The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 196

196.

‘This is a battle of apexes. I know that if I interfere, I’ll only be a hindrance, not a help.’

Before the Dragon Slayer’s Dragonbone Spear could pierce Rain’s neck.

‘But even if it’s just for a moment.’

Without even considering letting go of the Dragonbone Spear and backing away.

‘If I can create an opening, even for a brief moment.’

*He* will do it.

Miria, retrieving the wire that had been severed by overwhelming force, felt a strange certainty that he would.

Perhaps it was less of a certainty and more of a desperate wish.

“Finish it, Rain!”

So, at this moment, it shouldn’t have been ‘finish it,’ but rather, ‘*please* finish it.’

Even Miria herself didn’t realize that this was the first time she had called Rain by his name.

As if the gods were answering her prayer, a lightning bolt that robbed the world of all its light and color struck the dimly lit ground.

“───!”

Rain’s eyes widened.

No, it was just before the red lightning struck the ground. A golden lightning bolt struck from the opposite sky.

The backlash from the clash of transcendent powers in the sky created a massive wave of energy across the area.

“Don’t underestimate me, Half-Dragon.”

What is this──?

The power of five Hwajangbanghyeol [a technique concentrating lightning strikes], in other words, the power of 35 lightning strikes concentrated into a single blow, and he nullified it?

“If fire is the authority of the Red Dragon, then lightning is the power of the Yellow Dragon!”

And then, a shockwave that crumbled the ground into pebbles, scorched it, and twisted it spread out extensively.

“If it’s the power to control lightning, I’m several times better than you!”

In the middle of that shockwave, where even masters struggled to maintain their balance, the Flame Stone Staff and the Lightning Spear crossed countless times, scattering sparks.

“I’ve killed eleven Yellow Dragons with my own hands! And I’ve completely absorbed their power!”

Using some kind of technique, he spins that massive spear with one hand, creating a fierce wind pressure, then repeatedly slashes and stabs.

“I’m on a different level from those half-baked *bitches* who use the Orb of Azure Dragon as fragments!”

It’s hard to even open my eyes properly because of the powerful wind pressure caused by the Dragonbone Spear, and above all, I can’t read the flow of attacks.

Kigigigigigiging!

And another annoying thing is the Demon Slayer’s chains, which occasionally break free from Doran and Valencidi’s control and strike here.

“Abat!”

“Don’t come!”

The moment an opening appeared while dodging those chains, the Dragon Slayer took a deep breath.

“I’ll show you something special, what real lightning is.”

A straight line from the top of his head to his toes, with balance generated from the center aligned with it.

Muscle strength drawn from the body organs aligned for a single movement.

The preparatory motion seemed quite large and grand, but the next moment, he slammed that overwhelming weight deep into the ground.

“Dragon Lightning Flash Cut (龍雷線斬) [a powerful sword technique].”

Transcendent radiance surged from the cracks spreading like a spider web across the ground where the Dragonbone Spear was embedded.

‘This is, no way…….’

Only then could I see it.

A Mind Sword [a sword formed from mental energy] materialized in the hand holding the spear, with the real spear and the illusory sword overlapping.

Did he synchronize the Mind Sword with the Dragonbone Spear?

‘Is that even possible?’

Before that alarm could turn my brain white, overwhelming electric light covered my entire vision.

‘I have to protect them.’

The lightning that swept across the entire island like a slash swallowed everything on the island.

Light.

All things.

Burning, melting, twisting, and obliterating them into ashes.

‘Aki, Miria, Valencidi, and everyone.’

Everything must have really disappeared without a trace.

Whoosh…….

If I hadn’t concentrated all available power, all magic, and erected a barrier across the entire island.

……Whoosh.

As the flames that had spread out to swallow the horizon, blocking hundreds of lightning strikes, slowly receded, blood gushed from Rain’s mouth.

‘Magic overload…….’

The backlash from overusing transcendent power washes over my entire body. My consciousness becomes hazy, and my limbs convulse. Beeeeeeep, tinnitus echoes in my eardrums.

