Chapter 90.Gluttony's Fang (3)
The most powerful magic Verden could currently cast.
Its might was overwhelming, yet because it could not be controlled, he had always refrained from using it. If he misjudged its range even slightly, the damage was far too great.
But now, the enemy had gone so far as to prepare a space cut off from the outside. There was no way Verden would miss such an opportunity.
Kwa-gwagwagwagwa!
Without warning, a blue meteor appeared in midair and struck vertically, shaking the entire space. It could not be dodged. It could not be blocked.
Since this space was of a different nature, the terrain did not change, nor did a mountain range collapse. The altitude had been set low, so it was not at maximum power, but even so, it was still overwhelming.
Thousands of Sweepers were annihilated in an instant by the impact and heat.
At the center of it all, Rupel had vanished. Of course, there was no way he could be unscathed after a direct hit from a meteor.
'But he didn't die.'
Verden suspected that the pivot of this space was Rupel.
And that his power was derived from the life force within the crimson fragment. If he had died, this space would certainly have been affected in some way, yet it remained eerily calm.
The man still lived.
Which meant preparation was necessary.
Verden measured his own power.
'Terrain Manipulation is unusable. And flight as well.'
It was because of this space.
Magic power would not seep into the darkness, preventing him from manipulating the terrain, and the moment he attempted flight, his mana would scatter. He had no idea why. No, there was no way such a place would follow any principle.
According to Rupel, this place was inside the belly of an abnormal species from ancient times. Anything outside of reason could occur here.
'Then all I can do is what I can.'
He reinforced his overall physical abilities and layered himself in a shield.
And, since it was one against many, he imbued his staff with the lightning attribute for wide-range damage. As the staff sparked with blue currents and he took his stance—
Out of the darkness, Rupel reappeared, his form restored.
On the black surface gleamed green pupils. In his hand, a sword with a dark blade.
Rupel took a deep breath, and smiled.
"To be honest, I was surpris───"
Kaang!
The fragments flying for his head were deflected by Rupel's sword. His words were cut short. At the end of his gaze, Verden tilted his staff ever so slightly.
"You talk too much."
A light taunt, but a successful one.
His body was sent flying by a spell he had not anticipated at all. Though he regenerated immediately, a considerable amount of life force was consumed. Had Rupel not been one of Gluttony's fangs, he would have been dead.
That fact unsettled him inwardly, and to hear such words on top of that—
He could no longer conceal his emotions.
"How dare you...."
Crunch.
Rupel ground his molars together.
His face twisted into a fiendish grimace, and from the tip of his sword flowed a dark red aura.
"I will seize your body alive, and offer it to Gluttony."
[Kyaaaak!]
[Kiaaaak!]
At Rupel's lead, the Sweepers bared their fangs at Verden.
From all sides came wails, as the Sweepers charged at him in unison.
***
Their numbers left no gap to escape.
It was like a swarm of ants rushing in from every direction, as Verden's magic power blazed forth.
A towering wave broke into the wind, scattering in all directions.
The surging water halted the Sweepers' charge for a brief moment, and the whole area was flooded. From the tip of the staff echoed a thunderous roar.
Triple Casting.
Pajijijijik!
Sweepers burned as three branches of lightning split outward. Dozens, then hundreds of Sweepers fell in that single strike.
It seemed their endurance itself was weak. Even so, he had no intention of allowing them easy approach.
With fangs and claws that looked capable of chewing through steel, Verden's mana barrier and the protective shield from his necklace would not hold for long.
Hwaaaak!
Verden's magic power surged more fiercely than ever before.
All thought was concentrated on magic, every sense sharpened toward the enemy. Buildings, terrain, people—he paid them no heed. It was pure, unrestrained power.
[Kaaaaargh...!]
[Krgaaaaak!]
The screams of the Sweepers rang in his ears.
In the flash of mana's light, tens, hundreds at a time were swept away. There was no stopping it. Even if by luck they evaded one, the next spell was already waiting.
Verden was not overwhelmed by their numbers. He had, in fact, seized the advantage.
But the Sweepers were not his only enemy. From within the horde of abnormal species, Rupel charged at him. Verden raised a wall of flame at once, but Rupel did not care.
Sword and staff collided.
Kang! Kaang! Kaang!
Sparks flew, and Verden leapt back to gain distance.
His hand trembled faintly.
'As expected, I can't match him in close combat.'
In just three clashes, the staff was damaged. Worse, the impact reached his organs.
