Book 17 Chapter 29
Chapter 118
Ancient Rulers, Ancient Madness Summoning the Sea Wind (7)
“Listen carefully, Rin. That great being, Baobab, was once the Sea Gatekeeper (海門將) of the ancient deep-sea palace!”
Tuvassa, the Blue Witch, cried out.
“It’s a creature that has dominated humans and used them as food since before recorded history!”
She had spoken firmly to her disciples and juniors, but no matter how she thought about it, leaving the boy who came to save them alone and fleeing was not right!
“There’s no need to explain its danger, is there!”
So she stayed here to assist Rin.
“If we can’t stop Baobab here, a great disaster will befall the world!”
Rin barely gasped for breath, in a standoff with Baobab, who had finally awakened from the stone statue, glaring at each other.
A great being, she said…
Does being a great being mean it’s been great from its very origin?
“Oh great one, is that you… To excite this [Strongest Mage] so much with your magnificent presence…”
Therefore, with the utmost respect, he returned the creature’s words exactly as they were spoken. Without any jest or humor, but with the utmost sincerity!
“……”
But did the boy’s sincerity not get through? Veins and sinews disgustingly bulged out from various parts of Baobab’s body.
“Rin, you’re the mage of the hero’s party, but aren’t you being too arrogant! I told you the opponent is that great being!”
“Gyuk, Gyugyu, Gyugyugyut!”
One person and one creature with normal reasoning urgently tried to stop Rin, but Rin, far from being calm, looked rather excited.
“No, I’m serious? I’m truly looking forward to it and excited, so I just expressed it honestly, what’s wrong with that?”
“That is arrogance! Look at that terrifying presence right now! It hasn’t consumed live sacrifices, so its condition isn’t perfect, but if even an iota of its concentration falters, it’s an abyss where your brain feels like it could explode! Lubriana and the Black Rose Society fell precisely because of that madness!”
“No, why is it… I thought I was free from Friede, but why is there another nag? Is nagging part of the curriculum witches learn…?”
The moment Rin was rambling his complaints, Baobab opened its hideous maw wide.
What erupted from it was a torrent of water!
It wasn’t just a simple water pressure to crush an opponent; it was an ancient wave that transformed everything it touched into its primordial form, meaning, making it rot and decay!
“Attacking cowardly while I’m explaining, are you really the strongest?”
However, Rin had already anticipated and prepared for 128 different scenarios of offense and defense against an opponent whose primary attack was water-attribute, through Huck’s grimoire.
“Osharius Rosary deployment, 3-star, Watershed (分水嶺).”
Watershed! That was one of the secret techniques of the 10th Grand Mage Huck!
An insane secret magic that forms a magical peak controlling the very concept of ‘water,’ capable of splitting any water in half!
Since its effect worked on the very concept of ‘water,’ it naturally proved effective against the ancient wave Baobab spewed forth!
“!”
A crystal, rising clearly before Rin, split the wave into two streams, and miraculously, Rin suffered no damage.
What a counter!
Nevertheless, it was Rin, not Baobab, who was immersed in bewilderment.
“What the hell?”
It was because the crystal slowly began to rot and decay into a dark blue color.
‘Making a crystal manifested by magic rot? Strictly speaking, this isn’t a real object…?’
Then does this guy’s power of decay work on the [concept] itself?
“Very, interesting indeed…”
Baobab’s hundreds of eyes narrowed hideously.
Soon, the creature, its throat bobbing, spat out something: a dark blue crystal.
Astonishingly, it was a crystal identical in form to the Watershed crystal! When Baobab spewed a wave onto that crystal, the same effect was applied.
‘It copied Huck’s magic?’
The time it took Rin to fully master that Watershed was roughly 30 days! And if it were an ordinary person without his genius brain, even 30 years would have been laughable!
But that thing? In just 3 seconds?
The wave, split into two streams, targeted Rin and Tuvassa respectively, and since Tuvassa’s power alone was insufficient, Rin had to protect both.
“Dangerous, extremely dangerous! As expected, that creature is an ancient ruler! A being that has trampled and dominated humanity, positioned just below the ancient nobles! It might be interpreting the power of magic and sorcery as mere [concepts] and imitating them perfectly!”
What was happening, even at the moment Tuvassa was terrified, Baobab was similarly imitating the lightning barrier Rin had deployed using the power of the sea.
“What kind of crazy… Does that thing see the blueprint of my magic as if it’s looking at a design? It can immediately copy my magic?”
