Ch.88The Great Blood Tower (5)

“What…”

Eterna looked down at her severed arm with an expression of disbelief.

Perhaps she couldn’t believe that I had effortlessly penetrated her multi-layered barrier and even broken through the absolute defense magic on her body.

“If that was the source of your confidence, I’m afraid that’s unfortunate.”

Because defenses mean nothing to me.

“This… can this even be considered Blood Claw Art…?”

“It’s not.”

That’s right.

This is quite different from Blood Claw Art.

In a way, you could say it’s a technique that only I can use.

“You should know this well. Experience is more important than you might think.”

What efforts I’ve made to overcome that experience is also important.

Even if you’ve vaguely gained experience, if you don’t make efforts to surpass it, there’s no meaning in having that experience.

I had an obligation to defeat the Demon King.

Whether that obligation came from my beliefs or from my desire not to die.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

In the end, the only difference in this duel is one thing.

The most important factor that Eterna had overlooked.

“You seem to have underestimated me too much.”

Combat experience.

I’m not weak enough to lose to a magician who has only researched magic for a thousand years.

“Ha, hahaha…”

Eterna restored her arm to its original state using limited time magic.

A method that consumes mana but can perfectly restore physical condition.

Especially the time magic used by Eterna, a Transcendent of magic, doesn’t consume much mana despite its high level.

Each spell she uses is at a marvelous level, allowing her to reduce mana consumption to nearly zero.

“I’ll face you seriously.”

“You still don’t get it.”

Whether she faced me seriously or not, it wouldn’t make any difference to me.

If someone asked me right now who fought better, I would confidently name the Red Tower Master and the Green Tower Master.

Eterna was weak.

At least in combat, she was like a primitive person with a gun among medieval people.

Soon, the fight continued.

Each of Eterna’s spells was massive in scale.

She altered gravity, twisted the laws of physics, and even tried to interfere with my mind, which had never been affected before.

The spells that came flying like bombardments, cast simultaneously in an instant, would have killed an ordinary human in less than a second.

No, they wouldn’t have even existed in that place from the beginning.

She was definitely strong.

Eterna was strong.

But…

“Dodging makes it meaningless.”

I easily avoided the distorting space and dodged the laser that seemed like it would melt my body.

‘Is this the Red Tower Master’s magic?’

It’s even more powerful, with faster casting speed and incomparably faster travel speed.

From the beginning, the level of all the magic being cast now is far beyond what a mere Magic Tower Master could compare to.

But none of that mattered.

Even if it hit me.

In the end, an attack that doesn’t work has no meaning.

“You can’t use dimensional banishment magic.”

If you want to defeat me, surpass your limits.

I am your nightmare.

“How… how is this possible…!”

No matter what attack came flying, I simply dodged it, and when attacks came from angles I couldn’t avoid, I would recreate my body right next to Eterna and attack.

Even magic that touched the soul didn’t work.

Since the caliber of my soul was equal or superior to hers, magic used for restraint might work to some extent, but magic that directly affected my mind didn’t work.

Even after becoming a Transcendent, she was still human in the end.

Using imitation magic against a vampire who was a master of mental magic, and a True Ancestor who had become a Transcendent, wouldn’t work.

She tried to blow me away with spatial magic, but I easily dodged it, and even if she succeeded, my remaining body parts would regenerate instantly.

It would be meaningless unless she could blow away my entire body.

…or so one might think.

‘It’s meaningless.’

In the end, it’s a meaningless action.

I had already prepared for this by scattering not only my blood but also my magical power here so I could remain in this place.

I had fixed a kind of coordinate system here.

If she had thought of sending me to another dimension at the beginning and succeeded, it would have worked on me.

But she failed, and I understood what Eterna’s magic was and prepared for it.

Truly a monster that wouldn’t die even if killed.

A being that wouldn’t die no matter how many times it was killed, one that grew stronger by collecting the blood of slaughtered demons, and even slaughtered its own kind with the blood of corpses—the demons referred to me with reverence as such.

