Ch.122122. Raid (4)

“This is ridiculous. Where did you throw away your pride as a mage?”

At Nella’s feet lay two monsters sprawled on the ground. She could still afford to deal with these creatures leisurely. Edwin stood at a distance, silently watching her.

“You fight by relying on such monsters? You’re not even a summoner who handles familiars.”

“I’m sorry to say, Associate Professor Nella, but I’ve never felt any sense of belonging or pride in being part of the mage community.”

Edwin answered dryly. What circumstances could have led a 4th Circle mage, who must have served in the magic tower for at least 30 years, to say such things?

“Is it so easy for you to deny your years of service?”

“Time and years are useless in the face of absolute existence. Nella, have you ever faced an absolute being? Have you ever lost the meaning of your existence under those eyes where truth and falsehood become meaningless?”

Edwin stared into empty space.

“When you face that… whether it’s 30 years, 300 years, or 30,000 years. You realize it makes no difference. You learn that we’re nothing but specks of dust. Whether it’s your time or mine, or the queen’s, or the hero’s…”

Edwin shook his head.

“It all becomes nothing but the futile struggles of insignificant beings. The same goes for the Calamity.”

“How amusing. You’ve never even seen the tip of the Calamity’s foot. Don’t carelessly discuss calamity and destruction when you’ve never stood against it.”

Nella opposed Edwin’s words with a cold voice.

“Surely not. I have enough discernment to know that. Even if the Calamities approach, I know I’m a being that can’t even reach their toes.”

While Edwin rambled, the monsters did nothing but guard his back.

“That’s something you can know without experiencing it firsthand. You don’t need to see with your own eyes to know which is bigger between an ant and an elephant.”

Nella frowned deeply at Edwin’s attitude of dismissing the Calamity as ants. There was no reason to listen to him anymore. If there was anything she wanted to hear, she could defeat him first and then listen.

“They are beings worthy of being called gods, Nella. Chaotic, incomprehensible, powerful, and seemingly extremely stupid, yet wiser than anything else.”

Edwin looked at the magical light blooming in Nella’s hand.

“Even one spell that we create by squeezing our hearts is nothing compared to what their single breath or step can cause. Even the great magic used by 6th Circle, 7th Circle mages would disappear with a single breath.”

Thud, thud. Edwin approached a monster and placed his hand on its head.

“Like this. Like this.”

Crack! The monster’s head was ripped off along with Edwin’s hand. Edwin’s hand, which had torn out the monster’s spinal cord, had unnaturally prominent tendons.

“You still know nothing. You may never know. You don’t understand how meaningless your struggles are, what true absoluteness means. Some despair when they learn that everything we’ve been exploring was an illusion and that’s the only way to reach the truth.”

Edwin threw the severed head to the floor. The monster collapsed to the ground.

“You’re upset that I rely on monsters to fight? If you want to show off your precious principles, you’ll have to defeat all these monsters first.”

“…Oh really?”

Nella twisted her lips into a smile. After all, he was just a coward hiding behind monsters, making excuses for not facing her directly. Nella finished constructing her spell. A spell constructed by pouring five rings’ worth of mana. The most destructive spell Nella could cast unfolded.

“How about this, then?”

Unlike Nella’s quiet voice, the spell unleashed terrible power. A massive pillar of fire erupted from the floor, consuming half of the 11th floor. Nella frowned as she felt more than half of the magical power she had gathered in her heart evaporate.

“Did I get him?”

She shouldn’t have spoken those last words. Nella clicked her tongue as she looked at the place where the flames had dissipated. As expected, the lesser monsters had all burned to death without leaving even corpses from Nella’s great magic.

“Do you know why I belittle magic as futile struggling, Nella?”

Edwin’s voice was bizarrely distorted. It sounded rough and full of static, as if he were speaking after grinding his vocal cords on a grater. And Edwin’s revealed appearance was no different from the monsters, except that he maintained his reason and had grown twice in size.

“Their power allows one to instantly reach places that magic could never reach.”

“…That’s not something you should say while looking like that piece of crap.”

“You’re not suggesting it’s not the right path, are you? Have you forgotten the true purpose of magic, Nella? It’s to accomplish what cannot be done with human power.”

Black flames ignited in Edwin’s hand. It seemed he could still use magic despite his monstrous appearance.

“Then this too can be called magic. No, it can throw the previous magic into the trash. The assistants you burned to death shared my thinking.”

“…That’s an extremely pathetic statement.”

Though she spoke calmly, Nella was beginning to tremble with anxiety inside. She had consumed a lot of mana in consecutive battles. And the magical power emanating from Edwin, who was writhing with tentacles before her eyes, was at least 6th Circle—far beyond what Nella could defeat.

“It’s a shame you burned these transplant recipients, but Nella, you would be a force that could replenish them and more. What do you say, would you consider changing sides?”

“You’re not seriously asking that in this situation, are you?”

“Of course it’s a joke. I should have a chance to ease my guilt before I kill you, shouldn’t I?”

Nella didn’t give up. She thought if she could properly defend against his attack just once, she would have a chance to escape. She had no intention of foolishly risking her life fighting here.

“I’ll listen to your last words. I think you’ve earned that much by defeating my transplant recipients.”

Nella constructed another spell. Edwin smiled as if he could see right through her intentions.

“A final resistance?”

