Magic Is Learned For Nothing [EN]: Chapter 409

Burning Crusade 2

Portal magic is high-level magic.

It’s surprisingly difficult because it involves manipulating dimensions to shorten distances for travel.

Thus, it requires the combined mana of approximately three 6th-circle mages just to create a small portal for a single person to pass through.

The lowest price for a portal scroll that allows only one or two people passage is 10,000 gold.

If you ever see something like “Lowest Price! 1,000 Gold Portal Scroll!” on the Auction House, don’t buy it.

They are all fake listings.

For reference, there’s a common fraudulent item on the Auction House.

It’s the used luxury carriage.

The market price for a top-quality used carriage worth 3,000 gold is usually around 2,300 gold.

But on the Auction House, it’s listed for around 1,000 gold.

It’s a scam.

Sometimes, unsuspecting people go to the seller to buy the carriage.

They are surrounded by the seller and forced to buy it at an inflated price.

So, you shouldn’t even consider items listed for significantly less than the market price.

It’s almost certainly a scam.

Anyway, the larger the portal, the more exponentially the cost increases.

Even royalty limits the use of portals to under 100 people. A portal for 100 people costs about 10,000 gold. Each trip costs the equivalent of about 2,000 tenant farmers’ monthly wages.

It’s incredibly expensive.

But now, the size of the portal was several times larger than usual.

Nearly 3,000 fully armed troops were waiting to pass through it.

The strongest unit in the Nex House Kingdom.

It was Cobra.

All of them were knights with abilities above 5-star [a ranking system for knightly prowess].

The fire support unit was also composed of mages above the 5th circle [a ranking system for magical ability].

The priests in charge of buffs were all combat monks.

In terms of numbers, it was 3,000 men.

Not even a brigade-level force.

Barely a regiment.

However, their combat power is estimated to be equivalent to two legions.

Duke Trebia was deploying them. It was a waste to send them out for just any battle.

But he couldn’t just keep training them forever because that was also a waste. The best training is actual combat.

Of course, the situation in this battle was severely unfavorable.

Even Cobra, the strongest unit in the Nex House Kingdom, didn’t know how many casualties there would be.

Duke Trebia was planning to lead them himself.

The portal was getting wider and wider.

The faces of the mages in charge of the portal were hardening.

They had never opened a portal that allowed 3,000 people to pass through at once.

The mana stones were dripping with mana.

When the mana in the mana stones ran out, the auxiliary mana stones would activate. If that mana ran out, the portal would disappear. The only way to replenish it was for the mages to inject mana.

They had never used the auxiliary mana stones before.

It felt like money was disappearing mercilessly.

At least 50,000 gold would be spent just opening the portal once.

Nevertheless, the mages couldn’t say anything.

The atmosphere surrounding Duke Trebia and the Cobra unit was too grim.

“The portal is fully open. Starting the countdown. Ten, nine, seven… Open gate!”

In an instant, the portal fully opened, flashing before the eyes of the unit members.

Beyond the portal, the monsters destroying the city were clearly visible.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

Duke Trebia shouted.

He crossed the portal, using the skill Leap of the Grass [a movement-enhancing skill].

“Follow Duke Trebia!”

The Cobra unit members also quickly crossed the portal, following Duke Trebia.

At that moment!

King Ghidorah’s flames, having spotted them, rained down upon the heads of the Cobra unit members.

* * *

“Wow, what is that?”

Legion stopped the Sand Lizard. He got off it. His pelvis was aching. He seemed to need to rest a bit because it hurt.

The military city Thema was visible in the distance. A lot of smoke was rising from it.

The walls were collapsing so miserably that any defense was futile.

It was easy to guess what had happened.

They had been following the monsters’ tracks. The tracks led there.

Before coming here, Legion had thoroughly researched Duke Trebia.

It cost quite a bit of money, but he had no complaints.

You need to know your opponent to know how to deal with them.

Duke Trebia.

Age: 35 years old.

He was quite surprised here.

He thought he was about 50 years old because he was such a sly man. But he was only 35 years old.

Then that meant he had been plotting to strike the kingdom since his 20s.

Clap clap clap.

Legion applauded.

He was something.

He was also an unlucky guy.

Because he was born in the same era as me.

-Ugh.

Mark vomited.

Why?

-Just because you’re unlucky.

Height: 185 cm.

Personality: Very rational. Never gets excited. Highly trusted by his subordinates. Among the Nex House’s past prime ministers, he is one of the top three most skilled.

Skill: Estimated to be in the 8-star range. Grand Master.

Ah! So that’s how it is.

Legion also thought he might be an 8-star knight.

He was skilled enough to send Mammon away with a single blow.

Mammon was also grinding his teeth at him. He said it was the most humiliating defeat since he was reborn as a lich.

Thanks to that, Mammon was able to reach the 8th circle.

Mammon had been stagnant since the 7th circle.

He always seemed to be playing around. There were more than one or two times when he slacked off because he didn’t want to work.

He caught him and talked to him several times.

“You’re going to be left behind like that. It’s a competitive society these days. How long are you going to keep playing around like that? Do you know the story of the ant and the grasshopper?”

“I think I’ve heard of it, but I don’t remember it well.”

“The ant works hard.”

“Yes.”

“The grasshopper plays all the time.”

“Yes.”

“Then who will live well?”

“The ant?”

“No. It’s the grasshopper.”

“Huh, why?”

