Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Clash of Titans
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‘What...'
Calrag could sense that the conversation was about to end soon.
Elgana was even crazier than he'd imagined. He was starting to tire of indulging his sophistries.
But Damian's reaction was definitely strange. He hadn't expected the talk to wrap up like this.
Elgana's final words. Just as Calrag had felt last time, Elgana had also seen Lucas and Damian overlapping in his mind.
The next emperor... Calrag had never even considered it.
By all rights, it should be the 1st Prince, Michael. But he knew full well that the current situation didn't allow for that.
What if Damian became the next emperor? Setting aside possibility, it strangely suited him.
He didn't know what Damian himself thought, but the man clearly had the power to lead people.
With a sching, Damian drew his sword and slammed it down on the table.
His eyes burned with clear fury toward Elgana.
What part had made him lose control of his emotions?
'No way... because he said he resembled His Majesty the Emperor...'
There was no way an illegitimate child would have good feelings toward his birth father.
However, Damian was different.
Hadn't Lucas acknowledged him as his own flesh and blood and permitted him to live in the imperial palace?
'Was I almost on the receiving end too?'
Right before taking the exam in Enricasil, Calrag had said something similar.
It had blown over vaguely then, but imagining Damian's sword aimed at him sent a slight chill down his spine.
The moment the table split in half, Elgana thrust out his palm. Damian and Calrag were pushed back.
'Now that we've both bared our fangs, let's at least keep basic etiquette. If someone's giving you a compliment, take it graciously.'
Elgana rose from his seat and shook his head. Like Calrag, he was puzzled about why Damian was so angry.
'Well, it was a fairly enlightening conversation anyway. I didn't expect you to understand. In the end, it's a matter that requires bloodshed.'
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound of metal clanging echoed from beyond the wall.
'I didn't chat with you out of boredom either. I had preparations to make.'
Elgana intended to use Enricasil's power for his own cause. He must have been organizing the related equipment in advance.
The sword was already drawn. There was no more room for words.
[As discussed beforehand, once Damian draws their attention, I'll secure Princess Erewin.]
[Can you dispel that magic?]
Erewin still stood like a statue. Elgana's spell had drained all color from her body except her eyes.
[I've finished most of the analysis during the conversation. Just give me a little time. Three minutes, and we'll have the clear advantage.]
Right now, she stood useless like a stone statue, but as the empire's sole princess, she had her own combat prowess.
Once freed, they'd have to worry about her rampaging instead. Given Erewin's personality, she wouldn't let Elgana—who did this to her—off easily.
"Kyaa!"
With the bone shard's cry, green flames ignited along Damian's sword.
Kwachik. Stone Scales erupted from the ground, serving as a foothold as he leaped toward Elgana.
Calrag formed mana arms behind his back. Large enough to envelop a person.
He also pulled five shrunken familiars from his Subspace Pouch.
Distinctive combat familiars, they would assist Damian's fight without needing separate orders.
'Shall we enjoy a little warm-up before the real work begins?'
Whoosh. As Elgana swung his hand, the surrounding space expanded dramatically.
It wasn't just a sensory illusion. The physical distance to Elgana actually increased.
Clang! The blazing sword struck nothing but the empty floor.
The green flames stretched toward Elgana, but they fell short of closing the gap.
'Manipulation of Enricasil itself.'
It wasn't ordinary magic. Somehow, he was using control over Enricasil to warp space.
"Watch out!"
Calrag shouted from behind. The ceiling above Damian began descending suddenly.
It was no longer a normal ceiling. It bristled with spikes sharp enough to crush bones effortlessly.
But it was within predicted bounds. Kwachik. Stone Scales surged from the ground, forming a barrier upward.
Rumble rumble rumble. Immense mass pressed down, but it couldn't pierce the Stone Scales.
Based on Ezekiel's mana barrier and refined through training and battles, its completion had improved.
When focusing defense on a single point, few attacks could breach it.
'Hoo.'
Elgana, standing still to widen the distance, felt the barrier's power firsthand. So he attacked from another angle.
Whoosh! Elgana's mana spheres flew at high speed, closing the growing gap.
Moreover, each large sphere contained smaller ones inside.
Destroying the outer layer would scatter the small spheres everywhere, ensuring unavoidable damage.
"Kyaa!"
Roar. The bone shard's Hellfire enveloped Damian. Alone, it would have been a dire situation.
But while Damian focused on the descending ceiling attack, the bone shard blocked Elgana's assault.
This level of coordination no longer required commands.
With two tasks at once, even Elgana had no room to spare.
