Book 16 Chapter 43
Science VS Ability,
Ain's Technology is the Best in the World (9)
"Myeongnyeomtan (Bright-Collecting Bomb), Mirvaldi."
The gun barrels that sprouted from Greta Viser's shoulders were peculiar in their very mode of operation.
While the surroundings instantly darkened, light converged at the center of the barrels, forming a blinding illumination that obstructed vision.
Myeongnyeomtan (Mirvaldi) is said to be the culmination of the photon technology of the <Those Who Came>, collecting all the light particles floating in the atmosphere and then compressing them to their limit before firing.
"Osarius-style Beast, 3-star. Crystal Star (Sujeongseong)."
By nature, water is strong when it forms a single mass. The disadvantage is the speed it takes to form such a mass, from a single droplet to a tsunami.
The 10th Grand Archmage, Hurk, focused his research on compensating for this inevitable weakness of water-attribute magic.
Crystal Star was a magic that, immediately after scattering thousands of water droplets, endowed each droplet with the molecular-level seams found in solid crystals, instantly coalescing them into a mass. It could be seen as both the beginning and the end of Hurk's magical research.
'…A magic casting speed I've never seen or heard of.'
Greta raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed.
'But can water receive an ancient light projectile?'
Lin's answer would be this:
It would be impossible as water, but what if it could be solidified (固體化) instantly?
"Gyugyung!"
From the surface of the water to its depths, a chill instantly spread, transforming it into a frosty curtain.
Pibibibibibibing!
Over 10 light projectiles grazed past, and five or six light projectiles hit directly, leaving deep scars on the frosty defense.
'Right in front of me? It almost shattered… I increased its strength by nearly double through that damn guy!'
Lin, feeling a pleasurable bewilderment that made her bones shiver, was already throwing the next move.
'Rune Engraving Expansion.'
By bestowing the runes of 'point' (尖) and 'overflow' (溢), the 3-star magic Crystal Star is transformed into the 5-star magic 'Crystal Point-Overflow Star (Sujeongjeomilseong).'
By bestowing the qualities of being pointed (尖) and overflowing (溢), the defense-oriented curtain that had received the light projectiles was made to take on an aggressive nature, surging forward with sharp points.
It was truly a move of the pinnacle; what mage could respond to such power? Did Greta Viser fail to evade and take a direct hit from that attack?
For a moment, it seemed so.
However… the attack did not reach Greta.
"They say the strongest hero, Eldia Kata (05) Enuel, could even convert the power of <Forgotten Kings> into her own to use it."
The breastplate of the colossal giant Paveltikan opened on both sides, and 'some kind of force' swirled, beginning to absorb the onslaught of the Crystal Point-Overflow Star.
"Chief Meister Gunter is said to have declared he experienced 'all the thrills he would ever feel in his life' the moment he saw that power, and from that day on, attempted all sorts of techniques to imitate it."
As the absorption ended, a massive gun barrel sprouted from inside the breastplate. A deep blue light, the power of the Crystal Point-Overflow Star just absorbed, was boiling in its barrel.
"The result of that research is this, 'Active Absorption Field Palburgis'."
The gunshot tore eardrums. The power that should have annihilated the opponent now ironically enveloped Lin, cooling the atmosphere along its trajectory to a deep blue.
'Complete defense isn't an option. There's no time for that.'
Cold sweat poured like rain from her forehead beneath her conical hat.
'I need to combine evasion maneuvers with a defense that buys just a very brief moment.'
The Osarius rosary brilliantly spun, weaving a second Crystal Star.
'Although it's been cooled, the nature of water hasn't completely vanished.'
Double casting… using the Jochen type, a magic circle for Crystal Star is deployed above her right hand as well.
'Crystal Star instantly forms a mass from the moisture in an area, so if I create a Crystal Star far away…!'
Lin's judgment, made in just 0.4 seconds amidst the panic that would have halted even a genius, let alone an ordinary person, was extremely effective.
'That reflected Crystal Point-Overflow Star will try to form a single mass with *that* Crystal Star, causing its power to spread and weaken.'
There could be no better answer than this.
The two Crystal Stars scattered far away demanded unity (合一) from the Crystal Point-Overflow Star, naturally weakening its power density and speed.
At that moment, seizing that brief instant, Lin threw herself forward.
Jeojeojeojeok… Chaeeaaang!
As the Crystal Point-Overflow Star smashed the coordinates where she had just stood, sending frost shards flying wildly, the rosary in Lin's left hand once again drew a constellation of abilities.
'Osarius-style Beast, 3-star.'
The magic attribute woven into that constellation was lightning (雷). The Golden Armor tied to Lin's back resonated with that power, adding the blazing (光焰) power of dragons.
"Lightning Strike Scale (Noegyokrin)."
The power of lightning (雷電) surged towards Greta Viser.
Slightly before that, the gun barrels sprouting from Paveltikan's arms were also emitting light.
There were two light projectiles, but they were different from Myeongnyeomtan. They moved by bouncing in curved trajectories rather than straight lines.
'What is this…!'
Furthermore, the light trails left by the moving light projectiles took on substance. Like ropes, to bind the target.
"Damn it!"
It was truly a hair's breadth.
The curtain of water that surged up in a cube instantly froze at ultra-high speed, constructing an Ice Castle (氷城).
By confining herself within that Ice Castle, she was able to evade the binding of the light projectiles.
"Hah, that was really close."
"Gyung!"
At that moment, the lightning amplified by the power of the Golden Armor left a definite effective hit on Greta Viser.
