Chapter 106
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: The Apostle's End
Rumble!
The sound tore through the air.
Along with it, Jeon's falling thunder ripped through the black mist and struck Khan head-on.
"Graaaah!"
Khan was flung backward from the impact site like he'd been repelled, though he didn't seem to have suffered a fatal wound. Still, the damage was far from negligible.
His neatly dressed attire was instantly reduced to rags, and his once-tidy hair was now a wild mess.
However, his defenses hadn't been in vain—it didn't look like any serious damage had gotten through.
"You filthy bastard!"
Bubble bubble!
Even so, it was as good as a critical hit to Khan's pride.
Reacting to his boiling rage, the black mists darkened intensely before bubbling around him like boiling liquid.
"Fine, let's end this!"
Gurgle!
With Khan's shout, the boiling black liquid around him began morphing one by one into the shapes of wild dogs.
At first, just one, then two—they appeared slowly at the start, but their numbers grew rapidly, reaching triple digits in the blink of an eye.
'...These aren't like the ones from before.'
The black horde Khan usually commanded were summon-like constructs made from souls loyal to him. But these were just shapes he'd molded from his black energy.
Which meant seizing control like last time was impossible.
Bubble bubble!
And yet, Khan was preparing another spell separately.
'What a pain.'
It was obvious he was up to something shady, so Jeon immediately began preparing his next spell.
But stopping Khan meant dealing with those dogs first—not an easy situation.
"Jeon, you don't need to waste time on those things."
Mirna slipped in as Jeon urgently prepared his magic.
"Pardon? What do you—"
"We'll handle the dog pack, so don't worry. Settle things with that apostle."
As she spoke, Jeon glanced back.
There, the Silvermont mages had already regrouped.
Thanks to Jeon's mana field, they faced no restrictions on casting. Each was preparing their spells, surrounded by Mirna's floating petals.
"...Thank you."
"That's our line."
Jeon expressed his gratitude, but Mirna grinned and said it was hers instead, then directed her petals.
They encircled a path forward like a protective barrier. Without hesitation, Jeon leaped inside.
Woof! Woof woof!
The black dogs surrounding Khan charged fiercely at the sight.
"Sorry, but they won't lay a finger on you."
Whoosh!
Mirna's petals and the Silvermont mages' spells engulfed the oncoming dogs.
Silver flames instantly enveloped Jeon, incinerating every approaching beast.
Jeon raced along the silver path, locking eyes with Khan.
"...You bastard!"
Khan's eyes visibly shook as he compressed black mist into liquid form for something big.
Jeon didn't miss the opening, preparing his spell even as he charged.
'I can do this now.'
The surrounding space was filled with Jeon's mana field, and his mind—sharpened by the Purple Mystery—was clearer and faster than ever.
In an instant, he layered rune magic with standard spells, crafting ash magic faster than before.
But Jeon's aim didn't stop there.
'Add lightning magic properties to it.'
Goblin magic that altered mana forms.
He wasn't just reshaping the ash magic—he was trying to infuse it with some of lightning magic's traits.
Shaping it into lightning bolts while overlaying lightning's signature speed.
Normally, an absurd idea.
But with his hyper-enhanced mental focus, the golden eyes reading mana flows, and the mana field blending it all...
Crackle—crackle—!
He succeeded in infusing ash magic with lightning properties—something impossible before.
The ash spear crackled with lightning's telltale sound.
The lightning-infused ash magic shot from Jeon's hand toward Khan.
Stray dogs near Khan lunged to intercept.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ashen bolt exploded them on contact, pressing toward Khan.
"Tch!"
Khan gritted his teeth at Jeon's faster-than-expected counterattack.
What he was preparing would turn the tide—but it needed time.
He hadn't imagined Jeon breaking through his offense and defense for a counterstrike.
Spurt!
Blood sprayed from Khan's mouth as he forcibly redirected his black magic.
Thud!
A massive arm erupted from the encircling black liquid, stretching toward Jeon.
Rumble!
The ashen bolt collided with the arm in a massive explosion.
Three fingers on the arm burst apart.
'What the hell is that?'
Jeon frowned at the sudden, murky black arm.
Too grotesquely large and twisted for human.
Plus, Jeon's eyes detected unfamiliar, bizarre mana within it—directly linked to Khan.
"Cough! Cough!"
Khan clutched his bleeding mouth; three fingers were missing from his hand too.
'Black magic using his own body as the price?'
Or manifesting himself in another form.
Either way, if that black magic fully manifested, it wouldn't be easy to handle.
Jeon gripped another ashen bolt, refusing to give him breathing room.
"Graaaah!"
Khan spat blood but swung the massive arm.
Rumble!
This clash only cost it one more finger.
And the twisted arm was gradually straightening into a more normal shape.
'It's completing itself.'
Whatever it was, Khan's trump card was nearly finished.
The longer it dragged, the worse for Jeon.
'No gaps. Absolutely none!'
Assessing the situation, Jeon drew every ounce of mana from his body.
Mana stocked via Hyun Eunsam herb surged out.
His unique breathing technique charged more in tandem.
Crackle—crackle crackle—!
Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!
Silver flame-wrapped white thunderbolts—far faster and easier than ash magic—spawned endlessly around Jeon, firing indiscriminately at Khan.
"Graaaah! Cough! Cough! Grraaaah!"
Under Jeon's barrage, Khan swung his lone arm relentlessly.
Now, only a palm and forearm remained—no fingers.
Bloody chunks beyond mere blood spewed from his mouth.
"In the end... I will win!"
Yet the arm took damage but steadily formed properly.
It had started at the elbow; now it reached the shoulder.
Once complete, Khan would have the last laugh.
'Just finish it. That's all!'
Who was he?
An apostle of the Ruin Church.
'I can't lose!'
He'd expected an overwhelming victory coming here.
Even without his intact horde, he couldn't lose now.
"For the glory of the Church!"
Apostles were the Church's core strength.
Such a being couldn't fall in some backwater village.
Summoning black dogs against Mirna and the Silvermont mages while blocking Jeon and preparing his ace—that alone was worthy of the title.
But for Khan, process didn't matter. Only results.
"I won't lose!"
His fanatic loyalty to the Church and obsession with victory paid off.
He finally formed a second arm beyond the first.
The colossal mass was nearly there.
"Looks good. Almost done."
"...What!?"
But pouring everything into it left him blind.
Only now did Khan notice Jeon right in his face.
"You son of a—!"
"Too late."
Before Khan could react, Jeon's ashen bolt touched his body.
Crackle crackle!
The moment it connected, all of Khan's black magic dissolved like an illusion.
"This... can't...!"
Even as his life-price magic scattered, Khan clung to consciousness.
But in his fading vision, a white thunderbolt hovered above his crown.
"Damn... you...!"
Rumble!
That was the last sight Khan beheld in life.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Standing over Khan's fallen form, Jeon panted heavily.
He'd successfully cornered and slain the apostle, but not without pushing himself hard.
'The aftereffects are hitting all at once.'
Battle fatigue, plus the backlash from overusing the Mystery—not minor.
He wanted to collapse and sleep, but couldn't.
'I have to check that.'
Since learning Khan was a Ruin Church apostle, one thing demanded confirmation.
Forcing his crumbling body to stand, it soon appeared—what he'd waited for.
Shiii.
A misty energy rose from Khan's body.
It slowly coalesced in the air into a single rune before dispersing again.
And at that moment.
Jeon forcibly compressed the dispersing energy with Compression rune magic.
Shwick!
The scattering energy gathered and condensed under his spell.
Plop.
The coalesced energy fell as a small bead to the ground.