Chapter 42. Fate (5)
"Found him?"
"No, not at all."
Ferris narrowed her eyes, scanning around, but there was nothing of note. Already exhausted to death, she couldn't tell where he had run off to.
She applied a potion she had kept for emergencies to her wounds, then descended to the ground.
"Did you try mana detection?"
"No response."
Large-scale mana detection consumed an extreme amount, so he had only spread magic power across the immediate area.
And yet, if there was no response, then there were only three possibilities. The opponent was outside the range, dead, or had found some method to avoid detection.
'The compass reaction has also disappeared.'
Had Harkan died? Even so, the body had to be confirmed without fail. Clicking his tongue at the troublesome situation, Cardin muttered.
"Maybe he was crushed to death by rocks?"
"Don't you hear how strange that sounds, even from your own mouth? That bizarre amount of magic power and multiple attributes. He endured against the three of us using nothing but spells of tier 3 or lower. You're saying he couldn't avoid a mere falling rock and died? That makes no sense. Think for once."
"Ah, then what do you suggest! With mana detection failing, are you saying we should dig all night? Don't you see how ruined my skin is?"
"Is your skin the problem right now?"
"Then what is? Or maybe burning your face off is the problem?"
Ferris raised flames, glaring at Cardin as if to kill him.
Though bound within the fence of Black Hour, they were people so twisted that killing each other at any time was permissible. Afraid sparks might fly, Chen only watched from afar.
'Crazy bitch.'
Sighing, Cardin turned his head.
There was no time to waste here. Teaching Ferris a lesson could wait until later. For now, the mission was priority.
"First, we find Harkan's corpse."
Just then, the branches shook violently.
Rumble rumble rumble...!
At the same time, the ground began to shake. Wasn't the cave already collapsed? But this quake showed no sign of stopping.
The vibrations were steadily growing stronger, and it was not normal.
'Wait, this sensation....'
A familiar feeling.
Cardin's eyes widened as he shouted to Chen and Ferris.
"Use flight, all of you!"
The moment they took off, the ground collapsed.
The forest between the mountain ridges split apart, exposing roots, then sank down entirely. Everything above ground was dragged below.
The area caught in the quake was devastated, bearing no trace of its former state.
"An earthquake, suddenly? Forget about finding the body now."
"No, this is magic."
Tier 4 spell,
A wide-area spell that caused tremors. In sheer power, it was among the higher of its tier. Poured with magic power to its limit, it could even rival the top spells.
Since Cardin himself could use it, he knew its characteristics too well. He also knew how high-level the spell that had just been cast was.
'Someone intervened.'
Neither Harkan, nor the ash-gray head. Neither had the strength to use a tier 4 spell.
And as he convinced himself of this, soil surged up, engulfing Black Hour.
"Kyaaa! Wh-what?!"
They barely dodged, but their vision was blocked, nothing could be seen.
They did not relax, raising their magic power. Eyes darting about restlessly, then—out of the dirt appeared a staff.
"Chen!"
Crack!
Struck on the shoulder, Chen screamed as he fell. The dust storm scattered in all directions.
And from within it, a shadow emerged.
"You…!"
The ash-gray-haired mage, Verden.
From his eyes blazed a magic power more intense than ever before.
***
The potion Harkan had devoted his life to could well be called "Fate."
Whether a tier 1 mage, or an archmage of tier 6 or higher, success was never guaranteed. If one was not chosen, failure was certain.
But because it was Verden, success, even a miracle beyond that, was achieved.
A body reconstructed with infinite magic power, the driving force of the magic tower, had no limits. That was Verden's wish, and the purpose of Defying the Heavens.
'My mana circuits have expanded.'
The ocean-like magic power had grown even deeper.
And the unfamiliar attribute Harkan had created besides—that was an unexpected fortune itself.
Objectively, Verden had advanced growth that should have taken him years.
The level he reached was tier 4 mid-rank.
For that, he felt deep gratitude toward Harkan. Enough that he thought he would gladly grant Harkan's wish.
'Since conflict with Black Hour has already begun.'
Problems would surely arise again. In time, he would meet Dahit, the leader of Black Hour, and the traitorous first members as well.
He did not know when, but he did not intend to avoid it. Even apart from revenge, strong beings made excellent stepping stones upward.
'But not now.'
When prepared, Verden would go of his own will. He did not want to be attacked by surprise.
Therefore, the three before him must be killed here. Without leaving a trace.
Cardin, staring at Verden in shock, spoke.
"You were hiding your true power? Why…?"
Verden's answer was the same as always.
The atmosphere raged.
Uprooted trees floated in the air, clouds tangled, darkening the sky. Ferris was swept away, and Cardin clenched his teeth, casting his own spell.
He was a mage who had reached tier 4 in both earth and wind attributes.
Winds blew against Verden's storm in the opposite direction. Cardin must have thought he could completely neutralize it. But the situation went the exact opposite.
