Ch.13044. Memories with Hong-ok (2)

For a moment, my breath stops as my heart constricts painfully.

As if struck by acute heart disease, I feel an excruciating pain in my chest. My mana accelerates from my mana heart at a speed I’ve never experienced before.

‘This is the true power of Hong-ok…’

The third form release of a Gear.

Hong-ok has now, for the first time, surpassed all limits of her potential as a Gear. With the acceleration and recoil of an unbound Gear, it’s difficult to even stand still.

But the flames flickering around me… Looking at those flames, I desperately resist the recoil.

‘The Vermilion Bird’s fire…’

I could feel a firepower of an entirely different dimension from flames created by spells.

Although part of my absolute resistance to fire has disappeared due to the collapse of my mana heart, externally created fire cannot cause me any damage.

The burning pain that tormented me through the mana road was the agony of burning my body’s interior, where that immunity doesn’t exist.

But now I can feel it. The Vermilion Bird’s fire is so hot that even I, a flame sorcerer, am afraid of it.

‘It’s much hotter than blue flame.’

The landscape warps like a heat haze. The surrounding terrain is melting like a lava zone.

‘What kind of fire is this…’

That’s when it happened. The red mist condensed into the shape of arrows.

Then, like explosive arrows, multiple projectiles rained down. I used Sacred Fire as a shield to block them.

‘Right, I was in the middle of battle.’

The Wind Cutter moved reflexively at my command. I put the Wind Cutter’s wind back into the dagger.

The Vermilion Bird’s fire is still active. I needed to neutralize that ghoul Count with this fire.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-

Suddenly, a sound like a massive glacier splitting echoed around me.

I glanced sideways to trace the source of the sound. The Glass Eternal Barrier—cracks were beginning to form on its surface.

‘Is the Archdemon being summoned?’

The Domain of Impurity. That contamination has been progressing for a long time. The summoning of the Archdemon must be nearly complete.

So the Glass Eternal Barrier can only temporarily delay that summoning. Without being a cleric, I cannot send the Archdemon back to purgatory.

‘If the Archdemon is summoned, the Count, as its contractor, will become unbearably powerful.’

I need to inflict serious damage to his core beforehand.

As if reading my thoughts, the system notification window activated.

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[Creating Main Quest]

[Manifestation of the Saint of Ayel (SS)]

..

..

..

[Sub-Quest – Inflict a critical hit on Ghoul Count Ritenfeld’s core.]

[As an additional reward, you can re# one item from your inventory.]

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So I can even get quest rewards for this.

There are many items I can use in the inventory that the system took away.

‘I must succeed.’

I focused more intently on the Vermilion Bird’s fire.

It’s a flame that has nothing to do with spell theory or magic circuits. My main flame, blue fire, is created entirely through magical spell theory.

But the Vermilion Bird’s fire is different. It’s a fire that can directly use the power of the divine beast Vermilion Bird.

That power was actually similar to Yuri’s freezing spells, which are born from the blessing of freezing mana. That’s why it could create firepower of a completely different dimension from fire converted from ordinary mana.

‘So I can use that fire like a swordsman’s aura.’

Villains who have lived as long as the Ghoul Count naturally possess resistance to magic and elemental attacks.

He’s a black mage. With his high understanding of magic, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to prepare countermeasures against magical attacks.

‘He must have enhanced his resistance with his own curses, magic, or magical tools.’

But resistance to physical force is different. A mage’s natural enemy has always been the swordsman. Aura, which cannot be easily defended against by magic, is like a death sentence to mages.

‘So I need to concentrate this Vermilion Bird’s fire and attack like an aura.’

The Vermilion Bird’s fire is now blazing wildly around my body.

I needed to control that fire directly. Using a divine beast’s fire would be extremely difficult, but in this moment, I instinctively felt confident.

The image of fire. That fire burning within me. Hong-ok embraced me. The Vermilion Bird’s egg. And now Hong-ok, who has released all her potential as a Gear, is following my will.

Hong-ok and I were in sync.

As our bodies merged together, the Vermilion Bird’s fire came completely under my control. I put the Wind Cutter back into its sheath.

With those empty hands, I concentrated the Vermilion Bird’s fire.

‘And the Count’s core…’

The magical energy around me is boiling to the point of making me nauseous. And the red mist has become so thick that I can’t see the landscape right in front of me.

“Do you think you can face me with such an amateurish flame spell? You seem unusually combat-ready for a mage. But if you’re a mage, you absolutely cannot do anything to me. Kuhahaha!”

The Ghoul Count attacked me with a disgusting laugh. While enduring his spell with Sacred Fire, I concentrated all my mental energy on the Vermilion Bird’s fire.

Soon, a spear of flame began to form in my right hand. And my senses, heightened by synchronizing with Hong-ok, located the Count’s core.

‘A critical hit with a single strike.’

I threw the flame spear toward that core.

***

Yuri was on the verge of collapse.

She was barely suppressing the Archdemon’s summoning with the Eternal Barrier. But even that had reached its limit.

‘At this rate, the Archdemon will…’

The blood-made hexagram was vibrating more intensely. The Eternal Barrier above it was collapsing.

