Chapter 508 – Stage of Persuasion (4)
A shock that rang through the entire body.
A pain that dug deep into the lungs.
A strange wave that scattered the magic power forming his resistance.
"?!!"
Osgar, struck by the dark crimson thunder, could not endure and expelled all his breath as he was blown away, colliding violently with a suitably risen hill.
A belated roar burst forth, and soon silence descended. The Sage of Power, buried beneath the mound of earth, had yet to reappear.
Mado...?
Melard, in the form of an Arch Lich, revealed her bewilderment.
Verden was a Magus of the elemental system.
His journey up to now, including the duel with Cain and Unia, attested to that. She had even seen it with his own eyes, so there was no room for doubt at all.
And yet, this dark crimson lightning.
Of course, it seemed to bear the traits of the high elemental attribute of thunder, but... it was distinctly different. Without question. At its essence, it was different.
Therefore, it was incomprehensible.
Fundamentally, Mado, carved out through a magical body and enlightenment, was immutable.
That remained true even after Ascension.
Even Dahit Wethroel, after becoming a Transcendent, only had the specific concept contained in his Mado expanded, strengthened, and made clearer—it had never lost its inherent nature.
Then what was that magical phenomenon that could not be judged even with Melard's knowledge?
Huff.
At that moment, Verden approached Melard.
?!
She reflexively swung her staff of water forcefully. From it, droplets separated and embroidered the air.
In an instant, the swelling blossoms grew into a colossal wave that poured forth.
As expected of water-flow magic imbued with black magic, it was a unique spell, containing a curse that disoriented the senses.
However.
The lance of destruction that extended from Interis's orb cleaved the wave in a single stroke. Not merely cleaving, but shattering it into fragments.
In that fleeting instant, Verden closed the distance, concentrating his surging magic power into his fingertips.
Puuuuuk!
Melard's temporary body exploded from within and collapsed. Water and fragments of bone that composed the Arch Lich scattered.
And next.
Since Melard was Undead anyway, Verden, who had incapacitated him without further effort, shifted space to appear right by the Sage of Guardianship.
Medrant instantly manifested overlapping shields of magic power to guard the front. The sloped surfaces would partially reflect external shock, amplifying the backlash received by the opponent.
But that was all.
Kwa-ji-ji-jik!
The shields of magic power, formed of his special trait and Mado, boasting resistance rivaling the ramparts of a great city despite appearances, shattered.
Medrant's eyes went wide.
'To shatter six layers of magic shields in a single blow....'
Even for a Transcendent, the prior strike had not seemed that heavy.
'No, this isn't a simple matter of physical force.'
It wasn't the total sum of impact that caused it, but rather the nature of the dark crimson magic power. Whatever it was, it seemed to destroy tissue upon contact.
Which meant, it could arbitrarily dismantle the resistance of matter.
"Damn it...!"
As Medrant retreated, he created several magic shields at intervals.
If exposed to that magic power, no matter how many layers there were, they would be destroyed in time. He needed to hinder Verden's advance as much as possible.
It was the proper judgment befitting a tower master.
But the disparity between them was far too great to realize that plan fully.
Verden, flying smoothly with
The Mystic Eye flashed.
Kwoooooooom!
"Khk!!"
Receiving tremendous pressure, Medrant plummeted vertically, gritting his teeth as he wrapped a thin shield around his entire body. With the impact, the ground split, and dust billowed up.
Looking down at him, Verden tilted his head.
"More than half the impact force was reduced midair. An artifact, is it?"
"I am also master of a magic tower. Would I not at least have a proper armament? Even if it is 7th-tier magic, to collapse in a single strike would be disgraceful."
Even if ranked at the bottom, the prestige and resources of Ostea Magic Tower could not be ignored. They had abundant opportunities to encounter information on various artifacts across the continent.
It was also he who had bestowed artifacts upon Unia and Cain, and who had provided countless magic items for the Society.
"I see. But even if you endure a little longer, it won't mean much."
