Chapter 60 : The Free City, Bernhard (7)

The Magic of the Celestial Sound was one of the most major magic spells in the World of Justice.

At first glance, it seemed like a magic specialized for trolling, like the Magic of Blazing Fire, but users paid more attention to the luring effect that the Magic of the Celestial Sound caused.

It meant that, depending on how one used the Magic of the Celestial Sound, a kind of mob luring was possible.

The reason why Mages of the Celestial Sound, known as luring part-timers, emerged was also because of that.

They would receive a certain price from users and then herd or lure demonic beasts to one place.

Of course, it wasn’t that there weren’t those who occasionally used the Magic of the Celestial Sound for trolling purposes, but they were an extreme minority, and even if they existed, they were quickly suppressed.

This was because, unlike the Magic of Blazing Fire, whose price required burning another existence from the start, the Magic of the Celestial Sound required the contractor themself to bear that price entirely.

‘Well, that’s that…….’

I looked at the buildings in the east of Bernhard.

‘Now, there are about three places left.’

Among the tall buildings in Bernhard from which one could survey the Mülhen Granary Zone, there were now three buildings left.

If the Mage of the Celestial Sound was not in one of those, it was safe to assume that the golden time to reverse this situation had been missed.

‘But if I were the Mage of the Celestial Sound, I would try to withdraw my body after confirming the results.’

Therefore, the Mage of the Celestial Sound was in one of those places.

No, they had to be.

Kwaang!

The inside of the building was empty.

Even though it was a strangely desolate atmosphere, I could feel a strange feeling of being lived in, as if a person had been living inside.

Kkiik, kkiiiik…….

The sound of the creaking wooden stairs announced my presence inside this building, just like an alarm.

Since infiltrating stealthily was impossible from the beginning, I ran up to the upper floor as fast as possible.

Kkik, kkigik!

As I climbed the wooden stairs that seemed like they would collapse at any moment, I felt a small presence of a person from the top floor.

‘Someone is here.’

I quickly went up to the upper floor, and there, I was able to face a figure covering its entire body with a robe.

I could tell the moment I saw them.

That the bastard was the Mage of the Celestial Sound.

“Discovered, am I?”

With the low-pitched voice that was heard softly, a certain wave washed over me.

It was the Magic of the Celestial Sound.

Ppiiiiiii────

Tinnitus ringing in my ears.

If I hadn’t momentarily protected my ears using the Orb of Water and Nak’s Legacy at the same time, my eardrums would have completely burst.

My ears felt deafened and my head was ringing, making me feel like I would collapse at any moment, but I forced myself to catch my balance and extended my hand.

[Activating ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]

[A ‘Lv.2’ weapon is summoned.]

[Summoning weapon, ‘B686 Double Barrel Shotgun’.]

With a blue halo of light, the B686 Double Barrel Shotgun finally revealed its form in my hand.

I had intended to avoid using firearms in Bernhard if possible, but Bernhard was currently in chaos due to the appearance of the demonic beast army anyway, so my calculation was that it would be fine to let a gunshot ring out.

“Eat this.”

Aiming the muzzle.

Taaaang!!!──

I pulled the trigger.

However, the poured-out 70mm 12 gauge shotgun shell did not achieve its goal.

Thud!

Thud-thud─

The pellets of the shotgun shell had bounced off, as if they were blocked by an invisible wall.

‘That’s…….’

There was no way I wouldn’t recognize that magic.

As I said before, the Magic of the Celestial Sound was a quite major magic, and the types of magic it could use were also considerably well-known.

The Magic of the Celestial Sound, Resonating Sound Barrier.

‘To command even magic of that level……. This will be a bothersome opponent.’

I wanted to subdue them easily and break through this situation if possible, but as always, things in the world never went the way I wanted.

“You use a bizarre magic.”

The nameless Mage of the Celestial Sound seemed to have considerable interest in the gun I was holding.

“It’d be even more interesting if you experienced it directly.”

“I’ll decline. If one is hit head-on by an object of that threatening speed, things like human flesh and blood would be lightly torn apart.”

He had even finished analyzing the shotgun’s power, despite having blocked it?

It seemed this would be a more difficult opponent than I thought.

