Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 264
>Chapter Title: Ah, No. I, I'm Wyvern
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Now, only Zaypo and the five Decullan mages remained.
The numbers had drastically dwindled compared to before, but Aster's condition was far from normal as well.
Moreover, these five were survivors who had made it to the end, no pushovers by any means.
Thus, the battle took on an even more desperate turn, as the wyvern sat limply on the ground, taking in the scene.
Kwaaang—!
“……Kuhk!”
A blinding flash erupted, and Aster let out an unfiltered groan of pain.
His stamina had waned to the point where he couldn't even properly block simple spells, and in the wyvern's vision, Aster's life force flickered visibly, on the verge of extinguishing.
The Decullan mages seemed to have noticed Aster's exhaustion too, unleashing even more vicious attacks. Among them, the most insidious was Zaypo.
He wasn't deploying flashy magic like before.
He cunningly cratered the ground to disrupt balance, blocked paths charging at allies, and struck with sharp attacks whenever an opening appeared—though even those were merely means to drain stamina, nothing more or less.
Like a hunter slowly wearing down a wounded prey... no, with even greater malice.
Of course, Aster wasn't taking it lying down, but capturing Decullan mages who had braced for a prolonged war was no easy task.
Amid it all.
The wyvern thought with empty eyes.
‘……Why.’
Why were humans so desperate to devour each other?
‘Why, exactly…….’
Why did Aster, its contractor, have to fight such a grueling battle?
It was a situation the spirit wyvern couldn't comprehend.
Human lives were so short. Time was too precious even to live in happiness, seeing and hearing only good things. So why couldn't they just pursue happiness in that brief lifespan? Or did they find joy in such destructive acts?
No, truthfully, what humans did wasn't the wyvern's concern. It didn't even want to know. It was just... terrifying.
‘……Friend, dying.’
Such a short life already. Why burn oneself out like this? What did they crave so much to flicker like a fragile flame before the typhoon of death?
......Far off.
A group entered the wyvern's view.
They were Decullan mages. Some gripped spears and swords—soldiers. A few exuded an ominous aura, evidently knights.
The army approaching in formation was Aster's death.
An inescapable fate.
How ruthless!
Kwaduk!
“......One.”
Aster seized one mage's neck and snapped it sideways. The light in the mage's eyes went pitch black as their limbs went slack.
Thud!
By the time the mage crumpled to the ground, Aster was already gone.
“Kuuh, khek!”
The squad leader, mid-casting while suppressing refluxing mana, panicked briefly at Aster's sudden appearance, but soon a brutal fist smashed into his face.
Before his body toppled, a second strike lashed out.
It was then that projectiles flew toward Aster.
Whiiiish!
Kwaduk!
He twisted desperately to dodge, but one pierced his shoulder.
His body lurched violently and fell. At the same moment, the squad leader, fist to the face, tumbled over.
As Aster and the squad leader equally writhed on the ground, lightning from somewhere struck down on Aster.
Pajijik!
Aster convulsed, eyes rolling back. The mage who fired the spell yelled “Now!”, and the fallen squad leader hastily tried to recover. Or at least, tried to.
Grab.
“......Where.”
“Y-You monster……!”
The squad leader tried to kick off Aster gripping his ankle, but his head merely snapped back as Aster held firm. And that was the final sight for the nameless squad leader.
Because.
Fwoosh—!
Crimson flames bloomed from Aster's grasp, incinerating the body.
“Kwaaaaah!”
As the agonized death scream echoed through the mountain path, a pale white light spread faintly over Aster's body. Right then, Aster, healed by the Light of Healing, kicked off the ground.
“......!”
Was it unexpected?
The mage who had fired the lightning couldn't hide his shock as Aster charged. He stumbled back, but soon Zaypo's cover followed.
Barriers rising from the ground. And sharp rock spears sprouting from those barriers.
But.
Flash!
“......Two.”
Aster blinked over the wall. An explosion resounded.
Kwaduduk!
Another mage met their end.
Next......
“Three.”
Crimson Jade, suddenly afloat, swept savagely through space following Aster's gaze, and another mage collapsed.
“You bastard……!”
Zaypo's enraged shout rang out as the earth trembled. Surging soil crashed over Aster like a tsunami.
Aster, shrouded in a force field, dodged the earthen wave and launched toward the fourth mage.
As if to obstruct him, a massive wall rose. But even that wall couldn't stop Aster.
Kwadududuk! Boom!
“......!”
Aster burst straight through the wall, arriving before the mage. The mage hastily tried to respond, but Aster was a fraction faster.
“Guk!”
Grabbing their hair in a brutish grip, he slammed their face into the ground. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dealing with the final fifth mage wasn't hard.
Just......
Pew!
“Kuh......khek!”
Firing Crimson Jade was all it took.
And so.
Thud!
