Chapter 216. Target Strike (1)
Heavy tremors ran through the ground in every direction, and as silver flashes burst forth, the charging magical beasts were all sliced apart at an angle, scattering black ash across the forest branches.
Ixion gathered crimson-black mana into one hand and forcibly steadied himself, extending his arm toward the front.
Yet beneath his mask, a low groan had already begun to leak out.
“What in the world…?”
FIIIIING!!
Right before his eyes, silver wires tore chaotically through the air, instantly severing not only the magical beasts but even the surrounding trees in a single strike.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK!!
Tree trunks split with deep wounds, bark and sawdust spraying violently as they slowly tilted and collapsed to the ground.
Through that chaos, Rien strode forward, swinging one arm at an angle, her footsteps clicking crisply.
The girl in the maid uniform let her skirt flutter as her pale blue eyes glinted coldly. She clenched the fingers controlling the deployed wires.
-KIRIRIRIRIRIK!!
At Ixion’s gesture, the magical beasts surged in to surround Rien and leapt.
Hunting-dog beasts gaped with jagged fangs, while humanoid beasts reared back, carapaced spears protruding from their arms, blackening the sky above her.
“…….”
Rien raised one arm and moved her fingers gently, as if playing a string instrument.
At once, the wires lurking in the trees and ground responded with sharp cries.
In an instant, silver-white light erupted as wires fired from all directions, cutting down every beast charging toward her in midair.
Wires spread across the battlefield with overwhelming dominance no magical beast could approach, gleaming silver as they crisscrossed freely.
Through them, the girl with pale blue eyes advanced toward the enemy, her shoes ringing against the ground.
“…Kh!!”
Meeting her gaze head-on, Ixion staggered and muttered hoarsely beneath his mask.
“Even the highest-strength carapaced beasts… in a single exchange….”
Battles between high-level mages who wielded unique magic inevitably began with probing, analyzing the opponent’s magic and combat style.
Knowing the enemy’s magic allowed countermeasures, making such reconnaissance immeasurably important in fights where life and death were decided in an instant.
And yet, Ixion could not grasp the maid’s combat method at all.
Not knowing the principle or even the name of her magic was understandable.
Unique magic could manifest in forms beyond imagination. Inferring it was part of a battle mage’s skill.
But what, exactly, was this wire-based domain spread like a spiderweb before his eyes?
Ixion tried to look ahead, then unconsciously took a step back.
The cold gaze of the now-close Rien carried transparent fury.
Before even asking whether he could defeat the enemy before him, Ixion realized that a primal instinct was sounding the alarm within him.
“How can you be… this strong?”
“I made a vow. To my young master.”
Rien answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“That I would protect him. Always.”
The conversation went nowhere. Ixion let out a bitter chuckle beneath his mask and shifted to the side.
He understood one thing clearly: she could freely manipulate that wire-based unique domain.
But the greatest problem was that he still could not tell what her unique magic actually was.
Was it magic dealing in cutting or slashing concepts? No, surely it was not something so simple.
At the very least, anything brushed by those silver-white wires was sliced like paper. On top of that, she used them to anchor to terrain and move at high speed.
“…I see. This is the realm of training.”
Ixion muttered suddenly.
There was one thing he could be absolutely certain of.
Whatever her unique magic was, the maid had undergone systematic, brutal training in a combat doctrine built around it.
Recalling the sense of déjà vu he had felt when facing her in Panghaion, his eyes flared as he shouted,
“That combat style. So my guess was right. It is not Elsyde’s, it belongs to the Imperial Royal line…!”
FIIIIING!!
As if refusing to let him speak further, Rien’s wires shot toward him.
Ixion calmly retreated as one magical beast threw itself into the wires, acting as a shield before being sliced apart.
Rien bent low, snapped her arm, and lashed the wires like whips as she launched into a sprint.
But through the storm of black ash, the black-masked man in a tailcoat emerged at that very moment.
“I do not know what unique magic you are using,”
Ixion said, drawing crimson-black mana into both raised arms, his eyes gleaming beneath the mask.
“But this is entertaining, nonetheless.”
This forest, crawling with Tantalus’s powerful experimental beasts, was the ideal battlefield for Ixion, a Black Mage who ruled over life.
Even another ninth-grade combat mage would have no advantage here.
And yet, he was being pushed back head-on by this maid named Rien.
It was incomprehensible.
Ixion flung both arms back, gathered mana into his fists, and detonated it in a violent burst.
[Life Creation – State Transformation : Spear]
Crimson-black mana exploded as massive carapaced spears, radiating black light, formed in midair.
Perched atop an Exceed-class leader, Ixion extended his hand. The spears spun once in place, accelerated, and shot skyward,
Then rained down toward Rien in chaotic trajectories.
But Rien slipped swiftly between the intersecting bombardment.
The silver wires that surged toward Ixion were barely blocked as he turned a magical beast behind him into a shield, its body cut apart instead.
Ixion muttered darkly,
“…You are not even ninth-grade.”
Beyond the circular carapaced shield cracking under the wires, Ixion gripped his mask and laughed low.