An electric current of shock occurred on Paveltikan's surface. Electricity was both a companion and an enemy of advanced scientific technology.
Just before it could cause an anomaly in the central circuit, Paveltikan's passive defense field deployed. Lightning rods were extended to allow the current covering the surface to discharge, driving the electricity out of the machine.
Burururururu…
In the recent battle, over 20 of the brains in the test tubes supplying power to the reactor to draw out strength, completely rotted and disintegrated into the abyss, becoming like sediment.
…Kkurururururuk.
In this process, the useless brains were eliminated, and the nutrient solution and [King's Flesh] in the test tubes were transplanted to other test tubes.
"You're strong. Incredibly so for such a young appearance. It almost makes me wonder if you're not an Ain who's decades old."
Greta Viser was a brave woman who didn't give empty compliments, so this praise now stemmed from pure admiration.
"To make me exhaust 26 top-grade substitutes in such a short time, Platinum Rank 1… No, if you grow for a few more years, taking the Diamond Rank ahead of me wouldn't even be a problem."
Lin, not yet complete as a 'vessel,' had even lost the余裕 (leisure\/room to breathe) to converse with the 'strongest modern mercenary.'
'Two attack patterns, and two defense patterns too.'
The 5-star ice magic had exploded countless times, compounded by the chill from underground, making the surroundings terribly cold, yet her whole body was drenched in sweat.
'No matter how powerful a magic I use, it gets reflected. If I experiment with other things, I'll exhaust all my magic power and lose.'
Lin simultaneously emptied two magic potions, which she always carried as emergency supplies, with her right hand, and formed a seal with her left.
'A head-on confrontation will only lead to absorption again, so if I'm going to make a decisive move, I need to inflict area-of-effect damage not just to the front but everywhere.'
Again, the 'violent talent' designated by the black sun Karenden as its successor, made the impossible possible.
Reinterpretation of Crystal Star.
The magic circle maintains its original form, a water attribute magic, but the rune uses iron (鐵) instead of water (水) to maximize the properties of iron. Depending on the rune combination ratio, rust water might appear.
'The 'Star' (星) rune is changed to the double rune 'Sparkle' (煋). A new subordinate rune for 'Ignitable Property' (火) is added, transforming it into 3.5-star magic.'
On top of that, two more 'Revered' (尊) runes, symbolic of the Orbios amplification series, are stacked.
'This, now a 5.5-star magic, can extremely amplify the power of explosions.'
Changing a magic rune means that the underlying mathematical equation itself is completely altered.
'The goal is area-of-effect damage that cannot even be absorbed.'
Just as solving a new mathematical problem requires multiple trials and errors, magic is the same.
No, magic is a more precise discipline.
A slight mistake could cause the magic itself to misfire and not be used, or to rampage and overwhelm the caster.
However, the boy…
The boy who would later become the central figure in history and usher in the 'Age of Silver' accomplished such a feat as if it were natural.
'In short, it's a dust explosion.'
The equipped giant Paveltikan simultaneously fired Myeongnyeomtan and Gwangbak-tan (Light-Punching Bomb) Kidimor.
Scattered darkly all around Greta were dust particles (粉塵).
Dust is by nature a type of fine particulate matter, susceptible to atmospheric effects and extremely slow in movement, but these, drawn by water droplets, instantly surrounded only Greta.
'What's important in a dust explosion is the strength of the initial explosion, because that strength multiplies exponentially.'
However… there was no time. She was just a hair's breadth short of the time needed to unleash that flame magic.
In the Age of Myths, weapons created to combat enemies beyond standard specifications were all instantaneous, whereas magic, even with the Osarius rosary, required a slight amount of time.
The plan was to deploy flame magic with the rosary, and the power to protect herself from the explosion with the Jochen type, but the light projectiles were already rushing right in front of her.
'If I give up on this now and only defend, the way to win completely disappears, doesn't it?'
If she aimed for mutual destruction, it wouldn't be impossible, but would it even lead to mutual destruction? Even if the best outcome occurred, wouldn't it merely neutralize that equipment?
Die?
She didn't want to die. Not because there were many things she hadn't done yet. She desperately wanted to return to the magic tower someday. She wanted to see the Archmage again.
'Ah, damn it… if only I had completed the immortality magic!'
In that fleeting moment, a clear light (淸光) and a fiery light (火光) brilliantly crisscrossed her vision.
The clear light was three arrows.
The first arrow, the moment it arrived above Lin's head, transformed into countless tendrils, encasing Lin like a birdcage.
'Kies!'
The fiery light was a parrot, Pipi.
Pipi, perched on the first arrow, flapped her fiery wings widely.
The flapping of those fiery wings ignited the dust scattered around Greta and Lin.
"…!"
Greta Viser, who was receiving real-time hazard information via the optical helmet's HUD and was about to deploy 'Active Absorption Field Palburgis,' momentarily encountered an error code.
'The breastplate isn't opening?'
More precisely, it was opening, but the creaking metallic sound of iron echoed terribly, greatly delaying its speed.
'This is… that Manuki archer's.'
Two arrows from the Baekchangbow Serwevon, simultaneously impacting through the blind spot of her vision, had rooted themselves in Paveltikan's breastplate. They were binding it, preventing it from opening instantly.
That was the turning point of victory or defeat.
Because by the time the roots of the World Tree were shaken off and 'Active Absorption Field Palburgis' was finally about to deploy, all the dust had already triggered a chain explosion, transforming the entire field of vision into a scorching red flash.