“The grasshopper made a fortune by investing in Bitcoin.”

“Huh.”

“How much would the ant’s stomach hurt if he saw that?”

“Ah, it would hurt.”

“So the ant also invests in Bitcoin.”

“A jackpot together?”

“No. Bitcoin is already over. So the ant loses all the money he’s saved. His house is foreclosed. He gets divorced. The ant becomes homeless.”

“What kind of story is that…”

“Do you understand the profound meaning I’m trying to convey?”

“No.”

“Ugh, you stupid guy. Do something before others do. Others didn’t even care about Bitcoin. At that time, the grasshopper’s eyes flashed. Ah, I can make money if I do that. So he took out a loan using his mother’s house as collateral and invested. He hit the jackpot. But the ant didn’t care about anything. He was insensitive to information. I mean, don’t just play around like that, read the market prices.”

“…”

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

Mammon’s skull eyes repeatedly became smaller and larger.

“Sigh, you frustrating guy. Someday you’ll understand my heart.”

Then Mammon realized after being thoroughly defeated by Duke Trebia.

Nothing is more infuriating than being beaten.

So after a bloody effort, Mammon became a monster who could use 8th circle magic.

Moreover, the Bone Dragon and Daganda Z were always with him.

He alone possessed combat power that almost surpassed a legion.

Mammon said.

“Master.”

“Yeah.”

“Please hand Duke Trebia over to me.”

“Why?”

“Please.”

“Alright.”

Legion coolly agreed.

-Assassination is impossible. There are many stellar heroes around him.

There was nothing that could be called a weakness.

Legion was lost in thought.

What could it be?

What could be used to exploit this guy’s weakness?

Legion lay down for several days, racking his brain.

Something flashed in his mind.

The place where he lives is an impregnable fortress.

Is there a need to go to his front yard?

If he fought in his front yard, there was a 90% chance that the operation would fail. He couldn’t bet everything on a 10% chance of success.

Wyvern World hadn’t even opened yet. At the very least, he wanted to see Wyvern World open and become a hit.

Then change his thinking…

He could lure him out.

How to lure him out.

-Duke Trebia is highly trusted by his subordinates.

Let’s use that in reverse.

In other words, it means he cares a lot about his subordinates.

If he tormented his subordinates, he would come out.

Originally, he was planning to infiltrate Nex House through the desert and then eliminate Duke Trebia’s subordinates one by one.

Then he thought that he would come forward himself to catch the culprit.

But an unexpected variable occurred.

Monsters suddenly appeared.

Legion considered it a brilliant move.

He was grateful to Duke Trebia for creating such a good opportunity.

He dug his own grave.

“Wow! It’s brutal.”

Legion examined the situation in the castle with magnification magic.

An even more terrible thing than expected had happened.

An entire city was being destroyed. He couldn’t even guess how many casualties there were.

It was close to a natural disaster.

“That guy, Duke Trebia… he’s really cruel.”

Shuttle said, standing next to him.

“What?”

“He released those monsters on us. If it weren’t for Mammon, wouldn’t the military city Focus be in that state right now?”

“Um, maybe so.”

Legion admitted.

From the perspective of the Nex House Kingdom, Duke Trebia was a hero. He fiercely repels the enemy with indomitable will.

But from the perspective of the Baroque Kingdom, he was the number one person to be eradicated first.

If he hadn’t changed the course of those monsters, the military city Focus would have been devastated, as Shuttle said.

At least 100,000 or more massive casualties would have occurred.

The burning Nex House military city Thema.

Unfortunately, it was their own fault.

“What do we do now?”

“Wait.”

“Wait?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Shuttle nodded.

The trap was set.

Now he just had to wait for Duke Trebia to appear.

The one who would fight him one-on-one, no, the lich was Mammon.

Even if he was a Grand Master, he didn’t think Mammon would be unilaterally pushed back.

If he felt that Mammon was being pushed back, he could join in.

Mammon would hate it, but who cares.

If he didn’t catch him, massive damage was expected.

He was strong.

But could he withstand two 8th circle mages? If he beat us, he would admit it.

He should send an email to King Lauzel.

-Mammon and I are broken [defeated]. The only one who can stop him is Dreiser. If even Dreiser is broken, there is no answer. Your Majesty, please evacuate.

Like that.

Of course, he didn’t think he would lose.

Legion took out cooking utensils and chairs from the back of the Sand Lizard.

He put up a parasol to make shade and prepared a meal.

“What are you doing?”

Shuttle asked.

“I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

“Here?”

“Then where else would we eat? Do you want to go eat over there?”

Legion pointed to the burning military city Thema.

“What are you waiting for anyway?”

“There’s something. Let’s not waste pages by asking strange things. Explaining it would take up a whole page.”

“Ah, okay.”

Shuttle scratched the back of his head. He summoned a skeleton soldier.

It was a cook skeleton.

He was quite skilled in cooking, so he was in charge of Legion’s meals in the field.

He was also highly motivated.

The cook skeleton had once applied for a cooking match with Dekarson, the exclusive chef of the territory.

Dekarson snorted and lightly dismissed him.

“Train in the field for at least 3 years. Come back if you want to challenge me then.”

Dekarson said that to the cook skeleton. Since then, the cook skeleton has been working day and night to defeat Dekarson.

“Please wait 20 minutes. I will serve you the best desert cuisine.”

The cook skeleton grabbed the frying pan with a ferocious look.