Chapter 521 - Hall of Usurpation (3)
Jjeojeojeojeojeojeojeojeok!
Centered on Verden, the land once called the Capital of Ruin split into countless branches. A fleeting silence.
Soon, a vibration so dizzying it made one's mind reel resounded, and at the same time an enormous rock formation soared high into the sky.
The shadow of a mountain, even greater than what the fortress of Illaron once stood upon, engulfed the ground below.
Kwaaarrrr.
At last, Verden, positioned atop the summit of the mountain, finely manipulated the terrain under his dominion, forming no less than twenty massive branches of land.
Each branch was dozens of meters thick, hundreds of meters long.
Dahit, bound by magical chains, observed the sequence.
His tangled thoughts spun rapidly.
'Balrog Bessias. That black-hearted bastard hides most of his original magic circle, concealing his full power. But
Naturally his thoughts flowed that way… but no, impossible.
The reason was simple.
From the memories of Horace, Verden had been persecuted as the weakest Mage of the Bohemirn Magic Tower.
And recalling their past conversations, one could clearly feel his hatred toward Balrog.
Not merely because he was accused of being a thesis thief. That moment's reaction had been the raw intensity of someone facing a loathsome enemy.
'Right. He forced the Bohemirn magic tower's power source into rampage, so there's no way he had any tie as disciple to Bessias.'
And yet, the fact that he could perfectly reproduce Balrog's original magic circle proved that their relationship was close—albeit in a negative sense.
The conclusion was one.
Alongside Balrog's unforeseen magic circle, Verden displayed
'Dangerous.'
Immediately, Dahit exerted his full Mado.
Under Deathflame, the magic circle shook unstably, and in the next moment, one of the chains binding his left arm shattered.
At the same time, one of Verden's land branches swung down onto the space where Dahit stood.
Kwaaaaaaaang───!
The shock spread, uplifting and sinking parts of the western continent's crust. Power enough to split apart an entire small city.
As silence fell, a flash of black light burst, and a land branch exploded apart.
"Hhmp…!"
Dahit shot through the dust into the sky, broke the remaining magical chains with his full strength, and freed himself.
Then, pressing his palms together high, he brought both arms crashing down toward Verden.
A wave neither hot nor cold, dry and chilling.
Against it came the pure mass of infinite magic power.
Pssshhh…
The cost of canceling out the fire of annihilation was the loss of two Yang branches. Seventeen land branches remained.
"To see the Bohemirn tower master's highest magic circle manifest through another… is that also strength gained from the power source?"
"If it were, I'd never have broken into the magic tower's power chamber."
Verden indirectly admitted he had possessed the ability to break Balrog's circle even before reconstructing his body.
"Inborn talent… indeed, had you truly been nothing more than a thesis thief, you would never have come this far. Well, fine."
Dahit brushed off his pitch-black robe.
"That
"Of course not."
As if in answer, Verden's Mystic Eye flared.
While using [Interis]'s
'But if it is magic power, not magic, simultaneous casting is possible.'
Compound computation.
Half of his current computational capacity was allocated to
His brain felt as if it were burning, but he welcomed it.
Pain and death.
Until this very moment, Verden had never once held back his resolve.
"Unlike last time, you cast aside your hidden cards and fight at full strength."
Dahit lifted his chin.
"Efficient. I'll accept it."
The black gauntlets of [Calamity of Revelation] on his arms pressed into the void.
Black flames erupted from Dahit's magic power, engulfing the battlefield. Compared to what he had used in their first battle, the darkness now was thicker, more dreadful.
Like fire burning brighter with more wood,
Here, unlike the enclosed Great Hall's depths, the open Ruined Capital provided infinite fuel, strengthening the flames naturally.
And from that pitch-black domain, seventeen massive arms climbed forth.
'That form…'
It resembled closely the Undead arms conjured in battle by the Sage of Wisdom, Melard Tastienne.
Noticing Verden's glance, Dahit twisted his lips.
"I inherited everything from all the first members. Melard Tastienne, who supports you, is no exception."
When Dahit pointed his fingers downward, the blazing black hands crashed down like meteors.
