Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Mirage Field
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Spat! Craaack!
The disc, flying at incredible speed, struck the Gray Tower Master squarely in the back.
The target's position shifted erratically, trying to confuse me, but it was useless.
I had already experienced such illusions and had a clear understanding of how to break them.
'As long as I don't waver, it'll work.'
The moment I pinpointed my opponent's location and unleashed my aura, I did nothing but wait.
I completely ignored the illusion that filled my vision.
That was why the Heaven-Severing Demonic Moon could intercept the Gray Tower Master precisely.
"H-How did you... the Illusion of Eternity..."
"I told you."
"Don't tell me you cleared Esmeranta's Tower?"
He shook his head, his face a mask of disbelief.
It was understandable, as Esmeranta's Tower was notorious for its extreme difficulty.
Almost no one had ever returned alive, so his surprise was only natural.
Besides, he never would have imagined I could shatter the specialized magic the Gray Tower prided itself on in a single blow.
"Kugh! But just because you figured that out doesn't mean the outcome will change."
The Gray Tower Master groaned and lightly shook his Grand Magia.
A shimmering halo of light appeared, rapidly healing the wound on his back.
It seemed the defensive magic he always kept active had prevented any serious damage.
But I wasn't the kind of person to stand by and wait for him to recover.
Thud!
As I kicked off the ground and surged forward, my opponent quickly slammed his staff onto the floor.
The Gray Tower Master's form flickered and vanished, reappearing at the opposite end of the room.
He had cast Blink, a short-range teleportation spell.
'His casting speed is incredible. In that case, how about this?'
Having missed my mark, I sharply changed direction, my eyes gleaming.
In an instant, my form, which had been rushing through the laboratory, vanished without a trace.
I had used Soul Shadow Evasion, the secret concealment art of the Rantzverger family.
Swoosh.
"Hmm... So it was Rantzverger, after all."
But the Gray Tower Master showed little surprise at seeing the continent's strongest concealment technique.
He seemed to believe his own specialized magic was far superior.
A smirk playing on his lips, my opponent struck the floor hard with his Grand Magia.
Kooong!
"You can't overcome us with such petty tricks. In the name of the Gray Tower, I will show you what a true illusion is. Mirage Field."
As soon as the Gray Tower Master's declaration ended, the laboratory began to change at a tremendous speed.
The space itself transformed into a completely different place.
It felt as if I had been dropped all alone into a white world of nothingness.
To my surprise, my Soul Shadow Evasion was dispelled by an energy that spread like watercolor paint.
"Hah..."
When it came to arts that deceived the senses, none could match the Gray Magic Tower.
Unless I had a concealment art far superior to Soul Shadow Evasion, I had to abandon the advantage of a surprise attack for now.
However, I wasn't greatly perturbed.
'There's no need to be intimidated just because my secondary abilities have been blocked.'
I may have been acting as a top-tier assassin for Rantzverger, but my true essence was that of the Young Lord of Riverune.
One who aimed for the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
I paid no mind to the changing environment and unleashed my sword technique.
It was the third form of the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword: Heaven-Severing Demonic Moon.
Swish—! Crash!
The blue disc shot out with a barely audible sound, then engulfed the Gray Tower Master with a deafening roar.
He was torn to shreds, so much so that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was annihilated.
But I already knew it wasn't the real him.
Common sense dictated that a person couldn't shatter into pieces like glass.
'Just as I thought, an illusion.'
I closed my eyes completely and focused on my other senses.
After all, everything visible to my eyes was bound to be a lie.
Then, the presences around me began to feel clearer.
No matter how powerful the illusion magic, sound and energy waves couldn't be helped.
Soon, I detected the Gray Tower Master's movement.
"Hah!"
I immediately spun around and unleashed the Heaven-Severing Demonic Moon.
Shhhk—! Fwack!
A strange sensation met the tip of my sword.
The moment I opened my eyes, I saw the slightly flustered face of the Gray Tower Master.
It seemed he hadn't expected me to find him so easily.
But he vanished in an instant, as if melting into thin air.
'It was too shallow.'
It seemed the location I'd pinpointed was slightly off; my decisive blow resulted in only a minor injury.
However, the tide had now turned.
I had gained the confidence that I could find him.
'Anyway, how long has it been? This feels refreshing.'
While trapped in Venderford, I had barely used the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword.
Day in and day out, all I did was train in Demonic Soul, the Velgart Energy Arts, and the Imperial Sound Lock Sword.
Of course, it wasn't as if I hadn't made progress just by learning new and excellent martial arts.
Especially when mixed with the Velgart Energy Arts, my Demonic Soul had grown by several stages, a remarkable achievement.
On top of that, I'd also been conceptualizing the next form of the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword in my spare time.
In any case, unleashing the Heaven-Severing Demonic Moon to my heart's content now, I felt a considerable sense of liberation.
Shwiiik! Clang!
But for some reason, I still couldn't find a trace of the Gray Tower Master.
