Chapter 578 - Assault (2)
In an instant, the rushing, spreading physical force set the air currents ablaze and tangled.
Lauen, who had invoked Reverse Gravity beneath his feet, rose vertically. He managed to escape the range unharmed, but the others could not avoid the aftermath.
"Uaaaaagh!"
"Kyaaaah!"
The one at the very front vanished without even leaving behind a corpse, and two others engulfed in flames were crushed to the ground, screaming their death cries.
At least the three who had been farther away protected their front with a Veil of Elements and, without resisting the flow of force, were pushed back toward the rear.
But in the process, their shields shattered, their flesh was scorched, and their organs battered.
The elite mages of the Society wasted no time, piercing into the opening.
Kwagwagwagwagwang!
In the blink of an eye, battle broke out, elemental magic flaring wildly.
If I had known this would happen, I should have brought along at least part of the Array of Spectrum…!
He had indeed accompanied himself with direct subordinates, but they were no more than menials to fetch and carry.
The reason was simple — he lacked the authority to command high mages of upper 5th rank or above at will, as they were too few in number.
Lauen Seedger was the youngest and lowest-standing elder in Itium.
And now, to lament the lack of force was futile. It would have been the same for anyone, not just Lauen.
Predicting and preparing for the present situation was within the realm of impossibility.
Dangerous.
Not only the difference in power but the fact that they had been ambushed at all was a grave matter. In other words, the national brainwashing project had been exposed.
All the more, the fact that Black Hour and the Society had joined hands, and that the former War Lord was affiliated with the latter, could not be ignored.
The top priority should be to inform the magic tower of this fact, however…
"It will do your body and mind good to give up the thought of escaping without killing me, or relying on outside help. I have already sealed the exits. Of course, the external barrier is not a complete blockade, so the link of Coercion will not be cut."
Osgar, hovering at the same altitude as Lauen, severed his last thread of hope.
Indeed, the surroundings were already blocked, escape routes restricted.
"Hoo."
Lauen exhaled. The white breath thickened. Cold spread over his staff, infused with his mana.
"To side with the Society, to cooperate with Black Hour, and even bare your fangs at Bohemirn Tower…! You intend to make yourself the enemy of the entire mage world! Do you truly think the Arnak Empire will shield you?!"
"When did I leave the Empire after completing the War Lord's succession? And now you bring up the Empire out of nowhere? Besides, one would think, from your words, that the mage world belongs to you lot… well, it's not unreasonable to think that way. The tower system has lasted far too long. Your human experiments are surely a result of that."
A dark violet flame, fused of gravity and fire, coiled around the head of his staff in a spiral.
"And let me correct one thing. I did not join the Society. I founded it."
"…You're insane."
"Enough chatter, then."
From Osgar's entire body surged mana befitting his realm.
Arcane
"If I delay further, my claim that I'll finish this quickly will become meaningless."
Sshweeeak!
With a mastery of
Arcane
A unique path, manipulating the inner density of ice.
Jjeoeeooong!
The Sage of the Society and the elder of Bohemirn Tower clashed.
***
Osgar's pioneered path,
As time passed, instead of tiring, his arcane only grew stronger.
The longer this drags on, the worse it gets for me.
The answer was to end it all in one strike, in the shortest possible time.
Thus, he had to create the proper situation to make it possible.
Double Casting.
Double Casting.
From two strokes drawn in the air, dark blue ice spikes poured down, and at a diagonal angle, ice boulders of the same hue crashed forth. Ice magic imbued with massive weight by Lauen's arcane.
Though its range was reduced, its physical destructive power soared dramatically.
Osgar grows stronger the more he is hurt, but in the end, he is still only human.
A living organism of flesh and blood.
As a high magus, with superior resistance to mana, he could endure most spells, but against physical force there was a limit.
Even boldness has its bounds.
Brushed by an ice shard, skin would tear, struck by a block of ice, bruises would form or bones would be crushed.
But to fully unleash his close-combat-specialized arcane skills, he had to approach, and thus the advantage of distance lay with Lauen.
Drive him into a specific trajectory, finish him with maximum magic.
For this, Lauen strained his tangled mind, calculating two, three, even four steps ahead.
Yet his prediction failed spectacularly.
Jjeoeeooong!
The ice boulders shattered, the ice spikes fell before reaching him under intensified gravity.
Without dodging, Osgar bore the physical impacts head-on, tore through, and reached Lauen's close range without slowing.
A torrent of disintegration collided with a shield of cold imbued with the subtlety of antigravity.
Gravity in opposite directions canceled each other out, leaving only the staff's raw strike to crack the ice.
Kwaaaang!
The two fell to the ground, continuing their fierce duel without pause.
Along the Kazerdan ridges of the Principality of Riviant… at the edge of Count Rodenmeyer's domain, mountain spines collapsed one after another.
A battle of magic between beings specialized in the elemental system inevitably brought destruction, whether to enemies or to the natural world itself.
Just as intended.
From sky to earth, the descending ice sphere flashed, dyeing the nearby forest a dark blue glow.
A sight as if the world had stopped.
Yet the charge of the foe before him could not be stopped.
