#274
Re-battle (3)
Corridor in front of the VIP quarters of Roselia Grand Shrine.
Crackling—
the sound of teeth grinding resounded softly from there.
The imperial delegation, who had been waiting in dead silence, all swallowed their dry saliva.
Dozens of people are standing still in the middle of the hallway, unable to move, just watching one person.
‘what? ‘Did someone make a mistake?’
‘I can’t breathe…’
There were no problems until the group arrived at this place after arriving at the shrine through the gate of the main temple and greeting the leading members of the religious order.
It was immediately after that that a sudden change occurred.
“…The princess? Are you okay?”
The representative who led them, Princess Riley, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She seemed to be frowning with a serious expression for a while, but now her whole body was radiating a violent and unpleasant look.
“…….”
One of the imperial knights, unable to bear it any longer, cautiously spoke to Riley, but she paid no attention to the reactions of those around her and just stared quietly into space with an icy face.
While quietly pondering the boiling anger.
‘It’s going to come out like this, right?’
If things had gone as they intended, we would have found out one way or another only after the situation was over.
Thanks to “Chain of the Covenant,” she was able to hear the situation in real time and was already certain who was behind the attack on Hesperon.
‘Duke Hermanhart.’
The maternal family and patron of the former crown prince, and the current empress’s maternal family and the emperor’s in-laws.
Other than her biggest enemy, Duke Hermanhart, there was no one in the empire who could commit such an outrageous act.
‘I tried my best to show mercy.’
Of course, that mercy was only based on her subjective standards.
Even the compromise, which they thought made a lot of concessions, was a submission they could never accept.
If things continued like this, not only honor and title, but also territory and property would be stolen from all directions, so of course the Hermanheart family, which claimed to be the first noble family of the Azerion Empire, could not stand still.
Perhaps this trick is also part of a behind-the-scenes operation to bring the negotiations to a slight advantage.
‘This must have looked quite funny.’
But their circumstances were none of her business.
Even so, I was already upset because of the great cause of minimizing chaos in the empire, and didn’t I just end up with an excuse like this?
“Count Filtame.”
“Yes, princess.”
As Riley’s cold voice drifted through the quiet hallway, the archmage who had been quietly following her bowed his head politely.
Although she was no doubt still only a girl, the air around her became heavy with the majesty she implicitly exuded.
“I have a message to send to Marquis Lawrence right now.”
Currently, there were two superhumans in this delegation, but they could not be used privately as they participated in the defense and for the prestige of the empire.
However, there were many, many people who came under her command in a situation where the trend was already in full swing.
‘If you choose resistance rather than submission.’
It wasn’t that difficult to arrange for someone who would move immediately upon hearing her ‘favor’.
Even if it is a strong person called a superhuman.
‘I guess I’ll have to break that stiff neck, even if it’s by force.’
Riley’s eyes shone coldly in the stifling air.
***
Annoying.
That was the sentiment felt by Stav, who had once again lost Hesperon right in front of his eyes.
“You’re so good at running away, you rat!”
Kwaduk—
He swung his sword, blazing with black energy, and gnashed his teeth, swatting away the bundle of black threads that flew out of nowhere.
The attack wasn’t a big threat to him, but it was quite annoying that it was suddenly created out of thin air and flew in.
Gooooo—
Every time my heart beat violently, black magic swirled throughout my body.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, different from before when I always used energy through an auror hole.
But it was also a feeling I had to get used to by now.
For him, who lost not only the Auror but also everything he had accumulated, this was his only support now.
To get revenge on those who made him like this.
‘What on earth is that guy? ‘Not much has passed since then!’
However, the project ran into unexpected difficulties from the first step.
Unlike before, Starv, who was able to control black magic, was able to feel the cause more clearly.
‘Of course, the magic and the use of the body are at a high level, but that’s okay. The problem is those strange magic tools and his right arm. Even if the magic tools I saw last time were like that…’
When the people who first stole him from hell offered revenge, he willingly took their hands and accepted their black magic.
And after becoming the Dark Knight and regaining a certain amount of power, he confidently took on this task.
Why is it so difficult to kidnap not only the princess herself, who is under strict security, but also her lover?
Of course, everything went awry because of him, and the situation turned out to be as bad as it is now, but that’s just what we needed to prepare for more thoroughly this time.
From my own experience, wasn’t that guy’s level just a small one?
Yes, definitely.
That’s what I thought…
“Wow! What on earth is that? “I’ve never heard or seen anything like that!”
Aiming only for this moment, we poured time and capital into preparing a space blockade that would make it extremely difficult for even an archmage to escape.
