Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: The Wind Sorceress
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But this spell requires a ton of preparation, and it takes quite a while to complete.
First up, the material I need to prepare is a Tempest.
The attribute doesn't matter at all. It vanishes anyway.
A Tempest is a spell that unleashes the attribute at maximum output while compressing it to its limit.
And that limit refers to the head's capacity as a human.
But if you push beyond that limit with additional compression, at some point, the magic's attribute itself disappears.
Of course, no human brain can handle that process. Not even an Arch Wizard, because biological limits cause their concentration to break during the calculations.
If you keep forcing it without knowing the limit, you could overload your brain, lose consciousness, or even die from shock. That's why instinct imposes a hard limit to prevent it.
That's where the new process called 'holy magic' comes in.
Absolute Protection Magic.
In other words, Protection Magic has to be layered on top. Which means it's a spell only possible for someone who's both an Arch Wizard and an Arch Priest.
"Alright, then..."
Shall I get started?
First, I created a Tempest—a compressed, swirling orb of flames hovering above my right palm.
Fwoosh!
This tiny flame holding vast potential was then surrounded by a larger but utterly ordinary wall of fire.
Fwoosh!
It was like making a matryoshka doll, using flames as the material.
Then, I overlaid Protection Magic onto that outer wall of fire.
Wooong!
The vivid light enveloping the flames was paradoxical in itself. Wrapping magic in protection magic to keep it from touching anything. No wonder controlling it is such a pain!
But once I succeeded, I could apply additional compression to the Tempest trapped inside.
To be precise, it wasn't compressing the Tempest itself, but the surrounding wall of fire.
And once that process began, the already tiny compressed flames shrank even smaller, spewing out bizarre noises.
Kkiiikikikik...
Like this.
At the same time, the red flames gradually turned transparent.
Wooong!
And at one point, it transformed into a translucent orb devoid of any attribute.
This was the Spell Breaker.
A true anti-magic specialist that dismantles all magic phenomena it touches.
Ziiing!
The moment it was born, it erased the Protection Magic and wall of fire that had been compressing it, leaving no trace behind.
It had reversed the absolute protection magic that perfectly blocks all spells and annihilated it. Eek... What the hell? Scary. I made it myself, but how does something like this even exist?
Still, it's surprisingly useless in actual combat.
For one thing, it takes way too long to create. And even once made, it has no real effect unless the opponent is a mage or magical creature.
Its physical destructive power can at best shatter an ordinary person without armor. All while consuming more than two Tempests' worth of mana.
In the end, it only shines against traitors to humanity who are also Arch Wizards.
Like right here, right now.
Shoo!
I hurled the Spell Breaker toward the distant magic tower.
At a glance, it looked like a transparent glass bead, but its flight speed was so fast it was hard to track with the naked eye.
When the orb finally reached the open window of the tower...
Ziiing!
It penetrated the defensive magic enveloping the entire magic tower without any resistance.
But right then.
"..."
Tolrari, inside, turned her head toward the window.
"Huh?"
Even from that far away, I could catch her momentary expression.
Surprise, shock, curiosity, fear...
Her eyes were alive?
The Tolrari I knew always had the dead gaze of a rotting corpse.
"..."
Spotting the incoming orb, the woman instinctively deployed fierce air currents around herself.
Wall of Wind.
Tolrari's special barrier spell, known only to the Wind Sorceress.
It weaves powerful air currents densely like fibers, deflecting or deflecting all but the strongest external impacts.
But no magic meant anything before the Spell Breaker.
Ziiing!
As the transparent orb pierced straight through the Wall of Wind toward Tolrari's solar plexus...
"..."
She accelerated her own body sharply and flung herself sideways.
Boom!
At the same time, Tolrari burst out of the tower through the wall.
"Ah..."
She judged and dodged it in that instant?
How can a person even do that!
"Damn it!"
Assassination failed.
Tolrari could use a special spell called 'Rapid Acceleration,' beyond ordinary flight magic.
And because of that Rapid Acceleration, killing her after a failed assassination becomes several times harder!
I wonder what that girl plans to do now?
Run away? If she uses Rapid Acceleration to flee, catching her would be a nightmare.
Or counterattack?
I'd be thrilled if she counterattacked. I have plenty of ways to cook her in a head-on fight.
But Tolrari's reaction completely surpassed my expectations.
"Pure Magic!"
"...Huh?"
"Pure Magic! Pure Magic! Pure Magic! Pure Magic! Pure Magic!"
She flew toward me like a broken doll, repeating the same words.
"You!"
"...Me?"
"Yeah, you! That was Pure Magic just now, right? You can't fool my eyes! It was real Pure Magic! Please say it was Pure Magic! Please!"
She pressed me so desperately that I froze and answered without launching a follow-up attack.
"Uh... probably?"
"No way! No way! It's real! It was real!"
Tolrari flailed her arms in midair like she was having a seizure.
"I saw it with my own eyes! Pure Magic! I saw it manifest in reality! Ahahaha! See? It wasn't impossible!"
What... Why is she suddenly acting like this?
Tolrari was clearly a psychopath who tore people apart like a machine, without emotion.
