How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 199

199. Ashilla Krevelt (4)

So, that’s how it is.

I mentally discarded the condition about not using spirit magic.

“Tch. Then I guess I have no choice.”

“You’re accepting it surprisingly well?”

“Actually, I’ve been assuming that something like this might happen.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“There’s that.”

Whether it’s spirit magic, regular magic, or any other ability, there’s always a chance that one or all of them could be blocked.

“…Then what about my equipment?”

“Simple things will work, but anything with complex effects won’t.”

As she said that, I realized that I only had a knife and simple protective gear on me; most of my items were gone.

It doesn’t matter.

Situations where I can’t use items or anything else aren’t that rare for me.

It’s bound to happen eventually.

‘Let’s just treat this as gaining experience for when that happens.’

After sorting out my thoughts, I chanted an attack spell and charged forward.

* * *

I realized it as soon as we started fighting: Ashilla adhered to the typical mage style.

A style that uses a vast mana capacity to relentlessly bombard with high firepower [intense magical attacks].

It didn’t take long to realize how terrifying that was.

There was no time to even sigh.

If I stopped moving even for a moment.

“Got you~.”

As if enjoying herself, she hummed and concentrated a massive magical bombardment on the spot where I had briefly paused.

I considered using translocation [teleportation], but instead, I controlled the gravity field to launch my body backward as if I were being shot.

It hurts, but the speed is definitely there.

콰가가가가강!

I glanced back at the destructive light pouring down behind me and broke out in a cold sweat.

I can’t be sure what would have happened if it had hit me.

“Ah~ too bad? If you had tried to move with space translocation, I was going to make you fall in the wrong place?”

“…I didn’t use it because I thought you might do that.”

After sensing a strange sensation in her hand, I was convinced that I had made the right decision not to use translocation.

High-level mages often learn space-based magic.

Not just using teleportation, but also interfering with the opponent’s movement.

If I had tried to use translocation to evade, it wouldn’t have activated, or the coordinates would have been off, and I would have been in trouble.

The highlight of a mage’s battle isn’t just pouring out firepower.

The main thing is how much you interfere with the opponent’s magic or schemes and catch them off guard.

A battle of high-level trickery.

‘Battles with high-level mages… are annoying like this.’

The premise is different from fighting knights who use Aura [a warrior’s life force].

There are too many different factors to consider compared to opponents who mainly use swords or hand-to-hand combat.

Moreover, I can’t use spirit magic right now.

I have to fight only with magic, abilities, and my own cunning.

It’s really overwhelming.

‘It’s a good thing this isn’t a life-or-death battle.’

If it were a real battle, I wouldn’t stand a chance.

I don’t know the extent of her potential, but I estimate that she was almost a top-tier talent.

‘I understand why she calls herself a genius.’

It would be foolish to compete honestly with such a monster.

‘Then how should I deal with it?’

But there’s no time to think leisurely.

The ground shook, then violently convulsed and rose.

It’s the magic Ashilla used.

“Control Ground.”

It was probably a 5th circle spell [a high-level spell].

Was it a ground manipulation type of magic?

“Stone Object Production.”

She chants another spell in addition.

The soaring rocks are arbitrarily carved out, taking the shape of animal statues with numerous blades and sharp teeth, and relentlessly pounce on me.

I struggled to avoid them.

Fortunately, I can fly to some extent by using gravity control and wind pressure control in combination.

There’s no problem in deploying minimal mobility.

“Keuk!”

I endured the somewhat rough recoil and flew away, putting some distance between us.

“Flame Lance!”

Activating the 3rd circle fire magic Flame Lance.

The three flame spears that were fired collided with the rock statues and caused an explosion.

I shot magic in quick succession, shooting down the statues that were chasing after me.

Fortunately, I have some confidence in my mana capacity.

‘If it’s a battle of endurance, I won’t lose.’

펑! 펑! 퍼퍼퍼퍼퍼퍼퍼펑!

Explosions sound non-stop.

Even if the power of each shot is relatively low, it is effective if fired like a machine gun with a terrifying momentum.

Ashilla seemed to be impressed by that point as well.

“Oh~ as expected, your mana capacity is no joke. It’s hard to believe you’re only a 3rd circle mage.”

“…I wouldn’t be very happy even if you were leisurely admiring me.”

I sincerely wanted to complain about her attitude, which still felt relaxed.

“Well, thanks to that attitude, one question has been resolved.”

“Question?”

“At least you’re not going to show your true skills.”

I had that suspicion because the scale of the magic she was using was small for her potential.

If she was indeed as skilled as I expected, it wouldn’t be strange for her to use more powerful magic to smash me in one blow.

“It doesn’t seem like you’re holding back, so is there a restriction?”

I considered the possibility that she was holding back under the guise of a test, but it wouldn’t be much different.

Anyway, she can’t show her true skills, right?

“Hmm. Well, that’s right. I certainly can’t show my true skills right now.”

She smiled bitterly and admitted it honestly.

“You know? Even though this is a world inside the mind, you’re going to keep consuming the mana you have to recreate the current battle.”

“…That seems to be the case.”

And if my mana runs out or I lose consciousness, I lose.

Was that the condition?

“Then whose mana will I consume?”

“…”

There’s no need to answer.

I noticed it there.

The tips of her fingers are slightly transparent.

“Did you think I’ve only been playing for 20,000 years? I’ve been stockpiling residual mana for emergencies.”

“…Didn’t you say you couldn’t do anything last time?”

“Did you really think I would honestly say, ‘I have a means for emergencies’?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it if I were you either.”

Her mana also has a limit.

