LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 31
Chapter 31
—–CROW—–
Right after our attacks were thwarted, I knew just by looking at the sun-like heat emanating from Alexios’s entire body. It was Alexios’s ultimate move, [Unprecedented]. I seemed to have been biased. Even though I had recently defeated Gerard by exploiting his biases, I hadn’t been wary of that word myself.
“He had an ultimate move…?”
When I first activated [Observation], the only skills available to me were [Mana Dominator] and [Spatial Barrier]. At the time, given the circumstances, I hadn’t paid much attention. Moreover, since the first SSR-rank magic I used, [Curse of Eternal Snow], had shown such unimaginable power, I hadn’t imagined he would have an ultimate move. I had thought it was natural for him *not* to have one. It was a foolish thought.
“Master… What did you do to the Fist King? He looks incredibly angry. That’s your fault, right, Master? What did you do?”
“No, I didn’t do anything…”
At least, *I* hadn’t done anything. But Oz must have done something. Otherwise, that level of rage wouldn’t make sense. It wasn’t just competitive spirit; it was the look of someone staring at their sworn enemy. This life truly sucked.
“I know you like the word ‘nothing,’ Master, but please be more specific this time.”
“The plan failed.”
“No, not that kind of specific… And I already know that, so you don’t have to tell me.”
*Crack*—
Was that how it was? Cracks began to appear in the ice Baekyang had created with all her might. She probably wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. But it was also difficult to charge in, as Alexios was surrounded by blazing heat. That was probably why the ice was melting so quickly.
“It’s going to break soon! Should we run? Wouldn’t it be better to run?!”
As expected of Baekyang. She was the first to suggest escape. How could a guardian be so cowardly? But looking at Alexios, who resembled an avatar of the sun, I could understand.
“You’re right, that’s a bit much.”
“…Do you know what kind of ability that is? My ice is melting at an incredible rate.”
A White Goblin’s power wasn’t simply composed of mana. As a yokai, her ice was mixed with demonic energy that possessed the characteristic of “chaos.”
“First, his physical abilities double…”
“That’s a big deal! If I get hit in that state, I’ll really turn into shaved ice this time!”
“Wouldn’t it be more like slush?”
I tried making a joke befitting a goblin, but all I got in return were cold stares. Even though the world felt hot due to Alexios’s ultimate move, a chill ran down my spine. Admittedly, Alexios looked too dangerous to joke about. It would have hurt even with a normal punch, but in that state, it would probably hurt twice as much. She really might turn into shaved ice or slush.
“I want to run…”
“Yeah, you guys better run now.”
“Huh…? What about you, Master?”
“I have to settle this here.”
Even if I escaped now, the problem wouldn’t be resolved. Considering the future, I needed to resolve the issue with Alexios, no matter the outcome. With an SSR-rank character as an enemy, the already difficult main story would become a complete mess.
“Arieta, divine spells.”
“Yes, Oz.”
As expected of Arieta, the strongest support character. Just by speaking to her, she grasped my intentions and began casting various divine spells on me.
“Lucia.”
“…”
“Ah, Lucia suddenly appeared!”
Lucia, who had been blending into the environment, quietly revealed herself. As Eleanor flinched back in surprise at Lucia’s sudden appearance, I whispered to Lucia, explaining the situation.
“Guide Eleanor to where Marie is.”
“Marie…? The Hades King’s daughter? Just what kind of plan are you concocting this time, Prince Oz?”
“You’ll see when you get there.”
Lucia looked unconvinced but nodded. Despite everything, she trusted me.
“By the way, Prince Oz, I don’t mean to underestimate you, but can you really win against *that* with a penalty?”
Lucia flicked her tail, pointing at Alexios. The ice holding Alexios’s legs was almost completely shattered. It was only thanks to Baekyang’s struggle that it was holding up at all.
“…He also has a penalty.”
Alexios had thrown away his protective cloak, but he couldn’t throw away his penalty. The shackles were still hindering his movements. Otherwise, there was no way Baekyang’s ice could restrain Alexios after he activated his ultimate move. Originally, [Unprecedented] also granted immunity to status effects.
“Go now.”
“…Shouldn’t you at least explain the gist of the plan?”
“There’s no time, so just tell Eleanor what I’m about to say when the time is right.”
It seemed like it was time to end the whispered conversation with Lucia. Judging by Eleanor’s disgruntled face, she would soon grab Lucia by the scruff of her neck like a cat. So, I spoke briefly and to the point.
“Everything.”
“Everything?”
“Tell her, ‘Be dyed by your existence.’”
“What does that… Ugh?!”
As Lucia wore a puzzled expression, Eleanor finally grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her away.
