Book 14 Chapter 20
Platinum Mercenary Group,
In the northern part of the Empire (7)
“A dying brat still only talks big!”
Janna rushed back towards the rookie mage with her colleague, nicknamed Tteokdae.
They were elite personnel who had served as the vanguard of the [Roar of the Grizzly Bear] mercenary group during the exploration of the Abyssal Lands, Trident Point.
The two usually bickered, but their chemistry when working together was truly outstanding.
“Mages are said to be best in one-on-many combat, but in a situation with so many obstacles like this, they’re useless!”
Tteokdae and Janna cleverly weaved through the gaps in the crowd of citizens, approaching the hat-wearing rookie without much resistance.
Instantly occupying both blind spots, they would take down this rookie in one go, just as they had subdued high-ranking monsters at Trident Point.
The power of magic imbued the several iron spikes embedded in the club.
Each of these iron spikes was coated with a different poison, so one effective hit would quickly lead to a fatal blow.
All those poisons were spider venoms abundant in Trident Point, possessing a power that even magical beasts couldn't withstand.
As the power of the abyss was added to those poisons, both their crushing and destructive power were extremely amplified.
“Cha-aat!”
The rookie evaded this attack by a hair’s breadth, but the light of magic was also shimmering on Tteokdae’s knuckles, which were aiming for his back.
Kwa-woong…!
There was no chance for the Spearman, the Glasses-wearer, and the Archer who was sniping from the rear to step forward.
They’d finish it with the next strike.
And then go straight to subdue that sky-blue haired woman──?
“Wha…?”
Janna and Tteokdae, whose bodies should have crushed the rookie, were blocked by something taut and bounced back.
Defensive magic?
When?
And without even opening a grimoire.
But there are people everywhere here. In other words, they’ll act as shock absorbers. Just knock a few people over and reduce momentum.
‘I’ll take his life before he can cast magic again.’
But it was strange. Why wasn't this ‘bouncing situation’ ending? And why was his head so dizzy he felt like throwing up?
Tong, tong, tongtongtongtongtongtong…!
The answer was simple. The bodies of the humans, who should have been shock absorbers, were also surrounded by taut barriers!
“Ugh, ughhhh…”
Bouncing off the human behind him, then bouncing off the one in front, then to the side, forward, then back, front…
“…St-stop, p-please save me.”
Tteokdae, whose large size meant the impact on his brain was inevitably greater, even let out such a weak plea.
In front of Tteokdae appeared a pure white angel. The angel was in the form of a cotton ball, very fluffy, with round eyes and a cute mouth.
The angel extended its hand.
If it was such a cute angel, it wouldn’t be bad to escape this pain and meet his end.
Tteokdae reached out his hand in return.
But the angel didn't hold Tteokdae’s hand; instead, it slapped his cheek!
“Gyung!”
Sval Punch, direct hit!
The effect was negligible, but the psychological damage was enormous!
Rejected even by the angel he thought would free him from this unending pain, Tteokdae gave up on maintaining consciousness.
“Yee-yahp!”
Exploiting that opening, the Spearman of [Roar of the Grizzly Bear] instantly charged towards Rin with a flowing, wave-like footwork.
‘It’s a well-known fact that mages are proficient in one-on-many combat.’
However, because there’s a long cooldown between spells, even Battle Mages with short casting times consider a vanguard essential.
‘I’ll end it like this!’
Perhaps he sensed the killing intent, the boy mage turned around half a beat late, just like before.
Will he open his grimoire?
Or is he an incantation-type?
Either way, my spear will pierce your heart a hair’s breadth faster.
Boo-woo-woong…!
The light of magic wrapped around the spearhead. The slightly insufficient range difference was compensated with magic.
Tong…!
At that moment, that clear sound was heard; even before the sound, a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder blade.
Jack's errant arrow…?
That idiot misfired again…!
Because of this, the offensive was slightly slowed, but it was already a full-power leap. Just pierce through without a problem. This time, it's different from before.
But.
The boy didn't open his grimoire. He didn't even open his palm. He merely gathered and intertwined his hands in a strange way, forming a hand seal.
That formed a magical light.
A light formed by three overlapping trapezoidal magic circles (telekinesis) materialized at the boy's feet, then caused an anomaly in providence with a saturation of light.
Tong──!
This was different from the sound of a pyeonjeon.
It was the sound of a body bouncing off.
He thought he could just use the citizens as a breakwater as before, but that sound endlessly, ceaselessly, echoed in the Spearman’s mind until he lost consciousness.
──Tongtongtongtototototototongtongtong!
When the three vanguards of [Roar of the Grizzly Bear] became victims of the bouncy ball magic amidst the crowd, the Glasses-wearer, who had been observing the situation, stepped forward.
