Book 6 Chapter 15
Chapter 139
Seigan Wolf Blado merely wanted to test his powerful magic on a worthy opponent ever since he was a child.
The passion contained in each of my spells, born from endless trial and error…
He ascended only for that purpose, to the place called the pinnacle of the world… but wherever he went, worthy rivals all disappeared before even a year had passed.
The only one who was somewhat worth fighting with all his might was a guy named Doran Slade, whom he met at the Imperial University exchange meeting when he was eighteen…
“Oh dear, how could I ever defeat Sir Blado? Couldn’t you give me a pass just this once?”
That unpleasant fellow, far from giving his all, would always back out with such a playful attitude.
Soon, life became boring.
Without a proper rival, his development began to stagnate… This was also why, despite being the legitimate heir of his family, he left the mansion to live as an adventurer.
Even while becoming the second-ranked Platinum-grade adventurer, he met many strong opponents, but strangely, he never once encountered a strong mage.
So, from some point, he would often dream.
‘Tch, what if I had been born during the turbulent period 300 years ago…’
He could have competed with Archmage Rin. He could have also fought Ulan Page, who made a name for himself as a Battle Mage in the same era.
Or he could have clashed with the unknown dark mage who supposedly overpowered and killed Rin.
Riches and glory didn't matter to him. Even a short life wouldn't be bad. If only he could live by his convictions, just as Archmage Rin did…
“It’s been nine years. Nine years since I last used Bloodline Limit against a mage.”
No, that… The moment Seigan swung his blood-dripping hand, Rain immediately twisted his body’s inertia and rolled sideways.
Immediately, with a terrifying “pow” sound, the ground where he had just stood, and the surrounding area, were gouged out in a circle and vanished.
As if some invisible monster had devoured it with its maw.
“It’s here, the Blado family’s Bloodline Limit! Now you’re finished too, traitor!”
Yes, Blado was like this… The corner of the boy’s mouth twisted uncontrollably as he looked up at Seigan, who was forming a hand sign with one hand.
This was the Blado family’s Bloodline Limit, called ‘Sprinkler Mage,’ Blood Magic (血魔法). A secret art that uses the caster’s blood as a magical catalyst.
But to blast away space itself so cleanly like that, what kind of magic did he integrate with it?
“…!”
The moment he tried to blast away the second incoming blood drop with flames, the blood drop incandescently glowed white… and his heart lurched.
“The fire… it disappeared?”
Like an elite archer’s arrow piercing a magical barrier, a large hole opened in the flames, and other blood drops surged through the gap.
“Argh!”
If he hadn’t somehow struck it away with the Ruyi Scepter, or rather, the Four Ring Staff, he would now be… cold sweat beaded on his brow.
*Wham*, the staff part of the Four Ring Staff, where blood had stuck, vanished as if by magic. Of course, flames immediately surged forth, filling the vanished area.
Staring blankly at it, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and he voiced it.
“This isn’t… magic like spatial cutting. Is it spacetime transfer?”
Spacetime transfer is a magic of abyssal nature, representative of dark magic.
As Black Sun Kalenden did, it’s not impossible to use it as a formulated 'Lutishen,' but its difficulty is said to be on the level of the gods’ domain.
If an ordinary mage were to use it, there’s a high possibility of being encroached by the abyss, so after it was prohibited by the Papal See, its lineage should have almost died out…
“Hmph,” Seigan, as if rewarding him for reaching the correct answer, explained the principles of the magic to the boy.
“I based it on the rune of 'Send' (送), added fluidity with the runes of 'Glimmering' (烱) and 'Burning' (炂), and finally amplified its lethality to the extreme with 'Shimmer' (晱) and 'Gust' (颲). And thanks to the Bloodline Limit, coordinate calculations are instantaneous.”
“Does that mean it’s a 5-star spell…?!”
“Exactly. The moment a blood drop reaches its target, I activate the magic with a Bloodline Limit hand sign, blasting away the coordinates stained with blood into an unknown dimension, thereby perfectly killing the target.”
At that explanation, even mages who had risen to Gold-grade using only battle-oriented magic couldn’t help but gape in astonishment.
“To have combined spacetime transfer and Bloodline Limit to complete a 5-star magic with ultimate lethality…”
“Easier said than done. How could one even think of using spacetime transfer as battle magic… The very dimension of his thinking is different from common folk like us.”
