Chapter 140

“You should have come at me like that from the very start.”

The ones who charged first were those who hadn’t dismounted.

Even in an environment where the short distance made it difficult to build up speed, they secured momentum simply by carving wide curves to the left and right. Maintaining a two-column column formation, they executed their charges one after another.

Of course, once someone became an Aura User, it was well within their capability to instantly cleave a horse or two in half… but wherever a weakness existed, a method to cover it would always emerge.

Aura knights who specialized in mounted combat learned how to utilize aura through their steeds as if the animals were an extension of their own bodies, boosting the power of their charge while simultaneously protecting their mounts.

In fact, the thirty-odd horses charging right before my eyes were enveloped in aura, flashing a dark blue like a carousel illuminated in the dead of night.

“Oh….”

In a flash, the horses’ heads were right in front of my nose, and long spears thrust toward me a step ahead of them.

Simply by tilting my head, I lightly evaded the spears, then extended both hands to block the charging horseheads dead in their tracks.

Ku-kwang!

In that single instant, while the kinetic energy of the smoothly absorbed charge crushed the paving blocks beneath my feet in a radial pattern, the horse and knight ground to a halt as if defying inertia entirely.

“Wh-What…?”

Immediately after, I stomped my foot and shoved the halted horses back with a powerful twist. The horse and knight became a single mass, flying backward and scattering the remaining horses behind them like bowling pins.

Kwang! Kwadangtang!!

Of course, they weren’t idiots either, so only about five or six were taken down. The rest skillfully turned their mounts to evade the flying horses and knights, but…

‘That’s not the end of it.’

Right after, I activated the spell I had cast in advance.

“Improved Dig.”

Kung! Ku-gung!!

Thanks to the incredibly stacked lineup of mentors around me, an enhanced version of Dig was cast from my mouth, since I had reached the 3rd level before I even realized it.

And a split second later, Sis inside my Imagery activated the exact same spell once more.

—Improved Dig.

Dual Casting.

Two consecutively generated circular pits, roughly five meters deep and thirteen meters in diameter, swallowed the halted horses and knights into their depths.

Kung! Kwadangtang! Kwadeudeung!!

To be fair, even for an enhanced version, it was difficult for a pit created by Dig to exceed ten meters in diameter. It was even more unusual for its depth to reach five meters.

But who was I? Though I was only a 2nd-level mage (or rather, newly 3rd), my sheer volume of mana was so overflowing that the greatest archmage or even an archmage’s grandfather would take a back seat. Wasn’t I the ultimate rising star of the magical world?

Furthermore, the advantage of low-level magic, unlike high-level magic where one had to precisely control the consumption of mana, was that up to a certain point, the power increased in direct proportion to how much mana you invested.

‘Since the pattern is so crude and simple, it somehow functions even if you cram far more mana into it than intended.’

—Mana Overload.

This was a crude labyrinth-farming skill primarily used by mages who stopped at the 1st or 2nd level due to a lack of money and talent… but for the current me, it was a perfect fit. As I mentioned, I had mana to burn.

The key was to cram in just enough mana without collapsing the magic pattern inside the Imagery.

“Neighhhh!”

“Agh!”

“Ugh!”

“Magic!?”

The knights, who had never imagined in their wildest dreams that I would use magic, were sucked helplessly into the pits without putting up any proper resistance.

I quickly crammed four Fireballs into the holes—two of mine, and two of Sis’s—and then deployed a Physical Barrier, which I could now use upon entering the 3rd level, over the pits to serve as a lid.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!!!

This was the exact magic combination passed down to me by old man Talos himself: putting a lid on and detonating Fireballs.

This happened a while back, during the period when Talos was briefly staying at the mansion.

When I requested that he teach me the combat methods of a battle mage, Talos wore a bizarre expression.

“To be perfectly honest, I do not understand why you are trying to learn the combat methods of a battle mage. No, why on earth does a monster like you even need magic in the first place?”

“Well, you see… as you know from exchanging blows with me a few times, even though I’m Master class, I have absolutely no talent for ranged attacks or area-of-effect abilities.”

“Ah, that much was true. Whether it’s because of your Chosen Vocation or something else, you are certainly different from a Steel Body user. Anyway, so you’re trying to patch up that flaw with this?”

“Yes. Something like that.”

“Hah. Don’t lie to me. Do you think my eyes are just hollow knots in a piece of wood?”

“Pardon?”

“Your talent as a mage is ordinary. No, if I had to be precise, you border on the realm of a prodigy… but you know how it is. To people like us, a prodigy and an average joe are practically the same thing. For combat magic—not lifestyle magic—to be of any serious help to you, it would take at least several decades. It seems you are well aware of that yourself.”

“…….”

“To put it bluntly, wouldn’t it be a better use of your time to swing your sword once more rather than practicing something like magic?”

At Talos’s words, I scratched my cheek and offered a bitter smile.

“Everything you said is entirely correct, but there is exactly one thing you got wrong.”

“One thing?”