“Hmph, telekinetic magic, is it?”
His name was Gon.
As the brain of [Roar of the Grizzly Bear], his rank was Limitless (2-star), but having always been in real combat, he possessed combat magic skills comparable to an Atlas (3-star).
“Have you already placed telekinetic barriers on all passing citizens? Well, I thought we had him trapped, but it turns out we were the ones caught in a trap. I commend your intellect.”
“Commendation? Oh, who are you to do that?”
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gon, affiliated with [Roar of the Grizzly Bear] and ranked 30th in the Gold tier. I was also a disciple of the Ermont School, which belongs to the fourteen major academies, the ‘Sipsajung’ (十四中).”
Then the boy subtly lifted his hat and revealed an incredibly bright smile.
“So, you’re saying I can go all out? Right? Am I right? You’re not herring noodles, but an eyeball skewer assortment, aren’t you?”
It was clearly a bright smile, yet how could it feel so chillingly eerie?
It was unmistakable killing intent (殺氣).
Killing intent that made his entire body tremble, just like what he felt the first time he stood before a monster that knew nothing but eating humans.
“See for yourself and judge!”
Gon instinctively opened his grimoire.
All schools belonging to the ‘Sipsajung’ had researched the rapid spellcasting of the Remidiere type.
The Ermont School was no different.
And Gon had mastered that technique through direct combat experience in harsh environments. Something was coming; he had to subdue that boy faster than his intuition.
Ppakak!
However, something struck the arm holding the grimoire.
A pain that blurred his vision!
If he hadn’t been wearing the robe reinforced with magic during the Trident Point expedition, it was obvious his bone would have been broken.
‘This is a telekinetic sphere.’
Had he condensed the intangible force of telekinesis into a fist-sized orb and launched it?
‘Is telekinetic magic his main strength?’
Telekinesis is not a magic specialized for combat. Then he's not a Battle Mage.
It was a non-mainstream attribute that didn't belong to the four major elements or the four minor elements, i.e., the eight attributes; its low end of power was high, but its high end was endlessly low.
It’s usually learned by mages dispatched to disaster sites, but…
“Hah, I see! You can only use telekinetic magic in real combat! In that case, this battle ends the moment my spell activates!”
Shouting that, Gon moved through the gaps in the crowd, dodging telekinetic spheres and beginning his calculations.
“Your magical power must be at its limit, casting such a wide-area spell!”
He had fought beings specialized in a single power many times before.
Others might see it as a crisis, but he was a veteran mage who had overcome even greater challenges in the mercenary group.
That’s why he immediately realized the way to defeat the hat-wearing boy and acted on it.
“So all you can do is fire those telekinetic projectiles!”
Telekinesis and Bargante type; in short, the opponent can only use those two in actual combat.
“You have talent.”
While Bargante type magic might be fast to cast, its power and applications are limited.
“Your greatest misfortune was simply meeting Gon of the Ermont School before that talent could blossom!”
The spell that Gon finally finished calculating after buying approximately 60 seconds was [Whip of Flames].
A whip, whose trajectory could be controlled by magic, would weave through the blind spots in the crowd and seize the boy.
If caught by that whip, flames would spread throughout his body, resulting in instant death. In short, it was Gon's victory. But then.
Tong, tong, tongtongtongtongtongtong.
Strange. Why does that sound feel thicker? And why is it getting closer and closer?
“It’s over, [Whip of Flames]!”
The scorching heat emanating from the blazing Whip of Flames made ‘those things’, which had been darting semi-transparently through the air, visible.
Dozens of telekinetic spheres were bouncing wildly between the bodies of the citizens, who were surrounded by telekinetic barriers, and approaching him.
Was this merely a ricochet born of chance? No. The trajectory to bounce and reach Gon had been calculated with terrifying precision.
‘No way.’
Only then did he realize the true nature of this magic.
Should one call it the essence of telekinetic magic, or had telekinesis been spread throughout this entire area?
A little more explanation is needed. ‘Individual’ barriers had been placed on ‘everything existing within the area’.
As a result, the mercenaries of [Roar of the Grizzly Bear] not surrounded by those barriers, or those telekinetic spheres, would bounce endlessly the moment they touched something.
Of course, he even included the subtlety of mixing in lightning attributes to amplify the impact on the brain.
It’s very simple.
But "simple" and "easy" are not interchangeable words. How could making an entire space your own domain be easy?
“How, such magic… I’ve never heard or seen before…”
And the next moment.
With the final ‘tong’ sound, dozens of spheres simultaneously pummeled Gon’s body.
As the bones throughout his body shattered and his consciousness faded into black, the boy's youthful voice was heard from beyond.
“This is the first time I’ve had such a delicious fight. I’ll acknowledge all four of you as an eyeball skewer assortment.”