Verden spread the land branches wide, hurling them upward.
Collision, confrontation.
The two Transcendents' eyes shone with lethal brilliance.
***
The space quaked.
Seventeen heavy arms and seventeen whip-like land branches clashed again and again, shredding the silence.
Each impact warped the air with storm.
The terrain was overturned.
Fragments of collapsed land branches flew, obliterating what little remained of the Kingdom of Ailan. Beautiful landscapes were ruined in an instant.
The lush forests of early winter became wasteland.
At the heart of the chaos, Verden and Dahit collided with their maximum computational powers unleashed.
Every spin of [Interis] churned with Mado
Dahit minimized the shocks, counterattacking within his own rhythm.
A deadlocked battle.
Then it came.
From Verden's palm, a destructive shockwave swept past Dahit, grazing him as he turned.
The opening.
Fwoooosh!
Dahit focused annihilation at his fingertips, aiming to pierce Verden's body.
A storm of Destruction burst forth, sweeping away Dahit's black flames.
The distance closed.
Suddenly, Verden seized Dahit's wrist firmly.
"What the…"
A chill shadow fell overhead.
Thud.
Soil dropped onto his shoulders.
The earlier destructive shockwave had not aimed at Dahit, but at one of the black arms he controlled.
Thus, the nearest land branch was freed.
Jjeooong!
The whip of earth struck, sending both Transcendents plummeting.
One slammed vertically into the ground, the other crashed through an entire mountain.
"…Tch."
Verden spat blood from his tongue, rising again. Apart from the cut inside his mouth, he seemed unscathed.
Dahit, however, emerged from the collapsed mountain, blood dripping from his brow.
Proof that Verden, clad in [Ainber] created by the first Demon King, held superior physical resistance.
Dahit burned the blood away with annihilating flame.
"Doesn't self-harm grow wearisome?"
"If it bothers you, good. That means it's the right answer."
Verden retorted sharply, and pressed the attack again.
'
With all functions transferred from Orient to Interis, he could sustain
Time to prepare the next move.
Rumble rumble rumble!
Soon,
Verden slipped briefly from Dahit's sight, opening Subspace.
Dozens of supreme-grade magic stones floated into the air.
***
From the dizzying heights, an avalanche accelerated under gravity and plummeted.
'He withdrew his magic power.'
Realizing
The wide curtain of Deathflame erased the approaching filth of earth and rubble.
Meanwhile, in the distance, the faint silhouette of a human figure.
Paaat.
A flash of annihilation fired from his fingertip pierced the center of the shadow.
Yet no death cry was heard, nor was there any sense of a hit.
'An illusion.'
Immediately, Dahit searched the surroundings, and within less than two minutes, he sensed a faint presence.
He turned his body, swinging his arm.
That alone generated a strong wind, driving away the bothersome dust.
At the end of his gaze, a radiant, intricate array of magic power.
Dahit's eyes twitched.
"…Swifter than a rat. Almost on par with Bessias' magic circle construction speed, even without opening Mado."
"I'll take it as high praise."
Suspending [Interis] in the air, Verden moved his hands, recreating one of Balrog Bessias' original magic circles.
The cost: no less than thirty supreme-grade magic stones.
A single circle, with power exceeding billions of Elk, consuming all the supreme-grade stones he had stored in Subspace.
And it was complete.
At every vertex and intersection, magic stones were set, forming a decagon───when the lines reached the nodes, violet flashes pulsed.
Fwoooooong!
The circle split into multiple faces according to the number of stones, scattering wide to encircle Dahit on all sides.
As if shards of glass were laid about, each face reflected a distorted space.
Each plane contained the mystery of teleportation, instantly transferring any object that touched it to another plane.
Which plane it led to changed with each manifestation, known only to the caster himself.
'This is one of Balrog Bessias' seventh-rank original magic circles, and the only one I can manifest directly.'
In short, a domain of Transcendence.
"..."
Through insight, Dahit analyzed the circle.
He could not move rashly.
Even brushing against it would drag him into forced teleportation, and resisting would paralyze his body, leaving him defenseless.
