Book 8 Chapter 11
Episode 185
BOOOOOOOM!
A merchant ship in the right column of the Yeonhwan fleet was engulfed in flames. It had been directly hit by a fireball hurled by a pirate sorcerer.
“Oh my god.”
“We need to escape to the center, the center column!”
As the fleet swayed and shouts and screams echoed, pirates clambered aboard.
“Where are you going, pretty ones? Hehehehehe.”
“We’ll have some fun with you!”
The sailors navigating this vast southern sea were all seafarers and fighters alike.
The sailors tried to confront the pirates with swords and poles, but…
Before a giant over 3 meters tall, they were merely lambs trembling in fear, just like anyone else.
“Wha!”
Giant Slayer slammed his enormous shield down. Two sailors were crushed into bloody lumps, and the deck collapsed entirely!
Giant Slayer smiled with satisfaction at the sight of countless barrels of alcohol stacked in the hold revealed beneath the shattered deck.
He then picked up three barrels simultaneously, smashed them open, and poured the alcohol into his mouth.
“That’s…!”
As Valensidis looked down from the mast at the horrific scene, Mage Slayer burst in.
“Hah hah, you have time to look away, quite impressive!”
From the tip of the fan Valensidis wielded, a wind blade containing an infinite vacuum zone was born, emitting a sharp, tearing sound.
“Yahoo, you’re using an interesting tool?”
This power could easily cut even iron, yet…
“How would it compare to my sword, Manabane?”
When it clashed with the elegantly wielded sword of the enemy, instead of a thunderous roar, the wind blade absurdly vanished powerlessly.
CLANG!
The fan and blade collided, scattering sparks across their vision, and their gazes locked up close.
“Bell Sidious…?”
“Even your surprised face is cute, isn’t it? But you look less surprised than I thought? Have we met before?”
He extended his left arm, constructed from dark matter, towards the enemy, but the enemy gracefully retreated as if dancing, drawing his sword once, and that too scattered powerlessly!
“Attacks using extraordinary powers won’t work on me!”
The sword’s gleam swept up purple thoughts and charged forward.
Valensidis evaded this by performing three consecutive aerial flips, simultaneously swinging his fan to create and unleash seven wind blades! A master!
“Hya! That’s incredible!”
Mage Slayer, Aaron Ludwig, deflected one with Manabane, dodged the next two, and scattered the remaining four with Manabane.
‘That sword…’
Valensidis’s eyes narrowed as he landed on the deck of a deep-sea fishing vessel in the central column.
‘There’s some device on that sword. And it’s linked with Bell Sidious to…’
It generates a power similar to Bell Querious.
Bell Querious, the ultimate power that annihilates all extraordinary abilities. Facing it directly, it’s an overwhelming pressure…
Mage Slayer, truly worthy of calling himself the bane of mages.
“Alright, don’t move.”
Just as Valensidis was preparing his next attack, Mage Slayer, who had landed on the other side, grabbed a woman and said.
“If you move, I’ll kill this woman.”
Threads of mana flowing from his fingers also gripped four other passengers.
“Of course, I’ll kill her even if you don’t move.”
But before Valensidis could react, the boy killer slit her throat deeply and smiled brightly!
“Why?”
“Why? Do you need a reason to kill someone?”
“No. I asked something useless.”
A cold sneer hung on Valensidis’s lips as he watched the boy stomp on the neck of the woman who was grasping her throat and spitting blood foam.
Yes, just as I’d heard.
500 years ago, 10 years ago, and now. A group of madmen intoxicated by murder.
“So don’t run away, let’s enjoy a passionate night together! To calm this heart boiling because of you, I need to taste your blood!”
Manabane ripped through the air at a speed hard for the eyes to follow.
“Come on, beg! Beg for your life!”
He annihilated Valensidis’s first counterattack and exploited the opening. He inflicted a thin cut on his neck and stabbed into his shoulder blade.
‘Truly the worst match-up…’
Even Valensidis’s left hand, created by black magic, was scattered in an instant… That was the moment.
Between Aaron and Valensidis, who had pushed into the killing gap, CLANG, a flame flew and embedded itself in that narrow space.
Immediately performing an aerial flip backward, Mage Slayer created distance from the unknown attack and twitched his lips.
“Staff?”
That was the very moment.
It seemed for a moment that color had disappeared from the world, then a thunderous roar, as if eardrums would burst, exploded.
Something chilling immediately ran through Mage Slayer’s mind.
“Huh?”
