Chapter 45: Thunderbird Subjugation (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: Thunderbird Subjugation (3)
「Thunderbolt (Lightning Element, ★4)」
Kwagwang──!!
I lunged toward Vera the Summoner, but a bolt of lightning tore through the air, striking the ground right before me. I instinctively threw myself backward.
[Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe.]
Vera stared at me with bloodshot eyes, letting out a skin-crawling laugh. She seemed entirely unbothered by the fact that she was physically far weaker than I was.
She had reason to be confident; the true terror of Vera the Summoner lay in her absolute control over her familiars. Her personal strength was irrelevant—her power was defined by the monsters she commanded.
Darkness mana surged like a roiling storm, spreading across the battlefield. It blanketed the sky like a suffocating fog, and from within the gloom, countless familiars began to emerge.
Beyond the jagged edges of the collapsed ceiling, an army of beasts filled the horizon. Their natural elemental mana had been tainted, twisted into something foul by the darkness mana.
──────── [Kyahahahahahahahahak──!!!!]
A shrill, manic laugh echoed through the air.
Then, a colossal presence revealed itself, dwarfing the rest of the army as it emerged from a massive sphere of concentrated darkness. It was a muscular titan encased in crimson armor. Three pairs of wings sprouted from its back, each riddled with twitching eyeballs, and its face—resembling a sea turtle—was fixed in a grotesque, wide-mouthed grin.
It was Hakil, a 7-star familiar that had been corrupted into a demon.
*
[Hakil]
Lv: 140
Race: Demon
Elements: Lightning
Danger: High
Psychology: [Wants to tear your limbs off.]
*
[Hehehehehehehehehehe!!! You cute little things, have you come to protect your mommy? Yes, you have~]
Vera the Summoner climbed onto a winged pterodactyl familiar, its form wreathed in darkness and sickly green wind. She ascended into the sky, posing with exaggerated, theatrical gestures as if she were the lead in a macabre play.
The pterodactyl flapped its wings, screeching as it spat gobs of blood from its beak.
[Splendid, splendid! My lovely little ones! Let’s subdue this bastard, feast on his entrails, and carefully pull him apart limb from limb! Do you understand? Yes, you do~]
At Vera’s command, the horde let out a collective roar. It was a sound of pure agony, a wail of grief that shook the air. These familiars, now deeply corrupted, had become monsters of darkness. Even if Vera died, they could never return to what they once were. Their cries were thick with resentment.
Hakil laughed wickedly and reached toward the heavens. A massive purple magic circle formed just beneath the [Thunder God’s Barrier].
In an instant, the sky was filled with a dazzling array of magic circles of every shape and color. They were all locked onto me, beautiful and lethal.
Kwaang──!
The ground shattered. With a single stomp, I sent cracks spider-webbing across the top floor of Carly Hall. I channeled ice mana into my hands, dropping into a battle stance.
Amidst the sea of hostile magic circles, a single, pale blue light flickered from within the ruins of the building.
────────── [Kyahahahahahahahahaha──!!!!]
Hakil’s booming laughter signaled the end. The army of familiars unleashed their spells simultaneously.
Whirrrrrrrrrr───────!!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaa───────!!!!
Kwagagagagag───────!!!
Drrrrrrrrrr────── !!!!
Dozens of lightning bolts branched out like jagged veins. A tempest of fire and ice roared toward me, accompanied by a hail of ice spears and crushing boulders. The elemental onslaught rained down, leaving no room to dodge.
Then, the world seemed to freeze. The incoming attacks halted mid-air as if time itself had stuttered.
「Frost Wave (Ice Element, ★6)」
Sweeeeeee────!!!!
Chararararararak─────!!!
With a violent sweep of my arm, my magic circle erupted. A cataclysmic wave of frost surged forth in an instant. The pale blue gale and thick, driving snow swallowed the elemental attacks whole, expanding in every direction and flash-freezing the army of familiars where they stood.
Their end was pathetic. The frozen statues began to plummet. As they struck the ground, their bodies shattered into a million glittering shards, the sound of breaking glass echoing through the ruins.
[Ha-haaaaa…?]
Vera, watching from atop her pterodactyl, froze. Her face twisted into an expression of pure horror.
Hakil, the 7-star familiar, remained airborne. He seemed largely unaffected by the [Frost Wave] I had cast from a distance; his elemental resistance was formidable.