All that was left was to cut off the limbs of the rebellious bastard, kidnap him, and quietly disappear.
Sigh—
Sigh!
Another masked person was reduced to a handful of blood.
They were never at a level where they would die that easily, but the materialized curse dealt by Hesperon had an even greater killing power.
Deadly kill under certain conditions.
It’s a shame because its reuse time is quite long and those who can handle magic among the masked people began to prepare magical defenses against it, putting the brakes on it.
Everyone except Stave was almost killed and he was almost lost.
‘But that’s over now!’
However, right after Hesperon’s attack ended, a black light flashed from the corner of Starv’s eyes as he seized the opportunity.
At the same time, the black magic emanating from his body began to spread in all directions and burn the surrounding atmosphere.
Kwaaaang—!
And then he kicked the ground at incredible speed and rushed at Hesperon.
Starv, as well as the masked people, are veterans who have gone through all kinds of hardships.
Naturally, the mechanism of Hesperon’s abilities had already been roughly understood.
In order to perform that unique three-dimensional maneuver, you need curses scattered around you, and each time you make a deadly attack just before, a large amount of it is consumed, and by emitting energy like this and burning it, you can suppress the spread of curses in the atmosphere to some extent. .
‘We must catch him right here! Even if it means killing me!’
So, now is the time when I have no choice but to land again on the ground.
It is also a golden opportunity to deal with him who is growing rapidly in real time.
‘If you miss here, you don’t know how much stronger you will become! ‘You can’t leave it like that!’
I needed to do my best for him.
Although he had no choice but to accept black magic, Stave was also well aware of the dangers of black magic.
Of course, even after gaining power, I was always wary of it and suppressed it.
‘It’ll be okay for a little while.’
I will soon make you regret your arrogance. Heart
pounding –
the dark, corrupted heart pulsates, and black magic flows throughout the body.
That destructive energy dwelled in every cell of the body and began to run wild, breaking the limits of the body.
Exciting—
a different sensation than when dealing with an auror.
Unlike Aurors, which provide solid support so that the body can contain more power, dark magic with a destructive tendency does not consider the safety of its owner at all.
We only seek stronger power and more destructive power.
My heart pounded—
that unbridled power finally reached my head.
I was able to prevent it from being completely engulfed by the realization that reached its peak, but I couldn’t stop it from polluting part of my thinking.
Violence and murderous exhibitionism and obsession run rampant in my head.
But Stav didn’t care.
He tore through the atmosphere in an instant and crossed space—.
“Phew!”
“Suck?!”
In the blink of an eye, we arrived right in front of Hesperon.
Kwagwaang—!
The black threads surrounding the blow were torn to shreds.
It broke the protective barrier between the two.
The surrounding area vibrated due to the loud sound of the strike when the right hand extended forward and the sword collided.
“Ugh, for some reason, Geukui said it was too easy!”
Hesperon, who was thrown back, struggled to wiggle his right arm with blood streaming from the corner of his mouth.
Dozens of black threads tied Starv’s legs, canceling out the rush, but only for a moment.
Unable to withstand the dark magic that surrounded it, it instantly disintegrated into pieces and disappeared.
‘But I wish I could buy this much time!’
Hesperon used “Martial Arts” to quickly restore the broken balance and calmly responded to the follow-up blow.
In that turbulent offensive, they tenaciously held on, using every means possible, including magic, magic tools, martial arts, and curses.
Five six seven…
But when Stav’s sword strike finally reached the ninth.
‘Oh, this is really dangerous.’
Now I feel like there is a limit.
I’ve endured it for quite some time, but I know I won’t be able to endure it for the 10th time.
As time has passed, all of our anomalous methods have been exposed.
From the front, the extremely dark knight was rushing forward, trying not to give anyone a chance.
Assassin-type masked people blocked the escape route and tightened their grip on all sides, and magician-type masked people even prepared something in the back.
‘This is hot.’
In the end, he had no choice but to prepare for the summons to be lifted.
‘Tsk, but the income I gained through actual combat was also considerable, so it’s not a bad thing.’
If you think about it, disappearing for about a day and a half wasn’t that long.
Of course, I would need to tell Riley in advance, but…
With that in mind, I was about to leave a message to her and disappear.
‘Huh?’
He was immediately thrown backwards by a sudden sensation.
“What is this?”
And it was the same thing that Stave, who was rushing at Hesperon with ferocity, sensed.
A cool intuition that stimulates instincts that are stronger than before.
Immediately, he forced himself to stop and hurriedly threw himself backwards, emitting black magic from his entire body.
