Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Fall of Adoras
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In the darkness shattered to pieces by the light.
Beneath the scene where even the Tower's calamity had been smashed apart.
Adoras stood there, eyes bulging wide.
His gaze betrayed utter disbelief at the sight before him.
"The calamity... vanished?"
He muttered blankly.
As he'd said, not a trace remained in that space—not even a handful of the calamity that should have been there.
A hollow, empty sensation.
An inexplicable feeling, as if some veil had been draped over the void.
'No. It's there. The calamity is definitely here.'
But soon, he sensed it wasn't gone entirely.
The space brimmed with calamity, unmistakably full.
Yet no matter how much power he poured in, it refused to budge.
As if control lay elsewhere entirely.
Staring at the utterly immobile calamity, Adoras panicked.
Without it, he was no archmage.
Just an ordinary mage, nothing more.
Perhaps that's why a naked, grotesque humiliation washed over him.
Filthy.
His mood had soured beyond measure.
Not even plucking a bird bare and tossing it away would feel this wretched.
"Can't wield the calamity?"
Havel's voice cut in at that moment.
He approached, sword still lowered at his side.
"What did you do?"
Adoras demanded point-blank.
What trick had rendered his calamity unusable?
Havel fell silent for a beat.
Then a faint chuckle escaped him.
Adoras's face twisted at the sight.
"What's so funny?"
"You'd never accept the reason."
Havel slung his sword casually over his shoulder.
"It's all my calamity."
Adoras's expression froze solid.
He doubted his own ears.
This entire space—filled with Havel's calamity?
Adoras hastily probed the surrounding calamity's distribution and volume with magic.
Realization dawned swiftly.
No matter how far his spells reached, they were trapped, ensnared within Havel's calamity.
Like plunging into an endless ocean.
Press on forever, and still no end to the vast sea.
Stranded alone in its depths, Adoras gaped.
"The Lion of the Night, indeed."
Awe lit his eyes as he regarded Havel slowly.
"A monster forged from calamity itself."
The world he'd always seen as brimming with calamity.
Yet here stood one whose domain dwarfed even that fullness.
Adoras flung his arms wide.
"The world holds so much left to explore."
His thrilled voice rang childlike, giddy.
Scales sloughed from his arms in tandem.
Pure white flakes drifted down one by one; his flesh powdered beneath.
Death crept visibly into his form.
Calamity had granted him boundless vitality.
But severed by Havel, his black magic unraveled.
Time's relentless gales struck in a heartbeat.
Melting into them, he offered reverence to the last.
"Grant me a wider world, I beg."
Those final, earnest words marked his end.
Not a single bone remained—Adoras crumbled to dust.
The wind swept it skyward.
Fine white grains scattered worldward, honoring his dream.
Though not the vast realm he'd craved.
A man who'd buried himself in magic day after day.
The 74th floor wouldn't feel so narrow to him.
Havel stepped forward at his vanished form.
The lightless space had reverted to normal.
As if their clash—all illusion.
No damage lingered around.
That alone hinted at Adoras's magical prowess.
"Havel-nim!"
Elashiya, who'd watched from afar, hurried up belatedly.
Havel nodded her way.
"Heading to that bastard's house."
"Ah, yes!"
Havel hefted his sword at her reply.
A swing unleashed a slashing wave.
Boom!
It struck Adoras's perception-disrupting spell.
Through the instant rift, his hideout gleamed.
Havel crossed without pause.
He pushed open the cabin door nestled amid trees.
Shelves groaned with neatly arrayed tomes inside.
No room to spare—a pure magic workshop.
"Whoa... wow."
As Havel scanned, Elashiya trailed in, gasping in awe.
Mages would grasp this space's worth.
Lifetime labors of Adoras, magic's founder, the archmage.
To her, a treasure vault.
"Need anything? Take a look."
"R-really?"
"Yeah. Pack whatever's useful."
Sell high later, bolster Banpellyon.
Wealth fueled a house's rise.
Elashiya rummaged eagerly.
Havel inspected meticulously.
Gruesome remnants dotted spots.
Sacrifices to extract calamity.
Havel's face stayed stone.
Long hardened by worse sights from ages past.
This stirred nothing now.
"Eek!"
