The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 230

230.

“Heading to the Central Spire?”

Time is of the essence.

Obin nodded vigorously at Miria’s question.

“If… if we go there, we can undo everything. The barrier.”

Valensidice, his entire body battered and his facial skin half-melted, nodded with a labored breath.

“I will assist. You all focus on Elamas.”

“But the downtown area is swarming with primitives right now. I don’t know if you can make it in your condition…”

“Swarming, swarming, swarming.”

“Bart, Pipi, you two help Valensidice and Obin. Clear the path to the clock tower. Rem, provide support fire from here until they reach the spire.”

There’s no time. Bart nodded immediately at Lane’s instructions.

The city had long since turned into a scene of carnage, with swirling wraiths thickly covering the city and eerie screams echoing from everywhere.

As Bart ran ahead, several primitives clung to him like leeches. Their hideous teeth couldn’t pierce his black iron armor.

“Haaap!”

The dragonbone spear, plunged into the heads of the primitives thrown onto the paving stones of the road, shattered their skulls.

That wasn’t the end of it.

The primitives’ tearing screams echoed, and the shadows of primitives rushed in from all directions.

Running behind him, Obin sniffled at the sight of the city’s devastation, and Valensidice shook his head firmly.

“Don’t cry. Don’t stop moving. Just focus on winning right now.”

How long can the city hold out?

This is the final moment.

Before the city is completely destroyed, will Obin be able to reach the spire, and will he be able to perform the ritual that is only passed down to the royal family…?

‘But even if Obin succeeds, it means nothing if Elamas survives.’

A head-on fight with the pillar of the Black Church…

Valensidice couldn’t even imagine it; it was just a vague, terrifying prospect.

Originally, Tureina or Elamas’s plan should have succeeded, plunging the entire world into chaos.

‘But the appearance of Lane Ludwick is causing cracks in the gears that the Black Church has been building for hundreds of years.’

Just like how the hero party crushed the Black Church’s schemes 300 years ago.

Wearing the same bamboo hat as the great mage Lynn from the heroic tales his father used to read him as a child, and using the same spells.

Ah, right.

So that’s how it was. It was against common sense, so he had been denying it in his heart, but now it would be strange to deny it.

‘The great mage of the hero party has returned.’

If so, is the battle unfolding there a fight between the youngest apostle in the history of the Fairy race and the youngest great mage in the history of mankind?

* * *

Puh-uh-uh-uhng!

With a fierce explosion, torrents of crimson and black flames intertwined in the air.

A dizzying barrage of explosions, an atmosphere where oxygen evaporates and rampages, the banquet of transcendent beings begins.

“Magic circle construction, Fire Burial Bloodletting.”

Push forward.

Don’t give him a chance to breathe, just keep pushing.

Even though he’s being controlled by necromancy, that body is a true dragon… fire resistance is at an absurd level.

‘Then just pour it on to the point where even that resistance can’t hold out.’

Make him think that’s what I’m thinking.

Keep in mind.

The key to victory in this fight is not me, Lane steeled his heart.

“……!”

Seven bolts of lightning tore through the sky, streaking red.

‘What is this?’

The membrane of the true dragon’s wings that was covering Elamas was scorched and burned red. The heat of the flames leaked downward.

‘To produce this much power at that speed?’

Elamas widened his eyes in disbelief as he confirmed that his robe was burning and the skin on his right shoulder underneath was scorched.

‘It’s working. Even if the opponent is a true dragon, if it’s the same true dragon’s flame…!’

The moment Lane thought of the next move, Elamas gathered his hands and chanted a dark hymn.

[Aruu!]

The speed of the incantation can only be explained as that of a former apostle [a high-ranking figure in a religious order].

The power of the abyss manifested at the end of that language, and a wave of wraiths rushed in, whipping up a chilling high frequency.

‘Damn it, did I focus too much on the true dragon…!’

Line Iron Halberd.

The wedges of lightning that fell from the sky stacked up and deflected the wave, but this was also one of the former youngest apostle’s ploys.

