Chapter 386
Chapter 386
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 386
>Chapter Title: I Thought. For Real……
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Overlapping explosions ripped through the space, one after another.
"Good! Let's see how you handle this one too... Hup!"
Thwack—!
Aster's fist broke through the guard and smashed right into Otto's face. The staggering body. As Otto regained his balance, he grinned ferociously.
'This bastard...!'
The moment transcendence kicked in, time fragmented into shards. Crimson blood droplets scattered into the air. Strands of hair whipped about. And in between...
One blood-smeared face.
The guy was laughing wildly. His pristine white teeth were stained red with blood. The gash across his face twisted grotesquely.
Did he not feel pain? No, that wasn't it.
He was enjoying it. Or rather, not just enjoying—it was extreme excitement he couldn't contain.
The corners of his mouth curled up, his eyes gleaming with madness. It was all just a reaction to that peak exhilaration.
Even Otto himself couldn't hold back his laughter. Something popped in a corner of his brain—bang!—and forcibly tugged his lips upward. His fingertips tingled, his gut churned.
So, what was the source of this excitement?
Paradoxically, it stemmed from 'fear.'
The fear of death.
The fear of defeat.
One step, one breath, the slightest slip—and his head would explode, his heart crushed.
The head of the Urbona family, the transcendent archmage, the pinnacle of earth mages... None of those titles could protect Otto in this fight.
Just one moment. At the end of a single mistake, all that remained would be a single cold corpse.
But on the flip side—
'You're the same!'
A fierce fighting spirit boiled up from deep in his gut. That fighting spirit turned into will. The earth's mana responded to that will—
Screeech, screeech!
The earth's mana burrowed into the densely packed atmosphere mana, hard as an iron wall. At the same time, it seized the gaps and swelled in size.
Front, back, left, right.
Four spells rising to claim every direction.
Ultimate Stone.
These regular octahedron gems were one of the ultimate pursuits of all earth mages. The perfect shield that blocked everything, the flawless spear that pierced everything.
Otto aimed that flawless spear at his opponent. Screeech, the Ultimate Stones spun. Aster entered transcendence right around when that rotational force peaked.
There was a slight delay of a beat, but his mind was cooler than ever. His boiling heart burned like a furnace, but those eyes were as chilling as winter frost.
'Dodge it?'
An absurd thought. Impossible even for a master knight. Death's scent brushed his nose, making Aster's heart feel like it stopped. But his thoughts didn't cease.
And in that moment—
Thud.
The four spells shot out without recoil. As the flawless spears surged to impale his heart, Aster paused his thinking for a moment. Instinct filled the void left by halted thought.
Tsssh!
A bizarre tearing sound echoed through the space.
Crack, clack!
The collision rang out belatedly.
"Huh!"
Otto let out a sigh as he stared at the four Ultimate Stones that had clashed in midair. The opponent, whom he'd expected to be skewered by the flawless spear, had vanished without a trace.
'Where?'
Otto's gaze swept the surroundings. His sharp senses picked up the presence soon enough.
'...Above?'
The question was brief. Otto re-entered transcendence. Soon, the Ultimate Stones sliced through space. But—
Flutter.
The sound of a flag waving, followed by a rush of scorching heat. Thick indigo flames erupted in the air and struck.
"...Kuh!"
Otto escaped the fragmented time and groaned. Right in the center of the square formed by the four Ultimate Stones' tips—the perfect shield—indigo flames roiled.
That was...
Yeah.
If Ultimate Stone was the pinnacle of earth magic, then that could be called the pinnacle of flame magic.
The moment Otto realized it, chills ran down his spine. At the same time, an angry shout echoed.
"You really are Decullan's dog after all!"
Aster chose silence over a reply. He dropped to the ground, heaved up a gush of blood—uuuek!—and bolted from the spot.
No more petty mana skirmishes. Both were now fully focused on a single spell.
What Holland had called 'Hellfire' blazed fiercely to pierce the Ultimate Stone shield, while the Ultimate Stones glowed to block it.
As the ultimate spells clashed fiercely, representing the two archmages' wills, what remained was...
Flesh against flesh.
To kill each other, they held nothing back. Hands, feet, knees, elbows... At any opening, they'd bite, and if bitten, they'd howl like wounded beasts.
Otto's dagger plunged into Aster's flesh time and again, twisting his face into a hideous grimace each time.
Thwack! Crunch!
The only sounds in his ears were the thud of flesh and the snap of breaking bone.
Pain dominated his senses. Flesh tearing under the dagger, bones scraping. Thwack! An iron-hard fist rattled his skull, a brutal grip choked his throat.