Elashiya shrieked, immunity lacking.
'This is it.'
Moments later, Havel claimed a book.
Its aura screamed calamity.
From their first clash.
Havel had pegged Adoras's true vitality as stashed apart.
Immortality's ploy: sever life from flesh.
Even he hadn't foreseen total bodily ruin.
Havel clapped a hand atop it.
Calamity bled out, absorbing into him.
It didn't take long.
Worth an archmage, solid gains across the board.
Pity—no trait yet eclipsing calamity.
'Clear the layer or trial ahead.'
75th floor loomed next.
Should manage there.
"Elashiya, grab proof of Adoras's defeat too."
"Yes! Packed it first!"
No fool—handy.
Havel snagged extras.
Then hoisted Elashiya piggyback, turned heel.
Back to the Strike Tribe.
Strike Tribe's top commander, Bondro.
He rubbed his blackened sockets post-meeting.
Recent chaos piling up?
Invasion prep felt sour even now.
This thrust stemmed from bare survival against Adoras.
No choice for him.
'Faint hopes linger, though.'
Bondro pictured Havel.
Monstrously strong human.
Presence faint to absurdity, power transcendent.
So he'd fleetingly envisioned Havel toppling Adoras.
Vain fancy, he knew.
Adoras was the true aberration.
Bondro, who'd faced him, knew intimately.
'No time left.'
Invasion launch imminent—he rose.
Commotion erupted outside then.
Bondro looked up sharp.
"Report."
"Th-the magic items from Adoras-nim... they're all losing power at once!"
"What?"
Puzzlement creased Bondro's brow.
Situation made no sense.
"...Impossible."
His eyes ballooned cartoonishly.
Nearly popping free.
Havel, dismissed as pipe dream till now.
Invasion rolled sans delay.
Yet this news? Zero expectation.
'He really took down that demon?'
Bondro replayed the words, disbelieving.
Subordinate's face screamed truth.
Bondro bolted upright.
"Verify Adoras-nim's status now."
"Yes, sir!"
Subordinate dashed off; Bondro gulped air.
Demon's yoke: eternal slavery.
Strike Tribe fodder for his spells anytime.
That peril erased—legs buckled.
'Steady.'
Unconfirmed still.
'If true, though...'
Victory unthinkable before.
Reward? Untouched from the start.
"Damn."
His face plummeted dark.
Disaster.
'What price did he name? Review before he arrives...'
"Bondro."
A voice boomed room-wide.
Bondro whipped around stiffly.
A man gleamed in view.
Silver verging white, keen blue eyes.
Unnoticed entry; lounged in chair casual.
Moonlight bathed his back from without.
Shadowed face: eyes glowed sinister.
"Here to collect."
Chill spiked instant.
True slayer of Adoras? Hopeless matchup.
Roll roll roll—
A staff tumbled to Bondro's feet.
Adoras's pre-black-magic staple.
Bondro, once devotee, knew it on sight.
This man did fell him.
"Fact-check needed?"
Havel's ultimatum, patience thin.
Bondro swallowed hard, bowed low.
"Entire tribe saved by benefactor—dare I doubt? Your word stands."
Havel let it lie.
"Recall my terms?"
"Share Strike magic with Tendar Crows. Never invade Havel City again."
Bondro recited swift from memory.
Greed here? Instant foe.
No room for games.
"Not dense. Good."
"One question?"
"Shoot."
"Tendar strikes us? Counterattack allowed?"
"Your call."
Havel sought debt from crows, not godhood.
Beyond his purview.
"Clear."
He bowed again.
"Heartfelt thanks for slaying Adoras."
Sincerity laced it.
Strike's survival hung there.
Havel took it shallow.
Glasis had betrayed Banpellyon already.
'Grace fades.'
Heirs forget; time warps all.
No deep dwell.
"Heed my words—that's repayment."
Short counsel given, Havel rose.
"Key to Strike Tribe—yours."
Priest he was.
Silently unlocked priest-only drawer at words' end.
Solitary key within.
Ancient patina; handed Havel gingerly.
'75th floor, then.'
Easier ascent than 73rd, maybe.
Key pocketed, Havel exited.
"Elashiya—to the crows."
"Yes!"
Elashiya scampered up; together, they departed.