A fiery thunderbolt, tearing through the night sky, plummeted and struck the water’s surface.
The dozen or so pirate ships caught in the flames had no time to put out the fire or for their crew to transfer to other ships.
It was just an instant, an instant.
In an instant, they turned to ash and sank into the sea.
And another hit!
This time, with their ramming prows embedded in the merchant ships, a perforation of flame plunged down onto the pirates clambering aboard.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The water surface surged as if torn apart, and hot spray swept even to this central column.
In a fleeting moment of mere seconds, had all the pirates been annihilated, except for those who had climbed onto the fleet?
“You’re finally here.”
A young man was walking from the direction Valensidis spoke, as if urging him on.
In the hand that tightly fastened the chin strap of his straw hat, a formidable flame still blazed. It was the reverberation of using powerful fire magic.
Beneath the shadow of the straw hat, a red light gleamed in his eyes. It was the same light that Mage Slayer’s eyes emitted.
“Are you a member of the Slayers?”
Perhaps overwhelmed by his supernatural presence, Mage Slayer was silent for a moment.
When he finally spoke after a long pause… his two eyes sparkled innocently like a boy’s.
“Oh wow, your cute eyes… are you my descendant? No, my nephew’s descendant?”
“…?”
“I always wanted to make Bell Sidious’s awakened eyes a collectible, would you give them to me?”
He’s impossible to reason with.
As soon as I saw him smiling with that much blood on his sword, I instantly recognized him as that historical killer.
“Valensidis, you help with the evacuation and treatment of the wounded. The witches are overwhelmed.”
“Understood. Be careful of that sword. It seems to have the power to scatter mana.”
“Hey! Where are you going, running away from our fun—”
Mage Slayer rushed towards Valensidis, who was turning away, but Rain blocked his path, and sparks exploded.
The staff and sword were locked, and beyond them, two pairs of Bell Sidious gazed at each other.
And in the next instant, the staff and sword clashed a dozen times, emitting explosive sounds.
“Wow, that’s amazing, isn’t it? You’re the first mage who has resisted my swordsmanship this much!”
Their physical strength was equal.
No, was Aaron slightly superior?
Aaron licked his upper lip sensuously, pressing the clasped blade closer and closer to Rain’s face.
“I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it! I want to gouge out those eyes quickly!”
The moment Aaron’s Bell Sidious emitted an ominous gleam, the Staff of Fire was suddenly cut in half.
No, it wasn’t cut in half.
More precisely, the purple, flickering blade merely skillfully passed between the staff.
“──!”
The tip of the sword tore the brim of Rain’s straw hat and drew a bloodline from his chin to his neck.
An unexpected turn of events, Rain pushed off the ground, performing aerial spins and unleashing continuous fireballs!
Aaron, with agile movements, dodged the fireballs or annihilated them with Manabane, advancing forward!
“Hahah, yes, run away! Show me your running face!”
Rain re-gripped his staff and changed his stance. He understood it clearly just now.
It wasn’t nullifying mana.
It was severing the framework of mana, that is, the connection that allows an extraordinary power to exist as an extraordinary power. Knowing that was enough.
‘Is that synergy partially drawing out the power of Bell Querious?’
But even so, it’s just an imitation of a loser. Before the true Bell Querious, it’s powerless.
‘More troublesome than that sword is the fact that the battlefield is on a ship.’
The moment I make even a slight mistake in power control, the entire fleet will burn. All the ships are made of wood. If it weren’t on a ship, I would have blown it all away already.
“Third Thunderbolt.”
The moment he snapped his fingers, a blade of flame appeared, tearing through the sky. However, Aaron, detecting the flow and coordinates of mana with Bell Sidious, easily evaded it!
“Kya, my nephew is incredibly hot-headed! Trying to blow up the entire ship?!”
The fiery thunderbolt, which seemed about to incinerate the ship, lost its power and vanished just before striking the deck.
Bell Querious.
0101010001, since it was magic used directly, inverse verification was instantaneous. And it wasn’t even aimed for a direct hit in the first place.
The real target is this way.
Aaron, who had initiated an evasive maneuver to escape the thunderbolt’s coordinates, was being swamped by a torrent of flames.
“I told you this kind of thing is useless!”
Aaron’s eyes glowed, Bell Sidious.
In this world dominated by 0s and 1s, all extraordinary powers are objectively analyzed. Their structure, their framework, their formation formula…!
Found it.
No matter how robust an extraordinary power, there is always a boundary, so to speak.
A junction between forces, one might say.
