Genius Wizard Hides His Sword Skills [EN]: Chapter 88

88. Angelus’s Temple (2)

Suddenly, hands erupted from the snowy mountains.

“Is that… the Hand of the Earth?”

Drew was horrified, but then,

Groooooan!

The eerie sound that followed made him shake his head.

“No. This isn’t magic.”

The hands rising from the ground, with patches of flesh missing, were different from the Hand of the Earth.

“…Zombies.”

That was the only conclusion he could draw.

‘Undead in the Xylo Mountains, of all places.’

[Hmm. *Jiangshi* [Chinese hopping vampires]… It’s been a while.]

‘Who dares to pull such a trick?’

Clutching my sword, I stared at them. Nearly ten zombies were sticking their heads out.

“Z-Zombies? What kind of monster is that?”

Undead were forbidden magic, so it was natural that Drew didn’t know.

“It’s not a monster. They are the dead.”

“Wh-What? The dead? Then is it black magic?”

“It’s a type of black magic.”

Ten-odd zombies suddenly appeared in the Xylo Mountains. Someone had summoned these beings, devoid of reason.

Groooooan!

They were clearly looking at us. It didn’t take much to realize that we were their target.

“How dare they!”

Angel’s angry voice echoed. It was clear someone was targeting us and had summoned the zombies.

Angel didn’t just express anger.

Whoosh-

A massive firestorm engulfed the zombies. The flames he created incinerated the zombies that hadn’t fully emerged yet.

Krooooaaah!

The terrifying screams shook the earth. The unpleasant cacophony of the dead seemed to tear at our ears, and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.

Eight zombies were melted away by Angel’s gesture.

‘You bug-like bastards.’

The remaining two were mine.

The ones with only their upper bodies sticking out were practically offering their necks to be cut.

‘Don’t wander the nine heavens, but go to a better place.’

As I swung Fragarach from the lower left to the upper right,

Thwack!

One head flew away.

Without even looking at the head that fell to the ground, I lifted the sword and slammed it straight down.

Thwack!

Fragarach pierced through another zombie from the crown of its head. It wasn’t just a simple piercing.

“Kieeeeeeeek!”

Acrid smoke rose from the zombie’s head where it made contact with Fragarach.

Thwooo!

As I pulled the sword out again, the zombie dropped its head.

‘It’s a bit strange, but….’

It was emitting black smoke and died instantly.

‘A holy sword is a holy sword, after all.’

Fragarach had a clear advantage against the undead. The power imbued in its blade was burning away the zombie’s body.

“W-What? Undead are this easy?”

Drew blinked at the situation that was resolved so quickly.

“Zombies are the weakest of the bunch. You could beat them if you put your mind to it.”

“Ah!”

He quickly regained his composure, but.

“But I wonder who summoned the zombies.”

The situation wasn’t over yet. Black magic had been used relatively close by. There was a high probability that they were still watching us.

“See! I told you I heard rumors of a black magician! Maybe there really is a witch!”

Drew had been spouting strange things before we came to the Xylo Mountains.

‘Hmm….’

[Could there really be a witch?]

I had ignored it at first, but now that things had come to this, I couldn’t rule out the possibility.

“I think we should go to the temple first.”

Angel pointed to the Temple of Angelus.

“They’re most likely to be there.”

My gaze was already fixed on it. The black stones crudely added to its appearance seemed to be telling us that someone was hiding there.

“It seems an apostate has taken over the temple….”

Angel’s fists were trembling. He rarely showed his emotions, so this was definitely the angriest I had ever seen him.

Kuuuu….

The flow of mana was different from before. Angel, who always handled mana calmly, now had raw mana swirling around him.

“How dare they! Those who have touched the Central Council will pay the price with their death!”

Angel immediately started walking towards the temple. His aura seemed more ferocious than the zombies that had returned from the underworld, exuding a chilling murderous intent.

[Whoever touched the pseudo-cult leader’s Berserker button is going to see some blood! Kehehe!]

As if to block his path, fingers emerged.

Groooooan!

Another horde of ten-odd zombies was about to appear, but.

Pazzizik!

They were reduced to dust before they could even see the light of day. Angel’s Chain Lightning, using his full power, was on a different level than before.

“Wow….”

Drew and Admun gaped. Seeing an 8-star mage not holding back was enough to amaze them.

“Let’s follow him for now.”

In this space, the safest place was around the enraged Angel. We followed him towards the temple.

Kreaaek!

An alien cry followed. A scream quite different from that of the zombies spread across the land.

“What’s that now!”

This time, piles of bones were appearing on the snowy mountain.

Clatter!

The bones were pieced together.

‘Well, well. Skeletons, too.’

They soon transformed into three skeleton soldiers.

“Kreaaek!”

The skeletons pointed their sharp swords at Angel. But I wasn’t too worried.

Pwoooo!

Pillars of earth that sprang up from the snowy ground rushed towards the skeletons’ bones.