She had faced an Archdemon with Krosel before. But now was completely different from then.

At that time, she had desperately fled with the intuition that she could never survive that demon. But now she couldn’t do that.

There was nowhere to escape on the island. Even if they were lucky enough to reach the passenger ship they had arrived on, the Archdemon would immediately sink it.

‘How much longer until the Saint’s manifestation is complete…’

But her immediate concern was elsewhere. She was terribly worried about Minsu, who was currently facing off against the Ghoul Count.

The blood-red mist was too thick to properly see Minsu. She could only barely guess that Minsu was still in battle by the light of fire spreading through the mist.

‘At this rate, that Ghoul Count too…’

As the Eternal Barrier failed to properly contain the hexagram, the magical energy being absorbed by the Count was becoming denser. So now, the Ghoul Count had essentially become a villain of unprecedented rank.

Moreover, he was a villain who could transform his body into that mist, neutralizing conventional attacks.

‘That mist seems to have extremely high resistance to magic as well.’

When her companions were trapped in that blood-red mist, the power of her freezing spells was weakened.

This happened despite the fact that Yuri’s spells, being more than simple formula spells, could significantly neutralize elemental resistance.

‘Then Minsu’s flame spells would be even more…’

As a mage, Minsu was a thorough theorist. His spell construction ability and computational power, coveted even by renowned magic tower graduate schools, transcended cadet level.

However, even such high-level formula magic becomes powerless in the face of extreme elemental resistance. The Ghoul Count, in particular, was famous for his high magic resistance.

Not only the blood-red mist, but he would also be wearing numerous magical tools related to magic resistance.

‘With that resistance, he killed nearly a hundred mages.’

So only a very high-level swordsman could face him.

Moreover, understanding magic is essential to endure in that blood-red mist. It’s no wonder he was one of the Twelve Apostles.

But now was not the time to worry about the past. Nivis was vibrating to its limit. Even pouring all the mana Yuri possessed couldn’t maintain the Eternal Barrier.

‘This is… really the limit…’

At the same time, the magical energy had risen so terribly that it was becoming difficult to breathe.

It was at that moment. An explosion loud enough to shake the surroundings was heard.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-

With that explosion, the magical energy temporarily decreased.

‘What happened?’

ARRRRGGGHHH-

Along with the explosion, a terrible death scream was heard around them.

‘The Ghoul Count?’

The blood-red mist faded. And between the thinning mist, two figures appeared.

Minsu and the Ghoul Count.

“Kheuk… Keuuk… H-how… my… Bloody Core…”

The Count, with a face like a withered mummy, spoke. Yuri instantly realized.

‘That explosion just now… Minsu? Then that means he damaged the Count’s core.’

And it wasn’t just simple damage. The Count, who had been hiding his appearance so thoroughly, had materialized to this extent—a truly effective hit.

It meant an attack strong enough to instantly neutralize the Count’s magic resistance.

Like the aura of a very high-level swordsman.

And through the scattered mist, Yuri found Minsu. At the same time, the Eternal Barrier collapsed.

‘The Archdemon…’

But the Ghoul Count, the Archdemon’s contractor, had suffered a major injury. That meant he couldn’t immediately control the Archdemon.

Yuri moved quickly. She hurriedly caught Minsu, who was about to collapse.

“Minsu! Are you okay?”

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”

Minsu couldn’t answer. He was conscious. But it seemed that he too had lost all his energy from the attack just now.

‘Of course, after using such a flame spell against that Count.’

But Minsu was more composed than her. He said to Yuri:

“…If the Archdemon… is summoned, this place will become an epicenter of magical energy… We need to hurry… to the altar…”

At those words, Yuri came to her senses. She embraced Minsu’s body. And using her remaining mana, she cast a freezing spell.

BANG-BANG-BANG-

With the recoil of that ice spell, she hastily accelerated her body. Soon, as Minsu had said, magical energy began to rise around the Count’s body.

“Kuuuuk… Lord Murmur… Lord Murmur is manifesting on earth!! Then… the mage who reduced me to this state… you first!!! ARRRGHH!!”

The Count was screaming. But Minsu and Yuri had already moved away from him.

And beyond, a pale green fire began to burn at the altar.

“…Has the Saint’s manifestation… been completed…”

Minsu’s eyes closed after saying that. Yuri was startled to the point where her heart sank, but Minsu seemed to have just fainted.

Reaching the altar, Yuri met with her companions. Marco, recognizing the two, shouted:

“Minsu? Is, is he alright!”

“He seems to have fainted from exhaustion. Arin…”

“Sister Arin, no, the Saint has completed her manifestation!”

“Then… that Archdemon…”

Yuri was also on the verge of collapse. Kneeling there, she laid Minsu down beside her.

Then Arin, enveloped in pale green fire, opened her eyes.

“The Archdemon is descending to earth.”

At the same time, she began walking toward the epicenter where the Archdemon was being summoned.

And Saint Arin sent the Archdemon back to purgatory.

“That power… the power of a Saint…”

The companions could only watch in awe. With everything on the island concluded, they returned to the passenger ship.

There, Minsu opened his eyes again.