“Let go, let go─! How dare you with those filthy hands…….”
“Oh, geez. Hold still, will ya! Or I’ll crack your skull wide open!”
“Ugh!”
Immediately after successfully seizing the prince from the knights, Alejandro, who had distanced himself, pressed a bloodstained magical awl to the prince’s nape and shouted.
“You two over there! Try anything funny, I dare you!”
The unexpected assailant had snatched the prince away. To make matters worse, even a skinhead who looked like he had no place in the world had ambushed a knight he trained personally. Ehram couldn’t suppress the grimace on his face and ground his teeth.
‘Is this possible?’
It was a strange standoff.
Welt and Maya were on high alert for Ehram’s movements, and Ludmilla and the elder mage of the Glonas School, who had been firing spells at each other, also halted their battle.
However, Ehram judged this standoff wouldn’t last long. After all, the side that secured the prince had a clear advantage.
‘If only I can regain control of the prince before that.’
Neither Welt nor Maya could match Ehram’s instantaneous speed. The only threatening factor was Ludmilla, who was clashing with the elder mage, but even she had the physical abilities of an ordinary person. In reality, no one could perfectly keep up with superhuman speed.
Of course, no one could be faster than an awl pressed against the prince’s nape.
Clank.
“Move your arm. I’ll surrender quietly.”
Ehram threw his symbolic sword to the ground and knelt.
Ehram’s declaration of surrender was an anticipated move. For a knight bound by an oath of loyalty, especially one as upright as Ehram, wagering his master’s life was an unacceptable form of gambling.
‘This is the right thing to do.’
Just as Welt knew Ehram’s sword, Ehram knew what kind of person Welt was. Having walked the path of a knight since childhood, he was almost certain that surrendering quietly was the only way to ensure Prince Raul’s safety.
“Elder mage, you should also─.”
“Ridiculous. I will bring this insolent girl to her knees no matter what.”
But Ehram couldn’t foresee the unique selfishness and arrogant pride of a mage.
“What nonsense…!”
“Nonsense? I’m a mage. Not a knight serving Prince Raul.”
As the master of the Magic Tower, he had established his own school. Though not at the level of the existing magic schools within the empire, he was undeniably a pioneer. Magess were inherently arrogant, and a mage who called himself a master was even more so.
‘That crazy bastard!’
Ehram realized that the elder mage was determined to settle the score with the mage in front of him. Part of it was his inferiority complex, unable to accept being surpassed by a much younger mage as the head of his school.
“If you can withstand this, I will acknowledge my defeat.”
Holding a magical device obtained from Bates’ black market, the elder mage’s eyes seemed to flicker with light as he raised his mana to the extreme. In fact, sparks flew around his eyes.
“Like all schools, the Glonas School also has a secret mantra. Though it’s not perfected, it’s been refined enough to be practically usable.”
Of course, “practically usable” was an understatement. It was likely completed to a level the elder mage could boast as his life’s masterpiece. Despite this, Ehram had to doubt the elder mage’s sanity.
“If the prince dies, the Glonas School is finished too!”
The prince in power was the main supporter of the Glonas School. If the prince lost his power, the school would inevitably face the consequences of the revolutionary madness. Having received substantial support, retribution would surely follow.
“As long as a master exists, the school’s legacy will endure forever.”
But even this reasoning was insufficient to persuade the elder mage.
“Without pride and ambition, one is unqualified to seek the truth.”
Maya shuddered momentarily at the elder mage’s low murmur, but it went unnoticed by others. Because a small sun had risen around the elder mage who had completed the school’s secret mantra.
“The Sun of Glonas.”
Mumbling the name of the spell, the elder mage’s hands moved busily, forming hand seals (수인).
“This is a spell in the flame category, focusing on spread and explosion. It continues infinite destruction until the mana infused by the caster is depleted-.”
“Boring.”
Ludmilla interrupted the elder mage’s explanation with a languid voice and began mimicking his hand seals like a mirror. No, at some point, she even surpassed the elder mage’s speed and formed the seals faster.
Seeing this, the elder mage’s eyes widened in shock. Ludmilla, who finished the hand seals with a relaxed expression, reached toward the small sun hovering in the air.
And the sun set.
“Guh-urch!”
The elder mage, spewing dark red blood suddenly, stared at Ludmilla in disbelief. The emotions in his eyes were very familiar to Ludmilla, who possessed extraordinary talent. Distrust, astonishment, and fear.
“H-how…. My spell!”
“If you can do it, why couldn’t I?”
“Insane…!”
With mana violently rebounding and rampaging inside his body, the elder mage continued to spew dark red blood as he shouted.
“Interfering with a spell is an act that requires a significant difference in skill level. But this is not interference……!”
It was the usurpation of the spell.
This isn’t just interfering with the flow of mana that completes the spell; it’s a different level entirely. It requires comprehensive magical knowledge of the spell structure, a deep understanding of the unique mana pattern of the caster, and an overall grasp of the spell’s construction.
“This, this is nonsense! Even the head of the Magic Tower couldn’t interfere with a secret spell of another school like this!”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
The spell structure is too crude to be considered a secret, isn’t it? At Ludmilla’s calm response, which could either be ridicule or a simple statement of fact, the elder mage spewed dark red blood once more. Having his masterpiece of a secret spell usurped and being unable to control the rebound of his mana due to the mental shock, the rampaging mana was destroying his body from within.
