Book 20 Chapter 10
Fated foe and vanguard of duty,
Neo-Heavenly Cadetpol Knights (12)
Gurgle… With the sound of spewing lava, the grotesque [King's Flesh] re-forms the host's body!
Geumyeongjang touched the monstrosity!
The void around Geumyeongjang's Golden Ring shimmered, then it sucked the symbol of corruption from this space of providence and isolated it somewhere!
"……!"
"……!"
"……!"
The hosts, whose central nervous systems were contaminated by abyssal moss, causing their bodies to move erratically… their bodies began to regain freedom.
"The moss…!"
"It's disappearing…!"
"Damn it, it's Archmage Rin again… I have no choice but to worship her!"
Among the reinforcements ordered to break through the North Gate was Combat Division 1 of the Mage Alliance. Surprise worship initiated!
"Cough…!" Rin, unable to suppress the surge of blood she was spitting, knelt on one knee again.
'Omek avoided it midway…!'
Continuous use of high-level magic.
'Regeneration is already complete, I need to hurry and help Link…!'
Her body was already pushed beyond its limits. Since she had spammed 5-star magic with such a young body, it wouldn't have been strange if her core itself had burst.
"Kyugyugyut!" The Ice Dragon Asrva flapped its wings around her worriedly, but Rin's eyes were unusually serious.
The mages rushed over.
As one could tell by looking at the woman leading them, Yusrinn, she was from Combat Division 1. Yusrinn was the mage who had tried to secretly spy on Rin at <Langbardt> but had instead become captivated.
"Lady Rin!"
"Archmage!"
"Milady, do you have any mana potions…?"
Mana potions are considered by mages to be selling off their future.
This was because as the core generating mana was damaged, the absolute amount of mana gradually decreased.
However, mages deployed in battle always carried 2-3 mana potions in case of emergencies.
"Give me all of them…!"
"But Archmage, your physical condition! A healer from Gieun is behind us! Please ask the healer for treatment!"
"Just hand them over…!"
Rin secured 10 mana potions from the mages of Combat Division 1 and emptied 3 of them in an instant.
These were highly concentrated mana potions; a typical Limites (2-star) mage could recover their entire mana with just 1\/3 of the potion contained in one of those flasks.
Three of them! And even that wasn't enough, to the point she tore open another cork stopper.
It might have been a natural consequence that all sorts of extravagant rumors circulated at the time about the sheer absolute amount of Archmage Rin's magic.
"Let's go, Sval! We need to help Link!" "Kyut!"
"Lady Rin!"
"You guys hold off the Reptilians! They're coming from all directions in stealth, so be careful!"
As Rin, gulping down her fourth mana potion, ran towards the fierce battlefield, tears transparently welled up in the eyes of the mages from Combat Division 1, who watched her back in helplessness.
"…Lady Rin gave us an order?"
"…That means Lady Rin recognized our skill, right?"
"…And worried about me too!"
"…She looked at me last when she spoke, so she was worrying about me!"
"…Don't make me laugh, it was me!"
The section chief of Combat Division 1 also couldn't suppress the boiling emotion within him, but he had to display dignity as a leader. Because Archmage Rin had entrusted him with a mission!
"…The honor of receiving the first combat deployment order from Archmage Rin has fallen to our Combat Division 1! Therefore, we must absolutely carry out that order! Combat Division 1, battle formation!"
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the foundation of the legendary 'Demon Slayer Kassel Rinkan,' famous even in later generations, was laid in this very battle.
"Am-amazing…!"
"Hand-to-hand combat against a demon…?"
"Is he a superhuman…!"
For the reinforcements who had just arrived and had no way of knowing the full circumstances, it was enough for them to mistake Cardin Omek (06) for a demon.
A bloody battle against such a demon!
City structures were collapsing with each clash, and the artifact that amplified Link's power was eventually damaged, gradually pushing him into a disadvantage.
[Rin, just a moment! If you can hold him for just a moment, I'll take care of him!]
Omek's armor and sword were all broken by the 5-star magic, Water-White Snowfrost Formation.
Without armor and with his sword broken, he might not be able to unleash the same ferocity as before, but his absolute strength and physique, which surpassed even Link's, remained.