I coiled my muscles and put everything into my legs. Then, I launched myself toward Hakil like a missile.
Kuuuuuuung───!!
My body tore through the air with the boom of a cannon. For a heartbeat, the only sound was the frantic flapping of my hood. In the next, I was upon him, my hand clamped firmly around the nape of Hakil’s neck.
───────── [Kyaaaaaack!!!!]
───────── [Choooooooke!!!!]
Hakil’s scream collided with my Berserker’s roar. Desperate to shake me off, the demon writhed, manifesting purple magic circles all around us. He thrust his left hand toward me, focusing his power.
「Thunderclap (Lightning Element, ★5)」
Fzzzzzzzz───!!
Kwakakakag────!!!!!
The circles fired point-blank, unleashing spheres of concentrated lightning. Dozens of purple currents branched out, threatening to turn my body to ash with their extreme heat.
Despite the devastating power of the [Thunderclap]...
「Ice Barrier (Ice Element, ★2)」
A basic [Ice Barrier] was all I needed. Ice created through magic is a poor conductor; to break through it with lightning, one must rely on sheer physical force.
Furthermore, I was equipped with the [Elemental Bracelet]. To prepare for Act 3, Scene 4 of Magic Knight of Märchen, I had specifically boosted my lightning resistance. Combined with my naturally high base resistance and the fact that I was 18 levels higher than Hakil, the attack felt like little more than a mild static shock.
“It’s my turn now.” (Grrrrrrrooooo─!)
I condensed ice mana into my right hand. A pale blue magic circle materialized before me. Hakil struggled violently, but the more he fought, the tighter I gripped his throat, my fingers digging in with the intent to rip it out.
I slammed the condensed mana into him.
「Frost Explosion (Ice Element, ★5)」
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa──────────────!!!
────── [Kyaaaaaaack!!!!]
An explosion of frost erupted. The mana shredded Hakil’s internals, and the ice surged instantly, encasing his battered frame. I dispersed the ice, sending a cloud of pale blue powder into the air.
Hakil’s mangled body leaked purple blood, but he continued to scream and resist.
Once more.
I condensed the mana again. The circle for [Frost Explosion] flared.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa──────────────!!!
────────── [Kyaaaaaaack───!!!!]
The rampaging ice completely obliterated Hakil’s form. A massive jagged formation of ice extended from his body, cutting through the air. His balance shattered, and he began a terminal descent.
I dispersed the ice and drove my right fist into him with everything I had.
Boom───!!!
My fist, tiny compared to the titan, buried itself into his sea-turtle head. His face buckled. The sickening crunch of armor and bone echoed through the air. The sheer pressure of the impact created a circular shockwave, clearing the mist of ice powder.
Hakil plummeted toward the earth at a terrifying speed.
Whooooosh───!!
Kwaaaaang───!!!
The massive demon struck the ground with a violent crash, leveled half of what remained of Carly Hall. Dust billowed like a storm, but it couldn't hide his broken form. He lay there, half his skull caved in and drenched in blood, unable to muster even a twitch of resistance.
[My children…!! Aaaaaaaaa…, Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!! My babies, my babiesaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!]
Vera wailed in agony. She wasn't mourning out of love, but out of a twisted, broken possessiveness. Now, she was completely defenseless.
As gravity claimed me, I wrapped my hands in icy flames, imbuing them with [Black Ice] before aiming at Vera.
「Frostfire (Ice Element, ★4)」 + 「Black Ice (Ice Element, ★5)」
= 「Winter Hellfire (Ice Element)」
Haaaaaaaaaaaaak──────!!!
The dark blue flames spread out, covering an area large enough to engulf the entire academy grounds. The scale was so vast that Vera had nowhere to run. Through the gaps in the freezing inferno, I saw her and her pterodactyl plummet to the earth, consumed by the flames.
I extinguished the spell and let myself drop.
Thud─────!
I landed on the ruined top floor of Carly Hall. Before me, Vera and her mount writhed on the ground like trampled worms. Their bodies were frozen stiff, the deep chill having penetrated to their very marrow. They trembled like victims of a mountain blizzard before finally collapsing.
Without her familiars, Vera the Summoner was nothing.
