Chapter 100
The Center of the Battlefield.
This place was a bit far from the crimson waves.
The ground was covered not in flesh and blood, but in a field of white snow.
What stained it were the traces of two beings.
“Why… why, why?!”
Ami’s lifeless face twisted in rage and inferiority, fixating her torn pupils on Helion.
Fifteen years ago, he was definitely prey. An easy target to hunt.
So she had let him mature! To enjoy a tastier meal later!
She knew that the human species could grow stronger quickly, but this was too much. She was in a state of Liberation, after all.
Crunch.
Ami ground her teeth and charged again.
Dressed in fearsome armor including a menacing helmet, Ami’s speed was like lightning itself.
Her scythe, attached to a scorpion-like tail, aimed for Helion’s neck.
However, it failed again.
It was simply blocked by the holy light barrier Helion had conjured.
“Prey, you’re just prey! Be a meal!”
Ami’s violet mana pulsated.
The rising steam from boiling water danced gracefully yet irregularly like lightning striking the ground.
Ami unleashed massive amounts of mana, determined to pierce the shield. The spheres of the Magic Cannon she created gathered mana like the gravity of planets around Helion.
“Helion, you’re nothing but prey—!”
At the moment of Ami’s shout, the mana shield protecting Helion shattered, and the fully concentrated Magic Cannon shot straight out.
Even a legendary hero’s body, trained over countless years, couldn’t withstand that terrifying power.
To avoid the shockwave, Ami pulled back.
Amidst the shock, Helion stepped out untouched.
Not a single wound.
Not even a scratch!
“So… this doesn’t make any sense, huh?!”
Ami had her reasons for overestimating her own power, naming the Archbishop.
Only the chosen ones among Bishops could become Archbishops.
Before the full might of any Archbishop, most heroes were little more than game prey.
The Archbishops who had lost their lives until now did so typically after being overwhelmed by numbers or through exploited weaknesses. Anything beyond that is virtually unheard of.
Yet, Helion.
What kind of being is this?
The fact that he stood there, single-handedly blocking her as an Archbishop, was simply intolerable.
Existence is simply unacceptable.
At the same time, fury wells up. No matter how strong one may be, in the end, they are still human. Being humiliated by such a lowly race is infuriating.
If I can just touch them once, I can snatch the soul contained within that flesh…
At that moment, Ami sensed it.
Helion sensed it as well.
『What’s going on, why are those ‘guys’ here…?』
Something was happening that made no sense.
It was a mass of ominousness beyond oneself.
Though it was invisible, the presence of these beings was undeniably felt in this space. While most couldn’t feel the mana, Ami and Helion certainly did.
Helion’s previously calm eyes flickered slightly.
Ami saw this clearly.
With a bright smile, she prepared to charge again.
Though this situation was humiliating, it was a price she was willing to pay.
『What to do about this?』
It felt like the battlefield was about to shift in a whole new direction.
*
Hmm, is there really no variable?
How strange.
The course of this battlefield is significantly different from the previous developments. One should feel grateful that things are progressing smoothly, but…
The ease of it gives rise to a kind of dissonance.
【Kerrul-lek, Keruk!】
I continued experimenting with various curse spells like weaken or corruption magic against the priest-level foes charging at me, and then scanned the battlefield again.
So far, none of Helion’s team members had been injured. Finn, despite looking rough around the edges, was managing just fine.
Ami and Helion were fighting in the center, and Helion was clearly dominating. This was expected. The monster known as Helion even overwhelmed Ami’s full liberation as an Archbishop.
Additionally, Frikkanrisk, who joined the fight, showed no signs of struggle, smashing the bishops and turning special entities into ice shards.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before the heroes claimed a clean victory without casualties in the war. Meanwhile, Altife would face total annihilation.
A stable battlefield.
Victory is assured.
So, this unease I feel is more of an intuition than a reliable judgment.
It’s clear that the future will bring victory. It’s certain, yet… it’s odd. It’s too intact to feel stable.
The process seems ‘excessively’ perfect, making it feel incomplete.
None of the expected variables are emerging.
At the very least, I thought a bishop or two from Cardinal Beled would show up, or maybe even an archbishop…
【Kreeeeek⎯⎯!】
I made a large hole in the chest of the giant Altife right in front of me, using the similarly massive familiar, Taesan.
I’ve almost completely grasped Taesan’s output now.
…This part is fine, but.
‘Something feels off.’
I cast a curse on the priest-level beings trying to overwhelm me, raising a wall. They would serve as my barrier against the incoming crimson wave, at least for a moment.
It might just be paranoia, but I need to confirm it.
Every matter begins with doubt.
Goohh⎯.
I focused my mind, gathering mana.
I imbued the mana with properties in my imagined heart. This represents an interpretation, and its disposition is curse. A quality that pierces through the essence of all things.
The spell I’m currently casting may indeed be accompanied by the verification of the curse I’m under.
…Just in case.
It’s a worst-case scenario.
I’m basically someone who specializes in familiars and curses.
Especially since I’ve reached the level of comprehension in curse magic.
To confirm the very slim chance that someone is under a curse and seeing illusions.
Generally, I have high resistance to curses, so unless it’s something really out of the ordinary — yeah, if Helion specializes in curse magic, I wouldn’t have missed it.
And yet, I check.
