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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 202: That Incantation, Could it Be? (1)
[TL/N: Peak Chap]
The waves of mana pulsated.
Beyond intangible tremors, a shimmering heat haze, now materialized, began to spread throughout the atmosphere.
Even the seasoned knights of prestigious families instinctively tensed their bodies under this immense pressure.
And this was merely the prelude.
"...Th-This is..."
An unprecedented spectacle.
No one gathered here was oblivious to the cause of this unfolding phenomenon.
At the breached opening of the barrier stood a lone figure, uttering a bizarre incantation, both arms outstretched towards the sky.
"Dark Light."
The rising star of the magic world.
The man who pioneered new horizons in magic with his practical incantations, Ruin Samael.
While it was true that his name had begun to spread like wildfire across the continent, from a broader perspective, it wasn't anything extraordinary.
Such prodigies appeared and vanished every year.
However, the sheer power emanating from this magic was an entirely different story.
It was clearly just a precursor, but the problem was that no one had ever witnessed magic with such a potent prelude.
Not even the Yellow Magic Tower Head.
With the late Blue Magic Tower Head and the Red Magic Tower's Crimson Flame absent, the Yellow Magic Tower Head was undoubtedly the most skilled mage present...
But...
"This is... magic?"
The Yellow Magic Tower Head's involuntary murmur betrayed the depth of his shock.
Despite decades dedicated to the pursuit of magic, he had never encountered a spell with such a prelude.
Never even heard of one.
Owen, the Yellow Magic Tower Head, who stood at the pinnacle of one of the four great Magic Towers.
Even compared to the most powerful spells he knew, drawing upon all his knowledge, this was incomparable.
Of course, it wasn't just the mages.
Altair, the Six-Dominion Sword, gazed with narrowed eyes at the point beyond the barrier where the mana converged.
"A mage?"
A single sentence laden with implications.
The notion that mages played a supporting role to knights was an accepted truth, a common sense in all martial traditions.
While magic was undeniably versatile and useful, no matter how exceptional, it could never surpass the might of a knight.
Moreover, this disparity widened when it came to those who transcended human limitations.
No magic could withstand the sword aura unleashed by a superhuman knight.
This was the prevailing perception of mages, and Altair was no exception.
While it was true that Ruin Samael had recently piqued Altair's interest considerably, it was just that—interest.
He had never, even in his wildest dreams, imagined that the deeply ingrained beliefs he held could be challenged.
Yet...
"...This is..."
Altair glanced down at his own arm.
He had instinctively drawn his beloved sword.
Goosebumps erupted across his skin, from his fingertips gripping the sword to his shoulder blades.
He, a knight of the vassal clan, was instinctively raising his guard against the mere prelude of an unknown magic, not even cast by a knight of a divine clan.
"Such pressure..."
Sweat drenched his palms.
What spectacle would follow this prelude?
Suddenly, Altair turned his head to look at the black-haired man.
The Black Star of the Sword Divine Clan, Balthahar—Black Balthahar.
Even Black, a figure renowned throughout the land, gazed intently at the spectacle Ruin Samael was creating.
Though his expression seemed indifferent at first glance, Altair could discern the truth. The emotion in Black's eyes was unmistakable astonishment.
"...I was told he survived to the very end."
However, Black's inner thoughts differed slightly from what Altair imagined.
"Perhaps."
Black muttered under his breath, fixing his gaze on Ruin before briefly glancing behind him.
Ruin's subordinates, the Crazy Mage Squad, stood in formation, unfazed by the ferocious onslaught of mana waves.
Black saw in them a reflection of the elite forces from his main family in the Northern Legion.
"...It truly might be."
Black's gaze followed Ruin's once more, towards the sky beyond the barrier.
Cracks were steadily spreading across the icy wall that blanketed the heavens.
Uncovering the connection to the Myriad Demon Assembly was undoubtedly the priority, yet Black found himself preoccupied with a different question altogether.
He felt the same urge he had experienced while observing the Arihama Clan's Heavenly Pressure Shield—the desire to confront this with his own Heart's Void.
"Ugh."
Just then, the mages simultaneously coughed up blood.
The mana waves generated by Ruin Samael's incantation had fully bloomed, interfering with the mages' White Magic incantation.
The mages collapsed, glaring at Ruin with fury.
"How dare you!"
"Ugh, disrupting us to the very end!"
"We told you not to cast any incantations, Ruin Sama..."
But they were forced to trail off.
For they had finally witnessed it.
With a cracking sound, the center of the ice barrier covering the sky split open, and a colossal shadow loomed above.
As if sudden nightfall had descended, darkness momentarily engulfed the sky... before...
Baaaaam—!
An intense, incandescent light, like the sun, erupted through the darkness.
"...!"
The mages couldn't help but recall the incantation Ruin had just uttered.
"A solitary flame that exists unseen. An inextinguishable source of heat that sees eternity in a fleeting moment. From the deepest depths, within the strongest will, I embody the sun of creation that destroys all that withers, and I desire thus I manifest here the unknown flames of purification that exist beyond the veiled darkness."
The mages murmured involuntarily.
"Such intense heat, what in the world is that...?"
"...I've never heard that incantation before."
Even the chief mages, who had upheld the White Magic Tower for generations, had never encountered such an incantation.
"How can a single person's incantation..."
An incantation that unleashed such powerful mana waves.
Even the mages present had never experienced anything like it.
Perhaps such waves had only manifested in the distant past, when a hundred mages of the previous generation had fully activated the absolute barrier Ragnarok in the Land of Death.
Only one person, Mahon, gazed at the sky beyond with a somewhat entranced expression, before murmuring:
"...I've heard it before."