‘I’m going to die!’
He would surely die if this continued.
There was still a mountain of research waiting for his touch. He couldn’t die here-!
“Lady Ludmilla. It would be better to capture this mage alive.”
A ray of salvation shone upon the elder mage at that moment.
“Why?”
Ludmilla responded as if she couldn’t see any reason to do so, and the elder mage, still spewing blood, looked at her with desperate eyes. He focused his gaze on the red-haired spearman who had spoken up.
But he did not realize.
“There’s something intriguing in what that old mage said. It might be of considerable interest to our lord…….”
That it might have been better to die right there.
***
‘Damn, that thing is huge.’
Carving an ogre out of ice wouldn’t make it that big. It was so large that even a battlefield tangled with nearly a thousand combatants felt cramped. While it wasn’t literally the size of a mountain, it was equally gargantuan.
Perhaps it was fortunate that Kereaktu’s power was weaker than in the original story. Considering that the ‘Frost Giant’ featured in the game was so colossal that it was classified as a type of instant dungeon…
“Well, this isn’t too bad by comparison.”
“No matter how you look at it, I can’t agree with you this time.”
Leo, who seemed slightly overwhelmed, had regained his usual composure.
“Even ogres aren’t this big.”
“I agree.”
That was true. Khan, who silently agreed with the conversation between the two paladins, gripped a misshapen sword in one hand and the Giant Slayer in the other as he charged forward. There was no need for any elaborate discussion on how to fight.
To handle that pure mass, one needed considerable strength, and among the group, only Khan had that potential.
『Shatter─!』
Responding to Kereaktu’s voice, the frost giant raised its fist. A slow speed matching its massive size. Yet the frost giant was so enormous that this downside was almost negligible.
With a giant fist the size of a house swooping down from the sky, and with no options to dodge to the sides, evasion was impossible. Besides, they had to break through the frost giant to stand a chance against Kereaktu.
Thus, Khan chose not to evade but to confront it head-on. As the enormous fist descended, seemingly covering the sky, Khan, a tiny speck in comparison, swung his sword.
CRACK──!!
The surrounding area at the point of impact cracked under the pressure. It seemed impossible that the clash between a giant and a human could cause such a shockwave.
But it didn’t stop there.
A crimson trajectory shattered the giant’s fist into pieces. It was like witnessing a scene out of legend. Those who managed to escape through the gate from Kereaktu slumped to the ground.
The sudden appearance of a demon was an overly surreal crisis for ordinary people. The sight of a barbarian and paladins fighting the demon seemed like a scene out of myth. It even quelled the doubts in their minds about the bizarre scenario of paladins fighting alongside a northern barbarian.
“Oh, God….”
The defensive captain of the canyon gate was no exception to this. The barbarian who crushed the giant’s arm now swung his warhammer to sever its ankle.
Meanwhile, a demon with a skull-like visage conjured a menacing darkness, countered by the light summoned by a platinum-haired paladin.
In the midst of this, a paladin, whose brilliant appearance could be mistaken for a noble youth, bypassed the giant and lunged at the demon with a bloodstained mace.
『You insignificant wretch!』
Outraged at being targeted by someone so much weaker, the demon unleashed a curse crafted from dark magic. However, surprisingly, the moment the curse touched the mace, the dark magic scattered.
It was as if the mace itself was the bane of dark magic. The demon, visibly startled, retreated. It was like encountering a natural enemy in an unexpected place.
BOOM──!!
Thunder crashed.
『Surging Strength』
The sound resonated as the barbarian warrior crushed the struggling frost giant’s head with his warhammer, having already severed its limbs. It was clear he had no intention of drawing out the fight, as the warrior’s entire muscular frame rippled violently, revealing his trump card.
『I am Kereaktu─! Ruler of the Frosty Wasteland, Guardian of Eternal Winter! Glorious leader of the Infernal Legion…!』
『Shut─up─!』
Not permitting any more outbursts.
The barbarian’s battle cry, echoing through the entire canyon, diverted everyone’s attention to him. His speed was nothing short of lightning-fast. The next moment, a crimson trajectory sliced through the demon’s form.
Limbs were severed, bones shattered into fragments. Yet, the demon did not die. Its severed body parts continued to move, converging on the barbarian with concentrated dark magic and the frost of the icy wasteland!
“Don’t struggle.”
The divine punishment issued by the goddess symbolizing Midland’s justice manifested through the apostle’s sword. Severely weakened, the dark magic was suppressed and all but disappeared.
However, the bitter cold of the icy wasteland remained potent. But for the warrior of the frost valley, that alone was enough.
Since consuming the dragon’s soul, the terrifying flames ignited by the blood magic of the vengeful spirit that had grown to the point that it could no longer b called a soul fragment. This boiling power, combined with the blood magic and the A-grade sword skill, intermediate Swordsmanship, was practically a new skill in itself.
‘I think I understand now.’
That unrivaled strike delivered against the golden dragon Areolus had shown Khan the path forward. It was a path possible only in reality, not in the game!
『Dragon Fang (A) – 06%』
The power, pushed to its peak, felt like it was on the verge of exploding. Before it could destroy his body, Khan unleashed all his strength.
『This, this power…! Impossible──.』
Crunch───!!!
The fang of the red dragon devoured the demon of the icy wasteland.