'His presence feels the same as before, but there's no physical form. Isn't this a bit strange?'
It seemed he was now perfectly distorting even the faintest traces of his presence.
Otherwise, there's no way I would have missed him so many times.
'Then there's only one way. Fill the area with Sword Spirits and create a hell from which there is no escape.'
Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits.
Shhhhrrrk!
As I lightly swung my sword, gray orbs spread out in all directions.
Their speed was immense, yet they made no sound as they tore through the air.
They simply, stealthily, and silently took control of the space.
Tudududung!
The gray orbs that shot out in an instant collided with each other, creating a strange resonance.
Then, they began to madly converge on a single point.
Shwaaaak! Tudududung!
"Kuaaaack!"
Finally, with a sharp scream, the Gray Tower Master's form tumbled into the white space.
He had been caught in the influence of Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits, and his location was exposed.
The principle by which I found him was simple.
I had restricted his movements with the newly created fourth form of the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword.
'I can find the enemy through the process of the Sword Spirits repelling each other.'
Originally, it was a form that unleashed powerful streams of aura with a thunderous roar.
But when combined with the superior assassination art, Dark Chain Kill, Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits transformed into a wide-area killing technique.
That's why the moment I pinpointed the Gray Tower Master's location, thousands of aura swords flew and impaled him.
The power of each individual sword was comparable to the Heaven-Severing Demonic Moon, rendering dozens of layers of defensive barriers useless.
My opponent had become a veritable honeycomb.
"Hoo..."
The result of forcibly unleashing the fourth form of the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword, still in its incomplete stage, was not good.
To use it more stably, I would probably need to reach the perfect 2nd-tier realm.
Still, I had dealt with the Gray Tower Master, so the mission was a success.
'It would have been better without a fight, but a situation like this can't be helped.'
The Gray Magic Tower was such a secretive organization that almost nothing about its internal affairs was known.
Therefore, even the Assassination Guild likely couldn't obtain information about the Tower Master's laboratory.
If possible, they would have chosen a more perfect moment.
A time when he was absent, for instance.
"Huh? But why isn't this ending?"
As I leisurely walked toward the Gray Tower Master's corpse, I tilted my head in confusion.
If the caster is dead, shouldn't this Mirage Field or whatever it is disappear?
My opponent was clearly a bloody mess lying on the ground, yet the world of illusion remained.
Sensing something was wrong, I tensed up and raised the Black Dragon Sword.
But it was right at that moment.
Crash—!
"Kugh!"
A tremendous impact struck my chest, sending my body flying backward.
In that fleeting moment, I glanced around and saw the fallen Gray Tower Master staggering to his feet.
"Keoheok! You... you rotten assassin bastard..."
He had taken a fatal blow from Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits, but it seemed his life hadn't been extinguished.
'Right. He's the head of a massive organization like the Magic Tower. He must have had an ace up his sleeve.'
By the way, I seemed to have been hit by a rather powerful spell, but I felt little pain.
I glanced down and saw a magnificent breastplate revealed through my torn clothes.
"Oh... I have the Black Dragon Divine Armor, don't I?"
The thing that blocked the projectile, which was too fast to see, was the Black Dragon Divine Armor I had obtained in the Everdeen Autonomous District.
As expected of an item from the Dark Continent, it boasted incredible performance.
It had withstood that massive impact with only a slight scratch, remaining perfectly fine overall.
As I calmly got back on my feet, the Gray Tower Master's face went pale.
"S-Stop... you damn brat."
"I don't want to. No one who has seen my true face has ever lived to tell the tale."
"I don't even know what you normally look like. What kind of bullshit is that?"
"Uh... now that I think about it, you're right."
The Gray Tower Master knew I was an assassin from Rantzverger.
On the other hand, I didn't even know his name.
It was information that even the Assassination Guild hadn't figured out, and I hadn't had the time to investigate myself.
Even if I just took the Grand Magia and left, it wouldn't be a major issue for the mission's success.
"I swear, if you just leave, I won't cause any trouble. You can take everything here."
"That's a tempting offer, but I'm not going to do that."
"Wh-Why?"
"Because I hate leaving loose ends."
Spat—!
I made a slight cut in the air with the Black Dragon Sword.
At my will, the Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits deployed far away pierced the Gray Tower Master's back.
Fwack!
"Keoheo-eo..."
This time, it seemed he was completely defenseless, as his body was pierced through.
As the life faded from the Gray Tower Master's eyes, the Mirage Field began to collapse.
Finally, the dreadful battle within the illusion was over.
'Hoo! That was tough. If I hadn't devised Heaven-Severing Myriad Spirits, I would have struggled.'
I won thanks to the immense power of Demonic Soul and the Heaven-Severing Demonic Chain Sword, but frankly, it was a close call.
If my level had been even slightly lower, I would have been the one getting destroyed.
I walked over to his corpse and picked up the Grand Magia that had fallen to the floor.
But it was right at that moment.
Fwoooosh!
A gray energy burst from the Grand Magia and flew toward my chest.
"......!"