Chapter 263
Chapter 263
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 263
>Chapter Title: Something More Important Than Moonlight Stone
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In the battle of endurance, it was the Tower Lord who ultimately claimed victory.
“Urk.”
With a faint groan, Koksen spewed out a gush of blood. He hurriedly refocused, but steadying a disrupted spell was no easy task.
Of course, the opening was fleeting, but for a mage who had reached such heights, it was more than enough time to seize the opportunity.
Flash!
Spotting that brief gap, the Tower Lord blinked through space, escaping the magic. He then kicked off the ground.
“……Damn it!”
“Don’t get hasty. He’s tired too…… Hm?”
Zaifo, who had been consoling Koksen, widened his eyes at the sight of the Tower Lord charging in. And understandably so—the Tower Lord’s face, now free of the perception-disruption spell, was utterly unexpected.
‘……What?’
Ferocious, gleaming eyes. Teeth stained red with blood. A face so chilling it could haunt dreams, yet far too young.
But Zaifo couldn’t afford to hesitate.
Crunch.
“……Graaah!”
The charging Tower Lord tore off Zaifo’s left arm. If he hadn’t blocked in haste, his throat would’ve been ripped out in an instant. There was no time to groan in pain.
“You…… saw it, didn’t you.”
The Tower Lord’s second strike followed.
Gripping the severed arm, the Tower Lord slammed his head into Zaifo’s face. Bam! With a sharp crack, Zaifo’s head snapped back.
“Zaifo!”
Koksen belatedly cast a spell, anticipating a follow-up, but the Tower Lord kicked off and dashed past them both.
Realizing his intent, Zaifo clutched his empty left shoulder and bellowed hoarsely.
“No! Stop him!”
At Zaifo’s shout, Koksen canceled his spell and targeted the Tower Lord again. The Decullan mages hurriedly erected barriers as he barreled toward them. Dozens of mages formed a massive semicircle of barriers. Simultaneously, incantations echoed from all directions.
But.
Flash!
The Tower Lord vanished once more.
“……!”
Amid the Decullan mages’ shock at the unexpected phenomenon, a chilling voice whispered in their ears.
“Heh, let’s catch our breath.”
What did that mean?
Before the question could fully form in the Decullan mages’ minds, the Tower Lord reappeared inside the barrier, tossing aside Zaifo’s left arm and clamping down viciously on the shoulder blade of the frontline mage.
“Gaaaaah!”
The mage writhed in agony. As the wretched scream filled the air, the Tower Lord thrust his other fist into another mage’s skull. Thud. Flesh burst helplessly against the Collision Formula’s destructive force.
Blood sprayed.
From there, it was the Tower Lord’s one-sided slaughter.
No grand spells were needed. He simply crushed, tore, and smashed whatever he grabbed.
The Decullan mages tried to resist, but evading the Tower Lord’s knight-like movements proved impossible.
Some mages quickly backed away to unleash spells. But even that was difficult.
Whenever he sensed incoming magic, the Tower Lord shoved the first captured mage forward as a shield.
“P-Please…… spare……”
The mages hesitated at their comrade’s sobbing plea. No, they had no choice. They were human, after all.
Thus began the one-sided massacre.
The disrupted formation caused the mana field to collapse.
Zaifo and Koksen attempted precise strikes on the Tower Lord alone, but each time, he dove into the midst of the mages, thwarting them.
Zaifo couldn’t hide his despair at the sight.
‘……I thought they were reinforcements.’
He had miscalculated.
The belatedly arriving Decullan mages were good news not just for them, but for the Tower Lord as well.
Assuming the Tower Lord was a typical mage and deploying a mana field had been the first mistake.
If they had stuck to the original plan and formed an anti-Ten Swords array……
No, that wasn’t the only issue.
- You…… saw it, didn’t you.
That single line had sent chills down his spine. He’d expected the Tower Lord to finish him off while he had the momentum, having seen his face.
Despite preparing for it, the Tower Lord had charged toward the mages instead, and that one moment of misjudgment had led to this disaster.
A truly painful blunder.
“Cough!”
Zaifo, forcing himself to move, vomited blood from the backlash of mana. Koksen stepped forward in his place.
“Stay put. In close quarters, I’m still better than you.”
If the enemy fought like a knight, they could match that style.
Koksen was a veteran of old wars, no stranger to such combat. Of course, he had no intention of dancing to the Tower Lord’s tune.
“I’ll buy time. Reform the formation. I can’t hold out long.”
“……Understood.”
One of the two captains nodded at Koksen’s words and immediately dispersed the unit.
The Tower Lord didn’t sit idle either.
“Where do you think you’re going? Things are just getting fun.”
The Tower Lord had already concealed his face with a perception-disruption spell again. But that grin was too sinister to be hidden, and Koksen blocked his path.
“Your opponent is me.”
The Tower Lord paused, eyeing Koksen, then glanced down at the mage in his grip.
“Co-Koksen, sir, please…… spare……”
“He’s begging for his life?”
“Unavoidable.”
With those words, the Decullan mage burst into flames. The unfortunate man turned to ash without even a final scream.
It was ruthless, but Koksen’s seasoned eyes held no trace of guilt. They couldn’t let the Tower Lord rampage forever.
The real problem started now.
Rustle, rustle.