As the mages offered such praise, Eldvich, who was watching the battle from a hill across the way, narrowed his eyes.
‘Well, what are you going to do now, Rain Ludwig?’
You said you would attract attention. But if you attract attention and then die without doing anything, that action would be meaningless.
‘What exactly is he aiming for?’
If he used those two eyes, like when he defeated Shar’khas, there would be some damage, but he would surely defeat him quickly with plenty of power to spare.
“I’d like to enjoy this time longer, but playtime is over.”
Seigan, as if drawing a straight line, powerfully swung down his raised arm, scattering blood drops throughout the air.
Seeing the earth and sky (地天) vanish somewhere the moment those drops touched them, one's hair would stand on end, even fall out.
The seamless combination of magic and Bloodline Limit: lightning strikes, the ground beneath his feet instantly freezes into ice, or poisonous mist rolls in… and if his mobility seems cut off, blood drops come flying.
‘He’s incredibly strong, truly…’
His lips twitched involuntarily.
The moment he thought he had narrowly dodged the fourth attack by leaping high into the air, Seigan clasped his hands together in prayer.
‘Clasped hands? The one Kalenden used?’
For a moment, Alakish’s teachings came to mind, startling him, but it seemed to be a different method of use.
As Seigan spread his arms wide, the blood flowing from the cuts on both palms woven into the shape of a long spear.
Perhaps it was a reverberation of extreme spacetime transfer magic, but crimson lightning flickered around the blood spear, emitting high frequencies as if cracking dimensions.
‘Indeed.’
He genuinely admired it. He’s reached a level of perfection even in using Bloodline Limit.
Blood drops are inevitably slow. But what if blood was made to possess such enormous mass?
And in the form of a spear, a single line (一線) that receives minimal air resistance.
“Perfectly captured. The chance of dodging is zero.”
Watching Seigan pull back the hand gripping the blood spear with all his might while simultaneously stepping forward, a thought crossed his mind, one he shouldn’t have had.
It was fortunate that Kiran had opened the West Gate leading to Trident Point.
So that he could meet Seigan Wolf Blado, like this, right here.
“Whatever magic you use, it’s useless! Spacetime transfer will activate at the tip of the blood spear, easily blasting away your magic and piercing your head!”
Indeed, the destructive power stemming from that combination is not something ordinary magic can dare to block.
In such a perfectly captured situation, if he had to take a direct hit.
But this old mage from 300 years ago also had a finishing move capable of ending the match.
“Being in mid-air is your undoing. Well, what will you do?”
Leaning his upper body to shift his center of gravity sharply forward, and with the momentum of that recoil, the moment Seigan hurled the spear towards him.
The moment the ominously scattered blood, following the blood spear’s penetrating trajectory, obliterated everything it touched.
The moment Kasena urgently shouted something, the moment Aki stretched out both hands towards him and spewed flames from her mouth.
Lightning (雷).
Field (場).
Throw (投).
Fall (落).
Flash (剡).
The hands of the 11th Archmage were already forming that hand sign. A hand sign so familiar and well-known because he had created it himself.
“That combination of hand signs… Archmage Rin’s?!”
As that sequence of hand signs was performed, the goosebumps that uncontrollably rose from the top of the Mage Saint Seigan’s head to his toes were…
The legacy left on this land by the youngest Archmage in history, who held the moniker of the Hero’s Party’s Archmage: the ultimate 5-star battle magic.
It wasn't magic that could be used by simply forming hand signs like that. Because it utilized source runes, an exceedingly complex formula had to be calculated.
‘What is that?’
Cold sweat also beaded on the forehead of Leoren, who had been leisurely drinking and watching the magical duel. Magical power was swirling chillingly…
‘Is that what makes you so happy, Serwebon?’
Serwebon, clinging to the Archery Saint’s back, was pulsating more brightly and powerfully than any moment Leoren had ever seen.
‘Is that really the same magic Archmage Rin used, enough to make you cry?’
The sky, which had been so dry and clear blue, was stained with an alluring crimson. As the sky lost its color, even the clouds seemed to lose their purity, turning into dark, brownish thunderclouds.
“First Lightning (第一雷).”
The moment the caster’s command was given, a supernatural flame appeared, dyeing the sky pure white, and plunged down onto the blood spear’s trajectory.
