Chapter 258: Without Any Cost (22)

Amid the sea of agony, only I stood sane.

Fwoooosh!

I carried the white powder and went against the wind. Even now, it seemed like ten thousand people were being ripped apart by pain, screaming as they lost themselves. Trapped in hallucinations beyond imagination, they trembled violently in throes of madness, stabbing themselves and each other. A mass-killing weapon, designed solely to maximize pain.

This... is this what a true wizard is? Are they really allowed to be this absurd?

[Skill: Wind Blast Lv. 5 activated.]

Double Casting...

I layered the structure again, building on the wind magic refined through repeated Essence Absorption. Double incantation had become a second nature. Although it consumed a great deal of mana, I felt no strain due to my high Wisdom—just clarity. The rare-tier Wind Blast magic latched onto the ambient wind, nearly evolving into a storm.

FWOOOOOOSH!

I couldn't overturn the entire battlefield, but if I focused everything into one point...

Fweeeee!

A spear of wind, packed with the deadly powder, hurled itself sharply toward the two floating mages.

Both mages recoiled in shock and flew back. "

H-H-HIIEEK!

"

There I stood, atop a mountain of corpses numbering in the tens of thousands. And above me, those two mages glared down, still floating in the air.

The long-haired mage's face twisted hideously. If looks could kill, I'd have been torn apart by his gaze alone. Thanks to his voice amplification spell, everyone heard his pathetic scream just now.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Y-you... Y-you...!"

He was even angrier than I expected. Maybe because he'd lost his illusion of control and that smug, godlike distance from which he'd been manipulating the situation.

The red-haired mage, the one who commanded the wind, stared at me with gleaming eyes. "Well, well... so there was a warrior down here."

The wind stopped. The powder settled. Their focus was solely on me.

Walking against the wind was practically suicide.

Not like I have any real attachments to this life anyway. Perhaps, I could finally gauge my true strength by going all out against these two. Even if I fled, they'd absolutely track me down. If I fell here, at least I'd fall on top of forty thousand corpses. I wouldn't be alone.

The black-haired mage raised his staff, eyes burning red with rage. "Vision Offering. Stone Binding. Purity of Weakness."

Nonsensical incantations manifested in the air. Three spells at once, cast as if it were a joke. This world really did listen to that hunched bastard more than it ever had to me.

"Explode."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The wind converged around me, detonating along my armor.

Force Shield. Double Casting...

I lavishly coated my full-plate dwarven armor with two layers of Force Shield.

"Keep exploding."

BOOOOOOOM!

His incantation had no finesse, just raw intent. And it worked. Magic wrapped tightly around me, erupting again and again in vicious waves. I couldn't even escape. I was bound in place, explosions hammering me from all directions. Each blast held enough power that I couldn't simply shrug it off. It had been a reckless charge, but I had my reasons.

This life's already finished. I need to prepare for the next one.

I would start in Erast. Becoming a swordmaster was still out of reach, but perhaps I could clear the imperial ghosts there. Could I defeat the internal investigator who appeared after killing Kirk Ray? Could I finally seat Rubia as the lord of Erast? I needed to decide that here.

Looking straight up at the floating men, I asked, "Are you the Tower Masters of Azure?"

"That's right." The red-haired mage, the one bombarding me with wind, nodded calmly. "This one here is Eland, the Tower Master of Innocence. I am Hwain al Ghul, Tower Master of Lightning."

"I have something to ask you."

"By all means."

Just as he loosened the barrage...

[Skill: Throwing Lv. 3 activated.]

Whoooosh!

I hurled a spear at the hunched man with all my strength. The weapon flew across dozens of meters as if the distance didn't even exist.

"Damn!"

CLANG!

The upright red-haired mage swung his staff like a sword, striking the spear mid-air. It spun off and crashed to the ground. Of course, the javelin wasn't the real play.

Force Shield. Double Casting...

I deployed raw Force Shield not as armor, but as stepping stones in the air, and ran upward.

Sprint.

Whoosh!

It was one of the few tricks I had practiced while trapped in the Ashen Knight's domain. In theory, anyone could reach the sky with just two steps. I wasn't charging in without a plan.

[Action registered as Acrobatics.]

[Bonus applied: Martial Arts Lv. 7.]

[Additional bonus: Adrian's Martial Discipline Lv. 2.]

[Perk: Darkness activated.

— Attack Power +35%]

[Sword Energy Lv. 3: Maximum Output.]

[Acid Lv. 5...]

[Battle Cry Lv. 3...]

[Attack Power is...]

Iaijutsu.

I struck directly at the weakened shield, stacking every skill into a single flash.

SWISH!

Did it land? I felt a heavy impact. Blood sprayed into the air.

"

GAAAAAH!

"

Thud.

I aimed for his neck, but the way he screamed made it clear I'd failed.

"

Guh, khhh, hik... heeheehee... AHAHAHAHA!

"

Unfortunately, I only managed to slice through the hunched man's leg.

BOOM!

A thunderclap split the clear sky, and a lightning bolt crashed down. It wasn't aimed at me, but at the ground beneath. My Force Shield shattered instantly under the strike, and I was flung helplessly down into the field of corpses.

The moment I hit the earth, I looked up. The mages had already risen higher, now floating a full hundred meters above. It appeared that the red-haired mage had grabbed the other by the collar and lifted him mid-air.

