Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: The Dark Explosion
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A darkness—indescribably massive—erupted in a pitch-black blast that swallowed both consciousness and vision.
Even from afar, the explosion's aftershock towered like a mountain, immense enough to behold.
The vortex of poison carried by the black magic ravaged the area, twisting the once-dense forest into grotesque, withered husks.
“……?!”
Perhaps in that instant, I could have adjusted the Bell Quirius to redirect the damage away from us (though erasing it was impossible without mana)……
But I didn’t. There was no need to.
For some reason, the explosion's power and coordinates weren’t aimed at us.
“You bastard…….”
Instead, amid the hazy aftermath of the poison fog, Balensidis’s left arm was gone. Blood poured from the stump, soaking the ground, leaving me dumbfounded.
Did he fail to control his mana?
No, not the great Balensidis?
In the chaos of my pounding heart, Balensidis pointed toward the forest beyond with his remaining right arm.
“Go. Run that way, and you’ll escape this slaughterhouse. It’s the direction the Special Task Force is coming from, so you’ll get help.”
“……?!”
“I lost this left arm to you in our duel. That’s how I let you all go. Even the Master won’t suspect this much.”
In that moment, an realization hit—one I shouldn’t express or even feel. That something I’d faintly sensed during the festival……
And another realization followed.
Why the attack Balensidis unleashed at the Papal Palace before had been all flash, no real threat.
‘That bastard—was he trying to save me?’
To avoid suspicion, he’d deliberately used maximum power, blowing off his own left arm.
But why?
What reason could drive him this far?
Catching the doubt in my eyes, Balensidis staunched the bleeding from his left arm with a healing spell and spouted something incomprehensible.
“Watching you feels like staring into a mirror.”
“A mirror? What bullshit!”
“Now, our actions are similar yet different—like we’re turning our backs, unable to understand each other no matter what…….”
But someday, when we meet again, we’ll face the same direction.
That’s what he believed.
Our origins, personalities, pasts, presents…… everything differed, but we shared the same convictions, walking toward the same future.
“I sacrificed this left arm for that day. That’s all…… Now go. Before it’s too late.”
Balensidis turned away with a bitter smile, his form vanishing into the thick poison mist in an instant—no chance to grab him.
Don’t fuck with me.
Don’t fuck around, you damn bastard.
What the hell was this……? Chaos swirled in my mind, but my legs dashed north.
‘First, get Kasena to safety…… The Light Dragon’s there anyway. I’ll fight after recovering mana.’
Kasena, poisoned by the miasma, lay unconscious, breathing raggedly. She needed proper treatment outside the abyss’s influence.
You dare show me mercy?
Once Kasena and my mana are sorted, I’ll track him down and end him for good—no mercy……
That was my resolve, yet deep down, I knew I couldn’t when the time came.
- Thank you, Rain Ludwig.
I thrashed through the abyssal fog, feet pounding desperately. The soil corroded instantly, ankles sinking, nearly tripping me repeatedly.
No matter how much I ran, it felt like flailing in quicksand. The humid gale from the monsoon front left my body slick with sweat.
It was midday, yet storm clouds and abyssal fog devoured the sky, plunging the world into deeper darkness than a new moon.
Explosions of clashing mana boomed. Screams echoed endlessly from the city behind.
Then, finally—drip, drip, splatter…… The air thickened with a damp, briny stench, blackening the ground in patches.
The monsoon deluge poured in thick sheets, stripping my body heat in seconds.
‘This is ridiculous…….’
I spread a hemispherical wind barrier to block the rain, but couldn’t stop the ground turning to mud, slowing my pace.
‘That black mage bastard…… really knows how to fuck with someone…….’
One knee buckled in the muck, but I righted myself and ran on.
Rain soaked my face, stinging my eyes like tears, fueling my irritation.
- Still, I believe. Someday, when we meet again, we’ll face the same way.
After orchestrating this massacre—what the hell?
Was he really insane?
No sane black mage existed—that was gospel.
‘What the fuck kind of guy is he…….’
The screams echoing in my ears amid the downpour cut off completely. That was the last normal update I’d get.
In that instant, the abyssal tumor looming grotesquely in the sky burst. A dimensional rift tore long, spewing thick, dark-blue vomit-like sludge.
Straight at me. Dead on.
And beyond the rift, “something” met my gaze—countless massive eyes glaring wide.
「Found────」
「───you」
「────」
Voices boomed directly into my brain, pain shattering my body like glass, brain shaking……
Ah……
My strength……
As my knees buckled, power draining away, I blinked—and suddenly tumbled across the ground with Kasena.
“Lin, Lin, Lin!”
Pipi desperately flared wide flames against the onrushing sludge filling my vision—that helpless moment.
──────Snap.
The last sound—a finger flick—and time stopped…… the world’s time.
No metaphor or literary flourish; like closing a book, freezing its tale.
To describe crudely: the mystery sludge pouring straight down, Pipi’s flames, her motion—all halted, fixed in place.
‘How…… is this…….’
Of course, I couldn’t move either. The ultimate magic, truly.
Yet……
Someone strode through this frozen world as if it were natural.
「Sorry, but you’ll have to leave this land for a bit.」
His attire was bizarre. A simple white robe, unlike anything worn by any race on the continent.
Yet the glasses on his face felt more advanced than any civilization I’d seen—why?
His features blurred like rippling light and shadow, unrecognizable, but his otherworldly aura was instant.