What final resistance? I’m going to escape.

Nella’s eyes gleamed as she sought an escape route. The most viable option was to jump through the broken glass dome. If she could somehow control a wind spell, she wouldn’t sustain major injuries. Edwin’s eyes followed Nella’s gaze.

“Trying to be clever…!”

BOOM!

A massive explosion occurred. Edwin, who had been proudly displaying his tentacles in front of Nella, was sent flying sideways like a cannonball. Nella, who had been preparing to escape, stared wide-eyed at the entrance engulfed in dust. Reinforcements arriving at such a crucial moment. Nella couldn’t help but think of that name.

“Il…roy?”

The hero’s name stumbled from her lips. But the silhouette visible through the dust was that of a woman. She seemed too tall to be the tower master… Who could have blown away that 6th Circle monster in one go?

“Why is Ilroy’s name coming up here?”

And emerging as the dust settled was a familiar pink-haired figure.

“Care to explain, Nella?”

Nella’s face turned red with shame.

==

Just one sword.

But by holding that sword, the hero finally becomes a hero. The Holy Sword gave wings to my body, which had heated up during the back-and-forth fighting. I smiled, exhilarated by the tingling mana flowing through my bloodstream. It had been a while since I fought with my full power intact.

“The goal is to subdue.”

“[No need to state the obvious. You’re facing quite a troublesome opponent, Ilroy.]”

My head does hurt. From what I can see, we’ve only been testing each other so far. Natalie probably hasn’t revealed her full power either. Her expression as she faced me still showed composure. Natalie, who was standing at a distance from me, opened her mouth with curious eyes.

“So that’s the Holy Sword. Indeed, your aura has changed.”

The tentacles protruding from Natalie’s waist swayed in the air like tails. As if proving my thoughts, the pitch-black magical power emanated even more intensely. The opponent before me was growing stronger even now, making subduing her more difficult, but I remained calm.

“Daphne.”

I called out to Daphne, who was preparing magic behind me. She didn’t answer, but she seemed to be listening. I kept my eyes on Natalie, watching her feet, and left a request for Daphne.

“Leave this to me and please support the 11th floor.”

“The 11th floor…? Right above us?”

“I can sense it. The presence of an ongoing battle above. Nella is probably fighting hard up there.”

Daphne asked no further questions and concealed her presence. I felt relieved and could now fully focus on Natalie. Natalie turned her eyes toward where Daphne had been, looking puzzled. She probably questioned why we were facing each other one-on-one.

“If you had fought together, it would have been much easier to catch me. Professor Daphne is strong, after all.”

“Sometimes overthinking can be detrimental, Natalie. Unless you’re a psychic who can read the flow of battle and look into my mind.”

“Then could you teach me what that thought is, Professor?”

I sighed. It seemed the conversation wasn’t going anywhere. There wasn’t a trace of wavering on Natalie’s face.

“[But you’re not going to give up, are you?]”

Of course not. If she could have been persuaded with words, she would have been reformed long before this happened. I didn’t expect this matter to be resolved so easily. I gripped the Holy Sword with both hands.

“[Do you still consider that one your student?]”

…I won’t deny it. Even if I tried to judge and think coldly, I couldn’t. The evil god worshippers must have targeted exactly that point. Of course, I had to prevent harm from spreading while I hesitated. And I still had one thing I believed in.

“Shall we bring this to an end now, Professor?”

The tentacles flew at me. I didn’t move. The approaching tentacles already contained power far beyond any large-scale magic.

BOOM!!

The floor completely collapsed just half a step away from me. I didn’t panic. I thrust the Holy Sword at the missed tentacle. Without any resistance, the tentacle was severed. Next, in the blink of an eye, tentacles flew at me from two directions.

I’ve seen this somewhere before.

A foggy landscape flashed through my mind. The movement of the approaching tentacles couldn’t match that of the Kraken. And I had already cut through those tentacles hundreds of times.

“Simple.”

I cut.

No matter how fast or powerful the tentacles became, they couldn’t even get close to me. That was to be expected—no matter how skilled the evil god worshippers were, they couldn’t create something on the same level as the Calamity directly created by the evil god.

I cut again.

A trace of shock appeared on Natalie’s face. I approached Natalie little by little while cutting down the tentacles. With each severed tentacle, Natalie flinched, but she didn’t stop attacking me. Natalie seemed firmly convinced that I wouldn’t harm her, even as I drew closer.

“It’s useless to approach so menacingly if you have no killing intent.”

The last tentacle was cut by my sword. I stood just one step away from Natalie. I raised the Holy Sword to strike down, then swung it sideways instead. A smile appeared on Natalie’s face as if she had expected this.

“Even if you cut all the tentacles, if you don’t have the heart to kill me—”

Thud.

My chest felt heavy. The trajectory of my hand was slightly twisted, piercing the center of my chest. Blood surged up to my mouth. I had expected it, but it hurt like hell.

“This is what happens.”

“…That’s… right…”

I collapsed to the floor. Natalie was smiling down at me. She pulled out her right hand and reached toward me.

“…Huh?”

And then, her right arm and leg that had already been “cut”—slumped to the floor.

“[Ilroy!]”

Subduing successful.

I heard the Holy Sword’s shrill scream as I grabbed the hilt, stood up, and leaned against the wall. Natalie’s expression beside me was tinged with bewilderment.