Book 7 Chapter 7
Chapter 156
“Rin, Rein, Rin, emergency, emergency, super-emergency.”
Pipi, having flown in at some unknown moment, hovered above my head, warning of an approaching enemy threat from beyond the dense fog.
Hostile presences were felt from all directions, but… Bell Sidius could not be used. 0101001, just like last time, this fog obstructs everything.
If this is how Bell Sidius and Bell Quirias are sealed, then all I need to do is create another method.
“Construct image… Fire Realm, Flowing Quantity Exalted One.”
A large fire (火) rune spread across the ground centered on me, and then, triangular runes containing symbols appeared in succession at the five cardinal points of that magic circle.
Flow (流).
Quantity (量).
World (世).
Exalted (尊).
Warning (警).
The image rune to use is "Quantity," and the desired magic is a detection spell to clear this fog. Soon, the runes of "Seek" (探) and "Capture" (捕) flashed in the formation of "Quantity."
“Deploy…”
A sensation of deploying my five senses and magic power broadly outside my body. Detecting the presence of abilities imbued with malice.
Soon, faint outlines began to be captured within the fog. Seven witches unrolled long scrolls and chanted incantations, amplifying the power of their sorcery by reciting all the maxims of the Dragon Scripture.
Hundreds of ice shards, born from that grand array of characters, flew in unison, emitting sharp, tearing sounds.
“Rune carving switch… Tear (裂), Explode (炸).”
The moment the rune of "Flow" (流) flashed, the wave of ability detection that had stretched across a 30-meter radius, writhing like a heat haze, transformed into raging flames.
All the ice shards and fog in the area instantly vaporized, producing an intense amount of steam, and the witches caught in between were engulfed in flames, screaming in agony before turning into charcoal and collapsing.
At that moment, the boy had to grab the main artery near his scapula with a short groan.
‘Is this… magical exhaustion?’
The infinite magic power of the Yeouiju resonated with the Black Yang Rin, instantly infusing new strength into his body, but it was an extremely bizarre phenomenon.
‘It felt like this when I used Bell Quirias during <Landkip>… Is it because of this fog?’
There was no time to ponder.
As the stench of sulfur and the foul smell of burning flesh permeated the fog, he propped himself up with his staff.
“Which way, which way, Pipi… Akie, Myria…?”
He asked, spitting out blood once more.
He felt a dull ache as transcendent flames blazed beneath his skin, reassembling broken ribs and regenerating severely damaged internal organs.
It was close to emergency treatment, manifested by the power of transcendence to protect his fragile body, a level too embarrassing to compare to super-speed regeneration.
“North, north, north!”
The fog, evaporated by the heat, condensed into dew around the eyes of the marble statue of Friede, who held a pipe. As the dew flowed like tears, the boy dragged his legs and came out onto the main road.
Just then, footsteps echoed from somewhere else, spearmen poured out, and flocks of crows flew from the sky… Pipi spread her fiery wings and fiercely flew towards them.
“Go, go, go, go.”
Meanwhile, in the bustling northern part of the city, a squelching explosion erupted once more, and a two-story brothel building simultaneously burned and melted.
Several citizens, awakened by the commotion, squinted their eyes… but then foamed at the mouth and fainted again as an overwhelming killing intent, stifling their breath, approached.
Thus, through the gaps between sleeping or convulsing citizens, a woman in a straw hat walked with dignified steps.
“…”
Her relaxed walk lasted only a moment before the woman silenced even her own breathing and footsteps, carefully listening somewhere beyond the fog.
She heard it, a crying sound.
As soon as she pinpointed the direction, she extended her pipe in that direction, and the fog parted, etching the source of the noise into her vision.
“Aba-aat… Aba-aat… Aba-aat…”
Not so much resembling the color of flame as being flame itself, with red hair and golden eyes.
Despite such a small body, the faintly felt ultimate power… was undoubtedly the infant of a true dragon, needing no other possibilities to consider.