Rupel's crimson-black sword aura was too sharp and swift for him to twist its trajectory with Telekinesis. He would never let his guard down, but even the slightest lapse might see him slain in one stroke.
Verden was a Mage. He had to fight in a way that favored a Mage.
But keeping distance was not easy. Even direct hits from spells were shrugged off, thanks to his absurd regenerative power, and he charged in relentlessly.
Lightning engulfed Rupel.
For a moment his movements faltered, but it did not stop him. He cut through the magic with his sword, closing the distance in an instant.
Verden barely deflected the sword with his staff, but his opponent was counted among the top ten knights of the Principality. Now, as one of Gluttony's fangs revealed, he was even beyond that.
His blade grazed the mana barrier at Verden's arm and side, and Rupel's hand reached for his neck. He jerked his head back, only to be struck in the abdomen by a brutal kick.
The shield absorbing the impact could hold no longer, and shattered completely. Verden rolled across the ground, regaining his stance quickly.
But his neck felt light.
"A necklace of protection, is it. Worthless trinket."
Crunch!
Rupel crushed the necklace.
In truth, in this situation, it had been meaningless anyway, so its loss had little impact.
Rupel sneered as he strolled forward leisurely. In that brief moment, Verden's thoughts raced.
The enemy's physical ability, movements, regeneration, the nature of this space—his calculations were swift.
'There is only one way to kill Rupel.'
The crimson fragment of condensed life force was the source of his regeneration, and the very foundation that sustained Gluttony's stomach.
In other words, preventing Rupel from using life force for regeneration was the only viable strategy. There was a way. Indeed, without a hidden trump card, he would never have come here alone.
Preparation was required.
He needed to halt Rupel's movements, and secure time to focus.
Kwaaang!
Verden and Rupel clashed once more.
In the blink of an eye, his shoulder and leg were cut.
With enhanced senses, he diverted the blows from becoming fatal, but the staff could not endure. Even with mithril added, it cracked so easily.
In that disadvantage, Verden moved boldly.
Blood splattered, sword aura and magic intersected.
A spear of earth pierced Rupel's abdomen, yet his sword did not stop. It was perceivable, but too fast to avoid. Blood spread across his robe, and soon a scar was etched near his neck.
But it was not fatal.
In that gap, Verden thrust his hand forward, shattering Rupel's knee. He then blinded Rupel's vision with flames and hurled a shockwave that blasted Rupel's body far away.
'Now's the time.'
An empty left hand, and lightning gathered upon it.
Then, it turned red, and flames rose in the darkness.
Kwa-gwagwagwa!
Verden slammed the spell into the ground.
A composite magic that carried both the conductivity of lightning and the heat of flame. In an instant, the sweeping bolts of lightning spread outward in a circle, and the approaching Sweepers burned.
"You struggle in vain."
Rupel made no effort to avoid it.
After all, he would just regenerate. That was Rupel's arrogance.
His body burned, and as always, Rupel's movement stopped for a moment.
In that gap, Verden moved his mana in parallel. Into his staff he computed another composite magic along with a single spell, and with his left hand he drew a magic circle.
At the same time, he activated the Ring of Permafrost to its limit.
Thirteen percent of the original.
"...!"
Rupel's body froze under the cold lightning, and the surroundings were engulfed in frost.
Verden hurled his staff with Telekinesis, stopping it in front of Rupel. The magic stone within the staff shone, and a magic circle was invoked.
A binding magic circle, Detain.
Chains of mana wrapped tightly around Rupel's body.
Based on a gem refined from a high-grade magic stone, it was not something to escape so quickly.
Rupel sneered, as if it were laughable.
"You cannot kill me, so you settle for shackling my feet? What meaning is there in that?"
At best, stalling for time.
But Verden's gaze did not waver.
"Now, I'll show you."
Verden's Magic Eye activated.
Inside, mana swirled violently, spilling outward, and the gray mana gathered in his hand resonated, drawing a new constellation.
A meteor, an amount of mana to rival it. The oppressive pressure that smothered his body made Rupel's expression harden.
And then he saw it.
'That… what is that?'
In Verden's hand, an orb of darkness formed.
Within it, countless tiny lights, like the Milky Way.
The Starlight Attribute.
The five stars created by Harkan.
The first star, the Meteor. A star that flowed across the sky.
And the second, the star Verden had newly realized.
It was a torrent in the sky, a lingering afterimage left upon the night. To the ancients, a sign of calamity, and to others, a symbol of hope.
That star, Harkan had named—
Comet, Rarenia.
Mana surged, furious.