Right after that.
Kwaaaaang—!
A strong pillar of fire erupted from where he was walking.
It is not just a simple flame, but an extremely high-temperature fire that is mixed with thick magic power and instantly burns anyone caught up in it.
“shit! “Suddenly what!”
Also, the unexpected attack wasn’t just for him.
Screaming—
The great magic was applied simultaneously to all the masked people in this space, including Starv. Except for the very few who were lucky enough to avoid it, everyone was unable to even scream and were instantly reduced to ashes.
“Wow, these guys really have swollen livers. “How dare you do something like this in Jeron?”
As everyone raised their guard at the sudden change in the situation, a voice imbued with enormous magical power echoed everywhere.
At the same time, an enormous presence is felt.
Gritting his teeth, Stave raised his head and looked at the sky.
“Marquis Lawrence…! “How can you get here!”
There, Marquis Lawrence, the archmage of the Imperial Palace’s Magic Tower, who should have been quietly locked up in the imperial palace by now, was floating leisurely in the air.
They broke through the space blockade that had been prepared with great care for this incident and entered.
‘No matter how great a wizard he is, he would never be able to notice us from this distance!’
Stave gritted his teeth as he recalled the briefing he had received from the designer of the operation in advance.
Anyway, nothing worked properly when it came to this work.
“her! Is it really Sir Stav? But that thing…”
At that time, the Marquis Lawrence, an old man wearing an old-fashioned robe and holding an old-fashioned cane, looked down with narrowed eyes and frowned with a somber expression on his face.
And when he saw Stave’s entire body, including his eyes and arms, damaged, he nodded slowly as if he had roughly guessed the situation.
“…is it. I guess that’s what happened in the end. But it’s dark magic.”
However, the sympathy shown for a moment was short-lived.
He soon tilted his head with an expression of displeasure and slowly extended the staff in his hand forward.
“I couldn’t refuse the request, so I had no choice but to step forward… But even if this wasn’t really the case, I couldn’t just sit back and ignore it.”
Dark magic, an unholy power, and the warlocks and dark knights who use it.
These were all taboos in today’s society, and now that the war against the Immortal King is at its peak, they are social evils that must be eradicated as soon as they are seen.
But are these people entering the capital of the empire and plotting something secretly?
Moreover, one of them was an imperial noble who even served as the commander of the imperial guard?
‘I almost got embarrassed again.’
At this level, it wasn’t like he had listened to the princess’s request, but rather he should have been grateful to her.
It was said that a hole had been opened in the defenses of the Imperial Palace’s Magic Tower, which was responsible for part of the capital’s security.
It also meant that there was still a source of external influence inside the Magic Tower.
Just like the last time the princess was attacked.
“Now that I think about it, there was a debt there. Do you know how much hardship I suffered because of you guys?”
With Marquis Lawrence’s irritated words, the air began to tremble and magic power began to boil.
The magic circles that appeared in an instant intertwined with each other, each embodying their own mystery.
Uuuung—
Of course, as an archmage, there were no direct disadvantages for him, but it could not be denied that the Imperial Palace Magic Tower, which was growing at its peak, was in a difficult situation as its momentum was weakened and its position was reduced.
In the process, I had to take care in many ways to restore my relationship with Princess Riley, who would become the next emperor.
“…Wow, that was close.”
And in an imminent situation where the tension soars.
Hesperon slowly pulled back and muttered calmly, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Stave, who is not in a normal state, and Marquis Lawrence, who was originally considered superior to him.
And… the battle wizards of the Magic Tower joined in one by one and began to surround the surrounding area.
At this point, it was as if the situation was already over.
-Heron, are you okay? I told you to go as quickly as possible, but were you hurt somewhere?
At that time, Riley’s cautious voice came again.
It was a barely audible sound, perhaps out of concern that it would disturb one’s concentration at an important moment.
-ah! I’m okay.
Then, as if the timing was right, a system message appeared before my eyes.
《The entity has met the conditions and achieved enlightenment. “The right arm of longing” grows after swallowing up resentment and being satisfied.》
《The entity achieved enlightenment through repeated practice. The skills “Introduction to Magic” and “Fighting Arts” combine to evolve into “Magic Fighting Arts.”
– Um, really.
He is now far removed from being a true orthodox wizard, but it doesn’t matter since he was never an orthodox wizard in the first place.
…No, not only that, but when I think about it, Hesperon’s greatest ability is also…
Wow!
“Kuhuhuh! Lo…Lance…!”
Whispering—
I think it was a connection.