Come to think of it, something had been off from the start.
The Tolrari from my previous regression had a face like her facial muscles were paralyzed—no expressions at all.
But now, her expressions were rich, and overall... she just looked like a normal human?
"What are you? Up close, you look like a total kid. How can you use Pure Magic at your age? How did you even know Pure Magic exists? Wait, don't tell me?"
"Don't tell you what?"
"Creepily short stature, blonde hair, girlish face. Pallid skin without a drop of color. And those sunken dark circles under your eyes!"
"Hey!"
Gah damn!
For a second, I nearly fired Tempests with both hands.
Is it okay to talk about someone else like that? And your dark circles aren't exactly light either!
"You, with that gaping mouth of yours..."
"Eek, look at that face. Calm down. Don't get mad. That wasn't my thought. It was just from the description I got."
"What?"
"You're Prince Claude, right?"
Tolrari framed me with her fingers like taking a photo.
"I got a hit on you not long ago. Yep. That's it. You got intel that I accepted the assassination request on you, so you came here to take me out preemptively?"
Having jumped to her own conclusion, Tolrari thrust both hands high like she was surrendering and shouted.
"Then I surrender!"
"...Huh?"
"I'll surrender. Assassination canceled. I'll refund the commission fee."
"..."
"So let's not fight. Okay? My bad. I've been unusually money-grubby lately. I admit my mistake. So cool off."
...What?
Why is she suddenly like this?
I never even imagined a reaction like this.
Is the Tolrari in front of me really her?
Indiscriminate mass murderer? Silent killer? Demon who abandoned her humanity?
"Your face says you're still mad? Can't we talk it out? I'll sincerely apologize. Please stop being angry. And teach me how to do that?"
"...Do what?"
"Pure Magic."
Tolrari suddenly dropped into a praying pose and begged.
"I've devoted my life to using that just once. But I could never find a way. So I'm begging you like this. Name your price. Need money? I can give you everything I've saved. Not much left after recent spending, though."
"No, that's not..."
"Right! Need a magic tower? It's ugly, but the defenses are top-notch. Even if you just broke through. Cost me 400 gold just for materials. Want it? I'll hand over the whole tower. So please, teach me Pure Magic!"
She bowed her head low and clasped her hands in desperate plea.
"..."
I lowered the Tempest I'd been about to launch at her exposed crown and sighed.
"What the hell is going on..."
A chatterbox trying negotiation over combat instead of Tolrari.
Am I dreaming? Or is this 10th regression in a different worldline from the previous ones?
* * *
"...I'm disappointed."
Tolrari sighed as she poured pale tea into my cup.
"So to compress the Tempest further, you need Protection Magic? The pinnacle of holy magic?"
"Yeah. But..."
"Hm? Not to your taste?"
When I didn't touch the cup, Tolrari sniffed hers and tilted her head.
"Makes sense. No way cheap bulk tea suits a prince's palate. Should've bought fancy leaves if I knew."
No, the tea leaves don't matter. Though compared to what Lania serves at the mansion, it's downright awful.
What threw me was Tolrari's utterly casual attitude.
This girl had dragged me straight to her tower, pried info on Pure Magic out of me, and smoothly steered the conversation.
Even back in the Magic Guild days, she was supposedly an outsider who didn't mingle with other mages. Was even that intel fake?
"Hm? Face says that's not it? Worried I poisoned it?"
"Poison?"
"Fair enough, plenty of reason to suspect. I did take an assassination gig on you—can't argue that. Alright then."
She snatched my cup and took a light sip.
"See? No poison. Drink up, no worries."
"..."
"Oh, wait, is this no good? Lips on the prince's cup is rude? Duh, of course it is. Sorry. I'm clueless about etiquette."
She bowed her head repeatedly in apology. What am I even supposed to say to this...
"...It's fine."
"Really? You forgive me?"
"Forgiveness aside. Your image is way different from what I heard."
"My image?"
Tolrari looked up and giggled.
"Well, it's been ages since a normal guest showed up. Got a bit excited."
"Normal?"
"Yesterday's guest was the total opposite."
Tolrari grimaced and pretended to gag.
"There's this guy who twists my guts every time I see him. Compared to that, you—no, our esteemed prince—are an angel. Just looking at you purifies the soul."
"Cut the flattery. You were trash-talking me earlier. So who's this gut-twisting guy?"
"Bandage Guy."
"What?"
"Weird dude wrapped head to toe in bandages. Calls himself my patron... You wouldn't know even if I described him. Like a spy from another world or something."
Spy!
I almost yelled out loud.
For real? She just said spy, right? That's what I heard?
Of course, it made sense. Tolrari's a traitor to humanity, so she's probably been dealing with otherworld spies for gains.
"Spy? Patron? What's that?"
I played dumb and asked. Tolrari grimaced and downed her tea.
"The stain on my life."
"What happened?"
"You can use Double Magic, right?"
Double Magic out of nowhere?
Using different spells with each hand?
Of course I can. I spent decades across multiple regressions training for it.
Come to think of it, Double Magic was Tolrari's signature. Around the 4th regression, I awakened to it fighting her and started training. Memories flooding back.