Left alone on the roadside, it was crawling somewhere, desperately searching for its parents. The woman, about to move in that direction, paused for a moment.
‘Why is the hatchling alone? Where is the swordsman who was its guardian?’
He was right behind her.
An arrow, having pierced through a gap in the fog, might have gone through her nape. Had the woman not turned around and swung her pipe at that moment.
Just then, a blade shot out, aiming for her heart, exploiting her distorted breathing. He was a truly skilled assassin.
But as the woman extended her hand, the power of sorcery rapidly condensed in her grasp, forming the shape of a staff… and the blade was parried by that staff, thrusting low.
“…!”
Was it an unexpected counterattack? The eyes of the Goblin Slayer, who had emerged from the fog, widened.
If a wizard from 300 years ago had witnessed this beautiful counterattack, they would have called it ‘Rin’s Staff Arts,’ and if a modern wizard had seen it, they would have shouted ‘Osarius-style Staff Arts.’
It was no surprise. The woman had been present when Archmage Rin learned staff arts from Hero Rista.
“No, you are…”
But Myria’s bewilderment stemmed from something else…
No.
This makes no sense.
The image of the woman etched in her retina, doesn't she look too much like the marble statue with the old straw hat pulled down and a pipe in its mouth, just beyond there?
A national hero whom no citizen of the Republic could fail to know, even if they wished… Tureina, the shrine maiden of tobacco ash.
Separately from that, for some unknown reason, a dizziness as if from the depths of her soul resonated, striking her mind. That moment of bewilderment decided the outcome.
The moment the woman spun around and plunged her staff deep into Myria’s abdomen, the power of sorcery concentrated at the staff’s tip exploded forth, sending Myria flying.
“───!”
Myria coughed up blood as she crashed through wooden stalls laden with fruits, toppled wooden pillars, and was flung amidst fruit that shattered wildly.
Just then, the woman aimed her pipe and quietly uttered words, and the power of sorcery, so chilling it made the air swirl, began to condense.
The offensive rune was immediately switched to a defensive rune, and as soon as a square barrier unfolded around the woman, a torrent of flames surged in.
*Kwa-rurururururu───!*
As soon as the fiercely raging power of the flames was offset by the barrier, the rune changed once more. The power that formed the barrier split into countless wind blades, rushing in the direction the flames had come from.
*────Shushushushushushuk!*
Rune carving switch, you say…?
By the time the boy, astonished, erected a wall of flames to parry all those sharp winds, the fog had thickened again, making it impossible to distinguish the surroundings.
‘As expected, this fog was the problem…’
It’s not just Bell Quirias.
My true power isn't manifesting. The dull ache of magical limitation presses on my heart and main artery.
‘Is it some power that controls dragon’s power…?’
In the dense fog where only the opponent’s magic power was faintly detected, spells and sorcery exchanged blows numerous times, a corner of the street was mercilessly destroyed, and debris and dust danced wildly.
Flames burned the poisonous abyss, and the light of sorcery repelled the transcendent fire demon.
My whole body was slick with cold sweat. I had unleashed 3rd and 4th-tier spells, enhanced by the ‘Exalted’ (尊) rune of the mindscape barrier, at least ten times without mercy, but she parried them all and even counterattacked?
‘Roughly speaking, she’s several steps above Archwizard Seigan. Perhaps on par with me 300 years ago, or even a step above…’
That, and something else was strange.
The way she uses the attributes of her abilities is so identical… to my old self, Rin. How could it be so identical?
I thought I could seize victory if it came to close combat, but the staff of sorcery lightly struck away my flaming staff, scattering sparks.
‘This is…?’
There was something else hard to accept.
The Osarius-style staff arts were skillfully used by Ribeni and Ribadin, so it wasn't particularly surprising for another dark wizard to use them. Even so, compared to me, it was always somewhat clumsy.
But this person’s staff arts… even setting aside my current injury and sluggish body, they were a step above mine, the founder’s.