“Amazing. To cover this entire island with flames and still be alive. So you are indeed the owner of the True Dragon’s Orb?”

Could it be that my hearing is damaged? I felt that the surroundings were too quiet.

“I take back what I said about being disappointed earlier. Thanks to you, I enjoyed a fun fight for the first time in a while. A fight should be like this.”

A deadly technique where dozens of lightning bolts strike from the sky and sword energy dances hundreds, thousands of times from the ground…….

I blocked the power of the lightning, but I couldn’t stop the vortex of slashes.

In my blurry vision, I could see that various parts of the strata were misaligned with cracks, as if they had been swept away by an earthquake.

“I heard roughly about you from Zernyx.”

Was it from that slash, or from the Demon Slayer…….

“I heard you’re adventuring with a baby dragon?”

I also saw Valencidi and Doran collapsed in a pool of blood. Doran was even missing one leg.

“And I heard you cherish this baby dragon more than your own life.”

And far away, the Demon Slayer was also dragging his chains and approaching this way.

Did I fail?

Did I fail?

Seeing a pair of flames still dancing in the sky, it seemed that the fight between Pipi and the Beast Slayer was still ongoing.

“You fool, if it were me, I would have swallowed this baby dragon’s Orb of Azure Dragon right away before it became an adult.”

Lifting his head with ragged breaths that seemed about to break, what Rain saw in his eyes was…… despair.

“Why are you showing off this precious thing to others when you can’t even protect it?”

He was grabbing Miria’s neck with his left hand and Aki’s head with his right hand.

“Aeuuuuu!”

Even if it’s a True Dragon, it’s still in its infant stage.

‘Stop it.’

It’s only natural that I can’t react to the movements of the Greatest Swordsman in Humanity in this confused state.

‘Please stop it.’

It was an ordeal just to catch my breath, so I uttered words that couldn’t be made into sound.

“You think I’m an idiot? That I’ll stop just because an enemy tells me to? But don’t worry. I’m not the type to threaten by taking a child as a hostage.”

The Dragon Slayer slammed Miria to the ground, then slightly pulled his arm back to stab Aki’s heart.

‘No.’

In the midst of despair, the world stretched out as if it had fallen into a swamp of eternity.

It wasn’t that my concentration was amplified. It wasn’t that the horizon of my thoughts had expanded.

I just had to helplessly watch the situation of despair being maximized…….

‘Don’t do it.’

Miria, who had lifted her head, and Rain himself began to shout something. But I couldn’t hear what that sound was myself.

What magic can I use?

What magic can I use to stop that guy who moves like lightning?

‘Help me.’

At this moment, Lynn would have shouted that. Because there were comrades by her side who would gladly respond to that cry.

But now…….

In this era, 300 years later…….

Knowing that it wouldn’t reach anyone, the moment I shouted those words, a miracle soaked the air.

Purity (純靑) [pure blue].

A flash of light so blue it hurt the eyes flickered three times on the horizon that had already been covered in darkness.

I knew it in my knowledge.

Where that light came from.

Because it was the arrow of the White Sky Bow that always flew in from somewhere whenever Lynn was in danger 300 years ago.

“What is this……?”

The White Sky Bow made from the branches of the World Tree, the arrows woven with the magic of that bow, were famous for being mysteriously clear and beautiful.

Dyeing the trajectory of the arrow with the light of life…….

From the point where the arrow landed, vines of life sprouted, and I could see them wrapping around the Dragon Slayer’s arm, sealing his movements.

‘Vines that seal the target’s movements, Living Lotus (生有蓮) [a type of binding spell].’

The next arrow pierced Rain’s chest.

Am I going to be fatally wounded like this?

No. The arrow slowly melted, becoming a cool vitality that spread throughout my body. I blankly doubted this painfully familiar sensation.

‘There’s no doubt, it’s the special ability of the White Sky Bow.’

And the owner of the White Sky Bow is…….

‘Impossible.’

It was a crazy thought.

Didn’t that mute drunkard die in an era 200 years away?

‘Keys is dead.’

I know, I know it in my head, but I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down my left eye.