"Of course, this is not all."
Suddenly, Medrant bent his wrist upward. In his hand was a small mirror.
The Ostea Magic Tower had long explored antiquity and delved into ruins. In that process, they occasionally discovered rare, special relics.
That was one reason other towers could not dismiss the might of Ostea Magic Tower.
"Reflect, and reproduce."
A whispered incantation.
The moment the ancient artifact, Mirror of Images, activated, a barren desert appeared inside the mirror, aimed toward the Rages Plateau.
...!
Suddenly, Verden's bodily balance wavered.
Even a Transcendent could not maintain
Irresistible.
He dropped from the air, landing lightly on the ground.
"...What is this?"
Observing himself, he intuited a strange sensation he had never felt before.
Medrant explained.
"This ancient artifact. Mirror of Images, can reproduce the traits of an environment previously reflected, in any location."
Simply put, if it stored winter, it could make snow fall even in summer.
But Medrant had not stored mere weather, he had stored a very specific terrain.
"Now, this is the Desert of Silence."
The vast, unexplored expanse between the western and central continents, the Desert of Silence.
There, flight was impossible.
Even spatial coordinates were irregular, making the success rate of spatial teleportation drastically lower.
"The Desert of Silence... So then, neither of us can cast
"It is a necessary sacrifice. We could never match your mobility anyway. This makes us slightly more favorable than before. The prepared countermeasures against elemental magic going to waste is the only regret."
"You prepared much, considering the decision to wage a magic battle was late."
"A mage is one who prepares."
Verden nodded, agreeing with Medrant's words.
"So, is this all?"
"Of course not."
Boom!
Osgar, reversing gravity, burst from the pit, hurling aside the dirt. One eye bloodshot, blood smearing his lips and nose.
"Hmph!"
He pinched the bridge of his nose and snorted.
Blood pooled inside spilled out, staining the ruined ground.
"I was flustered and took it full on. To be in this state from a single strike, the first time since challenging the Empire's Transcendent. Well, whenever you awakened, it means you've reached that level."
The stench of blood flowing from his mouth awakened Osgar's focus.
"Though I don't know what new power you've obtained... seeing as it's a special 'magic power' imbued with thunder, would that be accurate? At least you can tell me that much, no?"
Verden had no intention of revealing his second Mado yet. To explain it in detail would require speaking of its power source.
Too early.
The proper time would be after crushing Bohemirn Magic Tower.
Still, there was no need to reject such a partial question.
"It is indeed a branch of magic power."
"As I thought. Understood, then—I see a method."
Osgar gathered his magic power.
Strictly speaking, his Mado
It accumulated the intangible force of recoil generated from both inflicted impact and received damage into his mana circuits.
And thanks to the shock that nearly made him lose consciousness, he had gathered more than the necessary amount of power.
Osgar invoked his unique magic.
Kwa-du-du-duk.
The Mado of Final Battle concentrated all enhanced magical capability into the control of magic power. The flow of his mana circuits became starkly visible upon his skin.
A surge of intensified control.
Now Osgar could manipulate magic power down to the minuscule, invisible units.
The implication was singular.
"You intend to control my magic power?"
"It doesn't seem likely, but one never knows until one tries."
Osgar chuckled.
At that moment, water surged nearby, and Melard's Arch Lich appeared once again.
Though Verden had destroyed the body, it had successfully regenerated.
I told you, even if this body is destroyed, it will not hinder me... though I didn't expect you to be so merciless.
Melard struck the ground with her staff.
Jjeo-jeo-jeo-jeok.
Drought spread across the vast ground Verden stood upon.
Moisture pulled from the weakened earth formed two massive arms, entwined with the bones of beasts buried beneath the plateau to form a skeleton.
On either side of Melard, stood colossal Undead arms of water.
Front, rear, side.
The Sages in three directions encircled Verden.
This time, Verden began first.
Paji-jijik!
The destructive thunderbolt discharged from Interis pierced straight ahead. Osgar exerted his utmost control.