"Floor Head?"
The chief mages all turned to Mahon as if on cue.
It was an instinctive movement for scholars who had dedicated their lives to the study of magic.
Wheeeeeeee—!
Waves of heat surged through the atmosphere, swirling around them, and groans erupted from all directions.
Even in that moment, Mahon's gaze remained fixed on a single point.
An incandescent light, blindingly bright, erupted from the heart of the shattered sky.
Heat surged from the unknown darkness beyond, and an immense thermal energy, hot enough to melt flesh, pressed down upon the earth with crushing force.
"Could that be...an ancient incantation?!"
Mahon's exclamation, filled with the awe of witnessing something profoundly sacred, prompted a chorus of questions from the chief mages.
"Floor Head, there's nothing like that in the ancient incantations..."
"There is. There certainly is. Undoubtedly. I'm certain."
"..."
Mahon was not one to speak falsely.
Moments later, some of the elder mages who had served the White Magic Tower for many years cried out in astonishment.
"Could that incantation be...?"
"The Origin of Heat?"
"Are you referring to the incantation in the ancient texts?"
"...!"
The ancient incantations of the White Magic Tower.
The highest-level incantations, painstakingly accumulated through the combined efforts of generations of White Magic Tower mages.
Among them, the most powerful existing flame-attribute incantation was undoubtedly the 7th Circle Heat System, Rain of Fire.
At least, among the currently known incantations.
While the destructive power of this large-scale incantation, capable of summoning a massive rain of fire, was unmatched, it wasn't the most potent ancient incantation among all flame-attribute spells.
Considering all ancient incantations, regardless of whether they could be activated, it ranked only fourth or fifth at best.
The ancient magic tome possessed by the White Magic Tower.
The very first magic described among the flame-attribute ancient incantations.
The Origin of Heat.
An incantation with no description of its imagery or chanting, only a passage depicting its manifestation.
The mages, finally recalling the passage, murmured as if in a trance, their eyes fixed on the void.
"...The sky splits, and the shadow of darkness descends. Incandescent light fills the void. When the momentary flash subsides, all shall witness the burning darkness that emerges; it is the irresistible heat..."
Saaaaaaa—!
Suddenly, Altair, who had been silently observing the sky, roared in a thunderous voice.
"Fall back!"
His voice was deafening.
With an urgent expression, he drew his sword and looked around.
"Everyone, retreat!"
Black silently drew his dark sword, his gaze fixed on a single point, while the Crazy Mage Squad opened all their heart circles and assumed defensive stances.
Everyone present felt it.
Everyone was witnessing the same thing.
Saaaaaaa—!
As if the seasons had abruptly shifted, the cold was replaced by an unbearable heat.
At this moment, the blinding light began to fade, and a luminous object, radiating tremendous frictional heat, descended slowly from the sky beyond.
Mahon Sirius, as if possessed, recited the final passage.
"...The meteor of destruction descends."
7th Circle Heat System.
Meteor.
The origin and symbol of heat.
High above, a radiant object, initially the size of a fist, began to grow larger and larger. Engulfed in flames, radiating heat fiercer than the sun, it steadily descended towards the ground.
An inexplicable phenomenon manifested by a single man.
"Huh..."
The moment the meteor appeared larger than the moon illuminating the earth...
With a flash of light even faster than that realization, the meteor crashed into the ground.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
The meteor plunged into the heart of the maelstrom beyond the barrier.
The very instant the earth shuddered beneath their feet...
Baaaaang—!
A shockwave erupted outwards in a perfect circle.
The corrupted earth and the rapidly multiplying demonic flora were instantly consumed and melted by the intense heat.
Few could fully witness this incomprehensible spectacle.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaagh!"
"Help me!"
"It's burning!"
The ground buckled and heaved, sending debris flying in every direction.
All that remained in sight was a crimson fog and billowing ash.
It was as if they had been dropped into the depths of an erupting volcano.
A thick grey haze swiftly enveloped everything, making it impossible to discern anything around them.
Altair, one of the Six-Dominion Sword, and several high-ranking knights unleashed all their mana cores at the front line of the crowd, but even that proved insufficient.
"Ugh."
His planted feet, braced against the earth, were repeatedly forced back.
Despite unleashing all seven of his mana cores and activating his Sword Aura, he was overwhelmed.
He could only momentarily disperse the heat surging towards them; it was far from enough to withstand the shockwave.
His insides churned violently.
If not for the defensive magic erected by Ruin's subordinates on either side, the crowd would have already been engulfed by the aftershock.
"Samael..."
It was unbelievable.
The predicament that had plagued him, Black, and the mages of the White Magic Tower... resolved by a single spell.
No, could this even be called a resolution?
A magic that not only melted the earth corrupted by the cold with scorching heat but also obliterated the entire area.
A method excessively violent and destructive.
If he reported this to his clan, who would possibly believe him?
"Ugh. No way..."
As another wave of heat surged forward, Altair swiftly drew a circle with his sword, manifesting a Sword Membrane.
Baaaaang—!
A streak of blood trickled from the corner of Altair's mouth as a massive wave slammed against his Sword Membrane.
"It wasn't just one?"
A second aftershock was beginning.
The overwhelming heat intensified, becoming increasingly difficult to withstand.
Just as Altair unleashed all his mana cores and braced himself...
Suddenly, his crimson-tinged vision seemed to split vertically as the heat dissipated.
The space before him seemed to explode.
"Heart's Void Style?"
Altair gasped and witnessed Black Balthahar, his face grimly set, leaping into the heart of the heatstorm beyond the barrier.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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