It ends when she consumes it to the point where she can’t even maintain her own form.

“But. So what?”

She lightly asked back as if it didn’t matter even if she was caught.

“Did you think I’m easy to deal with just because that mana capacity isn’t enough?”

Instead, countless magic circles float up.

It’s probably meant to say, try to exploit that weakness if you can.

“Plasma Nova.”

The 6th circle fire annihilation magic [extremely powerful magic] that Cruise Elfamant once showed.

Six spheres of blue flames instantly bloom and pour down on me as if to sweep me away.

Are you going to wipe me out with high firepower?

Good. That’s perfect.

I’ve been waiting for magic like that.

It’s an opportunity to use the new ability I acquired.

It’s perfect because the opponent is a mage.

“…Lamasu’s Chest. Deploy.”

As I chant the keyword, the chest created by the ability appears in front of me, and the lid opens according to my gesture.

“Swallow it all!”

I strongly grasp the image of activating the ability and deploy the chest to receive the spheres of fire.

And imprison them.

The mana sucked in rages inside the chest created by the ability.

It’s heavy. And it’s hot.

“…Keuk.”

I somehow grit my teeth and endure it, and finally, the heat gradually cools down.

The mana absorbed by the chest begins to be returned to me as it is.

Strong power and light dwell in my whole body.

The effect of mana absorption generates a large amount of buffs [enhancements].

Thanks to that, I’m overflowing with power.

Ashilla frowned as if she didn’t like me like that.

“Come to think of it, you had that ability too. That’s a really annoying ability from a mage’s point of view.”

“I understand how you feel, but it’s a loss not to use the abilities you have.”

I jumped in using the amplified power.

Ashilla clicked her tongue and tried to step back.

‘I can fully anticipate what she would be reluctant to do.’

The most reluctant thing is close combat, and that too, with a momentum that can’t be pushed away.

Pushing with force.

As I approached and threw a punch, she deployed defensive magic and blocked it with her staff in front.

빠각!

A striking sound like the staff was screaming rang out, and her body was pushed back greatly.

“One more time! Mana Blast.”

Activating the magic I had prepared while rushing in.

As I spread out the fist I had extended, a magic circle unfolded, and a powerful compressed mana bullet poured out from there.

She flinched in surprise at the surprise attack of the shell exploding in front of her and stepped back.

“…Oh~ I was a little surprised. But it’s not enough. Do you think I can’t cope with this magic?”

In reality, she didn’t take much damage.

“I didn’t expect it anyway. Who would I brag about with just magic?”

I grinned and activated the real means I was aiming for.

“I’ll give you back what I shot out a little while ago.”

“…!”

She flinched in surprise as if she had realized something then.

“Chest Open!”

There’s another way to use the chest.

Still, it’s a bloodline ability, so it can’t just be buffs.

There is a unique means of attack.

I felt the buffs that had strengthened my body being released at once.

My body felt heavy.

Instead, the power that had escaped back causes a different phenomenon in a separate way.

“What is this?”

Numerous small chests unfold around her.

This is the final way to use the ability.

It is a way to return the received mana as an attack instead of strengthening it.

“Shoot it out!”

The small chests opened as they were, and intense light was shot out from inside.

파파파파파파팟!

Numerous explosions erupted around her, as if pouring out concentrated fire.

A counter-type ability that releases the remaining mana as an attack by canceling the buff in the middle.

It would be threatening enough for her now.

“…”

However, I still didn’t let my guard down and started preparing for the next action.

It’s not over.

As expected, her figure was visible after the dust cleared.

She wasn’t unscathed.

She was standing there, with half of her body blown away.

If she were a living human, it would be the end, but she is already dead.

There is no such thing as a vital point.

“This is amazing. Mana capacity. The number of abilities you have. The guts to use them. It might be perfect.”

“…But it doesn’t feel like you’re acknowledging me.”

“It’s still not enough. Ah, don’t misunderstand. What I mean by not enough is that I haven’t shown what I have to show yet.”

“What to show?”

“Yeah. This thing.”

As she faced her palm upward and held it out, an object in the form of a stone tablet floated above it.

It’s a grimoire [a book of magic spells].

“Your goal is this. And what I’m protecting is also this. Then I have to show this in the end.”

“…That grimoire is.”

“Let me tell you, it’s different from the commonly rolling grimoires. The magic recorded here is definitely my… ‘Ashilla Krevelt’s’ personal lifetime masterpiece.”

She smiled confidently and showed it.

“I’ll show you that masterpiece.”

She uses magic.

A large amount of mana swirls around her with an eerie intuition.

“Change… According to my will and knowledge, everything in all things will be reorganized.”

As she muttered quietly, the stone tablet-shaped grimoire scattered light and disappeared.

Instead, countless complex magic circles floated up and rotated around Ashilla as they were.

The arrangement of magic circles that can’t help but be thought of as beautiful.

If someone with deep knowledge of magic saw it, they would spit out a more appropriate impression, but that’s all I can say.

…Something’s coming, even if I don’t know what it is.

‘But what is she using?’

The problem is that I don’t know anything about the magic recorded in that grimoire.

I tried to recall the characteristics of the monster that had the rampaging grimoire in the original work, but it didn’t help.

All I know is transcendent recovery and the variability of the body that was constantly changing.

But what if that’s due to the magic of the grimoire?

“I’ll tell you first. The magic recorded in this grimoire is to promote the change of things. It’s a formula that approaches the elements that make up the foundation of existence and rewrites it as a whole.”

For example, something like this is also possible.

As if to show it, she started a fire.

And she chants the name of the magic recorded in the grimoire.