Moreover, unlike before, lava was overflowing from various blood vessels due to the [King's Flesh], so any ordinary person would melt away just by approaching, exposed to that extreme heat. Furthermore, with Cardin Del's subjugation, he was in a berserk state!
"GirGaaaaaaaSSSSSSSSS──!"
Can't you tell just by seeing the artillery barrage of the 1st Artillery Regiment, those iron rounds, melting into molten metal just before impact!
The only effective deterrent was Nils's Captylt-II's photon bullet barrage!
In such a situation, over 80% of Link's artifact armor was half-destroyed, and the disadvantage was turning into a crisis!
"Good, with this much mana…!"
Then, Rin, who had thrown away the fifth potion flask and stood before her comrades' bloody struggle, neatly spread her left hand, and soon dozens of light orbs were woven together by a mysterious decree.
'Ah…'
Such radiance… almost stealing everyone's breath even amidst that fierce battle.
The descriptions of Rin's magic were quite diverse, but there was one common theme: it was 'beautiful.'
It wasn't that the magic itself was beautiful. From the look in her eyes to her hand gestures when casting magic, every single one of her subtle movements was exquisitely beautiful.
'The lava spewed by the [King's Flesh] is acting like a barrier of extreme heat around them…'
The 5-star magic Rin cast at that moment was a very simple power.
"Link, just for a moment!"
Tsunami (Sea Overflow)!
"Just hold him for a moment!"
Water-attribute magic is the attribute among all magics where 'power is directly proportional to quantity' is most simply established; its power is maximized as its quantity increases.
'No, what Lady Rin used wasn't just water-attribute magic!'
The mages could see the magnificent tsunami surging towards Omek, and the vivid blue cold energy rushing across its surface.
Following Sval, Geumyeongjang also added power to that magic!
As the staff, which contained Cardinal Yoshhar's soul in a bound form, poured out dazzling light, golden electric currents covered the freezing surface.
'Magic that never existed in academia until now…!'
'New magic created by freely combining three attributes…!'
'That's impossible without an ultimate understanding of all attributes. She could truly be called an [Elemental Master]…!'
Facing the tsunami that rushed forth, covering several sections, Omek's battle instinct issued the command 'evade.'
The body, having received the central command, immediately carried out that order.
However, the 'action' of amplifying his leg strength to escape the area failed to produce a 'result'! A force comparable to his was firmly holding Omek.
"Link, Link, Link!"
It was Link who was clinging to Omek's ankle!
"GusssssAAAAAAAAA!"
His brain, moving solely on battle instinct, issued the command 'remove obstacles impeding action' to his body.
Therefore, Omek's body immediately repeatedly struck and stomped Link's head and arms with punches and kicks.
Yet, despite that, even while it was happening, Link didn't budge.
"Link, get out of the way now!"
His helmet was shattered, and his skull was practically caved in!
"I said get out of the way! What are you doing!"
His right arm melted in the lava!
Even though his left arm was dangling by its tendons, looking like it was about to be torn off!
"Link, Link, Link…!"
He merely looked up at Omek's rage and offered a meaningful… somewhat sad smile!
At that moment, and the next, the colossal tsunami crafted by Archmage Rin in a space devoid of water engulfed the two giants!
The tsunami, which surged through even the immediate vaporization caused by the lava with its cooling power… blinded Omek and Link's consciousness dozens of times with the electric currents held within each water particle.
"……!"
"……!"
For Demon Slayer entities, a blackout of consciousness means death.
An ordinary person would have died the moment they were swept away by that tsunami. However, their consciousness was brought back by the power of repeated hyper-regeneration.
Of course, Omek's regenerative power, amplified by the [King's Flesh], held an absolute advantage over the prototype Link.
'Even this wasn't enough…?'
No one could ascertain the outcome of the battle until the tsunami receded.
Rin rushed forward, but standing despondently in the fully receded tsunami was only Omek.
Link, whose hyper-regeneration power was inferior to his, hung limply, yet still gripped Omek's ankle even after losing consciousness.
"Gurrrrr……"
Omek looked down at Link. There was an eerie, utter lack of emotion on his ruthless face.
Even in that moment just before the slaughter, as he raised his left foot to simply stomp Link's head and crush it.
