Crack!
Another layer of Bone Armor was torn off and revealed Clown's face, which was filled with bewilderment. In my experience, this expression was no different from a sign of the end of this long struggle. However, the moment I was about to knock down my mace with all my might, a cool breeze blew from somewhere to the side.
¡Latigo!
[Erwen Fornacci di Tersia has suffered more damage than allowed. Elementalization released].
My body lightened before I could register the change. Before long, my rocky skin returned to its original state. My hearing activated noticeably like that of an alerted animal.
Collapse.
I heard something fall behind me.
«Erwen!» Soon, Daria's urgent scream followed. That was enough to deduce the current situation. Erwen was hit, so Eli's Barbarian Mode ended. If so, why? Before I even turned my head in the direction of the first wind, I saw the answer.
«Haha, Mr. Necrapeto. You look bad». He was an old man with the appearance of a model magician: lush gray hair, white beard, and kind-looking features.
Fallen scholar.
Was here.
Already? As? What had happened to Kyle?
The moment I was faced with that fact, numerous questions arose.
Slide.
I did my best to get rid of them and moved my arm. It was an unconscious decision made in the blink of an eye.
If not now... there is no other chance.
Eli's Barbarian Mode was over. Since I could no longer block the poison attacks, if I missed this opportunity, I had to face Clown and that old man at the same time.
«You're in a hurry.»
Damn sea.
The force left my left arm and the mace fell to the ground.
¡Bum!
A red light penetrated my wrist.
I'm really going to lose my mind. What crazy hit...?
There was no launch time. It meant that, for the Fallen Scholar, the spell used right now was no different from a basic attack spell like Magic Arrow. A normal blow of that caliber pierced my body, when Eli's Barbarian Mode had ended and my mana resistance had returned?
No, think about it later.
I deleted the questions again, because that wasn't what I needed to do now. Drop the mace? You just have to screw it up with a shield. If he didn't have that, it was the spirit of a K-Barbarian to chew it with his gums.
Hit.
The moment I dropped the mace, I hit Clown's face with the shield. Since once he didn't, once again.
¡A slap!
Since twice it didn't calm me down, once again.
¡Pum!
Just like that, he was about to hit for the third time.
«What an interesting guy». I stopped, as if something invisible was oppressing my entire body with tremendous pressure. «You said it. I'm in a hurry».
I just rolled my eyes and looked to the side. Fallen Scholar had his eyes fixed on me. His face was expressionless as was his flaw, but he also seemed amused for some reason, as if he had found something that piqued his curiosity.
«What's your name?»
So he's curious about me.
«You can't be an unnamed explorer considering what you've done to Mr. Necrapetus». There was no malice in his voice.
Just then, Melter Fend's voice rang from the message stone. «Is that man there yet...?». Fallen Scholar frowned, disgusted by the interruption. «Wait. I'll be there s-»
The message stone attached to my waist exploded.
¡Pum!
What kind of magician was this? It wasn't like he had shaken a wand or anything, there wasn't even the typical hand movement to operate mana. What was the rank of this old man? I only heard that he was rank 3 before he was banished.
«¿No vas responding?»
«Bjorn, son of Yandel.» I responded for now. Since Fend would lead the main team here, I judged that I should entertain myself with the conversation until then.
«¿Apodo?»
«Small Balkan».
«Hmm, this is the first time I've heard it. So what rank do you have?»
«...I was recently promoted to rank 5.»
«Rank 5, huh? I'm increasingly interested». Fallen Scholar looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes and waved his hand as if to operate mana.
¡Shaaaaa!
A colorful light emerged from the ground. Oh, I knew this magic: rank 5 unique Earth Memory magic, a spell that reproduces the events that occurred in the specified area and displays them to the caster.
It even uses the unique magic of completely irrelevant schools with ease.
Memory of the Earth was the unique magic of the Earthrin school. According to my researched information, Fallen Scholar was affiliated with a school that pursued a completely different type of magic before being banished.
«Pft.» Fallen Scholar laughed lightly, apparently watching the replay. «Now I see that you are a more interesting guy than I thought. And to think you'd say something like that to Mr. Necrapeto».
Something like that, huh? I didn't know if he was referring to his appearance or «how small»'s comment, but it didn't matter.