The moment Lane Ludwick entered a defensive stance, a powerful force stirred in the true dragon’s throat.

“!”

The atmosphere wavered at the omen of that power. Lane Ludwick’s consciousness trembled with fear.

A power that the half-dragon Lane Ludwick could never use, a power that only the dragon race, who wield the power of language, can use.

The dragon race’s unique power, the Lion’s Roar, which subjugates heaven and earth with a single command and makes creatures prostrate and tremble.

When hit directly by that power, a human’s internal organs explode within their body, leading to death in a short period of time.

The sound.

Everything.

Doesn’t swallow──.

The sound that surged out of the dragon’s throat and its huge maw collided with something in the air, creating a powerful shockwave.

With ‘another sound’.

A sound that was different from the true dragon’s heavy and imposing sound, a sound as faint as a candle and as quiet as firewood on a winter day.

Still, it was a Lion’s Roar.

It was also the power of dragon language manifested from the same true dragon.

“──!”

The sounds that intertwined fiercely in the air disappeared with a silent explosion.

Only the afterglow of that power sweeps past his feet like a tide.

“Aki Punch.”

And then, the baby dragon’s fist, which had rushed under the true dragon’s body in an instant, leaving behind the sound of flames rising, struck Elamas’s abdomen.

“Cough.”

No sooner had Elamas spat out blood than the true dragon slammed its forefoot down, but the baby dragon had already retreated far behind.

As Elamas glared at the baby dragon as if he couldn’t understand, the baby dragon straightened its martial arts stance, creating a moment of silence.

In that silence, the emotion that was stirring Lane’s heart with intense heartbeats was….

‘Aki.’

How much has your skill improved?

Just as Cheonhwa Ilryong Celine said. Her talent for martial arts is overwhelmingly outstanding, and she learns everything at once.

Celine, I wish you could have seen this just now.

‘She was so young then.’

A kid who could only crawl around and cling to my back.

‘I thought she might stay by my side like that until we reached 화염만리 [Hwaryeom Manri – a distant, fiery land].’

So I decided that I had to keep protecting her with all my might.

But you.

Now you’re fighting for someone else. To protect those people’s lives.

‘Just like what Alakish was doing in the land of death.’

300 years ago, I wondered if the headmistress felt something similar when she saw the victory reports flying in from the front lines.

I recalled what kind of expression the headmistress might have had at the time, looking at my own expression now.

Lane had to close his eyes tightly to suppress the tears that were burning his eyes.

“Where did I see you? Those techniques, I definitely saw them somewhere, but I can’t quite remember.”

Elamas groaned, holding his forehead for a moment as if he had a headache, then raised his head with an annoyed sigh.

“I don’t know why, but it’s unpleasant. Your very existence. To the point where my stomach churns with annoyance.”

Elamas clasped his hands together.

A linear formation unfolds around his feet, and ancient characters fill that formation. The true dragon’s blood vessels, resonating with the ultimate in necromancy, burn purple.

“I’ll show you something special. The true power of the dragon.”

The overwhelming pressure that dominates the atmosphere itself is as heavy as if boulders are pressing down on his shoulders.

“Otherworldly Realm, Cheongyoam.”

It’s dangerous. This situation is dangerous.

Otherworldly Realm, known to be accessible only to a very few among the apostles… a realm that maximizes divine abilities.

I know I need to buy time before an irreparable situation occurs.

“Jeoseo Swallan Yeon, Lightning Style!”

Numerous chains swirled like lightning, wrapping around the true dragon’s body, but they could not pierce the soul beyond the body.

Whether it was because there was no soul inside the body, or because the level of the soul was inferior.

As if mocking this gap, the true dragon severed the chains with a single flap of its wings, and black flames poured out of its maw.

“Flame Crimson Boundary!”

There’s no time to engrave the root rune [a fundamental symbol of magic].

Maximize destructive power with the rune of Fire (炎), reinforce the power of the rune of Fire with the primary color rune Crimson (紅).