Just as Rin and Sval were hastily weaving new magic, just as a new bloody battle was about to begin in deep silence!
…Bang!
A hole was pierced in the chest of Omek's volcanic body, the physique constructed from [King's Flesh].
It was such a tiny hole. So small, in fact, that comparing it to Rin's 5-star ice magic, Ice Spear Rising Strike, which had previously separated his upper and lower body, would be an insult.
But Rin's eyes widened beyond measure.
Because piercing a hole in Omek's body meant it possessed a powerful force.
'No? Or is it? It didn't pierce through to the back!'
However, Omek, halting even his movement to stomp Link, blankly placed his hand over the hole, then instantly began to let out a tearing scream.
"I'm sorry."
The owner of that power was… Ain, Nils Blantz, emerging from the cockpit of Captylt-II!
Graphite floated like a dance from the muzzle of the pistol-type artifact in his hand.
Nils had created this weapon in preparation for Link going near the abyss, going berserk, completely losing his ego, and becoming crazed with slaughter.
"I won't make the irresponsible plea for forgiveness."
This, made by refining a minute amount of Abyss Burst, spreads throughout the entire body and explodes upon impact. A force that twists the timeline into the past!
"Because your birth… and all the suffering of life that began that way are mistakes I must bear for my entire life."
It is not a threatening weapon to beings of the abyss.
Its effective range is extremely short, and the amount of abyss loaded is small, making it difficult to inflict significant damage even on masters like Rista.
That is why there were only two of these bullets.
One for Link, the other for Nils to commit suicide immediately afterward.
That it was prepared for Link meant that for the Demon Slayer series—for this Demon Slayer series, crafted as chimeras more exquisitely than any machine—its effect was outstanding!
"…Gu, su, bu, buGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKK!"
Just as a single misaligned gear breaks a machine, if the biological composition is misaligned, the entire body is bound to collapse!
Omek roared ferociously!
However, even faster than regeneration by the [King's Flesh], his body crumbled, and the [King's Flesh] also began to fall off!
What wriggled at his feet was just like a swarm of maggots!
"I just… wanted to apologize for giving you rest so late."
As Omek collapsed, the [King's Flesh] ran wild, attempting to re-weave themselves independently, but Rin quickly collected all of them with Geumyeongjang, so no major anomaly occurred.
"Link!"
Rin gasped for breath, yet tried to rush towards the unconscious Link. Even from this distance, his condition was a wreck.
'Surely, surely, because of me?'
Did he die because I told him to hold Omek?
Fear rushed through her mind, turning it black.
She had never seen Link collapsed like that before.
"Don't come!"
Nils sternly rebuked Rin, who was approaching.
"Ni-Nils!"
"You go, Rin! I will absolutely restore Link's condition to normal! I promise! I will surely make you meet him smiling again!"
"!!!"
"My Captylt-II is almost completely destroyed by this guy, so it's inoperable right now! But you're different, aren't you? Go where you are needed! Go to the hero's party, to your comrades!"
"Even if I just check his condition…!"
"You know! This was such an intense battle! Can you guarantee that all your comrades are safe, whatever their situation might be right now?"
The North Gate, towards <Vanessis>, was easily captured thanks to Rista's party's emergency landing, so air superiority was also properly secured.
The Golden Dragon Legion led by Senior Cardinal Inrahit and the Griffin Air Force were already filling the sky and had begun fierce battles with the Tuaki.
One of the griffins, seeing the magic signal fired by Combat Division 1, landed in the area.
"Lady Rin, please ride this griffin and recover some stamina as you travel!"
Yusrinn said.
Internally shouting in triumph at having earned points with the youngest archmage in history!
"Lady Rin needs to hurry to the Grand Plaza. Will that be possible?"
A griffin rider from the Air Force recognized Rin and bowed politely.
A northern-style straw hat and a staff of light!
Archmage Rin and her martial exploits had already become so famous that any soldier serving on this front line could recognize her just by her appearance!
"Please leave it to us! My griffin Jockey and I are masters of low-altitude flight! The skies are dangerous due to the Tuaki, so we will fly gliding just above the buildings, getting you there faster and safer than any other griffin! Archmage, please mount behind the saddle!"