Ch.103Chapter 103. First Elder Kilbis (2)

I arrived at a vast, empty plain after tearing through space.

In this seemingly barren landscape, the only visible structure was a wooden house.

A house that looked suspicious at first glance.

“There it is.”

I knew it immediately.

A wooden house reeking of trap.

I tried to detect if that guy from earlier was around, but there was no one.

I also checked if anyone was inside the house, but I couldn’t sense anything within.

It felt as if something was blocking my perception.

More precisely, the entire area around the house had a hazy feeling that prevented detection.

‘Where did this bastard go?’

I thought he would be waiting for me as soon as I crossed over, but he wasn’t.

I had prepared for an immediate attack upon arrival, but contrary to my expectations, there was no one around.

‘To think he would move exactly as predicted, without missing a single detail.’

As the situation calmed down a bit from earlier, I had time to reflect on what had just happened.

Commander Ordin and the O’Neil Kingdom’s forces immediately turned their attention to me after that Nameless guy disappeared.

It was an impressively quick change of target.

I had anticipated it, but their anger toward me seemed even more intense than expected.

“Sigh, it’s been years already.”

I muttered to myself as I slowly walked toward the wooden house.

Anyway, thanks to Professor Amillion, I managed to escape from that situation safely.

Now the important thing was Elaine.

The reason I risked exposing myself as the Black Shadow Corps commander in O’Neil was all to save Elaine.

I still hadn’t achieved my most important goal.

Grip-

I tightened my grip on the Black Shadow Sword as I stepped forward.

I would have rescued Elaine even without the quest, but conveniently, there was a quest involved.

All conditions were 100% aligned for me to give it my all.

Whoosh-

‘Wind?’

As I stepped forward with heightened concentration, an artificial wind blew from directly in front of me.

The sharp wind coming from ahead swept over my entire body.

Clearly suspicious.

Halt-

Just as I stopped, sensing something off.

Pop-

With that now-familiar sound of air bursting, someone appeared in front of me.

A man wearing a white robe.

It was the same guy who had fled from me earlier.

“Finally here?”

“…Why is the Black Shadow Corps interfering with our business? Starting with the hourglass.”

“Oh? You know about that?”

The man in the white robe muttered in a low voice.

It seemed that our theft of the hourglass was quite well-known on their side.

“So you were involved in what happened to the Third Elder.”

“Quick to catch on, aren’t you?”

I didn’t bother to refute the man’s words.

There was no one around to hear anyway, and I didn’t particularly care whether this person knew or not.

“Are you here for revenge?”

“I have no interest in such petty emotions. However.”

“However?”

“You’ve ruined a significant portion of our plans. You must pay the price.”

The man exuded confidence, unlike earlier when he had fled with his tail between his legs.

I wasn’t sure what the basis for his confidence was, but I had never been one to lack confidence myself.

“You’re the one who should pay the price.”

“What?”

“You kidnapped an innocent student, didn’t you?”

“Hmph. So that girl really is important to you…”

Clang-

Before the man could finish speaking, I rushed at him quickly.

He seemed completely unprepared for my attack, but my sword couldn’t reach him.

As if he had anticipated this, a powerful barrier was deployed around him.

“Impatient, aren’t you?”

The man’s voice was tinged with mockery after blocking my attack.

As if he thought he had perfectly blocked my attack with just a barrier.

“I think you’re the impatient one.”

Woong-

With a sound of space trembling, the area around my sword vibrated slightly.

The unique phenomenon that occurs with each spatial movement.

Whoosh-

“Wha-“

“More agile than you look?”

“H-how…”

The man retreated hastily, his voice filled with confusion.

The sword that had seemed blocked by the solid barrier had passed right through it.

I thought I could cut him down while he was off guard, but unfortunately, his movements were quite nimble.

I had noticed earlier that he was quite agile for a mage.

‘Ugh, this is really taxing.’

Opening the space around an object I’m holding rather than around my body.

This technique definitely consumed an enormous amount of concentration.

In combat, I couldn’t use it recklessly unless I had the luxury of time like just now.

Tap- Tap-

Still, it was a good choice to show him that I could ignore his barrier, even if it was straining.

Now that I’ve planted the idea that barriers are useless against me, he’ll become more cautious.

Just as I expected, he was hastily retreating.

“Kugh.”

As a groan escaped his lips, I charged at him again.

Woong-

When I suddenly appeared in front of him by jumping through space, he reacted violently.

