Book 7 Chapter 17
Chapter 166
As the Old Ruler soared with three pairs of wings and began chasing the red youth, an ancient venom that made dimensions tremble swirled along its flight path.
“Ah, Ab-woot-!”
What is that guy…? Is he doing that to buy time for everyone here to escape?
As the presence that felt like it would crush souls slowly receded, Myria caught her breath, biting her lip in helplessness.
She couldn't possibly believe he was running away because there was a way to win. There was no longer any way for humanity to confront that Old Ruler.
'Where's that guy showing off so uselessly…?'
Meanwhile, Millone Altar Gaumris dragged Gaumris across the ground and approached Juliana, the priestess of the star cluster.
“Juliana, was what that just was what I think it was? Was it called Ju-yeo-so-gye-dae-ban…?”
Juliana, who had finally managed to release the psalm's barrier, seemed to have exhausted all her strength, collapsing onto the ground, drenched in sweat.
“That’s right… it's the ultimate healing secret technique created by Archmage Rin and Lady Friede, the priestess of the fire dragon.”
According to theory, Ju-yeo-so-gye-dae-ban makes the caster temporarily invincible through 5-star ice magic focused solely on defense.
And within it, 5-star healing and cleansing runes are activated, perfectly restoring the caster's body, which is the established theory in academia.
What was originally an incomplete hybrid spell evolved into a complete spell as an absolute being, transcending human perception, became able to use it.
“Rin died thinking it was an activation spell, but according to Toureina, Lady Friede made it activate automatically when the caster was in mortal danger…”
Nariaduke transcended death with that tragic spell.
There is no human here who can stop that… All existing Feyquior must unite, or the Water Dragon or the College of Cardinals must step forward…
The sealing ability of the Psalm of Creation might introduce a variable… but the two priestesses who could wield that omnipotent power are no longer on this earth.
Still, I have to try somehow. It's just me.
“Valensidis, find Toureina’s body! The psalm scroll from there… Valensidis?”
* * *
I need to buy time.
First, time to clear my mind, which is overloaded with Bel Quirios, and time to activate the power of Creation.
「Rotas… A meaningless struggle.」
As Nariaduke flew fiercely across the sky above my head, a storm raged, and the landscape began to warp terrifyingly.
'Crazy.'
Amidst a stench that felt like it would destroy one's sense of smell, the lush forest decayed, turning yellow. Beasts and monsters cried out in agony before transforming into lumps of pus.
'Truly insane.'
It was then that cracks appeared in the earth's axis, and pillars of fire that incinerated the atmosphere surged up, engulfing Nariaduke… and that time was deleted.
'What an insane ability…'
But waiting for Nariaduke, who had moved beyond the deleted time, were five pillars of fire that surged with explosive heat.
「Puuuuuet… This fellow…!」
But perhaps the fortunate thing is that there's still a cooldown period for activating his power. If he could use it indefinitely like Shar'kas, there would be no answer.
The abilities of 'time deletion' and 'space interference' seemed to share that cooldown time.
I could confirm this when that guy, who had just escaped the fiery explosion, directly chased me as I ran down the opposite slope.
'Still, if it's 4-star magic, can it inflict some damage?'
Nariaduke, resurrected in a human body, was not as desperate an opponent compared to Shar'kas, who possessed his true form.
Is the problem that he can't be killed no matter what…? No, no. That was the same for Shar'kas.
Right, the problem must be that a powerful ally like Alakish isn't here. I have to solve this problem entirely by myself.
“Rin, Rin, Rin.”
No, I'm not alone.
Whenever I thought I was alone, this guy was always by my side. The best gift Friede left me.
I unconsciously smiled with uncontrollable joy, while simultaneously feeling worry rear its head.
“I told you to stay by Toureina's side.”
Strictly speaking, that fool had already entered eternal sleep, so there was no real need for anyone to guard her.
But why did he do that?
One reason was that Pippy didn't want to leave Toureina's side, and I also didn't want to drag Pippy into a dangerous fight.
And I, too, didn't want to leave that lonely fool alone, even if she was dead.
“This, this, this.”
But wasn't Pippy holding a hemp string in her mouth? Wrapped in that hemp string was a small scroll.
If my memory serves me right, it was hanging from Toureina's waist…
“Rin, front, front, front, front.”
As I ran and unrolled the scroll, I almost slammed my head into a tree that suddenly appeared in front of me.
“Left, root below, right, stone outcrop.”
Following Pippy's guidance, and using its fiery wings as a light source, the spell formula on the scroll I frantically read was quite shocking.
“A 5-star hybrid formula of magic and sorcery?”
This is…
With this, definitely…
I might be able to buy time, but there's a fatal problem. 5-star magic is possible, but 5-star sorcery cannot be activated.
「Hee-hee-ha-ha-ha-ha… There is no escape from the typhoon of causality… Al ta ris, this mountain valley will be your grave…」
At that moment, a resonance was heard, impossible for human vocal organs to even imitate.
Stimulating fear and madness rooted in one's very being… more like a shock than a voice…
Then violent storms erupted from the feathers scattered throughout the forest. Swirls of erosion surging from the extremes of the cosmos, the abyss of time…
“Pi, Pippy! Get inside Seresia!”
Although it was already an impossibly dark night, it felt as if the world grew even darker.
The sight of poisonous whirlwinds, swirling dreamily as if space-time was collapsing, rushing at me from all directions, was nauseatingly dizzying.
