Chapter : 171

Anger filled my head to the brim.

I could finally understand why Fel detested Benaya Ignos so much.

The opponent’s attitude of not caring about anything other than what they served was truly infuriating, to the point of boiling over with rage.

Blind loyalty? Fine. How many times in a lifetime does one have the chance to devote such loyalty to someone? I even thought of it as a blessing.

Being able to meet someone you can trust and follow so completely is a kind of miracle for that individual.

‘But causing harm to others because of it is a different story.’

Be it Benaya or Mordegard, they were both a nuisance.

If you’re going to be that loyal, then say some bitter words, risk your life to make your master walk the right path!

“I really hate people like you.”

Was he saying it was fine for the world to be destroyed as long as his master was okay?

What was that?

To value the life of a single person over the countless lives in this world—that wasn’t just loyalty, it was sheer madness!!

“I feel the same, Theo Lisitoel.”

In the touch-and-go situation that seemed ready to explode at any moment, it was Mordegard who attacked first.

In an instant, an explosion erupted under my feet, and dozens of spells poured down.

Was this the skill of someone who served as Iris Viden’s aide? But along with my admiration and astonishment, anger surged once more.

With this level of skill, don’t just stand by the side of a villain trying to destroy the world, watching idly in the name of loyalty!

“This is pissing me off!!”

I spread a veil of ice.

But a thin veil of ice wasn’t enough to block it completely.

Then I just had to neutralize the bombardment!

Dozens of ice swords appeared and intercepted the bombardment one by one, reducing their power or destroying them before they could even reach me.

As a loud roar erupted in the process, Mordegard frowned in displeasure.

“My master is sleeping. Be quiet.”

“What does it matter to me whether that person wakes up or not.”

It would be beneficial to the world if she slept forever without ever waking up!

A head-on confrontation like this wouldn’t defeat Mordegard.

I had to subdue him quickly with the Writer skill. If even that was difficult… I would kill him.

“…….”

A cold anger, a world away from before, slowly settled in my heart.

To kill a person.

Perhaps the first ‘murder’ I would experience since falling into this world.

I had already caused Benaya to perish once.

But was that murder? Honestly, I still didn’t know the answer to that question.

Benaya had fused with a demon, and it was an ambiguous situation to call him human.

If there had been some form of a body left, I might have felt guilt, but he had just scattered into dust.

At least, facing the demonized Benaya didn’t feel like murdering a human.

But if I were to face Mordegard like this, I would have to kill him.

He wasn’t someone I could face with the half-hearted mindset of subduing him without killing him.

My only options were to be killed by him or to kill him.

“If I die, will you resent me?”

My fingertips trembled with fear.

Mordegard must have seen the emotion I couldn’t hide.

However, there was no sign of contempt or ridicule. Only pure hostility.

“How human.”

“You people are just too inhuman.”

It’s normal to hesitate or be afraid in a situation like this.

To not be means you’ve become that desensitized to killing.

Just how many people do you have to kill to become desensitized to murder?

“Should I resent you?”

An answer that implied just as he felt no emotion in killing people, he would feel no emotion even if he were to die.

It was the answer I expected, but it was still not pleasant.

“Lou, can you help me one more time at the crucial moment?”

I asked Lou in my arms as I gathered my mana.

“Pii….”

I felt Lou, nestled weakly in my arms, nod his head lightly.

Sorry for pushing you so hard.

“I’m sorry, I’ll make sure to get you a bunch of snacks when this is over.”

I lightly patted the area where Lou was.

Mordegard’s aura rustled softly like the wind.

But it only took a moment for it to acquire the sharpness of a blade.

In the blink of an eye, a heat like that of a desert filled the air.

With it, the ground shook, and stone pillars shot up, rushing at me fiercely as if to impale and kill me.

“!”

My skin tingled from the overwhelming magic.

Was the previous magic just a test?

Using a circle of wind as a foothold, I lightly leaped into the air, only to be quickly blocked by the ceiling.

Using the ceiling as a foothold, I narrowly dodged the endlessly rising stone pillars.

If there was no support, I would create a foothold with a circle of earth, somehow dodging while quickly surveying the ruined floor with my eyes.

I need to find a place to regain my footing!

That gap there is possible! I quickly found an opening, jumped in, and caught my breath for a moment.

“Ah, seriously.”

As I caught my breath, I gauged my mana.

Fortunately, I wasn’t lacking in mana itself, but unlike Mordegard who was blasting away with powerful spells, my mana could rapidly decrease and I could be wiped out in an instant.

The moment I glanced at Mordegard to assess the situation, the damn human didn’t even give me a moment’s rest and fired a high-speed beam of fire in a straight line.

“Keuk!”

