Chapter 38
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Orc Lich
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"Cloyang, can you break the brainwashing with holy magic by any chance?"
"Sorry. Not at my level."
Cloyang shook his head without even lifting a hand.
For an ordinary priest to challenge an archmage's power was simply too much.
"Urk!"
Even as Alize and Cloyang spoke, the merchant's convulsions showed no sign of stopping.
If anything, they were getting worse.
His entire face had flushed beet red, and hideous hives were erupting across his body.
It was a vivid demonstration of just how terrifying the brainwashing magic truly was.
"Sigh, guess there's no helping it then."
Alize frowned in dissatisfaction and swiftly drew a dagger from Cloyang's forearm.
"Borrowing this for a sec."
With that, she slashed the merchant's throat.
Splurt!
His neck was deeply gashed, and his body finally crumpled.
It might seem cruel, but for someone already on the brink of death, it was an act of mercy.
"A wise choice."
Ruyan nodded approvingly at Alize's bold decision.
But Alize still chewed her lip in frustration before clapping her hands to draw everyone's attention.
"Listen up! Ruyan, keep watch on the perimeter. Twins, erase the traces."
At Alize's command, Eric and Eddie sprang into action.
Having grasped the gravity of the situation, they moved with uncharacteristic silence.
"Cloyang, you're with me on body disposal."
Alize took the lead toward the corpse, and Cloyang hurried after her.
She's quick on her feet despite the panic. Impressive judgment.
Ruyan found himself admiring Alize's handling of the crisis.
Incompetents would waste time pondering who was behind it all.
But the truth was the opposite.
Hiding yourself came before uncovering the enemy.
Leaving not even a speck of evidence for the foe—that was the only way to start on equal footing.
Well, she's something of an expert in that arena, I suppose.
Ruyan expanded his senses to guard the surroundings while quietly observing Alize.
In the meantime, she was rummaging through the merchants' belongings for anything incriminating.
As expected, no identification turned up.
All that came from their pockets were a few silver coins and miscellaneous daily items.
Alize pocketed only the silver and returned the rest to the merchants.
"Alize, check this out."
Cloyang, who had been searching the mage's body, pulled out a pitch-black ring.
"This ring's a magic item."
"Probably the one Ruyan mentioned. The kind that hides mana."
"What do we do with it?"
"Leave it be. Too dangerous."
It had fooled even Ruyan's senses, if only briefly—an exquisitely crafted item.
It was undoubtedly worth a fortune.
Yet Alize shook her head firmly, without a trace of greed.
A leader who let petty desires endanger her crew was unfit for the role.
"Keep looking. This guy's bound to have something."
Alize and Cloyang set the ring aside and continued searching the mage's corpse.
Alize's intuition struck true once more.
She eventually found a small box tucked inside the mage's cloak.
"Doesn't look ordinary at all."
"Yeah. Gives off a seriously creepy vibe just looking at it."
Alize and Cloyang exchanged glances and nodded slowly.
"Can't just leave it unopened, huh?"
Alize carefully broke the seal on the box.
Click.
The box opened, and a single orb rolled out.
Slightly smaller than a fist, it was a dull black with no luster whatsoever.
"This is... a mana stone?"
Mana stone. An orb capable of storing mana artificially.
To mages, who treated mana like life itself, it was treasure beyond measure.
"But normal mana stones aren't this dark in color..."
Each academy had its own mana hue, but Alize had never seen a black one radiating such ominous vibes.
"Cloyang, ever heard of a magic academy that uses mana this color?"
"Nope. First time for me too."
Cloyang's expression grew grave as he tilted his head.
At that moment, Ruyan's eyes flashed from where he watched at a distance.
That...
To him, it was naturally unfamiliar. Ruyan didn't even know what mana stones were for.
But the energy seeping from that black orb—he recognized it instantly.
It's that energy from before!
A few days prior, the mysterious assailant who had suddenly appeared to attack Cloyang.
The phantom that vanished despite an arrow piercing its brow.
Not a perfect match, but damn close.
Ruyan hadn't forgotten that sensation. It had sent chills racing through him.
But this time, the ominous aura didn't end there.
The moment the mana stone rolled free from the box, disaster struck.
Black mana spread outward—subtly, yet swiftly.
As if calling to someone.
Too late to stop it now.
By the time Ruyan hesitated, the mana had already dispersed far and wide.
If my guess is right...
It's coming!
Ruyan strode toward Alize without another thought.
"Hand me that orb."
"Huh? Why all of a sudden?"
"No time to explain. I'll tell you after."
Speaking like it was a done deal, Ruyan snatched the orb from Alize's hand.
Then he kicked off the ground with all his might.
Need to draw it as far away as possible.
He'd barely escaped it once himself—the foe was no pushover.
Getting Alize's mercenary group involved could be fatal.
Whoosh.
With each powerful thrust of his legs, Ruyan's body shot forward like an arrow up the mountain.
An overwhelming movement that left no afterimages. Incredible speed.
Yet Ruyan's face remained tense.
It's caught up!
Incredibly, 'it' was faster than Ruyan.
Fwoosh.
A pitch-black figure abruptly erupted right in front of him.
How is this possible?
It had appeared out of nowhere, just like before. As if dropped from the sky.
