Ruchellini’s Black Rose (7)

The blue, translucent mass of light coalesced, forming a distinct shape. The blue strands extending below the ankles resembled long, straight hair, and the curves of a body were clearly visible. However, the blue particles merely mimicked a human form, and the appearance was utterly bizarre. The body, freely expanding and contracting, looked like a ghost.

To put it simply, becoming an ethereal being meant transcending limitations. The limitations of the physical body, that is. No matter how great an Archmage I am, as long as I possess a human body, there are techniques I cannot use. Operating too much Mana would either fry my brain or burst my heart. Of course, I’ve never used a technique powerful enough to explode my body, except for boundary manipulation… but trying it out now wouldn’t be so bad.

‘Freeze.’

There was no need to deploy a magic circle. Everything moved according to my will; I simply had to imagine it.

-Jeojeojeojeok…

The swirling typhoon froze solid. A chilling aura spread. The fiery pit that had been melting the ground, the raging winds, all succumbed to the cold and turned blue. Ice followed fire, striking this desolate rocky terrain. The giant ice pillars, adorning the land and sky, preserved their violent and intense forms.

A spiraling tower rose like a skyscraper. The blue light emanating from the ethereal form reflected, shining like crystal. The illusionary light mixed with the twilight dusk, creating a dynamic glow. It was cold, yet hot. The chill crawling over my body was so intense it felt like my skin was tearing.

-I bring forward winter. In this rocky terrain, where not a single drop of rain has fallen for hundreds of years, I finally bring snow. Because I know the bitter cold, because I know the heart-chilling snow of the past, because I know the day when even my heart froze over, I could create the most cruel winter in the world.

The world freezes.

__

“-Ye spirits who guard the North!”

A cold so intense that an ordinary human would freeze to death in seconds. Raelle stopped reciting the prayer and invoked the protection of the Northern warriors. A blessing for the Northerners who always live in the cold. A barrier of light enveloped Raelle and the Agents.

Pavin, breathing heavily, opened his mouth.

“…A little later and I would have frozen to death.”

The overwhelming cold was a weapon in itself. Even inside the barrier, their bodies struggled to warm up. They activated their Aura to thaw their frozen hands. Yet, their breaths still formed frost. They looked around, noticing the sudden temperature change, only to find themselves surrounded by a snowfield.

“Crazy… how are we supposed to beat that?”

“Are you trying to back out after telling him to fight?”

“Backing out or not, is that even human?”

“If you’re going to give up, it looks like now’s the time.”

“…I have to try as much as I can.”

As the swords of humanity, standing at the forefront, their will was not easily broken. They each gripped their weapons and reassumed their stances. However, their eyes held not a desire to win, but a determination to test their limits.

After belief came trust, and after trust came perseverance. Now, they were trying to prove their strength to me. It seemed like a struggle to avoid becoming a hindrance in future battles. If so, I had to respond to their will.

‘Split.’

Jeojeojeojeok! Not the sound of freezing, but of splitting. Cracks appeared on the ice pillars surrounding me. The Agents tensed and held their positions as the pillars, which hadn’t even been scratched by their Aura, began to crack. The cracks grew longer and longer. Eventually, there were so many cracks that they looked like they would shatter with a touch.

Ice shards fell to the ground. -Now was the time. I spread Mana in all directions, shattering the typhoon. Chaeaeaeeng! Thousands, tens of thousands of fragments flew in all directions.

‘Stop.’

Imbuing my will, I commanded nature. The tens of thousands of ice shards, falling under the pull of gravity, could not refuse the command and remained suspended in the air. At that moment. As the ice pillars shattered, Shuriel, who had been charging towards me, paused.

An ice shard grazed her cheek. A clear drop of blood trickled down. The light, refracted by the jagged ice, obscured their vision, and the sharp fragments, capable of cutting with a mere touch, restricted their movements. The world shimmered with red and blue light. I hadn’t moved an inch, and wouldn’t, yet they couldn’t even think of approaching me.

“Don’t move. We have to hold out until Raelle declares the defensive zone. Until the next attack comes-“

“He would have killed us already if he wanted to. Yujin is holding back.”

Pavin and Raelle both knew that fact. Belief? They had more than enough of that since I summoned the fireballs.

They couldn’t win. They knew it. The swords for humanity couldn’t reach me. But they didn’t seem to feel despair or anger towards me. Their expressions were those of relief that they could have someone like me as an ally, that kind of expression.

“Haa… fine. I’ll struggle as much as I can.”

Jiiiiiing! Raelle’s earring glowed.

He colored his eyes with a golden light and said.

“Believing that there will be a fence for the young lambs, grant us a cradle to flee from that wolf.”

Magic and divine power were similar, yet could not coexist. The difference between divine power and magic was- the power of God sometimes accomplished the impossible. Whether it would work or not depended solely on the caster’s belief. Therefore, to a magician who presupposed certainty, divine power was nothing more than a gamble.

However, the undeniable fact for magicians was that God’s miracles had always existed. Raelle, in a voice that suddenly became thick and modulated, declared while looking directly at me.

“-God has answered.”

It was the voice of God’s representative, not Raelle’s. The declaration of the defensive zone. Raelle released divine power, creating a large dome-shaped barrier. Chiik! The ice shards inside instantly melted into liquid.

Only then. Shuriel and Pavin were able to regain their freedom.

“Now!”

“Don’t be hasty! Fight while sensing the Mana!”

Paat! They kicked off the damp ground and rushed forward like arrows. I accelerated my thoughts. The two Agents approached slowly, as if in slow motion. I pulled up the muddy, softened earth and commanded.

‘Gather.’

Magicians do not rely on God. They only try to imitate Him. To transcend their limits, to overcome them solely with their own power, they mimic miracles. If there was one certainty, it was that magic at its extreme was indistinguishable from miracles.

