Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 100
>Chapter Title: Hope? Hope My Ass
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The emperor realized something was off right then.
[This…… what is this!]
The swirling malevolent energy.
It swept through the surroundings like a whirlwind before converging on a single point—an overwhelming force that no one could easily withstand.
Its ferocity was like a razor-sharp sword, its impurity incomparable to the scattered traces around them.
And that wasn’t all.
Crunch, cruuunch.
The pressure as it gathered and compressed into that one spot was like the water pressure at the ocean’s deepest depths.
‘But…… why?’
The emperor stared at Aster in stunned disbelief.
His appearance was far from normal.
He didn’t even have the strength to stand on his own, leaning defenselessly on the enemy’s shoulder.
His head hung low. Black, dead blood poured down like a waterfall onto the ground.
Hiss, haa—
If not for the faint sound of his breathing, anyone would mistake him for dead.
Yet.
[What is this resistance……?]
Craaack.
A bone-crunching sound erupted from the emperor’s clenched fist.
Once that grip fully closed, the monstrous malevolent energy would obliterate him.
But.
Creak, creeeak.
The gap in his fist slowly widened. Despite pouring all his strength into crushing it, the distance refused to shrink for some reason.
No, it only grew wider.
‘Holding out? He must have exhausted his strength by now?’
[……Fine, I’ll acknowledge that much. The mental fortitude that Reverse Heaven chose as its master…… Hm?]
Swish—
An unexpected breeze brushed the emperor’s nose. No, it wasn’t a breeze.
[This is……]
The emperor unwittingly took in the strange flow of air.
It was blue.
No, more than blue—it was piercingly clear.
It purified the malevolent energy filling the air, clearer than the sky on the most perfect day, purer than the clearest water.
That was……
[……Mana?]
It was mana, known as the source of life.
Rustle, shhh.
Where was it coming from? The blue mana currents multiplied one by one.
Their number soon swelled beyond counting, their flow as gentle as a spring breeze.
And amid it all.
Tap.
A palm rested on his shoulder.
<……?>
The emperor blankly watched as Aster pushed himself up using his body.
Normally, he should fling that hand away and shove the body off.
Even if it meant resuming close combat, crushing a gasping opponent would be tedious but not difficult.
But the emperor couldn’t move.
[What…… what is this?]
Mana breezes gathered around Aster’s entire body, which had been sparking blue just moments ago.
They swirled playfully around him like mischievous fairies, tickling every inch.
As if possessed by a will of their own.
Soon.
Shh.
Aster now stood fully on his own two feet.
To the emperor’s eyes, the sight was utterly inexplicable.
He hadn’t cast any spell. Yet the phenomenon was real.
Zzz—
Wounds knitting closed as if time itself had rewound. Wherever the mana breeze passed, blackened dead flesh sprouted fresh and new; eroded bone fragments reformed from their remnants into perfect shapes.
Just like……
The Blandoga Family’s Light of Healing. The pinnacle of healing magic, hailed as the best.
And that wasn’t all.
[Persistent bastard! Enough already…… Ack!]
As the emperor hurled aside the malevolent energy he’d gathered and lunged to sever Aster’s neck.
Craaack!
His forearm twisted unnaturally. The arm, already snapped once, shattered joint by joint—crack! snap!—losing all form.
Aster hadn’t done anything.
It was simply……
Whoooosh—
Mana raging like a furious wild beast. It had merely forced its way between Aster and the emperor.
The emperor involuntarily staggered back a couple of steps.
[What in the world…… what’s happening? Reverse Heaven, is it you? You again?]
It wasn’t Reverse Heaven. If it could do something like this, it would have aided its master countless times in battle.
The emperor knew that.
But he had no choice except to suspect Reverse Heaven.
“…….”
Aster glanced down at his hand absentmindedly.
Mana from all directions surged toward his palm, dancing across his skin.
The currents brushing his ears sang like a sweet melody; those piercing his heart seemed to seek their home.
[How…… could a human……?]
In the ancient era when the emperor had lived.
There were legends passed down from time immemorial.
Mana’s Blessing.
A grace bestowed only upon a select few.
Those blessed differed from mages who used mana to manifest phenomena.
They didn’t comprehend or insight into mana’s principles.
They simply……
Snap.
Aster stared at his fist, then flicked his fingers.
[Kr, kaaaaah—!]
The emperor let out a chilling scream as flames engulfed his body in an instant.
Fizzle—crackle!
Malevolent energy rushed in at his command to smother the flames, but for some reason.
Roooar—
They blazed on undeterred, devouring the emperor’s body.
“…….”
Aster gazed at the emperor with strangely rippling eyes. Or rather, at the flames consuming him.
“……Azure Flame.”
The Decullan Family’s secret art. An eternally burning flame. One of the pinnacle fire magic secrets that incinerated the world forever.
It was truly bizarre.
Even among the Decullan Family’s direct bloodline, only those with suitable talent could learn it.
How could Aster?
Even if he’d mastered its lesser form, Crimson Fire, and possessed Heavenly Origin Art, the root of all Decullan secrets—manifesting Azure Flame from those two was another matter entirely.
Even geniuses like Parun or Henji would struggle their whole lives.
It wasn’t a level of insight that could be called transcendence.
[I’ll kill you, kill youuuu—!]
The emperor overcame the searing agony and charged. Deadly malevolent energy rippled and scattered around him.
The Azure Flame vanished without a trace right then.
Crack—!
[……?! ……Ack!]
