Chapter 124
Chapter 124
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Seeker
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Seeker.
Elgana's first encounter with them had been on some snow-capped mountain in the North.
—It's an honor to meet you like this, Mage Elgana.
He didn't know the details, but they knew who he was.
Judging it best to keep things under wraps for now, he considered silencing them all just in case.
—Hear us out first.
Amid the clash of Surtr's heat and the North's eternal snows, the man called their leader—the head Seeker—never lost his smile.
—Your cause and our goals aren't so different. Join the Seekers.
Absurd nonsense. These fools only grasped the surface of the world's truth.
But it was true that they had some real powerhouses among them. So, a deal was struck.
—...Don't get the wrong idea just because we've worked together on a few things. I have no intention of joining the Seekers.
—That's not what I mean. Consider it a gesture of goodwill. I'd be grateful if you'd accept it.
The power of a demon. It was contained within a dark red gem.
At first, Elgana thought they were remnants of some extinct black mage cabal.
That made sense—after all, demon power was something you borrowed through contracts.
—No. We don't use such crude methods.
Their leader denied it.
They claimed to use a superior method, one more centered on humanity than the old black mages' ways.
—Of course, it's not perfect yet. But soon, we'll set the standard for the world.
Using that gem meant there'd be no turning back. It would surely bind him to follow the Seekers.
Elgana never had any intention of using it. Still, it was worth studying.
He was a mage, after all. Mages were fundamentally beings fascinated by the roots of the world.
The Seekers might seem pathetic, but he was indeed interested in their power.
—That said...
As he reached out to take the gem, the Seeker's leader suddenly grabbed his wrist.
It was irritating, but considering their prior dealings, Elgana merely furrowed his brow and endured it.
—What is it?
—I'll say it again. Join us. Otherwise, fate will swallow you whole.
Back then, it had felt like stubborn nonsense. As if they desperately needed his help.
And then today arrived.
Master of the green flames, disciple of the freak, sanctity of the Mage Tower. In the span of nearly a year, he'd earned countless titles.
The Emperor's illegitimate child, Damian Renekht.
But there was one word that described him most accurately.
Only Elgana and he knew it.
Black mage. The only human on the continent connected to Hell.
The moment he realized that, even Elgana had to admit it.
The moment their leader spoke of had come today.
And as the blue-haired man had said, he had only one option left.
"Ah... I see. I was just as superficial in my knowledge of the truth."
It felt like a layer of his brain had peeled away. The power dwelling in Elgana's body had elevated him to a higher being.
But this power hadn't fully awakened yet.
To achieve that, he needed a spark. And that spark was right before him.
This, too, was fate.
He had no doubt that the true world believed he would expose the current falsehoods.
"The brightest spark... is that soul of his."
He had devoured the black familiar created by black magic. The Hell power within it had made the force inside Elgana pulse.
But he craved more power.
Elgana transformed his finger into a thorn-like spike and lunged at Damian.
!!
In that instant, something ineffable emanated from Damian.
It wasn't perceived through his senses. Elgana's soul itself felt fear.
Did he still have another trick up his sleeve? Impossible. Fate had to be on his side now.
"Yes... it couldn't be."
Suddenly, the inexplicable power vanished from Damian. In its place, green flames enveloped his body.
It was practically suicide. The raging flames were nothing but prey to Elgana.
Slash. But that thought ended the moment the burning sword swung.
Elgana's left arm fell limply, just like before.
"...Gaaahhh!"
The pain hit seconds later. Elgana screamed as he leaped backward.
At least Damian didn't press the attack, giving him time to catch his breath.
A severed arm was no big deal. He could regenerate it easily.
"This can't be..."
The problem was that Elgana had felt pain from those flames. It defied logic.
Those green flames were black magic. Power originating from Hell.
They shouldn't harm him—they should serve as his kindling.
[Kya! Kya!]
Regardless of Elgana's reaction, Damian focused on the green flames enveloping him.
"You were there from the start."
On second thought, there was another way to counter Elgana—to counter the power of Ishtar within him.
Bone fragments were demonic. But they didn't belong to Hell. Thus, they didn't interact with Ishtar's power.
[Kya! Kya!]
The bone fragment's wail echoed in his mind. Right before he'd risked using Grim Reaper, the bone fragment had spoken to him.
—Fight together.
He still only heard the kyakyak sounds, but Damian sensed clear intent in them.
And so, the bone fragment's flames wrapped around him. Not a contract, but the primal power itself took root in Damian's soul.
Whoosh. Even as the green flames engulfed him, he felt no scorching heat.
Instead, vitality surged through him.
The sensation from when the bone fragment was forged. The life force he'd felt in Hell now filled Damian to the brim.
"You bastard! You bastard! You bastard!"
Along with Elgana's roar came a blast of hot wind sweeping the space.
His left arm had already regenerated, and four massive lava arms formed behind his back.
It was beyond ordinary magic. Mingled with Ishtar's power, it exuded a bizarre pressure.
"Looks kinda pathetic."