The source rune, Lightning (雷), roars.
The Field (場) surges, opening the Aperture (穴).
A power capable of shaking heaven and earth exploded across the land and sky at the caster’s command, making the eyes of all mages tremble with awe.
“““───!”””
The secret among secrets of the lightning magic system, which harmonizes the diverse properties of the Field, Throw, Fall, and Flash runes in a balanced way to maximize the power of the Lightning rune…
The ultimate 5-star magic said to have been created by Rin, who achieved brilliant feats under the name of the Hero’s Party’s Archmage, when she pacified the turbulent period.
The storm caused by the clash of 5-star magic was not merely enough to make everyone’s clothes and hair flutter wildly.
It was difficult to even maintain one’s balance, to the point where soldiers had to drive their spears and swords into the ground.
In that gale, Willis of the Special Magic Squad, covering his eyes with both arms against the fiercely rushing dust clouds, urgently shouted.
“There’s no way there won’t be repercussions! Deploy defensive barriers! Protect the main force, protect His Highness!”
At that moment, the tip of the blood spear flew off, and simultaneously, a huge hole opened in the firestorm. As the blood spear emerged through the gap where spacetime had been deleted.
“Second Lightning.”
Once again, lightning with overwhelming heat struck down, and a terrifying blast of heat, enough to raise blisters on the skin, swept low across the ground, swirling.
“Third Lightning.”
There was clearly no direct damage from the magic. But…
“Fourth Lightning.”
The aftershocks alone from that 5-star magic were deadly enough to threaten lives.
“Fifth Lightning.”
To the extent that Pipi immediately enveloped Kasena and Aki in a circle of flames.
“Sixth Lightning.”
A feast of flames, as if it would change the very laws of the world…
When the flash that felt like corneas burning, the thunderous roar that felt like eardrums tearing, and the storm of residual heat that made skin tingle, finally ended, the nearby wetlands had dried up, revealing their bottom.
The blood spear, which had sharply cut across the air, was completely nullified and utterly annihilated (燼滅) when the sixth thunderclap robbed the world of its color.
Mages, drenched in cold sweat, exchanged blank stares.
“That little kid… he nullified the Mage Saint’s 5-star magic that even altered the terrain?”
In a stillness so profound that even providence held its breath, the boy’s hood, loosened as he calmly landed, fell back, revealing his black hair, matted unattractively with grime.
And the eyes, shining alluringly like rubies beneath that hair…
As Crown Prince Raida raised both eyebrows at those familiar physical features, the boy pointed at Seigan with his index finger and grinned.
“You know… I still have one shot left, right?”
Amazing.
Ah, truly amazing.
The boy’s eyes, meeting Seigan’s, which were flushed red with excitement, were asking: “Of course, you have a way to block that last shot, right?”
“Hmph! The answer is, of course, YES!”
The next moment, as a massive amount of blood, enough to cause anemia, gushed from both of Seigan’s palms.
The moment that blood, wildly flickering with ominous currents, coalesced into a colossal shield in the air above Seigan’s head.
Once again, the moment a firestorm, leading lightning that scorched heaven and earth, plunged into view.
“…?!”
“…?!”
The eyes of the strongest mage of the old generation and the strongest mage of the current generation simultaneously widened in surprise.
The two transcendent spells should have clashed, scattering violent aftershocks everywhere… but at the point of impact, a transparent bubble, two meters in diameter, suddenly appeared.
Flames and blood seemed to violently mix inside that sphere, but gradually the turbulence subsided, as if losing power.
And the next moment, *pop*, a hole opened in the upper part of the bubble, and all the power, noise, and heat erupted high into the sky due to the pressure difference. Like a fountain of light.
Magical control that would not be out of place even in surreal art… Cold sweat beaded on Seigan’s forehead.
‘This is clearly Kalenden’s sealing art, passed down only to the legitimate heirs of the Page family.’
The ‘Strongest’ Mage turned his gaze towards the source of sharp magical power, which felt like needles pricking the pores of his entire body.
The boy also looked in that direction, and a half-beat later, on the face of the girl who followed their gaze… ah, a bright smile blossomed.
On a hill southwest of the far western region, amidst about fifty cavalrymen, a light purple flower had bloomed. The world called that flower the ‘greatest’ mage of modern times.
Her name was Madelia Page.