Chapter 328: And It Was Winter (4)

The first to detect Eslow’s appearance were the mages of the Green Tower, who had spread wide-area protective magic. Although the Green Tower failed to block Eslow’s approach itself, they instead activated group foundation magic in that brief interval.

Group foundation magic: simply put, it was a large-scale spell cast simultaneously by dozens of mages. The difficulty increased exponentially as the number of casters increased, but the power and range multiplied dozens of times as well.

The Green Tower’s mages were veterans. It showed that they had coordinated hundreds, thousands of times. Twenty mages moved as if they were a single organism, sharing the same thoughts and actions.

Rumble...!!!

The entire world shook. Normally, eight-circle spells and above were often called disaster magic, as a single spell could wipe out a major city. And that kind of magic was now being cast at one man: Eslow.

“Incredible. Even though I’m not the target, the pressure is overwhelming.”

Group foundation magic had a long activation time. However, what offset that weakness was the compression of mana that occurred the moment casting began. That alone made everyone unable to move. Even the Baen knights, who stood opposed to the Green Tower, acknowledged the superiority of the tower’s group foundation magic.

“Look there. Even the Lord of the South can’t move!”

Eslow stood still with his arms crossed. Henya prayed that it wasn’t composure born of confidence. At last, the group foundation magic was completed.

“Even time itself shall freeze—Absolute Zero!”

Absolute Zero, an eight-circle freezing-type spell.

Craaaaack!

Frost spread across the entire area, and in the blink of an eye, a pillar of ice connecting the ground and sky formed. Eslow was sealed inside the pillar of ice, still in his arrogant posture. But no one was rash enough to call it a win already. The Green Tower’s mages immediately began casting the next spell.

“Oh, primordial force, wrath of the earth!”

Rumble...!!!

A sphere of gravity formed in the sky. The ground overturned and was sucked upward. The ground and trees gathered into a single massive sphere. It was as big as a hill.

“Terraria!”

Terraria, a fusion spell of gravity and earth.

“Terraria!”

They restrained movement with Absolute Zero, then slammed in a mass so heavy even giants would seem small beside it. These were the two eight-circle spells the Green Tower had prepared.

Those watching were struck speechless. It was said that from seven-circle onward, spells rivaled Authority. And these were eight-circle spells. Even if Eslow was an eight-star Irregular, surely he couldn’t survive chained eight-circle magic... or at least that was what they thought.

Suddenly, light reflected from Eslow’s forearm inside the ice pillar. At the exact moment Terraria struck the ice pillar, light exploded outward. It was clearly not the aftershock of impact.

Pshhhh!

“W-what?!”

“H-how?!”

Absolute Zero and Terraria, both eight-circle spells, were being sucked into the glass shield on Eslow’s arm. The moment they saw it with their own eyes, the two spells vanished in the blink of an eye.

“How can such power be contained in something as small as a shield?!”

The Green Tower’s mages knew about Eslow’s glass mirror, as Henya had told them about the five equipments Eslow favored: a sword with only a hilt and no blade, a spear flickering with dark red flames, a pitch-black double-bladed axe made from a horned skull, a glass shield as thin as a strand of hair, and wooden armor woven from trees and vines.

Of these, the glass shield was said to specialize in defending against magic and supernatural abilities. But the Green Tower’s mages had been confident.

“Equipment that defends against magic shares one trait: they disrupt mana itself. Their weakness is clear—they cannot block magic with physical substance.”

Absolute Zero and Terraria both had physical substances that were created by mana. Though made with mana, the finished forms were independent of it. Therefore, artifacts that defended against magic should be useless.

But Eslow shattered common sense. His glass shield instantly devoured two eight-circle spells with physical substance and remained completely intact.

Eslow still stood up in the sky with his arms crossed.

“Were those the only spells you prepared?”

Sweat beaded on the foreheads of the Green Tower’s mages. It was far too late to acknowledge Eslow’s strength and concede.

“Prepare Thunder Storm!”

Casting three eight-circle spells in a row was impossible, but a seven-circle spell—one step down—was doable.

Thunder Storm distributes physical force and magical power evenly. That, at least, he won’t block!

It was an unplanned spell. Their coordination faltered, and the casting time was longer than the eight-circle spells. They said battles between masters were decided within one second. In combat with Transcendentals, victory was decided in a single instant.

The moment the Green Tower’s mages had already spent more than ten seconds casting, they were as good as dead. The only reason they were still alive was that Eslow had allowed it, and they knew it. Pride aside, they had to live. They planned to distract Eslow’s gaze and flee via group teleport.

“Thunder Storm!”

With a cry close to a scream, lightning poured down from the clear sky. Eslow raised the glass mirror toward the heavens. In that instant, the Green Tower mages opened a teleport gate—a plan was to escape while Eslow blocked Thunder Storm.

But...

Boom!!!

With a thunderous explosion, Thunder Storm detonated on the Green Tower mages. The glass shield had not absorbed it—it had reflected it. The mages, who had never imagined their own spell would be reflected, were struck defenseless and roasted alive. Of course, each of them normally wore multiple layers of shields, but those were nowhere near enough to stop a seven-circle spell.

After annihilating the Green Tower mages in the blink of an eye, Eslow slowly descended from the sky.

Though he could have come down instantly, he deliberately descended slowly with a gentle smile.