At that moment, the nutrients of the World Tree soaked into my tired brain, and my consciousness exploded in a bright blue.

The scenery changes.

Reality disappears.

Instead, four moons and stars, and a lake hanging upside down, fill my vision.

The pure white World Tree rising from the center of that lake.

And the person standing in front of it is…….

[It’s been a while.]

My eyes widened.

Everything I see begins to get wet with a hazy white. A hot and intense resonance pulsates in my heart.

[You’ve grown a lot taller since I last saw you.]

The hair swaying in the wind is a light green color with a hint of verdant…….

[No, has your body changed?]

The person who writes letters on a wooden board made from the branches of the World Tree, with clumsy and crude but accurate vocabulary, is…….

“……Keys.”

When I squeezed out that name, barely, from a chest blocked with lead, the answer that could never come back returned.

[My vocabulary has improved quite a bit, right?]

I wanted to jump into his arms.

In the past, Keys would run up and stroke my head first, but now, this time, 300 years later.

But Keys raised his hand as if to stop my actions.

[You can’t come this way. You mustn’t come.]

This place is the world of lingering thoughts.

The spirit that has manifested a body is just a remnant of Keys’ thoughts left in the White Sky Bow.

“I see.”

I was surprisingly easily convinced.

That I can’t cross this invisible wall, that I can’t face those calloused, rough hands again.

So I lowered my gaze with a bitter smile.

“I can’t see you again.”

Then Keys gave me the smile he always gave me when he looked at me. A smile as fresh as the new sprouts of spring. A smile I could only see in my dreams.

[The reason I left a fragment of my soul in the White Sky Bow is not to keep you tied to the past.]

And take a step forward.

He placed his hand over my hand, which was helplessly groping the invisible wall.

[It’s to give you the strength to move forward into the future, even if it’s just a little.]

Because I promised to come back.

Because I believed that I would come back someday, whenever that may be.

[Lynn.]

So he left a part of himself here. He left descendants and founded the Gungpa [a martial arts clan specializing in archery], raising disciples. So that hearts could be connected.

[It’s too early to come here yet.]

So that one day, when you return, this heart can reach you.

Even if the body can’t go together.

So that the heart, the spirit, can be with you. With you, who gave up his life that day and opened the future for all of us.

[It’s time to go back to the future, to the people who are waiting for you.]

With those words, cracks began to form in the sky and lake of the illusory dimension.

[I am grateful to the gods who have allowed this reunion between you and me, which could not have been achieved.]

The cracks spread to the World Tree, and fragments began to fall from various parts of the space.

I can no longer keep Rain in a world alienated from reality.

If we meet again, if only we could, there were so many stories I wanted to tell. There were more memories I wanted to share than the sea.

“That’s right, Keys, I have to go to the future.”

To that word, the shockingly hazy consciousness began to rise again.

Because I promised Alakish.

The reason I obtained this body, the reason I could meet Keys again with this body, is all because of the promise I made with him.

“You know, I made a friend.”

Because the words I can say in this short time are only a handful, because the heart I can convey is only a single strand.

“I went to school too. And I have a daughter. Even though I’m not married. And you know, I met a kid who looks exactly like Rista.”

I want to talk more.

I want to tell you everything, but it seems like it wouldn’t be enough even if I stayed up for several nights.

“Keys, can you wait just a little longer?”

I want to sit here and talk until I finish all the stories I’ve kept hidden.

“When this journey of life is over…….”

But.

But.

The barrier built between us in the name of 300 years is impossible to cross.

“In the past, you guys came to find me…….”

I can only talk about the future. I can only promise a future that I can’t guarantee.

“This time, I’m going to find you…….”

Like when I froze my body with Juyeosogyeodaeban [a powerful ice magic spell] in front of death 300 years ago.

“I’ll definitely go to see you again…….”

As the cracks in the dimension grew larger, I could see tears welling up in Keys’ smiling eyes.

“So Keys…….”

The moment the cracks spread throughout the dimension, that instant the invisible barrier broke.

And it reached.

The hands that had been facing each other across the barrier, and that hand came to rest on my head. Like the everyday moments of 300 years ago.

