Book 13 Chapter 23

Episode 13

Mercenary Request (5)

'What in the world is this…'

Cecil Durene advanced into the swirling vortex of a murderous blizzard.

Her light blue hair fluttered wildly, now slowly freezing solid.

If the Sun Parrot 'Taro' hadn't enveloped its feathers in flames to provide warmth, she would have been in danger both physically and mentally.

"Taro, quickly find the main party's location!"

"Location, location, location."

Taro became a bird of flame and flew beyond the blizzard.

The main party was said to have been suddenly attacked. The main party contained a large deployment of supplies necessary for the subjugation operation and expeditionary provisions.

Most of the core combat forces were deployed in the vanguard and rearguard, so the main party's combat capability made victory difficult to guarantee.

'It's not just the main party that was attacked.'

This was a large-scale simultaneous attack. In addition to the main party, the 1st to 3rd lines were all attacked.

However it happened, Svalag seemed to know the disposition of the subjugation force's formation.

Something was strange about that. Didn't this seem like a tragedy caused by a human? Even if Svalag was a high-risk entity, would it launch such a counterattack?

"Lady, it's a Yeti!"

Monsters that had been gnawing on human and horse corpses rose to their feet, then waddled and charged with their massive hands. They were Yetis, the snowmen counted among the most ferocious monsters in the north.

"Go! I will deal with these 잡것들 (misc. creatures\/rabble)!"

Delkin Blado stepped forward and slit his own palm with a blade ring.

He scattered droplets of blood across the front. As soon as the blood landed on the Yetis' fur, the magic imbued in the blood ignited.

This was the secret magic of the Blado family called Blood Magic; since the position of blood becomes the coordinate value, coordinate calculation can be omitted.

"UAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Leaving behind the screams of the Yetis and Delkin Blado's shouts, Cecil was able to enter the epicenter of the tragedy.

"Shoot, shoot!"

The general soldiers' counterattack couldn't even be called resistance. The priests were trembling, unable to even muster the courage to tend to the wounded.

"Phoenix Knight Order, advance!"

"Tie down that bastard's feet!"

The elite forces, the Phoenix Knight Order, who had arrived here first, were engaged in a bloody battle, but the disparity in power seemed clear.

During a cavalry charge, the feathers hanging from the Phoenix Knight Order's standards emitted high frequencies like horn calls, striking fear into the enemy.

Also, the main weapon of the Phoenix Knight Order was a 10-foot cavalry lance, but since their warhorses had all frozen to death, they were using these long and inconvenient weapons on foot.

"Don't retreat! We must hold out until the main force of the Knights arrives! Full magical power discharge is authorized!"

The nightmare ominously hinted at in the blizzard, Svalag, finally came into Cecil's view.

It was a new terror, a vortex of disorderly madness, as if the world was weeping madly at the sounds spilled by an idiotic musician.

The blizzard it spewed from its massive maw was now rushing like thousands of rats, gnawing away at life.

"Svalag isn't the only problem! There's a black mage on top of it!"

"Is approach possible?"

"Impossible! Damn it, that cowardly bastard!"

It was the moment all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

The reason Svalag appeared south of the barrier, the reason it suddenly attacked the main party, and the reason Svalag's blizzard was grotesquely powerful.

Trembling at the existence of the mastermind implied by all these circumstances, Cecil smoothly opened her grimoire.

Ice Falcon.

A secret magic of the Belsedel school, representing the north among the Seven Great Schools, where a cold surge takes the form of a falcon and flies like an arrow towards its target.

"!"

In that instant, the black mage's power, which had been exploiting the Phoenix Knight Order's weaknesses amidst Svalag's attacks, was brought to a halt.

"The Belsedel school, huh…"

Ice Falcon bites the target's skin with its beak or talons, spreading coldness throughout the body.

It intelligently evades the opponent's interception magic, and if not neutralized, it continues to harass the opponent independently of the caster.

The first Toe, that is, No. 1, also found it necessary to completely eliminate this Ice Falcon.

"Lady Durene!"

"I will restrain the black mage's movements! Knights, focus on Svalag!"

Moreover, Cecil Durene also had Taro, the Sun Parrot.

That is, a falcon of ice and fire persistently harassed the opponent. In the time the two bought, Cecil Durene was able to deploy new magic.

No. 1 licked his upper lip with interest.

"Lady Durene has come all the way to this dangerous place. If I kill her, it'll be almost impossible for the Durenes to aim for the next imperial throne, won't it?"

Cecil Durene was opening the last page of her grimoire.

A magic circle with three intersecting semicircles, a magic that amplifies power by stacking three ice-attribute spells.

