Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 122

122. Lord of Blood (2)

“As expected of the Magic Tower.”

The words escaped Angel’s lips. It wasn’t just because of the raw power Gustav was radiating.

“To create a barrier like this…”

It was the magic barrier surrounding them. According to Angel, it was a strong barrier, capable of withstanding even 8-star magic.

“I know, right? It looks like more than half of it’s destroyed. What kind of magic was that just now?”

The cracks spiderwebbing across the barrier were the result of the massive fire magic that had engulfed them moments ago.

“It seems Gustav researched that magic himself. It’s a method of gathering mana from multiple mages and detonating it instantly.”

If the magic barrier hadn’t been in place, everyone might have perished instantly.

‘That was close. If I hadn’t set up the barrier in advance…’

I had been loud and confident towards Gustav, but as expected, the Magic Tower Lord’s right-hand man was not to be underestimated.

A figure unmatched in fire magic. I couldn’t let my guard down for even a moment when facing Gustav.

“What’s the probability of him firing that magic again?”

“It’s probably low. It consumes too much mana.”

“I see, so he’s going to engage directly now.”

Before I knew it, strands of Gustav’s red hair were dancing wildly around him.

Whoosh…

The flames gathering at his fingertips painted his entire body red.

[Lord of Blood, indeed. Now I see why he has that title. Everything’s red.]

The energy he openly unleashed in his rage was still too overwhelming for me to handle.

‘He’s probably two or three levels above Angel.’

Even among those at the same 8-star level, there were significant differences in skill.

[That’s right. The more skilled you become, the harder it is to advance to the next level.]

Gustav, who was said to be on the verge of 9-star, had reached a level far beyond Angel.

“It’s a bit early, but we’ll have to move on to the next phase of the operation.”

Originally, I was going to stall him for a bit. Weakening his power through the magic barrier would have been beneficial.

[Can’t be helped. Better than risking our lives.]

I was about to give a hand signal to the others when…

“Preceptor, I’ll try to block him one more time.”

Angel, who had been staring at Gustav with a calm gaze, turned his head towards me.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes. The magic barrier is damaged, but it should be able to withstand one more attack.”

His eyes seemed to burn as fiercely as Gustav’s energy. It was a feeling I knew all too well – a competitive spirit.

[This guy has the heart of a warrior, too.]

Having faced a strong opponent, it was only natural to want to test his skills. Moreover, there were only a limited number of people Angel could spar with at his level.

“Alright, give it a try.”

Just exchanging a few blows would be a good experience for him.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard. We can execute the next phase of the operation right away.”

Angel bowed his head briefly. He, too, began to release mana.

[Oho, this is going to be interesting.]

At that moment, Gustav waved his hand.

Kwarooooo!

The earth began to burn at his touch.

‘Hmm. Fire Earth, huh.’

The same magic Alloy had used during the attack by the Central Council.

As expected of a master of fire magic, it was on a completely different level from Alloy’s.

[Much more powerful than before.]

As if to demonstrate what true Fire Earth was, a massive wave of flames began to engulf us.

“Hmph!”

At that moment, Angel also moved his hand.

Kuuuuung!

A wall of earth instantly rose up, blocking our path. It was the Ground Fence I had often seen him use.

Kuuuuung!

The collision of high-level magic. The aftershock threatened to throw us off our feet.

‘…They’re amazing.’

At my current level, I couldn’t possibly participate in this fight.

[But Angel’s still losing.]

The two mages’ magic clashed for a brief moment. As Oberon said, the Ground Fence was melting away, as if being swallowed by the Fire Earth.

“I thought you were just some youngsters, but you had a skilled one hiding! But it’s not enough to stop me!”

Gustav shouted at the sight.

“Tch…!”

It was only natural for Angel’s brow to furrow. The Fire Earth he had unleashed had already melted away the Ground Fence and was engulfing us.

Although its power had been halved by the Ground Fence.

Kuaaaa!

It was still large enough to engulf the entire magic barrier.

Crackle…!

The cracks that had formed in the barrier were growing larger.

“The barrier will probably be destroyed by this attack.”

With those words, Angel began to chant the next spell. The disappearance of the barrier meant that his time to fight Gustav would be shortened.

[Good. He should try attacking, too.]

His expression as he hurriedly chanted the spell still seemed excited.

Clang!

Eventually, the barrier shattered after the Fire Earth passed through. Instead, what emerged from within was a Sand Spear with a burning tip.

‘He chose a head-on fight.’

He was using fire against Gustav, the pinnacle of fire magic.

[Oh, there’s one more than last time?]

There were a total of six Sand Spears surrounding Angel. He was now able to wield more of them.

‘Is it thanks to Ego’s mana?’

One more spear had appeared in just a few days. That was the only thing I could guess.

Whoosh!

The Sand Spears with flickering flames flew towards Gustav’s neck.

“How foolish!”