Fwoooosh...

That one was cloaked in wind again, fully prepared. Now, I no longer has any way to reach them. Was this the end?

***

BOOM!

The surrounding field of mana was now completely under their control. I couldn't even summon a shield anymore.

BOOM! BOOM! CRACK!

The armor forged by the dwarves shattered and crumbled to the ground. Bare white bone was exposed.

"Well, well..."

The allied forces could've spotted me, but there wasn't a single soul left in their right mind capable of looking this way. Everyone was too busy running for their lives. No one had the presence of mind, distance, or clarity to notice me.

"What a bizarre existence. You're not a lich or a death knight. And yet, you fight alongside humans?"

Crk!

The cracked parts of my skeleton broke completely. My status window flashed repeatedly, my Health dropping further with each blow. The end was nigh.

BOOM!

Another explosion shattered two of my ribs. The sky detonated again and again. Weapons, once wielded by their slain owners, twirled in the air and stabbed themselves into the blood-soaked earth. My clavicle, pelvis, and every bone were splintering.

"Shall we take him now?"

"He took my leg. Hand him over."

"Stop acting like it was anything special. You can replace that leg any time."

"I'll pay the price."

"With what?"

"Anything. I'll take him back and use him as a test subject for decades."

I couldn't move even a finger. My arms, my legs, everything was broken.

Shhhhk...

The red-haired man descended to the ground, his staff crackling with power as he reached toward my neck. I swung my hand instinctively in rejection, but my bones were already in pieces. The gesture was weak, like the fumbling of a first-timer trying to cast a spell in their first life.

The red-haired mage channeled power into his staff, aiming for my skull. "Guess I'll give you a good hit before you go."

VMMM!

The moment the staff, charged with a heavy impact spell, came swinging down...

BOOM!

The Tower Master of Lightning, Hwain al Ghul, recoiled with a shocked expression. "Th-this can't be..."

"What the hell? What's wrong? What are you doing?"

"I... I can't. I can't strike him."

"What nonsense are you babbling now? Losing your mind after living over a hundred years? There's nothing stopping you."

"No... it's not possible."

"Is this a joke?"

Eland, Tower Master of Innocence and the one who developed the magical weapon iscariot, floated down from the air.

He casually approached me, raising his staff high before bringing it down toward my head. "Look..."

The staff suddenly stopped mid-air, then reversed course and floated upward again.

"What the hell?"

It was as if someone was controlling him like a marionette. Who could possibly pull strings on men like them?

That was when it happened. An unfamiliar voice rang out in the empty air. Beautiful. So beautiful, it pierced the heart.

"He's not the brightest to begin with. If you hit him any harder, who exactly do you expect to deal with the mess afterward?"

"Wh—

k-kuh!

"

The two tower masters began to float, only to be slammed down onto the earth like dolls. They couldn't even lift their heads.

Staring toward the forest where the voice had come from, they said almost in unison, "Could it be The Serpent?"

The voice owner responded with venomous contempt, "You can't even qualify for the lowest ranks of the circle, yet you call yourselves tower masters? Even borrowing a serpent's power to make up for your incompetence?"

The two tower masters leapt up as if on springs, gritting their teeth. "Wh-what did you say?!"

They raised their staffs, only to freeze the next second. A man with black hair and eyes stood before them, so breathtakingly beautiful that the air around him warped. His beauty was so breathtaking, it warped the surrounding air. Even the slightest breath he took seemed to throw the world off balance.

When Eland saw his face, a suffocating sense of guilt overwhelmed him. His expression seemed to say, "What kind of grave crime did I just commit?! Don't I deserve to die for this?!"

"W-what are you..."

"Don't look at him! It's an Allure spell!"

It was too late. Eland could barely hear his colleague's voice anymore.

That impossibly gorgeous man frowned, as if annoyed that anyone would

not

recognize him. "Your hair color's the same as mine."

Fwoooosh!

A jet-black flame burst out of Eland's long black hair. "

G-gaaahhh!

"

The hunchbacked mage was so startled that he straightened up. No matter how desperately he tried to extinguish the fire, not a single strand remained.

"Combine our power! It doesn't matter who he is! Even if he's a god, we must kill him!"

Having regained their senses, the two tower masters crossed their staffs.

With a single, calm hand sign, the enchanting man dispersed their mana.

"That's... impossible..."

"I could play with you, but I don't have much time left. Blame the goddesses who placed restrictions on me."

Thud!

The man appeared right in front of them. Like stealing candy from a baby, he plucked both staffs from their hands, driving them into each other's skulls.

Two of the most feared mages died on their feet, eyes open. The man pulled the staffs free, shaking off the yellowing brain matter onto the ground.

Then, he glanced at me, still lying there, saying, "There's no time. I could've stayed longer if all 110,000 had died. Why'd you have to interfere, huh?

Tsk. Tsk.

"

It was hard to stay conscious.

Barely managing to lift my head, I asked, "Who... are you?"

"Seriously? You don't remember? Take another good look."

"..."

He was beautiful, so much so that it felt unnatural. Even his sworn enemy would've been brought to their knees and pledge loyalty to him.

"You're..." My mind sharpened a little. I had seen him before. Faintly, like in a dream. "The one who... made the contract with Malphas..."

He was the one who grabbed my wrist and led me to the crows.

"Now that hurts. Took you this long to recognize me?"