After rapidly freezing the atmospheric air, it overwhelms the opponent like hundreds of arrows; this is one of the Belsedel school's famous killing spells.

Magic circle construction.

Rune inscription.

Formula calculation.

The air in the area froze, sharpened to a point, and poured down like rain towards the rapidly calculated coordinates.

At that moment.

The ice spears that should have 'instantly' overwhelmed No. 1 and turned him into a chunk of meat 'instantly' disappeared. Then, they 'instantly' appeared all around Cecil Durene.

'Huh…?'

Confronted by clearly impending death, her consciousness accelerated momentarily.

'Was my magic completely read?'

Yes, black magic…

They say black mages use spatiotemporal magic.

But how and when did he prepare such magic while being kept in check by Taro and Ice Falcon?

'Am I, am I going to die?'

She didn't want to die. There were too many things she wanted to achieve while alive.

Cecil Durene was still young. She wanted to spread the wings of her talent and become a lady respected by all her people.

And while pursuing higher realms of magic, she wanted to learn more about the academic discipline of magic, and also to be with Taro forever…

'Is this, how…'

It was then. Suddenly, Cecil Durene's vision shifted on its own.

Had she died?

Had she come to the afterlife? To say so, only her eye level had changed.

It took a moment for her to realize that the ground where Cecil had been standing had risen. The ice spears were stuck down below, in the raised ground.

'Fast, and accurate.'

Now, wasn't that magic cast the moment No. 1 counterattacked Cecil's magic, in the very instant Cecil despaired before the intuition of death?

A single move was more than enough to gauge the skill of this magic's master.

And that realization was a threat that No. 1, a more powerful mage than Cecil and the best among the 'Pillars' 'Toes', had felt even sooner.

"Who are you?"

The two women's gazes turned towards the epicenter of the magical power.

Beyond, a giant walked, leaving footsteps so clear they were frightening even in this snowfield that swallowed most sounds.

No. 1's eyes narrowed.

'He wields such magic with such a powerful body? Is he a Wing type mage?'

However, that was Link, Platinum Rank 4. The master of the magic was riding on the giant's left shoulder.

"That just now! What's its name? Super-dimensional Counterattack? You can use it again, right? That's awesome? I'll applaud you. Link, now put me down."

"Link, Link, Link."

"What do you mean 'put me down', you ignorant brute. While Link and I deal with Svalag, you have to protect us from that black mage."

"No? I'm going to kick both your asses? I've finally met a real black mage!"

"Hey, you ignorant monkey! The most important thing in a mercenary request is cooperation!"

It was the voice of a mischievous and expectant child, but No. 1 could discern the heavy wave of magic underlying that voice.

"Finally? Aha, so you're the one who eliminated No. 5 and No. 6?"

No. 1 felt an interest in the opponent as a strong individual.

"No. 5? No. 6? I've never beaten anyone with such famous names. All I've ever beaten were truly small fry."

That voice…?

Cecil finally recognized who the voice belonged to. It was that boy from back then.

The very boy who had cast 3-star magic in the Jorhgen type…!

"Hah, hah, you're right, Raguna and Shila were just small fry. You seem proud of catching those small fry, but there's a fundamental difference in class between me and them."

No. 1 whipped Svalag with his magic. Svalag roared, shaking the mountains and rivers, and charged forward.

"They are trash that that person considers disposable, but I have always been favored by that person!"

But, incredibly, Link blocked the charge of that 'living calamity', Svalag, with both arms!

"Oh yeah? So what?"

"?"

"Alright, shouldn't we start fighting now? Try some magic. Let's see how delicious it is."

And on top of that giant, the kid spoke arrogantly.

"Hahahaha! Fine, I'll shut that arrogant mouth of yours first!"

As soon as No. 1 flipped through his grimoire, black magic enveloped Lyn.

The blizzard turned dark blue, swirling around Lyn. The blizzard, corrupted by the abyss, became a wave of decay that corrupted everything.

However… it couldn't swallow Link and Lyn. In an instant, fierce flames surged around them, burning up all the snow and abyss and whatever else.

"Hmm… is there really a difference in class? No, right? This, I mean, you were just playing around, right? Or just a slight warm-up? I still don't have to be disappointed, right?"

Mages can quite accurately gauge an opponent's potential with just a single exchange of spells.

Like a mathematical equation.

The casting speed and power are a product of the opponent's magic power and mathematical understanding. Knowing that, the boy's magic right now cannot be described merely as powerful.

It is on an absurd level.

What astonished No. 1 and Cecil was not just the power, but also the casting.

When?

When in the world did he cast it?

