Chapter: 107
A pair of meteors fell into a remote forest. However, the massive destruction that usually follows did not occur. Right before hitting the ground, they used magic to propel themselves gently down.
Soft thud.
The Master of the Purple Tower landed silently.
Thunk.
The Capital Knights Order Master created a crater deep enough for his ankles but managed to land safely.
Thud thud thud!
Birds and mice in the forest scattered in all directions. The keen senses of the animals predicted an imminent natural disaster that would soon sweep through the woods.
The Tower Master extended her hand and summoned her staff. A crystal quietly rotated at the center of the spiraled staff’s frame.
Whirring… whirring…
The Capital Knights Order Master loosened and tightened his hands to amplify his senses. The mechanical devices embedded in his golden power armor whirred, activating various auxiliary spells.
Before the tension of battle heightened, a youthful voice came from beyond the armor.
“Shall I introduce myself? I’m Luru.”
“…I want to go back.”
“I’d rather not. Normally, if someone is this unwilling to fight, I’d let them go… But the old man who used to play with me has gone away for a while, and it’s left me frustrated. I can’t hold it any longer. Eeeverything in the world…”
The Capital Knights Order Master placed his hands on his hips.
“The old man spoke highly of you. He said you have an unstable power, so there’s no elegance to it, but if we fought, it would still take some time.”
“…Old man?”
“You let slip the old man’s sword skills, right? That young boy who looks like this? You know him, right?”
It rang a bell.
The Tower Master recalled the light spar that occurred in the Purple Tower. It was just a jab, and without pulling out any fables, it had still caused the outer wall of the tower to crumble.
While the Tower Master was lost in thought, the Capital Knights Order Master suddenly remembered something and pulled a notification letter from his pocket.
“Ahem! This is all unnecessary chatter, so don’t mind it. Unauthorized entry into Crownhall and this whole reporting issue. Based on the following reasons, Yuna Yurensto Violet Iris is being exiled from the city.”
“…Shouldn’t you be stressing how serious this is?”
“What’s the big deal that the head of Team 3 got scared? No matter what the side characters think, the important thing is that I want to fight you.”
“…”
The Tower Master narrowed her eyes and examined the Capital Knights Order Master.
He held neither malice nor a sense of duty. It seemed like a playful puppy wagging its tail simply wanted to play with her.
The Tower Master expressed her thoughts candidly.
“…Are you a puppy?”
“Play with me!”
There was no hesitation in his cheerful reply. Phew. The Tower Master let out a small sigh.
Well, it’s not like it was an urgent situation. Had he jumped in while she was engaged in a serious fight with the Black Wizard, she’d be furious, but hadn’t they agreed to go back to the inn together for now?
He wouldn’t just barge into Duke Redburn’s villa alone.
If she could just blow off the unauthorized actions by playing for a bit, then perhaps it was a profitable endeavor. The Tower Master raised her staff, aiming it at the Knights Commander.
Still, since he was probably waiting, she needed to wrap this up quickly.
The Knights Commander, sensing her determination, giggled and began thumping his chest.
“Alright, let’s introduce my transformation! It’s called ‘Glutton’!”
“…”
“Everything that goes into my mouth can be turned into mana. Even if I eat dirt, my mana increases, continuously climbing with no maximum limit. It was supposed to be temporary, but… now that I’ve sublimated! Do you know what that means?”
“…Like a pig.”
“No way!”
Whirrrrrr!
Mana swirled. The overflowing mana from the Capital Knights Order Master’s body powered all the magic circuits in the power armor, leaving a considerable surplus.
Mana enveloped the surface of the armor. The density of the mana increased, reaching a state similar to a solid, emitting a blinding azure light.
The Tower Master frowned.
Illusory magic is indeed magic. It can be manipulated in various forms to create gaps, but in the end, it is a form of using mana. If you unthinkingly surround yourself with an excessive amount of mana, there’s little one can do about it.