「Think about it—you’d know their master’s hunting you right now. Sharp as ever, that one.」
Who…… are you?
Who the hell are you……?
As if answering, he approached, and the black sheep lin on my neck blazed with black light, resonating in the stopped world.
「Sometimes you call me the Void, others the Truth? Strictly speaking, both wrong.」
Truth? Before that thought concluded, he snapped his fingers—and the world shrank beneath my feet.
Like a globe, every inch visible at once—mind-blowing. It should’ve been, but…… this was off.
All visible land drowned in abyss, melting wretchedly; suns and moons plummeting, the world plunging into lightless void.
「The abyssal corrosion has begun. It’ll slowly devour everything until it’s like that. Pity, but you can’t stop it.」
Before I could retort, he jabbed my forehead with his index finger.
「I didn’t summon you to this era to stop that doom. To record and pass on the final era’s light.」
Ripples surged from his fingertip—or so I thought—then vision blacked out, consciousness plummeting into endless dark depths.
「Rough road ahead, but don’t give up—you can return.」
Eh, ah……?
Dragged powerless into deep darkness, a meaningful voice rippled softly by my ear.
「Well, now it begins…… your century-long journey.」
* * *
Only after their frantic dawn ride frothed their horses to collapse did Kevn Ludwig and Brim Ludwig dazedly rein in.
“What in the world…….”
<Haraldoniki> was a beautiful city embracing sea to the east, mountains to the west, forests to the north, and stretching along the airy Light Dragon Avenue south. A bastion of art and faith.
But this……
Structures melted and rotted like decayed teeth—not eerie, but grotesque.
“Your Excellency, Madam!”
House guardian knight Swan rushed with cavalry, but the Ludwigs spurred down the hill without waiting.
No way.
This couldn’t be.
A month ago, Madelia Page’s urgent griffon-delivered letter held unbelievable contents.
“Halt!”
Dunoss Kingdom soldiers at the north gate crossed spears to block, but someone inside waved them off.
“Let them through. It’s the Ludwig Marquess of the Holy Human Empire.”
Explaining to the soldiers was Magic Alliance Special Task Force Chief Doran Slade.
His credibility spanned nations; the gate captain nodded, soldiers withdrawing spears and steadying reins.
The Ludwigs leaped from saddles, rushing to Doran.
“Doran, what the hell happened…….”
“Others need passage too—inside, please.”
Doran’s usual smile was gone; fatigue etched his face, eyes hollow.
The city’s interior was more wretched.
Intact buildings repurposed as makeshift wards brimmed with comatose patients.
“All revived from death’s door. If the Light Dragon hadn’t sealed the dimensional rift, we’d have mercy-killed them.”
The possessed by abyss never recovered. They had to be killed…… family or friends mere moments ago.
“Doran, tell us what happened.”
“Someone erected a massive magic circle centered on the Papal Palace. One shaking the World Axis seal—likely summoning one of the [Forgotten Kings].”
“How? This is <Haraldoniki>……?”
Massive circles shared principles with normal ones—just bigger.
Completion demanded precision at hubs and nodes, yet this was the Golden Dragon Legion’s headquarters.
How, unless the entire legion blind and deaf?
“Cardinal Yoshuhar said they used people as hubs.”
“People?”
“Tureina’s forbidden research—etching spells into bodies for massive circle nodes.”
Magic savant Kevn gasped.
Disciple of archmage and grand shrine maiden—her ingenuity far surpassed mortals…… and the skill to execute it.
Fidgeting Brim cut in sharply, unlike her usual self.
“Never mind that……! Where’s Rain? Tell me where my boy is, Doran—please.”
“And the culprit, unsuspected, entered the Papal Palace that day. Three suspects now missing.”
“Doran!”
“Top cadet Balensidis, plus Rain Ludwig and Kasena Page, here for the ceremony.”
Doran listed names stoically; shock whitened Brim’s mind.
“Balensidis prime suspect—fled with ringleaders, we think. No proof linking the other two to Tureina…….”
Doran averted guilty eyes; Brim, grasping it all, collapsed to her knees.
“We’re scouring for remains…… Same to Chancellor Madelia. Truly sorry, senior.”
The shock was so profound, tears wouldn’t come at first.
No, I knew. Denied it desperately, but knew.
Brim stared blankly at the ground like a soul-lost shell, then buried her face, sobbing.
“No, it can’t be, it can’t…….”
Kevn, refusing till the end, shook his head repeatedly.
“No way he’s dead. That boy outmaged any adult…… Right, the Light Dragon! Ask His Holiness where they are?”
The Light Dragon Haraldeman’s divine sight reached everywhere. Child’s sake? Trivial.
“Impossible.”
Clutching final hope, Kevn cried desperately; Doran just shook his head wearily.
“Top secret, but the Light Dragon took a mortal wound sealing the rift. Surviving’s the miracle.”
Kevn blinked stunned, face crumpling; Doran dashed impossible hopes.
“Truly regretful.”
So the Ludwigs could move on, train the next heir……
Gripping their shoulders firmly before stepping away, Doran felt not sorrow, but alien dread.
Distract FakeWarriors, draw them out, raid Papal Palace—plunge millennium’s faith-uniter Light Dragon into coma, archmage’s body missing……
‘The abyss truly awakens…….’
The dragon era—the Golden Age—curtained; an unprecedented summer dawned.