“If you’ve reached this far, you must already know what I was doing. So wouldn’t it be a good thing for you, too, to leave this place now?”

“Well. I don’t really feel like doing that?”

Although I spoke like that, my gaze was entirely busy analyzing the opponent.

‘Currently, the opponent’s level is an unknown quantity.’

‘However, seeing as they are using the Resonating Sound Barrier freely, it would be correct to judge them as at least a Magic Crystal-level or higher mage.’

‘In that case, can I, as I am now, stand against a Magic Crystal-level or higher mage?’

The reason I was able to gain the upper hand when I faced the Mage of Blazing Fire, despite having faced a mage of Demonic Transformation, was largely due to the existence of the Salamander’s Fang I possessed at the time.

The Salamander’s Fang was an item imbued with the fire attribute, and because of that, I was able to use it to gain an absolute advantage in the contract with the Demon of Blazing Fire.

The power of the Postponer of Ruin also had a great influence.

However, right now, I did not possess any medium related to the Celestial Sound.

It meant that, this time, I was out of luck in terms of preparation.

As the situation was such, it was impossible to summon the Demon of the Celestial Sound and form a new contract like I did with the Mage of Blazing Fire.

No, to be precise, it was possible, but I would have to pay the just price for the contract.

Meaning, it was something I wanted to avoid.

‘Anyway…… this is what’s bothersome about battles with mages who have reached a certain level or higher.’

There were too many things to think about, and too many things to consider.

‘First, I’ll hit them head-on.’

I once again aimed the B686 Double Barrel Shotgun and pulled the trigger.

Kwaaaang!

With a roaring sound, the barrier of sound waves that rose again pushed back the 70mm 12 gauge shotgun shell.

“You’re not backing down, are you? I wanted to avoid meaningless killing, but I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“Isn’t it that you’re burdened by increasing the price of the magic any further?”

“It seems there’s no need for a long conversation.”

Clap!

A huge energy wave that rose with the clap began to surge toward me.

Kugugugugugu!!!

The energy wave, visible even to the naked eye, surged, destroying everything in the vicinity.

If I were hit head-on by something like that, a human body would clearly turn into flesh fragments in an instant.

[The ‘Orb of Water’ protects the wielder.]

[The ‘Orb of Water’ deploys the ‘Rotating Shield of Water’.]

A rotating shield of water blocked my path, but unfortunately, this alone was not enough to block that energy wave.

Sound was transmitted even underwater.

Therefore, I added the electric shock drawn from Nak’s Legacy to the Rotating Shield of Water.

[‘Nak’s Legacy─Jeon’ activates its power according to the wielder’s will.]

[‘Nak’s Legacy─Jeon’ deploys ‘Lightning’.]

Pajik, pajijik──!

Soon after, the shield of water, imbued with Lightning, clashed with the energy wave, and shockwaves and streams of water scattered in all directions.

Kwaaaaaang!!!──

Even though I had utilized all the powers of the Orb of Water and Nak’s Legacy, perhaps it couldn’t completely absorb the impact, as my whole body was tingling, as if I had been beaten all over by a baseball bat.

‘……Difficult, as expected.’

The Magic of the Celestial Sound was useful for luring or repelling demonic beasts, but it was also an extremely efficient magic in interpersonal combat.

This was because there weren’t many things faster than sound, and blocking it was also not easy.

As proof of that, even though I thought I had blocked the magic, not long after, I felt a hot sensation in my ear.

A sensation as if something was flowing.

It was blood.

“Tsk.”

As such, with the Magic of the Celestial Sound, blocking was, in most cases, not blocking.

‘Since he used magic of this level in succession, he must have paid a considerable price.’

As much as the Magic of the Celestial Sound was difficult to deal with, it demanded a considerable price.

Therefore, I intended to drag this fight into a war of attrition.

“To endure that…… you have more tricks than I thought. Excellent. How about it, returning now. I’ll just let you go, out of respect for you.”

“Well? Why does that sound to my ears like you’re begging me to save you?”

“My, my, it seems you’ve unfortunately lost your hearing. But this time, it seems you’ll lose your life as well.”

Despite having confidently declared victory, the area around the Mage of the Celestial Sound was bizarrely quiet.

It meant he was preparing other magic, not a big magic spell like before.