Expand the power maximized in that way greatly with the rune of Boundary (境). Maximize power with Yuryang Sejon’s 존 (尊) [a title of respect or veneration].

“Hmm, a spell I’ve never seen before?”

The barrier of flames and black flames collide, and even if it doesn’t completely kill the power, it’s enough to divert the trajectory.

“You made that up on the spot? You’re incredibly strong.”

Elamas, who is talking to Lane with a relaxed expression as he wipes away his cold sweat, is he trying to make him realize the difference in skill?

Taking advantage of Elamas’s gap, Aki charged in again.

The fist that accurately pierced the weak point and hit the target… only created fierce flames in the air, failing to inflict a significant blow on the enemy.

“……?!”

How did this happen?

The true dragon’s body split into several parts, and then reassembled far away.

As if it were not a living creature but a doll, purple currents wriggled at the cut surfaces, connecting each part.

What is that?

How can something like that happen?

“Do you think I’d fall for that kind of surprise attack twice?”

Before the flames could clear from his vision, something closer to a siege ram than a tail flew in.

“Magic circle construction.”

An attack that occurred before he could even fully recognize the evasion, a combination so fast that even a dragon’s reflexes could hardly keep up.

“5-Star, Thunder Flash Heavenly Strike Cannon.”

Before that tail could cover Aki’s body, a thunderbolt that flew in with a chilling flash from the other side pushed the tail away.

“Aki, don’t go to the front, stay back!”

[Aruru!]

“Aki is standing by, is what it is!”

Elamas gave Lane an interested look.

“I’ve never seen a human cast spells as quickly as you. Or rather, should I say you cast them as quickly as Zernyx? But that man has already transcended the realm of humans.”

He’s so far away, but it’s as threatening as if he’s whispering right next to him.

That’s because, as he’s saying that, the dragon’s vocal cords are already shaking fiercely with the sound of power.

The Lion’s Roar is coming… but thanks to Aki, the solution has already been devised.

“Rune creation, magic construction, Thunder Rotation Law.”

Sound blocks sound.

The thunderous roar collides with the dragon’s cry, and electricity spreads throughout the area with a crackle.

Is that all? It seemed like he had suppressed nearly 90% of the power, but the muscles and bones in his body trembled in the aftermath of the force.

As if praising such a struggle, Elamas clapped his hands together.

“Very good movement. That’s why it’s hard to understand. Why are you fighting for those bugs with that kind of power?”

“What do you want to say?”

“Don’t you find the weaklings disgusting? How selfish they are, heh heh heh, look at them now. Leaving everything to you, an outsider, and running away.”

“…….”

“Why don’t you accept this power? You’ll become several times stronger than you are now. Maybe you’ll become as strong as Zernyx.”

“Really?”

“Let the weaklings be filtered out in the flow of time. A new world! There, you won’t be exploited and you’ll reign as a matter of course. Why are you fighting back?”

If I had a thirst for power, would I have listened to that whisper?

That couldn’t have happened.

Because the face of the headmistress, filling my eyes every time, would have prevented me from going down the wrong path.

“I was originally a weakling. An orphan in the slums just waiting to die.”

I wasn’t a great mage from the beginning.

Originally, there was nothing.

There was really nothing, but that person came and gave me everything.

“That person, who was a parent, a benefactor, and a teacher to me, asked me to become an adult who could share the light of magic with others.”

That’s why I’m fighting now.

That’s why I’ve been fighting my whole life.

“Because if I don’t, I’ll be too ashamed to even speak when I see the headmistress again in heaven someday.”

That person gave to me without cost, so I will do the same.

“What I learned from that person and my companions is that power is not for reigning, but for serving.”

That dedication does not disappear meaninglessly, but is passed on to the next generation and bears fruit.

Just like how I, who only knew myself, am standing in this place now, just like how Aki has grown up so admirably.

And perhaps, Sharlesharoom also wanted Elamas to be like that.

“Elamas, our fight is a fight of beliefs. There is no compromise. Your rampage ends today.”