episode_0092

Thick smoke spreads, filling the space. A dense fog, thick enough to obstruct vision, swims across the dueling ground. The rising Milky Way twinkles clearly within it. Scattering starlight from her eyes, Ermina clutched a single star contained within the Milky Way in her hand and threw it forward. [Milky Way (銀河水)] [Shining Star (輝星): Red (赤)] Kwa-rururururu!!! A red exostar tears through the fog and advances. With each rotation, the intensity of its light grows, and the destructive power sleeping within also increases exponentially. In that brightened fog, the moment Acel’s figure becomes clear. [Ice and Snow Angular Pillar (氷雪角柱)] Kwagagagagak!! A giant ice horn that shot up from Acel’s feet collides with the red exostar. It immediately twists the direction of the ‘rotation’ in reverse, calculating in reverse and neutralizing it. However, the damage wasn’t completely negated. An explosion that erupted with a huge roar cleared away the fog and shattered the ice into crystal forms. Gathering the scattering ice fragments and fog, Acel combined them with wind magic. He simultaneously chanted different magic spells to create an ice storm. The storm, rotating in the exact opposite direction of the spinning star, advanced with the force to tear Ermina apart. Ermina laughed hoarsely and ducked her head low. At the same time, white binary stars were ejected from the Milky Way. These stars, with opposing orbital and rotational directions, devoured the storm in reverse, growing in size. “……!” Even at a distance, Acel’s face stiffened at the overwhelming heat and destructive power he felt. Ermina plunges her hand into the Milky Way and laughs. “As you guessed, it’s my unique property, ‘Rotation’. Your insight in using that in reverse to calculate backwards and dispel it is quite commendable. It’s not easy even for a great mage.” “……” “But it’s still clumsy. Why did you think I would only fix the rotation in one direction?” “Huh.” Acel let out a hollow laugh at the sight of the massive binary star feast filling his vision. “A mage’s unique property varies depending on their inner world. However, once it’s established, changing it is impossible. That’s why I let my guard down. I never imagined you could reverse the direction of rotation once it was set. I’ve been hit hard this time.” “That’s not something you should say.” Ermina said, grasping five starlight points between her fingers. “Where did a monster like this come from? You dismantle someone else’s unique property just by seeing it, and then imbue your own magic with that quality? Are you some kind of child born of a devil?” Instead of answering, Acel activated his demon eyes. Seeing that, Ermina whispered quietly. “Surrender. Now that I’ve countered one of your strengths, you have no chance of winning. Honestly, you’ve done well just getting this far.” “Thank you for your consideration.” Acel chuckled lightly, scattering dark blue starlight from his eyes. “However, my legs are still moving, and my head is still spinning. It seems it’s too early to end this.” “…Hoh.” Ermina gave a wry smile. “Alright.” At that moment. The binary stars, which had slowed for a moment, advanced towards Acel at a speed far surpassing the speed of sound. Acel merely watched the magic with a blank expression. Direct hit. Kwaaaaaaaaaang!!!! The binary stars explode, blooming into a giant nebula. An immense shockwave was applied, enough to crack the dueling ground coated with various rare metals. At the magic’s power, which Acel couldn’t possibly survive, the faces of Celin and Angelica, who had come to watch, turned pale for a fleeting moment. [Falling Snow Seeking Demons (落雪貪魔)] Sarureuk. “……?” Snow suddenly fell from the ceiling. The snow fell very slowly, revealing its crystal form, drawing a gentle curve as if a fox were wagging its tail. Ermina looked at the impossibly numerous snow crystals with a bewildered gaze. As far as she knew, there was no such spell in ice magic. Magic that makes snow fall artificially, she thought. Even if it existed, manipulating the weather was fundamentally a technique possible only from high-level magic. However, the amount of magic contained in the falling snow now was almost non-existent for it to be considered high-level magic. The falling snow was merely a beautiful phenomenon, one could say. Ermina tilted her head and reached out her hand towards the falling snow crystals. At that moment. “……!” Ermina immediately withdrew her hand at the eerie sensation that swept down her spine and scattered the stars she held between her fingers in all directions. Kwaaaang!! A series of explosions loud enough to deafen erupted. Due to the shock of the explosions, snow scattered in all directions. Ermina desperately maneuvered her magic to prevent them from touching her body, her face contorted. ‘This isn’t just simple snow. This is—’ Tok. The moment she realized the snow’s true nature, a single snowflake she hadn’t detected landed on her shoulder. Ermina tried to quickly brush the snow off, but it was a meaningless act