The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 214

214

“Are those guys slacking off somewhere? Why aren’t they here yet?”

Rem grumbled for the fifth time.

He had the errand boy order cool traditional liquor with mint flavoring for the third time.

It was a village about half a day’s journey past the Great Bridge, where they had agreed to meet.

“Could something have happened?”

Rem snorted at Bart’s words.

“Hmph, don’t say ridiculous things. I thoroughly investigated while passing through the Great Bridge, and there were no suspicious signs.”

“Hmm.”

“What, you don’t trust me? They must have stopped playing fake husband and wife and are really getting cozy with each other.”

At that moment, a crack suddenly spread across the teacup, and it shattered cleanly with a clang.

Serwayvone cried out once, emitting light.

Rem burped, sensing an ominous sign.

“Hmm, did something really happen?”

Then, a sound caught the archer’s keen hearing.

– …Run, run away….

Footsteps rushed into the village, the sound of wagon wheels, a merchant? Screams and murmurs filled with panic, and a warning.

“Plague, it’s a plague! The plague has spread to the Great Bridge! It’ll be here soon!”

“A plague?”

“The plague that’s spreading in the plague zone, the Great Bridge has become a complete mess! That plague will spread here too, we have to run away!”

A plague?

Rem and Bart exchanged glances for a moment, placed two silver coins on the table, and immediately ran out of the inn.

* * *

“Mind Construction, Lightning Spear Declaration: Wandering Venerable One.”

From the center of the magic circle that spreads across the ground, dyeing it gold as if blotting paper with ink, the rune of lightning flickers.

The forms of the four subsidiary magic squares that arise from that magic circle are octagons, which are electric magic squares.

Transcendent electricity that cannot be described as anything but overwhelming surges and glows from various parts of the magic squares.

– Shirping, that is, the special ability of a greatsword-type holy sword, is to absorb some of the enemy’s magic power. It uses that to increase its power.

A conversation with Rista from 300 years ago comes to mind.

Rista Alter Shirping.

In the first place, since the middle name Alter means proxy, only that guy would claim to be the swordmaster of Shirping.

– In other words, the greater the power of the other ability confronting Shirping, the greater the limit of the power I can wield! Fantastic, isn’t it?

But a holy sword should not be used like that. It must not be used to cut down and kill innocent people.

Just as Serwayvone was our companion as a part of Keyes, Shirping was also a companion who accompanied us to the ends of the earth.

“Pipi, Aki! Protect Ovin.”

“Got it!”

“Pipi, Pipi, Pipi.”

The moment I took a breath and organized my thoughts, I saw the assassin kicking off the ground.

“Line Iron Halberd.”

With the sound of crackling electricity, countless lightning stakes soared from the magic square of the mind barrier.

The 5-star magic of the steel attribute that I had devised during the Age of Upheaval, now that the attribute has been replaced with lightning, its speed is needless to say.

The lightning barrier and the slash of light speed collided, and a terrifying gust of wind tore at the skin and raged.

“Jesuh Swirl Chain Bloom, Lightning Style.”

Before the aftershock swept heavily under my feet, I activated the rune of the Honored One in the barrier.

The chains, twice as powerful as usual without unfolding the mind, lash out at the assassin’s limbs with lightning speed.

Is it a coincidence that Rista’s figure suddenly overlapped with the assassin’s figure, dodging those chains with acrobatic, minimal movements?

‘It’s not a coincidence.’

How can the sword, swordsmanship, and movements be so similar?

Cold sweat wouldn’t stop as I watched the assassin, dodging the exploding chains here and there with godlike footwork, slowly closing the distance.

And the moment all checks were broken through, the pain as if my wrist bones were shattered ran wild as the stone staff and Shirping collided.

‘It’s a great relief that Setsunen’s power is supporting my wrist.’

Was it just pain? I almost flew away because of the wind pressure that the ferocious blade brought.

The blade of Shirping began to flicker like a flame. It was slowly sucking in the power of the enemy I was facing, that is, Alakish.

What struck my head then was not physical pain but mental pain.

“You, who are you…?”

What happened?

I blankly inhaled.

Even the slightest habits that make up a single movement can be so similar to Rista’s…?

[Aruuu…!]

The moment my arms were gradually pushed back by overwhelming strength, and the blade pressed against my face.

“Get back!”

Milia’s red afterimage filled my vision, and the oppressive feeling that had been pressing down on my body receded.

‘Stop, there’s no room to think about other things.’

No matter how well you treat the compatibility between a swordsman and a magician, it’s 8:2.

The magician is unconditionally at a disadvantage.

The reason why Millone Alter Gaumris was able to gain an advantage in battle even though he was several levels below Nariaduke was because of that compatibility.