«What happened to Kyle?» It seemed like the other party wanted conversation, so I also asked what I was curious about.
Surprisingly, he responded complacently. «That guy is alive. He's not someone who should die here».
«...You mean you kept him alive on purpose?»
«He has achieved many things through revenge. If you abandon even human emotions, you will probably reach an even higher realm.»
His words were eloquent and well spoken like those of a magician, but I had no idea what I was hearing. How could that be a reason not to kill him? If the enemy had great potential, wasn't that all the more reason to kill him? I didn't say it out loud, but it seemed like the question was conveyed even with a glance.
«Individual or group, friend or enemy, what does it matter?». The Fallen Scholar spoke. «As a person who wants to see the end of magic, I'm just curious what kind of magic that guy will leave behind if he reaches that realm».
«Even if that can kill you?»
«Don't worry. Getting to the top means throwing away all the unnecessary things over and over again. By then, he will have no human emotions left».
I gave up trying to understand. People called this old man an inhuman being driven mad by magic, and they were right. His way of thinking was totally different to begin with. But because of that, expectations arose within me, a faint hope that this peculiar way of thinking could save my life today.
«Now, let's end the conversation here. Today I went a little overboard». Only then did I realize that there were blood stains on the Fallen Scholar's beard. It seems he tried to clean them, but the traces remained.
That means this bastard isn't in normal condition either.
Whatever the outcome, this was a positive factor.
As I thought this, the Fallen Scholar spoke as if saying goodbye to me. «Thanks to you, I had fun for the first time in a long time. I still need Mr. Necrapeto, so I'll take him with me».
While half unconscious from being hit by a shield, Clown's body floated in the air. I couldn't help but look because my body wasn't moving. It left me with mixed feelings. I really just needed a little more time. Was this how it was going to end? Well, if he was going to let us go, this was still a profitable deal...
«Then, die.»
Yes, of course not.
Slide.
Soon, Fallen Scholar reached out his hand towards me, and an ominous red mana formed above it. I emptied all my regrets. This was nothing new at this point. It was always like this.
«Behell-ahhhhhhhhh!» I must fight if I want to live.
[You have launched Gigantization.]
Squeezing out the last of my strength, my warrior body increased in size again.
Crunch, crunchhh, chh.
When I applied force to my feet, I heard the intangible mana that covered my body creak. In a way, I expected it. A magician was synonymous with efficiency, right? Since his body was not in good condition, he was sure that he only used minimal mana.
Run.
My body was finally freed. I got up from the ground and ran towards the enemy.
«¡Yandel! ¡Veo a Yandel! »
I did not head towards the distant place from which my allies were fleeing, but towards the enemy.
Altar!
«Hmm». The Fallen Scholar looked at me curiously. He must have been wondering why he wasn't running away despite having released Crowd Control, but that was only from this guy's point of view.
How long can I last with recovered MP less than ten minutes? Twenty seconds even calculating it generously.
After that Gigantization would be over, so this was the best he could do for now.
Altar!
I approached Clown, whose body was being dragged away. The reason was simple. The old man who seemed disinterested in anything other than magic had just said it.
«I still need Mr. Necrapeto, so I'll take him with me».
I still needed Clown. On the contrary, if he stayed close, he would not be able to use magic. That was probably why he tried to drag Clown with him in the first place.
«You are wise.» The crimson magic in Fallen Scholar's hand was still there but it wasn't aimed at me. «It's a waste of mana to throw away». His open palm changed direction, pointing not at me, but at where my comrades were.
¡Flash!
There was a flash of light, and a red orb shot out from his palm.
«Barhatun Wiar». Dozens of stone walls rose along the path. It was Raven's magic. No wonder she was so quiet until now; He was secretly preparing a spell. But it didn't mean much.
¡Bang! ¡Bang! ¡Pum! ¡Pum!
The red orb flew at high speed, destroying the stone walls too easily.
«To the ground!» Just like I did before, Mr. Bear covered everyone from above with his body and even summoned the Iron Bear on top.
¡Kwa claim!
The orb exploded in mid-air, releasing thousands of split flames right at the midpoint between my comrades and me, into the distance. No, to be precise, it was right where Erwen had collapsed after Elementalization was released, as if that was her goal from the beginning.
