Ch.159Unconventional (1)

# Great Magician Dellin

She was the ancient ancestor and the origin of the Windsor family.

She wanted revenge.

A grudge so deep that she entrusted this task to her descendant 1,000 years later.

I never imagined it would be this severe.

“…You really are trash. As expected.”

The First Emperor tilted his head at Ruide’s suddenly changed demeanor.

“What did you just say?”

“I said you’re trash.”

Ruide raised his head and stared directly at the First Emperor.

The First Emperor’s eyebrows furrowed.

Clear blue eyes.

The golden-haired boy emanated a mysterious aura as he reflected the light.

That’s when the sense of dissonance was felt.

A blue light gradually intensified around Ruide’s body, and in an instant, small orbs filled the surroundings.

Ruide stretched out his hand. One of his eyes blazed blue.

The First Emperor panicked and began to recite his authority.

“First Emperor Lione…”

“It’s already too late.”

Thump—!

Blue light from a small orb pierced through the Emperor’s body.

That was just the beginning.

Ti-di-di-ding—.

Countless orbs pierced through the First Emperor’s body.

“Arghhhh!”

The Emperor writhed in pain. He waved his hands through the air. His body turned golden, and something like armor wrapped around him protectively. It looked just like a crown.

Probably an artifact. It meant he had some means to protect his life.

This was expected.

“Die.”

Ruide clenched his fist. The blue orbs glowed and exploded simultaneously.

Peeeeee—

An explosion sound beyond the audible range, impossible for human ears to hear.

It didn’t matter how sturdy that artifact was.

The initial attack that pierced the Emperor—

That itself was the fuse.

The current explosion was detonating from inside the Emperor’s body.

No human could withstand it.

White dust scattered. Ruide drew up his mana with a cold gaze.

‘He’s a being revived after a thousand years. I won’t feel safe unless I erase his soul.’

Just as he was about to deliver the final blow—

Whoosh—

The smoke cleared with the wind.

The crown protecting the Emperor was completely intact, without even a trace of damage.

But that wasn’t what mattered.

A golden-haired girl wearing a half-draped robe stood before him.

Crackle—.

With a barrier flickering around her body, unable to fully block the attack.

“…”

Ruide silently gazed at her.

The greatest magician in human history, Dellin.

It was definitely her.

“Damn it.”

Simultaneously, the crown that had been protecting the Emperor’s body was released.

Ruide’s eyes twitched. One of the orbs of light surrounding him rushed toward the Emperor like an arrow.

Ting!

Dellin lightly raised her staff to block it.

“Who are you?”

“The person who will kill you.”

“I momentarily forgot that I shouldn’t show mercy to people of this world.”

While conversing with the Emperor, all of Ruide’s attention was focused on Dellin.

Dellin. He knew that name all too well from hearing it countless times.

The person who had reestablished most of the magical theories leading to the present in a world where magic was underdeveloped.

True to her reputation, her magical power was truly immense.

In terms of magical power, she seemed to be on par with Ruide himself.

But there was a significant difference.

Ruide experimentally cast a simple spell.

Dellin mechanically swung her staff to block it.

Boom!

Though easily blocked, despite it being a simple spell, the level of the barrier she deployed was incredibly high.

A magician of her caliber should normally calculate the exact amount of magical power needed to block—

Which meant—

‘She has no sense of self.’

Perhaps this was to be expected.

Unlike the First Emperor who was revived in the body of a descendant, Dellin had no physical body.

What constituted her body was magical power.

No matter how extraordinary a being she was, Ruide could be certain.

‘She’s weaker than me.’

Dellin swung her staff. A circular magic circle formed around her.

As if the ground was trembling, it began to draw in the surrounding magical power. An intense light that was hard to look at directly formed in the center of the magic circle.

Each step contained enough magical power to blow away an ordinary territory.

No one could survive being hit by such a monstrous attack.

‘Except for me.’

Zing—

Lasers from magic circles all around pierced Ruide’s body. Perhaps because the impact points were small, they eventually converged into almost a single point.

Ruide stretched his hand toward the laser. Blue magical power like an ocean emerged from his hand, enveloped the laser, and instantly devoured it.

As if sucked into his hand. It was the cleanest defense possible.

“Ha, hahaha!”

The First Emperor laughed maniacally.

Then, with an expression soaked in ecstasy, he said:

“I truly feel that a thousand years have passed. To think there would be a toy even greater than Dellin.”

Foolish actions.

Multiple instances of anger.

Countless regrets.

Rather, these negative experiences gave Ruide enlightenment.

Magic that he had already mastered to its limits grew to the point of breaking those very limits.

The current Ruide was truly worthy of the term ‘beyond standard.’

“The 5th Magic—”

A pentagram appeared in the First Emperor’s eyes. That must be the First Emperor’s authority—the power that makes it impossible for anyone to defy the great Emperor’s words.

However, that doesn’t mean there’s no way around it.

“Quietly, become my slave—”

“Time Stop.”

The surroundings turned black and white.

Even falling sparks stopped midair.

Time had stopped.

“It would be too unfair if you were the only one with such an overpowered ability in this world, don’t you think?”