“Do not be nervous. As a father, I will accept every trap my daughter has prepared.”

* * *

Although the formidable mages of the Green Tower had died shockingly easily, the knights of Baen were not afraid at all. Two of the knights stepped forward confidently.

“We are the Olio and Alio brothers of Baen. Lord of the South, have you heard of the Titans?”

“If you’re just going to talk, I’ll kill you,” Eslow replied with a flat expression.

“How impatient. Fine. The level-six Titan my brother and I designed was made to fight Transcendentals. We’ll have to go all out.”

Electric currents burst out from the protrusions on the Titan’s shoulders and soon wrapped around the exterior like armor, trying to use it as both offense and defense. And as if that weren’t the end, all sorts of phenomena began occurring within the level-six Titans.

“Begin resonance!”

Vooong!!

Seven Titan units connected through mana.

“Draw your swords!”

The Titans drew swords that were mounted on their backs. The swords were clearly not ordinary, as white aura surged around them.

For the first time, Eslow’s expression changed.

“You’ve wrapped divine power around the blade. That’s... interesting.”

“Hahaha! A divine technology of the Baen Kingdom that surpasses even the Samael Empire!”

The energy knights wielded was aura. When refined to its limits, it was called augmented sword aura. Upon becoming a Transcendental and gaining divine power, one could wield an even higher power: the Divine Sword.

The Baen Kingdom had succeeded, purely through technology, in replicating divine power and imbuing it into their swords. Many of the gathered powers were astonished by Baen’s technology. No matter how great one’s swordsmanship, an overwhelming difference in aura made it meaningless. It was like a wooden stick and a steel shield—no matter how strongly one swung the stick, it couldn’t pierce the shield.

“Some train for hundreds of years to gain divine power.”

“And technology has surpassed effort...”

The powerful figures gathered to challenge Eslow lamented, yet their eyes shone. They wondered if a Divine Sword made through technology could defeat a true Divine Sword. Eslow was alone, but with centuries of experience and skill, the outcome could not be easily predicted.

While everyone focused on the battle, one person’s mind was elsewhere.

Keter... when are you going to appear?

Part of the reason Henya had created this situation was because of Keter.

He definitely said he’d fight... ah.

A chill suddenly ran down her spine. What she had heard from the Special Task Force hadn’t been that.

“Dig a trap and tell me the place and time.”

That was all Keter had said. He had never actually said he would help. Never said he would fight.

B-but that was the implication. I trusted that...

—What if Keter trapped you?

The darkness in her heart whispered. She shook her head violently.

Keter has to take control of the southern region. If he can’t make Father an ally, he must deal with him. But no matter how he does it, he can’t win the people’s hearts. That’s why he asked for my cooperation.

—That’s exactly what he aimed for. What if he shows up after I die and claims revenge? He wouldn’t even need your help to take the South.

That’s impossible. Keter isn’t that kind of person.

—How can you be sure? He’s insane.

She couldn’t refute the voice. The spark of doubt grew.

—Anyone would think you and Keter were deeply connected. You only met for a month during the Sword of the South Tournament, and even then not often. He was just playing with you for fun. Thinking you were special was your mistake.

So you’re saying... Keter isn’t coming?

—Right. He’ll wait until Eslow finishes you all off. Then he’ll appear once Eslow is tired and take everything for himself.

Henya clenched her fist hard. The sight of Baen’s Titans being torn apart by Eslow’s fingers didn’t even register. Her mind was collapsing fast from the despair at having no chance against Eslow, as well as the guilt that her mistaken judgment had doomed not only herself but her lover and younger sibling.

Then what should I do? Beg Father? Ask him to take only me and spare Wid and Ryze?

—Pathetic. You have to live first to take revenge, don’t you? If Ryze or Wid live, can they avenge you? But if you live, you can avenge them. And most of all, you have power, don’t you?

Power?

—Yes. The Authority of Eslow, the one you hate. You inherited it, too. Use it.

Use it? On whom?

—Are you pretending not to know, or are you naive? You know the Authority of weaponization grows stronger the more powerful and precious the target is. Eslow will turn Ryze into a weapon anyway, and Wid, he’ll just kill. So you might as well first...

At that moment, Henya came to her senses at the warmth on the back of her hand. It was Wid. He was looking at her with concern.

“Wid...”

“Lady Henya. It’s not time yet.”

“...Huh?”

Henya, who had been filled with resolve, felt something strange. That wasn’t something Wid would normally say. Then, Wid silently nodded and stepped back. Only then did Henya realize Keter had arrived. She was hurt that Keter hadn’t stepped forward immediately, but she bit down hard.

Father... no, Eslow is not someone who can be defeated without sacrifice.

From the beginning, it was absurd to think Keter alone could win one-on-one. Only now did Henya understand his intent.

While Eslow’s attention is caught by the trap, Keter will ambush him.

Whether an ambush would be enough was impossible to guarantee, but Keter had always thrown himself into things that couldn’t be guaranteed.

I won’t just sit back and watch,

Though she wavered and though she felt ashamed of it, she didn’t look away—she acknowledged it.

“Eslow!”

Eslow, who had just torn apart five Titans, was startled. The one who had called his name in a ringing voice was none other than Henya. She strode straight toward Eslow, as if her goal were not merely to draw his gaze.