the moment it touched her body. Tuduk. The snowflake split the fabric on her shoulder and fell onto her skin. And then. Kiiiiiiiiiiiiik!!!! Along with a horrible noise, cold energy erupted from Ermina’s shoulder. With a crackling sound, her barrier froze solid and shattered, and the scattering snowflakes, as if responding to the cold energy, began to swirl towards Ermina. “…Ugh!” The snowflakes fall spiraling towards her shoulder. Cold energy seeps through the broken barrier, and the crystal of the first snowflake that landed grows larger and larger, forming a circular saw blade. The magic power consumed in that process was not Acel’s, but Ermina’s. A parasitic spell that works by consuming the magic power of the contacted opponent. The moment Ermina realized her magic power was decreasing madly, she unleashed starlight to shatter the crystal saw blade that had formed on her shoulder. Along with a sound like glass breaking, the saw blade shattered into pieces and fell to the floor. But the sharp saw blade that bloomed inside the barrier had already completed one rotation. Blood dripped from the lacerations that appeared on Ermina’s neck and shoulder, which had been exposed to the saw blade’s range. “…Hoo.” Feeling a stinging pain, Ermina turned her head towards Acel. Acel, who had clearly taken a direct hit from the binary stars, was standing still in the same spot he was in at the beginning, without any damage. “It wasn’t imitation.” Ermina murmured, wiping the blood flowing from her neck. “An ability that responds to all forms of spells and powers unleashed from the outside. That was the power of your demon eyes.” “You grasped that in such a short time?” “No, I just grasped it.” Ermina wore a blood-soaked smile. “Otherwise, you couldn’t have been hit by my magic and be perfectly fine.” “……” “Although I adjusted the power, it’s a destructive spell of a great mage. No matter how renowned you are for defensive spells, you couldn’t be completely unharmed. So, I can only think it’s the power of your demon eyes.” “…You are sharp.” Acel gave a wry smile. He flicked off the cold energy clinging to his fingertips and walked forward. The moment he took that step, steam erupted from his entire body. This was because he had offset the cold energy circulating inside his body with magic power of the fire attribute. The result of months of research. The otherworldly technique of simultaneously manifesting magic powers of opposing polarities to erase their drawbacks. Ermina opened her mouth as she watched him. “Simultaneous manifestation of magic powers of completely different natures.” “……” “Not the power of your demon eyes, but the dismantling of a unique property achieved through your own innate talent. An ice spell of a form I’ve never seen before. Furthermore, the spell is close to a unique magic you created yourself, no, it’s already a new technique that has reached the realm of unique magic.” “Hmm.” “You. You told me not to be surprised just now.” Ermina let out a hollow laugh and continued. “Do you think that’s possible now?” “It’s still too early to be surprised.” “What?” Ermina’s face crumpled at Acel’s reply. “Is there something more left?” “I’ve got a feel for it.” “…Wait.” Ermina’s face stiffened as she grasped the meaning contained in Acel’s subsequent words. Acel generated lightning and cold energy in both hands and condensed them into spheres. Two orbs, rising like stars, orbited, drawn to each other. “Constellation Spell Application.” The corners of Acel’s mouth curved up. “Double Chant. Simultaneous Manifestation. Imbuing with Repulsion and Rotation. Energy Compression.” “……” “Binary stars achieving superconductivity.” A star containing cold energy rises into the air. A star containing lightning rises into the air. The two orbs recognize each other and, drawn by gravity, rotate, drawing a beautiful spiral. “Ice-Lightning Shining Star (氷雷輝星).” Kwa-rurururuk!! The stars of lightning and ice surge towards Ermina, emitting different lights. She burst into maniacal laughter and pulled out a constellation from the Milky Way, brandishing it. “In all my life, I’ve never seen a thieving bastard stealing magic right before my eyes!” The constellation and the binary stars collided, and as a giant nebula spread, Ermina and Acel both clenched their fists tightly. Then, fragments of stars mixed in the nebula caused a chain reaction of explosions. Kwaaaaaaaaaaa-!! The star cloud is swallowed by the explosion and disappears. Acel then molds the scattering dust cloud into a gigantic hammer and swings it. Ermina responds by shooting stars. The middle part of the struck hammer breaks and snaps, and a heavy smoke falls as if to crush Ermina. This also breaks and disappears. [Sky Freeze (天凍)] In the meantime, Acel accelerates. An ice magic spell, formed with hand seals, activates, and the surrounding air temperature instantly drops sharply. Ermina’s feet, directly exposed to the cold energy due to her unreconstructed magic barrier, freeze solid and are fixed in place. A situation where evasion is