Chapter 443
Chapter 443
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 443
>Chapter Title: Spear of the Fallen Kingdom
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Not a single cloud, not a whisper of wind.
A raging blizzard.
The trembling earth.
Rumble—!
Amid the thunder echoing across the sky and lightning crashing down, Bodo Kan Sherman stood leisurely in the heavens, taking in the scene below.
Everything was serene.
No, serene was an understatement—it was disappointing.
‘Impressive, but...’
Whoosh—!
Bodo Kan Sherman dodged the flames that pierced through the dark clouds and turned to face his challenger. With a flick of his finger, lightning struck down.
Crack—crackle-crackle!
Hundreds of bolts, splintered in an instant, rained down. Yet not one scorched the challenger. No, rather, they were devoured by the challenger’s flames and burned away.
As mentioned before, it was impressive.
But.
‘Is that all?’
He had honestly expected more.
A challenger from the Sanctuary—a pinnacle of their era. So, what heights had the pinnacle of a new era reached?
And yet, what was this?
‘...No different.’
That was his honest impression.
No different.
Different from what, exactly?
The answer was simple.
...All the mages from his memories.
In other words, the rivals Bodo Kan Sherman had faced before ascending to the greatest of all time.
Extraordinary, yet ultimately defeated.
They had been just like this.
‘Impressive, but...’
Impressive, and nothing more.
Look at it now.
Bodo Kan Sherman leisurely overlooked the ground, flicking his finger once more. As he manipulated mana beyond transcendence, thousands of spells combined and manifested.
The first was a flesh-rending blizzard.
Within that blizzard, the challenger raised a barrier. His eyes burned with resolve. Not a bad response.
Soon after, deep blue flames shot out from within the barrier...
Whoosh—!
The blizzard scattered with a ferocious gale.
He had precisely grasped and pierced the rhythm of hundreds of intersecting spells. Rather than panic, Bodo Kan Sherman simply took in the sight.
Then...
Lightning struck down again.
Flames erupted from the ground, and biting winds howled.
Phenomena born from thousands of combined spells engulfed the challenger. Not a single gust of wind, not a single snowflake, escaped Bodo Kan Sherman’s intent.
...Transcendence. Even if conjured in splintered moments, it was a marvel no one but Bodo Kan Sherman could achieve.
But.
The challenger endured it all.
No, enduring was not all he did.
Boom—!
Deep blue flames surged through every spell. The barrier rose to block them, but the flames incinerated even that.
Amazing.
Amazing, yet...
The reason for his disappointment was simple.
‘No sense of danger.’
There was killing intent, but that was it. Certainly chilling, but... how to put it. It stirred no emotion.
Why?
Was there a reason?
Simply...
‘...It falls short.’
Objectively, the challenger was outstanding.
Had they lived in the same era, the outcome would have been uncertain. If even a generation ahead, the title of ‘Arch Mage’ would have been his, not Bodo Kan Sherman’s.
Or even...
‘...Just ten years.’
What if the challenge had come ten years later?
At the very least, it wouldn’t have been this disappointing.
But.
All of that was mere hypothesis.
Reality was, in the end...
‘...Just this much.’
Remarkable, but nothing extraordinary. Or more precisely, not enough to threaten him.
How could he not be disappointed?
Even if forged from the Sanctuary’s mysteries—a false body and false mind—that ego was still a mage.
The ego of an Arch Mage who had claimed the throne of greatest ever, fully intact.
He had truly hoped.
To witness magic from a future denied to him. To experience that greatness. And further still...
‘...To shatter it with this body and prove himself.’
But what was this?
As Bodo Kan Sherman orchestrated his spells, he couldn’t hide his disappointment. It was all too hollow.
...Magic had advanced. Just look at the barrier the challenger raised. That intricate structure suggested attack spells had progressed considerably too. The same for others, no doubt.
Yet there was no awe.
Why?
Because this was not the battle he craved.
The battle he craved was a duel to the death with a mage who stood at the same height, gazing at the same vista.
But this...
“Tch.”
Bodo Kan Sherman clicked his tongue in regret. Then he resolved to end the fight. Dragging it out further wouldn’t change a thing.
“Still, don’t feel hard done by. You were plenty impressive.”
That much was sincere.
Grand Mage.
Challenger of the Sanctuary.
Achievements worthy of history’s pages. Simply not enough to surpass him.
Call it his reward.
Bodo Kan Sherman decided to grant the challenger a gift. No, ‘gift’ was the wrong word.
Why?
Because this final spell would claim his life.
Zzzzz—
The scenery slowed.
Entering transcendence, Bodo Kan Sherman focused his mind in the splintered instants.
All manifesting spells halted. Mana scattered through space coalesced.
By nature, spells were weak if wide-ranging, narrow if strong. Why? Because a mage’s maximum manipulable mana was finite.
