Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Balak's Counter-Trap
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Whoosh.
In the desolate rocky mountain where harsh sand whipped up with the wind, the mages of the Baekun faction lay in ambush on both sides of a canyon nestled there.
However, the assault team including Jeon wasn't positioned above the canyon but hidden separately in the rocky terrain below, packed with boulders.
It was a setup for a staggered attack: while the enemy panicked from the surprise assault from above, they'd strike later targeting the Apostle.
'Five people to take on one Apostle...'
Including Jeon, there were five in total lying in wait below the canyon.
The two additional mages who had joined the assault team after Jeon were 4th Circle and 5th Circle battle mages with substantial combat experience.
Even so, they couldn't guarantee victory—this truly drove home the Apostles' overwhelming power.
'Well... those two seem intent on winning.'
The assault team's primary goal was to tie up the Apostle's feet until the Baekun allies secured the relic.
But Lelia and Vincent appeared eager deep down to settle things with the Apostle once and for all.
The gravity on their faces bordered on resolve for a fight to the death.
Anyway, how much time had passed since they began their ambush?
Shh, snap!
Lelia quickly flashed hand signals after checking something from within her robes.
She must have received word from the vanguard scouts that the Luin Cult was approaching.
Following the signals, the assault team hunkered down further, suppressing their mana flows inward.
The Baekun mages above the canyon did the same.
They took such care that even the rustle of their garments went unheard as they watched the canyon intently.
Thud, thud.
Perhaps due to the utter silence.
Footsteps echoing from afar rang out clearly.
'Around a dozen on the enemy side?'
Still too distant for an exact count, but Jeon could gauge a rough number.
And truthfully, the numbers didn't matter.
What mattered was the massive figure jutting out alone from the approaching group.
'That's the Apostle Balak.'
From his prone position nearly flat against the ground, peeking through rock crevices, Balak's bulk was so enormous it was hard to believe he was human.
'Bigger than an orc... troll-sized, maybe?'
Purely in terms of size, he resembled the chimeras Jeon had seen in Kairon's dungeon.
But those were grotesque abominations, so the otherworldliness felt natural.
Balak, however, had the form of a man yet a build rivaling monsters.
The sheer incongruity was striking.
Thud, thud.
The approaching sounds grew sharper.
Now so close that the proximity was evident from sound alone.
"Everyone, attack!"
Bzzzzt! Roooar!
At the signal from the commander overseeing the assault from above the canyon, spells rained down into the chasm below.
Boom! Baaaam!
Magic poured indiscriminately like a bombardment, erupting in successive blasts and thick smoke.
Yet the Baekun mages didn't slacken their assault.
Thus, the explosions continued without pause, the smoke thickening further.
'Something's off.'
But that's precisely what felt wrong.
Despite the overwhelming barrage, Jeon sensed an eerie unease.
It stemmed from the Luin Cult showing zero reaction.
Under such a onslaught, they'd be expected to counter or react somehow—yet nothing.
And the source of Jeon's anxiety soon revealed itself from above the canyon.
"Huh? What the—? Graaaah!"
"A-ambush! It's an ambush!"
"Damn it! Rear! The rear! Ambush from behind!"
Screams and panicked voices erupted amid the Baekun mages unleashing spells downward.
"What? What's happening...!"
The assault team, cautiously concealed, whipped their gazes upward at the sudden shift.
There, black-clad men were striking the Baekun mages from behind.
"N-no way!? They were all down below for sure!"
Had the Luin Cult members below the canyon teleported up?
In disbelief, the assault team's eyes turned to where the magic barrage had concentrated.
"Heh heh heh. You all fell for it hook, line, and sinker."
And there stood Balak's hulking form amid rock dummies clad in tattered black garments shredded by the blasts.
"A trap...!"
Unlike the rag-doll rock puppets at least somewhat damaged in clothing,
Lelia bit her lip hard upon seeing Balak unscathed amid the onslaught.
'Did our intel leak...?'
Jeon was equally stunned by the unforeseen turn.
This ambush had been meticulously planned by Baekun.
Yet the enemy anticipated it and sprung a counter-trap.
'Or maybe they fed us false info.'
Either way, the current situation was dire.
"I hate hassle, you see. While moving the relic this time, I figured I'd wipe out you pesky fox bastards in one go."
"What?"
"So I brought some decent muscle for what passes as relic transport."
His claim rang true: the screams echoing from above were mostly Baekun mages.
"Vincent, support upstairs!"
Realizing they'd fallen deep into the trap, Lelia shouted to Vincent.
But it wasn't Vincent who responded—it was Balak.
"Tut tut, not so fast. You've got me to deal with."
Thud.
With those words, he took one step forward, sending vibrations rippling outward.
Rumble rumble!
Immediately after, the ground quaked, reshaping the terrain.
Stone pillars erupted everywhere to block easy access upward, massive walls rising to enclose them.
"Well then, shall we fight?"
Balak, who had altered the landscape with a mere stomp, grinned at the assault team.
That smile held the pure, mad glee of a brat finding a fun new toy.
'This is way too disadvantageous.'
Jeon realized just how badly the odds had stacked against them.
The team meant to pin Balak was now trapped by him instead.
Glancing at Vincent, blocked from ascending,
'Hard to believe Vincent survived this.'
What Jeon experienced was one of Vincent's memories dwelling in the Door of Awakening.