“Maid. You are already far beyond that, !”
“What I am is irrelevant.”
Rien cut him off in a voice cold as ice, slowly raising her hand.
With wires coiled around her fingers, she spoke with frigid fury.
“You dared to wound my young master.”
“Kh, !!”
Ixion shouted, but Rien paid him no mind, drawing her wired hand back as she murmured,
“I will never forgive you.”
FIIIIING,
In an instant, wires burst outward from Rien, glowing white as they spread like a spiderweb and pierced everything along their paths.
At the same time, Ixion detonated the nearly shattered carapaced shield and leapt far backward.
“How about this!!”
Yet even in the face of a close-range ambush, Rien planted one hand on the ground and vaulted backward in a swallow-like leap, shooting into the sky.
Her black-and-white maid skirt fluttered as she kicked off massive tree trunks.
Even an Exceed-class beast was torn apart by her wires, chunks of flesh sliding diagonally downward amid the slaughter.
Rien streaked through it like a shadow, pale blue eyes blazing.
“You think I will let you close the distance?!”
Ixion dropped to one knee, grabbed his right arm with his left, and slammed it into the ground.
A massive crimson shockwave spread from the earth. The beasts it touched transformed into enormous wedges that shot into the air and began spinning.
Their black carapaces reflected the rising sun, scattering dark light in dozens of rays.
SHSHSHSHSHSHSHK!!
The spinning wedges split again into countless sharper spikes, launching skyward.
Rien calmly fired silver wires to wrap around tree trunks, caught them, and pulled herself backward, hovering as she retreated.
The countless carapaced spikes slammed into the ground in a line, tracing Rien’s movement path as she changed direction dozens of times by kicking off tree trunks at high speed.
Watching this, Ixion ground his teeth beneath the mask.
He had not landed a single decisive blow, only wasting vast numbers of magical beasts.
If this continued, the outcome was obvious.
Ixion glanced at the beasts crumbling into black ash and spoke,
“After our encounter in Panghaion, I grew curious about Enoch and looked into him. But no matter what I did, I could not uncover anything about you, maid.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“That only makes you more interesting. I knew from fighting you before, but, ”
He continued, staring straight at Rien.
“You omit even the minimal activation formulas required for magic. You are doing everything purely by instinct.”
“…….”
“I cannot know your unique magic unless you reveal it yourself, but there is one thing I do know.”
Ixion tilted his head, amused even as he spoke.
“That is a technique favored by mages of the Imperial Royal family, particularly the advanced deployment methods used by the great houses close to the Emperor. Am I wrong?”
Rien merely narrowed her eyes in silence.
Ixion stopped, extended his arm, and pointed at her with certainty.
“The noble houses that serve the Imperial Royal family rarely show themselves publicly, so it is natural I would not know you, but, ”
He tilted his head slowly.
“That combat style and strength. You rival even Elsyde’s highest-grade forces.”
He raised his chin.
“Frankly, I do not understand. Why would someone of your caliber willingly become a mere maid under Elsyde?”
“That is incorrect.”
Through the swirling wires, Rien tilted her head, eyes cold.
“I did not place myself under Elsyde.”
“What?”
She placed a hand over her chest and inclined her head forward.
“The one I serve… is only Young Master Enoch.”
“Maid. What nonsense are you, ”
Ixion faltered, confused. At that moment, Rien tugged her wires and murmured without emotion.
“When the entire world denied me, he was the only one who needed me.”
Lowering her long lashes, Rien glanced briefly at Enoch.
Seeing him watching the situation with his sword lowered, she added coldly,
“And you dared… to wound such a person.”
“…Kh!”
A blind, chilling tone sent a shiver down Ixion’s spine. He flinched, hurriedly extending his arms and arranging mana in front of him.
Gripped by tension, he instinctively realized,
If he failed to block the maid’s next strike, which she was already lowering herself to unleash, this would be his defeat.
As he swung both arms wide and formed hand seals, a massive crimson orb tens of meters across manifested near his chest.
[Life Corruption – Organ Construction : Fate Reversal]
Her deployment speed was faster.
And if he continued expending magical beasts with efficiency in mind, he would be overrun.
Then there was only one option.
WOOOOONG!!
Crimson-black mana surged to its limit, flashing brilliantly as energy crackled and exploded outward.
Circular crimson magic circles appeared above every remaining magical beast, spinning madly as his unique magic activated over them all.
CHARRRRRK!!
In an instant, all the surrounding beasts melted like liquid, rising into the air as massive droplets several meters wide.
The next moment, a storm of black liquid lashed out and adhered to Ixion’s body, forming a solid suit of armor.
The Vendetta Annihilation Officer, reinforcing himself by layering living beings over his skin in real time, shouted with red eyes blazing beneath his mask.
“Come!!”
He had already gathered all remaining beasts at once. This strike would decide everything.
The beasts sacrificed themselves, transforming into an exoskeleton around Ixion.
The obsidian-like living suit rapidly increased his defense and mobility,
And then, a cry of shock burst from beneath his mask.
“Kh…?”
SHRAAAAK!!