An utterly indescribable power… everything in the mountain range, trees, weeds, mud, and stones, melting like sap, flowing and twisting…
Must I manifest a mental image here and now? But even if I do, there's no answer… It was then, as I idly formed hand signs.
“If it's a hybrid formula of magic and sorcery, you’ll need my help, Rain Ludwig.”
At that moment, only a hollow laugh escaped me.
I had no mind to distinguish if it was a hollow laugh or a genuine smile born of relief. My pride wouldn't allow it.
“Valensidis…?!”
Suddenly, a rift appeared in the dimension before my eyes, and the face that emerged was none other than that annoying student council president's face.
“I followed you because I didn't know where a slippery fellow like you would run off to if I left you alone.”
Before I could retort, Valensidis grabbed my arm.
“Enough chatter, get in here for now!”
The next moment, a dozen whirlwinds intersected at one point, unleashing a roar powerful enough to shake the entire mountain range.
Erosion by viscous, sour-smelling slime created a massive hole in the mountainside, so deep and vast that the geological strata were exposed.
Nariaduke, who had glided down from above, flapping his wings with aristocratic elegance, raised an eyebrow slightly.
「Even though I drew out all the power currently available… Ro sas, where did he disappear to?」
There was no need to search impatiently.
A crow's cry was heard in the distance. The melody of cries, disturbing the mountain range, was informing Nariaduke of the target's location.
Nariaduke smiled wickedly and soared high into the sky once more.
「There is no escape from fate, Bel has. I shall take his flesh before a new day dawns.」
* * *
At that moment, Valensidis's pupils trembled as he moved to another space, a forest not yet touched by Nariaduke's storm.
“This is…?”
This was because the content of the scroll handed to him by the red-eyed youth was exceedingly shocking.
The combination of mathematical formulas and sorcerous runes forming the casting equation was almost artistic, but even more surprising was the meaning this content implied.
Juliana's words before their departure squirmed in his mind.
- Toureina didn't seem to have any intention of destroying the world.
It was hard to believe, having witnessed her cruel actions firsthand… but wasn't this perfectly supporting Juliana's words?
“A Grand Reversal Spell…?”
It reverses the power of the mighty reincarnation spell that had embodied the essence of modern magic, sorcery, and black magic, and had been cast and amplified by drawing magic circles across three peaks.
With the power of sealing.
Judging by the runes used, it seemed like an advanced application of Ju-yeo-so-gye-dae-ban, which Toureina had researched her entire life.
Simply put, it was a spell that forcibly froze and sealed a target.
“Seal, seal, seal, seal.”
Unlike Ju-yeo-so-gye-dae-ban, there was no healing sorcery or effect of the ice breaking upon awakening.
Both magic and sorcery contained only runes and formulas for sealing.
“I’ll try it, but… I’m sorry. This spell is too powerful even for me, so I can’t guarantee success.”
So he means he can use it, this spell that even I was astonished by…
He truly is amazing.
He must be Toureina's most skilled disciple, able to use her hybrid spells.
The red-eyed youth leaned on his staff and stood up.
“You don't have to succeed. If it just casts, if it just buys a little time, that's enough.”
“Time? Even if it only buys a little time—”
“─Then I'm entrusting this to you, Valensidis. Pippy, you help Valensidis.”
At that moment, just as the crow's cries grew louder, Rain made Valensidis, or more precisely, the intangible whirlwinds writhing around him, disappear.
It was the supernatural ability of space interference.
He didn't dispel the force acting on himself, and so, the next moment, Rain stood face to face with the master of the oppressive power that crushed his knees and shoulder joints. In a different space.
「Even with your petty tricks, you are but human before absolute fate… This is true power… Surutos, the typhoon of fate shall guide the world to the royal road of truth…」
True power, huh? The true power I know is warmer than yours, you know. Rain unraveled the bandage on his left hand and simultaneously formed a hand seal.
Fire (火).
Manifest (彰).
Bright (明).
Net (羅).
The hand seals he formed in that instant momentarily overlaid an unknown landscape, his mental image, onto the world.
A power known as the Sage's Emblem. A secret art that allows one to materialize mental images when reaching an extreme state.
“Mental Image Construction.”
The old archmage, who had not yet reached the level of a divine sage (7-star), could only overlay mental images onto the world.
But this alone was enough.
There had never been a single human mage who could use the rune of Fire in a mental image.
「!」
Nariaduke, overwhelmed by that power, flinched and retreated in caution at the very moment he should have seized victory.
「No, that power…?」
A colossal ring of flames spread out around the youth, guiding the world of darkness into a vivid, primal light that stung the retina.
Along with four triangular arrays attached to that circle. Flow (流), Quantity (量), World (世), Honored (尊).
And around the edge of that ring, the story of creation, the holy words of the Psalm of Creation (Changmyeong Sipyeon), were embroidered with such noble and radiant beauty that it was breathtaking.
「Of the Black Sun…?」
He couldn't help but feel cautious.
He couldn't help but be overwhelmed.
Because that power, that tumultuous, raging mental force, was quite similar to the might of the profane being that had sealed the Queen of Time.
“Hwachangmyeong: Yuryangsejon (Fire Brightness: Flowing World Honored One).”
As the flames gently illuminated the world like a spring sun yet blazed fiercely like a summer heatwave, the red youth swung his staff, tucked it under his arm, and wiggled his fingers.
“Come on, I'll show you where your friend Shar'kas went—to hellfire.”