Even if he was such an unparalleled genius that he was lonely, mastering each of those spells would have required at least several days of study.
“Then this bastard, is even his intelligence beyond human?”
Cold sweat trickled down Rin’s spine, reaching his waist.
This was the crisis he had always wished for.
But it was a crisis beyond his standard. No matter how much one pursued being the [Strongest Mage], when faced with such a being, one was bound to be instinctively overwhelmed.
“We can’t defeat this thing with our intellect?”
As if to say such a question was truly ridiculous, Baobab’s hundreds of eyes curved slyly.
“Now, I understand everything… Your level… It’s so utterly ridiculous… it doesn’t even warrant a chuckle…”
The moment Baobab opened its maw wide, leading to the deep sea, an attractive force (引力) assaulted their bodies, strong enough to make their skin feel like it would rip off their bones and separate!
Truly the violent oppression of the deep sea!
If this place hadn’t been an isolated space by the Blue True Dragon’s dragonic words, a vortex-induced hole would have opened up all the way to the sea surface, and more.
“Offer your wretched bodies… before the majesty of this Baobab…!”
That power was the ultimate consumption! A power that sucks in everything in front, filters out only impurities in its internal filtration organs, and then absorbs everything as Baobab’s power source!
Rin plunged his Golden Shadow Staff into the ground.
The light flowing from it, that brilliant light, acted as a force field, buying Rin a fleeting moment. Tuvassa gasped in dazed admiration.
‘Dazzling. This light… could that stone staff have been made with the blessing of the Five Pillars (五柱)?’
In Rin’s left hand, the Osharius Rosary was completing the flow of power, and in his right hand, a power formation was being conjured.
“I’ll teach you. It wasn’t you who was observing my level, but I, myself!”
He had already experienced fighting an opponent who absorbed power, in his previous battle with Greta Visor.
“Let’s go, Sval!”
“Gyuung!”
He had already organized what magic to use if the same opponent appeared later, all in the [Strongest Mage’s Code of Conduct]!
5-star magic, Ice Lotus Heavenly Realm Flower!
Ice (氷; of ice)ㆍLotus (連; connecting)ㆍHeaven (川; river)ㆍRealm (界; border)ㆍFlower (華; blooming flower)… a combination of five runes creating over a thousand ice crystals that connect like a river.
“And if I add 4-star magic, Thunder Mirror (雷霆鏡面)!”
The essence of ice crystals is water.
The conductivity of electric current is, without need for explanation, high. Therefore, instantly, golden currents began to howl wildly from the ranks of ice.
“Zhu… Ha… Ha… Ha…!”
But Baobab erupted in booming laughter!
Was Rin underestimating it?!
That being that had lived since ancient times! Had he overlooked the fact that Baobab’s internal filtration system could effortlessly filter out such currents?!
“I don’t know why you’re splitting. Have I been rotting here for a thousand years, unaware of how far human psychological warfare has progressed these days?”
That creature interprets power as the [concept] itself and wields it.
Then filtration must also be using the concept of filtration.
And the logic circuit of that power would be similar to magic.
“By you copying Huck’s power, I could clearly recognize that your power is similar to magic. What if I cause an overload there?”
To explain it mathematically, what if the value of unknown x, which was clearly thought to be 1, was actually 2?
“Sval.”
In the equation of power, a load that far exceeds the assumed standard occurs. In the case of magic, an error occurs in the providence alteration equation itself, and the magic activation is canceled.
“Volume and Mass increase 2x!”
Similarly, the power of filtration would not be able to perform its role properly. In that case, the electrified ice bodies would be able to directly invade its body, into its defenseless insides.
‘Timing is key.’
The precise moment when the first crystal’s magical aura disappeared, meaning, the moment the magic arrived at the filter! Right now!
“Gyuung!”
At that very moment! The moment Rin pointed his index finger at Baobab with a victorious smile! The moment Sval puffed up its cheeks and released its full power!
Chachachachachachang----!
The dormant rune of Flower (華) activated! The ice crystals, which had originally flowed as a river of individual entities, coalesced into one and bloomed!
“Baobab, split in half and die.”
The size of that flower, expanded by nearly double with Sval’s ability!
─────Puhahaaak!
The ice flower (氷花) tore through all of Baobab’s internal organs, bones, muscles, and membranes, blooming fully and bisecting its upper and lower body.
“What if it actually dies just because I told it to?”