A fight with a mage was a battle of wits.

And I had not once been defeated in that battle of wits.

Swwaeeaeaek!!───

Just before the sound of tearing through the air, like a rip, echoed, I instinctively rolled my body to avoid it, so I was barely able to avoid it piercing my heart.

Even then, I couldn’t avoid it completely, so a wound that was not small was created on my leg, where it had grazed.

‘……Formless Thorn.’

It wasn’t soundless, but a formless dagger.

It was one of the magic spells that made the Mage of the Celestial Sound bound to be threatening in interpersonal combat.

If I hadn’t predicted this magic, I would have been a cold corpse by now.

Because this magic was a magic that I, as I was now, could not react to, even if I died and came back.

“……Hoh. That?”

Whether the Mage of the Celestial Sound was impressed or not, I felt that I had to move right away.

The Formless Thorn was a dangerous magic that left no room for me to respond, and I didn’t think I would be able to avoid a second attack either.

‘To have pulled out even the Formless Thorn means he’s thinking of ending it soon. I have to attack first.’

Now, I, too, could no longer afford to save the cards I held.

[Activating ‘Weapon Summon(??)’.]

[A ‘Lv.3’ weapon is summoned.]

[Summoning weapon, ‘AKR-74 Assault Rifle’.]

“Hm? A new magic? But it’s already too late.”

Without even giving me a chance to pull the trigger, my instincts cried out danger.

The formless daggers, neither visible nor palpable, were coming.

‘I can’t avoid them completely. I’ll just avoid the vital spots that would mean instant death.’

I couldn’t know how many Formless Thorns the Mage of the Celestial Sound had fired, but I could only pray that it wasn’t enough to tear my whole body apart.

Chwak!

Chwaaaak!!!

Thanks to my twisting and dodging, the Formless Thorns stopped at just cutting parts of my arms, stomach, and legs as they passed.

Of course, even this alone could be seen as a considerable critical injury, but at least it wasn’t damage to the extent of instant death.

Thanks to that, I bought time to be able to pull the trigger.

Clack─

I aimed the muzzle of the AKR-74 Assault Rifle and pulled the trigger as I was.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

The poured-out 7.62×39mm rounds flew with a threatening momentum, but unfortunately, they were blocked by the sound waves that rose soon after.

Jiiiiing!!!──

It was the Resonating Sound Barrier.

“You should know it’s useless.”

However, the bastard didn’t know.

“This thing is an automatic.”

“Hm?”

The gap when the Resonating Sound Barrier lifted.

I had no intention of missing that minuscule gap.

Clack.

The trigger was pulled once more.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!

With that, the barrage of 7.62×39mm rounds that flew with a time lag turned the Mage of the Celestial Sound into a pulp at once.

No matter how much he was a Magic Crystal-level or higher mage, there was no way he could be unharmed after being hit in the whole body by a barrage of 7.62×39mm rounds.

“Keok, keoheok……!”

I didn’t know if he had defended himself momentarily, but it was impressive that he was still breathing; however, the fight was already as good as over.

“It’s the end, mage.”

A fight with a mage wasn’t over until it was over, so I aimed the muzzle at the glabella of the Mage of the Celestial Sound.

The very moment I was about to pull the trigger.

Thump─

With a strange sensation felt for some reason, the body of the Mage of the Celestial Sound began to slowly extinguish.

I knew what that phenomenon was.

“The price of the contract. What did you do just now?”

“I have finished what I had to do.”

The Mage of the Celestial Sound laughed, vomiting blood.

“The era of the Empire will, soon, end.”

Darkness flocked in from outside the window, where the end of the Mage of the Celestial Sound’s gaze reached.

It wasn’t just my imagination.

The darkness that filled the Mülhen Granary Zone, visible in the far distance, was approaching this place.

Now, I thought I finally knew.

What magic the Mage of the Celestial Sound had used, offering up even himself as the price.

The bastard had used the Magic of the Celestial Sound until the very end, and completely finished off Bernhard’s already-desperate fate.

“The sun eventually sets.”

With those last words, the body of the Mage of the Celestial Sound completely extinguished.

As was the custom for the end of mages who had their souls mortgaged to a demon, without leaving anything behind.

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