Chapter 261
Chapter 261
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 261
>Chapter Title: I Charge, I Keep Charging. So...
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No more words were needed.
Flash!
Aster moved first.
"You bastard! You had no intention of sacrificing yourself!"
"Fuck. Isn't this sacrifice enough already?"
Boom!
An explosive strike slammed into Zaipo's face, and the cave let out a guttural rumble. But Zaipo's barrier held firm. Aster reared back for a finishing blow...
"Hey, tsk. Didn't I tell you? Forget the Earth's Bind or whatever—don't get so hung up on grapples."
A blast of flame shot in from the side.
"Tch."
The ferocious heat forced Aster back.
He could've blocked it easily under normal circumstances, but it seemed the Earth's Bind still had him in its grip.
"...Thanks."
"No problem. Looks like it's not totally ineffective, though. At least it keeps your head in the game."
Zaipo nodded and drew mana from his core. The ground shook right after.
Rumble—!
Rock spears erupted from all directions.
Clang! Clang-clang! Clang!
Aster raised a barrier but soon realized it wouldn't hold, so he swatted the spears aside one by one.
It was no mage's movement, but instead of admiring it, Coxen and Zaipo leaped out of the cave.
They figured close quarters would put them at a disadvantage.
"Where do you think you're—"
Aster gave chase.
And so the pursuit began.
The two Seven Mages widened the gap while peppering Aster with spells to slow him down, and Aster knocked each one aside as he closed in.
On the surface, it looked like Aster had the edge, but that was far from the truth.
'Damn bastards.'
He could've held his own against both if they fought fair. But by kiting like this, they were leaving zero room for surprises.
They guarded their own hides with infuriating caution, and Aster couldn't help cursing under his breath.
But Zaipo and Coxen were just as rattled.
'...Ugh!'
Just moments ago, when he'd raised his barrier, they'd seen it clearly—the field flickering and distorting like static.
Meaning the Earth's Bind had him too rattled to even maintain a proper barrier...
'What kind of monster...!'
But they couldn't run forever.
"Time to get serious."
Zaipo nodded at Coxen's signal.
The ground surged up.
Suddenly, a massive wall burst from the mountainside, so enormous it looked like a fortress rampart.
"What the—"
Aster recoiled from the abrupt large-scale spell. But the changes didn't stop there.
Rumble-rumble-boom! Boom!
The wall, which had first blocked his path, shattered with a deafening roar and closed in from all sides.
Surrounded in an instant, Aster unleashed an explosive strike on the wall.
Boom...!
"Won't work. It won't crumble that easily."
The voice came from atop the rampart.
Aster locked eyes with Zaipo peering down at him.
"Oh yeah? Guess I have no choice then."
If it wouldn't break, he wouldn't break it. Plenty of easier targets around—like Zaipo's head.
"You think that'll hold me?"
"...What?!"
Zaipo scrambled back at the Tower Lord's voice behind him. But the fist was a fraction faster.
Boom!
"Gah—!"
A brutal impact to the skull sent Zaipo flying with a scream.
But for some reason...
Aster's expression wasn't great.
"Cough, hack!"
"You blocked that?"
A Seven Mage through and through? He'd managed a barrier in that split second to disperse the impact.
Sure, he was hacking up blood, so it wasn't harmless... but it was still a costly miss.
Because...
If he hadn't seen the Blink, fine—but now that he had, Zaipo would brace for it.
'Should've ended it in one shot... tch.'
Well, end it now.
"...!"
Zaipo's eyes bulged as Aster closed in instantly, and he thrust out a hand.
Rock spears jutted from the rampart floor to halt Aster's advance. But the earlier hit must've rattled him—the speed and power weren't the same.
Aster batted the spell aside effortlessly and leaped up. Then...
"Die."
One shot—
Boom!
Aster's fist cratered the rampart floor.
The sheer force made the entire structure shudder. Aster straightened, brushing back his disheveled hair.
"Man, you just won't stop dodging, huh?"
The upper rampart had caved in deep from the shockwave. Zaipo, barely evading, ground his teeth.
"You—! It was a feint. The Earth's Bind never worked on you."
"Oh, you just figured that out?"
The Earth's Bind never landed in the first place. It targeted the core directly, but his Circle wasn't your standard core.
He'd just faked it to take out both Seven Mages easily.
The flickering barrier, the failure to shatter the wall—all bluffs.
"But knowing that change anything?"
Crack, crack.
Aster rolled his neck and unleashed his suppressed aura.
But...
"Heh, heh... So arrogant."
Zaipo chuckled instead.
