Chapter 127
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 127
"Meisa—!"
Kadram shouted at the top of his lungs as he watched the barrage of lightning pour from the sky.
Only a noble of the Arabion bloodline could call down such devastating bolts from the heavens. It was a logical conclusion; there shouldn't be any other Arabion mage as powerful as her associated with Turan.
However, contrary to his expectations, she was nowhere to be seen. Even if the origin point of a lightning strike could be set from a distance, it was rare for a caster to remain so completely hidden.
Taking advantage of the momentary confusion, Turan made his move on the ground.
"Hmm!?"
"What is this...?"
He uncorked a large bottle from an unknown source, spraying a transparent liquid in a wide fan.
The surrounding nobles were baffled by the sight, but they didn't immediately go on guard. Pure water wasn't an effective weapon unless used to overwhelm with sheer mass—and it certainly wasn't poison.
Only a few cautious individuals scrambled back to avoid contact, while most simply frowned and shielded their faces with their hands.
It didn't take long for them to pay the price.
"Aaaargh!"
"It burns! My skin!"
"Water, get some water! No—wait!"
The effects of the Water of Death, deployed in live combat for the first time, were truly terrifying. If Turan had used the Soul of Fire or other offensive magic, he would have risked harming the hostage with excessive firepower. However, as long as he controlled the trajectory of the liquid, there was no risk of collateral damage.
While several careless men screamed in agony as the Water of Death melted their flesh, Turan moved like a blur and snatched up the fallen Melo. Since Kadram and the others nearby had leaped back to avoid the spray, there was no one left to interfere.
"Seize him!"
Even before Kadram’s command fully left his lips, the mages forming the perimeter unleashed their spells. Perhaps they decided it didn't matter if Melo and Turan died now that Meisa had appeared; the incoming attacks were vicious, launched with a lethal intent that suggested they didn't care if the targets survived the "rescue."
In response, Turan shielded the unconscious Melo, activated his Guardian magic tool, and deployed the Green Shield. It was a powerful defensive artifact he had seized from a Baraha noble in the past, designed to move autonomously and intercept fatal strikes.
The shield whirled through the air, parrying bolts from two Arabion elders and the combined spells of Kadram and his high-ranking mages before returning to Turan’s side.
But even after successfully defending against the onslaught, Turan couldn't afford to relax.
Damn, the mana consumption...
As a massive chunk of his power was shaved away, a dizzying wave of exhaustion washed over him. At this rate, it almost felt like it would have been better to just take the hits. Of course, doing so would have killed the boy in his arms, so it was a necessary sacrifice.
As Turan retreated, another bolt of lightning fell from the sky, incinerating three knights and a noble from a vassal family. Only then did those forming the perimeter realize they weren't facing a single enemy, and panic began to set in.
"Where is Meisa!? Find her! Even if we lose that boy, we must capture Meisa!"
Kadram shouted at a noble standing beside him who held a large stone tablet. It was a detection magic device that displayed nearby life signatures—the same one Meisa had used during the Dark Elf subjugation. They must have used it to track Turan’s approach.
"Th-there is something flying in the sky, but... based on the red color of the dot, it’s a magic beast, not a person!"
"What?"
"Furthermore, according to the device, it should be visible from here, but there’s nothing there!"
Just as he said, the one raining lightning from the sky was Bije, not Meisa. The Arabion nobles could never have imagined a mythic-grade magic beast capable of dropping lightning while remaining invisible.
At that moment, the noble holding the stone tablet shouted again.
"Two more are approaching!"
[Uwoooooo—!]
A thunderous roar echoed from the distance.
Solif burst onto the battlefield like a juggernaut, smashing through every tree in his path. The mages' eyes widened when they saw the halo manifesting on his back.
"Wait, why is a Baraha—"
A Sun bloodline mage had appeared out of nowhere. Before they could process their confusion, Meisa, who had approached silently from the opposite flank, thrust her sword toward one of the Arabion elders.
"Kugh—!"
"Block it!"
Boom!
With a deafening roar, an invisible shockwave erupted, sending half a dozen nearby mages flying. The long, thin thrusting sword she held had been forged from the magic tools of Zahar nobles; it was capable of emitting kinetic shockwaves through thrusts and slashes. It was a weapon crafted specifically for Meisa, whose primary lightning attacks often lacked physical concussive force.
"Ugh!"
"This one is incredibly skilled! Don't let your guard down!"
