– Bang!
“Ugh-.”
Another explosion occurred.
She had intended to dodge, but Dylan’s sword’s precision was increasingly improving, and there was no way to avoid injury.
This time, her entire arm was severely burnt.
Yerna rolled on the ground several times, getting dust all over her.
Now, she had no energy left to roll properly and couldn’t disperse the shock at all.
Thanks to that, her senses began to fade.
Still, she gritted her teeth and tried to wake herself up.
She wondered if her teeth were going to flatten from the effort…
As her mind cleared, she felt the taste of iron from a burst wound in her mouth and blood reversing from within.
She thought she had gotten used to it, but it seemed her sense of smell and taste had been momentarily paralyzed.
If that’s the case, it’s a big problem; it meant that her adrenaline was completely drained.
Because of that, her body wouldn’t move properly, causing her to flinch.
The delayed pain was returning.
She could bear the pain, but despite her training for various situations, her muscles wouldn’t move, leaving her helpless.
The canes she had hidden in her pocket and at her waist were all destroyed and lost.
Now she couldn’t even cast a body enhancement spell.
“Tsk…”
Still, she couldn’t just lie there.
She grabbed her immobile right arm and staggered to her feet.
To check if she could use it at all, she tried to put some strength into it, but it felt completely unusable below her shoulder.
Even so, she couldn’t particularly blame her right arm.
She had tried to dodge as much as possible, but most of the attacks had been blocked by her right arm.
“What is this? Weren’t you trying to make me shut up?”
Dylan, seeing her desperate state, approached slowly with a relaxed smile.
He looked as if he wasn’t tired at all, creating an extreme contrast.
Like black and white.
“…”
Seeing his triumphant demeanor ignited her anger again, but if even one-tenth of the fury Yerna had already unleashed had managed to reach Dylan, he would have been ripped apart by now.
The reason she couldn’t do that was solely due to his mysterious abilities.
Teleportation, body enhancement, magic resistance, and that black flame.
It was beyond annoyance; it was unreasonable.
For a typical “Circler,” even awakening one ability requires a miraculous amount of effort.
Yet, this one person was using all those abilities without any warning.
She had roughly grasped the risks and weaknesses from the few previous encounters.
Teleportation seemed usable only over very short distances and appeared to be the least frequently used, indicating it likely couldn’t be used often.
Body enhancement and magic resistance seemed to occasionally wear off. It seemed to happen when his concentration dropped. There didn’t seem to be a particular limit, as he could quickly reapply them.
The black flame only seemed to burst in areas within his line of sight. The moment he turned away, the flames couldn’t reach her.
However, the combination of all those abilities complemented each other’s weaknesses, leaving her no hopeful chances.
Still, Yerna couldn’t retreat.
If she backed down now, Luke would surely be dragged back into that past nightmare.
Dylan shook his head as he watched her just barely managing to regain her stance.
‘Yet another rebellious gaze.’
He tried to control his firepower to avoid killing her, but that was starting to become a nuisance.
It seemed she could still endure, but now it might be better to crush that hope completely.
“It’s time to end this.”
Dylan slowly reached out his hand and counted in his mind.
It should be that managing the black flame required a ten-second gap after one use, and the maximum mana was up to 600 range…
Well, if luck is on my side, I’ll live; otherwise, I might die.
He had played with her long enough and felt no particular attachment. Although, it would be nice to live, considering he wouldn’t be able to hold a cane again.
If he survived, what would happen if he destroyed his neck? If he couldn’t see or speak? It might be quite amusing to see her live like that.
Then, as he mentally counted to ten, the black flame devoured the space and surged over Yerna.
Staring at the flames, Yerna felt an instinct.
‘Ah, there’s no way to avoid this.’
She had neither the strength nor the space to evade.
All she could do was close her eyes.
– KWA-BOOM!
The noise was incomparably larger than before, making her worry that her ears might go deaf.
However, the sensation that followed was surprisingly warm.
What was this warmth? Had she died and gone to heaven?
Yerna, slowly opening her eyes in a peculiar sensation, found a shimmering platinum color amidst the spreading smoke.