-Kugugung!

Mud gathered around my ethereal form. Legs were created first, followed by the torso, and finally the arms and head. The earth gathered before they could even approach, and it had already taken shape. It was a speed that was difficult for the human eye to react to. All of this took less than 0.1 seconds.

A giant golem.

The form created by gathering earth was a golem that appeared to be over 20m tall.

Beonjjeok! I used Blink to teleport backward, creating distance. Sufficient distance was needed to move this massive body. Kuung! A sandstorm arose as it landed on the ground. Pavin and Shuriel looked like ants. I hardened the mud to make the body solid, then stretched out a long arm and struck down. Kadeudeudeuk!!! It was a powerful attack that shattered Raelle’s defensive barrier. Magic. Had overcome God’s miracle.

Violence weighing over dozens of tons poured down on Shuriel’s head, who was running at the forefront. There wasn’t enough distance to dodge to the sides. Shuriel abandoned her sword and clenched her fist. She gathered all the Mana contained in her horns and concentrated it in her fist.

“Keueueup――!!!”

She unleashed her fist towards the giant.

――Kuuuung!!!!!!

In an instant. The shockwave spreading in a circle shook the ground. It was a shock so strong that Pavin, who was running towards me, was thrown into the air. The arm did not break. Shuriel’s arm did not break either. She coughed up blood and screamed.

Pavin, unable to regain his balance in the air, let out a youthful scream.

“Kyaaaak-?!”

“Land on his arm!”

Pavin, who had been screaming, calmly performed a landing after hearing Shuriel’s words. Taak! He climbed onto the rocky arm that was still clashing with the fist. Then, he immediately ran towards the head. Tadadak! It was already too late when I tried to lift my arm to push him away.

“May God――!! Punish――!!”

He once again injected divine power to increase the size of the mace. The mace grew as large as the golem. Pavin, his face flushed as if ashamed of the scream he had just let out, slammed down the mace. Kwaaang! The head shattered, and the body collapsed.

However, it did not harm my ethereal form. This was partly because I was immune to physical damage, but also because of the limitations of divine power, which was optimized for dealing with Demons. God bestows embraces rather than punishment on the innocent.

My efforts to protect humanity had not been in vain. That was all that Pavin’s mace had indicated. It was only that, but I felt a slight joy as if I had finally been recognized as human. The goal of all magicians―― the harmony of ‘human reason’ and ‘magician’s reason’. It was still immature, but I had found the direction. All I had to do was continue on this path.

Kwareureureu…! The golem turned into a dust storm. In the midst of it, Shuriel knelt down and vomited blood. She had internal injuries. It was a natural consequence of withstanding that massive fist.

“Keuheup….”

“Shuriel! I’ll support you! Raelle! Please heal her!”

Raelle. Hastily recited a prayer to resist even a little more. However, even if they were healed, the result would not change.

‘It’s over.’

I shook the boundaries. I shook the senses, the space, the time. I pulled a few strands of the world’s ‘lines’, causing intentional chaos. The balance began to break. Time flowed slowly in some places, and quickly in others. Taking one step meant walking twenty steps, and words spoken in front were heard from behind.

“What the hell is this, what the hell is going on-“

“――Kyaahaaak!”

“…Damn it.”

The side effect of pulling the lines was the partial collapse of spacetime. The balance that should never have been touched had been broken. It was different from when I experimentally manipulated the boundaries when I went to save Pahelln. At that time, I had simply gathered the lines. But now, I had pulled, twisted, and scattered them.

I slowly landed amidst the chaotic space.

If the twisted lines were left as they were, the collapsing spacetime would gradually expand its area, and eventually everything would crumble and return to nothingness. Of course, that wouldn’t happen. If it did, I would also be annihilated. And the World Tree wouldn’t just leave this alone.

‘Return, again.’

As I thought with will, the twisted lines returned to their original positions. It wasn’t entirely my will. An unidentified force intervened. It was obvious who it was. It was truly a mysterious tree.

“Heueok, heok. Wh-what the hell was that just now?”

“…I feel dizzy.”

“Tch…. It’s over.”

The Agents sensed the end and simply lay down. Only Raelle, who was relatively unharmed, could stand on his own two feet.

“Hua….”

I reassembled my body and approached Raelle. The scene of the muscles and organs being reconstructed was extremely grotesque, but after a few seconds, smooth bare skin was revealed. Tightly closed privates, swaying breasts. A black dress began to be put on over that alluring body.

After spending a few minutes completing the synchronization.

I approached Raelle in the same state as before.

Rather, with a cleaner body.

“Are you satisfied?”

Raelle looked around at the chaotic surroundings and muttered quietly.

“…Even the Demon King wouldn’t fight like you.”

It was an absolute belief that I could defeat all Demons.

I turned my head sharply at Raelle’s words. I had given them belief, so my work was done. At this moment, I had only one concern.

“…Shuriel!”

Shuriel was panting and vomiting blood. She was already having a hard time recovering because she had used up all her Mana… I regretted not holding back a little.

“Are you okay?”

Shuriel staggered, supported by Pavin.

“I, I’ll support you.”

Pavin was spacing out, but smiled kindly after seeing my anxious expression. She silently handed Shuriel over to me. I hugged her messed-up body and supported her. I snapped my fingers and created a large sofa.

“Keueuk….”

“Don’t talk. I’ll heal you.”

I sat on the sofa and placed Shuriel’s head on my lap. I put my hand on her forehead and reconstructed her wounded body. My chest felt very stuffy, but because of Shuriel’s order not to get horny, it gradually built up.

“…Do you feel a little better now?”

Shuriel checked her suspiciously healed body and sighed deeply.

“……After all, you were the best choice of my life.”