Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 032
Chapter Title: Bad Fate
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A thunderbolt reminiscent of sunlight struck true, scattering flashes across the sky.
The entrance was pulverized in an instant amid a shockwave that could deafen anyone.
Looking up, yellow currents fluttered like snowflakes through the shattered ceiling.
And standing alone in the midst of it all was one man: Kyle Clark.
Ridge, the freckled woman, trembled at the unbelievable sight before her eyes.
'H...how?'
Mana Drain wasn't an ability without counters.
Heterodox mages might have been helpless, but with a pre-prepared ritual to reverse mana flow through protective spells, one could minimize the stolen power.
But the man before her hadn't overcome it with such tricks.
-You... why won't you run out?
She recalled the enemy's panicked face as mana endlessly poured out despite endless absorption.
To Ridge, it was a cultural shock.
'In other words, that guy...'
He'd crushed the trash who toyed with others through overconfidence in his ability, purely through overwhelming force.
If you trust your power that much, then let's see you endure to the end with it.
'...It must have been excruciating.'
The more mana a mage cultivated and internalized through training, the more agonizing it was to have it forcibly ripped away.
That impossible volume of mana.
No matter how innately gifted, no one reached such levels without brutal training.
His body must have been accustomed to that vast mana.
Yet he hadn't shown a hint of pain.
He couldn't move a step from that spot because of them, so he'd simply endured in silence.
Any sign of weakness, any falter in dominance, and the elves might boldly turn their blades on them.
Unbidden, Ridge recalled a certain mage's silhouette from a magic tome she'd read as a child.
The one who silently protected the suffering masses amid swirling snowflakes in an age of chaos.
'...The Mage of Beginnings.'
At that moment, he turned to look at them.
'Ah, damn it.'
I couldn't help but wince at the ceiling that had flown off so spectacularly.
Blood rushed to my head in the moment, and I'd overdone it.
Thunderbolt inside the house, of all things.
'If I'm gonna wreck my own place, I'd rather do it myself—not like that.'
Still, it seemed visually striking enough.
The elves encircling us had scampered back in fear.
Of course, even with blood boiling, I hadn't lost reason like in Sector 5 at this range.
I turned to Mary Fleetwood's companion.
She was barely holding on, drenched in sweat from head to toe.
Mana Drain apparently hurt worse the more rigorous one's mana training.
As a Mage Tower sorceress, it must have been torture for her.
'Honestly, mine's infinite because I'm immortal.'
No real training, and long desensitized to pain, so I was fine—but she wasn't.
'She endured purely on her resolve to protect the young lady.'
Truly impressive mental fortitude.
"...You okay?"
The freckled girl, who'd been staring blankly at me, belatedly nodded.
"Y-yeah... Just lost a ton of mana..."
"Glad to hear it."
But it wasn't over yet.
Mana Drain whatever was charcoal now, but elves still lurked outside.
"What's your name?"
"Uh, R-Ridge. Ridge McClaire."
"McClaire, take Fleetwood to the back room. We're not done."
Ridge nodded immediately.
I glanced down at Fleetwood's corpse-like pallor and said,
"You brought the magic artifact today, right? If things look dicey, just use it."
"Got it."
Skill points mattered less than lives, after all.
As I stood, she spoke up.
"Um..."
"...?"
"B-be careful out there."
Caught off-guard by the unexpected words, I chuckled.
"Worry about yourself more than—"
"Ah."
"But thanks for the concern."
Honestly, surprising.
I'd figured Mage Tower folk were all unhinged.
'Turns out there's normal ones too...'
Mary Fleetwood was shattering my image of the Tower left and right.
With that, I leaped up through the broken ceiling.
Presences flinched around me.
I scanned the gazes and asked,
"Not coming?"
Plasma cutters ignited from the darkness in response, lashing out.
"Fine, I'll come to you."
"?!"
The elf's eyes bulged at my sudden appearance before him.
I seized his nape and triggered the skill again.
Krzzzzzt! Lightning erupted, electrocuting the elf's body.
"Grraaagh...!"
But he endured, swinging his plasma cutter again.
I dodged with Wereking Step and tilted my head.
"Hm?"
Elves had high implant rates, making them vulnerable to lightning magic.
Lowest Bolt alone should have fried him.
Then I noticed their gear.
'Ah, protective suits?'
They'd come prepared for lightning.
'Fine, burn 'em then.'
I Wereking Stepped behind him and thrust my hand toward his back.
A fireball erupted, incinerating him in a flash.
"Kwah?!"
Lightning followed through the charred suit.
Krzzzzzzt!
"Aaaaaagh!!"
Boom!