A sharp stone pillar erupted from the ground. A spell born from the rotten earth, yet its energy was pure and gentle. And not just that?
[Cheap tricks……!]
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Even against the emperor’s frenzied punches, it didn’t waver an inch.
“……Spear of the Earth.”
The secret art Chenbi had received from her nameless master. Only two people in the world knew it.
The wandering mage who taught it to Chenbi, and Chenbi herself.
But how?
And that wasn’t all.
Rumble—
Lightning struck from the heavens; a flame-infused typhoon raged. Graaah! The earth screamed as it split, hot lava flowing from below.
[How…… how could a wretch like youuuu! How could trash like you receive Mana’s Blessing……!]
The emperor wailed desperately amid the pain scorching his body.
Even an undying Destrow’s body found this helplessness unbearable. No, it wasn’t just this situation.
Zzz, zzz—
As if reuniting with its master.
Mana currents hovered around him.
All mana listened intently to his will. As if saying, command anything.
And when his will reached the mana……
Boom!
The mana manifested it as phenomenon.
This was Mana’s Blessing.
The power of legendary beings, now more widely known by another name.
It was……
Dragon Word.
The language of dragons.
But unlike the emperor’s turmoil, Aster’s eyes calmly assessed the situation.
“In the end…… just an imitator?”
Azure Flame, Spear of the Earth. Not just those, but the spells Pahren von Decullan had unleashed on him in the past. Even spells he’d seen in his previous life—he reproduced them all.
But to Aster, who had witnessed the real things, the results felt somehow unsatisfying.
His transcendence……
Right. It allowed him to wield all mana at will, but the manifestations lacked depth.
So what could he do?
[The outcome…… the outcome won’t change. A wretch like you has no hope…… Ack!]
“Hope?”
Aster seized the emperor’s nape as he lunged like a beast and grinned.
“Hope my ass.”
His smile was utterly gleeful.
No, it had to be.
What to call it?
Right. It felt like he’d reached the pinnacle of magic he’d pursued his entire life.
Back when he had no training, no opportunities to learn secrets—he could only dream of them. When all he could move at will was his pitiful mana, that was the path he walked.
Comprehension. Comprehension. Comprehension. Endless comprehension.
That’s why Aster delved into mana techniques. Eterni, knights’ secrets—he devoured everything in his path.
No, he had no choice.
It was all he had.
Of course, he’d never imagined his transcendence, his enlightenment, would take this form……
Anyway, now that he’d reached that pinnacle.
Hope?
“Worried about what comes after? For now…… right, let’s just enjoy the moment. Yeah?”
A chilling smile bloomed on Aster’s lips.
A single spell took shape in his mind.
Unlike the hollow shells he’d shown so far…… the knowledge he’d honed his whole life, combined with the secrets he’d barely acquired in this life.
They merged in his brain.
Principles? Unnecessary.
Only meaning was needed.
“…….”
When that gaze flashed once.
[A, aaaaah! N, no……!]
The emperor, sensing doom, flailed at Aster wildly. But it was futile. The mana swirling around blocked the attacks at his command.
A cluster of mana surged right then.
Whooooosh—
A fierce mana storm swept everything. Scraaatch! Its flow clawed the earth—truly terrifying.
Amid it.
‘……Not enough.’
Aster felt the shortfall.
Mana’s Blessing? That’s what Destrow called it, but it was no blessing.
The mana rippling around him seemed drawn by its own will at a glance, but mana had no will.
Aster’s will had simply summoned it, and it followed along.
But.
‘A bit more…….’
He needed vast quantities of mana.
The mana gathered by his willpower alone wasn’t enough to manifest the spell he envisioned. But how?
……Ah.
An idea flashed through his mind then.
One he’d had while designing mana formulas long ago. A method too dangerous to ever attempt.
But for some reason.
“…….”
Now, it seemed possible.
Zzz—
With resolve, mana from the air swirled and gathered in his heart.
Not through breath, but permeating his entire body—the flow of mana.
Aster collected it, forming a shape around his core.
That shape was……
Circle.
Like an asteroid belt, a ring of mana orbiting his round core. No, it was mana no longer. Thanks to the grimoire’s power, it transformed into mana force.
The core’s mana force rotated then.
Zzzzzz—!
Simultaneously, the mana force ring spun in the opposite direction.
“Urk……!”
Amid the clashing flows and intense backlash, Aster swallowed the blood surging up his throat.
Was it because the core’s momentum joined in?
Rooooar—!
Vast mana force poured in from all heaven and earth.
Aster realized the flow and took in the emperor’s pointless thrashing.
“Try swallowing this one too……”
Flames erupted from his hand.
A pillar of fire shot fiercely into the sky.
No, flames? Something was different. It flickered and burned hot like fire, but without fuel.
It didn’t consume oxygen in combustion, nor did it use Destrow’s body as medium, even as it burned him.
This was Crimson Fire.
Its final stage.
Spontaneous Flame.
But that wasn’t all.
Collision Formula, Interference Formula, Annihilation Blast, plus Lightning Body from his clash with Destrow—dozens more unnamed mana force constructs piled on.
No principles, no distinctions.
Insight beyond comprehension.
That insight imbued mana with will, igniting it toward a single purpose.
The will within……
Extermination.
The extermination of one existence.
[Ku…… kaaaaaaaah—!]
Beneath the emperor’s world-shattering scream, Aster’s eyes gleamed brilliantly.
Those eyes were transcendence. They wandered the fathomless realm.