"Damn it…!"
Whoooosh! Cardin's storm was swallowed whole. The storm then battered him violently, and the overwhelming pressure hurled him straight down.
Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom! He barely deployed a barrier, but still crashed and bounced off the ground several times, groaning deeply.
At that moment, Ferris charged at Verden, cloaked in flames, accompanied by the weapons Chen controlled.
'I let you off because you were handsome, but you dare slam me into the ground?'
Unforgivable.
Her rage would not subside unless she melted his skin, sealing every hole, and made him crawl on the ground.
With bloodshot eyes, Ferris crashed into Verden's mana barrier. Her blazing flames gradually ate into the barrier, damaging it.
This was her full strength.
"You'd better be prepared. I'll burn you so much you'll wish for death instead. Because—"
"Is that all?"
At Verden's calm question, Ferris's eyes widened.
"...What?"
"Pathetic."
Fwoosh! Verden's mana barrier vanished, and around him appeared the same curtain of flames as Ferris's.
But its firepower far surpassed hers. With the rising heat, Ferris's hair tips blackened and curled.
"Y-you…!"
She tried to escape, but there was no way out. The sticky flames seeped into her skin and muscles, pulling at her very bones.
In Ferris's eyes, Verden appeared.
With merciless eyes, terror watched death, and extended its hand toward her.
"...Hhic."
The flames that burst from his hand swallowed Ferris's body.
Where the high-temperature beam swept through, nothing remained. Neither Ferris, nor the trees. Only lava, flowing silently.
One was killed, two remained.
The order was already chosen.
The mage who had been flinging weapons around to aim for his vitals. He had been a nuisance since the cave.
Raising magic power, Verden forcibly stopped the telekinesis-imbued weapons, then redirected them back at their master.
"Gyaaahhhh!"
Blades pierced Chen's leg and abdomen, dropping him to his knees.
'N-no way…!'
To forcibly steal control of weapons moved by telekinesis. Such a feat was impossible unless there was an overwhelming difference in magic manipulation ability.
Could that boy really be that superior? The pain was real, yet the fact was simply unbelievable.
It felt like his pride as a mage was being shattered.
A shadow loomed over Chen's head.
Countless sharp branches, dotted like stars, floated in the air. As cold sweat trickled down his chin, they all at once pierced through Chen's body.
Splurt splurt splurt splurt!
From the dead Chen's pouch, the compass fell with a clink. Verden lifted it with telekinesis and held it in his hand.
'A complex structure.'
It was worth studying. Stowing away the compass, he turned to his final target, Cardin.
As expected, the man was fleeing, using his companions as sacrifices. A tier 4 mage running at full speed—catching up would take time even for Verden.
'But I have magic.'
The very magic Harkan had created.
Gray mana gathered in Verden's hand.
As faint, glimmering traces slowly drew a constellation, suddenly, more than half of his mana drained away in an instant.
"Ugh…!"
Thud. Overcome with extreme exhaustion, Verden dropped to one knee. Lifting his head, he gazed at the sky.
And in that moment, a star fell.
***
Right after Ferris's death, Cardin fled the scene with every ounce of strength.
Chen remained behind, but they were never bound by deep camaraderie. They merely acted freely within established rules.
'I can't win that alone.'
Ferris had been a fire mage of skill similar to his own.
Yet she was killed before she could even react. By the very fire element she prided herself on.
What had happened in that short absence? The power of the ash-gray mage had become incomparable to before.
'He must have been hiding his strength.'
It was impossible that he had climbed to tier 4 in that short time.
So Cardin was certain there was some hidden reason, and judged that only Black Hour's main force of mages could handle him.
He had to make contact quickly.
If they let him slip away, Cardin felt a chilling certainty that the man might one day become a colossal obstacle to Black Hour.
Cardin squeezed out his magic, dashing through the forest.
Then, light poured down from behind him.
'It's not dawn yet…?'
Confused, he turned his head.
In the dark night sky, something was shining brilliantly. Too immense to be called a mere star.
And, it seemed to be getting closer…
'No, it is getting closer.'
A chill raced across Cardin's skin.
He desperately picked up speed, veering in every direction to escape, but the light still shone on him. An unprecedented, irresistible pressure pressed down.
As if he were playing in the palm of someone's hand.
"Please, please, please, please…!"
As death drew near, Cardin's sanity crumbled.
There was no escaping. The fact crushed his heart.
Then suddenly, he wondered if he was mistaken.
After all, he had never even heard of such magic. Surely, he must have seen wrong. Yes, he had to have.
Clinging to a shred of hope, Cardin turned his head back.
"Ah…"
The light, fell.
One of the five stars Harkan had created.
The flowing star, Meteor.
A flash of blinding light, an explosion, and the aftershock.
The meteor that erased part of the Vard Mountains, left behind nothing but a massive crater.