Chapter 169: [169] Animation Magic

Animation magic.

Animation magic was the ability to infuse your mana into the world, and as a result, your will upon objects around you.

With this spell, you could command non living objects to react to your instructions, using yourself as both the focal point of the action, as well as the power force fueling the spell.

It was a powerful, but rare spell that could not be learned. All animation Magec users were either born with the spell, or acquired it with a beast contract.

“Tch. With this talent, he should have just focused on becoming an Archmage instead of a measly Baron.”

In an enclosed, seemingly endless structure such as these catacombs, Marcus was in his natural habitat.

For mages at his level, his span of reach probably spread out for up to a hundred meters, but more experienced mages could even reach an infinite space.

SHRRRRR!

Dust came out the edges of the walls as once again the room began to shift. While the ceiling and floor spun in a clockwise direction, the walls spun anti-clockwise, moving so fast that the patterns on the walls blurred.

And then suddenly, the room burst apart, suddenly expanding outwards in all directions.

At first, it was dark, the magic lamps in the catacombs temporarily going off due to the violent shake.

Then one by one, the lights began to turn on, staring from the one directly behind him, and going on for as far as the eye could see.

The room had been transformed into a large hall that seemed to stretch on endlessly, multiple doors standing at opposite directions from each other.

Eliron had three options.

He could either pick a door at random, and pray it would lead to Marcus. He could keep walking forward, endlessly, hoping to see an end—

Or, he could just wait for something to happen, Marcus was bound to get impatient.

But Eliron had a bad premonition from those doors…

Everyone knows that when you open a door in a horror film, it would be the last thing you did.

That was why Eliron brought up the fourth option.

Blow the entire place up, a catalytic reaction so great that the entire catacombs would be burned to ash.

Well, that idea was a bust too…

One wrong move, and he would evaporate the baron’s son along with the rest of his foes.

“What do you think?” Eliron asked, glancing at Satoru.

The sword demon was floating upside down, picking his ears when he heard Eliron.

“Oh? It looks like this will be a tough one.” He blew his finger. “Not because he is strong, but because he is tricky… There are times like this in battle where brute force does not determine the winner.”

“But at the end of the day, we both know that with just the right amount of force….” Satoru smiled.

Eliron mirrored his smile. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

The truth was that Eliron had already calculated all the possibilities, from his strength, down to the room’s form.

He could finish this fight in three moves…

“But where is the fun in that?” Satoru asked with a smile. “Why don’t we make a bet, if you can beat him with a handicap of my choosing, then I will teach you one of my revered techniques.”

“Is that so?” Now Eliron was interested.

He smiled and began stretching. “What are you thinking? No spell run? No skill run?”

Satoru had a malicious grin on his face as he spoke. “No mana run.”

Eliron paused. “You can’t be serious.”

Satoru smirked. “Beat him without using an ounce of mana, and I’ll teach you one of my favourite techniques, a pure physical move, Dragon Cutter.”

Eliron stretched his head.

Pure physical techniques were not skills, unlike other techniques that used mana, PP techniques made use of brutal force to deliver magic-like effects.

The good side of it? They required zero mana.

The down side? The advanced techniques were very difficult to learn, most of them even being lost.

“You are pretty good at tempting people aren’t you?” Eliron glanced at him.

“Well, I was a demon after all.” Satoru boasted.

“Alright then. We have a deal.”

Crack!

A loud, strange sound reached Eliron’s ears.

“Well that can’t be good…”

They had wasted so much time talking that Eliron’s answer had been decided for him.

Option three.

Marcus had gotten impatient—

BOOOM!

The wall behind him suddenly exploded, sending dust and debris flying in his direction, and then a large shadowy silhouette swirled within the dust.

Just before it burst out of the haze, a giant spiked hand raced right towards Eliron.

At the same time, the doors all around him began to tremble as well.

“How oninous…”

Swooosh!

Eliron suddenly charged forward, racing through the vast hallway.

Each door he passed, he did just milliseconds before they burst open, large tentacles made of stone reaching out to grab him.

Soon, behind him was a scene out of a twelve o’clock horror, mixed up with a fever dream.

Limbs of different sizes and shapes, gigantic claws, tentacles, and even teeth!

They all changed at him, more joining the fray by the second.

And then as if it wasn’t bad enough, the room began to till upwards, doubling the effort of his run.

’I can see light!’ Eliron thought as he increased his speed.

But then, the tilting of the room increased in pace, right until the hall now stood at a ninety degree angle, perfectly straight!

Eliron’s feet slipped—

And for a moment he stared down, immediately regretting it.

Below him, the limbs merged, stone melting together as though it was water. And then out of the mess, a large misshapen dragon head tore through—

Its maw was wide open, magic lamps glowing in grooves where eyes should have been.

And inside its maw, countless saws began to spin, creating sparks as they screeched against each other.

RAWRRRR!

An explosive roar cut past Eliron, who was barely hanging on, using a lamp as a hand hold.

Eliorn hissed. “Not bad, old man!

Crash!

The next step he took plunged his feet right into the stone, then the muscles of his thigh and leg contracted with unhinged strength.

Vwoosh!

Using the hole as a foot hold, he propelled himself like a bullet, charging right towards the light.

The dragon head raced after him. As it moved, its body slammed into the walls, causing chunks of stone to break off, only to be reduced to dust once it entered its mouth.

As Eliron burst out of what was left of the hall, his body meeting a cold gust of wind, the dragon was a few inches away from swallowing him whole, two of them racing through the air.

Once he saw the place he was in, a small smile appeared on his face.

The room seemed to spread out endlessly, multiple gargantuan statues lining up along the walls.

All the lamps in the catacombs had been rearranged, placed atop the ceiling and casting a light upon the room like a little sun.

“Infinite domain theory…” Eliron breathed out.

To think he has already reached this level!

He immediately spun, his eyes locking on the orbs of the large dragon.

“I have to admit—”

Eliron raised his sword and cleaved the dragon right from head down, the monster crumbling into dust and debris.

He fell from the sky, landing on a wide expanse of land, a plain that looked a lot similar to a chess board.

“…You’re a talented old man!” Eliron breathed out.

Clack!

In front of him, two of the squares slid open, and behind him, two identical squares slid open as well.

A cranking sound came from the holes as four black horses made of stone arose, riding atop these horses, where four of Marcus’ men.

The minor commanders.

Eliron’s smile deepened as he raised his sword. “Let’s not waste any time!”

Vwooosh!

Up above him, a gargantuan fireball suddenly began to descend, brightening up the room as though it was day.

Standing upon platforms above the floor were four hooded mages, their staffs glowing with mana.

From the knights, down to the mages, Eliron could tell that every single one of them was powerful.

Inorder to take over the barony, Marcus jad indeed come prepared.

’This fight… is going to be fun!’

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