It was like folding a paper airplane and trying to send it across a tornado. The tornado itself was untouchable, and any attempt to cross its currents would only end in being torn apart.
“Indeed, it’s a matter of compatibility. Illusory magic… you know, that sinister stuff the Black Wizards love. It has no physical power, right?”
“…”
“So, here’s the question. How did you fend off the old man’s sword? Illusory magic wouldn’t work against him, right? It truly piqued my curiosity. It must have meant that there was some method behind it. I really want to see that.”
Crackling. Boom.
As the Knights Commander took a step, the dirt underfoot shattered into tiny pieces and scattered. He was like a walking sun.
What a waste of mana.
If that much mana were used efficiently, he could probably unleash major spells dozens of times over and still have change left. Yet, he was simply wasting it without any finesse, just enveloping it around his body.
Normally, one would just need to buy time.
Be it through explosive spells or dumping mana, time is usually the deadliest venom against a rapidly advancing enemy. Mana isn’t infinite, so eventually, there would come the end of the offensive.
“For the Dark Tower, I’d push it back with explosive pressure, and for the Gold Tower, I’d bury you under the ground. As for the Blue Tower, I’d float you in water to hinder your movement. And the Magic Tower? Well… maybe I’ll show my mommy’s image?”
“If you want.”
“I’d hit my mommy too. She abandoned me and ran away!”
But seeing the calm nonchalance on the Knights Commander’s face…
“Well then, first let’s do a light warm-up!!”
“Nightmare of the End of the World,” “Subtraction,” “Mirror Forest.”
The Knights Commander concentrated mana and reached his hand out.
Whoooooooom!!
A magic beam wider than a person shot forth. The illusory magic that affects the mind couldn’t penetrate the mana barrier and bounced off, while “Subtraction” was negated, and half of the hundreds of clones that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere were annihilated.
The Tower Master crouched down between the gaps of the mirror images, watching trees being uprooted. To call that a ‘magic beam’ was a gross understatement. That was just mana being discharged.
The difference between blowing air into a recorder and just haphazardly blowing it into the air was minimal. It was brute strength.
Brute strength means power.
Illusion-affecting magic didn’t work against the target. The Tower Master switched her magic to that using light.
“Steal the light, close your eyes. ‘Darkness’.”
She snatched the light from the area. Darkness filled the surroundings. From the outside, it would seem as if a large black sphere suddenly appeared.
Of course, just stealing vision isn’t enough. He would naturally know how to sense mana, so this was part of a process to gather light for a follow-up spell…
“Who turned off the light!? Where are you?! You’re not running away, are you?!”
“…You don’t know how to sense mana?”
“I don’t need to use that to win!”
Beep-beep-beep!
In the pitch dark void, a sinister light flickered, and a faint high-pitched sound tingled in her ears. It was the sound made when a mana stone battery explodes from a failed experiment.
A chill ran down the Tower Master’s spine.
“…Are you planning to self-destruct with a wide-area attack?!”
“If you can’t see, then I’ll just blow everything up all at once!”
Boom——!!
…
“Cough, cough cough. Ugh…”
The Tower Master spat out the dust that had entered her mouth. Without thinking, she had to match the power of the opponent who was pushing her back with his sheer brute force.
She barely managed to shield herself from the explosion thanks to the mana barriers using ‘scientifically solid structures’ she had learned from the Knights Commander. She thought she had managed it efficiently, yet…
The Capital Knights Order Master emerged from the epicenter as if nothing had happened. Still wrapped in enormous mana.
“You blocked it? Then let’s go again!”
“…How much mana do you even have?!”
“At least enough to force you to reveal your trump card! Show me what you showed the old man!!”
“…”
The Tower Master bit her lip tightly.
She really didn’t want to use it.
It kept coming to mind. It kept resurfacing. It was a power that sprouted from a decrepit refuse pile, so just using it alone made her heart jab painfully.