“……Can you wait for me just one more time?”

With those words, Rain’s spirit, which had been in the illusory dimension, scattered like a haze.

And again, there was the overwhelming despair that unfolded before my eyes in the name of reality.

Although quite a long time had passed in the world of lingering thoughts, it was only a fleeting moment of less than a second in real time.

“…….”

At that moment, a streak of black light pierced into the Dragon Slayer.

And then, he grabbed Miria, who was lying prostrate at his feet, and Aki, who was caught in his grasp, and instantly arrived in front of Rain.

The footwork of a first-rate swordsman…….

“Who are you? Let go of me.”

Miria, who was caught in his grasp, struggled without knowing the situation.

“Rain, do you know him?”

But Rain knew the situation. I had no choice but to know. Because of the face revealed in the helmet that the giant had lifted with a clank.

“It’s been a year, Rain.”

As Aki snuggled into my arms, a shock like being hit ran through my mind.

The armor covering his entire body and the double-edged axe on his back were all made of black iron.

The hideous scar that started on his forehead and flowed down his left eye to his chin…… Rain had come to like that fierce face.

In a pain that felt like my heart would stop, I called that name.

“Bart……?”

Because I received tremendous help from these ridiculous guys when I first started my adventurer life.

Because I owed them my life when I almost died in the ant cave.

That guy who suddenly disappeared from my side, saying he had received a call from Trident Point.

I could tell just by looking at the energy swirling around his body that he had become several times stronger than he was a year ago.

But, how on earth, is that guy here in front of me now?

“I’ll explain the details later. Judging by the looks of it, he seems like a formidable opponent, and even if Rem provides support, it doesn’t look like there’s room to be complacent.”

Rem? Rem, you say?

Is that Rem blocking the movements of the Demon Slayer and the Dragon Slayer with those arrows right now?

“What can we do to help?”

I don’t know why or how these guys are here. Maybe this is a hallucination I’m seeing after death.

But.

Whether this is reality or a hallucination, there was an undeniable fact. That these guys are on my side.

“Stop that guy. 10 seconds is enough.”

10 seconds.

Within those 10 seconds, I’ll sever the connection between Millea and the Demon Slayer with Bel Querious.

At the same time, I will recover the magic and stamina to fight the Dragon Slayer.

“No.”

Bart, who was closing his helmet and gripping the axe handle, said.

“15 seconds is possible.”

Does he know who he’s saying he can last 15 seconds against right now?

“10 seconds was already an incredibly unreasonable request.”

Still, I somehow felt that these guys could do it.

“This impudent archer……!”

It was then that the Dragon Slayer tore off the roots of the White Sky Bow that had been covering and binding his body.

At the same time, the voltage (電壓) [electrical energy] fiercely swirled and exploded around him.

Before he could grab and pull out the Dragonbone Spear he had stuck in the ground, Bart, who had taken a long breath into his lungs, kicked off the ground with all his might.

“Trust us.”

The Mind Barrier is still maintained.

Looking back at the Demon Slayer tearing at the vines of the White Sky Bow, I opened my eyes red.

1001010101001010100101010010101010101111111001101110100111110111.

The Seven Mang Stars shining in my pupils.

I read through everything in this world as a mathematical formula. The world seen in these eyes is a world composed of binary code.

Now, let’s start the analysis.

The path to the future that my friends have connected for me.

* * *

As the dimension completely collapsed and the lingering thoughts were also broken down into particles, Keys lovingly stroked the air where Lynn’s head had been.

‘I really like alcohol.’

Because it makes me forget the sad and painful past with a sweet and bitter taste.

‘But Lynn, you.’

Keys smiled, tears flowing from one eye.

Recalling the memories of laughing and chatting with Lynn about trivial things in that distant day, in that brilliant era that I can no longer return to.

‘Only you and you guys.’

As the body of the lingering thoughts finally scattered into fine particles, Keys answered ‘Lynn’s heart’ with ‘the letters Lynn taught him’ at the end of the wooden board.

[Made me forget alcohol.]