Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Imaginary Domain
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“You little bastard…… Gahhh!”
Libeni swung her Scythe of the Abyss wildly, and thieves and guards leaping out from the darkness were sliced apart, tumbling across the ground.
“Are these idiots blind? Don’t they see whose head’s dangling right here? Obung? Obingshin? Whatever, it’s those guys.”
In the meantime, Milrek thrust his hand into the shadows. Dark Communion Probe. A technique that sent scouting spirits through wherever the darkness touched.
“You don’t need to go to all that trouble to find them, black mage bro.”
At that moment, a fire arrow streaking in with violent heat forced Milrek to dodge with seasoned grace.
On the half-collapsed roof of a wooden building, an archer was aiming his bow at them. Below him stood a massive brute in black iron armor, a double-headed axe slung over his shoulder.
Up top was the archer Rem, down below was Bart. A moment of silence stretched out, then Libeni pointed and yelled.
“Milrek! That’s them! The jerks who stole my prey earlier!”
“Funny, who’re you calling jerks?”
Before Rem could retort, Bart stepped forward, cracking the ground under the weight of his heavy plate armor.
“Namryun Sword Wave, Bart Yuriuns.”
Announcing one’s sword style and name was a clichéd courtesy from disciples of the empire’s most prestigious sword school, the One Saint Seven Swords, before killing someone.
It was traditionally seen as a declaration of will and a release of killing intent—your death starts now.
The leisurely smirk on Libeni’s face tightened slightly at the brows.
‘The Namryun Sword Wave from the One Saint Seven Swords…… and Yuriuns? That’s the surname for the top disciple. Another tough opponent. Annoying.’
The Namryun Sword Wave was based in the empire’s eastern mountains, renowned for heavy weapons like hammers and axes. Nothing but big, hefty armaments.
「Strongly, only strongly.」
That was the creed symbolizing the Namryun Sword Wave. Milrek stroked his chin with a hum.
“Bart Yuriuns…… So you must be from the Bart and Rem Money-Copying Adventure Party? The ones who subjugated the mutant Rat-Spider Queen.”
“Hey, get it right! It’s the Rem and Bart Heart-Pounding Money-Copying Adventure Party! My name comes first!”
As Rem shouted indignantly, Libeni’s eyes gleamed an ominous dark blue. The hue of the abyss.
“What? You’re the ones who took out my cutie?”
“……!”
“If that’s the case, I’ll have to kill you with all I’ve got for once!”
The guy’s aura just shifted. Bart nodded toward Milrek, signaling Rem to take that one.
Intensifying urgency surged fiercely.
Tension soaked their palms in cold sweat.
The next instant, the two sides clashed. Rem’s mana arrow tore through space first. Milrek dodged lightly and closed the gap, prompting Rem to loose five arrows skyward.
‘Annoying. Drunkard’s Log-Splitting, huh…….’
One of the arrows ascending to the heavens scattered in countless directions, raining down like a hailstorm. A combat style created by the Bow Star Kies, pushing an archer’s close-range response to the limit.
But Milrek specialized in hunting ranged snipers like this. He could teleport through shadows, after all.
“You’re underestimating the world-famous archer Rem, you childless bastard!”
However, the arrows that fell around Rem in a circle ignited into flames, completely purging the surrounding darkness.
‘……When did he figure out my fighting style?’
Rem smirked and nocked a new arrow. Mana swirled blood-red around it, flames vortexing from the arrowhead.
Kaaaaang─────!
Meanwhile below, axe and scythe clashed in a flurry of razor-sharp clashes, scattering countless sparks.
Libeni parried Bart’s relentless slashes—which left no room for incantation—several times before switching from blocking to evasion.
The savage axe blade’s gusts nearly sent her flying repeatedly, twisting her lips more and more.
‘This monster meathead isn’t just some regular disciple?’
She’d heard Obung’s crew were mid-to-upper mid-tier gold-rank adventurers at best. So this guy was at least top-tier?
‘Tch, annoying matchup……!’
In an instant, Libeni’s high-speed left-hand incantation unleashed a thick miasmic fog.
Just before vision blurred, Bart was already swinging his massive axe. Boom—the unrealistic explosive roar of air bursting scattered the fog.
But for Libeni, even a brief opening was enough. She landed on a distant outer wall, letting out a low groan as she bent her left ring and middle fingers backward.
“Ancient darkness dwelling in the shadows, Lian, Zhong—!”
Following the incantation, dark blue runes floated up one by one, scattering their glow in the air.
Enhancing a 3-star ritual with black magic pushed its power beyond 4-star. Once cast, victory was assured.
“……!”
To lighten the axe’s weight? Bart hurled it high overhead and charged, stamping a massive footprint into the ground.
No, not the weight.