His body finally exploded properly.
This was why multi-element was broken.
Suits handling fire and lightning simultaneously weren't cheap streetware.
The other elves' presences turned frantic.
With Mana Drain in play, facing a dual fire-lightning mage solo wasn't in their plans.
"No choice now...!"
The leader barked,
"Everyone, bind his feet!"
Plasma whips surged toward me.
I narrowed my eyes.
'What's their game?'
I Wereking Stepped forward, weaving through the whip-wielders.
"Over here!"
"Bind him at any cost!"
"Aaaagh!!"
Another elf downed by fire-lightning combo.
But whips flew from all sides again, and I thought,
'Gotta take the leader first.'
I kicked off toward the elf issuing orders.
"!?"
As expected of the boss—he left an afterimage, swiftly widening the gap.
I quickly summoned a thunder spear in my hand.
Krzzzt! Boom—!
He twisted away from the uncharged shot.
"Where you going?"
"...!"
Already behind him, I grabbed his nape and chained skills.
"Graaaaaah!!"
Blue lightning lit the early evening sky.
But I froze.
"You...?"
"Got you."
Incredibly, he'd endured the magic and bound my waist with a plasma whip.
The leader yanked hard and shouted somewhere.
"Now!!"
A kilometer from the shantytown.
An elf sniper on a rooftop exhaled two-thirds of his held breath.
His scope locked onto the Mafia Butcher's head.
Urgent radio chatter buzzed in his ear.
Trajectory predicted, eye display flashed.
No hesitation—he pulled the trigger.
Baaaaang—!!
His shoulder bucked with the roar.
The large-caliber round screamed across the city, set to explode the Butcher's head bound by the whip.
Or so it should have.
"!?"
The stunned elf raised his head from the scope.
"What the...!"
The bullet that should've blown off the Butcher's head hung frozen before him, as if caught by invisible hands.
"What the hell is that...?"
Then, impossibly, the halted round reversed direction.
Through the scope, it arced straight back at him—the elf's eyes widened in horror.
"!!"
Baaaaang—!!
The bullet retraced its path perfectly, shattering the scope and his skull.
"......"
"......"
Even I was speechless at the absurd scene, as was the leader elf.
A sniper round suddenly hurtled toward me.
It stopped dead, then bizarrely shot off elsewhere.
A witnessing elf stammered with trembling eyes,
"Alpha."
"Alpha, respond."
"Alpha!!"
"What the hell...?"
What just happened?
Then the captive leader stared at me in disbelief.
"You... how did you...?"
Following his gaze, I flinched.
Something formless swirled silently before me.
'This is...?'
Wind?
"!!"
The leader shouted,
"You... how do you command the ancient winds?!"
Oh, right.
I glanced at him with realization.
'These guys are elves, huh?'
No surprise they knew about it.
He looked utterly shocked.
"How can a human... wield the world tree's essence, lost centuries ago...?"
Regaining composure as if piecing it together, he spoke calmly.
"All units, abandon the contract and retreat immediately."
"You..."
"...Butcher. There's one thing you should know."
He pressed his implant's muzzle to his temple.
"The Mafia Summit hired us and orchestrated your assassination."
"...!"
"Their boss—the 'Godfather.'"
With that, he pulled the trigger.
Baaaaang—!!
"......"
His head exploded, body slumping lifeless.
His subordinates exchanged glances and fled.
"R-retreat!"
"Fall back!"
"Hurry!"
I didn't bother chasing.
Instead, I muttered at the dead leader's corpse.
"Godfather, huh...?"
Don Carnera—the most revered name in mafia circles.
Behind his dignity and refinement lurked ruthless cruelty and cunning, building the Carnera Family into the 8th Special District's largest outfit.
A name heard more than councilmen's in these streets.
'That man deliberately tried to kill me?'
Why?
My fist clenched involuntarily.
Maybe the reason didn't matter.
Did my sister's mafia killers have some grand motive?
No.
The 8th Special District—this underworld—was like that from the start.
Any "reason" would be petty, pathetic, unbelievable.
What mattered was he'd tried to kill me.
That alone.
At that thought, my mind cooled to ice.
"Mafia..."
I let out a hollow laugh.
...Truly an exhausting bad fate.
Meanwhile, Mage Tower knight Luis, who'd witnessed the entire fight, was speechless.
The Sage's voice echoed in his ear.
"......"
"...! Yes, Sage."
"...Understood."
In the pitch-black summit chamber of the Mage Tower.
"...As you saw through my eyes."
The Sage, who'd observed via Luis's "eye," turned.
"What say you, elders?"
The old archmages gazing from the shadows fell silent in unison.
"......"