“It might sound a bit obnoxious… but I don’t need things like training or practicing sword strikes, the kind of things ordinary mortals do. I get stronger just by breathing.”

“…You really are incredibly obnoxious.”

“Well, what can I do? It’s the truth. And as you said, there will probably never come a day where magic helps me in a ‘true sense.’ But still, isn’t it fun? A human being shooting fire and launching lightning from their hands, I mean.”

“A fellow who can cleave space itself with a sword finds the strangest things fascinating. Anyway, so it’s just a hobby?”

“Yes. You could look at it that way.”

“Well, fine. If that’s the case, I suppose I have a few things to teach you. Let’s start with a simple, low-level combination first. If you combine low-level spells well, they can produce power that rivals high-level ones.”

“Oh….”

“First of all… a significant number of low-level combinations use Dig as the initiating spell. Most creatures with excellent combat capabilities live with their feet planted on the ground.”

“Ah.”

“If you dig a hole like this using Dig, drop a Fireball inside, and then cover it with a Physical Barrier….”

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!!

“You can pour out all the destructive power of the Fireball without wasting a single drop like this. Even though the spells used are merely two 2nd-level ones and one 3rd-level one, even an Aura User cannot guarantee their survival if they are trapped inside. Ah, but as a prerequisite, you must be able to use all the aforementioned spells with No-Chant casting.”

“Oho. Ah, but… No-Chant casting isn’t an issue, but the Physical Barrier is a bit… I’m still only a 2nd-level mage, you see.”

At my words, Talos’s face went completely blank.

“…What?”

“Why are you making a face like a pigeon that just swallowed a rock?”

“No, it’s just that I never imagined a 3rd-level spell would be the problem. I reached the 3rd level less than a week after entering the path of magic. I see, so this is what an ordinary mortal looks like.”

Uh… I didn’t realize it when I was the one doing the teasing, but being on the receiving end of this is actually a bit infuriating.

Gripping the staff in my hand properly, I flashed a wide grin at Talos.

The moment I gripped the very bottom instead of the middle, this staff transformed into a solid iron mace.

“Come to think of it, we didn’t have a sparring session yesterday or today. Care to go a round with this humble ordinary mortal for old times’ sake?”

At that, Talos immediately lowered his head.

“Uh, um… please spare me. When you get old and break something, it doesn’t heal well even if you receive a priestly miracle.”

Kwajik! Kwajik! Kwajijik!!

The lid—or rather, the Physical Barrier—held out for about three seconds before it finally shattered like an explosion, unable to withstand the pressure.

Kwaaaaaaa!! Kwao-khwang!!

Flames and shockwaves erupted outward immediately after.

However, despite the lid being thrown open, not a single knight crawled out of the pit. The condensed destructive power of those three seconds was more than enough to leave the aura knights completely incapacitated.

Excellent. To think that mixing a mere three low-level spells could produce this much power.

There was certainly no flaw in Talos’s words that how you used magic was just as important as what magic you used.

“Call Lightning.”

Kwa-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja-jak!!

To completely seal the deal, I roasted the inside of the pit once more with Call Lightning (3rd-level), and then, feeling thoroughly refreshed, I beckoned with my finger toward the remaining knights.

“What are you all just staring for? Weren’t you trying to capture me? Ah, you’re doing that because you’re scared? Sigh, fine. I’ll give you a break. I won’t use my sword. I’ll beat you down with my bare hands, so summon up some courage and come at me.”

As I sheathed my sword and tossed it onto the ground, sparks flew from the eyes of the remaining knights, who had been staring blankly at their freshly toasted and fried comrades.

“You son of a bitch…!”

“Get them! Crush them!”

“Rip their mouth apart!”

“Motherfucker! Die!”

Right. That was exactly how knights ought to react.

The fact that they maintained their formation even as they rushed forward en masse proved they were remarkably well-trained. Considering they were said to be entirely mediocre until just a few years ago, this was undoubtedly the achievement of that Sword Master lady, Carmen, who had married into the domain.

Of course, none of that meant they could actually do anything to me.

I strolled leisurely through the storm created by the tangled mess of swords and spears.

Shweeek! Shick! Kagak! Shushushuk!!

As a rule, there was no such thing as simultaneous actions in this world. Therefore, all I had to do was assign a priority to the incoming swords and spears and dismantle them one by one in order.

With my hands imbued with Pure Spiritual Power, I caught, deflected, and snapped the incoming blades.

I broke the arms, wrenched the shoulders, and crushed the ribs of the disarmed knights.

After entangling their spears together and slamming them into the ground, I shattered the legs of the knights blocked by the makeshift fence I had just created, then blew apart the jaws of the tumbling men.

In the midst of this, one fellow rushed at me with a tower shield.

Before their charge could even connect, my extended fist struck through the empty space, violently rattling their internal organs. A single-inch punch.

Teeeeeeng!!

I kicked the collapsing man away, tossed the stolen shield lightly into the air, and drove a spinning heel kick straight into it.

Kwaang!!