From birth, magicians are not specialized in one-on-one battles, but in many-on-one battles.

‘And that Shirping is, as a magician, the worst opponent….’

It would be a really ridiculous plan, but I act as if I’m facing Rista.

Activate the rune of Flow.

If I recall the movements I saw 300 years ago, the next action to take is a right evasion.

“……!”

And the left foot I take.

With that, I will convert the momentum of evasion into the momentum of breaking out with the momentum of breaking out. I will definitely narrow the gap as if leaping.

I read it perfectly up to that point.

‘I caught you.’

Before the assassin, who rushed to my eyes in an instant, drawing a shockingly soft curve, could strike my neck with the blade of Shirping.

The chains of Jesuh Swirl Chain Bloom, which had been deployed in advance, rushed straight at his body.

From the right, from the left, from the ground, from the sky, literally from all directions… With this, target fixation is complete.

Magic Square Construction, 5 stars.

The runes to engrave are Cannon, Heaven, Exterminate, Strike, and Lightning.

“Exterminate Lightning Heaven Strike Cannon.”

The 5-star fire magic created by imitating the dragon’s breath in Ringkeland is replaced with the electric attribute, focusing on speed rather than power.

With that speed, in order to firmly seize the victory in the boundary between life and death that flickers in an instant.

The clear sound of the magic square breaking, the absolute lightning strike born loudly in that clear sound.

Before the sound was over, before I instinctively closed my eyelids because my eyes were dazzled, a fierce flash dyed the ground gold….

“……?”

…The moment I was convinced that I had taken a step closer to victory, Vel Curius extremely amplified his concentration, and the flow of the world suddenly slowed down.

Everything was clearly visible in the slowed world where everything was accurately recognized.

The assassin’s movements, ignoring the laws of that slowed world as if he alone was ignoring them, were re-gripping the hilt of the sword at a terrifying speed.

An unknown sense of oppression coldly swept through my mind.

No, I can definitely know what it is.

I could see the space-time around me, or rather, the space-time around the Great Bridge where I was standing, wavering like a mirage.

‘Time-Space Extermination.’

Did Vel Curius amplify his concentration to avoid this attack? If I do this, I can definitely avoid it and counterattack.

If I do that, I can win with a very high probability.

But if I did that….

The moment I made eye contact with Aki, who was tilting her head and looking at me from my right rear, my body moved before my mind.

Squeak, squeak, chaaaaaaeng!

The subtle cracks that had been spreading through space-time along the trajectory of the slash.

The cracks shattered like a glass window, cutting down all things in the area.

Time-Space Extermination cast with Shirping ignores all defenses of the existence located in its trajectory and cuts it down.

The secret technique that made Rista end the Age of Upheaval and be revered as a hero rather than a warrior.

The reason that even made people forget the reputation of the Dragon Slayer, who had commanded the previous era with the name of the Greatest Swordsman in Humanity.

About the time it took for a heart to beat once had passed.

A straight line of emptiness was created on the Great Bridge, which symbolized peace by Hals Dracus, the dragons.

As if signifying the advent of the last era… As if providence was resisting the suddenly emerging emptiness, a storm raged fiercely, and the hem of my clothes fluttered.

“Cough.”

Only then did a heavy lump of breath burst from my throat. Along with the blood and stomach acid that had scorched my esophagus.

“Aki, are you hurt?”

Even so, I could smile.

Maybe I had to.

Because I could see that Aki and Pipi were safe. Even though blood was pouring out of the gap where my intestines were exposed in the slash that had deeply cut through my chest.

“A, Abut…?”

It was fortunate that I had created a barrier that concentrated the power of the two Yeouiju [magical orbs] and Seresia into one; otherwise, one of these three would have had their upper body cut off by now.

“Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin.”

Pipi flew over in a daze, but the victory or defeat had already been clearly decided. I returned Setsunen to the form of a baby dragon.

“Pipi, take Aki and Nene….”

Before I could finish those words, clang, a heavy shadow darkened my vision.

I thought that a first-class assassin was one who annihilated the target without any hesitation. And I thought that the words I had just uttered to Pipi might become my last words.

The mind barrier began to scatter, and Valensidice and Milia were rushing here, but they would be half a beat late.

‘Should I have aimed for victory even if it meant giving up Aki?’

No.

Even if it was unconditionally right to do so, I would have done this.

‘I have no regrets. Even if the same situation came several times, I would have done this.’

If Aki or Nene were behind me.

The moment I turned my head forward, sensing the end, the time of my life suddenly stopped.

Is this what they mean when they say I doubt my eyes?

‘Could it be that I’m still stuck in a nightmare?’