‘How is this possible? If it were just other swordsmanship or spearmanship, I wouldn’t know, but the staff arts Rista taught me are more practiced than mine?’
It’s strange.
Too strange.
During the countless exchanges in the fog, the staff struck my wrist, and the dull sound of bone fracturing erupted, while my staff struck the side of his ribs, sending him flying into the fog.
“Ha, *cough*, haa…”
I thought I had ruptured a couple of internal organs and caught my breath, but immediately, an eerie vibration of power was felt from within the fog, making my heart leap.
“In the beginning, Holy Light created heaven and earth (太初聖光創世天地), and the earth was formless and void (地乃空曠混沌), and darkness was upon the face of the deep (淵面晦冥), and the Spirit of Holy Light moved upon the face of the waters (聖光之靈運行於水面).”
The recitation of sacred and magnificent language itself ignites ultimate power. Space creaked as power converged, and language merged into sentences, forming paragraphs, summoning even greater power.
As soon as I grasped the identity of that language, goosebumps erupted all over my body.
I had heard it before. Not just heard it, but clearly remembered it. How could I forget it, the Hymn of Manifestation (彰明詩篇) that Friede primarily used.
“Holy (聖), Light (光), said (曰), Let there (當), be (有), Light (光), and there (即), was (有), Light (光).”
Seven scrolls containing the most sacred, noble, and holy scriptures from the vast stories of the Dragon Scripture, literally in the language of the gods.
That is, the Seven Chapters of Creation (創世七篇).
The shrine maidens were both guardians and proxies of these hymns, and by reciting the characters written in them, they could wield power called miracles. And that was the holy verse (聖句) from the Hymn of Manifestation that Friede used most often.
“Holy Light saw Light as good (聖光視光爲善), and divided the light from the darkness (遂分光暗).”
I heard that it was lost along with the Hymn of Manifestation and the Hymn of Five Gates when Friede disappeared, but how… There wasn't even time to be bewildered.
Already, dazzling chains of light were unfolding in dozens of layers around me, forming the foundation of a seal. The moment the recitation ended, it would bind me.
My wrist is broken, so I can’t form hand seals, but I have to use it. The moment I get caught by that, it’s over…
‘Brain-rupturing Blood Release won’t work.’
Strands of light rose from my palm, soon forming five layers of triangular magic circles, around which red electricity wildly crackled.
‘Going with Fire Field Defense Hole (火場防穴).’
I can't understand how a mere dark wizard could use a hymn that even ten Grand Witches beneath the shrine maiden wouldn't dare to use…
The power of the hymn is the power of a god; any target bound by it will have its physical body and soul completely restrained.
However, using that hymn was the opponent's blunder. I know the characteristics of that hymn better than any wizard.
The brilliant light emitted by the hymn scroll during casting is so fierce that it can even pierce through this fog.
‘Thanks to that, coordinate targeting is complete.’
Having rapidly calculated using the Yorhen type, and with this fog limiting the total magic power, I could only create two lightning generation formulas instead of the original seven, but as a 5th-tier magic of the Root Rune, two strikes are enough.
As soon as the magic circle on my palm shattered, the ultimate fire magic, borrowing the power of the origin, surged into the sky, trailing a long tail of fire.
The night sky was slashed long by the flames, tearing red, and then, the next moment, spat out a comet like fresh blood. A fiery vortex that incinerated heaven and earth plunged towards the calculated coordinates.
A flash so bright it could blind.
An explosion so loud it could burst eardrums.
A heatwave, a half-beat later, sweeping across the earth as pure impact, evaporating all moisture.
It was my victory by a hair's breadth.
That is, if, at that moment, as the fog in the area was incinerated and vision dramatically opened for an instant, I had dropped the second lightning bolt instead of blankly blinking my eyes.
The hymn scroll seemed to have enveloped the caster in a vortex of light, mitigating the damage, but the transcendent flames pierced even the divine scroll, inflicting considerable damage on the caster.