The rushing stream of a galaxy poured down upon Rupel.
***
A strand of the Milky Way extended in a straight line, and the tremendous pressure shook the entire space.
And it carried a foreign aura. Even with his near-infinite regeneration, Rupel felt an inexplicable unease. He sensed instinctively this was not merely a destructive spell.
'Dangerous.'
Rupel hastily raised the Sweepers as a wall of flesh.
But it was useless.
[Kyaaaaaak!]
The Sweepers within the trajectory were annihilated in an instant.
Hundreds were erased, yet they had not even bought him a second of time. The pressure knocked away the staff and unraveled the magic circle. But it was already too late to evade.
Before he knew it, the comet was upon him, striking directly.
"...!"
His whole body was crushed under the immense pressure.
Even the scream of agony was drowned out and erased. Blood gushed from Rupel's battered body as it flew. But this much, he could regenerate from.
He propped himself up on his sword, rising with difficulty.
But then—
"Why, why won't it regenerate…!"
The wounds did not heal.
Looking at the cross-sections, he saw faint dark clusters, like a constellation of stars.
"This… you bastard, what did you do to my body!"
The Residue of Stars.
The torrent of the comet flowed against the current. So too with Rupel's regeneration. As long as the trace remained, he could not recover.
At last, Rupel's knees buckled.
Pain and exhaustion overtook him. No matter how much life force he poured in, his body would not heal.
Lifting his head, he saw Verden staring at him.
"Now, I can finally kill you."
Retrieving his staff, Verden stepped forward.
The successive Starlight magic and composite spells had consumed much mana, and strain upon his Magic Eye made his head throb. But he still had the strength to deal with Rupel as he was now.
Step by step, Verden closed in.
Cold sweat trailed down Rupel's cheek, dripping at his chin.
If he were to take another fatal blow in this state...
'I'll die.'
The fear of death—something he had once felt in his frail childhood, something he had never wished to feel again.
Rupel dragged himself backward, commanding the Sweepers to move. But it was still impossible to stop him. The spells were weaker than before, but with only a little more than a thousand Sweepers remaining, it was nowhere near enough.
Impossible.
He was not even a Magus, merely a Mage who had only reached the Fourth Tier—how could he wield such power. He tried to deny it, but reality remained unchanged.
Only then did Rupel admit it. Alone, he could not win.
At that moment, Rupel sensed something from the outside. And then he smiled.
"…It seems I have won after all."
Rupel spent most of his remaining life force, forcibly tearing a hole in the space.
Through the gap, dozens of people entered.
Rupel's father, Marquis Gardran.
Behind him followed the Inseminators, the knights, and other members of Gluttony. The Marquis surveyed the scene briefly, then met Verden's gaze.
"Since the Agency, this is the first time. The first time we speak face to face as well."
"..."
"It is regrettable that matters have come to this. To raise my blade against a promising young man such as yourself pains me, but I have no choice. You may hate me as much as you wish… but please, die."
For my son.
Marquis Gardran, fully armed.
When he drew his bastard sword, a ferocious killing intent spread. In sheer presence, it rivaled Rupel's. And Verden, drained of much mana and stamina, was clearly at a disadvantage.
Rupel staggered to his feet.
"I admit it. You are truly a Mage with a talent beyond what can be called Old Humanity. But you are alone. That is the difference between Old Humanity and New Humanity."
Unable to unite as one.
That was the limit of the Old Humanity.
"Still, I will make you a special proposal. Asher, join us. If you do, the Doctor's death will be overlooked, and I shall grant you a body befitting your talent."
He cast aside personal grudges. From that perspective, Verden's value was limitless.
If he transcended the limits of Old Humanity, he could become the equal of the Doctor, or even more. Even if not, his body could serve as Gluttony's foundation for ascension.
Verden answered at once.
"Get lost."
Verden's body was already perfect.
A culmination of limitless potential, achieved by his own hand. He had no reason to accept Rupel's offer, much less from someone who so brazenly spoke of human experimentation.
At the voice filled with disgust, Rupel raised his sword.
"…A pity. But that body, I will put to good use for Gluttony."
The remaining Sweepers and members of Gluttony bared their fangs at Verden.
And then—
Kugugugugugu…!
The space began to tremble. Rupel, Marquis Gardran, and the rest of Gluttony's members glanced around in confusion.
The vibrations grew stronger and stronger, and Verden lifted his head.
"You're quite late."
Kwaaaaang!
The space shattered, a gap opening, and through it, a ship appeared.