A silver trajectory flashed past, wrapping around his armored arm and shoulder several times, binding his body tight.
“…!!”
A strike during the deployment of unique magic, he had no time to react.
Before he could regain his balance, his eyes widened.
The maid had already closed in, long hair flowing, arms crossed as wires extended from both hands.
Realization struck, and Ixion clenched his teeth.
Most of the surrounding beasts had already been expended. Which meant her true target was,
PIRIRIRIRIK!!
A metallic shriek filled the air as wires bound his entire armored body.
They wrapped his neck, chest, and legs, spreading like a spiderweb in all directions.
Completely immobilized, his chest expanded with a sharp inhale, scraping against the wires with a piercing sound.
“…So this was your plan from the beginning, maid.”
Looking down at his bound body, Ixion lifted his head with a dark smile.
“You never intended to finish me here.”
“My concern is not your life.”
Leaving him completely sealed by wires, Rien turned to Enoch.
“Did I not say so earlier?”
She glanced at Ixion with cold disdain.
“The one I serve… is only my young master.”
She knew better than anyone that ensuring Enoch’s safety now required disengaging from combat and regrouping, not forcing a conclusion.
That was likely why she had not pressed the attack on Ixion, who was still protected by heavy armor and calling in reinforcements.
Ignoring Ixion’s bitter gaze as he realized this, Rien turned fully to Enoch.
He understood the look in her eyes, telling him it was time to move.
Enoch nodded silently and sheathed his sword.
“Truly impressive, Enoch.”
Ixion let out a twisted laugh beneath his mask.
“What did you do to bewitch a woman into becoming that terrifying?”
“…….”
“And yet it is strange, maid. Contrary to what you said, your relationship does not seem so intimate.”
He added with amusement,
“There is a peculiar distance between you two. Hearing your words, it sounds as if it was not always this way.”
At the sharp remark, Enoch and Rien both glanced back, but neither replied.
The ground-shaking footsteps and roars of beasts Ixion had summoned were already closing in from all sides.
There was no time to linger.
As Enoch slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and turned away,
A voice suddenly came from behind.
“You said you were looking for Indiviltal in this forest, did you not?”
Ixion spoke low beneath his mask.
“To protect the outsourcing district in this war, it would certainly be a valuable target. That judgment was not wrong.”
Trapped within the wire barrier, he glanced toward the massive river cutting through the forest.
“I will give you one hint.”
“…….”
“There is a waterfall several kilometers downstream. Cross the river there, and not far beyond, Indiviltal is being guarded by a massive host of magical beasts.”
Enoch looked up at him silently.
Above the black mask, Ixion’s silk top hat was pulled low, one eye hidden.
Even fully restrained, he spoke calmly, as if daring Enoch to read his intent.
“Do not make that face. You did not truly think a leader of that importance would be unguarded, did you?”
Revealing such critical information so suddenly,
Enoch tilted his head slightly, studying him.
“Why tell me this now?”
“Well, why indeed?”
Ixion chuckled beneath the mask.
“If I had to say, perhaps because I like you. Unfortunately, if things continue as they are, neither of us will achieve what we want.”
“What you want?”
“Yes. Winning or losing this war aside, having seen the Book of Gnosis, I require some direct proof.”
He glanced into the depths of the forest.
“I wish to know whether fate truly exists, as that prophecy of the end of civilization claims, and whether it is immutable. Looking at you, I think I might find the answer.”
Unable to make sense of his rambling, Enoch replied coldly,
“I do not follow. Have you gone mad from mana depletion?”
“They say that reaching the realm beyond the tenth grade, where unique magic truly manifests, requires madness.”
Ixion laughed softly.
“Believe what you will. Frankly, Enoch, I am quite interested in what path you will choose in this war.”
He looked at Enoch through the mask.
The reflection of the swordsman in black appeared in the glass of his mask’s eye.
“And I still consider you a potential ally. You smell the same as we do, at the core.”
Enoch looked at him silently, then turned away.
It was possible this was a ruse, mixing truth with lies to buy time until he regained his freedom.
Rien seemed to share the thought, stepping closer and speaking quietly.
“Leaving this place is the priority.”
She glanced at Enoch’s wound and added softly,
“You must recover, Young Master.”
“Yes. I will be fine after some rest.”
Enoch nodded, glancing at his injury. The bleeding had restarted from the ambush, but the emergency ampoule was still in effect.
If he rested for a few hours, he would recover enough to continue the mission.
“First, we head for the river.”
He lifted his gaze toward the river stretching downstream from the distant hill.
It was not because he trusted Ixion’s words.
Coincidentally, the location Ixion mentioned matched Enoch’s own estimates fairly closely.
That was why he had accepted Alicia’s suggestion from the beginning, to use the waterfall as a rendezvous point.
To strike the objective, crossing the river had always been unavoidable.
Though doubts remained, there was something that had to be done first.
Enoch spoke calmly.
“Let us regroup with Alicia at the waterfall.”
The time remaining was a day and a half at most.
Whether they liked it or not, the success or failure of this operation would be decided then.