Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Surt and Death Knight's Standoff
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The standoff between Surt and the Death Knight. A situation ordinary people couldn't even dream of.
Surt was a unique spell that only Elgana could wield, and the Death Knight was a creation from a legendary necromancer of the past.
Before Elgana caused the incident, that necromancer had been branded the empire's worst criminal.
'Death Knight. Undead...'
Elgana looked down with half-lidded eyes.
The existence of the Death Knight itself was intriguing, but what surprised him most was that Damian was using necromancy.
Necromancy had long been abandoned by the Magic Tower.
Even the Tower Master Ariellana or the eccentric Ezekiel only understood it superficially.
In contrast, Elgana could use necromancy to a certain extent.
In pursuit of power, there was no right or wrong.
He possessed countless spells forbidden by the Magic Tower, so there was no hesitation in learning necromancy.
But seizing control of the Death Knight from Damian was impossible. Damian's control was superior to Elgana's.
'It's not Damian. The one commanding the Death Knight is the black silhouette behind him.'
And Elgana felt a sense of familiarity from the strange familiar.
'That power... the Shtugart family?'
He had exchanged knowledge with the head of the Shtugart family in the past.
Though that family head had died before Damian was even born, the black silhouette exuded a familiar power.
It would feel just like that if a Shtugart magician's soul were extracted and turned into a familiar.
"Heh heh heh. Illegitimate child. You condemned me so harshly, yet the power you wield isn't exactly righteous either."
"I never criticized the power you use. The problem is the direction in which you use it."
"Right, right. What's the point of debating good and evil? In the end, the victor is always the most righteous—that's the eternal truth."
Though the Death Knight was a powerful undead, it was just one. It couldn't handle his Surt on its own.
If it were an army of undead, that would be different, but that was in the realm of impossibility. This was still an era of peace.
He acknowledged Damian's exceptional talent. He had achieved more than Elgana had at the same age.
But that was it. Ultimately, Damian couldn't surpass Elgana.
When he first took action for the greater good, countless talents of the empire blocked his path.
Some believed in their own justice, others simply sought fame on the battlefield.
The result was the same. They all met miserable deaths.
The futures they believed would shine brilliantly ended right there.
The reason was simple. They ignored the difference in experience.
The time that talent couldn't overcome. This applied between Elgana and Damian as well.
The only one who survived experiencing Surt was the eccentric Ezekiel.
Though Elgana had been defeated, even he hadn't broken Surt.
'It won't be long.'
If his current plan succeeded, not even Ariellana and Ezekiel together could surpass him.
No powerhouse in the empire could stop him on his path to the greater good.
Rumble. Surt raised its massive arm. Its fist touched the ceiling.
'Comparing to before regression would be rude.'
Though Elgana didn't know it, in terms of experience, Damian held the advantage.
Before Damian's regression, he had faced and defeated Elgana, but the current Elgana was an unknown enemy to him.
He only had rumors circulating in the world. The power Damian had shown was just a fraction.
However, the pre-regression Elgana and the current one couldn't be placed on the same level.
If the Damian of that time had faced the current Surt, he wouldn't have won.
Of course, the current Damian had long surpassed his past self.
Crack. Stone Scales at maximum intensity surged up to meet Surt's fist head-on.
"Kyaa!"
Hellfire mixed with bone fragments intertwined with the massive rock.
Though still weaker than the maximum firepower Damian could output, it had the advantage of being usable with Stone Scales.
'Black Mass.'
But it didn't end there.
Agarez's Black Mass enveloped the Stone Scales rock, reinforcing its power and durability once more.
"Ugh!"
The price of black magic—Black Mass—was increased pain. Thus, the oppressive weight of Stone Scales felt stronger than ever.
Rumble rumble rumble! The collision of enormous masses made space itself scream in agony.
Damian wore a slightly stiff expression, while Elgana looked rather pleased.
"That spell. It's inspired by Ezekiel's mana barrier."
It combined hexagons and pentagons, using constant rotation to materialize the abstract concept of absolute defense.
Even Elgana had needed considerable effort to breach it.
"Not bad. It must feel rewarding."
Though called Ezekiel's disciple, he hadn't expected the man to teach Damian anything.
Ezekiel had been an unpredictable man even before earning the eccentric moniker.
He always thought only of himself and looked down on others. Such a person couldn't be a proper teacher.
But it was different from expectations.
Whether the man taught him directly or Damian learned it on his own ingeniously, Ezekiel's traces were there.
'Don't think you'll die easily.'
He would extract all the knowledge and information the bastard knew, then kill him miserably.
Sending the corpse to Ezekiel didn't sound bad either.
What would it feel like to see despair cloud the face of that man always full of sly smiles?
Rumble rumble rumble! Amid the ongoing standoff, the Hellfire split in half, opening a path. The Death Knight charged through it.
The jet-black sword wounded the giant's arm. It didn't sever it completely, but it was enough to disrupt the balance of power.
A burning rock shot toward Surt. The Death Knight gripped its sword atop it.
"Ha. This is quite the spectacle."
As Surt swung its opposite arm, Elgana extended his arm forward as well.
Whoosh! Dozens of blades made of light shot toward the Death Knight.
The Knight of Death swung its sword like a dancer, but it couldn't handle every attack. In the end, blades embedded in its armor as it plummeted downward.
Crack. But another surging rock pushed the Death Knight back up.
This time, it wasn't alone. Damian also raised his burning sword and leaped toward Elgana.
'Something's coming!'
He knew Damian's swordsmanship was exceptional. It was said he even used it supplementally in real combat.
But what he felt now was different. Something far exceeding the power Damian had shown until moments ago was approaching.
Slash. And that premonition was accurate.
