Ch.216Final Battle (3)

Ortez felt a strange sensation as he observed the Demon King of Magic.

Oddly enough, the Demon King rarely used magic solely for attack.

The magic of semantic decomposition, which reduced the world to letters, was perhaps closest to a direct attack spell, but its essence wasn’t attack but ‘absorption.’ Even that wasn’t being used now, perhaps because absorbing surrounding elements would be detrimental under the anti-magic field.

His ‘attacks’ manifested in more massive and subtle ways.

For instance, the ‘subtle’ magic was the fate manipulation spell—the greatest obstacle facing Ortez and the Hydra Company alliance even now.

If they hadn’t detected the existence of this magic, or if Hector hadn’t shown Ortez how to twist fate without the ‘Eyes,’ the outcome would have been catastrophic no matter how hard everyone in this world fought.

The ‘massive’ magic was the extra-dimensional erosion consuming the entire world. A transcendental-scale magic that had been leading the world toward destruction moment by moment until the Demon King was suppressed by the anti-magic field.

It was absurd. If they focused on stopping the massive magic, they would perish according to the fate led by the subtle magic; if they tried to counter the subtle magic, they would be swept away by the massive magic.

And even if they managed to block both and counterattack, the Demon King simply continued to exist.

Even describing him as having infinite vitality was insufficient. He was truly a surreal being.

Nevertheless, Ortez didn’t stop his sword. Hector had proven that even the Demon King could be wounded and defeated, and Karisia had promised victory.

The Sword of World Essence wielded by the Demon King resembled the extra-dimensional spear blade constructed by Haltos. But it was much heavier and multi-layered. From the spirit realm where elementals dwelled to Tartarus below where souls faded away—the power contained in the world’s components erupted along the trajectory of the blade.

It was an attack that bypassed the anti-magic field. By releasing pure power with the magical elements removed from the world essence he had accumulated, the Demon King executed an attack that transcended the constraints of the anti-magic field.

Despite this, Ortez’s only advantage was the existence of the anti-magic field. While the power released by the Sword of World Essence could transcend the anti-magic field, the blade itself couldn’t enter its sphere of influence.

As Ortez gauged the distance between himself and the Demon King, he realized something.

Within the anti-magic field’s influence, the magic that obscured the ‘Eyes’ no longer worked as before. He could compare the veil cast by the Demon King with the answer behind it.

If he continued this comparison repeatedly, he could dismantle the Demon King’s labyrinth.

Moving freely between the two domains—Hydra Company’s anti-magic field and the Demon King’s extra-dimensional field—Ortez performed a literal life-or-death tightrope walk.

Observation to delve deeper into the Demon King’s existence.

The ‘fate’ manipulated by the Demon King guaranteed ultimate victory, but there was no guarantee against experiencing death during the process of victory. Whether experiencing physical death and reviving, or creating a second avatar to continue the fight, victory remained victory.

‘That incomprehensible existence ability and power of victory existed in a different realm…!’

This was the truth Ortez realized only when his eyes lifted the veil and glimpsed behind it.

As the Demon King had said, extra-dimensional beings like the Olympian gods were closer in essence to living concepts.

The Demon King was the same. Naturally, his essence was magic—the avatar of worldly magic represented by the 10 attributes he had personally reconstructed.

The Demon King’s two powers—his ‘fate as a protagonist’ and his identity as ‘avatar of magic’—were so closely intertwined that even Ortez’s eyes couldn’t easily distinguish them. However, as they continued fighting and drew closer to the Demon King’s essence, the full picture of the secret gradually emerged.

Naturally, the current chief deity of the magical society was the Demon King, the god of magic. Though magicians themselves might not think they worship anyone, all magicians in this world were no different from followers as long as they used magic as defined by the Demon King.

As long as magicians remained the mainstream of this world, the Demon King would not perish.

Ortez now understood why the original Ten Towers, despite having such a critical opportunity for betrayal, couldn’t achieve permanent neutralization of the Demon King or sever the connection between this world and the Demon King’s true form.

They couldn’t kill him. As long as people used the magic created by the Demon King, his existence remained engraved in magical society. Banishment, which came closest to permanent neutralization, was their best option.

