episode_0107

Overwhelming malevolence spreading out from Zervil. A terrifying energy so dreadful that the part of the body it touches would rot and fester.

However, even such malevolence from Zervil could not infringe upon Acell’s mana. If Zervil had been serious, the result would have been unknown, but the current Zervil is not even showing half of his skill. It was slightly insufficient to penetrate Acell’s mana barrier.

In other words, with less than half that power, he had formed a domain encompassing the entire sparring ground. A domain of death that makes the weak fall into a state of suspended animation within just 1 second. A land of the dead existing solely for corpses.

“Zervil!!!”

Fride shouts, forcibly pushing away the malevolence that pricks her skin. Her mana significantly surged like waves according to her turbulent emotions.

The distinctive green mana of elves flows through the air.

A clear energy full of vitality, opposite to Zervil’s malevolence. The energy that is the natural enemy of Corpse Puppeteers is precisely the mana of elves.

A power used by the forest fairies who can return the caster themselves, as well as corpses, back to nature, though it is inferior to Divine Power. However, Zervil felt no discomfort even when directly facing Fride’s mana.

They are both 8th Tier, both Great Mages, but there is a distinct unspoken hierarchy among them.

Powerful individuals lined up below the overwhelmingly strong Gaebyeok (開闢). Zervil was a Great Mage who played in the upper ranks even within that group. Fride was located much lower than that.

It’s not that she is weak, but she is not strong enough to confront Zervil. If they fought with all their might, at some point her face would be mixed among Zervil’s corpse army.

But even so, Fride did not hide her anger. Clenching her teeth, she leaped from where she was sitting and stood directly in front of Acell, as if guarding him.

“Dean.”

“Step back.”

Fride said, looking back at Acell who was raising his mana.

“He is not someone you can handle.”

“Then you plan to handle him?”

Zervil chuckled and tilted his head to the side. Fride’s face filled his lifeless eyes.

“Fride, our Fride. When you disgracefully ran away alone when you joined the subjugation force, and now you’re trying to act like a dean?”

“……”

“Even so, the hundreds of elven suicide squad members who died to protect you that day won’t return. Why did you crawl out of the forest in the first place? You should have just quietly lived serving the World Tree.”

“Shut up, Zervil.”

Fride spat out in a growling voice.

“You were the one who first attacked the Great Forest, and you were the one who took my kin hostage. The elves joining the battle to capture you was something you provoked from the start.”

“Is that so? But what am I supposed to do about it?”

“……What?”

Fride questioned back, and Zervil shrugged his shoulders.

“I did it because I was confident that I could annihilate the elves right then and there. But what about you? You attacked without certainty and were completely wiped out, weren’t you? Hahaha, I learned for the first time then that humans and elves think at pretty much the same level when their eyes are clouded by revenge.”

“……This bastard.”

“Well, let’s stop talking about the past. That’s not why I came here either.”

Zervil smiled sweetly once, then looked at Acell standing behind Fride and opened his mouth.

“Acell, do you remember that day? The slum where a foul smell rose. Us, who had no choice but to part ways with tears in our eyes, getting soaked in the pouring rain.”

Acell did not answer. Instead, he gathered his disordered mana and slowly flowed it throughout his body.

A dark blue light gleamed in his eyes.

“Run away.”

Fride whispered softly to Acell. Acell nodded, then immediately prepared the Flight Spell.

Meanwhile, Zervil’s words continued.

“Originally, I intended to use you as my experimental tool. But now that Gaebyeok-nim has taken you in and you’ve grown into a proper mage. You’ve become a human closer to a toy than an experimental tool.”

“……”

“Do you know what the meaning of a toy is? It is to bring joy and interest to the user. And I, to play with that toy, have personally taken the trouble to come all the way to this distant foreign land.”

“You’re saying crazy things without a care.”

Acell muttered, feeling the unease flowing down his spine.

The Flight Spell is slow to cast, proportional to its mana consumption. With Acell’s talent, deploying it instantly is not impossible, but to move stealthily without being noticed by Zervil required quite a bit of time.

But.

“Crazy things.”

Zervil grinned widely and began to wield his malevolence in earnest.

Crack!

The ground Acell was standing on split wide open, revealing a gigantic maw. Acell immediately began casting another spell to counter, but the maw opening was faster than that.

“……!”

Acell’s eyes widened at the sudden sensation of floating. Clenching his teeth, he desperately deployed the Flight Spell he had been stealthily manifesting. He immediately soared into the air, but collided head-on with a massive figure that had fallen vertically from the sky.

Boom!

“Gasp!”

A tremendous shock, enough to shatter all the layered shields, struck Acell’s body. He gasped for breath and glared at the massive male figure pressing down on him.

He was wearing robes similar to a monk’s, but the trained, rotten muscles beneath them twitched as if alive. Blood dripped profusely from eye sockets where the eyeballs were gone, and he extended a hand with an eye on its palm, grabbed Acell by the neck, and threw him deep into the open maw.

Acell’s body, shot away with a sonic boom, instantly disappeared, swallowed by darkness.