impossible. Acel, scattering dark blue starlight from his eyes, chants point-blank bombardment magic, and Ermina pulls out a constellation to defend. [Red Ghost Ignition (赤鬼着火)] [Annihilating Thunderbolt (殆殲霹靂)] [Milky Way (銀河水)] [Constellation (星座): Taurus (金牛宮)] Jjeo-eong!! Lightning and flames collide with Taurus and are extinguished. The shattered constellation splits apart, creating a void in the Milky Way. Ermina takes a step back and flicks her fingers. [Sagittarius (人馬宮)] Swae-ae-ek! A planet is shot like an arrow from beyond the dark universe. The arrow, approaching at near-light speed, hits Acel directly in the abdomen. At that moment, his bracelet lights up and reflects the arrow in the reverse direction. Ermina quickly twisted her head away, but she couldn’t avoid being grazed on the cheek. Blood spurted out. Feeling a sharp pain, Ermina grabbed Acel’s face and slammed it straight into the floor. [Leo (獅子宮)] Kkudeudeudeuk…! Monstrous strength, difficult to believe from a mage, erupted from her grasp. Ermina stepped directly on Acel’s abdomen, crushing his internal organs along with his shield. “Ugh!” Blood flowed out of his open mouth. The dueling ground floor was crushed, and Acel’s upper body bent over. “Huuuk!” He quickly catches his breath. The inhaled air is mixed with the smell of blood. Then he breathes out. [Flame Breath Form Kill (炎呼形殺)] Hwareureureuk!! Flames mixed with his breath. The flames advanced, burning Ermina’s legs, and fiercely assaulted her upper body as well. Ermina screamed from the terrible burning pain, grabbed Acel by the hair, and threw him straight towards the wall. —Unfolding wings of flame in the opposite direction. Acel distorts his blood-soaked mouth corners and clasps his hands together. [Fire Demon Flying Blade (火魔飛刀)] A greatsword of flame that bloomed in the air rotates violently and falls as if to split Ermina. Ermina forcibly moves her burning legs and activates magic. “Kuhahak!” [Virgo (處女宮)] Along with laughter, a pure white lily that bloomed decomposes the greatsword and increases its own size. It then transforms each petal into a star, drawing a white dwarf. Huuk! The dwarf stars fall towards Acel. Looking at the beautiful feast of starlight bright enough to blind him, Acel stomped his foot. [Thunder Emperor (雷帝)] Ppajijijijik! The blooming lightning wraps around Acel’s body. The interception spell he directly created by analyzing the bracelet’s formula appears in the world for the first time. Peobeobeong!! Each time the lightning twists, the white dwarf stars shatter and collapse. Fragments of the falling stars become blades, crashing down to slice Acel. Even those turn into ashes by the lightning. A dark space where life is not permitted, the universe. Another name for it is the outer sea. Even there, where only countless constellations are spread out, lightning rarely exists. Lightning penetrating between the large number of particles generated when celestial bodies collide, races through space using the star fragments as mirrors. [Discharge Lightning (放雷)] The most basic electric magic blooms over Acel’s hand. The lightning, which feeds on the energy generated as celestial bodies collapse, grows in size and is discharged like plasma, heading precisely towards Ermina’s forehead. A rush that is almost at the speed of light. Ermina looked at it and muttered quietly. “Let’s end this.” Ppajijijijik!! The lightning penetrates her forehead, forming a spherical conductive space. Bioelectric signals are chaotically scrambled, and the current flowing along her spine arbitrarily manipulates the activity of all organs and muscles. In that situation, Ermina, feeling a pain like directly poking her brain with a red-hot iron poker, reconstructed her magic barrier. Simultaneously, some of Acel’s magic power that had infiltrated her body was extinguished. The remaining magic power lacerates her mouth, nose, and throat, bursting out blood. Blood tears stream from her eyes, whose blood vessels have burst. Ermina let out a cackle. ‘Magic power that doesn’t completely disappear even after reconstructing the barrier and raising my magic.’ I envy Ena’s student’s luck. Thinking so, Ermina compressed the Milky Way. Molding it into a black oval shape that gleamed with light, she whispered quietly. “Galaxy.” Revealing her bright red stained teeth, she grins. “Big Bang.” The moment she uttered it. Kkudeuk. The Milky Way held in Ermina’s hand rippled once. ……Kwaaaaaaaaaang!! A blue explosion engulfed the entire dueling ground. Acel, witnessing the death of the beautiful stars surging towards him, moved his hand quickly. [Divine Punishment (天罰)] A spell Acel created himself by mixing the principles of rising lightning and falling lightning activated, causing dark blue lightning to rain down from above, below, left, and right. Thus, the cross-shaped lightning and the galaxy explosion collided. Biii-, a ringing in his ears sounded, and at the same time, the world was dyed in a brilliant white light. That was the last sight Acel saw before losing consciousness.