Ch.195195. Kagan (3)

I lead the incantation with Sophia providing full support at my side. The formal name of this nature magic is ‘Fury of the Earth.’

It’s an evolved form of the earthquake-inducing nature magic I’ve used several times before, and one of the magics classified as ‘ultimate.’

This nature magic, which even a high-rank druid wouldn’t dare attempt, consumes so much magical power that it cannot be cast without drawing upon the ley lines within this land, even with Sophia’s assistance.

And… magic with such demanding conditions typically has power proportionate to its difficulty.

True to being an evolved form of earthquake magic, ‘Fury of the Earth’ basically creates a massive earthquake, a colossal natural disaster that twists and splits the ground.

If targeted at a city, it could instantly reduce a metropolis of hundreds of thousands to ruins. Furthermore, according to my will, I could permanently distort and shake the terrain, completely transforming the battlefield.

As a secondary effect of the magic, the earth’s energy released during the upheaval is filled with heat and earth’s mystical power (earth-attribute mana). Just this aftereffect alone could easily sweep away an army of hundreds of thousands, but…

Since my original goal in casting this spell wasn’t enemy annihilation, I chose a different effect instead of this secondary one.

And the result unfolds before my eyes.

In the valley below the split land that separates us from the war band beyond, a red fluid substance fills the gap between the crevices as if seeping in.

It’s materialized earth mana with properties very similar to magma—a luminous, heat-emitting fluid substance.

This substance, which could melt even a mid-rank warrior without leaving bones if they carelessly make contact with it, occasionally rises in irregular pillar formations, effectively restricting the enemy’s approach.

In short, I cast this magic to prevent them from easily circumventing us until reinforcements arrive.

Since we’re ultimately just individuals who can’t control tens of thousands of troops, and stopping that Khagan is our priority, preparing for unforeseen situations is fundamental.

As I coldly observed the Khagan’s army that had stopped in its tracks—

“—Gregory!”

“Yes!”

Hearing Sophia’s clearly panicked cry, I immediately deployed a defensive magic using hydra scales, and…

-KWAAANG!!!

The impact mercilessly pounding against the hydra scale barrier I deployed informed me that someone was launching attacks in our direction.

Surprisingly, these long-range attacks—each comparable to a high-rank single-target attack spell—were javelins.

Not some special magical weapons, but simply attacks made by infusing ordinary sturdy javelins with aura to the extreme.

-KWANG! KWANG! KWAANG! KWANG! KWANG! KWANG!

However, when the thrower is high-ranked, it’s a different story.

-CLANG!

-WOONG…!

As the continuous ranged attacks break through my barriers, I deploy new ones, and Sophia intercepts the javelins that occasionally bend in strange directions.

Thanks to this, I gained some composure unlike before and realized one thing…

That these javelins probably weren’t simple consumables.

Not that they were mythical weapons or anything, but their magical power and durability felt too extraordinary to be mere disposables.

I’m guessing they have automatic repair through mana, enhanced durability, and judging by how the embedded javelins become invisible, probably an automatic retrieval function too.

…Though I have no idea how they managed to cram such difficult small-scale independent spatial movement into javelins.

Anyway, after this simple analysis.

“…Sophia!”

“Yes! I understand!”

Despite the variable (javelins), everything was proceeding almost according to plan. While blocking the relentless bombardment, I compressed and transmitted my intentions to Sophia through thought communication, and…

[“…And so, no arrow, no javelin shall wound you!”]

After Sophia’s brief yet lengthy incantation concluded, I no longer deployed defensive magic against the javelins.

Or more precisely, there was no need to.

-KWAANG! KWANG!!

The javelins flying from beyond at missile-like speeds began to curve and miss their mark from the moment Sophia’s spell took effect, even without me doing anything.

The fact that their trajectories bent abnormally despite clearly targeting me was suspicious enough, and indeed, this phenomenon occurred thanks to the ultimate celestial magic Sophia cast on me.

Its name: ‘Fate Writing.’ Sophia’s original ultimate magic that alters a specific target’s fate by adding minor details.

‘For about an hour from now, ranged projectiles will not hit me.’ This fate that Sophia overlaid on me faithfully exerted its power, causing the barrage of javelins to miss, and…

[“Shine, shine brilliantly! Life’s pinnacle, death’s transforming condor! Advance and become a stream of life through your radiance!”]

[“In the name of Consolot Astronomus, I command you, behold the moon! Behold the radiant, contemptuous full moon!”]

While the Orc Khagan El-Temur beyond had yet to notice this fate and continued throwing javelins, we two, unwilling to waste this precious time, continued our incantations, speaking rapidly like machine guns.

This complete incantation, which we performed without abbreviation or omission to exert our full power after a long time, flowed quickly and precisely like water, and due to the soft tones unique to Elvish, it probably sounded like singing.

Of course, considering the nature of the spells Sophia and I were casting, the expression ‘singing’ might be a bit too gentle.

My magic, ‘Heat of Rabies.’ Among wild magic, it’s one of the most dramatic area-of-effect crowd control spells, inflicting various mental disorders akin to rabies on the target.

Mental confusion, seizures, impulsive behavior, phantom pain, self-harm, loss of impulse control, increased aggression, and occasionally hallucinations.

Even one of these disorders would be enough to reduce someone to a half-cripple, but by accepting the risk of enhancing the target’s physical abilities to increase the difficulty of resistance…

The magical mental disorders, sprinkled like an assortment gift set, instantly transformed their relatively disciplined army into a den of madmen.

Of course, there was still one more spell left.

Sophia’s spell, ‘Lunacy of Moonlight.’ In Western (Western Continent) traditions, the moon has long symbolized sorcery and madness, and this celestial magic uses these perceptions and symbols as its mystical foundation.

And this spell, one of the few mental area-of-effect crowd control spells in celestial magic, uses moonlight as a medium to inflict status ailments like ‘frenzy’ and inability to distinguish friend from foe on those touched by its light.

‘Frenzy’—where reason becomes hazy and aggression increases, while unconscious limiters on the body shatter, leading to extremely self-destructive behavior.

As for inability to distinguish friend from foe, well, it’s self-explanatory—a state where one cannot differentiate between allies and enemies.

Moreover, when these two high-rank spells were poured onto an Orc army, famous for their lack of self-control and barbarism, the results were too horrific to describe in words.

Even if, even if these high-rank spells had targeted beings other than Orcs, the outcome might have been different.

The loose reason and flimsy minds of Orcs are so common that even with personal willpower, they could not easily resist such mental disorders and the shackles of madness.

But these spells that induce mental strain, extreme as they may be, might have been overcome with mental fortitude.

Even low-ranked beings, if they kept their minds straight, could not be guaranteed to be unable to resist.

However, this didn’t change the outcome. With just a few mid-rank shamans, the Orcs’ mental issues were too deeply rooted to resolve.

And so, as the unleashed Orcs indulged in their self-destructive desires, cloaked in madness and rampaging…

-THUD!

What Sophia and I felt was the approach of a terrifyingly powerful life force from beyond, making the earth tremble.