I can’t completely rule out the existence of ‘her’ who could trap me in a snare.
As refined mana flows through the phantom veins to the ends of my body, the reality comes into view.
“Oh no… the worst assumption turned out to be true.”
I unconsciously let out a sound.
A high-level curse magic has been cast.
Moreover, this spell is so complex that even someone with an outstanding intellect and abilities would require some time to decipher it — a form I’ve never seen before.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I swiftly begin to unravel the spell.
I infuse my mana to alter the existing spell structure and generate a new one.
Each spell carries its own answer.
The answer to the current spell is ‘confinement’, and changing this requires the rules of an equation that can penetrate it.
It’s not enough to just know the curse and the form; rather, it’s only after recognizing them that one gains the right to face the problem.
After several failures, I finally find the rules. I redefine the spell with this newfound insight.
The answer derived from the modified spell is ‘liberation’.
That becomes the key to escaping the imprisoned condition.
I’m glad I have the relic. Otherwise, it would have taken much longer.
I pulled out the dagger given to me at the church and packed in a ton of interpreted mana.
Crash⎯!
The world surrounding me shatters. It disappears into fragments as if I swung a hammer at a glass window.
*
Then, the true form, hidden behind all that, comes into view.
It raises the hair on my skin.
It’s a long-forgotten sense of alertness.
“Frikkanrisk.”
The winter divine beast is in shambles.
She has been protecting me based on our contract. Even though she is one of the Twelve Divine Beasts, she wouldn’t have been easily overwhelmed even by Ami—a fact that makes her current state all the more distressing.
Blood spills from her mouth along with a few words.
“Human. It seems… you finally woke up.”
The divine beast had been protecting me while I was under the curse. Aside from her, I could see about four corpses of heroes belonging to Dortmund.
I say “seen” because while some shapes were recognizable, others were so shattered that they were hard to decipher all at once.
What I was perceiving was an illusion.
Overall, the situation still favors Dortmund. However, right here, the situation on the left flank is horrific. They underwent severe losses while I was under the curse.
A curse.
A curse…
I had expected it, but the difference was so vast that if I hadn’t suspected it, I might not have noticed. Even with my level of comprehension…
I thought it would be the least likely scenario.
As the worst-case situation unfolded, I became calm and my analysis of the situation quickened.
『…….』
There’s a woman.
Once a radiant silver-haired lady now looking frail.
Her deep blue eyes are filled with darkness and lack any fighting spirit, as if denying the very essence of all things.
There is no gun. It seems to deny the very essence of encompassing all things.
She has the appearance of a human, but her body is grotesque all over. Veins bulging, with hideous legs and arms, and skin excessively pale, like that of a corpse.
The one who cast the curse upon me.
Despite her frail-looking frame, she wields a sword as large as her own body. The sword resembles a grotesque scythe, adorned with skeletons like those of Ami or Zagan.
As our eyes meet, she realizes I have awakened from my hallucination and lightly swings her sword in the air, taking her stance.
For her, the weight of the sword holds no value.
“Human… run away.”
Frikkanrisk, who had been staggering, said this with a certain plea. Not because she holds any special feelings towards me, but because it would be problematic if I, the one who must fulfill the contract, were to die.
However, the gaze through which she watches her son seems sincere.
“…….”
Frikkanrisk was my insurance. My own contingency plan to counter the changeable. She dutifully fulfilled her role.
I can firmly state that without her, I would be…
Dead in this place.
Perhaps I might have wandered through this illusion for a lifetime, unaware that I had even died.
“Looks like you still can’t talk?”
I spoke to the woman exuding a foreboding aura, brushing aside Frikkanrisk’s concerns.
She says nothing.
To be precise, she can’t.
She feels no emotions, nor is she permitted to.
Her body and emotions do not belong to her. Since the incident in the past, she has lost all control. Thus, the current version of her was created.
Leave this creature behind and run away?
Sorry, but that’s not an option.
It’s uncertain whether escaping from here is even possible, but even if I succeed, the tides of battle would completely turn against me.
Even if Kshanoll and the others from the right wing of the battlefield were to join, it would be problematic. No matter how strong they are reputed to be, they would have no chance of defeating her.
“Truth be told, I didn’t want to meet you already… But it can’t be helped.”
It would have been better if I at least had a disposable magic amplification ring like the one I used to catch Zagan, but now I don’t.
I must face her with only the consumable relics that assist in dispelling curses and my own skills.
What I need to accomplish is not to defeat this woman. It’s to endure. I must hold back an opponent who surpasses me both in curse magic and physical specs.
‘No, saying I’m holding back is odd. She came specifically aiming for me.’
If I were a hero, she would likely be known as a Swordmage.
She may have caused a stir in the church, pushing through impressive heroes, possibly creating significant changes in the hero ranking.
She charged at me.
Not yet visible to the naked eye, only a lingering afterimage remains.
“Alright, let’s see if you can bloom. I’m the only one who can handle you!”
If I hadn’t read the original and knew of her weaknesses, I wouldn’t have the audacity to act this boldly.
Her dark silver hair flutters in the wind.
She is the one I cannot defeat in my current state, as well as the Archbishop Salecius of the Goddess Church.
And in the past, she was human and a potential hero.
⎯ The sister of Alicia, known as Charlotte.
Her emotionless blade looms menacingly.
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