Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Perfect Annihilation
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Loan said nothing, assessing the situation.
The middle-aged swordsman from Nostra was greeting him like an old friend.
Their last encounter had proven he was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
Though it had been a simplified version, he had brute-forced his way through the [Sphere of the Void] and pushed Loan to his limit.
Judging by that fight alone, Loan would have to admit he was on the losing end.
But there was another person who seemed to be on a similar level. She was hanging back a step, observing the situation.
And there were two hostages.
Overall, their numbers were greater.
Outside the banquet hall, the Union and the knight order had the overwhelming advantage, but it was a different story in here.
Loan sought Tethys’s consent before slowly opening his mouth.
"It's always appreciated when the villain comes to you."
"Haha. Are our minds in sync? I was also hoping you might come here."
"But taking hostages after all that? Isn't that a bit beneath you?"
"Ah, now don't get the wrong idea. This is just some insurance to make sure you don't run away."
He wasn't being sarcastic.
It was as if he were teaching.
Loan didn't like his relaxed demeanor, but he had to say the obvious.
"I had other objectives last time. My goal now is to kill you, so let those two go."
"I don't know. Your attitude was trash then, and it's trash now. Your personality is utter garbage. How am I supposed to trust you?"
"My personality? More importantly, is a Grave qualified to lecture anyone on personality?"
Loan asked, genuinely surprised.
Even for a Grave, no one with a shred of intelligence could say something like that.
"A true adult calls out what's wrong. Of course, I found there was a reason for your arrogance. The youngest to ever become a Runner, a mage coveted even by Schwerin, a key player in Varcino and Ferrara."
"I didn't realize you were so interested in me."
"It's because I was so disappointed I let you get away that day. I didn't get to teach you a lesson."
He smiled brightly.
He seemed to have considerable confidence in his own skills.
"Enzo. You're awfully talkative today."
The woman who had been silently staring at Loan from behind him spoke reproachfully.
She wore an incredibly listless expression, as if everything was a bother. Her posture was also quite slouchy.
The man called Enzo winked at the woman, then turned back to Loan.
"Delia, it always feels so good when you say my name. This friend here, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about my name at all."
"I still don't. Enzo."
At Loan's reply, Enzo grinned and jerked his head toward the woman.
"That's Delia. You're Loan. And your friend with the scary eyes is…"
"Tethys."
"Great. Then I'll take on Loan, and Tethys can take on Delia. How does that sound, everyone?"
Bagelis of the knight order was completely ignored, but he didn't complain.
Tethys spoke.
"Loan. Enzo and Delia are Nostra's Caporegimes. Think of them as lieutenants. You can consider their martial prowess to be above that of a Runner. So, rather than fighting alone, you should work with Aldo and Luigi here…"
"No, no, no. You heard me."
Enzo cut her off, tilting his head toward the back.
His men lightly pricked the necks of Philippa and the Duke with the tips of their blades.
A trickle of blood ran down, but Philippa's expression remained vacant.
"Loan is fighting me. No exceptions. If you don't like it, these two die."
Without taking her eyes off the smiling Enzo, Tethys spoke.
"Loan. This is not a situation where we can afford to consider the hostages' safety. If a joint attack isn't feasible, just buying some time is fine."
"It's alright, senior. I think I can handle it."
With that, Loan released the Convection that had been trapping Bella.
The necklace had been drawing in mana ceaselessly for a while now.
He used the clumped mana to thickly reinforce the Convection.
It was naturally lacking compared to the wheat fields or the underground city.
But compared to his last fight using Aul's mana crystal, his mana level was about the same while his recovery rate was far superior. This was manageable.
"That's more like it. You look better. If you're thinking of pulling any funny business to save those two, you'd better stop. These guys have sharp instincts; they'll slit their throats the moment they sense something's off."
"Worry about yourself."
"Alright. Don't you need that cute owl from before? It looked like you were performing some kind of ritual."
"That would make things too boring."
"Then, le-let's begin."
*Shing—*
With a disarming jest, Enzo lunged forward.
The vast banquet hall suddenly felt very small.
Loan moved to meet Enzo, ensuring there would be no collateral damage.
A momentary Narrow Path.
The unexpectedly closed distance made Enzo's sword strike a fraction of a second slower.
In that opening.
Loan fired all eleven Shevilles at point-blank range.
Even a swordsman who had dedicated his life to the art of drawing the blade couldn't have done this, let alone with eleven swords. It was no different from throwing hidden weapons right in his face.
And yet, in that instant, Enzo readjusted his grip and spun on the spot.
*Kla-kla-kla-klang—!*
The close range and simple trajectories had allowed him to block them by a stroke of luck.
Without stopping, Enzo channeled the rotational force into the tip of his sword and thrust.
Loan activated his Domain, disrupting the sword's path.
He immediately followed with a [Fire Burst] to the man's chest.
As Enzo was pushed back by the recoil, Loan summoned [Bone Thorns] from the floor beneath him, aiming for his groin.
But Enzo dodged even that with his footwork and chuckled in disbelief.
"Heh, heheh. What the hell? Why is a mage so good at close combat?"
Enzo, who had rushed in assuming Loan would try to flee, couldn't hide his bewilderment.
Loan was intrigued for a different reason.
*‘This feels good.’*
Loan glanced at Tethys, who was pushing Delia back.
It seemed she was deliberately unleashing destructive attacks to create distance for Loan.
With a sense of gratitude for her consideration, Loan readjusted his stance.
In that time, his mana had fully recovered.
They clashed again.
