Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Red Desert Chase
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-!
Right after emerging onto the ground amid a raging storm, I flung my gaze toward the distance. At the edge of the blood-red desert horizon, hazy dust clouds billowed toward the hills racing beneath the scorching sunlight.
‘You hopeless idiot...!’
I’d warned him to be careful, and yet in that short time, he’d gotten himself kidnapped. Durel was with them too. The distance was too great to make out clear shapes, but I’d already captured their auras through Arcana.
I was certain.
This was a situation where I couldn’t afford even a moment’s delay. Just as I turned to explain to Vasek, who had landed beside me, that we needed to give chase, he kicked off the ground and leaped onto a massive lizard a short distance away.
“I’ll go on ahead!”
The old man’s decisiveness was second to none.
I watched him for a brief moment, then turned and headed back to the guild building. Kicking through the rubble of the half-collapsed structure, I arrived at the room where we’d first stayed. The moment I reached out toward the wide-open door, a burst of wind from inside sent the glider flying out.
-!
The instant the glider landed in my hand, I kicked off without hesitation. In this dire situation, wasting even a few seconds was a terrible choice, but without riding skills, I needed the glider to cross the desert.
-!
As the glider’s wings unfurled, a fierce gust lifted my body into the air. Ever since completing my third Mana Circle, short flights without it had become possible, but having wings made all the difference in the world.
-!
The desert wind brushed my dry lips. Once airborne, my eyes locked naturally on the horizon beyond. At the same time, I bit my lip.
It had taken a few seconds to climb back to the ground, spot the enemy’s position, and retrieve the glider. In that brief time, the physical distance they’d covered was farther than I’d thought.
Now, I truly couldn’t waste a single moment. Gentle Wind surged from my churning emotions, shoving roughly at my back. More than ever, I yearned for Durel’s safety. The heightened feelings triggered burst after burst of fierce gales, accelerating me relentlessly.
“W-What’s that you’ve got there...!”
Vasek’s voice came from far below on the ground, heading the same way. I had no time to glance down. No time to explain that I was flying with a special spell.
I shot past him without sparing a single look.
‘Stay calm... I’m faster anyway...’
Flying in a straight line, I reined in my surging emotions. My speed had the edge. As long as they didn’t pull any weird tricks, I could rescue both Lenila and Durel.
‘Hoo...’
Of course, that didn’t make the agitation subside easily. I wasn’t some noble sage. I hadn’t secluded myself in the mountains to temper my mind and body. I was just an ordinary adult man who’d lived an ordinary life.
There was no way I could stay calm in a situation like this. As my uncontrolled emotions flared again, the nature of the wind shifted abruptly.
-Enemy!
-The sky! He’s flying in from the sky!
-He’s on a glider!
As the distance closed, the enemies noticed me too, shouting in rough voices.
Those mounted on lizards— the ones with bows and crossbows— aimed at me, but none of the arrows came close. The gap between ground and sky was vast, and even those that flew near were blocked by Gentle Wind’s barrier.
Reaching a distance where I could make them out meant they were within spell range too. Steadying my breath, I raised my left hand.
-!
Mana flowed from within me, gathering in my left hand and turning into glowing blue ice.
‘Freezing, diffusion... image of bitter cold settling over the ground...’
This wasn’t an attack spell. It was a wide-area freeze to halt their charge. I had to encase the earth in ice. To suppress the desert’s searing heat, the mana concentrated even more intensely.
A few breaths passed. The mystery born of my imagination manifested in this world. The moment I clearly sensed the cold presence in my left hand, I released the glider and leaped toward the masked figures ahead.
-!
I rode the wind on my back. Plummeting at tremendous speed, I slammed my left hand into the ground.
-!
Mana spread across the surface, constructing the mystery of magic. Freezing cold exploded outward in an instant, blanketing everything and icing the ground solid.
As if declaring the end of the masked men’s reckless charge, a massive winter descended. The lizards began toppling mid-stride, skidding on the frozen sheet or having their legs rip free from the ground, tumbling across the ice.
The masked riders tumbling off was a natural consequence.
Amid the chaos, I spotted Durel and Lenila. Both seemed unconscious, limp in their bonds. Their arms and legs were tightly tied, so even if they woke, they couldn’t move.
-!
The instant I saw them, I kicked off the ground. A violent wind burst cracked the ice beneath my feet.
I didn’t pause to measure the odds. Only the thought of saving them filled my mind. With a burst of acceleration, I landed amid the enemies— and blades came flying from all sides.
Six masked figures surrounded me. Two were mana users capable of physical enhancement. The rest were irrelevant; they couldn’t breach Gentle Wind’s wall anyway. Dropping into a low stance and spinning half a turn, I unleashed hundreds of Magic Missiles at the two mana users.
-!
No time wasted, not even an instant. Breath after breath, hundreds of projectiles fired in rapid succession. They tore through the air, shattered the frozen ground, and thudded into flesh with brutal impacts.
‘One down...’
After finishing one, I turned to the next— when one of the nobodies I’d ignored pulled a familiar object from his pouch and hurled it at me.
“This...!”
-!
The fast-approaching object was a pitch-black rope. A bizarre item that negated mana— the bane of mages. I’d been careless, forgetting about such a dangerous tool even for a moment.
Before I could react, the rope sliced through Gentle Wind’s barrier and coiled around my right arm.
And the next instant.
-!
The rope disintegrating into powder. In the blink of an eye, confusion flickered in the masked men’s eyes.
‘Mana...’
Some of my mana had been sucked out in an instant, but it wasn’t a big issue. The infinite power source in my heart— my Mana Circle— quickly refilled the gap.
‘Absorption type... fixed total amount.’
Meaning that rope posed no real threat to me. It had worked on Durel because he only had one circle in his heart.
“W-What...? Just now, El Karsum’s rope...”
“Throw it again! No way!”
“We’re out... Nothing left...!”
-!
Hundreds of starlit projectiles swallowed the man fumbling in his pouch. Without a scream, he froze amid blooming white frost and sank into the iced desert.
I realized no one here could threaten me anymore. My attacks carried no hesitation.
“N-No... The sealing ritual’s almost complete...!”
As hundreds of Magic Missiles manifested around me, their mutterings pierced my ears. I didn’t care. Whatever dying men did was beneath my notice.
“U-Uwaaaak!”
Gentle Wind shook their bodies, and hundreds of projectiles rained down on the fallen forms. Screams, shouts, and curses blended into death rattles, scattering on the wind with the white frost.
Silence fell. Vasek, who’d apparently run the full distance, landed on the ice, panting heavily.
“Huff... huff... What... the hell are you...?”
“You’re a bit late.”
“Sorry... so sorry... Is the young miss... is she safe?”
Safe? I nodded and turned. Lenila lay beside Durel in my view.
With a light wave of my hand, Reaping Wind extended from my fingertips, slicing through their bonds in one go.
“Young miss! Young miss! Pull yourself together...!”
Vasek rushed over and cradled Lenila’s limp form like a precious treasure. Watching his careful touch, I walked slowly toward them.
“Ha...”
Seeing her peacefully closed eyes made my gut boil. I nudged Durel’s leg with my foot.
“Get up.”
“Huff...!”
At the slight jolt, Durel shot up in alarm.