Was it because I aimed to kill me rather than offset the power of the Exterminate Lightning Heaven Strike Cannon?

The assassin’s face was completely revealed, whether the helmet that had covered his entire head had melted or bounced off.

It was a very calm expression.

Eyes with no light of any emotion, neither sadness nor joy, neither malice nor goodwill, just a blank expression.

‘No.’

I couldn’t possibly think that it was the same as those eyes that were always filled with some kind of emotion.

‘Yeah, how can this be?’

It felt like I was in a filthy nightmare. Still, that face, those eyes.

“……Rista?”

Why does my heart ache as if it’s being stabbed with a needle just by taking that name out?

Why, why?

Pipi, who had almost fallen to the ground because she had stopped flapping her wings for a moment in bewilderment, spoke almost at the same time as me.

“Genuine, genuine, genuine.”

And I thought that might be our last emotion and voice, but….

From the blade of Shirping, which the assassin had raised above his head, a sobbing sword light flickered suddenly.

Then, a moment of hesitation arose in the eyes of the assassin who was about to bring down the sword vertically and take our lives.

“Mission…….”

He swallowed a dry breath.

He painfully grabbed his forehead.

And in the voice he took out, in that clear and refreshing voice like the sunlight of a spring day.

“I have to carry out the mission…….”

His knees buckled as if the thread that had been supporting his collapsing body had finally snapped.

“Rain Ludwig!”

The situation was at its worst when Milia stood between Rista and me, and Valensidice supported me.

“No matter how much of a hero you are, you’re still just a human.”

Three shadows appeared in the fading vision that was gradually turning earthy.

The one holding a spear without a blade.

The one holding a bow.

The one clasping his hands as if praying.

They exuded a presence several times stronger than the nightmare musician I had faced earlier, exuding a suffocatingly strong murderous intent.

Are they the powerhouses of the Dawn Brigade?

“Even if the body is a lowly human, what dwells in that soul is a dragon.”

The sound of a bowstring being drawn can be heard.

“Show at least the minimum of courtesy.”

An explosive light burst from the spear without a shaft, and it can be seen taking the shape of a blade.

“Instead of an unqualified human, we, the first descendants, will take that life.”

At the time when the second life was coming to an end, the sound of an explosion of flames was heard. It was the sound of Aki shouting as she blocked them.

That called for a miracle.

In an instant, my whole body, Valensidice’s body, Milia’s body, Pipi’s body, Ovin’s body, Setsunen’s body, and Aki’s body were engulfed in flames.

“Hmm……?!”

It was a flame with a power that nothing could approach.

But it wasn’t hot.

It was the same warmth as that warmth that sent me to the future in that remote Arctic region. Alakish’s power? No, it’s impossible. Alakish is…….

“A fire-type space-time transfer?”

“Did you have that kind of power?”

“Run away, finish them off!”

The moment their power was about to reach this place, the scenery of the Great Bridge twisted and changed as if it were a lie.

The salty smell of the sea disappeared, and the dust and mold smell unique to old basements filled the void.

The horizon where the sea and sky meet coolly disappeared, and a dark darkness that was somehow ominous yet comfortable dominated the vision.

Where is this?

What happened?

Before one of us could ask that question, a mysterious flame rose from the darkness, like a candle being lit.

「I ask for your forgiveness for the rudeness of having to call you in such a perplexing way.」

The atmosphere of the basement trembled quietly at the voice of the flame. It is evidence of a transcendent presence.

At least it wasn’t Alakish. Because it was the voice of an old and dignified man.

I could feel my soul trembling. I could clearly feel the fragment of Alakish that had permeated my soul crying.

“Awoo?”

Aki felt a strange sense of familiarity with that voice and stepped forward, while Setsunen clung to me, but her consciousness was hazy, so it wasn’t clear.

「Until my sister’s bloodline resonated with my call, I could not intervene in the situation, for my body has long since decayed and collapsed, and what remains here now is the remnant of my soul.」

The red blade disappeared from the demon sword that Milia was holding tightly in both hands.

He asked.

Who are you? No, who are you?

「The name given to me by the Great Flame, the second of the five original Red Dragons, is Shalesarum, which means ‘to embrace’ in your language.」

Shalesarum?

Perhaps because so many incomprehensible things had happened in a row, my brain wasn’t even shocked anymore.

Shalesarum would have died 500 years ago. Isn’t he the owner of the statue built on the Great Bridge?

“Thank you for your help, but is there another purpose for calling us?”

Valensidice, who always likes to get to the point, asked firmly. Shalesarum replied in a strangely sad voice.

「That is so. In order to prevent the disaster that will befall this land, and thereby to judge my daughter.」