But still. To drain the strength of this big puppy, she really needed to show off a bit, and thankfully, she now had a place to calm her heart beside her.
“…She said she’d take me on a date.”
Just that gave her strength.
If she closed her eyes.
She could examine the appearance of her soul. It was half white and half black, with a boundary splitting the two showing an alien gem sewn into it.
This gem is called a gate.
A door that was forcefully sewn into her soul through some horrific experiments. It was the essence of the former magic of the Purple Tower, a force capable of shattering the borders between illusion and reality.
Yuna Violet Iris unlocked the latch and opened the door slightly.
“Sublimation Rite – ‘Illusory Realm: Open Door’.”
Woom.
Echoes resonated within her soul, palpable to only her.
It felt uniquely amiss. The Capital Knights Order Master blinked.
“…Huh?”
Crackle. Zzzt!
A cross-shaped rift appeared behind the Tower Master. The fracture in the air slowly opened like a wound, leading to something profoundly different.
It felt familiar. Just like when she entered the demon realm through a dimensional gate on the eastern front, she distinctly recalled this feeling of something being out of place.
The Tower Master grasped her dizzying mind and whispered quietly with her eyes closed.
“I won’t fully open it… But since it seems you’re curious, I’ll show it.”
“…”
“Here, the line between illusion and reality gets blurry. What was there may vanish, and what wasn’t there may appear. So if you lose your mental grip… It’s possible for both of us to scatter. Be careful.”
“…You really aren’t in a position to be telling me about self-destruction!!”
And she was telling him she didn’t like it!
This wasn’t a properly blossomed flower. It was a virulent blossoming from a forced opening that injected sublimation into one’s mind. Being an imperfect power brought about even greater instability, and she needed to wrap this battle up quickly.
With the intention of punishing the uninvited guest who interrupted her peaceful time together, the Tower Master swung her staff, filled with resentment.
“If you surrender quickly, I’ll only hit you five times.”
“I don’t know what spell you’re planning to use, but I’m not giving in easily…”
Goooooo!
A massive shape pushed through the door. A giant so large she had to lift her head back several times to see its face. A huge mutated creature, inflated beyond imagination.
The giant clenched its fist. The Capital Knights Order Master gawked up at it in awe.
“…Huh, surrender?”
“Just one hit.”
The enormous fist descended like a meteor, and he hurriedly raised his guard.
Boom——!!
===============================================================
Two poachers were walking through the forest near Crownhall.
“So, are you saying that many green-horned deer have been hunted here?”
“Absolutely! Plus, for some reason, the mountain patrols haven’t been around since morning. Let’s hit the jackpot today!”
“That’s weird, though. Did they all take a group vacation or something?”
“Why overthink it? Just think of it as a lucky day!”
This forest was owned by the royal family, and unauthorized poaching was prohibited, but that just meant it was teeming with valuable game.
With no patrols around to disturb their plans, they were practically salivating at the exciting prospect of a successful poaching trip.
Boom!!!
Suddenly, with a loud explosion, the forest began tearing apart.
“What the hell was that?!”
“What’s going on…?!”
The poachers ducked down, clutching their heads. They cautiously got up after and tried to grasp what was happening.
What they saw next was akin to the end of the world.
Everything was being sucked into the center of the forest. Trees, squirrels, and even themselves. They could see their backs stretching and twisting as they drew away. Behind them was an immense void of darkness.
It looked like the light from the Tower Master’s hands was being sucked away.
They thought their vision had gone bad. Because if they didn’t think that way, they would have to admit that the world suddenly crumbled around them.
As they floundered in the lightless dark,
Boom!!!
An explosion powerful enough to blind them erupted from the forest. All the trees were uprooted, and the massive shockwave sent the two poachers flying through the air.
After rolling on the ground for what felt like an eternity, barely managing to keep their lives, they finally gazed upon the sight of a giant white figure towering over them, delivering judgment upon the land.
“…”
“…”
They couldn’t help but bow their heads and pray fervently.
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