Gustav scoffed at the sight. At his gesture, a series of long objects began to rise around him as well.

He had summoned Sand Spears that were burning like Angel’s.

Flap!

However, the entire spear was engulfed in flames. It was clearly on a different level from Angel’s, whose spear only had flames flickering on the tip.

“…Damn it!”

It was only natural for Angel to grit his teeth.

‘He’s openly mocking him.’

[He’s been underestimated.]

Gustav, who had summoned the same magic, seemed to be deliberately showing the difference in skill.

He even summoned the same number, six.

Kwarooooo!

The 12 spears met in the air, creating a deafening roar. It was nothing more than an attack to intercept Angel’s attack.

Angel’s carefully planned strike had been rendered useless.

‘Is it still too much for him?’

That’s why mage battles were uninteresting. In the end, the one who had achieved greater mastery would inevitably win. It wasn’t easy to create variables.

‘I should move on to the next phase of the operation soon…’

I examined Angel’s expression.

‘Huh?’

For some reason, one side of his mouth was twitching. And his index finger was twitching along with it.

Kuuuuung!

At that moment, one of the Sand Spears flew towards Gustav’s back. Angel had summoned another spear separately behind him.

[Oho.]

‘He deliberately hid one.’

There was no chance of winning in a head-on fight anyway. Angel had come up with a plan in a short amount of time.

‘He’s got a good sense, after all.’

[Is the Lord of Blood going to become a blood clot this time? That guy must be flustered.]

The spear had already almost reached Gustav. In this fleeting moment, there wasn’t much he could do.

‘Could Angel be ending it like this?’

Gustav, who had been overconfident in his abilities, had ended up exposing his back to Angel.

[The more skilled you become, the more humble you should always be. Yes.]

It was only natural for his eyes to widen in surprise.

Kwarooooo!

And then, an explosion. Angel’s eyes were shining as he watched the scattering dust.

[Hmm.]

However, his eyes soon narrowed.

‘…As expected. It can’t end this easily.’

Gustav was standing unharmed through the dust.

“You! You dare to surprise me! I don’t know where you’re from, but are you resorting to such cowardly tactics!”

Gustav shouted, his entire body surrounded by a blue barrier.

‘It’s a barrier, after all.’

Before I knew it, magic barriers had been created around the bodies of all the escort members.

[It’s a bit different from the Central Council’s.]

Our barrier was one that blocked off a large space itself, while theirs was a method that was closely attached to the body.

‘It seems to be activated automatically.’

That’s why the Sand Spear had exploded just before reaching Gustav.

“…I’m sorry.”

Angel murmured softly. His head drooped.

“No, we expected them to have a barrier anyway.”

That was one of the reasons why we didn’t attack them in the first place. After all, automatic barriers were inseparable from the escort. It was an essential element to prevent surprise attacks.

“You fools! Don’t underestimate the Magic Tower!”

After confirming that the Sand Spear had disappeared, Gustav began to wave his hand again.

Flap!

Flames began to surge from his fingertips once more.

“Where did that boast that you would kill me go!”

Gustav, who was glaring at me, was chanting. With those words, Gustav crossed his arms, which seemed to be burning, into a cross.

‘Is that the Judgment of Blood I’ve only heard about?’

Gustav then flung his arms into the sky.

Kuuuuung…

At that moment, the air began to vibrate. It wasn’t like an earthquake. The ground was fine.

My head naturally lifted upwards. There was a burning rock in the sky, a meteor that seemed to be over 10 meters [33 feet] in diameter, falling.

[Meteor, huh…]

Lord of Blood, Gustav. It was his signature magic.

“I will summarily judge you in this place. And I will unearth your identities from your corpses.”

A voice full of confidence. It was natural for him to be confident, as anyone who faced a meteor would lose their will to fight.

‘Alright. Let’s see what you can do.’

Instead of answering, I simply raised my finger and pointed to the sky.

“Yes. It’s a meteor that will send you arrogant fools to the afterlife!”

However, he mistook my action for pointing at the meteor.

‘Arrogant, huh…’

I couldn’t help but curl up the corners of my lips at his attitude.

‘Let’s see who’s arrogant.’

Gustav, who had lived his whole life fighting mages. I was going to give him a fresh shock.

The reason I raised my finger wasn’t to point at some meteor…

Kwarooooo!

At that moment, a golden flash streaked across the sky. A beam of light that shot out from above the canyon struck the meteor precisely.

“Wh, what!”

Gustav’s expression hardened at the result that followed.

The massive meteor had disappeared in an instant…

Thud. Thud.

Only a few handfuls of small grains of sand were falling to the ground.

[That’s awesome.]

It was a work of Carles, who had been waiting above the canyon.

“Y, you! How dare you…!”

Gustav was flustered and couldn’t even finish his sentence. But it was still too early for him to be surprised.

“Now, let’s fight properly again.”

Black energy was smoldering beneath the surprised men.