I hurriedly rode a circle of wind to dodge the attack.

The moment I dodged the attack into the air, my eyes witnessed a clear anomaly in the flow of mana.

“!!”

Before a hopeful thought could even form, I tried to hastily evade the swirling flow of mana, but Mordegard’s spellcasting was faster.

“Kkeueuk!!”

The immense gravity pressing down on my entire body sent me tumbling to the floor in an instant.

The attack knocked the wind out of me. With a single, hard-earned breath, I created an ice sword above Mordegard’s head and attacked.

Mordegard moved slightly to dodge the attack, and thanks to that, the magic was finally broken.

“Keoheok, keuheok!”

The moment the pressure of gravity was released, my breath burst out.

…Are Lou and Albedo okay?

《I’m fine, so prepare for the next attack!》

“Piiit!”

As if they knew I was distracted with worry, before their cries even ended, a massive tsunami surged, as if to give me no room to dodge.

Pillars of fire, earthquakes, gravity magic, and now a tsunami?

“X-bal, what is this difficulty!”

This is a balance-breaker! No matter how versatile magic is, this is not it!!

But as always, experience is everything!

Standing firm on the ruined floor, I faced the tsunami that was about to engulf me head-on.

“Hoo.”

I breathed mana onto my breath.

The mana, which bubbled up like foam, became a giant bubble and surrounded my body.

Having experienced a terrible ordeal after being swept away by water once before, I had of course learned a spell to protect my body from a tsunami.

Anything learned is useful. A tsunami artificially created in a place without water would be much shorter than one using water, and its power would inevitably be reduced.

In the short time I endured the tsunami magic, the words were just completed.

「Fog appears and obstructs Mordegard’s vision」

I barely managed to write seventeen characters and cast the ‘I am the Writer’ skill.

As the tsunami receded, Mordegard frowned at the fog that had appeared in an instant.

Now is the time to attack!

I created dozens of ice swords in the air and sent them flying toward Mordegard.

However, as if such an attack spell posed no threat, Mordegard blocked the attacks by mixing light magic and physical techniques.

Unlike high-level magic that required meticulous control, light magic was simple to control mana-wise.

It was only natural that controlling mana required mental strength, and no matter how powerful a magician Mordegard was, he didn’t have infinite mental strength.

There was no way he could be in complete control at the level of flicking his finger to create a flame and melt an ice sword.

The moment I looked closely at his movements, I finally realized.

‘As expected, controlling mana is more difficult for him than usual.’

Magic is delicate. It doesn’t work if the flow is even slightly tangled, and it would be strange if he were perfectly fine after losing one of the arms he had used his entire life!

This was Mordegard’s opening.

The only opening that I, who was so weak I could barely scratch Mordegard by risking my life, could exploit.

Before disbelief could seep into my conviction, I had to move as quickly as possible.

“…It’s okay.”

When I’m anxious, I find myself repeating the words ‘it’s okay’.

Because it makes me feel like it really will be okay.

I do it even though I know it’s nothing more than a form of self-hypnosis.

“I can do it.”

No matter how overwhelmingly disadvantageous the situation is, I can win.

At that moment, what confronted me was a miraculous, massive spell.

‘I can’t block this on my own.’

A massive amount of mana, so large it was difficult to take in with my eyes.

No time to react!

“Lou!”

At my urgent cry, Lou, who had been resting and recovering his strength, popped out from inside my clothes.

“Ppit.”

“Do what I asked you to do earlier, now. Albedo, you can use a shield spell, right?”

Until now, Albedo had only used his power to assist my magic, but if it was Albedo, it should be possible.

He was nothing less than an ancient demon who had devoured countless secrets!

《Yes, it is possible!》

“I’m counting on you!”

I felt a sensation as if mana was slightly leaking out.

An opaque barrier of light formed closest to my body, and on top of it, complex shields appeared in layers.

A high-level protection spell I didn’t know yet. But this alone wasn’t enough to block it completely.

「A protective barrier appears」

A shield appeared after writing eight characters.

This isn’t enough!

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

I wrote ceaselessly.

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

The words became a protective barrier and protected me.

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

《You, again!》

Albedo’s blaming voice sounded muffled.

“Ah.”

Blood was flowing from my ear.

Lately, I’ve been lacking the self-inflicted red flavor, though I’ve had plenty of the red flavor caused by others.

First, blood flowed from my ear, then my nose, and now the corners of my vision were stained crimson.

But I didn’t stop and continued to write.

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

「A protective barrier appears」

《Theo!》

“If I can’t block it, I’ll die anyway!!”

Blood burst out with my shout.

A familiar red flavor!

“Let’s see who dies!!”

I shouted with all my might towards Mordegard, beyond the protective barriers piling up on top of me.

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