Some ace up his sleeve?
As Aster tilted his head...
Screeech—!
"...!"
A savage wave of heat engulfed him. No time to raise a barrier—a point-blank spell.
* * *
"You alright?"
"...Heh, heh. Got careless. Sly bastard. The sneak attack didn't help..."
Zaipo gave a wry smile at Coxen's question as he approached.
"Tch, old age catching up. If I were in my prime..."
Zaipo swigged a potion from his pouch with a bitter chuckle. His churning insides quickly stabilized.
Not fully healed, but enough to keep fighting.
"Hurry and prep. Time to show this Tower Lord or whatever what for."
"Got it."
Zaipo circulated mana to soothe his injuries, then closed his eyes. Soon...
'Thought Acceleration.'
His aged mind surged with magical vitality.
Then...
'Limit Release.'
The self-imposed seal on his core unraveled.
Zaipo's aura shifted in moments.
Creak, creak.
"Been a while since you went this far."
"Heh, yeah. It's been ages."
Zaipo's frail body and the aftereffects of his youthful reversal had kept him from handling his full power.
But the Tower Lord had forced his hand.
"Coxen, stay sharp. That sly fox might target you now."
"You too. Didn't you hear? He can kill one of us."
"Now you're the one."
But the banter was brief.
Crackle—
A monstrous killing intent crashed over them.
"Now it's manageable."
"And he's pissed."
Despite their words, the two exuded calm unlike before.
They'd been dragged into the Tower Lord's rhythm at first, struggling to respond. Now they'd broken free.
With Zaipo unleashing his power too, even a transcendent archmage couldn't overwhelm them.
No room for carelessness, though.
"Heh, don't let your guard down. Saw him pull some weird trick earlier—could pop up anywhere."
"...Right."
The two Seven Mages braced themselves.
The air's mana rippled as they prepared spells.
Barriers at the ready, ambient mana arrayed to counter wherever the Tower Lord appeared.
And not just that—they prepped spells to pin him down.
Double casting into triple, quadruple... juggling massive and minor spells simultaneously was near-divine.
Fully prepared...
The dust cleared, revealing the Tower Lord.
His mask was shattered, but the perception-obscuring spell held—his face a silhouette.
"...You're different now, huh?"
The Tower Lord noted Zaipo's change with a grunt of approval.
Zaipo and Coxen exchanged glances.
Then...
Rrrumble!
Gale-force winds clawed the space, whipping fierce flames toward the Tower Lord. Followed by...
Rock spears surging faster than before.
But the real threat wasn't the flashy display.
'Ready.'
'Heh, got it.'
In their brief clash, they'd read the Tower Lord's style—they sensed he'd close the gap soon.
Whether by that odd space-leap or barreling through the flames.
But...
"Who you calling an idiot."
One instant.
...All spells vanished like melting snow.
The air went still in a heartbeat.
"...!"
"...!"
Zaipo and Coxen gaped at the impossible sight. Not just the manifested spells—even their prepped ones were gone.
The ambient mana arrays—scattered.
The Tower Lord cracked his knuckles and strode toward them.
"No more cheap spells. Let's do this with fists, yeah?"
Despair flickered across the mages' faces.
...A monster who nullified ambient mana.
No way to beat that.
Watching them, Aster swallowed the rising blood.
'...Damn it all.'
His guts were screaming.
Even rotten fish had its limits—Seven Mages were Seven Mages.
Pushing transcendence to the brink with internal injuries was hell.
But what could he do?
'Earning turf is this brutal.'
His own path, after all.
...But why?
- When you've got something to protect, power you never had comes pouring out.
The Young Patriarch's words echoed.
And now, somehow, he got it...
'...Fuck that.'
Nah.
Sacrifice? Bullshit.
He endured because he could, for the promised land of milk and honey: Arafur. So...
'Wyvern, fly already.'
[Friend, I charge. I keep charging.]
The wyvern flapped vigorously.
Endlessly, endlessly.
Watching it, Aster shook off his thoughts and advanced on the two Seven Mages, step by step.
"Not coming in? Fine, I'll go first again."
Come on, run. Isn't it time?
But against his desperate hope...
"Heh, heh... Guess we go all in."
"Tch, should've retired early. Still, think about it—there must be limits."
"Heh, maybe..."
"Or what?"
The two Seven Mages steeled their resolve with determined eyes.
Whoosh—
Aster steadied his dizzying vision and swallowed blood. Gulp—his throat bobbed.
[I charge. Ke, keep charging. So...]
The wyvern couldn't finish.
Boom!
Aster kicked off and soared.