But occasionally, there were those free from such laws.
Transcendence.
Breaking one’s limits to forge personal laws.
Bodo Kan Sherman’s transcendence was exceptional among them.
In the splintered time, he fixed his gaze on the challenger.
‘Behold.’
...Calamity of the Heavens.
It wasn’t his original moniker. Only bestowed after ascending to Arch Mage.
His true moniker was...
Spear of Kahalom Kingdom.
Rare for a non-knight to be called a ‘spear,’ but no term fit Bodo Kan Sherman better.
Why?
One might not understand thinking only of his Arch Mage days.
He was a painter crafting nature with hundreds, thousands of spells—a calamity warping the world.
But.
Originally, he wielded no hundreds or thousands.
Fire, water, wood, wind, lightning, ice.
One from each of six attributes.
Just six spells.
He wasn’t one to combine thousands into one. Rather, he split one into thousands, layered them, to birth another one.
Zzz—
In splintered time, spells overlapped. It began with fire mana.
Basic flame spear.
Layered.
Endlessly overlapping...
How much time passed? Finally complete, it remained a ‘spear.’ But one layered with thousands of spells.
Bodo Kan Sherman didn’t stop.
Next...
...Water. Then wood, wind, lightning, and finally ice.
Zzzzz—!
Six spears bearing different attributes floated behind Bodo Kan Sherman. And—
Crunch, crrrunch...
The six merged into one.
Madness.
Merging six spells was simple enough. But each was already an aggregate of thousands layered.
And fusing them?
Even for a grand mage, a perilous stunt.
But.
...The madman who honed only six spells to transcendence had pierced the essence of each attribute. He knew only six spells, but fully comprehended all they entailed.
Naturally.
Crrunch—!
The fusion succeeded.
No, it was more than unity.
Mana repelled and amplified.
Devouring surrounding mana voraciously, swelling in size.
It swiftly exceeded Bodo Kan Sherman’s maximum capacity, yet he never lost control.
His transcendence was insight and harmony.
...Insight to comprehend principles.
...Harmony to wield them.
He held the reins.
This was why he was called the ‘Spear of Kahalom.’
An absolute, destructive spear nothing could block or pierce.
Though Kahalom Kingdom had fallen...
The Sanctuary’s mystery summoned the Spear of the Fallen Kingdom here.
Hundreds of years later.
It manifested once more.
The Spear of Kahalom.
‘...Let’s end this.’
Exiting splintered instants, Bodo Kan Sherman gazed at Pahren. Then thrust his hand forward.
Ziiiiing—!
Six attributes.
A single spear brimming with immense power cleaved through space. Or did it advance? Eerie.
It seemed to pierce distant space already, yet hadn’t moved an inch. As if frozen. But it wasn’t.
One thing was certain.
Bodo Kan Sherman.
His spell spanned beyond perception.
...Witnesses narrowed their eyes at the sight. They couldn’t suppress their shock at the indescribable impact.
‘How is that...’
‘...Possible?’
The ‘spear’ looked identical in splintered time or normal flow.
The outcome was clear without seeing it.
Pahren von Decullan.
...He had lost.
What spell could block that?
The witnesses couldn’t imagine.
Thus...
As all timelines flowed toward the ‘spear,’ every gaze fixed upon it.
Bodo Kan Sherman narrowed his eyes. Something was off.
‘...Why?’
Black hair, pitch-black eyes.
...The bastard was smiling.
As if it were nothing.
The moment Bodo Kan Sherman realized, the space-piercing ‘spear’ advanced toward its target. And pierced his heart. Or tried to.
Bodo Kan Sherman’s eyes widened in disbelief at the scene before him.
“...H-how?”
The space-cleaving ‘spear’ halted before the challenger’s nose, unable to advance. As if blocked by something.
Then what could block the ‘spear’?
A barrier? No.
That was...
Flicker, flicker—!
A flame the size of a millet grain. So tiny it was barely there—a mere ember.
And that was what barred the spear—
“Hah...!”
Realizing the truth, Bodo Kan Sherman exhaled in dismay. Then, unlike before, he glared at the challenger... Pahren... with eyes full of murderous intent.
The unblockable spear.
As Bodo Kan Sherman recalled, there was only one way to block it.
What was it?
A Grimoire.
Borrowing near-perfect laws through its power.
With bloodshot eyes, Bodo Kan Sherman poured will into the ‘spear.’ False mind and body or not, he couldn’t let this affront pass.
“Blinded by greed, you defile the Sanctuary.”
His voice dripped with venomous hatred... yet for some reason, Pahren let out a faint chuckle.
“Old man.”
He knew what he was thinking. But...
“You were simply lacking.”
“Absurd nonsense...!”
The moment Bodo Kan Sherman shouted—
Boom—!
Deep blue flames devoured the spear.
...And even Bodo Kan Sherman himself.