A fierce magical wave.
As a result, the destructive trajectory bent faintly, and the impact point warped.
"Haha! It does touch, after all!"
To prove one's magic against a Transcendent, it was a surge of ecstasy.
All three Sages felt the same.
Flight was impossible.
Conditions were equal.
The magic battle resumed, on the ground.
All who were watching from the hill could not tear their eyes away, even for a moment.
The sages, opening their respective Mado in full, struggling with a kaleidoscope of magic, and the Transcendent, who alone faced them and steadily overwhelmed them.
For most, it was their first time seeing such a grand magic battle up close.
Grave, who was watching the fierce clash with them, murmured softly.
"...Transcendent."
Memory resurfaced.
The nightmare of Dahit, unforgettable.
The rebellion that began the day before Black Hour's current leader stepped down, and Dahit Wethroel, the joint disciple of the First Members, was to ascend as the new head.
Dahit, with the faction he had secretly raised, overthrew Black Hour. Even though, if he had only waited a single day, he would have become the leader anyway.
At the sudden, unforeseen onslaught, Black Hour's mages were slaughtered. Even the guests from outside, who had come to attend the Retirement and Inauguration, were killed without proper resistance.
Though they belatedly formed ranks and fought back, the situation was irreversible.
Who could have guessed that Dahit had concealed his reach of the Transcendent realm?
That overwhelming power.
In the massacre that none could resist, one of the First Members was killed by traitors, and in fury, Black Hour's current leader revealed his full power, only to be annihilated by Dahit.
And as the price of standing against Dahit, the four remaining First Members, grievously wounded, lay shattered and broken in that dreadful memory.
The screams, the wails echoed.
Grave, his scars of defeat throbbing, broke into cold sweat.
Then he turned his gaze to the new Transcendent, designated as the successor, standing far away.
"...Strong."
He felt more oppressed than he ever had, even by Dahit of the past, whom he had not dared imagine confronting.
Suddenly, he turned his head.
Upon the small table lay the Hourglass of Perpetuity, once placed there by Melard.
The symbol of Black Hour, seized from Dahit himself, after they succeeded against him despite his having grown accustomed to the Transcendent realm over the long years.
Goosebumps rose.
"It can be… restored?"
The dead cannot return.
But perhaps the Black Hour of memory could be reclaimed.
A future, once abandoned, once thought impossible to achieve while alive, came to mind.
Then.
Puuuuung!
The magic battle neared its end.
Medrant, having discerned the nature of Verden's magic, improvised by dispersing the barrier of magic power into dozens of small shields.
She predicted the rough trajectories of Verden's elbows, hands, knees, and heels, and blocked them thoroughly as obstacles.
Verden narrowed his eyes.
'An annoyingly troublesome spell.'
Destroying them was easy, but the process delayed his movements, even if only slightly.
Those moments, gathered one by one, became unbearably vexing.
With Medrant's support, Osgar charged forward from the front.
Planting his feet firmly, he concentrated immense gravity at the head of his staff.
Kwoooooooom!
The surging gravitational wave.
Osgar did not stop.
"Haaaaaap!"
High, high, low, middle.
The Transcendent and the Sage of Power collided head-on four times in succession.
Each time, the destructive aftermath spread.
Osgar, his body straining under accumulated burden, staggered and coughed.
On the verge of collapse, he guided the diagonal flow of a destructive lance with his magic control, until his vision blurred and he fell to one knee.
Melard filled the gap.
Kwoooom!
The massive Undead arms clamped Verden from both sides. A watery prison infused with curses, forming a temporary seal.
"Now!"
Judging it the perfect opportunity, Osgar and Medrant moved simultaneously.
The vast flames of a concentrated 6th-tier spell instantly blanketed the cold sphere imprisoning Verden like a quilt.
Over that, Medrant's barrier of magic power layered and compressed.
Bubble, bubble, bubble.
The temperature surged.
The enclosed space filled entirely with boiling water and steam.
