Archbishop (3)

Archbishop (3)

In theory, if one has enough mana or magical energy, it’s possible to use any kind of magic.

Yet, the reason why one can’t use magic of a higher rank than oneself is.

‘Because the required magical calculation ability and mana manipulation skills are too high.’

That’s why, in normal cases, it’s only possible to manifest higher-rank magic by adding coincidence upon coincidence… no, only when a miracle occurs.

‘What the hell is the identity of this crazy bastard…?’

As if ignoring such laws on his own, this guy called Deren.

Was manifesting magic beyond his level as if it were natural and blowing up the clock tower.

‘Insane…’

My mind goes blank in a situation where I can only curse.

As I tremble, thinking that it’s unbearable pain to have hundreds of years of magical training completely negated by a single magic manifestation.

He looks down at me and briefly says.

“It seems your master still has no intention of coming down.”

A calm voice devoid of even a hint of emotion.

It was simply terrifying to see him so unwavering after using such an astonishing spell.

Unable to say anything and just bleeding blue blood, he took out his mace and said.

“Then I have no choice but to completely smash you.”

With those final words, he unleashed a new spell, manifesting magic all around that was impossible to decipher, and shouted briefly.

“Spatial expansion magic.”

Expanding space?

A smirk spreads across my lips at the mention of magic that’s ridiculous to even speak of, let alone use or even imagine.

‘Unless there’s a catalyst.’

Just as I was about to think it was meaningless arrogance for an individual, not a group, to manifest such magic, which is impossible.

I couldn’t hide my shock as I saw the surroundings expand just as he said.

“… Ugh. Keuugh.”

My face was smashed by the mace, so my words don’t come out properly, and my voice doesn’t carry well.

I tried to ask several times how he managed to use this.

But as if it didn’t reach him, he gave no answer and just continued to expand everything around.

‘What on earth is this.’

Beyond human level…

No, human or not, now I should call Deren a monster, and all sorts of alarms are ringing in my head.

‘… I need to report this to Zernian-nim.’

If not, it seemed that the Archbishop would likely meet the same fate as the bishops.

Trying to quickly crawl into the clock tower while releasing all his magi.

“What a pathetic act.”

As the mace pierces his waist, his arms and legs are severed at a speed difficult to follow with the eyes.

“Urghhhh!”

As the pain begins to overwhelm him and his magi starts to drain away.

He, seemingly not wanting to die, tapped his body lightly with the mace and spoke.

“See you later.”

With those brief words, he activates an unknown magic that causes him to be sucked into the mace.

At first, he struggled to resist such magic.

But realizing it was a futile effort, he stopped struggling further and slowly flowed into the mace.

“……”

The moment he entered the mace, pain and despair mixed in his mind, causing his entire consciousness to sink.

Perhaps because he realized that all his efforts over the years had been meaningless.

Or maybe because he felt empty after seeing someone overwhelmingly strong, but one thing was certain.

‘The fact that I will die soon, I guess.’

As he was chuckling at that thought.

Suddenly, the scenery inside the mace caught his eye.

Although it was almost impossible to see anything due to the lack of light from outside.

The glimmers of mana and magi spreading from various places dimly revealed the surroundings.

Slowly turning his gaze to check the surroundings, what he saw was.

A mountain of corpses… no, an ocean would be a more apt description, given the countless number of bodies.

‘Well, there are some who are still alive.’

They are extremely hungry and severely injured, so they will probably die soon.

Just as I was shivering, thinking this might be what humans describe as hell.

Mana begins to concentrate in the air, forcibly pulling me upwards.

“……”

Though I don’t know why.

Hoping to be freed from this hell, I let my body be pulled up by the force, and what I saw was.

The Archbishop standing on top of the collapsed clock tower.

* * * * *

I smiled as I saw that he had ‘temporally’ held it in place just before the clock tower collapsed.

I had roughly guessed it from when he stopped everything around him.

Because I could be certain that the amount of magical energy that Archbishop possessed was beyond imagination.

‘At this level, it would be foolish to compare him to the bishops.’

I looked at the magical energy enveloping the entire clock tower and its surroundings.

Slowly moving my feet, I shook off the blue blood on my mace.

‘Rationally thinking, it would be right to enter the clock tower and break through each floor one by one.’

Strangely, I felt like I would lose if I did that, so I didn’t want to.

I alternately looked at the mace in my hand and the clock tower, then relaxed my shoulders and spoke to Luna.

“Make sure no one can come near this area.”

[Got it!]

With those words, Luna immediately disappeared, departing somewhere.

Watching Luna leave, I smiled and then gripped the mace tightly, drawing out as much mana as possible.

‘Even if time has been stopped. That’s just another form of magic.’

And all magic could be shattered by ‘powerful force’ if it existed, no matter what it was.

With this thought in mind, I infused mana and penetration magic into the mace and struck hard at the side of the clock tower.

– Kwaaang!

Compared to the clock tower, human existence was infinitely small, so the impact point was only about one or two bricks.

But the power contained in it was so intense that it couldn’t be ignored.

Every time I swung it, the entire surroundings began to vibrate intensely and explode.

‘Whatever is blocking the way.’

Thinking that with enough power to surpass it, everything could be destroyed.

Just as I was about to strike again, filling it with even more mana.

A terrified voice was heard from behind.

“Th-there’s no way you can destroy that.”

It seems the magician who survived earlier was watching this.

I ignored such words and was about to take my stance again.

The magician shouted at me in a trembling voice.

“I, I know you’re strong…! But waiting for support and then entering the clock tower is the rational choice. There’s no way a person can destroy that… Besides, there’s an incredibly powerful magic cast on it, how could you possibly collapse it!”

It seems from his perspective, he wants me to conserve mana and then attack the clock tower with them.

In a way, it might be an ideal choice.

But that was only assuming I couldn’t smash the tower.

‘Spatial Distortion.’

The last magic of ancient magic and the strongest magic belonging to the pinnacle of ancient magic.

I manifested magic with the power to forcibly distort space as I desired.

An unimaginably vast amount of mana vibrates around as it leaves my body.

Watching everything around me mix up like a puzzle cube, I packed that power into the mace as if cramming it in.

Then I struck the clock tower again with it.

– Crack! Boom!

With that attack, the time magic enveloping the clock tower completely shattered, and the clock tower began to collapse.

Ignoring the words “Mo, monster bastard” coming from behind me.

I looked at the woman falling from above.

‘Is that her?’

Archbishop Jernian.

Looking at Jernian, who was staring down here with a somewhat bewildered expression, I raised the corners of my mouth.

‘Then I should start with a light greeting.’

I gathered hundreds of lightning bolts and sent them flying towards Jernian, then slowly opened my mouth.

“Finally, I get to see that face of yours.”

“……”

Gradually frowning as I looked at Jernian, who had stopped my magic in mid-air, I decided to throw her a gift to commemorate our first meeting.

I pulled out the ‘rabbit mask guy’ I had caught earlier from the mace.

Jernian looked at me with a somewhat puzzled expression as I suddenly pulled out the rabbit mask.

Looking at her like that, I manifested space expansion magic on the body of the rabbit mask guy.

Then I slammed in point explosions over and over again.

‘This way, it becomes like a time bomb.’

It turns into a bomb that explodes at the moment I want.

I used spatial compression magic to throw the rabbit-masked guy to Zernian and said,

“It’s a gift.”

Thinking that he would surely like it since it was his subordinate, I canceled the spatial expansion magic cast on the rabbit-masked guy.