Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 87
Chapter Title: Sphere of the Void
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‘Did he just want to eat it?’
But the way the man reacted to Aul was impossible to ignore.
It didn't sound like a word with any particular meaning, so perhaps it was a name.
Loan asked.
"Is its name Stoli?"
"..."
Marquis Maurice didn't answer. He didn't even spare Loan a glance.
"What? What are you doing here? Have you lost your mind?"
Instead, Maurice, spouting the very questions that should have been directed at him, suddenly dropped to all fours and began crawling toward Aul.
Clank. Clank. The sword in his hand scraped against the floor, but he paid it no mind, as if determined to speak with Aul at eye level.
The bizarre sight unsettled even the members of House Pobel.
Facing this head-on, Loan felt a chill run down his spine as the hideous mass of mana drew closer.
He quickly clutched Aul and slid back several meters. Maurice scowled and picked up his pace, crawling faster.
"What is it? Why don't you recognize me? It's me, Biple! Huh? Stoli! Stoli! Stoli! Stoli! Stoli! Stoli!"
Thus began a bizarre chase.
The members of House Albre and House Pobel, unable to lower the swords they had aimed at one another, could only follow the two figures on the dueling ground with their eyes.
They were frozen, unable to take any other action.
After all, one was the head of their house—albeit acting strangely—and the other was the benefactor who had perfected their family's secret arts.
*Thud- thud-thud!*
Loan kept his eyes on the pursuing Maurice, widening his field of vision as much as possible. Using Narrow Path, he found the optimal escape route and continued to backpedal.
Even at full speed, he couldn't shake Maurice.
Part of it was that he hadn't fully dissolved the mass of mana into his Convection, but the greater reason was that Maurice was faster than anyone Loan had ever known.
"Stoli! Stoli! Stoli! Stoliiiiii!"
And he was crazier than any creature he could have possibly imagined.
Fortunately, the dueling ground was vast, even larger than the Union's grand training hall. As long as he avoided the cliff, he could buy plenty of time.
‘But attacking him feels risky.’
He had always suspected that one day, Aul would either regain its memories or someone would recognize it.
As it happened, that day was today.
This was a chance to learn more about Aul, and about the demon possessing Maurice.
Most importantly, he had to ask if this thing was responsible for what happened to Sophie. If there was any clue to reversing her condition, he had to drag it out of him.
‘But it doesn't look like the creature is capable of a rational conversation right now.’
Weighing the situation and his options, Loan concluded that the best course of action was to incapacitate his opponent.
‘Questions could wait.’
Besides, he couldn't keep running around while holding Aul, the very thing his pursuer wanted.
The fact that his chest and palm were already soaked with the creature's drool was also becoming a problem.
Loan whispered softly to Aul.
"Go on back for now."
Aul seemed to feel tickled by Loan's breath between his fingers. It buried its head in his chest and gave its feathers a quick ruffle.
Despite the urgency of the chase, it seemed to feel no threat at all in Loan's arms.
After chirping for a moment like a hungry fledgling, Aul peeked at Maurice one last time through a gap in Loan's fingers. Then, it spun in place, leaving a few tiny footprints before vanishing completely.
"Stoli?"
The moment Aul's presence vanished, Maurice stopped and rose to his feet.
Loan faced him and slowly reached a hand toward the cliff's edge.
He let the warm updraft from the canyon dry his damp hand, synchronizing with his Convection and completely dissolving the atmospheric mana into its flow.
Now, it was time to focus completely on his opponent.
"Heh..."
As if sensing Loan's resolve, Maurice's expression suddenly went blank, and he glared intently.
It was a moment where an attack could come at any second. Loan briefly searched his memory, recalling what he needed to do.
‘I never thought the valley wind would lead to an epiphany about their secret arts. Or that it would grant me such profound insight as well.’
The secret art of House Albre, which Loan had helped them rediscover.