But Damian's assessment was calm.
Elgana's innate power and Ishtar's force were tangled in a messy knot, with no stable structure in sight.
It was like slapping together two kinds of clay haphazardly.
No human knew more about demons and Hell than Damian. And this wasn't his first encounter with such a being today.
Cathedral, Ramsey, and now Elgana. None of them wielded demonic power—they were adrift, swept away by massive waves.
Like lab rats in some grand experiment.
Above all, Damian felt he'd climbed a new step today.
The green flames wrapping around him resembled Hellfire, yet felt fundamentally different at their core.
Black magic that wasn't black magic. Or rather, what was black magic at its root? What connected this world and Hell?
How did his regression tie into these questions?
Of course, those weren't pressing concerns right now.
First, he had to deal with the specter before him.
The four lava arms shot toward Damian. Each was enormous and destructive. But Damian saw the flaws within them.
So he slipped his sword smoothly into the visible gap.
Swoosh. His blade cleaved through the lava arm—and Hellfire blazed fiercely along the cross-section.
"Uwaaah! Gaaahhh!"
Flames on lava—an odd sight. But Elgana's immediate pain took precedence.
The lava arms were mere constructs of magic and demonic power, not his actual body.
Yet the searing agony he'd never felt before shook his mind.
"It's not through sensation..."
Mana. Damian's flames burned mana.
Theory be damned—this new torment made him feel like he'd pass out any second.
"Haaap!"
But Elgana's body was no longer human. The power awakened by contact with Damian's black magic rampaged, suppressing the pain.
One slip, and he'd lose his reason. But Elgana had his accumulated experience.
He clumsily unleashed a rampage of demonic power and innate magic, barely maintaining balance.
Pathetic. Damian's judgment was spot on. It was Elgana's first time handling such power, so he had no luxury to refine it.
That wasn't the issue anyway.
He had to win this fight first. Devour Damian's soul and fully awaken the dormant power within.
Rumble rumble. The remnants of Surtr still on the ground—he drew them all into his body.
A brute-force method. The usual Elgana wouldn't even glance at it.
But this was a dire situation—and an opportunity. Defeat Damian here, and achieving his cause, saving the world, was close at hand.
"Grrr—!"
That was why he could endure this much pain. Cracks split his dark red skin, lava flowing from within.
Reinvoking Surtr's power based on his own flesh.
Crackle! Naturally, Damian wouldn't wait. Scattering green embers, he leaped forward in a massive bound.
No Stone Scales for a running start. Yet he covered far more ground than usual.
"Feels fresh."
Fusing with the bone fragment had greatly boosted his physical abilities. Was this what wielding aura felt like?
Clang! The burning sword clashed with the malformed body. He couldn't slice through as easily as before.
Even rotten, it was still top-grade—being a legendary mage, Elgana instantly compensated for the flaws.
Unable to improve refinement, he brute-forced it by piling on more power.
Even jagged gravel could gain some solidity if stacked overwhelmingly.
"Gaaah! Gaaah!"
But the screams were all Elgana's.
His body somehow held form, but each clash with the green flames nearly shattered his mind with searing pain.
Damian, meanwhile, was just slightly winded—no real pain. But there was a cost.
"Already one volume..."
The Book of Hell rooted in his soul—it was burning away as payment. Complete annihilation.
He couldn't maintain the fusion with the bone fragment for long. Or rather, he needed to save it for later.
'Michael. Rubia. Seekers. Ishtar.'
Even as he fought Elgana, Damian envisioned the foes he'd face down the line.
This power still had room to grow. He could gather more of the Book of Hell, and the bone fragment would evolve too.
New possibilities emerged. He was only wielding Hellfire like this now, but combining it with other black magics shouldn't be impossible.
No limits. The path ahead would peak at Damian himself.
"Don't get distracted! Focus on me!"
The undying specter bellowed. He'd once proclaimed his grand cause, but he no longer qualified.
It wasn't about right or wrong. He was simply too weak. Justice, causes, revenge—those weren't for the feeble.
Whoosh. The green flames around Damian vanished.
But Elgana couldn't let his guard down.
'It's coming!'
A sword strike surpassing aura with mere human flesh. It would come soon.
But it was ultimately physical. Unlike before, his mana wouldn't burn.
He'd gauged its power from blocking several strikes. Focus everything on defense, and he could hold.
The key was what followed.
After that strike, Damian would be briefly defenseless. That's when he'd end it.
Swoosh. Elgana crossed his arms in a guard stance.
Once he withstood the attack, he'd plunge his hidden dagger into Damian's heart.
Thud. But an unexpected sound rang out. Damian didn't swing at him. He never intended to.
He merely pressed the sword tip against him. That was it.
"Ah..."
On closer look, the flames hadn't extinguished. All the power had condensed into that blade.
Elgana had dug his own grave. He'd concentrated all his mana against the power that burned mana.
"This is..."
He had no time for last words.
Elgana, once called the Empire's worst criminal.
His cause vanished into ashes alongside his crumbling flesh.