< 125. Dream of a Butterfly (3) >
*
Fernandez slowly scanned the Inquisition Officers rushing towards him with twisted faces. The heightened senses before battle. The sticky flow of Hellish Magic coursing through the magic circuits in his arms. And the spells beginning to activate within his body.
All of it mixed together, giving rise to a sense of omnipotence. A feeling of omnipotence tinged with the arrogance unique to mages. The hormones raging from the corruption of Hellish Magic paralyzed his frontal lobe, making him feel as if he had gained invincible power.
-Groan.
Fernandez bit the tip of his tongue, drawing blood to focus his mind. Many Dark Mages, heretic shamans, and apostates had died in the ecstasy and omnipotence that their bodies emitted when using Hellish Magic.
He had already made enough mistakes to avoid such a folly. He couldn’t afford to make such a rookie error.
-Whoosh!
A blade aimed for his throat. The first move was a light feint. Of course, when that blade was wielded by veteran Heretica agents who had crossed life and death with professional swordsmanship, it was anything but a light strike.
-Clang!
The basic protection spells embedded in his arms lightly deflected the blade. The first Inquisition Officer, expecting to be blocked, bent his waist and fluidly delivered two more strikes.
-Clang, clang, clang!
Simultaneously, slashes rained down on his entire body. Greatswords, longswords, maces, hammers. Blows that could easily turn a frail human body into mincemeat poured down on him. Fortunately, the protection spells were sufficient.
-Crack!
His right hand, which had been gripping a beastman, twisted the air. Slowly, as if pulling space itself, he began to draw something out. From within, a flash of lightning sparked, forming a long blade. A basic creation spell. A fundamental spell of the summoning school.
-Swish.
Lifting the greatsword forged from magic with one hand, his other hand moved towards the sky. One gesture, a beastman’s knot formed, and a spell knot connected in the air.
Reaction speed, reflexes, vision. None of it could compare to his former body as Diemonica. So, the first move was—
[Arcane Vision.]
Fernandez slowly closed his eyes. Simultaneously, a dark green spark ignited in the back of his eyes, and his pupils burned. Now, he no longer viewed the world with his physical eyes.
His eyes now observed events occurring within a certain radius. Like seers, he had become a kind of information-reflecting entity. He had gained a vision that directly observed the information generated by events.
-Whoosh!
A blade flew towards him. A highly concentrated strike from an extremely trained Heretica agent. With his current body, seeing or blocking it was impossible, so he had to rely on the protection spells around his body—
-Crack!
He ‘perceived’ the information of the blade descending. And in response, he activated his body. Seeing was magic, but acting was purely within the realm of his senses. Blades clashed, sending sparks flying in all directions.
His greatsword, forged from Hellish Magic, was incompatible with the Saintmetal Greatsword. The greatsword’s blade shattered as the longsword chewed through it, pushing him back.
“Huh…”
“What’s so funny, mage?”
Rage burned in the Heretica’s eyes. How dare a mage attempt close combat? His arrogance had crossed the line, and now it wasn’t even laughable. It was just infuriating.
He was clearly outmatched in strength. His body, past forty and worn from long escapes and wandering, couldn’t compare to Diemonica, let alone the physical abilities of the Heretica.
Considering that Heretica agents were extremely trained, talented ‘ordinary’ individuals, his body didn’t even measure up to an ordinary person. Then, all he had to do was walk the line at his limit.
His right hand, gripping the greatsword, swung wide to create distance. A single move, like a precise chess piece, deflected the attacks of three assailants, buying him a brief moment as his left hand reached into the air. One knee bent to absorb the shock, and his left hand pointed to the sky.
[Frenzy]
-Thud, thud, thud!
As the spell formed, red magic sparked from his fingertips, embedding itself like an arrow into his own heart. Instantly, the spell raced through his bloodstream. His heart pounded madly, and blood vessels burst as if tearing apart.
-Thud! Thud! Thud!!
“Gah!”
The skyrocketing blood pressure caused capillaries in his eyes and fingertips to burst, turning his face completely red. Thick blood gushed from his throat. His body temperature soared, his head grew numb, and he exhaled scorching hot air.
“Hoo…”
But this situation was familiar to him. How many times had he forced Diemonica’s blood to rage while controlling divinity? Fernandez smirked and deflected the Heretica’s blade.
-Clang!
“Huh?!”
He could feel their eyes widening in shock. The intense heat and the bloodlust numbing his reason were palpable. Yet, clinging to a thread of sanity and performing acrobatics in battle was something he was used to!
-Clang! Clang!
He deflected the incoming blades with increasingly relaxed gestures. His enhanced body and Arcane Vision. With these, his physical abilities were now infinitely close to Diemonica’s.
‘What a joke. In other words, to even attempt to rival Diemonica’s body and performance, I’d have to stake my life.’
Arcane Vision caused excessive information accumulation in the body. Using it too long would bring an overwhelming backlash. Frenzy? It went without saying. Only someone desperate for complex cardiovascular diseases would use such a spell on themselves.
Regardless, he wanted to try. The current Fernandez had a desire beyond just testing his limits.
-Crash!
He swung the greatsword, shattering the sword of one Heretica agent. The distribution of force was perfect, a masterful technique exploiting a gap in the enemy’s offense.
“Gah!! What are you…!”
“This.”
-Zap!
He placed a hand glowing with a spell on the head of the Heretica, who had momentarily panicked after losing his sword. The Heretica agent, who had been momentarily dazed, staggered and collapsed to the ground.
The curse of incapacitation.
A simple, instant curse, but if you smash it directly into the head at close range, they’ll be knocked out for at least a day. Fernandez immediately twisted his waist to dodge the hammer rushing toward him.
“Brother Demeter!! Damn it, block the spell!”