Their ultimate technique hadn't been lost; its absence stemmed from the misunderstanding that a key part of it was empty.
Magic was no different.
The belief that magic had reached its developmental peak existed only because people had decided it was so.
‘Swordsmanship and magic alike. If mana is their foundation, then the answer must lie within mana itself.’
Nature repeats a cycle of creation and destruction. The only constant is that nothing is constant. That is the essence of circulation.
Circulation, connection, circles, range, links, chains, domains.
His heart, constantly circulating mana throughout his body; the world, responding to his every breath to form a convection of mana; that very convection, becoming a Domain and a Narrow Path—it was all connected to nature.
Therefore, true mastery could only be achieved by conforming to these laws.
Having seen the so-called secret manual of swordsmanship, Loan now had a clearer direction for the grimoire he would one day write—a book that would enlighten mages everywhere.
‘I need to write it in a way that's easy to understand, reconstructing Convection, Domain, and Narrow Path into versatile forms of magic. But first, I'll demonstrate its culmination right here…’
Though his thoughts ran deep, they passed in the time it took Maurice to draw three harsh, inhuman breaths.
In that brief span, Loan had already condensed the Convection swirling around him, making it thick and solid.
"If you won't answer my questions, then I have no choice."
He suddenly unleashed his Shevilles.
*Swoooosh-!*
They weren't merely fast.
Eleven Shevilles, each glowing with a faint aura, flew toward Maurice along their own distinct paths.
It was like being attacked by eleven swordsmen at once, yet Maurice wasn't the least bit flustered. He simply tilted his head, watching the Shevilles approach.
"So it's you!"
With those cryptic words, Maurice met the oncoming Shevilles with a swing of his sword.
A swift strike.
Loan now understood the source of the déjà vu he felt from the man.
Franco, the Grand Commander of Libertha.
His appearance was different, but the way he wielded his sword was identical. It wasn't the swordsmanship of House Pobel.
The darkness that filled him was also similar to what he had seen in Franco during the decisive battle at Barcino.
It was just coarser in texture, its concentration far denser.
‘Then was his one eye also because of my Shevilles?’
The thought didn't quite add up, but just as it crossed his mind...
*Clang- Clang—Clang!*
The silvery blur of Maurice's sword intercepted the incoming Shevilles one by one.
Six Shevilles were knocked aside.
Loan infused the six deflected blades with his will, sending them soaring into the sky as he reinforced his Domain's barrier to its absolute limit.
*BOOM-CRASH!*
An incredible explosion erupted as the sword strikes that had broken through the Shevilles collided with the swirling storm of mana.
Maurice seemed more surprised, but that was only the beginning.
The six Shevilles that had soared high into the sky now rained down in a blinding light, while the other five closed in from the sides along unexpected trajectories—
And directly in front of Maurice.
A wisp of dust kicked up and scattered like a mirage.
In that instant, Loan appeared right before him and unleashed his Domain once more, pouring out all the atmospheric mana he had drawn from Aul in a single, focused burst.
He envisioned pouring out and weaving together every last drop of his mana, save for what was in his core.
*Vwooooom!*
Within Loan's perfect space.
Convection coiled around Maurice's entire body.
His body was stretched wide, as if bound to a rack, and he floated powerlessly into the air.
"Ugh!"
Swallowing a scream, the creature unleashed an explosion of dense, dark mana, but— *CRACK!*
It was useless. In fact...
*Shk-shk-shk-shk-shk...*
Eleven blades pierced Maurice's body, spraying faint streams of blood in every direction.
The wounds weren't fatal. They had merely severed every joint that allowed him to move.
"Gaaack!"
Droplets of crimson blood studded the currents of air swirling around Maurice and Loan.
Finally visible even to the eyes of ordinary onlookers—
a seamless sphere where beginning and end were indistinguishable—
a perfect, intricate, and beautifully woven sphere.
"..."
The jet-black light in Maurice's eyes faded, while in contrast, the sea-blue of Loan's irises shimmered with a clearer brilliance.
