Ch.44Into the Master’s Memory (1)

[You have used the skill ‘Teleport’.]

Olivia used the skill immediately after feeling her feet touch the ground.

[You have used the skill ‘Teleport’.]

She needed to get as far away from the city as possible.

Teleport wasn’t originally a magic that could be used this rapidly. However, because she had drawn magic circles along each route in advance, she could move quickly like this.

With each teleportation, the scenery changed completely. But she didn’t even have time to check where she was.

If it were someone else pursuing her, it might be different, but the person chasing her now was Melina Diviae, a master of spatial magic.

Melina could travel farther distances in a single move, and her speed was faster too.

She would inevitably be caught before reaching the North.

‘But I can at least get close to there.’

Whoosh!

Golden chains shot toward Olivia’s back. Instead of blocking them, Olivia dodged with Blink.

The chains swept through the space where she had been.

That was close.

Cold sweat ran down her face. The tension was no joke, knowing that one mistake would mean her downfall.

Snap!

A hand suddenly emerged from thin air.

A hand with all its nails torn off struggled to grab Olivia.

Startled, Olivia stepped back.

‘Insane.’

This was terror in a different sense than with Kiel Rothschild.

Back then, it felt like she would die if she let her guard down, but now it felt like being chased by a deranged murderer.

Rrrip.

Melina tore open space with both hands. Blood flowed from her wounded hands. Ignoring her injuries, Melina fixed her gaze on Olivia.

“…Come here.”

The eyes that always contained a hint of dizziness were now gone.

Only killing intent and madness remained.

Even Olivia couldn’t help but flinch in that moment.

“Won’t you come?”

Suddenly, Melina’s expression changed to a blank stare. Olivia learned for the first time that day how fierce an expressionless face could be.

“…I taught you wrong. Very, very wrong.”

Flames rose from Melina’s hand. She placed her other hand on her chest and said:

“I truly cherished you. I felt as if this is how I would have felt if I had a child of my own.”

Melina’s eyes momentarily grew distant.

“You were my pride, my everything.”

The color of the flames changed rapidly. Initially red, then blue, and now burning with an ominous black light.

Black flame.

The so-called hellfire.

Melina instantly manifested magic that no other mage in the Red Tower had ever achieved.

“But… you stabbed my heart.”

As Melina’s face hardened coldly, the black flame shot forth. Bang! The ice barrier burst with a terrible sound.

Through the steam, Melina thrust her face forward.

“…!”

Before Olivia could react, Melina grabbed her shoulder, tripped her, and knocked her down.

‘What strength…!’

Her fighting style was completely different from the Melina that Olivia knew.

Melina wasn’t the type to charge in so aggressively. She was the type to push from a distance, giving no openings until her opponent withered away.

Olivia never imagined she would engage in close combat like this.

[Using skill ‘Blink’.]

[Using skill ‘Blin-‘.]

Pat-pat-pat-pat!

Just before her back hit the ground, Olivia barely escaped using Blink.

Thud.

Olivia groaned as she landed. She realized it the moment she allowed Melina to get close.

‘One mistake and I’m done for.’

There was no guarantee that the standardized patterns from the game would apply in reality.

Olivia extended her staff forward.

Crack-crack-crack!

Icy magical power began to dominate the surroundings. Melina wasn’t just standing by either.

Whoosh.

The space-time around Melina distorted.

In an instant, the world was divided into two domains.

One filled with biting cold, and one where space-time was distorted.

“My disciple, why do you keep running away?”

“Has the old woman gone senile? I never had a teacher like you.”

Ripples appeared at the corners of Melina’s eyes.

But it was only momentary.

“…Such painful words. But unlike before, they don’t affect me now.”

[‘Grand Magician Melina’ uses ‘Space Erosion’!]

Golden chains began to gradually cover the sky.

“I admit it. In my past life, I wasn’t a true teacher. I just watched as my disciple went astray.”

The sky was covered in golden light.

“So don’t blame me, even if this hurts.”

Because this is discipline now.

Crunch!

When Melina clenched her fist, the space where Olivia’s left arm was located crumpled without warning.

“Ugh!”

A short groan burst from Olivia’s mouth. Her left hand was literally reduced to a rag.

She had barely pulled her arm away after sensing the flow of magic; otherwise, she would have been permanently disabled.

“Don’t dodge! Accept your punishment obediently!”

Crunch! Crunch! Cru-crunch! Crunch!

In the blink of an eye, everything around crumpled like aluminum cans.

The chains covering the sky weren’t just for show either. They gradually narrowed their domain, limiting Olivia’s range of movement.

Boing!

The chains bounced off, unable to penetrate the barrier. Olivia now focused on defense rather than dodging attacks.