Ridiculously enough, the Arabion nobles failed to recognize Meisa even while looking directly at her. The gap between the skeletal, gaunt figure she once was and her current appearance was simply too vast. The urgency of the battle played a part as well. Before they knew it, they were no longer the ones surrounding the enemy; they were being surrounded and systematically dismantled.
Kadram used wind magic to amplify his voice, his shout cutting through the din.
"Do not retreat! We still have the advantage in numbers!"
In their minds, Turan was at best a Zahar noble hovering between high-rank and top-rank. Even if they added two mysterious top-rank nobles and a mythic-grade magic beast to the scale, the balance shouldn't tip. They had dozens of mages and high-tier magic tools.
Encouraged by his words, the mages regained their morale and began attacking Solif and Meisa, plunging the battlefield into total chaos.
"Grr, you bastard...!"
With a growl, a snow leopard suddenly lunged at Solif. The creature, slightly larger than a tiger, possessed physical combat abilities that could hold its own against the Baraha noble. It was a mythic-grade magic beast with power exceeding that of a top-rank noble.
When a top-rank noble coordinated their movements with this beast—a prized treasure of the Nagin family—the fight quickly fell into a stalemate. Solif moved nimbly, killing several knights and nobles, but new scratches appeared on his body with every exchange.
Meanwhile, Meisa skillfully took to the sky, devastating the enemies with lightning and shockwaves. Only then did a few nobles recognize her identity and cry out in shock.
"My Lady!?"
"It can't be!"
Though her appearance was transformed, there weren't many top-rank Arabion mages with long reddish-brown hair, especially women. Moreover, their leader, Kadram, had mentioned her name just moments ago. The nobles of the vassal families, who believed Meisa had been kidnapped, were thrown into confusion by the shocking fact that they were being attacked by the very person they were supposed to rescue.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Kadram glared sharply at Turan, who was moving away from the battlefield with Melo.
"That bastard...!"
An illegitimate child of some Zahar noble, a lowlife trying to climb the social ladder by seducing a lady of a Great Family with a treasure containing the power of the extinct Mimic—that was how Kadram saw him. He couldn't help but be shocked by the reality before him.
What was that acid-like substance? Where on earth did he find such a powerful Baraha noble? And why had Meisa become so strong?
Could it be—
He briefly recalled the Great Sea Serpent that had turned the North Sea upside down, but Kadram cut the thought short as he watched Meisa dominate the battlefield. Now was not the time for reflection.
I must suppress her first. Even if I only get her, the original objective is achieved.
Meisa was overwhelming two Arabion elders while simultaneously deflecting attacks from dozens of mages below. She had already surpassed her past reputation as the strongest successor; she was now at a level where she could hold her own against the heads of the Great Families. Furthermore, her previous, pitiable appearance was gone, replaced by a stunning, radiant beauty...
I'm envious.
Though he currently inhabited a male body, Kadram had lived for so long that the distinction between genders had faded. He didn't desire Meisa as a man would; he wanted to be her. To seize that powerful, beautiful vessel for himself.
However, that was a desire he was not permitted to fulfill. The owner of that body had already been decided. Considering the time and effort invested in her, there was no chance the ownership of that body would fall to him.
"Tsk."
The moment Kadram clicked his tongue and reached out his hand, Meisa, flying through the sky, turned her head at an instinctive sense of danger. Kadram was certainly one of the most powerful mages in Arabion, but there were several others here with comparable skill. Nevertheless, a powerful intuition screamed at her that she must not ignore his gesture.
"Ugh!?"
A green radiance erupted from Kadram’s hand and surged toward Meisa. Its speed far exceeded the speed of sound. Fortunately, she managed to flip her body mid-air and avoid a direct hit, but her grazed arm and leg burned as blood began to flow. She wouldn't have survived a direct impact.
God's magic...
The special power used by the fallen gods. The reason they practiced soul magic was to obtain such power, though they hadn't quite mastered its application yet.
Meisa performed evasive maneuvers and quickly dropped a bolt of lightning toward Kadram, but to her surprise, he simply stood still, smirking as he took the strike. The lightning struck with a crackle, circled around his upper body, and was absorbed harmlessly.
"No way—"
As the successor of Arabion, Meisa knew exactly what that power was.
The Heavenly Guardian.
The Thunder Lord's Legacy, one of the sacred relics Arabion took pride in. It was an item only the family head was permitted to use, but it seemed Kadram had brought it here specifically for this occasion.
Realizing her lightning was useless, Meisa grit her teeth and continued her evasive maneuvers, repeatedly dodging Kadram’s attacks. Naturally, it was impossible to deal with the other mages simultaneously. As she was repeatedly hit by the fireballs of knights and mediocre nobles, the damage began to accumulate.