Whoong───Jjeoeeoook!
"Keugh…!"
A cunningly shifted staff struck Lauen's chest.
His breath was cut off.
A horrific sound of shattering ribs echoed within his body. He smashed through three frozen trees and rolled across solid ground.
At that moment, a small gravitational orb fired by Osgar flew forth.
In the blink of an eye, the orb swelled, pulling in surrounding matter. To resist its pull to the end was to lose initiative.
Lauen shot condensed cold from his fingertips, and at the instant it burst, he heightened its density.
Jjeojeojeojeojeojeojeok!
The gravitational sphere froze solid, returning once again to its origin point. By then, Osgar had already stepped within just a few paces.
Relentless.
His staff spun even more fiercely, wholly devoted to attack and counterattack. Lauen, while responding, lost focus for the briefest instant, missing that movement.
The price was devastating.
Ppaak! Ppaaak! Jjeoeok!
Bones twisted, blood spattered far. With each repetition, the destructive force rose ever higher.
There was no time to drink a potion, no chance to use a worthwhile magic item.
Jjeoong.
Lauen barely managed to cross his staff with Osgar's, blocking the strike.
With his broken left ring and little fingers, he raised cold, freezing their two staffs together.
"Haa, haa…"
"You do have persistence, I'll grant that", Osgar said.
"Lauen Seedger. You surely know this already, but from the very first time we met in the mage world, decades ago, I disliked you. The way you flaunted mage supremacism, innatism, and discrimination so proudly was detestable."
"..."
"But judged purely as a mage, you were outstanding in talent, bore unusual passion, and possessed a firm will. How then have you so utterly abandoned your responsibilities as a mage, and sunk into corruption?"
"Responsibility, you say?"
Lauen sneered.
"Who dares, to hold the magic tower accountable?"
Responsibility meant duty, and punishment for violating duty… but just as the world was not equal, neither was law.
Even if the tower committed grave violations, only the tower itself could punish them.
This was the chronic corruption of the long-standing tower system, and the greatest reason Osgar had resolved to found the Society.
Then it happened.
"Osgar, you're the same…!"
Hwaaaaaaak!
Ice erupted from Lauen's body, growing exponentially, surging to engulf Osgar.
A chill utterly unlike before invaded his very body. New blood dripped from Lauen's eyes and nose.
A mage who dreamed could, at the price of physical backlash, transcend his current rank.
Jjeojeojeok. Jjeojeojeojeok.
Now even a storm of cold winds arose, freezing his flesh bit by bit.
The ice, its density driven to the extreme, forbade any inner movement. It was like a heavy, frigid shackle.
Once it covers his head, my victory is assured.
Even if he withstood the cold, no living creature survives without breath. Enduring the pain, Lauen forced his arcane into even more dramatic activation.
A voice brushed his ear.
"The reason I founded the Society, was to build a mage world where people like you are forced to take responsibility for their actions."
"…What?"
"And you think you'll kill me, with just this much?"
As powerful pressure and heat pulsed, the frost collapsed. The staff raised in both hands soared high, as if supporting the heavens.
The arcane of Duel concentrated all reinforcement into destructive power.
"Insufficient."
Kwajijijijijijijijik!
The vertically crashing blow fell upon Lauen's forehead. With a savage sound, flesh and ice shattered into pieces.
The torn air currents quietly settled.
"Hmph."
Osgar snorted once, then looked around. Lauen's escort was already disposed of.
"Are you unharmed?"
"Yes, Sage."
Confirming everyone's safety, he bent and extended his arm. From Lauen, he retrieved the commander's device that remotely controlled the Coercion.
After roughly examining its structure, he activated his staff.
"Now then… terminate the plan, and relocate to the place I designate."
***
Osgar reported that he had eliminated Lauen Seedger's party and, through the commander, ordered the brainwashing test subjects to withdraw.
An impeccable beginning.
But Osgar, as vanguard, still had work to do. After waiting about thirty minutes, the awaited communication arrived.
───Y-your holiness, good tidings…! A spatial fluctuation did occur, but neither the Bohemirn tower master, nor elders, nor mage corps came. Only three tower mages were sent, that's all…!
The Bohemirn tower had dispatched scouts.
The third contingency.
That means Balrog Bessias is not in the tower at present.
The time was ripe.
Verden connected the communicator not to Osgar, but to Melard.
"The third scenario. Strike Maren Kingdom, Formene Free State, Itel Kingdom, and the Confederation of Barimtiel, and annihilate them one by one."
───I will relay it at once, your holiness.
Next, he contacted Adrian, commander of the Black Hour fleet. Through four central signalers, his voice resounded.
"Adrian."
Verden declared.
"Do not let a single one in that unofficial laboratory leave alive."
The distance was great, so a delay in communication was inevitable.
Yet the message was properly delivered.
───Leave it to me, my lord.
Across every corner of the continent, their forces moved as one, swiftly.
Now it's my turn, to draw all eyes directly to me.
As soon as the commands were given, he used [Ainber]'s
Hwaaaak!
Verden turned toward the domain managed by the Western Continent's tower alliance.