“Acell!”

Fride called out to him urgently, but Acell had already disappeared into the maw long ago. She ground her teeth and glared at Zervil.

“You damned son of a bitch!”

“Fride. I’m not interested in you. Don’t call out to me so desperately.”

Zervil chuckled and snapped his fingers. Then, tombs fell one by one at the feet of the Academy guards, professors who had arrived just in time, and the VIPs who were about to join the battle to deal with Zervil.

Grrr-rumble…!

Something with a huge presence began to writhe in unison from beneath the tombs. The moment everyone’s faces hardened at the terrifying energy.

“I am not your opponent.”

Whoosh!

Magic and aura surged simultaneously from inside the tombs. Fride bit down hard on her molars at a sharp dagger that grazed her cheek and turned back to look at Zervil.

However, Zervil did not even look at her.

“Go ahead and play. I won’t kill you, but you might die, so be careful about that.”

“Zervil!”

“Well then, I’m off. I hope everyone enjoys a happy duet.”

Saying that, Zervil lightly tapped the ground. Simultaneously, the same kind of maw that had opened beneath Acell’s feet appeared and gaped wide. Zervil let out a mocking laugh and rapidly plummeted into it.

Thus, the battlefield from which Acell and Zervil disappeared.

“Greetings, everyone.”

Someone slowly rose from the tomb created beneath Fride’s feet. The same was true for the tombs formed elsewhere. Corpses that had retained their prowess in life, or had grown even stronger, awoke in grotesque forms across the area, each grabbing onto one person and lunging with intent to kill.

“……I am worried about my daughter.”

The founder of the Duchy muttered as he looked at a clown corpse with four heads. The clown, with faces depicting joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, watched the founder and chuckled.

[The fun performance begins!]

[Shit, you bastard! I’m the main character of today’s performance!]

[Sob… If the performance fails, the master will kill us.]

[We’re already dead, you idiot! So shut up and enjoy the performance!]

Six daggers were held in the clown’s three pairs of arms, two in each hand. An assassin who had reached the Master realm in life, reborn by Zervil’s hand, emitted indiscriminate killing intent.

“……Hmph.”

The founder let out a deep sigh, closed his eyes, and opened them.

Zzzzt,

His eyes were stained crimson.

The founder was not the only one preparing for battle. Tombs formed beneath everyone with fighting spirit. The corpses dug out from within them latched onto one person each and charged with deadly intent.

The same was true for Fride. She glared at Katarina, who gracefully greeted her, and raised her mana.

“I’ll finish this quickly and go rescue Acell. Move.”

“I’m sorry. I’m assigned the role of tying you down, you see.”

A voice that resonated calmly despite the absence of a neck slowly spread through the space. Katarina, extending a gloved hand towards Fride, said in a voice mixed with laughter.

“Won’t you have a duet with me before you go?”

***

Acell, shot away at a speed exceeding the speed of sound, collided with the ground not long after. But there was no pain. A soft sensation, as if falling onto a bed, enveloped his entire body.

But he did not let his guard down. Acell immediately got up and shot magic towards the maw floating in the air.

[Seomjinroe]

-Kieeekkkkkkkkk!!!

The maw, directly hit by the magic, screamed grotesquely and spewed out blood and chunks of organs from its mouth. The moment Acell frowned at the sight, someone landed softly beside him.

There was no need to see who it was. Without hesitation, Acell dropped high-level magic towards Zervil. A lightning strike, plummeting vertically from the sky, burned and melted Zervil’s entire body.

“Hmm.”

But Zervil showed no change in expression. He roughly brushed away the dark blue current rising from his entire body with his hand and grinned mockingly at Acell.

“You arrived safely. That’s good. I was worried about your spine getting crushed during the fall.”

“……Zervil.”

Acell said in a voice that sounded like spitting.

“What is the reason for suddenly attacking the Academy?”

“Hmm. I don’t understand the intent of the question. Didn’t I say earlier that it was to play with my toy? There’s no meaning beyond that.”

“……”

“Or what? Is it a perfunctory question you threw out to buy time? Well, that’s not bad either, but you’d better abandon hope. No one can come here anyway. Everyone’s already been tied down.”

Zervil grinned and spread his arms wide.

“This place is the center of the Academy mountain area that Gaebyeok destroyed. It’s a better battlefield for you than anything, and a worse battlefield for me than anything.”

“……What?”

Acell frowned and looked up at the sky.

……Rumble.

The clear blue sky filled with clouds. The pure white lightning bolt traversing its center continuously emitted currents, turning the ground into a massive Electrified Space. High voltage currents, threatening enough to turn ordinary people to ashes upon stepping in, swam deep within the air and the ground.

As he said, this was inside the Academy grounds. But the atmosphere was much heavier than before.

‘……The current is stronger than before. Normally, it wouldn’t matter if anyone entered?’

“It’s because of me.”

Zervil, realizing Acell’s question, raised his trembling hand and said.

“Gaebyeok’s magic is automatically detecting me, who harbors malice towards you, and is running wild to exclude me. Perhaps the longer I stay here, the stronger Gaebyeok’s magic will become, and my breathing will be increasingly constricted.”