This isn't as easy as I thought...
She glanced sideways to see Bije engaged in a fierce aerial battle against four Arabion nobles. They had summoned spheres of light to illuminate the night sky, preventing her from hiding and forcing a war of attrition. While Bije’s flight speed was superior, being driven away from a position where she could overlook the battlefield meant she had lost her power to intervene.
At this rate—
Just as the situation turned dire, a thunderous explosion echoed from the distance. Meisa breathed a sigh of relief at the now-familiar noise. She stopped her evasive maneuvers and looked down, seeing a hole torn through one side of the perimeter as if it had been slashed by a giant blade.
*
Turan used the opening created by Meisa and Solif to escape with Melo, then immediately checked the boy's condition.
"Melo, are you okay? Can you wake up?"
Whether they had beaten or tortured him, Melo was badly injured and remained unconscious. His cheeks were sunken as if he hadn't eaten for days. Fortunately, his life didn't seem to be in immediate danger.
After flying for a few minutes to hide Melo in a safe cave, Turan returned to find the battle still in full swing. Solif was fighting fiercely against a snow leopard while being pelted by dozens of mages, and Meisa was struggling to avoid Kadram’s attacks while being pursued by two Arabion elders.
Judging by the fact that the power emanating from Kadram was now at the absolute peak of the top-rank—even stronger than Meisa’s past self—it seemed he was beginning to use his power as a possessed vessel in earnest.
Instead of jumping straight into the fray, Turan maintained his stealth and searched for the noble holding the detection magic device.
Where... there he is.
The man was desperately shouting something toward Kadram, but Kadram, obsessed with targeting Meisa, didn't notice him. He was likely trying to report that Turan had returned.
Turan immediately created a Wind Path and threw an ordinary pebble, blowing off the head of the noble holding the stone tablet. In the chaos of the battlefield, the death went unnoticed. Of course, if such attacks continued, they would eventually catch on. He had to achieve the maximum result in a single strike while hidden in the darkness.
That happens to be my specialty.
Turan pulled a massive iron ball from his pouch, the size of a human torso. It was the only one among the iron balls Meisa had made that was designed for magic beasts and armies rather than individuals. It was a formal version of the one he had improvised while fighting the Great Sea Serpent. Since it was too large for a standard sling, he used a specialized one he had prepared in advance.
The trajectory... okay, there.
His attacks didn't discriminate between friend and foe, so he needed a path that avoided Solif and Meisa while catching as many enemies as possible in the line of fire. Naturally, the final target was Kadram, the commander threatening Meisa with his mysterious magic.
A moment later, having finished his calculations, he created a Wind Path and fired the iron ball while detonating the Soul of Fire. Accelerated once by the sling and again by the pressure of the exploding Soul of Fire—an enormous amount corresponding to the size of the ball—the iron ball tore through the center of the battlefield.
"Wha—"
While Zahar’s stealth magic could hide the caster's actions, there were limits. The flash from the explosion momentarily drew the mages' eyes toward Turan, but by then, it was already too late.
The iron ball, saturated with Turan’s mana through dozens of rotations and accelerated by the Soul of Fire, tore apart everyone in its path. Even a top-rank noble of Nagin, who possessed a defensive magic tool strong enough to block Turan’s ordinary sling attacks, was no exception.
However, the moment the iron ball reached Kadram, a golden flash erupted from his upper body. A massive amount of electricity exploded outward, and a moment later, Kadram let out a sigh, looking perfectly fine.
"I thought I was going to die..."
Turan didn't know that the Heavenly Guardian possessed a function called the Electric Charge Barrier, which had instantaneously vaporized the metal iron ball. However, he could see the immense power emanating from the armor Kadram wore through the Mimic Relic.
Turan quickly approached Kadram and checked his inner self. As expected, a new symbol had been added next to the Storm bloodline he had seen earlier.
Shoal... and is that a bloodline I've never seen before?
One of Kadram’s symbols looked like two water droplets mixed together. It was a distinctly different form from the Shoal bloodline, which took the shape of a flowing river. And the clouds, which should have been intertwined with lightning, were separated and raining.
While he was observing, Kadram, who had also spotted Turan, spoke with a sharp gaze.
"I was originally going to kill you, but now that I've seen that, I have many things to ask you after capturing you alive. Like how you performed that alchemy, and what that power just now was."
"I feel the same way about you," Turan replied. "Disgustingly enough."
The two men smiled at each other, looking like predators eyeing their prey.