Chapter 158

Even if it was blurry, or rather, almost invisible and inaudible at the end… I could understand why Tristan resented Werner and wanted to kill me, and how precious that reason was.

If it were a child, they might not know, but there was no way the circuits of a sorcerer equal to or greater than myself would be visible. So, my body’s circuits were broken, and to suppress the pain, I smoked various herbs with analgesic effects, and I truly felt unwell and collapsed at home… That guy wouldn’t know.

But I have no desire to be understood. What I, or rather, Werner, did to Tristan was truly rude and trampled on his dreams. So, I don’t seek forgiveness. Even if I knew Tristan’s circumstances, I would still kill him. He has actually killed people.

“I will kill you and prove everything, Archmage!!!”

“Yes… You have the right to do so, but…”

To defeat him, my existing magic wasn’t enough. To overcome earth magic, I needed steel-attribute magic. I needed a much harder and purer steel power than the magic I just used. Steel that could withstand his rocks…

I gathered my mana. I used the principle of Invisible Spear Magic he mentioned. Overlapping steel-attribute Invisible Spear Magic all over my body, converting mana into that attribute, and then integrating it… Honestly, my body hurt like crazy. It felt like my bones were breaking over and over. Plus, maintaining this state required significant concentration. It felt unstable, as if a gust of wind could undo it.

“Did you turn your entire neck into steel? So, you’re copying what you mocked…? What a joke! How pathetic! This isn’t a magic you can perfectly replicate in a day!!!”

He created another massive rock arm.

“This is the dream we spent our lives building!!!”

And then he swung that rock arm to strike me. Since my body was steel, the impact was less, but it wasn’t without damage. The shock pierced through the steel exterior and flowed inside. Meanwhile, Tristan instantly regenerated his rock arm.

“Yes. It truly is an incredible magic. So magnificent that even clumsily copying it is overwhelming.”

That Skadi, the master, and Trisha, the disciple, are truly remarkable people, Tristan. They are many times more remarkable than people like us.

“You trampled on it! The trash of the magic world spat on this dream! You insulted our dreams!!!”

He was furious. Like when I lost that child, he was shouting in anger amidst sorrow and frustration. It goes without saying how precious those two were to him. But he didn’t know.

“No, you’re wrong. The one insulting that dream the most is you, Tristan.”

“What are you talking about! You who trampled on our dreams dare to insult my proof…!”

“Who else insults that dream more than you, who helps scum like the Black Round Table?”

If you had told me that, I would have gladly knelt and apologized, helping you get that magic recognized. But you joined hands with the Black Round Table. Even if there were circumstances, knowing how evil those guys are, I have no choice but to kill Tristan.

It’s true that I made him this way. So, taking his life is solely my role. That’s the least responsibility I can bear.

“I’ll gladly kill you, Archmage!!!”

“I’ll kill you in agony, Tristan.”

Rock and steel collided. Clearly, cracking like this wasn’t enough. The magic was incomplete. I only grasped the general theory, not the detailed principles. So, it was inevitable that the power would be relatively weaker.

“Darn it…”

Then, a familiar voice… no, the voice I just heard, reached my ears.

[That’s not it. You need to make the intervals of the overlapping magic shorter and more precise. And then, use it as if weaving a thread made of fine magic.]

This voice… resembled Skadi’s voice from Tristan’s memories. And not just that.

[And when converting mana, don’t convert the mana itself, but fix the circulating mana within your body and then convert it.]

It was the voice of Trisha, the child from Tristan’s memories.

Why are they helping me? Why?

[We roughly knew your circumstances back then. So, we don’t resent you. And our dream…]

Skadi trailed off, but I knew what she meant.

[That child is now burdened by inheriting our dream, and driven mad by anger at the world that mocked it. It’s all my fault. I burdened that child with too much.]

[Please save our master. Please… I don’t want to see our master suffer anymore.]

[Yes, I’ll shamelessly ask. Save that foolishly weak and foolish child…]

They didn’t say how to save or what salvation meant… but I understood. The only way to save him, who had stepped into an irreversible abyss, was death.

“I’ll correct what I just said, Tristan.”

“What nonsense are you spouting now, Archmage.”

“I won’t kill you in agony… I’ll save you in agony, Tristan.”

I narrowed the intervals of the overlapping magic and adjusted it more precisely. Then, I fixed it as if weaving a thread with fine magic. And when converting mana, I fixed the circulating mana within my body and then converted it.

Doing so, the quality of the magic truly changed. My body felt lighter, and the pain and required concentration significantly decreased.

“Suddenly spouting nonsense! Are you going crazy because death is near!”

My steel arm and Tristan’s rock arm collided again.

Boom!

Strangely, the pain from the collision was significantly less than before. And his rock arm couldn’t regenerate easily.

“Tch… How can a guy like you…?”

“Yes, it’s a complex and great magic that a guy like me would never have mastered in a lifetime. I wonder who whispered this principle to me?”

“You’re insulting them again! They’re not people you can insult!!!”

He shrank his rock arm. Though smaller, the mana remained, making the rock even harder. It was as if he had condensed the magic itself. He seemed to have even improved the completed magic.

“Come at me, Archmage!!! Let’s fight like men and determine the better!”

“Gladly.”

I also rushed at him and punched his face. He did the same to me. Fists carrying dreams began to crush each other’s bodies. Arms broke, ribs cracked, foreheads split, and shoulders dislocated, but the fight didn’t stop. As long as our hearts beat, the fight wouldn’t stop. That’s a man’s, a sorcerer’s fight.

“Archmage!!! No, Werner!!!”

“Tristan!!! No, Gaius!!!”

No matter how much it hurt, the fists didn’t stop. But he no longer carried anything. He abandoned his dream, his master’s teachings, and his disciple’s wishes to prove his dream. But I still carried things. Though not heavy.

Gradually, our energy waned, but the speed of our fists didn’t decrease; it only got faster. A fistfight, hardly a sorcerer’s battle… but this was undoubtedly a sorcerer’s fight. I was truly fighting a powerful sorcerer.

“I don’t care! If I can prove our dream is great… even if I become evil! Even if I burn this body in the darkness of revenge! I don’t care! For the master and disciple no longer in this world! For the proof of the dream, laugh at me, a foolish man who became evil! I don’t care!!!”

His fist landed squarely on my jaw.

Just as I was about to fall, I saw the faces of his suffering master and disciple. The diligent disciple and kind master were in agony, seeing him become evil.

“I won’t laugh. I may neglect my duties like eating rice, but… I’m still a master… I won’t laugh. But…”

I clenched my fist.

“Who do you need to acknowledge you to be satisfied! You call it a great dream, you brat! Yet you feel incomplete without recognition! And for that, you drag innocent people into it? In the end, you’re the one who doesn’t believe in yourself, you bastard!”

My fist landed on his face again. But this time, the weight was different.

“I can’t fall like this…”

He collapsed.