Such powerful magic?

Without even opening a grimoire?

It couldn't have been the Jorhgen type either. The characteristic high-pitched sound of a magic circle breaking, unique to the Jorhgen type, wasn't heard.

"You said No. 5 and No. 6? I'll give you 5 plus 6, so 11 more chances. If you can't satisfy me within that, I'll let you meet those No. 5s or whatever they were in the afterlife."

Something, a chilling killing intent, was intertwined with the words he uttered, clasping his hands behind his head as if bored.

No. 1 frantically flipped through his grimoire.

Magic that could sweep away an entire unit and more was unleashed in succession. The ground overturned, and the atmosphere trembled.

But it was meaningless.

Because magic that overwhelmingly surpassed all that black magic mercilessly crushed all resistance.

'Impossible.'

Cecil Durene watched the exchange, her eyes filled with something closer to admiration than shock.

Cecil thought she was a genius. She had been called that in society even before she obtained the Limitless (2-star) rank at 19.

However, she clearly realized at this moment that it was arrogance.

First, that black mage, judging by his youthful voice, must be a true genius.

But if that black mage should be described as a genius, then what in the world should that boy be described as?

Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow…!

The flow of elements directly countering the dark blue power of corruption… but she couldn't take her eyes off the boy rather than the magic.

"Bargante type…?"

Beastkin magic was a magic casting method branded as inferior in modern magical academia.

The number of available spells was absurdly small, their rank low, and the time required to cast them was abnormally long.

But that… he was invoking 3-star, no, even 4-star magic with just a few finger crossings. It was even faster than the Jorhgen type.

"What, are you, what, in the world, are you…!"

No. 1 said, panting, from the aftermath of rapidly consumed magic power in a short period and the surging fatigue.

"How, in the world, high-level magic, so, so fast…!"

Cecil Durene was also curious.

With such skill, why did no one know his identity? Why did he not leave a name? It would be normal for the entire continent to know of his existence.

The boy mage tilted his head at the desperate cry.

"High-level magic? I haven't used any strong magic yet?"

A flicker of agitation shook No. 1's eyes for a moment, then a meaningful, rather than despairing, smile flowed from his lips.

"Heh, heh heh heh, hahahahaha! I was arrogant. If you've been playing with me, that's your downfall. Look! The black magic particles scattered around me!"

The black magic that had been scattered throughout the area while being intercepted by Lyn's magic now began to form a vortex.

It was a corrupting whirlwind that swallowed everything; the Sun Parrot Taro had to fly in front of Cecil and spread its wings of flame.

Cecil realized that this was not the final struggle of a defeated opponent, but a last-ditch, decisive strike. If she had been there, she would have certainly died.

'But…'

That boy would be different.

Such was her belief.

Anyone who had seen the boy's magic even once would think so.

"Wow, yes, this is it! This is how it should be! Wow, for the [strongest] corrupted background, you have to do at least this much! I'm genuinely touched!"

The boy's eyes, everything but his eyes covered in fur, shone innocently.

That was clearly an act of provoking the opponent.

Even at this moment, he didn't let go of the most important element of psychological warfare for a mage.

Indeed, the black mage was agitated.

A mage, who must always be cool-headed, makes mistakes in mathematical calculations when agitated, and then the completeness of the magic also inevitably decreases.

"In return, I'll show you my strongest magic too."

The boy spread both hands. For the first time in this magical exchange, he chose the Jorhgen type for his casting method.

Currents of magic power gathered on each palm, meticulously, elegantly, and beautifully binding together.

Electricity sparked from the dazzlingly swirling vortex of magic power. The magic circle was made of four overlapping pentagons. It was 4-star lightning magic.

'Multi-calculation of 4-star magic…?'

As the boy clasped his hands together, the magic circles being constructed on each palm converged into one, beginning to form a new structure.

Its form was beautiful.

Its wave of power was mighty.

Like a work of art, like a mechanical device, the sight of everything interlocking perfectly without a single error was truly a play of light.

"Oh, but I'm sorry, I haven't finished this yet. It's a prototype."

That light then, from the boy's hands, broke the bonds of an invisible chain and soared into the sky.

The world turned pure white.

Not the pure white caused by the blizzard. It was simply light that left only black and white shades in the world, coloring and then swallowing everything.

"So, uhm, the magic's name is roughly… [Crazy Strong Lightning Strike]?"

It was a lightning strike.

"No, no."

The storm clouds scattering the blizzard, the snowscape covering the entire horizon, and the swirling black magic vortex in the area—all incinerated in a torrent of light.

"[Not Yet The Strongest Lightning Strike]."