“Master, we’ll be going now!”
“Yeah, just do what you always do…”
As Eleanor hoisted a seemingly exhausted Baekyang onto her back and Lucia began to blend into the surroundings, I spoke to Arieta, who was looking at me with a gentle smile.
“Arieta, would you stay?”
“Yes, Oz.”
Arieta nodded. Her gentle expression eased some of my tension. As expected of the Saintess.
“Huh? Wait a minute? What’s going on between you two…?”
“Noah, let’s go.”
“Eugh!”
Lucia grabbed Eleanor by the scruff of her neck and dragged her away, as if seeking revenge for earlier. With the loudest one gone, silence quickly descended upon the world.
“Now then…”
My plan had gone awry due to my foolish judgment. But the situation wasn’t bad. Except for the fact that my carefully laid plans had been shattered…
In any case, Alexios had lost half his reason and was in a weakened state. Even his ultimate move, [Unprecedented], which granted status effect immunity and enhanced physical abilities, hadn’t completely freed him from Baekyang’s ice, indicating it wasn’t fully active. His physical abilities probably hadn’t increased as much as his menacing appearance suggested. Tia’s meticulously crafted magic tool wouldn’t have been easy for even Alexios to overcome.
“Oz…!!!”
“Yes, Alexios. Shall we clear up this misunderstanding?”
[Mana Dominator Lv. 2]
“Of course, looking at you, I don’t think words will suffice.”
[86/100 until guaranteed SSR-rank magic]
To think I’d have to waste the stack I had painstakingly built up here… I had endured so much nagging from Headmaster Tia and suspicious glances from the disciplinary committee and other students to accumulate this.
“This is killing me.”
I launched a preemptive strike before Alexios could break free from the ice. The first spell that appeared was the intermediate magic, [Water Fall]. In the past, I would have thought it was useless, but it wasn’t bad. There was a way to utilize everything.
[Erosion Blade 29%]
A torrent of water, like a waterfall, cascaded down onto Alexios, who was radiating heat. But it couldn’t stop him. The water evaporated before it could reach within two meters of Alexios. However, the power itself wasn’t bad. Tia’s magic tool hindered the power of my magic, but it didn’t affect [Mana Dominator]. Fog began to form on the battlefield once again.
Intermediate Magic
[Physical Enhancement]
Tia had made another mistake. She had limited the power of my magic but hadn’t placed any restrictions on my physical abilities.
“Phew…”
With [Physical Enhancement] combined with Arieta’s divine spells, my physical abilities soared. The burden on my body was considerable, but it didn’t matter. With this, my physical abilities were now at SSR-rank.
“You can’t achieve SSR-rank physical abilities with that penalty, can you?”
I blocked Alexios’s fist, which had emerged from the fog, with my palm. A stinging sensation, but… it wasn’t unbearable.
“What…?!”
Even with [Unprecedented], he wouldn’t have been able to surpass the limit set by Tia. All Alexios gained from his ultimate move was an absurdly high resistance to status effects and continuous fire-attribute damage.
“This is the first time I’ve punched the Fist King.”
With those words, I kicked Alexios in the abdomen.
“You bastard…!”
“You shouldn’t take a mage’s words literally.”
Mages were constantly changing. Alexios was still naive to believe a mage’s lies so readily.
“Now, the second.”
[Mana Dominator Lv. 2]
[87/100 until guaranteed SSR-rank magic]
The second spell that appeared after 10 seconds was the basic magic, [Dig]. As expected, no SSR-rank magic appeared. I knew it. Considering my usual luck, it would have been strange if it had appeared right away.
[Erosion Blade 30%]
[Dig] was a spell I usually considered useless. But I had to utilize whatever magic appeared. It had to be as efficient as possible. I didn’t expect much. I didn’t intend to dig deep. I simply dug a shallow hole towards Alexios’s left foot as he prepared to jump, aiming to disrupt his balance.
“Still…”
“Uh…”
But my attempt to disrupt his balance failed. How was that possible? Alexios instantly shifted his center of gravity to the other side and jumped. An absurd feat of skill.
“In this way…!”
*Whack!*
My head throbbed. What just happened? When my momentarily darkened vision returned, I saw Alexios’s extended leg. He had kicked me in the head. If it weren’t for Tia’s cloak, my head would have exploded.
“Are you trying to look down on me?!”
“Ugh…”
[Erosion Blade 30%]
I assessed the situation in the slowed-down time. In terms of pure physical ability, I was superior. But Alexios’s skill was far more diverse than Gerard’s. Skill that could transcend several ranks. The title of [Fist King] wasn’t just for show.