The density only increased further, as if intent on detonating it outright.
'Experience truly cannot be ignored.'
Verden's gray eyes shone.
The dark crimson storm spread at once, blowing away the entire surrounding area. The sages' linked spells all dissipated.
Verden, maintaining distance, gazed at the gathered sages.
Osgar, having faced Verden head-on, had pushed his body to its limits.
Medrant's precision of magic power had dropped significantly.
Melard, from repeated regeneration, had consumed her magic visibly.
He had seen enough of the sages' strength.
"Let's end this."
Verden activated his Mystic Eye. Gray magic traced constellations.
Star Spirit, Alhena.
With the activation of the third star of Celestial Magic, night sky spread over the Rages Plateau. Countless starlights twinkled in the pitch-black dark.
Thunk.
Verden pressed Interis to the ground.
The countless stars, a meteor shower.
Every star in the celestial domain fell vertically. An indiscriminate, all-directional bombardment, sparing only the corner where Melard's main body resided.
There was no escape.
Especially with
"Hoo."
Osgar lifted his head, gazing at the nearing starlight.
"As expected, the sheer amount of magic power seems endless."
"Even before, the total volume of his magic was enough to overwhelm all of us... now, even the Transcendent of the current magical world may not compare."
"It is truly fortunate he is bound to the Sacred by ties not of enmity, but of connection."
With a sigh, the three each released the remainder of their power.
A towering pillar of fire surged upward, driven by Reverse Gravity.
Thick barriers of magic power shielded the three.
The watery arms of the Undead turned fluid, wrapping the barriers from outside.
And then.
───!
Light exploded.
With tremendous earthquake and blinding flash, the plateau quaked.
How much time had passed?
As the impact of the meteor shower fully subsided, Alhena in the sky gradually dispersed and vanished.
Unia's lips parted.
"What... happened?"
She strained her eyes against the dust cloud.
Then Verden walked forth.
"No great injuries, but having used so much magic, moving seems difficult. Go, lend them a shoulder."
No one failed to understand his meaning.
Ta-da-da-da!
Unia and Cain ran first, followed by Ethan, Rebecca, Heras, Opea, and the other Society mages in haste.
Thus only Adrian, Isabella, and the six Black Hour survivors—slow to react, their minds absorbed in the magic battle—remained atop the hill.
Step, step.
Verden walked up the hill.
Medrant's artifact's effect had not yet faded, so there was no other choice.
"Well fought, my lord."
"Patriarch, impressive."
At their greetings, Verden shrugged his shoulders. Then, taking back the Hour glass of Perpetuity with a flourish, he turned around.
There stood the six surviving members of Black Hour, gazing blankly.
Verden spoke.
"Black Hour will shed its infamy as a cabal of death mages, and regain the true renown you seek. Because I promised as much."
"...!"
Alderneys swallowed hard.
In the silence, trembling with awe, Grave carefully raised his voice.
"Can you truly... kill Dahit Wethroel?"
"The first bout ended in a draw, but in truth, I was outmatched in the magic battle."
However.
"In the second bout, Dahit will die."
Verden declared.
Preparations were complete.
By now, Dahit must have nearly recovered from his injuries to his mana circuits, and the time had come to formalize the Black Hour's war of usurpation.
Of course, for that, a dialogue between the past Black Hour and the present Black Hour would be necessary.
It was nearly time to demand a meeting with Dahit.
***
The Grand Hall of Black Hour.
A rare good news had come to that place, plagued recently with nothing but misfortune.
"P-please, just spare my life!!"
The culprit who drove the Bohemirn Magic Tower's power source into runaway, whom tower master Balrog Bessias confirmed as Black Hour. The proof.
The Black Hour's spy sent to Bohemirn Magic Tower... who had vanished after the runaway of the power source, was finally dragged into the Grand Hall after more than two years.
Kwoong.
The massive doors opened.
"At last, captured."
Dahit Wethroel, Dark Moon restored, veins bulged upon his forehead.
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