More rational to deduce the rules connecting the planes, breaking them one by one.
But there was no time.
Tak.
Verden grasped [Interis] with both hands, pouring in magic power.
'With my Mystic Eye, I cannot pressure Dahit from range.'
His vision too was distorted.
Thus he would actively wield the circle's rules.
The infinite Mado that recreated the "Chaos" of the artifact [Core of the Three Primary Colors], which he had once given Isabella.
The Mystic Eye that skipped computation.
And Quintuple Casting, prerogative of a Transcendent.
All fused into a single spell.
From his staff, a dark-purple sphere shot in a curve, surging forth.
It was the first time Dahit had seen such a magic.
Whatever it was, if it touched a spatial plane, there was no telling where it would go. To prevent that, Dahit focused his power.
Kwaaaaang!
The arrow of annihilation shot perfectly between planes, intercepting
That was Verden's aim.
───!
When the shell of Chaos shattered, the elemental spells stored within burst outward wildly.
Each was of seventh-rank destructive force.
Multicolored elements, scattering into different spatial planes, then converging amidst the chaos, aiming for Dahit's throat.
There was nowhere to flee.
Nor could the impact be easily blocked.
'Now then, what will you do.'
In the end, Dahit had only two choices.
Be torn apart by the merciless elemental bombardment, or use one of his trump cards to escape the crisis.
The answer was, of course, the latter.
"See, hear, and discern."
Dahit whispered the activation words.
A necklace shaped like an eye floated into the air, slowly lifting its eyelid.
The ancient artifact [Mahram's Pupil].
A grotesque gaze locked onto all the non-physical magical phenomena within hundreds of meters.
Simultaneously, streams of information surfaced in Dahit's vision like heat haze.
He could see.
Every trajectory, every magnitude of the surrounding magics.
"…Not all can be blocked."
Moving his gaze again and again, Dahit sharply
Fire spells could be endured with pure resistance, so he ignored them, while lightning and wind were cut off by walls of Deathflame.
Earth spells, with their subtle fractures, were shattered in one strike.
Gravity, water, and ice could not be completely defended, so he minimized the shock alone, slipping through the shortest path out of their ranges.
"…!"
Verden, who had read his route and waited, closed in. [Interis] fell like a guillotine.
A crimson-black lightning that cut through space.
Dahit grabbed the staff's shaft, but was overpowered. The blade of Mado pierced into his right shoulder.
Pazizizizik!
Destruction gnawed at his nerves.
Yet Dahit, unfazed, yanked Interis toward himself, thrusting out his left arm wreathed in black flame.
'So, too early yet to deal him a mortal blow.'
But he had widened the gap.
If the duel dragged on like this, he could secure the upper hand.
Satisfied with the advantage, Verden turned to withdraw in a storm of Destruction.
But… the staff would not move.
Though he cast the spell, his body remained unchanged.
Elemental Fusion had failed.
Verden's eyes widened.
"How…"
"You thought the trick you used in the Great Hall would work again?"
Interfering with a Mage's body-transforming spells was one of Jeremiah Gawin's studies, the former leader of Black Hour.
Building on that, Dahit devised a way to break
Jjeoeok!
Dahit's palm struck Verden's right cheek, followed by an inferno of Deathflame engulfing his vision.
"Kh!"
Barely escaping Dahit's reach, Verden clutched his brow. A blunt pain exploded in his right eye.
'…So he got me.'
Annihilation had seeped into his eye.
Sight remained intact… but his Mystic Eye was temporarily sealed.
"You leave a scar on my shoulder, in return your irritating eye is sealed. Not bad. In fact, I look forward to it. How will you respond now…"
Dahit extended left and right hands, one up, one down.
"To see if you are worthy."
His hands moved vertically, closing together.
The
But whereas before it had spanned to the horizon, now it covered no more than a few meters in radius… and yet the oppressive weight was of another dimension.
A supreme magic that could manifest only after burning countless objects in Deathflame.
At last, Dahit's third domain revealed itself.
You can read more chapters in organised way on my website:- https://revengernovel.com