The “Immortal Great Demon King.”

The fact that they attached the title of their own king to me, who was on the side of good, shows how much they feared me.

It’s like if one of our side’s executives was so powerful that we gave them a nickname like “XX’s Hero” to an executive of the Demon King’s army.

It’s a ridiculous nickname, but it shows how sincerely the demons feared me.

“Haa… haa…”

Eterna was breathing heavily.

Since this place had little magical power, she seemed to be consuming her own mana, but unlike her, I had consumed almost no mana.

A truly vampire-like fighting style.

Well, there’s nothing special about it.

Eterna wasn’t even worth bringing out my familiars against.

“You’re not weak, Eterna.”

Eterna is not weak.

Rather, I could confidently say she was among the strong ones even among Transcendents.

After all, she’s a Transcendent who broke the rules and formed her own world, even among magicians who write the laws of the world through magical power.

She absolutely cannot be weak.

It’s just…

“You didn’t analyze me and develop magic to counter me, an unprecedented existence.”

“…!”

“That was your mistake.”

She only attacked me with general and conventional magic.

Although Eterna had become a Transcendent, surpassing the limits of living beings to become a demigod, in the end, her world had not escaped the limitations of being human.

Eterna bowed her head at my words.

“I haven’t even used much of my power. If you want to continue, we can go on as long as you like.”

“I admit defeat. You’re stronger than me.”

Eterna answered with an expression that seemed somewhat relieved.

“That’s unexpected. I didn’t think you’d admit it so easily…”

“It’s not like I can blow up this dimension anyway.”

“…That’s a scary thing to say.”

Even I wouldn’t blow up this place entirely.

It would be dangerous even for me, as I might become a dimensional wanderer with nowhere to live.

“Even I can’t blow up dimensions… I guess in that respect, firepower still can’t match magic…”

If we’re just talking about pure power, Eterna would be far stronger than me.

The most I could do would be to infect the world with my blood.

That’s when it happened.

Eterna looked around briefly and then moved her hand smoothly.

A magic circle was instantly cast, forming an invisible barrier.

It was a perfect barrier that I could only see because I had the eyes to see magical power as a True Ancestor and Transcendent of life.

“Hey, Midir.”

“What?”

“Next time… could you spar with me again?”

“Suddenly?”

I tilted my head at Eterna’s question.

“Maybe… I’ve been craving someone in a similar situation as me.”

I showed a surprised expression at Eterna’s words.

Come to think of it, she was like that when we first met.

Those empty eyes, as if nothing interested her.

But whenever she met me, she would regain that light.

There were some… no, many embarrassing incidents after that.

Now I think I understand.

Why she’s been acting this way.

“You must have been lonely.”

“…Yes.”

“Sigh…”

Setting aside becoming a Transcendent, to feel loneliness after living for just a thousand years…

‘Well, I haven’t lived for a thousand years myself.’

Most of that time was spent in hibernation.

Come to think of it, that’s an emotion Seria could understand.

Seria must have lived alone for a thousand years after everyone from the Hero’s party disappeared.

I sighed.

“I don’t understand why so many people want to fight me.”

“…Do you dislike it?”

“I never said I disliked it… it’s just troublesome.”

But I couldn’t refuse this.

This was the first time she had asked me so sincerely.

I didn’t want to reject her.

I guess it can’t be helped.

“Alright. I’ll accept if that’s what you want.”

“R-really?”

“Yes. I’ll visit the Aether Tower often too.”

In exchange… I should say.

“Tell me about that… Transcendent community thing.”

“Th-that…”

“Is there a problem?”

“Ah… um… that’s…”

Eterna avoided my gaze.

I don’t know why, but I could guess the reason she was avoiding my eyes.

This one, she showed some suspicious skill when playing pranks on me on the forum.

‘Could it be…?’

For a moment, I recalled the malicious trolls from forums in my past life who would adopt various personas and commit all sorts of terrible acts, but I shook my head.

That couldn’t be possible… or so I thought.