Loan gazed at the mana construct he had created, searing the process into his mind and heart.
The ultimate shelter, achieved by pushing his Domain to its absolute limit.
The currents of the Domain surrounding him became Convection once more, and the ever-branching possibilities of Narrow Path raised his offensive potential to infinity.
An impenetrable barrier and an inescapable trap.
It might have seemed empty, but the world was filled with mana. The world Loan had constructed was nothing less than a miniature version of the one beyond it.
And within it.
Loan began to recover his expended mana, and the Convection gradually stabilized, as if drawing from an endless source of power.
‘Infinite Void, First Form: Sphere of the Void.’
He named it in his mind.
This was the first ultimate technique Loan could create with Convection, a finishing move forged with the resolve to annihilate his foe.
Loan glanced up at the suspended Maurice.
"Time to answer my questions."
A perfect prison.
Seeing their lord's predicament, his men could no longer stand by.
"Save our lord!"
"Kill them all!"
The members of House Pobel swarmed onto the dueling ground.
Not to be outdone, the members of House Albre, led by Antoine and Thierry who had yet to see any action, leaped onto the dueling ground as well.
The two forces fanned out, the sphere of mana between them, and raised their swords once more.
In an instant, a palpable killing intent flooded the dueling ground.
*BOOM! CRASH!*
But that wasn't all.
Figures shot up from below the cliff like beams of light, landing one by one across the dueling ground and cracking the stone floor.
A moment later, a roar erupted from beyond the Albre estate. Another group of figures vaulted over the rooftops, landing around Loan.
As the mountain wind scattered the dust...
...figures in jet-black uniforms appeared on the battlefield.
The glittering badges on their chests dazzled the eyes of all who saw them.
"The Union?"
"What are you doing here...?"
Leading them were figures radiating an extraordinary presence.
Adrian, Commander of the Union's Faith Division.
Magda, Commander of the Union's Honor Division.
At their sides, Sienna and other senior members from various units aimed their weapons at the forces of House Pobel.
Only then...
...did Maurice, bound in mid-air with limbs outstretched, finally shift his gaze. His one uncovered eye darted left and right, a hint of desperation in its frantic movement.
The tables had turned completely. His body was completely immobilized.
Was the pressure getting to him?
The violently churning mana within him subsided for a moment.
Loan spoke.
"Answer me. Are you the one who did that to Sophie?"
Maurice's eye rolled back in its socket before settling on Loan once more. A foul grin spread across his face as he spoke.
"You're... a strange one, alright. And this is strangely painful."
With that, he began to resist again.
*Crrrack-!*
His attempt to shatter the Convection with an explosion of mana was absurdly powerful.
To twist like that despite his severe injuries and immobilized body was a feat only possible through complete possession. Or perhaps, a full descent.
But Loan's Sphere of the Void had only grown stronger than when it was first formed.
It seemed that after its initial creation, which consumed a vast amount of mana, the sphere sustained itself by drawing in mana from nature.
*Vmmmmmm-*
It spun with such intensity that it almost seemed to hum like a heartbeat. The mana circulating within the sphere tightened its grip on the creature.
"Gyaaaack!"
The inhuman scream sent a ripple of unease through the Pobel ranks.
Completely surrounded, none of them dared to make a move.
"Then keep struggling."
He would continue until its will was broken.
Time was on his side. If this became a battle of attrition, draining their mana against each other, he was confident he would be the last one standing.
"Gaaack!"
The sphere tightened around him several more times.
Finally, the wounds that had been barely sealed by the jet-black mana burst open. Blood gushed from the eleven holes, staining the Domain crimson. Maurice's body shuddered violently, and his head slumped forward.
The darkness hadn't fully receded, but Loan knew he wouldn't get the answers he wanted from this creature.
He would have to try another way.
"Aul."
As if on cue, Aul reappeared.
It was time to make him tell the truth.