The problem wasn't the power of the magic or its resulting effects, but rather the opponent's appearance, which was finally revealed by those effects.
‘No…’
A sense of déjà vu washed over me. No, it wasn't déjà vu, but a more bewildering, confusing, and chilling sense of incongruity.
An old straw hat with a bluish tint, and a pipe embossed with a dragon’s image, hanging from her waist.
Beneath copper-toned skin, shimmering with transparent light, exquisitely carved features were revealed. Perhaps due to the expressionless eyes beneath her dark blue hair, she exuded an overall melancholic aura.
‘Attire and tools can be imitated somehow. But that appearance, that face…’
It’s too identical to what I saw in the book illustrations, to the paintings I saw in the memorial hall earlier, and to the statue directly behind me.
- Master, Master!
As if the second hand had broken, in a stopped time where even the rhythm of my heart couldn't be heard, echoes of the past rang dizzyingly in my mind.
Has the possibility of reunion, which I had dreamt of and then crushed since awakening from a long sleep, and the suspicion that painfully reared its head when facing dark wizards, and Yerysaryka’s unknown prophecy, taken on a physical form at this very moment?
The one who returned sound to that still moment, where I couldn't even draw a breath, was another old friend.
“Tureina, Tureina, Tureina.”
It was our Pipi.
As if overjoyed, despite being covered in blood from dealing with spearmen and witches, she fluttered her wings with difficulty, circling around her head.
‘No, no. Pipi, that person is…’
At the moment Rin in my heart was denying this situation, this encounter, what the shadow of the past did was… utterly unbelievable.
She narrowed her eyes as if seeing Pipi for the first time, then swung her right hand, batting Pipi away. Immediately after, she clutched her forehead, letting out a painful groan.
‘She doesn’t know Pipi…?’
The moment I confirmed that, realizing she was a fake, I should have unleashed the second lightning bolt. Just as that person began to recite the holy verses of the hymn again.
Just one command.
Just one command and it would be over.
Reason was screaming for me to do so, but my heart, my soul… would not allow it. I could only stare blankly at the warmth of tears flowing down my cheeks and the dizziness of my trembling vision.
That was my downfall.
As the chanting of the Holy Word ended, the characters that densely filled the hymn scroll in elegant calligraphy soared up into the air, gigantic and dazzling… and then wove into a single rope, simultaneously binding my body and soul.
‘That can’t be real…’
Since my Jesesehwaeran-yeon was created by imitating this Hymn of Manifestation, the moment I am bound by this, all resistance becomes meaningless.
Because it turns all of the target’s power into nothing (無). The power to move the body, infinite magic power, all matter, phenomena, and soul…
A strange chill, originating from the parts bound by the rope of words, slowly spread throughout my body.
‘It can’t be real…’
My body stiffened, my consciousness was turbidly torn, and my head slumped uncontrollably. Beyond my twisted and wavering five senses, muffled voices were heard.
“…I will take the infant dragon first.”
“…Abu, Aba, Aba-at!”
“…What shall we do with those ones?”
“…We don't need the woman. The man… he's the dragon's guardian, so who knows. Drag him to the altar once the hymn's power stabilizes.”
A powerful presence slowly receded and then disappeared, followed for a while by a suffocating silence, until women's screams echoed from not too far away.
“…Now, what are you doing? Are you betraying that person? You were their loyal servant, why?”
The flashes of magic and sorcery poured so dazzlingly even through my closed eyelids that my eyes ached.
How much had my head been shaken? Just when silence seemed to descend again, a new woman’s voice echoed.
“…This one was affected by the Hymn of Manifestation.”
“…Please.”
A prayer, easing my tense consciousness, echoed in my ears.
How long had I listened to it? The linguistic spell that bound my entire body, preventing me from even wiggling a finger, fell away.
As soon as it did, an intensely powerful sense of liberation, enough to make me lose my mind, plunged my thoughts to the depths of my consciousness.