
"Took you long enough."
Quint laughed grotesquely.
"That's right. They're all Magic Eyes. My proud creations, crafted from mages' eyes in a special way."
Magic Eyes held unique abilities. Currently, Quint's suppressed mana flow.
That explained why she couldn't cast. Dilia's eyes wavered in turmoil.
But then.
"...Huh?"
The two Abyss Worshipers' faces changed.
As if sensing something ominous.
Moments later, they shouted in panic.
"Qu- Quint!"
"The forest is back to normal!"
They felt the space-warping magic over the entire forest vanish completely. Meaning something had happened to the caster maintaining it.
Quint's expression hardened too.
"Nonus is done for."
"...!?"
"Not just him. Desem and Duode too. Their presences are gone."
"All three at once?"
"Who the hell..."
As the Abyss Worshipers faltered.
Dilia's eyes sparkled. She knew who it must be.
'Ullan.'
Only he could pull that off.
Then I can't give up either.
Dilia gritted her teeth, eyes resolute. She forcibly stirred her unresponsive mana.
Quint's eyeballs twitched.
"Useless. With the Magic Eyes..."
As long as they suppressed her mana flow, no spell would activate. It should have been certain.
Yet something astonishing happened.
"...!"
Mana poured into the incantation.
Quint's face changed. He realized Dilia was forcing her mana.
And soon after.
Her spell completed.
Paaaat!
A defensive barrier that could block most attacks: Veil of Star Clusters. The backlash of overexerting her mana followed.
Bright red blood flowed from her nose.
But Dilia ignored it.
'I need a decisive blow.'
Star Thunder wasn't enough against them.
She needed one overwhelming strike they couldn't block.
So she recalled her strongest attack spell she knew—and could cast now.
A 6-star Stellar Magic.
Classified as tactical magic.
It demanded vast mana.
Forcing it overloaded her.
"Haa, haa!"
Veins bulged like they might burst.
Her breathing ragged, blood surged from her mouth. Her body screamed in pain, but she didn't stop incanting.
"W-wait! No way...!"
"Damn it! Block it now!"
The two Abyss Worshipers realized her spell. But it was too late. It was already complete.
『Meteor Fall』
⟨ Meteor Fall ⟩
The surroundings lit up brilliantly for an instant.
And soon after.
Kwagagaga!
Stellar fragments pierced through the thunderclouds.
Just one fragment, but its power exceeded Star Thunder's by thirtyfold.
'So with this...'
The Abyss Worshipers wouldn't survive.
Dilia was certain.
But that certainty shattered.
Puuung!
The meteor exploded midair.
Stellar shards scattered. Someone had interfered, breaking the incantation itself.
As she stared blankly.
"Pointless."
Quint thrust out his hand.
He shattered the Veil of Star Clusters effortlessly, then shoved a gleaming silver eyeball close, whispering.
"This Magic Eye is my finest creation. It sees up to five seconds into the future."
"...!"
"Meaning I see every spell you'll cast, every thought you have."
Impossible.
Five seconds ahead?
In battles with equal mages, it'd be near-invincible.
Knowing a spell before completion allowed disrupting the incantation.
Just like now.
"What... is this..."
Her last hope vanished, despair filled Dilia's eyes.
Then something flew at her.
Quint's kick.
Puung!
Dizzying pain that drew a scream.
Defenseless, she flew like a broken doll. As she slammed into the corner, Quint turned away.
"Kerta. Begin."
"Mm, got it."
The man with tree roots sprouting from his arms.
Kerta approached Dilia.
Suddenly, he pulled a pitch-black creature from the shadows. Tadpole-like, cat-sized.
Dozens of them.
Writhing tails propelled them through the air toward her.
"These are 'Rakus,' Abyss creatures. They devour mana at terrifying speeds."
"..."
"We're draining yours completely. Can't have you resisting on the way."
No reply came.
She lacked the strength.
Even better.
Kerta smirked.
"Sleep easy. You won't wake again."
He watched her silently.
Waiting for her mana to deplete.
Meanwhile.
Dilia stared blankly at the void.
'...No strength in my body.'
She couldn't twitch a finger.
Shock from overexerting mana under the Magic Eyes' effect.
All she could do was watch these unknown creatures devour her mana.
'No... my mana...'
It dwindled steadily.
Death's shadow loomed.
Sensing the end?
Tears welled in her vacant eyes.
'...I don't want this.'
She didn't want to end like this.
She wanted more time with Ullan, more experiences.
She hadn't even confirmed her true feelings for him. Regrets and lingering attachments gripped her limp body.
But soon.
The will to live turned to resignation.
She'd learned as a child.
Miracles don't come to those who wish. Surviving this was one.
So she let go, one by one.
'If I'd known it would end like this...'
She should've been stubborn, stayed longer.
Forgotten pride, approached more boldly. Talked more, made more memories.
Then resignation might have come easier.
With that late regret.
The world darkened.
Her eyes grew heavy. Then, something caught her eye.
