129th Episode
Brigitte waved her hand to the side as if she didn’t want to hear Clemens’ crying.
Armored knights grabbed Clemens and were about to drag him into the cabin.
At that moment, a single drop of blood fell onto the deck.
The presence of that single drop of blood was quickly lost amidst the sound of waves and the salty smell of the sea, but Brigitte turned her head back and looked at Clemens.
Something is coming.
The refined senses of a high-ranking mage who had handled mana for a long time detected the flow of mana being pushed away.
Brigitte’s gaze turned upward toward the sky.
A knight, noticing the anomaly a moment later, widened his eyes and pointed his sword at Clemens’ neck.
Clang!
Brigitte’s staff blocked the knight’s sword.
Brigitte, whose opaque eyes were hard to read, silently walked past Clemens across the deck.
The knight directed an aggressive stance towards Clemens but ultimately retracted his sword and followed Brigitte.
The atmosphere on the deck, which had momentarily relaxed, changed.
Those who had reached higher levels began to sense that something was amiss.
Brigitte caught sight of a streak of light soaring through the vast expanse of the sky.
“Things were going too smoothly… The royal family… never intended to let us leave easily.”
Boom!!
The staff, having returned to its original form after a long time, struck the deck.
A thin barrier of mana rapidly expanded, sweeping over both the sea and the sky simultaneously.
The moment the barrier touched something flying in the sky, two beams of superheated energy shot out from the deck.
Screams erupted!
A 4-Circle magic, Red Ray, carved a wound in the sky as it swung long and wide.
Whatever was gliding through the sky briefly touched the twin beams of heat but shattered the magic with a blue flash before accelerating again.
The comet-like object left a long trail as it plummeted toward the deck.
Some screamed, others shouted warnings to those around them.
Brigitte deployed a defensive barrier.
However, she was aware that such a hastily constructed, loose defense wouldn’t be enough to stop it.
“Prepare for battle.”
Just after Brigitte gave the order calmly,
a thunderous noise echoed as the protective barrier surrounding the ship shattered.
*
Ray walked along the sandy beach, cloaked in black robes.
Alberich and Thomas were already waiting by the shoreline.
Ray glanced briefly at Thomas before approaching Alberich without a word.
“Are preparations complete?”
“The new seal has been overlaid on the spear as you requested.”
“What’s the distance to the target?”
Alberich closed his eyes.
After maintaining a meditative posture for a while, he slowly opened his eyes.
“I feel the connection to the scar fading. We must be over 9 km away, and the link will soon break.”
Upon hearing the answer, Ray gestured toward the consecrated spear with his chin.
Alberich, who had etched years of prayer into the spear, gave it one final check.
“Will this do?”
“It has to.”
Ray distanced himself from Alberich with steady steps.
Impurities should not touch the consecrated spear when it is thrown.
Alberich’s throwing of the spear wasn’t just a simple act; it was a kind of ritual that couldn’t be altered arbitrarily.
In short, as soon as Alberich threw the spear, Ray had to swing into action immediately.
After exchanging a glance with Ray, Alberich stepped forward with his left foot.
“I wish you luck.”
Alberich pulled his arm back.
Simultaneously, Ray kicked off the sand toward the sea.
Sand surged where Ray had passed, and the spear thrown by Alberich pierced through the rising sand, advancing in a straight line.
With all his senses sharpened, Ray did not miss the spear coming from behind and grabbed it.
In that instant, the consecrated spear accelerated sharply and soared toward the sky.
Crack!
Ray’s shoulder joint twisted, emitting a harsh grinding sound.
Clenching his teeth, Ray tightened his grip.
His entire body bent backward, and the landscape in his vision stretched unnaturally.
“Ugh…!!”
Huge inertia shook his whole body.
After enduring approximately 20 seconds of acceleration, he finally managed to stabilize his posture.
While resisting the fierce wind, Ray tied the rope wrapped around his leg several times to the tip of the spear.
It was a last-resort mechanism in case he missed the spear.
The spear, which had cleaved the sky, soon found its target.
Far off, the point-like ship on the sea turned slightly toward the spear.
Ray took a deep breath and exhaled appropriately.
The spear, resonating with the owner of the scar, accelerated once more toward the blue sea.
The air tore apart, and the sound of a whip cracking filled Ray’s ears.
However, he could not lose focus. Someone on the ship had noticed Ray’s presence.
A thin wave of mana swept over his body, then two crimson beams of heat shot toward the sky.
Screams erupted!
The spear imbued with divine power tore through the hastily formed magic and plunged downward.
The black robe started burning due to the residual heat from the magic.
Ray’s core and circle began rotating simultaneously.
Realizing the rapidly growing size of the ship, Ray cut the rope tied to his leg and loosened his grip.
His body’s speed had already surpassed the speed of sound long ago.
The spear that had gone ahead shattered the protective barrier.
Taking advantage of the gap, Ray manifested a spell to decelerate his body.
However, the distance for deceleration was too short to have much effect.