Ortez realized their current resistance faced the same problem. They had no means to ultimately slay the Demon King.

Even if he severed all the formulas constituting that avatar and destroyed its absolute existence, the Demon King could return with a new avatar as long as the year 2077 continued.

Even facing this truth, Ortez didn’t drop his sword. If he could at least destroy the current avatar, they could buy time until the next one appeared, and above all, Karisia had promised victory.

Ortez believed in his boss.

Ping!

At that moment, he saw a silver trajectory cutting through the air.

The first arrow fired by Noiro.

***

Noiro recalled his boss’s instructions. So did the magicians of the Silver Tower who had been refining metal almost to the point of exhaustion under her orders. The boss was mobilizing all human and material resources at Hydra Company to create something extraordinary once more.

Even the arrow in his hand was evidence of this. Crafted in a manner very similar to magical engineering yet forged in a different way, the arrow was equipped with a function to send the coordinates of where it struck back to Hydra Company headquarters.

Noiro didn’t know how this coordinate transmission function would affect the final battle against the Demon King.

But he knew he was contributing to the greatest hunt in the history of the magical world. It was a hunt as dangerous as it was great, but doesn’t glory always follow danger?

***

Geryon was holding back the Ten Tower magicians who were desperately trying to escape. Since the explosion of the Ten Rings, the Ten Tower magicians had been attempting to flee, but unfortunately, their assigned location was Elysion.

Currently located beneath Etna City, it was directly affected by the anti-magic field.

Geryon had been dispatched to prevent magicians unable to use magic from escaping Elysion and storming into Hydra Company demanding, “Give me back my Ten Ring!”

He had removed his enchant-wear since under the anti-magic field it either ceased functioning or became useless anyway. For the first time in a very long while, Geryon was using just his two arms to contend with people.

It was somewhat disappointing that his strength was being used not to crush opponents in a struggle to rise to the top, but to block magicians demanding the door be opened, but what could he do?

Geryon had pledged his life to Hydra Company. He laughed hollowly and shouted to the magicians beyond the door.

“Your Ten Rings are finished! Even if you come out now, there’s nothing left!”

***

Knemon was surprised that he hadn’t fallen into despair despite the situation—or to put it more directly, despite facing the Demon King. He closed his eyes briefly to search for the reason.

Obviously, it wasn’t faith in his own magical abilities. If properly measured, his pure magical attainment wouldn’t even match a refiner of the Ten Towers.

Nor was it faith in the Ten Rings. Though he had coincidentally become the owner of one Ring, his opponent was the creator of all ten.

‘There’s only one answer after all.’

It was because he had already experienced all possible anxiety and fear with Ortez. Even Ortez, the greatest fear he had ever faced, didn’t always have things go according to plan.

Even Ortez had been captured by Argyrion and tasted unexpected situations. So how much chaos and destruction would ensnare the Demon King whom Ortez was directly confronting?

In fact, hadn’t the Hydra alliance successfully counterattacked against the Demon King who had instantly plunged the world into extra-dimensional erosion?

Knemon looked at the world beyond the radar. The world crumbling under the extra-dimensional flood initiated by the Demon King. The burning magical society. This might have been what he wanted when he was once an apocalyptist.

But now Knemon was no longer a vengeful young man who wanted to burn down the corrupt magical society. Having completed his revenge against the Amymone Tower, Knemon simply wanted to spend the rest of his life in a quiet place.

Preferably while rebuilding the old Tavning Tower.

Knemon repeated a prayer he had believed he would never make again after escaping the troubleshooter industry.

‘Win, Ortez.’

***

Arabel looked up at Karisia, trembling.

“I’m supposed to drive this? Me?”

Karisia nodded.

“Me?”

Her head moved up and down again. Arabel now looked on the verge of tears.

“With you on board, ma’am?”

Karisia and Arabel were on the bridge of a vessel so large it was hard to believe it had been constructed in less than an hour.

The heart of this vessel wasn’t a magical engine. It used a power source that was theoretically well-known but had never been seriously developed due to its inefficiency.

A power system that utilized the expansion of water when it boiled and vaporized.

In other words, it was a steamship equipped with a steam engine.