“Fabiano…”
“Shut up, heretic!”
-Whooosh!!
The battle hammer came down with tremendous force. Close to Diemonica? No, even when Fernandez was wearing Diemonica’s body, he was slender and fragile compared to the real Diemonica.
This is the kind of strike the ‘real’ Diemonica would unleash. There was no way to physically block it at his level. He just had to dodge.
-Kwaaaang!
The hammer struck the ground, and the sound of an explosion echoed. The ground shook as if a small earthquake had occurred, and the hammerhead dug so deep into the dirt that it left a deep scar.
-Chaeng!
There’s more than one opponent. At least three more remained. Fernandez focused on incapacitating the Heretic agents one by one while dodging Fabiano’s attacks.
“Inoooom!!!”
“Oh, control your emotions, brother.”
“Brother…? Y-you, you—!!!”
-Kwaaaaang!!
The hammer tore through the air and slammed down. Fabiano, like the embodiment of destruction, continued his assault, crushing magic and spells with sheer force.
If that hammer landed even once, it would all be over. Fernandez kept stepping back, grabbing onto a beastman.
-Kwajijijik!
“Oh, right. There’s Enmagika.”
“Enough of your nonsense, heretic.”
“That’s a familiar line.”
A young priest with a large build and ominous scars was holding onto the beastman. A rosary dangled beneath his hand. It was one of the binding spells used by the priests of Vaitas.
But that spell only works on opponents of equal strength. Through the knot of magic, the chain of magic tightening around Fernandez’s right hand, his own magic surged!
-Kwajik!
“Ugh!!”
“Brother Carl!! Damn it, veil! Gather the brothers and retreat!! Head to the 8th checkpoint, the rally point!”
“Brother!!”
“I’ll hold him off!”
-Kwaaaang!
As Fernandez tried to grab again, Fabiano swung his hammer to shake him off. Seizing the opportunity, the young Heretic picked up the fallen Inquisition Officers and ran out of the town.
Fernandez stepped back and watched the scene. He smirked as he looked at Fabiano, who was seething with rage and shock.
“Now, Brother Fabiano. Isn’t it time you realized?”
“Your death!!”
-Kwaaaang!
The hammer flew at him without warning. Fernandez clicked his tongue and swung his blade, deflecting the hammer’s handle. The basics of greatsword combat lie in utilizing the force of rotation. He had crossed countless battlefields and had nearly mastered greatsword techniques.
-Kwadududuk!
Perfect timing through arcane vision, perfect power through frenzy, and perfect control through his senses. The ideal result of these three elements allowed him to neatly push his sword into the end of Fabiano’s hammer handle and flick it upward.
-Kaduk!
“Ugh?!”
But there was an unexpected situation—Fabiano’s strength was excessive. Thus, the blade was flicked farther than expected, and—
“It’s over, you heretic, apostate trash!!”
“Really, to the end!!”
-Kwaaaang!
Fabiano’s fist, almost like a shot put, came crashing down toward his head!
-Puung!!
Fabiano’s fist crushed numerous protective spells as it rushed toward Fernandez’s head. Unstoppable, like death itself!
“Ugh!!”
“Die!!”
-Puueok!!
Fernandez let go of the sword that had been flicked upward and placed both hands on the beastman. Fabiano’s triumphant face was right in front of him. The scar-covered fist was inches from his head. The calluses on his knuckles were menacing.
“Fabiano, you idiot.”
Fernandez chuckled and placed his hand on the arm that was roughly pushing forward.
“If a mage is good at sword fighting, shouldn’t you realize something?”
“What…?”
At the moment his hand touched, the very last moment when it felt like everything was over, Fabiano saw Fernandez’s smiling face. A chill ran down his spine. This—.
“Time to wake up.”
-Kwajijijik!
*
“…Huh.”
Fabiano panted as he looked at his hand. No blood, no flesh, no saliva. Nothing was on it. Not even the sensation of having hit something alive.
He stared blankly at Fernandez, who was leaning against the alley entrance. Since when? The traces of battle were clearly around, and the other Inquisition Officers were gone. So, the fight itself was real.
“How did you cast an illusion on Diemonica?”
Only the fight between him and Fernandez had vanished like a phantom. He stared dumbfounded at his hammer, which had smashed through the wall and was embedded in the ground. Throwing that was real, though…
“You came to a prepared mage’s workshop, didn’t you expect this much?”
“More than expected.”
“Feel like talking now?”
“Maybe. Heretic.”
He lightly shook his hand and organized his thoughts. Wielding a sword like a ghost, casually casting protective spells, incapacitating the Inquisition Officers, taking down Enmagika, and then toying with him alone…
Was there a way to win? He couldn’t picture himself defeating that mage. But he couldn’t back down. He was an Inquisition Officer, and courage and sacrifice would be his epitaph.
Having steeled his resolve, he clenched his fist tightly and took a stance.
“You know? If I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead.”
“True.”
“I’m sparing you, right?”
“Seems so.”
“Then why keep fighting?”
“It’s our mission.”
Fernandez gave a bitter smile and slowly walked out from the alley entrance. Bare-handed, matching Fabiano’s stance.
“The fight with the other brothers, and the fight with you, wasn’t entirely an illusion. It might sound funny coming from me, but I’m confident in both combat and magic.”
“Seems like it.”
“Breaking your will isn’t my goal. Our objectives don’t clash. Why fight? You must feel it too. I hold goodwill toward you.”
“Because it’s our mission.”
Fabiano silently raised his fist. How frustrating. Fernandez frowned and took his stance.
He probably only responded to the conversation to buy time to strategize and recover stamina. That stubborn Inquisition Officer’s mind is filled only with the will to burn heretics.
Truly, Fernandez didn’t want to break him. But if he had to… he’d have to oblige.
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