KABOOM!!!!!
Part of the ship’s deck exploded and shattered.
From Ray’s mana-enhanced body, blood spurted up and rained down like rain.
But Ray did not fall.
Ray shed his torn robe and stood firmly on the deck with both legs.
The massive ship, which had tilted backward for a moment, swayed to regain balance.
The bizarre scene witnessed for the first time made everyone, regardless of their skill level, hold their breath.
Caught in the aftermath of Ray’s landing, a few people panicked and rolled around on the deck.
Ray burst the water pouch he had in his mouth.
As the potion flowed out, the sacred seal engraved on the spear manifested.
A seal that infused vitality and healed wounds within a certain range enveloped the ship.
Ray felt the shock subside slightly as he rotated his core and circle.
However, the blessing of the sacred seal wasn’t only for Ray; those injured and panicking also quickly regained stability.
Evil conspirators rise again with El-Lam’s blessing.
Quietly observing the scene, Ray grabbed the back of Clemens, who lay sprawled out.
“Ugh?!”
Splash!
Clemens, thrown by Ray, fell into the sea.
No one diverted their attention to someone like Clemens.
The moment Ray drew his sword from his waist and extended his hand into the air,
the empire’s legendary divine sword emerged from A-Space.
There was no need for words.
A flash of light burst forth.
KRAAAKK!!!!
The Sword Energy extending from the two swords Ray held was stopped by different knights.
Both knights were Graduates capable of manifesting Sword Energy.
Sword Auras swung by others from all directions rained down.
This was far beyond what a single noble house could send alone to a foreign land.
Only two Graduates stood against Ray, and the number of Experts exceeded ten.
Moreover, there were many mages aboard the ship.
Zzzzssshh!!
Mana flowed into the magic circle pre-engraved on the ship.
The deck shuddered once, and liquid metals activated by magical means surged toward Ray.
In an instant, the liquid metal covering Ray’s lower half solidified into its original form.
The moment Ray’s waist and below were bound by solid steel, the magic circle manifested again, and every mage extended their hands toward Ray.
The mana resonating with the magic circle transformed into flames.
In the middle of the sea painted green,
a red pillar shot up into the sky.
WAAAAAAHHH!!!
Mages confined a large amount of thermal energy in a limited space to melt a single target, and the compressed flames broke through even thick barriers and soared toward the sky.
Feeling the immense heat heating the deck, some began to hope.
The combined magic they had unleashed boasted firepower surpassing even high-level magic.
Ray realized that he wouldn’t withstand such spells repeatedly.
As the flames surrounded him, Ray’s circle rotated intensely with a bright light.
The final circle arranged by a great magician inscribed in history drew power from the core itself and emitted cold.
Ray judged as the flame’s momentum waned.
This ship was their home ground, and numerous magic circles were engraved to prepare for situations like this.
To achieve victory, the battlefield must be changed.
SCREEEEEECH!!
The circle’s performance reached its limit.
The circle, which should have suppressed the core, now ran rampant, causing Ray’s heart to convulse.
While biting his tongue to resist the pain, the cold spreading from Ray began to color the space.
Crackkkk!!!
The flames subsided, and frost spread.
The cold enveloping the ship greedily absorbed heat without end.
Everyone stopped breathing as the nearby temperature dropped close to absolute zero.
Drip.
Drip.
A droplet falling somewhere wetted the deck, and soon the liquefied air froze and poured down like a waterfall.
In the strange scene created by the great magician’s circle,
Ray swung his sword.
The Sword Energy attached to the sword evaporated completely.
Immediately afterward, the space surrounding the ship split from all sides, and dozens of Sword Energies plunged down simultaneously.
The defensive magic circle engraved on the ship froze due to the mana-laden cold and failed to function properly, and neither the mages nor the knights could defend against all the Sword Energies emerging from the split space.
KRAAAAAAAASHHHH!!!
The central framework maintaining the giant ship was shattered by the Sword Energies.
The fatally damaged ship couldn’t bear its own weight and tore apart.
The scattered pieces of the ship either dispersed or sank.
What remained where the ship had sunk was an ice island created by Ray.
The knights stepped onto the ice island without hesitation and manifested Sword Energies and Sword Auras toward Ray standing alone in the center of the ice island.
The mages easily treaded on the seawater or floated in the air.
The enemy’s main force remained undamaged. The battle was just beginning.
Ray’s eyes glowed cyan.
*
Florya had come to the port under the pretense of welcoming guests.
In the lively, peaceful harbor, several people of high status wandered around, admiring various goods.
Until just moments ago, that was certainly the case.
However, now everyone stood silent, gazing beyond the horizon.
After a colossal pillar of flame shot up almost touching the clouds,
powerful flashes and booms, powerful enough to threaten even those beyond the horizon at the port, began to ride the waves and flow in one after another.
Of all those present at the port, only Florya knew what was happening there.
Florya, standing still in place, eventually clasped her hands together as if in prayer.