Flash!
A blue-glowing talisman.
Starlight bright, but she couldn't recognize it. Her vision was fully clouded.
Like thick fog.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Sudden fog?"
The Abyss Worshipers' voices.
Her clouded sight was real fog in the forest.
But it changed nothing.
As she released everything in fading consciousness. A powerful sound pierced her dimming ears.
[Awooooo―!]
A wolf's howl.
Not one.
[Awoooo! Woo Woo Woo!]
Countless howls echoed through the forest.
Like summoning scattered kin.
Not just Dilia noticed the sudden change. Quint and the others scanned sharply.
"What? Wolves?"
"Never seen any here."
Since entering, they'd only seen sub-2-star monsters.
Wolves were clever beasts.
They avoided monster-infested woods.
Then what were these howls? As the two tilted their heads.
"Fall back! Something's coming!"
Quint shouted urgently.
His silver eyeball gleamed—he'd seen five seconds ahead.
And soon, 'something' burst forth.
[Kraaaang!]
A maw gaping wide as it lunged.
A pure white wolf, fog-like. The first tore into the Rakus draining Dilia's mana.
And that signaled.
[Krrrng! Karrrng!]
[Kraaaang!]
Wolves poured from all sides.
Ten, twenty, thirty...
They swelled to over a hundred. Then they shredded the Rakus.
An utterly unforeseen situation.
The Abyss Worshipers panicked.
"Wh-what's with all these?!"
"Damn it, Quint! Retreat!"
The wolves kept multiplying.
No ordinary beasts—these emanated potent mana.
Quint agreed.
"Kerta! Secure the target. We're pulling out!"
"Got it!"
Kerta extended his root-like arms long, wrapping Dilia tightly.
Kwaduk! Kaduduk!
Wolves madly attacked his arms.
As if blocking her abduction. Kerta laughed derisively.
"Attack all you want. Useless."
These roots were special.
No normal means could sever them. Only 8-star magic or aura.
After scoffing.
He retracted his arm.
Whiriric!
Dilia dragged along swiftly. As she was weakly pulled.
Suddenly, a slicing sound.
Seogeok!
The grip loosened.
Her body floated free.
What just happened?
As her vacant eyes blinked.
"...Ah."
The scenery shifted.
First, the pitch-black night sky.
Cool wind brushed her cheek, crimson hair fluttering wildly.
Then a familiar voice.
The one she'd longed to hear.
"Sorry I'm late."
Her foggy vision cleared.
Crimson eyes appeared.
A face as familiar as the voice.
The instant she saw the face she'd yearned for, Dilia's eyes widened hugely.
"I'm here."
"...!"
Ullan. It was Ullan.
No illusion—the real Ullan.
Confirming it.
Oddly, her vision clouded further.
She tried to speak, but no voice came. Emotions choked her throat.
Sometime later.
This indescribable feeling.
Spilled as tears.
"Uu, uuh, eueu."
One clear emotion.
Deep relief.
Realizing the miracle, Dilia smiled through tears and laughter.
Meanwhile.
Ullan's face was terrifyingly grim.
He'd just noticed. Blood on Dilia's lips, bruises from blows.
Realizing that.
His crimson eyes turned icy.
"Qu-Quint! Kerta's down!"
An urgent shout.
From the noseless Abyss Worshiper.
The mage who'd tried dragging Dilia was decapitated.
Ullan's doing, obviously.
Severed while rescuing her. Then the noseless one glared wide-eyed, realizing.
"No way... the one who took out Nonus...!"
But he couldn't finish.
Kwaduk! Seogeok!
An axe reached him faster than sound, cleaving his head.
A flash-like strike.
The mage died without registering his decapitation.
One left.
As Ullan turned.
"...Be careful."
Dilia's faint voice from afar.
Weak as if about to fade.
Still, she conveyed vital info.
"Th-that mage... sees the future."
"Future?"
As he asked expressionlessly.
A grotesque voice from distance.
"That's right!"
Grating like scraping metal.
Quint's shout. He'd incanted numerous spells, growling threateningly.
"I'm a prophet! I read your future. You have no chance...!"
"I see."
But Ullan didn't retort.
He just stepped forward.
Ignoring his readable future.
'Fool!'
Quint sneered inwardly.
Silver eyes gleamed.
The next five seconds flashed in his mind.
'He charges straight, axe gripped.'
Then vanishes.
"...What?"
Vanishes? What did that mean?
But the confusion was just beginning.
After Ullan vanished, the entire scene doubled.
Moon, forest, Ullan's face—all duplicated.
An incomprehensible future. Quint panicked.
"Wh-why is the world doubled...?"
"I admit it."
Ullan's voice, right before him.
Startled, as Quint whipped his gaze.
Ullan whispered.
"You are a prophet."
Then a chilling sound.
Kwajik! Jjeoeok!
Like a watermelon splitting.
His world split in two. Matching the future exactly.
And in that moment.
Quint cleaved vertically.