In any case, if you cut that boundary, the power reverts to a combination of powerless 0s and 1s. Just like this… no?
“Bell Querious.”
At that moment, bewilderingly, the nature, form, and formation formula of the magic changed.
“What?!”
Naturally, even the boundary of power changed its position.
The swordplay that was cutting through the boundary became a meaningless action, and at the same time, his body was swept away by the torrent of flames!
Had the genius archmage, who had instantly analyzed Aaron’s combat style, firmly seized victory?!
“Wha!”
No, just as he was about to be swept away, a giant surged forth before the flames.
Giant Slayer deflected the flames to either side with the colossal shields on both wrists.
Mage Slayer let out a long breath and stroked the giant’s calf.
“Whew! Thanks for saving me, Adon.”
“Wha!”
And then, one by one, Slayer executives appeared on the deck, surrounding Rain!
“Dur-Morris, Raven Slayer. Death to all ravens.”
“Dur-Morris, Navy Slayer. Death to all navies.”
“Dur-Morris, Sailor Slayer. Death to all seafarers.”
Kora's expression, watching this battle from atop a merchant ship in the left column, turned leaden.
“Three Masters and as many as two Arks…”
The New Slayers were divided into four ranks.
Ark Slayer.
Master Slayer.
Adept Slayer.
Lesser Slayer.
Ark Slayers were the original nine Slayers, the leadership class, and Master Slayers were the original 100 mercenaries who served under them.
Adepts and Lessers were the so-called slave-soldiers newly trained by the Slayers in the Tersh Archipelago, with Slime Slayer belonging to this category.
“Should we just let him fight alone? Are we not going to help?”
Valensidis, chanting healing spells for the wounded, shrugged.
“If we did, we’d only hinder him. Especially in a shipboard battle like this.”
“What? Helping would be a hindrance?”
“Simply put, there’s no need to worry. He’s currently the strongest human alive, excluding Feyquarious.”
“…!”
“So, Aki, you stay put too. I told you to stay with me.”
Aki, who was about to jump across the deck, glared at Valensidis with a sulky face after being grabbed by the scruff of his neck.
“Begging won’t work. Unlike him, I’m not weak to sentiment.”
Meanwhile, Rain glanced sideways at the Slayers, who were gradually tightening their encirclement.
“Bell Querious, I really feel like I’m going to piss myself! I want it, hya! I want it so badly!”
Ignoring Mage Slayer, who was panting like a pervert and stomping his feet…
“What is your purpose?”
The line of ships, which had ridden a high wave, plummeted onto the sea surface, sending spray flying.
“What are you plotting with Link’s descendants? What is your relationship with Zernix? Did he tell you I was on this ship?”
Then Navy Slayer, a water mage, spat phlegm onto the deck.
“It seems this is indeed the one who hooked up with that Slime bitch.”
Aaron, receiving Rain’s direct gaze, casually picked off a blood clot clinging to his cheek as if playing innocent.
“Well, what’s the answer?”
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t answer. Anyway, I’ll be going there soon and killing every last one of you Slayers.”
“How dare that insolent fellow speak so carelessly!”
Tension gradually escalated, and at that one moment when sweat beaded on their foreheads!
Sailor Slayer, who charged with twin swords, had his neck crushed by the staff, a direct hit to the cervical spine, instant death! A master!
The monster ravens commanded by Raven Slayer were all shot down by Pipi’s flame wings that appeared in the sky!
“Wait, why is Beast Slayer here?”
“Idiot, that’s not Beast Slayer! That’s a different sun parrot!”
Giant Slayer rushed towards Rain, who was pulling his staff out of Sailor Slayer’s neck!
“Wha!”
He then clasped his hands together, combining the weight of his massive shields into one, and slammed it vertically onto the boy’s head!
Any living creature directly hit by that incredibly large and cumbersome shield, except for dragons, would be instantly killed, unable to even recover their bones.
But in that instant, a fiery barrier enveloped Rain, and a transcendent shockwave erupted from the clash of power and extraordinary ability!
“Whoa?!”
A scorching wind making it hard to even keep eyes open, a smell of sulfur and ash making breathing difficult… Giant Slayer fell to one knee.
“Heh, an opening!”
A magic circle unfolded on Navy Slayer’s palm.
It was well-known that maintaining a static posture was necessary to deploy a barrier, so he seized that opportunity to pull up seawater from both sides of the ship.
With this intense water pressure, I’ll eliminate that barrier and clear the way for Mage Slayer-nim!
“With this—what?!”