Witnessing it firsthand left Ruyan even more baffled.
"Chiiik! Dangerous human!"
The black figure bellowed as soon as it appeared, raising its hand high.
A skeleton?
Having finally glimpsed 'it', Ruyan scowled deeply.
A grotesque monster, stripped to bare bones without a shred of rotting flesh.
Never human to begin with.
Its thick bones and massive frame made that clear.
I've heard of undead, but this thing...
Ruyan had studied magic, so he knew of black magic's existence.
But this skeleton was no lowly wraith summoned by amateur necromancy.
It wields tremendous mana.
This was no foe to underestimate.
As Ruyan sized it up, the orc lich clenched its raised fist tightly.
"Dangerous. Kill! Chiiik."
With the orc lich's roar, mana erupted violently.
At the same instant, ten flaming spears encircled Ruyan and materialized.
Flame Spear (6th Circle)
x10 Spears | Instant Cast | No Chant
Roar.
The intense heat radiating from the flaming spears scorched the air around them.
Flame Spear!
A spell Ruyan knew well.
A desperate trump card unleashed by Alex, the Brighton Academy's northern branch head.
Ten high-rank flaming spears!
And the orc lich required no preparation time.
Archmage!
This was the might of a 6th Circle mage.
The spears plunged toward Ruyan the instant they formed.
Boom!
There was no room to dodge. Flames filled every direction and exploded, devouring the world in an instant.
The blasts didn't stop at one.
The fire shifted from crimson to blinding white, shredding the atmosphere with razor-sharp tongues.
Rumble.
The merciless bombardment left not even an ant unscathed, incinerating everything.
"Chiiik, I do not die."
Dark gleams poured from the orc lich's hollow skull.
Even after unleashing this catastrophe, it wasn't satisfied.
"Kill."
The orc lich spread its hand wide, then clenched it again.
Whoosh.
An enormous gust immediately howled to life.
Tornado (6th Circle)
Catastrophic Storm | Wide-Area Devastation
Tornado!
A horrifying spell that summoned gales to pulverize vast areas without mercy.
A 6th Circle natural disaster only an archmage could invoke had descended.
Rumble rumble.
The ground split, boulders floated skyward, trees were uprooted and flung about.
And amid the chaos, searing heat seeped in. White flames began spiraling within the winds.
Fwoosh.
If the world met its end, surely it would start here.
Kaboom!
A wasteland rejecting all life.
In that majestic hellscape, only the orc lich stood unscathed.
"Chiiik, I am special!"
The orc lich's metallic rasp echoed wildly on the winds.
-Special. Special.
The voice reverberated everywhere, pressing down with divine weight, like a proclamation from the gods.
But...
"Such arrogance."
A detached, indifferent voice cut in casually.
Swish.
A subtle shockwave skimmed the ground and spread outward.
The winds touching it vanished instantly; the flames withered to nothing.
Fwoop.
Silence returned.
At its center stood Ruyan, utterly unmarred, hands clasped behind his back.
"You insignificant pest have overstepped."
All he had done was stomp lightly once.
With overwhelming inner force, he dominated the space, erasing every whisper of wind and speck of air.
"Even the Blood Cult beyond the borders wielded no such vicious power."
Fresh breezes and air filtered back in, ruffling Ruyan's hair refreshingly.
Ruyan raised his hand lightly, mirroring the orc lich.
"A flawed existence. Thus, I shall end you."
As Ruyan tightened his fingers like gripping a doorknob, the orc lich's body floated up.
It was swiftly drawn toward his hand.
Air Grasp!
Even peak masters struggled to pull a mere pebble with this technique.
Yet Ruyan effortlessly yanked an entire massive creature.
As if it were nothing.
"Chiiiik!"
The orc lich belatedly tried to resist, but to no avail.
Immense inner force enveloped it completely, impossible to defy.
"Blink!"
Desperate, the orc lich revealed its final ace.
Even for it, casting a 6th Circle spell in an instant was no small feat.
Fizzle.
Its form blurred and scattered into the air.
"Your parlor tricks end here."
Of course, Ruyan wasn't about to let it escape.
He poured more power into his gripping hand, and the dispersing lich solidified once more.
His inner force had sealed the space around it completely.
"Chiiik!"
Helplessly dragged in, the orc lich's neck was seized in Ruyan's iron grip.
Thud.
"Perish. Ignite."
Divine Flames of Annihilation
No Remnants | Instant Incineration
A flat death sentence, devoid of inflection.
Normally, 'Ignite' was a mere 2nd Circle ignition spell, but Ruyan's was different.
Flames of utter destruction, leaving nothing behind!
Golden fire flickered to life, then leaped onto the orc lich in a flash.
"Kraaaak!"
The orc lich screamed, mustering all its mana to resist.
Futile, of course.
Roar.
Its black mana melted into the blaze; soon, even its bones began to drip away.
Not even a 6th Circle archmage could stand against Ruyan's magic.
The orc lich thrashed to the end, bellowing.
"Chiiik! I do not d—"
But it couldn't finish. Its body had already crumbled to ash and scattered.
A wasteland of cinders.
Amid the ruins of devastation, only the Divine Bow stood firm on steady feet.