Instead of dodging, Elgana had Surt reach out toward Damian.
But with a sound slicing through the air, the lava split in two.
Green flames poured in like a tidal wave through the gap. Fortunately, the sturdy mana barrier he had prepared spared Elgana any harm.
"Heh heh heh. That body and sword aren't just for show, huh? I get why Raeller wants it so badly."
It was a battle that brought rare enjoyment after so long.
Elgana wanted to savor this moment longer. He had plenty of leeway to do so.
Meanwhile, Damian wasn't solely focused on the standoff with Elgana.
Splash. Splash. At the command of the spirit body—Xenon—the undead invaded the lava.
Lacking human pain and emotions, they could carry out such orders.
Ordinary undead couldn't endure the lava for long.
Only the Death Knight could move freely in Surt's lava.
But before confronting Elgana, Damian had performed additional reinforcements on the undead.
He had anticipated facing Surt, after all.
He detached pieces of the Death Knight's armor, proliferated them, and transplanted them onto the lower bodies of the other undead.
The lava sea wasn't that deep anyway. With limited resources, efficient investment was necessary.
Of course, transplanting Death Knight fragments to all undead wasn't easy. That's why he even utilized primal mana.
Elgana hadn't noticed yet.
It was a weakness of Surt. While deploying this wide-area spell, senses narrowed.
Moreover, with Damian and the Death Knight drawing maximum attention, there was no reason to look below.
The reason such a large force was needed was simple: to destroy Surt's core.
Surt's weakness was a core located somewhere in the lava sea.
No matter how much the main body was attacked, without destroying the core, it would just regenerate.
But Elgana knew this and had prepared countermeasures to defend it.
Namely, scattering countless fake cores throughout the lava sea.
Black magic—Gaze—could locate the cores.
No, even without it, the cores were visible to the naked eye. But distinguishing the real one from fakes was impossible.
That was why Surt had such notoriety. It wasn't that the method was unknown; executing it was the problem.
Another way was to strike Elgana directly.
In the past, when Elgana committed the university massacre, Ezekiel succeeded; during the civil war, Damian took that role.
But the pre-regression Elgana and the current one were incomparable.
Aiming for Elgana would mean Damian falling first.
'When the problem is complex, find the simplest solution.'
That was Damian's conclusion for facing Surt.
If real and fakes couldn't be distinguished, then destroy them all.
He had the forces for it.
Since they weren't living humans, there was no hesitation. A few undead destroyed meant nothing.
Thus, what Damian needed to focus on now was drawing Elgana's attention.
He had to ensure Elgana paid no mind to the undead's actions.
Boom! Crackle!
The burning rock clashed with the lava giant, and the burning sword swung toward the mage who should have died long ago.
The Death Knight also endured the lava, swinging its jet-black sword.
"Haa... haa... haa..."
But the one accumulating wounds bit by bit was Damian.
"You're slowing down. Put on more of a show."
To Elgana, this was the natural outcome. As long as he didn't let his guard down, there was no reason to lose.
Instead, he pondered ways to capture Damian intact.
Genuine curiosity about the illegitimate child had arisen.
"Show me more, more! Let the Death Knight's fame resound...!"
Then, the unexpected happened. Damian and Elgana's expressions reversed.
Damian twisted his lips in mockery of his opponent, while Elgana's face stiffened rigidly.
The Surt that had been oppressively dominating the surroundings began to collapse.
Paradoxically, with the spell dispelling, Elgana's senses returned to normal. Only then could he confirm what was happening on the ground.
'It wasn't just one Death Knight. An army. An army of undead!'
While Damian and Elgana battled, the undead army destroyed every visible core of Surt.
They had even succeeded in destroying the real one.
That was why Elgana had been wary of undead.
No human army could devise such a brute-force strategy.
Familiars lacked the numbers.
It was a strategy possible only with undead, which lacked human emotions and could be mass-produced from corpses alone.
"You... how did you know?"
What shocked him most was that Damian had executed it.
He had drawn Elgana's gaze to the Death Knight. Meanwhile, the undead army destroyed the cores.
He knew not just Surt's weakness, but the strategy perfectly.
The question was why Damian knew this.
"...I really need to crack open your brain and take a look."
Surt completely lost its form. The oppressive lava slowly vanished.
But a smile spread across Elgana's face once more.
Crack! With a single gesture from Elgana, the Death Knight slammed into the wall.
"......"
An overwhelming aura emanated from Elgana's body, incomparable to before.
Yet at the same time, it felt familiar. Damian had wielded a portion of that power himself.
"Enricasil..."
"Yes. Time was on my side. While I played with you, the preparations finished. Now it's time to offer you as sacrifice and achieve the greater good... Ack, urk!"
Elgana's hand trembled.
The moment he fully seized Enricasil's power, it began slipping away, shaking his entire body.
"What's wrong? Time on your side? You think I didn't know that?"
Elgana had used a specific magic tool to steal Enricasil's power. If combat broke out, he would transmit it externally as a precaution.
Damian had discussed countermeasures with Calrag, turning it against him.
—We confirmed a hideout somewhere in the capital, but tracking further was impossible.
—There's one way. Target the moment he moves the magic tool.
—...Is that possible?
Damian answered only with a smile. No need to explain the details to Calrag.
In the empire, only one person could make it possible. And it succeeded spectacularly.
"You... what the hell are you?"
"My identity...? Why does a guy about to die care?"
Damian swung his burning sword widely. Clear fear now appeared on Elgana's face.
* * *
A few minutes after Damian and Calrag infiltrated Enricasil.
'They're here!'
Atop a tall spire in the capital, a girl leaped downward.
She was no longer the country bumpkin from the south.
The Desert Rose, Paruzan, moved.