As the last fifth mage sprawled on the earth, Aster, breathing raggedly, fixed his eyes on Zaypo.
“Now it's just us two left?”
“......”
Zaypo didn't reply.
A chilling wind swept between them. Dust swirled, and as the wind carried on, distant mountain fires from battle's aftermath flickered far away.
And below the ravaged mountainside, Decullan's army approached. Reinforcements hastily assembled from the camp, sensing trouble in the drawn-out fight.
Aster was well aware of their presence, yet for some reason, he appeared utterly relaxed.
“Honestly, I didn't expect things to turn out like this. Thought it was just your run-of-the-mill rescue mission.”
“This old man feels the same.”
“Our situations are obvious, so no beating around the bush. I'm going to kill you right here. And you want to kill me with your own hands, right?”
Zaypo didn't reply.
Because it was true.
At this rate, stalling would bring ally reinforcements, and no matter how elite the tower lord, he couldn't hold out.
But Zaypo didn't want to leave the tower lord to another's hands.
Even if it meant ending the breath, it had to be by this hand. ......Even at the cost of this life.
“Then let's prepare.”
“......”
No more words were needed after that. Instead, the rippling mana in the air heralded the battle's end.
Aster and Zaypo stood motionless, preparing their final spells to sever each other's breath. No grand magic was required.
In this moment, even the simplest spell would suffice to kill.
So, only one thing mattered.
The faster, more precise magic.
Pajijik, pajik!
Sparks flew as they vied for mana dominance in the air.
Zaypo, now accustomed to the tower lord's mana interference, layered double and triple spells, while Aster disrupted the formations before completion.
A high-level control battle that would fry a normal mage's brain. Neither had the edge.
Thus, as the air's mana screamed and brilliant sparks adorned the sky......
“Let's end it.”
Aster completed his spell first.
Kwaduk!
A single flame arrow bloomed in the air.
No technique. Just faithful to the essence, like what novice mages produced.
For the spell decorating the Fourth Seat of the Seven Mages, it felt somewhat meager, but no one present cared.
What mattered was......
Whether it could kill.
Or not.
And naturally, its power was ample.
......Kwaduk!
“......”
Zaypo looked blankly at his chest, pierced by the arrow.
As if time had slowed, the blood fountain gushing from his chest seemed endlessly slow. Naturally, no pain registered. Just......
‘......It's over.’
Only the fact of his end resonated.
In the sluggishly flowing time, Zaypo suddenly recalled his departed friend.
‘Coxen, you bastard.’
Did you have to go first?
Well, against that monster, no helping it. Even I am going now.
But still.
“Heh, heh.”
In the resuming flow of time, as his body toppled and his gaze followed, Zaypo gazed at the setting sun and smiled faintly.
“Even so...... I got revenge.”
At life's end, as the light in his eyes flickered, a low “Kwaduk!” explosion echoed in Zaypo's ears.
The sound of a spell, timed with delay, piercing the tower lord's chest.
The Fourth Seat of the Seven Mages.
Earth's Ruler Zaypo von Draksen, deceased.
......And before him, the tower lord collapsed, chest pierced.
* * *
As the fiercely burning flame of life rapidly consumed itself, a single spirit flapped its wings weakly.
[Friend, no. Friend.]
The wyvern exerted physical force to lay Aster flat, wriggling its body to staunch the gushing wound.
[Why, why go. Why. Promised, me. Moonlight Stone.]
The heart was missed, but the body had already reached its limit, so death was only a matter of time.
And that moment wasn't far off.
[Ah, no. I, I'm wyvern.]
The wyvern whimpered at its fading form. As the contractor neared death's door, the contract's bond weakened.
[I, I'm wyvern. I'm wyvern, but......]
Is this really the end?
It couldn't accept it.
Had to save him.
Had to protect him.
Bad guys swarming in hordes. Like this...... like this, friend gets captured by bad guys!
Had it ever trembled at its own powerlessness like this?
No, never.
[I, I hate it. No. No.]
The wyvern scowled at Aster's paling face and the approaching army below.
It wriggled to block the wound while mustering all nonexistent strength to fend off the army.
But.
It was feeble. A spirit with a fraying bond to its contractor could do nothing.
‘Please...... please.’
Wyvern...... no, the spirit losing its name prayed desperately.
Save friend. Block bad guys. If it could...... it'd give everything, no regrets.
A pure wish.
A heart without calculation, possible only for a spirit.
Aster's breaths fading.
Its own form blurring.
......For the first time, the spirit felt fear. Of the near-eternal time left to it. And resentment toward this powerless existence.
If only it had power.
If so......
It was then.
[......?]
Wooong—
A glowing Fire Mark on Aster's chest.
A voice echoed in the wyvern's mind right then.
It whispered.
- Abandon immortality.
Then......
- I shall grant you power.
An irresistibly sweet temptation.