* * *
‘Incredible, this boy named Rin.’
Tuvassa finally realized she had been holding her breath and let out a series of ragged breaths.
‘His understanding of magic, no, of the very concept of power, far surpasses ordinary people, no, even the standards of geniuses. He landed a blow on that great being?’
The flesh of the ancient ruler was scattered everywhere, instantly dyeing this deep-sea clearing with an unsettling viscous fluid.
“Wow, crazy…”
He should have been ecstatic with the joy of victory, but Rin was instead frantically uncorking a magic potion, gasping for breath.
“Does this guy also have immortal power?”
The flesh, the torn pieces of flesh, weren’t they merging into one?! Hideous! Bizarre! Terrifying!
“But he doesn’t even have [King’s Flesh]!”
Its speed was nothing short of madness. If he didn’t come up with another plan immediately, everything they had done so far would be for naught!
“Then it’s impossible for me to kill this thing completely with my magic! What should I do?”
“No, that’s not right! That creature’s life force has a limit! It’s because it awakened unstably due to you subjugating the Black Rose Society! Look, many of the torn pieces of flesh are turning into stone!”
“What nonsense… Just wait a little, shark-head! I’ll quickly refill my magic and deliver the decisive blow! If you turn back into a statue, I’ll turn this place into Baobab Theme Park!”
Rin furrowed his brows.
‘Even 1, 2, or 3-star magic couldn’t inflict significant damage on those torn pieces of flesh.’
The ancient madness, the power of the abyss, was protecting its body.
To inflict proper damage, at least 4-star, and preferably 5-star, is needed. Using 5-star magic with utmost caution would be certain.
Rin shouted at the snowflake-like creature panting with its long tongue out beside him.
“Sval, you replenish your power too! No time!”
“Gyuung!”
The center where the scattered pieces of flesh on the floor were wriggling and gathering was Baobab’s upper body, where its core (核) was located! Baobab’s hundreds of eyes glared at Rin.
“What… are you… your power, your presence… it was so weak compared to before that I was confused… Could it be Kalenden… Is that you…?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Wearing a human body… You’ve become extremely weak… Even I, who can’t unleash even 50% of my full power… am struggling to finish you off in one go… Zhu… Ha… Ha…!”
Was that a mind game played by the ancient ruler?
Who would be faster? Would the magic power needed for the decisive blow be replenished faster, or would Baobab’s body reassemble…?
Was it to catch Rin off guard, who thought that brief race against time would be everything?
“!!!”
Baobab’s flesh, which seemed to be extending its cellular genes to unify (合一), simultaneously launched its tentacles at Rin!
“Be, be careful, Rin! Those aren’t just tentacles! They’re probably powers that absorb or corrupt targets!”
It was truly 360 degrees! Even fingernail-sized pieces of flesh that clung to various spots around Rin’s feet launched tentacles!
This, just touching it would be a fatal wound!
In an instant of an instant, this attack was delivered, not even giving time for the Osharius Rosary to deploy, a truly desperate situation!
“The ancient madness… will swallow your new body…!”
The moment Sval frantically shrieked, and Tuvassa, though she couldn’t possibly make it in time, hurriedly began to chant a spell!
“Gyuuuuung!”
Rin also urgently formed hand signs, but at that very moment when the tentacles, already pressing in front of his eyes, were about to pierce and ravage his heart and intestines!
A flash (一閃).
It was a single streak of light, as if performed from beyond time, in a realm unrestrained by time.
“Rin!”
That light, in a moment less than an instant, crossed and crossed and crossed again in multiple layers.
“I’m here!”
Although clearly a rapid intersection, for those bound by the constraints of time, the intersection point of light, appearing as if performed in a single instant, tore apart the ancient madness in one strike.
“Th-that… that is…!”
Tuvassa cried out, her eyes filled with awe.
The tentacles undoubtedly touched Rin’s body. They touched, but immediately oxidized into ash, unable to wield any power, and simply vanished…!
This was because they were within the sphere of influence of the Holy Sword, the natural enemy of the abyss! The Holy Sword eradicates the abyss from its very roots!
“…The last hero of this era!”
That brilliant sword light! Shining even more brilliantly than the light that constructs the very attribute of darkness were those eyes!
The golden eyes of the heroine who appeared from a realm beyond moments, her pure white hair fluttering nobly!
That is the very symbol of the hero!
“Is that Rista Alter Schirfeyn…!”