[Still no match for the pseudo-cult leader.]

Angel’s signature move. The Sand Spears he used against Rakhun’s gang in Apate. Skeletons, which were only 5-star in terms of combat ability, couldn’t withstand it.

The skeletons, with all their joints separated in an instant,

Kieeeek!

Then turned into smoke and scattered into the air.

Despite the interference of the zombies and skeletons, Angel’s speed didn’t decrease. We quickly reached the entrance of the temple.

“It seems to be a barrier magic.”

However, the entrance was blocked by an opaque barrier of black light.

“It seems this is also a type of black magic. I’ve never seen this barrier before.”

Mana immediately surged in Angel’s hands. Five Magic Arrows were created in an instant and shot towards the entrance, but.

Ooooong!

The black barrier absorbed them as if swallowing the arrows of light. Only a slight ripple occurred, and it remained unfazed.

Pazzzik!

Bright light that quickly consumed our vision followed. Angel’s Thunder Storm, unleashed from both hands, covered the barrier, but.

Ooooong!

The barrier still absorbed the impact, undulating as before. It remained unfazed even by high-level 7-star magic.

“It seems attacking the barrier directly won’t work.”

I examined the surroundings instead of the barrier’s surface.

“If it’s black magic, there might be a medium….”

That was what I had seen in the black magic books in the Delema Library. Black magic often hides the essence of the magic in other objects or creatures.

‘Could it be this?’

The black stones decorated around the entrance couldn’t help but catch my eye.

Over a dozen stones with different words engraved on them. The words on them were a series of bizarre terms such as ‘Blood of Wild Beasts,’ ‘Bones of Monsters,’ and ‘Corpse of a Boy.’

‘Huh?’

Looking at the words up close made me gasp involuntarily. It wasn’t just because of the bizarre words.

“Ancient script is engraved on them.”

As Angel said, the language used was that of the Brasel Empire, which was used a thousand years ago.

“…It seems these stones are the medium for this barrier.”

“I think so too.”

Angel nodded in agreement as he scanned the black stones.

“It seems the materials for this barrier are written here. They are materials mainly used in black magic.”

At those words, he turned his head towards me.

“Can you read this script?”

He wouldn’t be able to read the ancient language from a thousand years ago.

“Ah… Angelus told me from the side. He’s telling me to destroy these stones.”

“I see! Understood.”

Angel immediately agreed.

Kuuuu….

The earth rose again following his fingertips. The familiar earthen spear flew towards one of the black stones.

Paah!

The target was the stone that read ‘Corpse of a Boy,’ but.

Too-woooong!

The Sand Spear scattered into sand, making only a rough rebounding sound.

‘It can withstand it to some extent, huh.’

Angel gritted his teeth at the sight. A violent mana current gathered in his hands again.

Mana strong enough to shake the earth. Soon, another Sand Spear rose following his gesture.

[Oh, this is the first time I’ve seen this.]

However, there was something different from before.

Kwaaaaa!

The tip of the spear was boiling as if it were about to burst into flames.

‘Oh, fire and earth, huh.’

A mixed magic similar in origin to Alloy’s research. Angel seemed to be already familiar with it, applying the magic.

Kuuuu!

The blazing spear shot out with a rough tearing sound. This time, the magic accurately hit the black stone again, creating a different reaction than before.

Kkiaaaaaa-

Along with the chilling scream of a young boy,

Tudok…….

The black stone began to melt and fall apart. Seeing that it was definitely effective, Angel’s hands moved even faster.

Kwaaaaaaaa!

Three spears appeared simultaneously. They flew towards different black stones.

Kieeeek-!

Guooooooo-!

Each presented different screams to our ears.

“It’s definitely effective.”

Four stones had already fallen off. Then, there was a change in the opaque black membrane. The black energy that had been deeply embedded seemed to have disappeared a bit.

We still couldn’t see the inside, but the energy was definitely fainter than before.

“Thankfully, it’s working. I’ll destroy the rest.”

Angel summoned three more Sand Spears. This time again, the ends were bubbling and burning.

Khaaaaaaa-!

Kieeeeiaaaa!

The stones, struck by the burning Sand Spears, screamed chillingly as expected. It was clearly the noise created by the power residing in each medium.

“…This is the last one.”

Angel, a little exhausted, had sweat beading on his forehead.

“Just a little more strength.”

But there were only three stones left, so if he used his strength just one more time, he could remove the black barrier.

Kuuuu….

A strong current gathered at his fingertips again. Perhaps to show that he was still going strong. An even denser mass of mana surged than before.

What the dense mass of mana created as it scattered.

Kwaaaaa….

The Sand Spear that pierced through the snowy mountain contained intense energy that seemed to burn anything.

‘……Who is it?’

The barrier would collapse if the black stones were destroyed. I pulled out Fragarach in preparation for a possible situation.

The Sand Spear, which had been surging as if about to be fired, paused in mid-air for a moment.