Aster grabbed the arm clutching his neck and thrashed. Crunch, crunch. The arm bone shattered in his vise-like crossed grip.
"...!"
Otto screamed like a beast and twisted away. Even then, he swung the dagger at Aster's throat.
Aster stared straight at the incoming dagger and blocked it with his forearm. Or rather, he smacked it away with all his might.
Crunch.
The blade sank into bone. Aster screamed in agony. Otto tried to retrieve the dagger, but the blade stuck fast in the bone. That's when Aster's hand clamped over his face.
Crunch, crack!
"Kaaak!"
Otto whipped his head aside, but Aster's fingers gouged into his eyeball. One eye gone completely.
Aster yanked and twisted the dagger free from his forearm while Otto reeled back. Searing pain surged, but a smile bloomed on his lips.
No weapon? Steal one. A dagger might shame an archmage, but it's disgraceful when others do it and clever when you do.
"You rat bastard!"
Aster clicked his tongue at Otto—who'd turned him from dog to rat—and charged. Light of Healing wrapped his body, mending wounds.
The brawl resumed.
"You fucking...!"
Otto groaned under the dagger's sharp arc. Losing one eye was bad, but losing his weapon was worse.
Otto diverted some focus from the Ultimate Stones to raise a force field. Then—clang! Clang!—sharp metal clashes rang through the space.
The tide was turning. Accepting the brawl from the start... No, getting dragged into it was the mistake.
Purely in magical realm, the opponent was a step below. The gap was slim but clear; a proper magic duel would've been an easy win.
But accepting the brawl upset that delicate balance. Somehow, the opponent seemed right at home in the mud.
And that body was tougher than his own, honed by Urbona secrets. The guy's healing secret far outstripped his own. He'd closed the gap with a short blade, but now even that was gone.
'...Turn it around.'
Decision made, Otto roared and lunged. Stab! Stab! The dagger plunged into unprotected flesh, but Otto didn't slow.
"You mad...!"
Aster collided with Otto's bulk, rolled across the ground twice, and scrambled up. That's when a shockwave erupted into the air.
―――――!
What caused the explosion?
"......"
Aster was flung by the blast, crashed, coughed blood, and looked up. The four Ultimate Stones had exploded.
They'd devoured even Aster's spell before vanishing. Grasping the situation, Aster forced his trembling lips into a grin.
The distance opened by the explosion.
"Hoo, haa......"
Otto clutched his bleeding gut, breathing raggedly. He wasn't unscathed either, but his eyes burned fierce.
And the smile on his lips.
Unlike Aster's, it was pristine, unmarred.
Well, why wouldn't it be.
Grgrgrrind—
The earth vibrated.
Whirr, whirrr, whirrrrr!
Earth mana surged from the ground. It crystallized, taking form.
Dozens of Ultimate Stones floated up.
Otto's voice rang in his ears.
"Now... let's play on my turf."
And on his chest, a glowing necklace.
...Fragment of Reverse Heaven.
Aster couldn't smile freely at the long-sought Fragment of Reverse Heaven right before him. All that hung on his lips was a rotten, festering smirk.
...A chill wind whipped over the ruined battlefield from the fight. A brief standoff.
Blood trickled down Aster's jawline. When the droplet gathered at his chin and fell.
Drip.
It hit the ground and shattered, splattering.
Whiiiiiinnn—!
The Ultimate Stones glowed.
Aster thought.
'For real...'
Fucking hell.
* * *
Three camps in one night.
When Aster first heard that, he wondered if it was such a big deal.
The camps weren't far apart, and the guarding forces weren't that impressive.
Sure, they were the duchy’s elite, so 'not impressive' was a bit off, but elite or rabble— to a transcendent archmage, they were much the same.
But looking back now...
'...Right, total annihilation.'
'Total annihilation' changed things.
Even an archmage didn't have two bodies.
Taking three camps was easy enough, but leaving no survivors across all three? Near impossible.
The reason it hit him late was simple.
...In time shattered by transcendence.
An oncoming mana wave.
No blocking, no dodging. Even blink's range was far surpassed by this vast area of death.
The ambient mana no longer heeded Aster's call. The Ultimate Stones' earth mana had infested everywhere.
Hummm—
Even Reverse Heaven resonated powerlessly. In that moment, Aster thought.
Yeah, with magic like this, no survivors made sense. No, it was inevitable.
'This is...'
The pinnacle of earth magic.
That’s when Aster's thought reached there.
Flash—
The light finally surged.
Destructive, vicious—the earth's light that would annihilate everything.