In that interval, the familiars closed in and swarmed Elgana.
A doll armed with sharp swords on six arms.
A mass of glistening metallic fluid.
A lizard of flame and lightning.
A maid with multi-barrel cannons on her abdomen.
A giant with one arm twice her height.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat. The maid struck first with bombardment. Not ordinary bullets—each was a mana-infused bomb.
Elgana countered with dozens of layers of mana barriers. The frontmost shattered, but he took no direct damage.
The assault didn't end. Amid the smoke, flames and lightning intertwined and flew forth. Elgana met them with similar magic.
Roar! Crackle! Flames clashed with flames, lightning with lightning, dyeing the space in bizarre hues.
Even then, the maid familiar's attacks continued, while the others closed for melee.
'The title of empire's greatest familiar craftsman is well-deserved.'
Each of the five was equivalent to a skilled knight or mage—no shortcomings.
Free of human emotions, their actions had no flaws. They moved as if sharing thoughts.
Elgana held his ground. He kept distancing himself, blocking attacks with apt spells and countering.
But his focus on Damian inevitably waned.
In the end, the Stone Scales barrier pushed the ceiling back up, and Damian leaped toward Elgana again using Stone Scale boulders as footing.
Roar. Pressed by Hellfire, Stone Scales, and Damian's sword, even Elgana yielded slightly.
The location still favored him not fully.
'Almost there.'
As the exchange continued.
"......!!"
Elgana hurled Erewin toward Damian.
'Damian! Damian!'
Tears welled in Erewin's eyes, but she expected him to catch her.
Contrary to expectations, Damian kept his sword gripped and leaped past, brushing by her.
"Are you alright, Princess?"
Calrag safely caught Erewin with his mana arm.
Then, based on his analysis, he dispelled the magic on her body.
"You damned scum!"
She needed no call for aid. Erewin let out a roar, gathering mana throughout her body.
Flash. But neither Erewin nor Calrag could join the fray. With a blinding light, both vanished.
The five familiars froze momentarily.
Powered by Calrag's mana for combat focus, they switched to internal power when he disappeared within range.
Kwachik! A brief opening, but Elgana didn't miss it.
An invisible force smashed down around him, sparing only himself.
Damian and the bone shard dodged, but the familiars couldn't.
The essence of the Dvoraš family, contained in those familiars, turned to dust in one strike.
Showing even a moment's gap to a mage of Elgana's caliber was like offering your neck.
'I originally planned to send you lot out first. I thought I'd deal with Calrag and then chat leisurely.'
Elgana looked down at Damian from midair.
Damian wasn't the only one eager for a direct clash. Elgana had baited him for the same reason.
Sacrifices from Enricasil didn't matter. Even if Erewin's rampage wasn't a trap, he could use it as is.
Now, Damian would play the sacrifice's role.
'The others might not get it, but your power is highly anomalous. And you reacted differently from Calrag. You seemed to understand me. What do you know?'
"I know your grand cause is dogshit, you slaughtering bastard."
"Puhahaha. I thought you had an open mind, but that's it? Fine. I've taken many lives for my cause. And this isn't the end."
"No guilt at all, huh."
"Because it's not a sin. Even if I take tens of thousands of lives now, it's for the billions yet to be born."
"What drivel."
Incomprehensible words. But curiosity lingered.
Elgana knew more than Damian. He might resolve his questions.
But he wouldn't beg for answers. He'd seize them by force—his knowledge, and the spirit body born from his lingering thoughts.
As if preparations were complete, the space they stood in transformed. No longer an ornate room, but a dim cave.
Déjà vu crept from the floor. This was Elgana's domain. His magic was ready.
Grrrr. The ground shook violently. Cracks split the earth, lava surging up.
The lava, shooting high toward the ceiling, took form at Elgana's gesture.
Surtr.
A giant of lava, the magic symbolizing Elgana.
In the past, during his massacres or the civil war before regression, this monstrosity had reshaped the continent's geography.
'Yes, let's have that deeper conversation after I sever your limbs. Oh, don't worry. I'll leave your face intact. Even as a man, it's a sight worth seeing.'
Not just mocking words.
Mana in his voice pressed around Damian—not to harm, but to intimidate.
"Hmm."
Damian's reaction differed from Elgana's expectations. His eyes held conviction, his smile brimming with confidence.
Clank. Clank. Clank. Metal clashed.
"...Death Knight."
Elgana recognized the jet-black armor instantly. He'd read a grimoire on it in the past.
"Shall we continue?"
Damian raised his sword. The Death Knight drew its own alongside him.
Now, it was all-out for Damian too.