Decullan mages taking positions everywhere. They were forming the array prepared for the Ten Swords, but with losses, it would take time to complete. But the most crucial factor…… was Zaifo.
“Hoo, haa.”
Zaifo cauterized his wound with unfamiliar fire magic for hemostasis, then downed two bottles of internal injury recovery potion in succession.
[Sorry. Hold on five…… no, just one minute.]
Koksen nodded at Zaifo’s voice. Even with his aged body, he could last a minute.
And in one minute, the mages’ formation would be ready.
“Mind if I go first? Or you can take the lead.”
Koksen tossed out the question to stall. But for some reason.
“Want me to wait?”
“What…….”
“Heh, sure, I’ll wait.”
Spit.
The Tower Lord spat blood-tinged phlegm at Koksen’s feet and plopped down cross-legged.
Koksen’s brow twitched at the unexpected action. It made no sense. Stalling should disadvantage the Tower Lord.
What was he plotting?
Shaking off the confusion, Koksen prepared to cast. Whatever the intent, the Tower Lord was full of openings now. No reason to miss it.
Thus, as he began manifesting the spell—
“Want to see something fun while you wait?”
The Tower Lord’s lip curled up. In that instant, the perception-disruption spell lifted. Seeing his face, Koksen froze.
“……!”
“See? Shocked, right? Why, too young? But you know what’s even more fun?”
The change happened right after those words.
Bzzz, buuuuuuzz—
A bizarre resonance echoed everywhere, like thousands of swarms of bees.
Koksen whipped his gaze around at the sudden noise, then furrowed his brow deeply.
“What……?”
Red orbs bubbled up from the ground. They multiplied in seconds. It didn’t take long for the area to be covered in them……
“You should’ve stayed clumped together.”
Just one line.
That was all Koksen heard.
Screeeeeeeee—
A deafening ring pierced his ears. A massive explosion blinded him, and in the blinding light, Koksen erected a barrier and tried to retreat. Or rather, he tried.
Wriggle—
A strange mana flow from underfoot.
Adjusting to the light in a split second, Koksen instinctively looked down. The source was the red orbs. No, it was blood. Blood soaked into the ground was rising……
Splurt!
“Guh, urk…….”
A Crimson Jade pierced his solar plexus like an arrow. Moments later, a brutal hand gripped his throat.
“Pretty amazing, huh?”
Of course, Koksen couldn’t hear. His hearing was gone anyway……
But his neck snapped.
Crack!
With the sound of shattering bone, Koksen’s eyes lost their light and glazed over. In that fleeting moment.
Koksen thought.
‘W-What…… monster is this.’
The fifth seat of the Seven Mages.
Double Master Koksen von Kallador, deceased.
……For a mage who had dominated an era, it was an utterly pathetic end.
* * *
Was it a final burst of will in the face of death? Or a self-cast spell triggered by his demise?
“Cough!”
At the explosion coinciding with Koksen’s death, Aster doubled over and vomited blood.
‘……If you were gonna go, at least go quietly.’
The unexpected magic had shaken him to the core. He’d hastily blocked with a barrier, but couldn’t fully mitigate the aftershocks.
But he had only a moment to manage the pain.
“Phew.”
Aster took in the space shrouded in dust from the Crimson Jade’s explosion.
As expected of Decullan mages—they’d completed their formation during that sudden assault, and a fair number survived.
Aster sensed each one with his mana detection, then reopened Transcendence.
‘……Is this how it’s done?’
His cognitive realm expanded another step, analyzing airborne mana flows crystal clear. Aster manipulated them as Zaifo had before, manifesting a spell.
In that instant, airborne dust particles sharpened into fine glass shards, brimming with lethality. And……
Pew-pew! Pfft!
Short bursts of explosions. Agonal screams echoed from beyond the dust right after.
“Gah!”
“……Urk!”
“G-Guhk.”
The barely surviving Decullan mages collapsed simultaneously onto the ground.
Aster retracted Transcendence and counted the survivors.
‘……Zaifo, and…… four? No, about five?’
As expected, mimicking spells without true insight had limits—quite a few mages remained.
But regret was fleeting.
“Phew.”
Aster finally pulled out an internal injury recovery potion and downed it.
He’d gotten it from the Young Patriarch just in case, and it certainly soothed his insides. The problem was that one bottle wasn’t enough for such severe injuries.
“……Cough.”
Vomiting blood again, Aster chuckled through coughs.
A voice came from beyond the dust just then.
“……What’s so funny?”
“You’re here?”
“No need to hide your face anymore, I see.”
“Everyone’s dying anyway.”
Aster grinned at Zaifo’s question, wiping blood from his lips. He looked up at Zaifo, whose eyes were streaked with blood.
Whether blood tears or runoff, it didn’t matter.
“We keep going, right?”
“…….”
Zaifo didn’t reply. He simply glared at Aster, radiating killing intent.
Aster met that gaze calmly, when the wyvern’s voice pierced his ears.
[Friend, stop. Escape, escape. Can’t. Stop.]
‘I’ll give you all the moonlight stones. Just wait a bit.’
Aster ignored the wyvern and staggered to his feet.
The wyvern no longer flew. No more cries. It wanted to wail but swallowed the sound, fearing it might interfere.
‘Moonlight stones don’t matter. Not at all.’
……A word it couldn’t utter.