Loan relentlessly unleashed the inspirations that came to him on the spot.
Ice, fire, water, and earth clumped, exploded, surged, and blazed, pressing down on Enzo.
He unleashed a torrent of magic, extended his Convection, and closed the distance with the Narrow Path to establish his Domain.
As Enzo's suit was torn and scorched into a sorry state.
*‘This is fun.’*
His heart fluttered with the feeling of unwrapping a bundle of old presents all at once.
In his youth, with his limited mana, he had spent long years studying only theory.
He had understood most elemental magic, stored it in his mind, and reinterpreted it in his own way, but he never had the opportunity or leeway to actually unleash it.
But now, he could freely wield 2nd-class magic without any hindrance.
Breathing mana while moving, solidifying the flow through circulation.
That had been his only method from the very beginning.
*‘But it's enough for now.’*
Loan immersed himself in the battle, finding solace in the fact that his past years had not been in vain.
Enzo was dumbfounded.
"How is this… endless…"
Mages were usually easy to deal with, as long as you watched out for that one big spell.
Their slow casting, poor mana efficiency, and physical limitations made one-on-one, let alone close-quarters, combat unthinkable for them.
But Loan was defying all that common sense.
*‘This shouldn't be possible.’*
Watching Loan endlessly pour out magic, Enzo suspected his mana pool might be infinite.
He even wondered if Loan had really been holding back that day.
The unpredictable magical attacks were a problem, and the sword fragments flying around from every direction were a nuisance, but the bigger issue was the invisible attacks.
His signature moves, for some reason, went in unintended directions, and his posture was strangely thrown off.
He'd turned his head to dodge a fire, and one of his ears was sliced off, but he didn't know what had cut it.
He'd retreated to avoid a surge of bone thorns, and a chunk of his side was gouged out, but he hadn't seen what did it.
Right now.
His apparent age, his accumulated experience, the martial rankings set by the world—they were all utterly meaningless.
Enzo was afraid.
*‘I have to at least break his momentum…’*
He had to suppress the momentum of that faintly smiling boy who was unleashing such a savage assault. Only then would he find an opening to turn the tables.
This was a moment that called for an event to break his spirit, rather than a hostage to be used later.
Enzo suddenly created a large distance between himself and Loan, glancing at Delia.
She wasn't faring much better. She was being overwhelmed by Tethys.
They weren't on a similar level.
A Seeker from the Union was never an opponent they could have handled from the start.
So, one way or another, there was only one option.
Enzo dodged the pursuing Loan once more, retreating backward.
"Wait, wait, wait!"
He shouted desperately and gripped his sword in a reverse hold.
The tip of the blade pierced through the edge of Duke Silas's shoulder.
"Gah!"
At the Duke's cry, Loan's hands, feet, and mind came to a halt.
Tethys and Delia did the same.
Enzo spoke.
"Ah, this is driving me crazy. Where the hell did a monster like you come from? There has to be a limit! You crazy bastard, you're just getting high on your own fight, not even thinking about the hostages' safety, huh? A normal human being shouldn't act like this, I'm telling you!"
It was just like before. When flustered or at a disadvantage, his words became illogical and coarse.
He roared, veins popping on his neck.
"You think I'm just bluffing? Kill that one."
Between the Duke and his niece, the Duke was obviously the more valuable hostage.
To break his opponent's momentum and catch his breath, he had no choice but to kill one of them.
At his command, the Nostra member's hand moved swiftly.
Before Loan could extend his Narrow Path or use Convection to stop his hand, a dagger was drawn across Philippa's neck.
*Screeeech—*
An unfitting sound came from Philippa's neck. Not from within, but from the surface.
"Ugh!"
This time, it was the Nostra member who suddenly stood bolt upright. Bloody foam frothed from his mouth.
Philippa's hand-blade was buried deep in the man's side.
Her body half-turned to wood, she smiled brightly at Loan.
"I'm right here."
Loan glanced back to see Bella collapsed against the wall.
In that split second, it had entered Philippa's body.
He had never imagined he would receive help from a demon.
And he suddenly realized he had momentarily forgotten why a demon was a demon.
*‘That thing…’*
Loan felt a premonition and extended his Narrow Path to the fallen Bella, closing the distance.
He immediately enveloped himself and Bella in the [Sphere of the Void].
But the demon that had moved to Philippa already had its attention fixed elsewhere.
"You know, the more I watch you, the more useful you seem. If you team up with me, we could totally take on that little kid, you know?"
She said, speaking to Enzo.
"What?"
The moment Enzo questioned her, Philippa lunged into his arms.
Enzo pulled the sword from the Duke's shoulder and slashed at Philippa, but she was slightly faster.
The hand-blade of the now-decapitated Philippa was lodged in Enzo's thigh.
As black mana flowed back into his body.
"Nngh…"
Bella's collapsed body twitched once more, then went limp.
At the same instant, Loan switched the 'Sphere' to an 'Arc'—
—and poured every last drop of his mana toward the demon that was once Amy, then Mirka, then Bella, then briefly Philippa, and was now trying to become Enzo.
"Loan, from now on, I'm a man—"
Tens of thousands of invisible, microfiber Convections shot out, leaving faint, whitish afterimages in the air.
*KWAAAAANG—!*
In an instant, they erased Enzo's words and his body, leaving a crimson shadow on the back wall.
Perfect annihilation.
Not even a head remained.
It left not even the slightest possibility of the demon transferring elsewhere.
Loan decided he would have to postpone his plan to reform the demon for another time.