Crackle-

The man leaped backward while simultaneously casting a spell at me.

‘This is…’

I felt a very familiar sensation from the magic he used.

It had the same properties as the black mana Landgar used.

However, while Landgar’s attacks felt crude and rough, this attack was different.

It felt clean, cold, and orderly.

Woong-

Drawing on my combat experience with Landgar, I didn’t rashly try to cut through his magic.

Instead, I extended my hand to open space and sent the magic straight into another dimension.

My choice was the right one.

The magic I felt up close was, like Landgar’s mana, not something I could directly confront.

“You truly are capable of defeating the Third Elder.”

“Third Elder?”

“Yes. The fool who got himself beaten in Crescen.”

“Ah. Landgar was the Third Elder? Then are you the Second Elder or something?”

“I am the First Elder of the Nameless Organization.”

“Oh, really? Does First Elder mean you’re the strongest?”

“The elder number has nothing to do with strength.”

“Is that so? Then you might be weaker than Landgar.”

The First Elder, seemingly unwilling to continue the conversation, stepped back without answering.

By now, the First Elder was floating in the air.

He was preparing something, gathering mana at his fingertips.

Watching the First Elder, I refocused my attention.

According to the First Elder, the number had nothing to do with strength, but my instincts told me otherwise.

This First Elder was someone I couldn’t underestimate.

The speed at which mana gathered and rearranged was on a completely different level from Landgar.

While Landgar was an exceptional mage, skilled enough to be appointed as vice-chancellor of Crescen Academy, he wasn’t at this level.

Different forms of mana gathered in each of the First Elder’s hands, and soon began to move.

‘Is he using two different spells simultaneously with both hands?’

That’s quite impressive.

‘This won’t be easy.’

I couldn’t help but think.

**

‘What kind of technique is he using?’

Kilvis already knew that the Black Shadow Corps commander used unusual techniques.

However, he hadn’t expected abilities this unpredictable.

Whoosh-

Kilvis felt black mana rapidly gathering in both his hands as he pondered.

The abilities the Black Shadow Corps commander had shown so far.

Quick spatial movement was basic, and the sword he carried was no ordinary weapon.

And the technique he had just demonstrated was impossible to guess.

Not cutting through a top-tier barrier, but simply “passing through” it.

It seemed like a type of Black Magic that ordinary mana couldn’t counter.

‘No wonder the Third Elder was defeated.’

Kilvis seriously thought so.

As the First Elder of the Nameless Organization, he was devoted to serving the Founder and the Nameless Demon, but before that, Kilvis was a mage.

And not just any mage—he was a globally recognized top talent.

For Kilvis, new magical discoveries were extremely intriguing.

He had never seen anyone use spatial movement magic so quickly and concisely, and now a new technique.

As a mage, Kilvis felt his blood stirring.

He wanted to somehow figure out the principle behind the Black Shadow Corps commander’s techniques.

‘If I use what I’ve prepared, I can push him to his limits.’

Even while creating different spells with both hands, Kilvis was thinking of something else.

As everyone had expected, Kilvis luring the battle to this location was all part of his plan.

The wooden house behind him was indeed Kilvis’s laboratory and hideout.

The reason Kilvis had taken the risk of inviting an enemy to his real hideout was simple.

He felt he couldn’t lose to anyone when fighting here.

Kilvis, a born mage and researcher, unlike the other two elders of the Nameless Organization, always acted alone.

Thus, Kilvis operated freely without any subordinates, conducting research and acting as he pleased.

He used not only the small wooden house but also the nearby plain as his laboratory.

Clench-

As Kilvis clenched his fists, different forms of magic were completed in each hand.

One was black mana in the form of a small sphere, and the other was mist.

Whoosh-

‘Let’s test how far he can go.’

Kilvis threw the black sphere, concealing it within the mist that spread widely across the ground.

The sphere flew precisely toward the Black Shadow Corps commander standing dazed below.

However, Kilvis’s gaze wasn’t directed at the Black Shadow Corps commander.

Instead, it was focused on the hundreds of magic formations hidden widely around this area.

Magic that Kilvis had inscribed while researching and training.

Using just a few dozen of these simultaneously would be enough to easily kill that guy.

‘I’ll reveal all your abilities.’

But Kilvis didn’t want to end it so easily.

He planned to slowly, methodically push the Black Shadow Corps commander to his limits to see the full extent of his abilities.