Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Arc of the Void
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Boris was silent.
The interpretation of mana's properties was so alien that he couldn't grasp even half of the explanation, yet the phenomenon itself was too perfect to deny the result.
It made no sense.
How could a mere human manage such a feat?
After a moment of stunned silence, Boris could no longer hold back and asked.
"How did you figure that out?"
Loan turned his head slightly, showing his displeasure.
"Hmm… As a mage, that question crosses a line."
It was no different from asking him to teach his unique magic.
Worse, he was asking to be taught the very method used to overcome his own magic.
"Well, I don't know how things are for demons, but on our side, that's an incredibly shameless thing to ask. It's something you should apologize for."
"…"
Boris once again ground the few teeth he had left and spat out the fragments.
Even demons felt shame. Among them, the nature of mages was no different from that of humans.
However, his principles didn't extend to offering an apology.
Loan said.
"In any case, this pendant will continue to gather mana. You could think of it as a mana-magnetic body. If you add a magic circle to further refine its properties and enhance its magnetism, it will draw in a larger amount in less time. It'll be quite useful in a real fight. In short."
Loan extracted the messy clumps of metal dust clinging to the pendant, set them aside, and materialized the condensing mana into a single mass.
"You can use this mass of magical power for recovery or as the core for an attack spell. Isn't your fighting style based on condensing magical power externally and then transforming its shape?"
"Isn't that obvious? My method of mana manipulation was created out of that very need."
Only then did Boris gather magical power around his severed arm and reattach it as he had before.
It was still a crude job, the connection point still a mess.
This made him look even more grotesque, highlighting his demonic appearance.
Loan spoke again, his voice filled with admiration.
"To conceive and create magic without understanding its essence shows considerable talent. It's an achievement impossible for someone with a poor imagination. You must have been a pretty capable mage, even among demons."
"Ha, haha, hahahahaha!"
Boris laughed for a long time.
He even clutched his stomach, cackling as if he'd never heard anything so funny in his life, before collapsing to the floor.
He barely managed to catch his breath and said.
"How amusing. Among all demons, I can count those who can rival me in magic on one hand. You must be the only one in the world who would treat the Grand Magus Nabel this way. And a young pup of a human, at that."
"Nabel. I suppose that's short for your real name. But calling yourself 'Grand Magus' is a bit embarrassing. Demons really are shameless, it seems."
"…"
"Ah, the name? Don't worry about it. They say a demon's true name is necessary for purification, but when there's no need for that, killing them is enough."
"You seem quite confident."
"I was confident from the start, but now you could say it's grown even more. Just like this."
The mass of magical power floating in the air had snowballed in size.
Even while they were talking, it had been steadily drawing in mana and growing larger.
Loan smoothly brought the floating pendant over to himself and attached it to his necklace.
Then he lightly stroked the mass of magical power and said.
"Shall we begin?"
Suddenly, the mass of magical power left Loan's fingertips, transforming into a wave from a furnace and surging toward Boris.
He had used it all at once.
*Rumble—*
The size and destructive power of the magic were immense, but more than that, it was a spell on par with the 4th Circle from the very start, as he had blended the properties of liquid into the flames and controlled it through sheer will.
Without hesitation, Boris dropped to one knee, planting his crudely attached arm on the floor.
Just as it seemed the entire area would become a sea of fire.
*Crack- Craaack—!*
Huge, white bones, resembling the ribs of a giant, burst through the floor in overlapping layers, blocking and scattering the flames that were about to engulf Boris.
Boris said with a grin.
"Did I mention it? My specialty."
Loan answered by immediately launching his Shevilles.
"No. You don't have to. I can tell just by looking."
"…"
"That magic just now was closer to summoning than materialization."
"Correct. You guessed it. I use the magical power I've accumulated externally as an offering each time."
"Yep. You were sneakily building up a lot of it while we talked."
As soon as Loan finished speaking, a giant old woman, her body mutilated to the point of being in tatters, shot up from behind Boris and wrapped around him as if to shield him.
*Thwack- Thwack- Thwack-!*
All eleven Shevilles embedded themselves in the old woman's back, but she didn't seem to feel any pain.
It was the same even when flesh tore and black holes appeared as the Shevilles were retrieved.
Unfazed, Loan had the Shevilles hover near the old woman's head, then sent several strands of crystallized Convection toward her.
They shot out sharply, poised to slice through Boris as well, but suddenly Boris's hand appeared through a gap at the old woman's shoulder.
Skeletons began to burst from the ground all around Loan.
At the same time, the old woman's body was torn to shreds.
Inside, Boris had wrapped himself in the old woman's entrails, barely escaping the damage.
*Creeaak-*
Now, Loan had to deal with his immediate surroundings.
The dry joints of skeleton warriors shrieked as they swarmed him all at once.
They began to strike with the weapons they each held, their ferocity rivaling that of skilled swordsmen.
Without faltering, Loan manifested the [Sphere of the Void].