[My babies, my babies… Ah, aaaaaaaah…! Dead, deaaaaaaad, sob, deaaaaaad… Dead, dead…]
Vera clawed at the dirt, weeping bitterly. It was over. I stepped forward to deliver the final blow.
──At that moment.
A dense shield of lightning suddenly enveloped the demon.
─────────────── [Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa───!!]
“……!!!”
The screech of a predator tore through the air. My heart plummeted. I scrambled to deploy a thick [Ice Wall].
「Ice Wall (Ice Element, ★4)」
「Chain Lightning (Lightning Element, ★5)」
Fzzzzzzzzt────!!!
Kwaaaaaaang─────!!!!
“Ugh!” (Gereuk!)
A blinding flash. Thick bolts of lightning struck me like heavy chains, twisting and turning to bypass my defenses. The [Chain Lightning] shattered the [Ice Wall] through sheer brute force and engulfed me.
The current surged through my nervous system. For a split second, I lost consciousness as my insides burned.
One second. That was all it took to snap back.
The smell of burnt flesh hit my nose—my own. Smoke billowed from my scorched skin.
“Ah, damn it.”
My hood and part of my mask had been incinerated. Realizing my Berserker disguise was compromised, I ripped off the suffocating remains of the hood. The pain should have been unbearable, but thanks to the [Hunter] trait, my body had transcended human limits; it felt more like I had stepped into a scalding sauna.
The [Ice Wall] had done its job, breaking the lightning's momentum just enough.
「Cold Divergence (Ice Element, ★1)」
I released a faint mist of cold air to regulate my body temperature. In the sky, I saw the black Thunderbird, Galia, wreathed in darkness and purple lightning, diving toward me.
Chararara, chararara────!!!
─────Urrrrrrr─────Bang! Bang! Bang!─────!!!!!!
Clusters of starlight protected the subjugation party from the lightning raining down from the [Thunder God’s Barrier]. The Thunderbird was using its spells to keep Dorothy from finding an opening. In the distance, I could see the party huddled behind a shimmering barrier. Dorothy couldn't leave them to chase the bird; she had to stay and protect them.
But now, the Thunderbird was here, its massive wings blotting out the sun as it focused entirely on me.
*
[Thunderbird-Galia]
Lv: 175
Race: Demon
Elements: Lightning
Danger: Highest
Psychology: [I will kill you. Kill you. You. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.]
*
[Ahhhh, my cute… cute baby bird… Have you come to protect mommy…?]
Vera twisted her neck at a grotesque angle to look at Galia. Her throat was torn, blood oozing from the wound.
The Thunderbird wasn't in great shape either. Its feathers were tattered, and purple blood leaked from various wounds. If I had to guess its HP... maybe 20%? It was lower than I expected. The support from the honor students must have been more effective than in the original game, allowing Dorothy and Ian to deal significant damage.
I didn't know how Ian had fared, but I saw traces of light mana scattered about. He must have landed a few hits before passing out.
─────────────[Kiaaaaaaaaaaa───!!]
The Thunderbird screeched, opening its beak to reveal rows of needle-sharp teeth. A gargantuan purple magic circle formed around it. The moment I saw it, I felt the cold hand of death on my shoulder.
It was the insta-kill pattern used when the Thunderbird was cornered: the 7-star lightning spell, 「Thunderstorm Annihilation」. Its "instant-kill" status came purely from its overwhelming destructive power. To stop it, one usually needed a light-element sword skill to shatter the purple magic stones that protruded from the bird's body during the casting.
In other words... I had no way to stop it.
The density of the mana was on a level Hakil couldn't even dream of. This was the worst-case scenario. Truly, the absolute worst.
“…….”
Plan B, Plan C, Plan D… every contingency I had prepared to avoid a bad ending had been rendered useless. In my obsession with ensuring Ian survived the insta-kill pattern, I had failed to consider that the Thunderbird might target me instead.
I had failed.
The crushing weight of the mana—greater than any demon I had ever faced—pinned me down. The majesty of the magic circle was overwhelming.
────Uuuuuu.
Yet, despite the hopelessness, my racing heart began to steady. Even as the thunder shook the earth and the [Thunderstorm Annihilation] prepared to swallow me, I found myself calmly assessing the situation.
Then, I remembered a detail I had overlooked. It was a secondary effect of the passive [Ice Sovereign], something that had nothing to do with the main story of Magic Knight of Märchen, so I had pushed it to the back of my mind.