«¡No!»
¡Poooppp!
Like fireworks made with CGI, countless sparks flew out and explosions followed one another.
¡Whooom!
A strong wind brushed my skin. Even in the midst of that, the Fallen Scholar's face remained unchanged and he murmured in a calm voice: «That young girl was born with the greatest destiny after you».
I couldn't understand what he was saying, but one thing was certain. It was really aimed at Erwen.
Squeeze.
My jaw hurt. I felt like someone had hit me in the back of the head with a huge, blunt gun. Was Erwen really dead?
Hit!
Blood pooled in my heart and paralyzed my reason. The more I did it, the more I thought about one thing: What should I do to protect others?
At least I have to kill this bastard.
I reached out to Clown's head, believing that my allies, who would soon arrive, would somehow take care of Fallen Scholar.
Hit!
My shield landed back on Clown's face, but I assumed he was still conscious. «Pooh!» Clown vomited the blood pooled in his mouth onto my face.
¡Chhhhhh!
A burning sound was heard. I felt no pain, but even through my dull senses I could feel something still flowing downwards. I opened my eyes somehow, but my vision was blurry.
Poison Hydra.
His passive ability had a similar effect to Acid Fluid, but the performance was enormously different. The corpses of the suicide soldiers were probably reshaped using their own blood. Of course, it didn't matter. I extended my hand beyond the obscured vision.
Squeeze.
Luckily, I grabbed his hair. This way, it wouldn't fail.
Squeeze.
Instead of using my pierced left arm, which no longer had any strength left, I bit him like an animal.
«Aaaaaah!» I could feel soft cartilage. Was it his ear?
Spit.
Spitting it out, I lowered my chin a little more. What I wanted was his neck. If he chewed the blood vessels leading to the brain, not even this bastard could survive.
«You really are a beast». The voice contained unpleasant emotions.
King!
Something sharp cut my right arm. Truly, it was the first time he had felt pain in a long time. Maybe that's why the corners of my mouth rose.
«I think now I know why barbarians are called savages. Each of you is positively unhinged». The Fallen Scholar asked: «Aren't you afraid of death?»
This guy didn't know anything about barbarians. They were not beings without fear. They only learned to overcome fear and move on because there was no other option. They could only laugh and choose the only option. Some called them savages for that. They were people who fought with themselves. They called them warriors.
[The power of your soul is insufficient. Gigantization is over.]
Just in time, the gigantization ended.
¡Toser!
With nothing to hold on to, my body was pushed back. He rolled non-stop. Maybe it was because he had been in a lot of dogfights, but standing without being able to see ahead wasn't a problem. The problem was the loss of direction.
«Awesome.»
There you have it.
Run.
I charged in the direction of the voice.
Stabbed!
Something entered my stomach, but at that moment, a warm energy embraced me.
¡Shaaaaa!
It was divine power.
«Yandel! Save Yandel!» I could hear the dwarf Teterud, whom I sent to help Melter Fend earlier. It was pretty close.
«Belbev Ruingenes!» He could also hear Kyle's voice, amplified by magic. Filled with anger, he shouted Fallen Scholar's real name.
¡Bang!
Something exploded in front of me. Did you take a step back to avoid it?
«So that guy has reached the end. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have struck up a conversation». The Fallen Scholar's voice receded a little. «Do you know something? I wasn't being relaxed. It's just that my calculation was wrong for the first time in a long time. I thought that was enough time». His voice was still calm. «Well, I was like this since you showed up. Because I thought no one would show up». The bastard's voice became more distant and faint. «Congratulations. For being the only winner».
After that, I didn't hear the voice again. From then on, my blurred vision blackened. I couldn't even perceive the dim light through my retinas. I felt like I had been left alone in the universe.
squeeze.
Just then, I felt someone approaching me and I unconsciously swung my severed arm.
squeeze.
He stopped dead, but there was no counterattack as he feared.
«It's me». I heard Teterud's voice. «My friend... everything is over...»
Ah.
«Then...now, rest.»
Ahh...The Erwen...?
There was something I had to ask, but my voice couldn't get out.
I collapsed.
Today was such a long day. That was the end of my memory.