Its power and size were on a completely different level from any sphere he had created before.
It wasn't merely isolating him from the outside with Convection; each individual strand possessed the force of a storm, pulling in the skeletons, shattering them to pieces, then crushing them into dust.
In an instant, dozens of skeleton warriors vanished.
Concealed within the grayish-white sphere, Loan walked forward, step by step.
The level of magic exchanged between them was exceptionally high.
Loan was inwardly enjoying himself, and he was sure his opponent was as well.
That was why neither of them grew impatient, even when there were lulls between attacks.
It was a subtle way of showing their desire to see more of the other's magic.
But it seemed they were the only two who thought that way.
"No, do as I told you!"
Boris suddenly screamed.
His outburst made Loan stop in his tracks.
That emotion clearly belonged to the body's original owner.
He could feel the anger, the impatience. And even desperation.
That voice convinced Loan that the original Boris could never go back to being human, and that he had no desire to.
As if to prove it, the voice, filled with raw emotion, cried out once more.
"We had a contract!"
But that was all.
Boris, who had frozen with his mouth shaped in a scream, slowly closed it and gave a bitter smile.
"Well now… he was a stubborn one. This must be what they mean by having a noisy conscience. But a contract is a contract, so I can't just ignore it."
With that, he slowly raised both arms.
The length of his arms was slightly different, but that didn't seem to matter.
"The secret arts of Rhodes… I suppose it's something like this."
Magical power spiraled upward, centering on Boris.
The sight of him releasing his contained power all at once slightly raised Loan's guard.
In that moment, sounds of *pop, clang, screech*—of metal grinding against metal, connections shattering, and gaps widening—began to fill the hall.
Loan lifted his head toward the source of the sounds.
His original body. All the restraints that had been binding the massive, three-headed crow-like form shattered.
*K-K-K-K-K-K-K-K-.*
And all at once, they began to rain down on him.
Not in a free fall, but each piece with a clear, common destination.
The sight was reminiscent of some curse, as if a blacksmith god had unleashed his fury in a downpour of ironwork.
A spell of considerable power.
At a glance, its destructive force seemed to rival Magda's Meteor.
To wield such power with what was essentially telekinesis was, if anything, even more impressive.
‘Did he really want to use that technique to beat me that badly?’
Remembering the Boris who had asked him to teach him magic, Loan couldn't hide the bitterness he felt.
At the same time, he was angered by the foolishness of a man who couldn't control his desires and made a pact with a demon.
How arrogant must the real Boris be, watching this scene unfold?
‘That won't do.’
Loan observed the mana of the various objects pouring down beyond his grayish-white sphere.
And he altered the [Sphere of the Void].
In a flash.
With two points as its axis, the Convection spread out like an umbrella, completely covering Loan's front.
The magical power that had been compressed and contained within the sphere was released all at once, trying to expand in every direction.
But Loan's necklace controlled it.
It wasn't controlled by overwhelming force.
Rather, the angle formed by the two anchor points and the necklace, the distance between the unfurled mana and the necklace, the spacing between each stream of mana, and their interactions all came together to create an exquisite balance of checks and control.
‘Infinite Void, Second Form: Arc of the Void.’
A fan-shaped, grayish-white barrier spread out before him. Raining down upon it were countless objects that evoked destruction and ruin.
*Woooooong—*
Confirming that the condensation of power had reached its limit, Loan—
constructed a minute domain around the necklace, cutting off its magnetism—
and the moment the taut control over the magical power snapped—
tens of thousands of strands of Convection were unleashed at once, shooting toward the sky.
Immediately, two swarms of incredible scale clashed in midair.
*Kwakwakwa- Kwang-Kwang—!*
Those with physical form were turned to dust, and those without absorbed that dust, arcing through the air before pouring down to the floor.
Now, bundles of Convection, turned from grayish-white to gray, filled Boris's vision.
"What… is this."
"Wouldn't you say this is what it truly means to blot out the world with projectiles?"
And then, penetration.
The strands of Convection riddled Boris's body.
Holes too dense to be seen with the naked eye were carved into him without any space between them; his body couldn't possibly remain intact.
In an instant, Boris's body was erased, leaving only his head behind.
Boris's head rolled to a stop at Loan's feet.
His wide-open eyes spoke of how shocking the last spell he witnessed had been.
"Your name?"
For the same reason, his trembling lips slowly parted. A sound barely managed to escape.
"Naberius."
"I've learned a lot, thanks to you."
"How did you do that…"
"I won't be teaching you, demon."
Understanding nothing in the end, the demon Naberius was trapped inside Boris's head.
Loan found the outcome bitter.
That it had been irreversible.
He had once been a senior at the Union, after all. For the man who had admired him so much, Loan offered a moment of silent prayer, conveying his sorrow.
And then he spoke.
"If you're done watching, come out."
From behind a large pillar, Bella hesitantly revealed herself.
She looked terrified.