This was Namryun’s secret art: Man Leads Weapon.
Normally, gripping a weapon limited charge momentum and follow-up attacks, but throwing it ahead and recatching it just before collision?
It boosted mobility, kept foes guessing, and opened endless options from bare-handed strikes onward.
“—I, Libeni, invoke the ancient pact!”
A razor-thin contest.
In just four steps, Bart closed 50 meters, planting his left foot forward and twisting his body fully.
“Obey now—!”
The spinning axe in midair was already arcing toward his right hand.
“Bart!”
Not even time to catch it.
Pour power into the fist.
Smash the skull straight down.
“Lady Libeni!”
Boom—the double-headed axe, denied its master’s grasp, slammed into the ground with a thunderous roar. The dark blue runes spewed lurid blackness, and Bart’s iron plate rent space forward like claws.
A silence short enough for one heartbeat.
Bart’s fist tore empty air viciously, but Libeni—dodging by a hair—smiled sweetly and placed her hand on his breastplate.
“Bye-bye, meathead.”
Black magic’s pinnacle: flesh melting off bones, then the bones themselves dissolving and exploding.
Before Bart could react, forbidden ritual power ignited from the caster’s palm.
Black mist snaking from her grip coiled around the black iron armor, space creaking──and the next instant, it shattered into countless particles.
“……Huh?”
A moment of confusion.
What? Was this the spell? No way. By now, it should’ve wrapped this meathead like a snake?
A third party’s voice provided the answer.
“That one won’t come out even if you wait a million years.”
Into the blood-slicked street of death staggered a boy. Crimson eyes gleamed through his disheveled black hair.
“I erased it.”
Everyone but Milrek stared in shock.
The impacts on Rem, Bart, and Libeni were different in nature, but……
Libeni twitched an eyebrow upon recognizing the boy leading rampaging mana.
“What the—how’s that thing still alive?”
The boy, Rain Ludwig, tossed aside his bloodied gloves. Beneath them, his palms were oddly wrapped in bandages.
“Fall back, Rem, Bart.”
Unwinding even those revealed §, an alien rune’s oppressive glow beginning to erode the blood-soaked world.
“Consider it an honor.”
He formed a mudra with reverent poise, pressing his palms together.
“You’re the first to see my mental image.”
Ra (羅). Two circles and two diamonds with his fingers. The moment the seal formed, the world overlaid with the boy’s mental image.
“Mental image construct: Flowmeasure Sovereign.”
* * *
「The Imaginary Domain is not a new power.」
It was written clearly in 『By Truth』, the biography of Liarat Warden.
「The Imaginary Domain is a mirror reflecting one’s depths—ultimately, just a domain that maximizes one’s existing power.」
The powers of Flowmeasure Sovereign, realized through brief, profound study, numbered four.
1. Yu (流): Aspect of flow.
The power to seamlessly convert a spell’s inscribed rune into another, like water.
2. Ryang (量): Aspect of measure.
The power to instantly calculate runes and formulas needed for any desired spell.
3. Se (世): Aspect of the world.
The foundational power to deploy the Flowmeasure Sovereign domain.
4. Jon (尊): Aspect of amplification.
The simplest, strongest power: unconditionally boosting any magic constructed via the Imaginary Domain.
These four runes deployed clockwise around me, glowing from the corresponding one when activated.
As the domain unfolded now, the Se (世) rune beamed radiant light.
Se (世)—mystical mana so vast only that word fits—spread rapidly from me, forming the domain.
A magic square.
A mystical world only I could create. Radiating east, west, south, north from me, the Flowmeasure Sovereign runes bloomed brilliantly within the circle.
“Imaginary Domain?”
Even the ever-calm Milrek blinked in astonishment. Mental images? Weren’t those the realm of 6-star Sages? From that kid?
“What a joke, that’s obviously some bluff illusion!”
Shock fleeting, Libeni spat a denial incantation, unleashing a vortex of destruction toward Rain.
“The magic circle’s form is double triangles, inscribed runes Yu (游) and Jang (場).”
Imbuing the fire spell with ‘aerial suspension’ and ‘barrier deployment’ aspects.
Normally, no mere 2-star could block it…… But ung—the domain’s Jon (尊; amplification) rune scattered sacred light, changing everything.
The blazing flame barrier surged with heat beyond 2-star, repelling the vortex.
“Rune conversion. Lu (瘻), Tan (彈).”
As Rain crossed his hands, ung—the domain’s Yu (流; flow) rune shot a light beam, sending chills racing through Libeni and Milrek.
The flame barrier split.
Into countless embers.
And without time to react…… those embers pelted like arrows?
“Rune substitution?!”
“How……?!”
Altering runes in an already-activated ability was an extreme technique.
Historically, only five across the empire and republic had achieved it.