That was truly a color fitting for heaven, Yerna thought.
And then, moments later, when the smoke cleared completely, Dylan’s face contorted as he shouted.
“What the hell! Just now! Was that you?!”
Huh? I can hear that trash’s voice in heaven.
Surely, I’m not in heaven.
Yerna managed to focus despite her confusion and was amazed by the sight before her.
“L-Lucas? How did you get here?”
“I’m really sorry for being late; your search took longer than I expected.”
——–
It had taken longer than anticipated.
Yerna’s traces were so faint that they were not easy to find.
He knew her abilities as a Forest Keeper well, but he hadn’t expected her to be so skilled as an assassin.
Comparing it to the stealth techniques of the Black Hawk Guild from the past, it was remarkably proficient.
This made tracking her quite challenging.
Especially in a state where the shields were at the highest levels.
Generally, the higher the strength of the shield, the clumsier the body’s movements become.
Indeed, Yerna was the female leader of the Luke Forest’s Forest Keepers.
He had suspected to some extent, but he hadn’t thought it would be to this degree.
Yerna was demonstrating abilities that exceeded Luke’s expectations.
However, right now, that was proving to be her poison.
‘If only I could have at least used a search, I would have arrived sooner…’
Luke, who usually evaded leaving magical traces, didn’t want to use a detection that would leave strong traces of magic behind.
Especially because creating magical traces concerning detection was something he couldn’t replicate easily, he was quite reluctant.
He didn’t want to leave evidence of illegal magical use without permission.
Being unable to lie, once he was pressed for answers, he would be at a loss.
At best, he would only be able to exercise his right to remain silent, which would certainly work against him, so he refrained from it.
However, given the circumstances, he decided that he couldn’t afford to worry about leaving magical traces and attempted to cast a search.
But the location data didn’t match, as if someone was using a search with even higher authority.
Detection magic becomes drastically less reliable if another user of the same magic exists.
However, the ‘Detection’ of Circle Magic essentially borrows an ‘authority’ to adjust the world; so, although it should be possible to suppress it with a higher circle to prioritize his detection, that was currently impossible.
His circle was barely approaching the fourth circle, at best it was still the third circle.
He lacked the authority to interfere.
Then, it meant that the target casting the search was either a user of a higher circle than himself or wielding a possession of higher authority.
If that was true…
Yerna could really be in danger.
Luke hurriedly followed Yerna’s traces as he examined various places within the facility, but each time he found people who had passed out, apparently having faced Yerna, and only more traces.
Moreover, when he stepped out into the corridor, he had to deal with troublesome low-level enemies running at him.
He lacked the talent to hide properly, so he couldn’t avoid it.
In the past, he could have infiltrated almost like a ghost using invisibility and levitation, but unfortunately, he didn’t have that authority now.
Thus, there was no time to hold each one accountable.
Therefore, Luke decided to be a ‘mirror’ reflecting the crimes rather than a ‘judge’ punishing the crimes.
To swiftly outline the degree of violence inflicted upon him and the intent to kill he harbored, that was Luke’s combat policy.
At the very least, he would establish that ‘self-defense’ could be justified.
However, despite his haste, if he had ultimately failed to pinpoint Yerna’s location, it would have truly been too late.
“What’s up, kid? What trick did you use? How did you get here? Who helped you escape?”
“Everything is by my will.”
“What? Will? What the hell are you saying, brat?”
Luke felt Yerna’s surprised gaze on him from behind, but it wasn’t his concern right now.
At his chest hung a brooch emitting unpleasant amounts of dark magic.
Luke frowned at the artifact.
Black magic and dragon heart… what a terrible mix.
Was it a counterfeit imitating a circle in the form of a brooch?
Different from the ones that had been improved and developed for the user’s safety, this was an artifact simply stolen to use ‘authority.’
Luke asked coldly.
“Do you know what kind of power you’re wielding?”
“Ah, haha. This? Of course, I know it very well. That old man behind you, kneeled before this power!”