“If you don’t want to die, instead of these ridiculous spells…”
A dazzling, sun-like light enveloped Alexios’s arms. The cooldown for [Flame Cloud Thunderclap Fist] had already ended. The thought of that attack being unleashed in his [Unprecedented] state made me dizzy. Even with reduced physical abilities, the skill’s coefficient meant its power couldn’t be underestimated.
“Show me your true power!!!!”
Flame Cloud and Thunderclap. A natural disaster unfolded from Alexios’s arms.
[Spatial Barrier Lv. 1]
*Boom!*
I blocked the first attack. But at the same time, my [Spatial Barrier] shattered, leaving me without a defensive skill.
[Spatial Barrier]
[Cooldown: 1 minute 59 seconds]
Two minutes. An excruciatingly long time. But it was time I had to endure somehow. The urgency was suffocating, but there was no other way.
“Stop looking down on us!!”
“Ugh…!”
It was frustrating, but this was my limit. Compared to the Oz that Alexios knew, it was pathetic. I was truly doing my best!
“Hah!”
As if falling from his menacing momentum, I bent down and threw the handful of dirt I grabbed at Alexios’s face. Alexios completely dodged my surprise attack simply by closing his eyes. I hadn’t expected it to work anyway. My blinding tactics had never worked against warriors.
“What…?!”
But while his eyes were closed, he couldn’t see me. Gerard had charged with his eyes closed, but this time was different. I learned from my mistakes.
How was that possible? By sound? Could he distinguish sounds on a battlefield filled with roaring explosions? It didn’t make sense. Even if it were possible, he couldn’t have achieved this level of precision.
“As expected, he’s sensing through mana.”
It was only natural, but as someone who perceived the world through [Observation], I hadn’t considered that method. But [Observation] could completely conceal my mana. Only monsters like Tia could detect the void in the world.
Basic Magic
[Wind Bomb]
I cast the spell towards the ground, sending more dirt flying. But this was just a temporary measure. Alexios had already successfully initiated [Flame Cloud Thunderclap Fist]. This blinding tactic wouldn’t last even three seconds.
*Boom!*
As expected, with a loud explosion, the dust cloud I had created was blown away. I rolled across the ground, dodging the ensuing attacks. Considering my current physical abilities, I could avoid his attacks if I focused.
[Erosion Blade 30%]
I rolled across the ground ungracefully, sometimes using magic to propel myself or hinder Alexios, buying as much time as possible.
[Mana Dominator Lv. 2]
[95/100 until guaranteed SSR-rank magic]
I cast my ninth spell using [Mana Dominator]. Although SSR-rank magic still hadn’t appeared, a somewhat helpful spell did. An advanced spell.
[Frozen Tempest]
A fierce storm of cold air momentarily blocked Alexios’s attack. Breathing, and the space it afforded, led to more thoughts.
It wasn’t enough.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough.
The strain from the forcibly enhanced physical abilities caused by the divine spells and magic made my head spin. Focusing on each spell was disrupting my planning and twisting my thoughts.
[Erosion Blade 30%]
It wasn’t enough. This wouldn’t be enough. At this rate, the SSR-rank physical abilities I had gained would be useless.
I needed to be calmer. I needed to read the situation better.
[Erosion Blade 30%]
Should I run? This wasn’t my problem to solve in the first place. It was ridiculous that I had to clean up Oz’s mess. If that were the case, shouldn’t they at least tell me *how* to clean it up?
[Erosion Blade 30%]
There was no point in defeating Alexios without knowing what had happened. The same thing would just happen again. Besides, I couldn’t even imagine myself defeating Alexios. Even if I tried to overwhelm him with physical abilities, Alexios’s skill wouldn’t allow it. I’d probably end up with my head caved in. Intermediate magic couldn’t even scratch Alexios, whose durability had been significantly increased by [Unprecedented]. Even if I relied on SSR-rank magic from [Mana Dominator], I wasn’t confident I could last until then.
My planning was lacking. I lacked calm, rational thought.
I was confused.
I needed to be able to utilize the magic generated by [Mana Dominator] effectively on the spot. I couldn’t waste a single moment.
[Erosion Blade 30%]
I was a mage. I shouldn’t just mindlessly spam magic; I had to plan every element of the battle. The opponent’s habits, skills, weaknesses, even their past and history.
Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough.
Therefore…
“You should deal with the mess you made, Oz.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden…? Have you gone crazy, Oz?”
“Yes.”
[Erosion Blade 31%]
“It’s about 31% now.”
The [Erosion Blade], which had been suppressing my thoughts, broke through its limit.
Memories flooded in.
—–CROW—–
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