The shield, launched as it spun horizontally, sent over ten knights flying before ultimately demolishing a section of the castle wall.

Kwaaaaang!!

When over twenty knights were utterly devastated in a mere ten seconds without even getting a proper fight, the remaining rushing knights finally ground to a halt. Only now did they realize that pressing forward any further was no longer courage, but reckless foolhardiness.

But it was a bit late to back out now.

Kung!!

The moment I stamped my foot with all my might, the swords, spears, and shields scattered across the ground floated up to chest height.

I struck them forward like a bolt of lightning.

Ppababababak!!

In a split second containing over twenty consecutive strikes delivered in less than a single second, the swords, spears, and shields fanned out like a blast of shotgun pellets.

Pububububuk!!

“…….”

After a brief moment of silence, the remaining knights collapsed, staring blankly at the weapons embedded in their own bodies with utter disbelief in their eyes.

Before even five minutes had passed since the commencement of the battle, a whole knight order that the Count of Evas took pride in had been completely annihilated.

“T-This… is impossible….”

“Now then, Mr. Guan Yu. You’re the only one left….”

“Y-You… you are a Master. Where on earth did a person like you spring from? Were you hired by those filthy bastards from the Count of Harpun’s domain?”

“That’s none of your business… I’ll give you two options. One is to quietly take me to where the Count of Evas is, and the other is to get beaten to a pulp on this very spot just like your friends here. I held back a little with the others since they were just regular knights… but if you think I’m going to go that easy on you, you are sorely mistaken.”

At that, the man gritted his teeth and swung his sword with everything he had.

Chut!

In the blink of an eye, a thin, sharp, crescent-shaped aura spanning roughly three meters came flying toward me.

Furthermore, it didn’t end with a single strike. As he rapidly swung his sword left and right, crescent-shaped auras fired out consecutively with every motion.

“Oh….”

For the record, there were two types of Blasters. One was a melee-focused type who used aura projection as an auxiliary tool, and the other was an aura projection-focused type who only engaged in close combat when absolutely forced to. This Guan Yu in front of me seemed to be the latter, and an incredibly extreme version at that.

Tzzzzzzz….

As I casually swatted away the cascading aura with my bare hands, accompanied by bizarre scraping noises, an increasingly anxious expression crept onto his face.

“T-This is madness… to deflect my Crescent Wave with bare hands…!”

“Is this all?”

“Kh…!”

“You don’t have anything else to show me, right? …Then let’s finish this.”

While still swatting the aura away with one hand, I used my foot to violently kick a random object lying on the ground.

Kwang!!

Puck!!

“Keu-heuk!!”

The man, entirely focused on his assault, clearly hadn’t expected that kind of counterattack. His chest was pierced through by the projectile, and he slumped backward, completely limp.

“…Ah, it was a spear.”

I waved my hand dismissively at the soldiers surrounding me, who were standing frozen in an awkward state—unable to flee, yet far too terrified to attack.

“Clear the path. Unless you want to end up exactly like these guys.”

“Y-Yes, sir…!”

With that, a path split wide open among the soldiers, mimicking the miracle of the Red Sea.

Well, it was only natural.

When even the aura knights—whom they usually wouldn’t dare to look in the eye—had been swept away like standard generic soldiers, what kind of balls would regular infantrymen have to block my way when they hadn’t even reached the Novice stage, let alone become aura knights?

Passing through the wide-open path and stepping firmly into the castle, a massive hall filled with all kinds of dazzling splendors came into view.

At the far end of the hall stood a throne, presumably the seat where the lord usually sat…
And leaning heavily against it was a balding, heavily built brute clad in golden armor.

The balding man spoke.

“…Who are you, bastard? Who do you think you are to dare cause such a commotion in the great Evas Castle?”

“On the other hand, I think I recognize you. You’re Organt Duncan Evas, aren’t you?”

“Hmph. At least you have eyes.”

“Balding head. Mostly useless golden armor. Likes to strike arrogant poses. You match the description perfectly.”

“You bastard… with those words just now, you have thrown away your chance to live. I, Organt, the strongest expert of this count’s domain and a Sword Master, shall personally rip you apart.”

“Yeah, whatever. So where is the lord?”

“The lord? In the top-floor bedroom, of course. Though a wretch like you will never live to see them.”

“I heard there was one more Master besides you.”

“Are you speaking of Carmen? She is on the battlefield, naturally. For the protection of the lord, I alone am more than enough.”

“Oho. So the point is, if I just take you down, I get to see the lord’s face?”

“Khehehet. You speak amusing words.”

“Amusing, amusing indeed….”

Plunge!

At that exact moment, a golden blade erupted straight through his shoulder from behind.

“Huh…?”

Completely failing to comprehend the situation, the balding man’s eyes rolled around in sheer confusion.

“Uh, uh…? Uh-uh-uh…?”

—Space Cleave.

I flashed a wide grin as I looked at his shoulder, which was spouting geysers of blood.

“So? Is it still amusing?”