Empire: two Sages and Great Mage Lin. Republic: Hero Party Shrine Maiden Fride and disciple Tureina.
—Failure. Without this, it’s no success.
Tureina—Libeni’s creator and mother—had said.
Proven unable to convert runes, her ‘success’ became ‘failure’ overnight……
Milrek hastily chanted a water ritual (black magic clashed poorly with fire) to block the ember bullets and shouted urgently.
“We need to escape first!”
“Shut up, shut up shut up shut up! I’ll kill him. Me, me!”
“Lady Libeni!”
Puzzle solved. Right—the 4-star magic that erased the Rat-Spider Queen came from that kid too. Not some scroll……
No chance here.
Inscribing runes Jeong (蒸) and Jang (場) in his tongue, he sealed their senses with pale mist, slipping into shadows.
As steam exploded fiercely, Rain thrust his left hand forward; the Ryang (量; measure) rune glowed.
“Rune creation. Jun (撙), Seon (搧).”
Using the six principles of rune formation to combine basics into Jun (撙; suppressing) and Seon (搧; fanning) runes.
Simultaneously, five example formulas from thousands in the Ryang rune surfaced. Formulas for these runes.
The equation to solve: improper integral. Taking limits in the definite integral’s region to compute coordinates.
“No……?!”
“Where’d runes like that……?!”
Suddenly, wind fanned from above like a gale, slamming the mist flat to the ground and clearing vision completely.
That crushing gust didn’t spare people either.
Milrek, forcing the rampaging Libeni toward the shadows, felt his body grow heavy, halting his actions for an instant.
“Th-this……!”
As Rain pointed with his index finger, flame vines coiled their limbs.
Silence fell on the chaos-ravaged world. Rain’s knee buckled, hacking up a clot of blood.
‘Close, way too close.’
All mana spent…… He hid his ragged breaths and stood.
“Move and those flames burrow inside, killing you instantly—so don’t try anything…… Urk.”
Rem rushed over, supporting the swaying Rain.
“So I told you not to push yourself, kid!”
The light faded from Rain’s Bell Sidias eyes, the Imaginary Domain shattering like spring cherry blossoms, drifting away.
Powering the domain too……
He’d exceeded limits, pouring every ounce into this fight. If it hadn’t ended here, death was certain. Libeni gnashed her teeth.
“What…… the hell are you……!”
“Questions are mine. Who…… turned you into that…… form?”
Libeni, glaring murderously at Rain since earlier, seemed to lose it with mad laughter—then brightened.
“Don’t strut just ‘cause you can do rune conversion! The real deal’s me! Same looks, insane skill! I’m Mother’s success—for receiving Lin’s soul!”
Eyes and mouth widened involuntarily at the meaning.
My soul?
A vessel for my soul?
Who the hell…… Before he could ask, a bizarre rune never seen before emerged from Libeni’s palate, spewing black smoke.
“This is my last……!”
Knowing it was final resistance, Rem nocked an arrow—but oddly, Libeni stared skyward, frantically clasping hands in plea.
“M-Mommy! S-sorry, I’m sorry! I, I did wrong! I’ll do better, please, Mommy, please please please───!”
If he’d had mana for Bell Quirius, could he have erased it? But even then, she wouldn’t have been human anymore.
The smoke touched her body, rotting and melting it grotesquely, reeking of decay.
Judging her ability used, the flame prison auto-ignited, torching Milrek—who’d closed his eyes in resignation.
“Damn lunatic. Didn’t even scream once.”
Rem shook his head in chills, biting his lip at the pyre spectacle.
“You okay, Rain?”
Bart approached and asked, but Rain just stared blankly at the burning corpses.
‘A vessel for my soul? What the hell are those black mage bastards plotting…….’
Even light speculation was impossible. His brain had long surpassed limits after absorbing black magic twice with Bell Quirius.
Thud.
He staggered massively and collapsed unconscious; Bart caught him. Rem draped his cloak over Rain, wrapping him tight.
“Body’s burning up like a furnace. Just like before.”
“Pushed too far again, probably.”
“Yeah, throwing around impossible power like that—no way he’d be fine. But what’s an Imaginary Domain?”
“Not sure exactly…… but I remember it’s the pinnacle of magic.”
Rem crossed arms, blinking owlishly in bewilderment, then tilted his head.
“Huh, yeah, no clue. Feels like I said the same last time—what’s this kid’s deal?”
Chilly underground wind blew bleakly. Laden with the dead’s lingering warmth, it felt unpleasantly tepid.
“Whatever his deal, Rain’s our comrade.”
Bart spoke curtly, hoisting Rain piggyback and heading toward Sami’s approach. Rem followed with an amused chuckle.
“Pfft, who said otherwise?”