Meaning Vincent had survived this desperately lopsided battle.
And the situation looked so hopeless it beggared belief.
"What, not coming at me first?"
As the team hesitated amid the abruptly dire circumstances,
"Guess I'll go first then."
Tat!
Balak moved first.
His bulky frame kicked off lightly, vanishing into the ground.
His form reappeared right before Vincent.
"Tch!"
Whoosh!
Vincent raised his staff in alarm, but Balak's massive fist swung at him.
Baaaam!
Just the clash of fist and staff unleashed a thunderous explosion, hurling Vincent backward.
"Vincent!"
Fwooooosh!
Realizing Balak had struck first, Lelia urgently deployed her mana field.
Silver mana tinged faintly pink enveloped the entire area.
'Higher level than Kairon's.'
In scope or density,
Lelia's mana field outclassed Kairon's.
Indeed, upon deploying it, she manipulated ambient mana to cast a 7th Circle spell above Balak's head.
'Can she cast magic from anywhere in the mana field?'
Unlike Kairon, limited to his vicinity despite a wide field, Lelia could cast anywhere within hers.
The issue: Balak wasn't just watching.
"Mages always pull this crap when cornered."
Tsking dismissively at her advanced mana field, he assumed a stance and thrust his fist upward.
"Spreading it wide doesn't make it strong!"
Whoosh!
His fist, wrapped in potent black aura, swung up, launching the aura skyward.
The ground quaked too, boulders surging upward.
Black aura swirled with rocks into a towering vortex.
Opposing it, the completed 7th Circle spell, Silver Flame Whirlwind, plunged down.
Kraaaash!
The black vortex and silver flames collided, locked in struggle.
But it didn't last.
Boom!
The vortex's power overwhelmed; the silver flames scattered outward, unable to hold.
'Insane level.'
Jeon knew Apostles were strong from hearsay.
But witnessing it firsthand was another matter.
Shattering a 7th Circle spell with an aura-infused punch alone.
'On par with an 8th Circle mage.'
His prowess as a lone warrior reached the pinnacle.
Yet separate from the awe, Jeon had prepared his spell since things turned sour.
'First, Gray Magic.'
Without Lunareik, it took longer, but
it finished in time, faintly glowing in his palm.
As the black vortex began to subside after crushing the 7th Circle spell,
Pew!
Jeon swiftly fired the gray clump.
The unpredictable bundle that had fazed Kairon flew toward Balak.
"Hm?"
Balak, smug after demolishing the spell, narrowed his eyes at the incoming gray mass.
"Using something curious."
Thud!
He stomped once.
Earth surged around him, climbing from his foot to envelop his right hand.
At a glance like Rector's Giant Hand, but the rocks were infused black with his aura.
Whoosh!
The massive stone fist brimming with black aura collided with the gray clump.
Vrrrrm!
The gray mass vibrated fiercely against the stone fist in a fierce clash.
But the clump's glow dimmed, ultimately unable to overcome and dissipating.
"A fun one with some unpredictability."
Balak's gaze shifted from the vanished clump to Jeon, who had fired it.
"Let's see what other tricks you're hiding."
Tat!
He lightly kicked off.
His distant form appeared before Jeon.
"Kuh!"
Anticipating Balak would target him post-dissipation, Jeon had activated mana, trying to evade.
But Balak was far faster.
'Gotta sacrifice an arm...!'
As Jeon steeled to yield an arm while dodging,
Vmm!
Circles and shapes materialized before him, shoving his body backward.
Thus, Jeon barely escaped Balak's grasp.
"...Interference!"
Balak scowled at narrowly missing, glaring toward Lelia.
But before he could act further,
thick gray mana overlaid his position.
"Hm?"
Lelia's silver-pink mana field intertwined with dense gray mana field.
And from within, Vincent burst forth—the one punched flying earlier.
"I don't just take hits lying down!"
Whoooosh!
Fierce gray winds swirled from Vincent's staff tip as he charged Balak.
Lelia's ambient mana fused in,
merging gray winds and silver flames toward Balak.
"Hup!"
Booooom!
Perhaps due to the dual overlapping mana fields,
Balak, ever composed, grunted as he blocked Vincent's spell.
Caught off-guard, he even staggered back slightly.
"Vincent! You okay?"
"Of course!"
Confirming Balak's brief falter, Vincent retreated swiftly as Lelia checked on him.
But despite his assurance, he looked far from fine.
Having taken Balak's hit directly,
his staff was snapped in half; he wielded the broken halves like twin blades, his pained grimace suggesting possible fractures.
"Alright, so you can coordinate somewhat?"
Yet unlike Vincent's state,
Balak showed no major damage from their joint spell.
He'd retreated a bit but brushed off his clashing hand casually, unscathed.
'Still, there's potential.'
Watching, Jeon sensed the situation wasn't utterly hopeless.
He hadn't dreamed their mana fields would synergize rather than repel, amplifying power.
Now knowing it worked and could challenge Balak,
and furthermore,
'Vincent didn't do anything special. Lelia's field naturally integrated with his mana field and spell.'
Realizing Lelia's field was the foundation,
Then.
"Lady Lelia."
"Yes?"
"Like with Vincent, could you let me borrow your mana field for spells too?"
It was a proposal to leverage the grand mage's mana field for his own magic.