But what in the world… the moment Rain changed his hand seals, the barrier split into countless embers and rained down on Navy Slayer!
What did he do?
Did the definition of magic, that is, the runes themselves, change? How in the world?
“Ugh, Ugh-ahh-ahh-ahh!”
He didn’t even have time to finish that thought.
Navy Slayer, engulfed in transcendent flames, crumpled into a charred lump without even a chance to jump into the sea.
As that charred lump was swept away by a wave that crashed onto the deck, Manabane, having exploited the blind spot in his vision, clashed with the Staff of Fire!
“Yah~ I told you that wouldn’t work!”
However, perhaps because the Staff of Fire was constructed from extraordinary power, it was definitely at a disadvantage in close combat.
Once again, Manabane’s blade, passing through the Staff of Fire as if by magic, deeply cut Rain’s chest!
But immediately, a storm of flames swirled around Rain! Aaron placed his hand on the deck and flipped backward to evade it!
“The taste of blood is truly exquisite…”
Saying so, Mage Slayer licked the blood off the blade, and at that moment, he sensed something unusual.
“Huh?”
Why did the ship seem to be greatly affected by the waves, he wondered, when…
The Yeonhwan fleet was far away. That is, this ship was drifting alone into the open sea, without any rowers or sailors.
Just then, Pipi landed on Rain’s shoulder and, with narrow eyes, stared at Mage Slayer’s Bell Sidious.
“Fake, fake, loser, loser.”
Then it wiggled its backside, taunting him!
At that, a chilling coldness, for the first time, flowed into Aaron’s eyes, which had always been full of smiles!
“Pipi, tell Valensidis. We’ll regroup at <Karsiko>.”
“Tell, tell, tell.”
Pipi flew towards the fleet, and Aaron, seeing this, tapped his shoulder with the blunt side of Manabane and tilted his head.
“What? A sacrificial spirit? Like, I’ll take these guys to hell, you go, something like that?”
This was too funny.
Mages are no match for me. Though I was caught off guard a moment ago.
“What you’ll do, what magic you’ll use, what tactics—it’s all clear in my eyes. I can know for sure the moment you try to use magic, so I can counter it. You, of all people, should know the power of this Bell Sidious best.”
“Oh really? Is that so?”
“Heehee! Let’s find out! Adon, don’t slam down on his head! Those eyes are mine!”
“Wha!”
Adon’s three consecutive shield slams tore up the deck, sending splinters of wood and nails flying across their vision.
Left, right, left!
Mage Slayer rushed towards Rain, who evaded those blows by a hair’s breadth, rolling his body!
“My main strength is swordsmanship! So trying to pierce me with Bell Querious is meaningless!”
Just as he was about to deflect Manabane with his staff, Giant Slayer’s fourth slam!
He precisely aimed for the instant Rain’s balance was disrupted by the recoil of the deck breaking! A tremendous combat synergy!
Thwack.
A very sweet sound of a blade tearing through skin, membranes, and intestines echoed in Aaron’s ears.
“Oh, what a pity, mages are all just my prey.”
Blood trickled down the blade of Manabane, which had deeply embedded itself in his side.
Now, I’ll kill you painfully.
First, I’ll gouge out those eyeballs…!
But at that moment, Rain’s hand gripped Aaron’s sword-wielding hand and neck with formidable crushing strength.
“What…?!”
No, he hadn’t stabbed deeply.
Had he seized Aaron’s wrist at the moment of impact and twisted its trajectory sideways?
Moreover, he couldn’t possibly escape from that grip!
“Strictly speaking.”
As if to support his next words, smoke rose from the blood spilled on the deck. Flame given flesh, just like the Red Dragons.
“I am not a mage right now.”
With this, I’ve perfectly captured him. There’s no way to escape.
I deliberately showed an opening to lure him in and seize him for this.
For this, I cut the magical chains that had bound this ship to the fleet with Bell Querious.
“I am a Dragon.”
To strike these guys with my ultimate magic, Cremation Blood Release, with full power to finish them. Without the slightest reduction in its might.
“This madman, are you trying to self-destruct now?!”
Aaron’s eyes, reading the overwhelming mana boiling within Rain through Bell Sidious, were stained with bewilderment. Such monstrous mana that he instinctively felt fear!
“Have you ever seen a dragon harmed by its own fire?”
“Adon, help me, Adon!”
“Fourth Thunderbolt.”
The moment Rain snapped his fingers, thunder inscribed its majesty upon the world, engulfing the heavens and earth in a crimson hue.