‘I’d like to kill him with magic right now, but that would be difficult.’

Stopping time.

It’s truly a dream-like ability, but it has many restrictions.

‘While I can “think” as much as I want, it’s impossible to harm anyone.’

The very act of attacking someone implies that time is flowing.

Therefore, at this moment, he needed to do something to counter the First Emperor’s authority.

Of course, Ruide already knew.

Authority is a power engraved on the soul itself.

That’s probably why the First Emperor, who has no magical power whatsoever, can use such an absurd ability.

In other words, the First Emperor’s authority can be seen as directly striking the opponent’s soul.

—Yes, I can see it. Master’s soul. It’s a very special soul.

That’s what Miho had said once.

The Great Spirit can see human souls.

The fact that she said such a thing means—

“…If you’ve eaten that much mana, it’s about time you did some work.”

That she could also protect his soul.

“Great Spirit Nine-tailed Fox.”

As soon as Ruide finished speaking, the frozen time space rippled.

A small fox with pure white tails appeared, tearing through space.

This is possible because, unlike humans who are three-dimensional beings, spirits are beings that live in the fourth dimension.

They are not constrained by time and space. That’s why they can move even in stopped time.

[Do you know how disappointed I was thinking you had forgotten about me?]

“I couldn’t forget. You’ve been using magical power inhumanly. You know what? A normal human would have died.”

[But I had no choice! If I didn’t use that much, you would have quickly forgotten about my existence, Ruide.]

“Just answer the question. What have you been up to?”

Miho traced the ground with her small palm.

A black hole appeared, and something rose from it.

It was someone’s head. Six of them.

[These are the heads of those who became the root of all this trouble.]

“…You’re worrying about unnecessary things.”

He immediately recognized them as the corpses of Black Mages.

He had been wondering what she’d been up to lately, but to think she was doing this.

[It’s not unnecessary. After all, Master, you’re thinking of ending this world and going back to the past because of things like these.]

“So you knew. But—I’m sorry. Nothing changes even if you do that. I will definitely go back to the past and fix everything.”

[…Time magic is tricky.]

“I know.”

[Even if you go back to the past, changing the future isn’t easy. Surprisingly, small changes can have big effects, and big changes might not change anything at all.]

“I’ll just repeat it until it works.”

[You can change things in the present. It’s not too late yet. Just like I killed them—you can kill all those who became the root of this incident.]

“What are you trying to say?”

[Irene Windsor.]

“…”

[Actually, you know, don’t you? If you just kill her, everything will return to normal—]

Ruide didn’t answer that question.

He only spoke while looking at the First Emperor.

“Let’s make a new contract. A soul contract.”

Until now, what he had with Miho was a provisional contract.

It was merely a verbal connection.

But what he was about to do now was a true contract binding soul to soul.

…Until now, he had been reluctant to involve his soul despite talking about it.

[…A soul contract.]

“Yes.”

Ruide closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, a single complex magic circle was before him.

Miho placed her hand on the magic circle.

[Alright, Master. What’s your first order?]

“Protect my soul.”

[For a Great Spirit, that’s too simple a task.]

Crack!

As Miho clenched her fist—

The world was once again filled with light.

**

First Emperor Ian.

He was arrogant.

Well, he couldn’t help it.

Whatever he wanted became his with just a word.

With such an absurd ability, who wouldn’t be arrogant?

He was excited at the thought of getting a new toy.

‘I really am lucky. To have two geniuses born once in a thousand years under me.’

Despite still being a child, his displayed power was probably on par with Dellin.

To think that someone of the same caliber as Dellin, a genius who might not be born even if the world started anew a couple of times, had appeared.

Indeed, God was on his side.

“Become my servant—.”

The First Emperor used a stronger command than usual.

A wicked smile played on his lips.

The Emperor’s authority is absolute.

It directly interferes with the human soul, placing an irrefutable curse.

Soon, the greatest talent would be his.

But.

“…!”

His vision changed.

It happened so instantaneously that he couldn’t even register when.

The sea. It was the sea.

A sea so vast that its end couldn’t be seen, instilling fear.

‘What is this?’

The Emperor looked around in confusion.

[Over here, foolish human.]

A shiver ran down his spine.

A golden-eyed fox with red markings on its face was glaring right at him.

It was incredibly massive, with nine tails.

[You dare target my master’s soul? Are you in your right mind?]

The Emperor’s body trembled at the voice rippling with anger.

Primal fear filled the Emperor’s mind.

[Get out of here right now—]

The fox raised its arm. It swung it in an instant. The Emperor’s vision wandered through the void. His head had been severed.

His vision lit up once more. He had returned to his original location.

But the Emperor’s startled heart couldn’t calm down.

“Huff, huff—”

‘What was that just now…?’

He exhaled rough breaths as he pondered.

Without finding an answer, he watched the boy walking confidently towards him.

One thing was certain.

That boy had something.

And it was probably fatal to him.

“K-Kill him now. Dellin! Use your authority! Pour everything you have!”

The First Emperor has good intuition. That intuition tells him:

If he doesn’t kill that boy, it will probably be him who dies.