“……”

“Wow, isn’t that amazing? Although it’s said that a part of a caster’s Will is included in Extreme Tier magic regardless of their intention, for it to run wild just for that purpose to protect you. It seems Gaebyeok’s Will has changed a bit since meeting you. I don’t know if it’s a positive change or not, but it’s certain that he cherishes you quite a bit.”

Zervil looked down at the back of his hand, which was cracked from the rising current, and chuckled.

“Now then! Let’s begin the spar from now on. It’s an extension of whatever joint spar that was! Aren’t you itching for a fight anyway, after battling some strange swordsman? Cutting off fingers was probably a way to feel some thrill, right? Is that it?”

“……You’re spouting nonsense.”

“Whether it’s nonsense or not is for me to decide. Actually, I wasn’t that curious.”

Small orbs bloomed over Zervil’s palm.

“What I want is simple.”

“……”

“I just want to ascertain how much the child I let go that day has grown, how much he can entertain me, and how much he can grow in the future. Isn’t that truly fitting for a toy?”

“……Completely insane.”

“Now, until I’m burned by Gaebyeok’s magic, deal with me as much as you can. You can’t help it even if you dislike it. Anyway, you can’t escape from in front of me.”

“……Hoo.”

Acell exhaled a long breath and raised his mana.

He was right. Escaping safely from Zervil was close to impossible.

So there was only one thing he could do.

Acell’s face grew cold as he spoke.

“That body. It’s not your main body. You’ve merely put your consciousness into a spare corpse you made.”

“Hoho, how did you know that? I put so much effort into shaping the face to be as identical to mine as pos— ”

“The amount of malevolence it can hold is about half of your main body. But even so, it’s inefficient because it doesn’t mesh with the physique. This body can likely only handle about 70% of your spell output. It’s not that you can’t use more than that, but if you increase the output, that body will melt down and won’t hold up.”

Zervil’s mouth closed. Acell continued to recite the information contained within Zervil’s malevolence while stacking shields.

“If you fight using only 70% of your output… you can probably withstand master’s magic for a maximum of about 15 minutes. If you exceed that, not only will this body collapse, but it will also affect your main body. As long as the consciousness is connected, you cannot be completely free from pain.”

“……”

“Am I wrong?”

Acell asked with a smile. Zervil was silent for a moment, then stretched his lips into a grin and replied.

“As I thought, I really do have good judgment when it comes to people.”

Grrr-rumble!!!

The orbs held in Zervil’s hand convulsed wildly. Acell slightly lowered his upper body and exhaled deeply.

Crackling!!

Lightning exploded from his entire body. The bolts thus unleashed resonated with Ena’s current that had dominated the space, reinforcing Acell’s magic overall.

Rumble!!

The afterimage etched in the sky roared fiercely according to Acell’s will. As if energy was condensing, the current began to gather towards the center of the pure white lightning bolt traversing the sky.

Zervil burst into maniacal laughter at the sight. Acell manifested the magic he had prepared in advance.

[cădáver solútĭo]

[Taeryunjinmyeol]

Corpse projectiles and rings of lightning collided with each other.

Kwaaaahhh!!!

Blood and organs poured out among the shattered corpses with a massive roar. Acell grabbed the resulting blood mist and swung it.

[Hyeollyu Joyeong]

[Geuksa]

Crack!

The blood mist shot out in a line, forming a gigantic path of thorns. Zervil tore the corners of his mouth and unleashed his malevolence.

With a thudding sound, Acell’s magic shattered. Zervil exploited the gap and rushed towards Acell.

“……!”

Movement speed much faster than average warriors. Acell immediately canceled his offensive spells and redirected all techniques towards defense.

It was already too late to dodge. Defending first and then aiming for a counterattack was more effective.

“Hahahaha!”

Just like that, Zervil’s fist flew, aiming for Acell’s left eye. Acell’s eyes widened, and he simultaneously deployed all techniques at once.

[Noesingangche]

[Noeje]

[Noeseongbyeok]

[Yeomhwachukseong]

Current was overlaid onto Acell’s skin. Interception techniques were activated, and walls of current shot up. On top of that, flames threatening to burn down the entire forest bloomed like a barrier.

Crackkk!!

—They were all shattered. Zervil forcibly pushed his arm, dripping with blood, pus, and ash, to brutally break through all the magic and directly struck Acell’s shield.

The layered shields shattered in real time every time his hand touched them.

And just like that, the last remaining shield crumbled.

“……Kuheuk!”

Zervil’s fist burst Acell’s left eye and sent him flying like a projectile.

Simultaneously, dozens of pure white lightning bolts fell towards Zervil. Zervil was hit by lightning bolts of a power level vastly different from Acell’s magic and burst into maniacal laughter.

“Hahahaha! Aren’t you doting on your disciple too much, Gaebyeok-nim! Stop eavesdropping here and focus on your own fight over there!”

As if responding to his voice, the sky flashed with pure white light.

Kwaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!

Tears of lightning poured down.