Dylan spread his arms to reveal himself and declared.
“So, kid, if you don’t want to end up like that, you’d better beg on the ground. Then you won’t have to see anything ugly.”
‘You’ll have to sell yourself to that old man.’
Although he didn’t voice the final words, Luke could read between the lines.
A clear sense of discomfort washed over Luke.
Selling himself? Hah, it’s so absurd that it doesn’t even make him angry.
He was nothing more than a third-rate mob lacking the ability to measure his opponents.
And he wielded an artifact born from black magic.
It was literally an authority given to someone undeserving.
Luke sighed and waved his hand.
“I’ll be taking that artifact with me.”
“What a laughable thing to say…!?”
A halt.
‘When did that happen?’
Dylan was startled and pulled back his body when he noticed the kid had suddenly reached in front of him.
However, he had not been detected at all…
‘Oh no.’
What he thought had approached him was nothing but an illusion.
Did he just see a phantom?
At that moment, startled by the hand that appeared from behind, Dylan shot off an explosion.
But…
– It was useless.
An emotionless voice.
No, more accurately, it couldn’t even be considered a voice.
The words that came from the kid’s mouth were an incantation whose meaning he couldn’t make sense of, and “useless” was merely the form in which his brain had accepted it.
It was the Dragon’s Tear born with the innate ability of the Dragon, or “Dragon Speech,” melded with the intricacies of Circle Magic’s “Spell Language,” and recreated into Luke’s own ‘Incantation.’
Although the authority was lacking, it was sufficient to break through the magic formed by the weak human mind and its will.
The magic was instantly interpreted, targeting the weakness and broken in one swoop with the conjured incantation, a feat that others could never dream of mimicking even with the same abilities.
The black flame was destructively annihilated, causing Dylan to cough up blood.
“Cough!”
– Surrender.
“Fck…!”
Luke commanded him, but due to the artifact’s influence, regrettably, direct incantation didn’t work on him.
Could it be because of his higher authority than Luke?
How disgusting.
Meanwhile, Dylan was going insane.
What the hell is this kid? How can he come out unharmed after facing magic head-on?
It was strange. Was the old man’s artifact the problem?
Could it be malfunctioning?
The ‘Blink’ magic remained active, however.
It seemed to have just been a temporary malfunction.
He met the cold gaze of the kid staring at him.
Seeing that expression was extremely offensive.
A child much younger than him, acting as if he’s something significant and talking back!
Moreover, the kid’s expression, as he looked down on him as though he were insignificant, was enough to make him angrier.
Should I kill him?
There are plenty of kids with cat ears and horns; what’s the problem with one more?
“Ha, yes. It might be better just to kill them both.”
Angry, Dylan began to pour magic into the brooch immediately.
Then, expression began to appear on the previously emotionless face of the kid.
“Stop right there! Don’t you realize what you’re doing right now?”
“I know. I’m trying to kill you.”
He had long surpassed the old man’s warnings.
The temperature of the space was soaring wildly, but it did not cease.
600 range every ten seconds? D it, I don’t abide by laws.
Well, in the worst case, it’ll just malfunction!
He presumed that the child was just concerned about the artifact’s malfunction.
Luke hurriedly tried to flow mana against him, but he lacked the authority.
The flow of magic was no longer his alone.
At most, he was just able to wield the mana of the circle he had built up in his heart to protect himself and Yerna from the heat of the black flame.
The situation was urgent.
If this continued, the black magic would surely fail.
He couldn’t even estimate the implications of that failure.
“Stop! You have no ability to pay for more than that…!”
“Ha ha ha! Die, just die…!”
“Luke!!”
Thus, the excess mana ultimately called upon a ‘variable.’
The language, which clearly did not belong to the material plane,
“…”
“…”
“…”
Time stopped.
Drip, Luke’s Magic Sight began to bleed from the tremendous mana.
This mana and presence…
Luke had felt this once before.
Moments later, the incomprehensible will contained within that mana began to destroy the space, shattering the world.
Like a frail spiderweb.
As the gap gradually widened, an even stronger will exploded forth.