She couldn’t dodge anymore anyway.

[You cannot use the skill ‘Blink’!]

[Space has been eroded, making movement-type magic unusable!]

Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang!

The frequency of chains hitting the barrier grew shorter. Although the layered barriers prevented cracks, they couldn’t stop her from being gradually buried in the ground.

This was definitely different.

During the Annihilation Ending, Melina was desperately defensive. It was Olivia charging to kill Melina, with Melina trying to stop her…

Now it was the complete opposite.

She felt the importance of raising affection points to the bone. If she hadn’t raised Melina’s affection after seeing the Annihilation Ending, things would have gone wrong from the start.

Melina’s main attributes were time and space.

If the chains eroding everything and the crumpling caused by her clenched fists were space magic…

Where was the time magic?

Olivia stared at Melina through the barrier. Melina’s eyes were shining with a much brighter golden light than before.

‘…This crazy woman.’

The current Melina would be experiencing time flowing more slowly.

Increasing the density of time to accelerate thought processes.

Thanks to this, Melina boasted overwhelming calculation speed compared to others.

This was also why she could control hundreds of chains simultaneously.

Surprisingly, this was only stage 1.

Stage 2 was interfering with the opponent’s time, and stage 3 was interfering with the world’s time.

Of course, Melina could only reach stage 2.

‘Stage 3 has a level requirement of 100.’

She knew this because she had tried the time mage build before.

It was incredibly difficult to control and the mana consumption was unbearable, so she gave up midway, but she couldn’t deny it was a top-tier attribute.

‘I thought it would be a bit different.’

Unlike Kiel who immediately swung his greatsword, Melina at least started with something resembling a conversation.

So she had planned to just defend until Melina calmed down, but now it seemed like she wouldn’t calm down at all.

Drip.

Blood flowed from her left hand.

Throb! Throb!

Olivia’s brow furrowed at the burning pain.

‘Respect for elders be damned. I’m about to die here.’

Olivia’s demeanor changed completely.

As long as she didn’t kill her. Just don’t kill her.

Regression special ability? She just needed to subdue her, or better yet, knock her unconscious. What could she do with the special ability if she was knocked out before it could activate?

“…I won’t just take this lying down, you damn old hag.”

Simultaneously, the earth’s magical power began to ripple.

This rippling of magical power was the precursor to grand magic.

Melina, who had anticipated Olivia’s attack, smiled broadly.

Grand magic is powerful but has a long casting time. This means that if you know when your opponent will cast a spell, you can counter-attack.

“My disciple, you’ve grown dull!”

Golden mana shot toward Olivia.

[‘Grand Magician Melina’ interferes with your time!]

– Casting time greatly increased!

– Calculation speed greatly decreased!

Her thoughts slowed down.

Melina’s laughter reached her ears after a long delay. It took ages for her to process that Melina was laughing after seeing her action.

Time was still flowing normally. Only “Olivia’s thought process” had slowed down.

Melina staggered.

‘I should have done this from the start!’

A nosebleed flowed. Clearly, magic that interfered with another’s time put tremendous strain on the body.

But look at the result.

Her always sharp-witted disciple now wore an uncharacteristically stupid expression.

“Forgive me.”

Melina reached out her hand. After today, Olivia would never walk again. She wouldn’t be able to move her arms. She wouldn’t be able to use magic.

And also…

She hesitated.

Sensing something strange, Melina stopped. Right now, Olivia’s thought process should be a hundred times slower than normal.

Because her thinking itself was slow, it would take ages just to move a finger.

That should be the case.

But why…

‘She’s smiling?’

Olivia was smiling. The magic couldn’t have failed. The visible slowing of Olivia’s movements was proof of that. Then there was only one possibility left.

Long before Melina cast her spell, Olivia had already prepared to smile.

…Why?

Unless she had pre-cast a spell…

Rumble.

‘…The sky?!’

Melina hurriedly looked up.

Before she could react.

A massive pillar of light struck the ground.

“———.”

Melina’s eyes rolled back. With her entire body scorched, she fell backward.

Thud.

A moment later.

Olivia’s body stirred. Her thought speed had returned to normal.

And only then was the true nature of the magic that Melina had desperately tried to stop revealed.

[Using skill ‘Ice Ball’.]

A head-sized ball of ice fell to the ground with a thud.

It was a simple deception.

Pre-casting grand magic and then drawing up magical power.

Melina naturally couldn’t help but be deceived. What mage would waste magical power like that?

‘…Is it over?’

Olivia slowly approached Melina and gently nudged her with her toe.

She was definitely unconscious.

Olivia carefully picked up Melina.

“Let’s go, grandmother.”

To the North.