The [Frozen Soul] effect. It granted a heart as cold as ice when facing utter despair.
I had spent five years in a tiny, three-pyeong room in Sillim-dong, buried under a mountain of law books for the bar exam. My greatest fear back then wasn't the exam itself, but the thought of getting used to that life. Even as I failed year after year, I refused to let failure become my identity. I treated that cramped space as a temporary stop, nothing more.
I played Magic Knight of Märchen as a reward for my daily studies, a way to distract myself from the repeating cycle of disappointment. They say if you wear a mask long enough, it becomes your face. Perhaps those years of resisting despair had given me the strength to stand here now.
Well... it’s a boring story.
「Ice Sovereign (Ice Element, ★9)」
“Cough…!”
Blood sprayed from my mouth as I unleashed the full power of [Ice Sovereign]. It felt as if every cell in my body was being pierced by needles, but compared to the agony of deactivating [Hunter], it was manageable.
My skin paled, my silver hair stood on end, and a faint, ethereal blue mist began to drift from my body. Instinct told me I could only hold this form for ten seconds.
If it’s ten seconds…
‘That’s more than enough!’
I chose to believe in that sliver of hope. If I didn't, my legs wouldn't move.
I launched myself at the Thunderbird. Eight pale blue magic circles trailed behind me like a cloak. In my right hand, dark blue mana condensed into the circle for [Black Ice Explosion].
───────────────[Kiaaaaaaaaa─!!]
In the blink of an eye, both our magic circles reached critical mass, unleashing their respective powers.
「Thunderstorm Annihilation (Lightning Element, ★7)」
「Abyssal Glacier (Ice Element, ★7)」
Tsupapapapapat─────────!!!!!
Kwagagagagagang─────────!!!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa─────────!!!!!
A blinding light consumed the world. Colossal bolts of lightning roared, filling every inch of space. But then, the eerie blue light of the [Abyssal Glacier] manifested. It matched the speed of the lightning, freezing the very bolts in mid-air before they could dissipate.
A freezing gale lashed my skin, centered on Carly Hall. The chill from [Ice Sovereign] blunted the lightning's momentum, though I could still feel the agonizing current coursing through my veins.
Amidst the cataclysmic collision, I slammed the dark blue ice mana in my right hand into the Thunderbird’s chest.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Again. And again. And again.
I didn't stop. I condensed the dark blue mana in both hands, swinging wildly, relentlessly detonating [Black Ice Explosion] against the beast.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa────…
My ears rang. My vision blurred. I couldn't think. I just kept casting until the monster fell. I ignored the pain, roaring like a beast until my throat felt like it would burst.
Every time [Black Ice Explosion] went off, dark blue crystals shattered into dust, only to reform and explode again. The chain reaction shattered the massive tree of frozen lightning that had grown to encompass the area. Dark blue masses of ice erupted, the "ice of the afterlife" scattering in every direction.
Driven by instinct, I used defrost to clear the path created by [Abyssal Glacier]. A freezing wind rushed in as the eerie blue mana ran rampant.
When the chaos finally settled, I saw the black Thunderbird. It was twisted, broken, and trapped within a massive shard of ice.
Vera the Summoner lay nearby. Half her body had been obliterated by the shockwaves, and the rest was a mess of frostbite and gore. She looked at me with a distorted, unrecognizable face before her body crumbled into ash and scattered in the wind.
When I finally regained my senses, I was standing in the middle of a quiet snowstorm.
I just stood there.
*
[Congratulations! You have defeated the demon Vera the Summoner (Lv. 125)!]
[Level Up!! You have reached Level 60!]
[You have gained 4 stat points!]
[Achievement Unlocked: ❰Unfazed by 7-Star Magic❱! All elemental resistances increased by 10!]
[Achievement Unlocked: ❰Slayer of the Thunderbird❱! You have gained 15 additional stat points!]
[You have bravely defeated the nation-destroying magic beast Thunderbird Galia (Lv. 175) and Vera the Summoner (Lv. 125)! The Great Witch of Heaven's Wrath, mediator between worlds, expresses her deep gratitude!]
[Achievement Unlocked: ❰To Gretel❱! You have received a gift from the Great Witch of Heaven's Wrath!]