Chapter 104
From the First Elder floating in midair, the mist I had seen earlier began to spread out again.
The same ominous black mist that had thrown Ordin into confusion earlier, clearly dangerous at first glance.
Fwoosh—
Just to be cautious, I directed wind at the descending mist, but as expected, it didn’t budge.
‘Well, this confirms one thing.’
I had felt this during my fight with Randgar—black magic wasn’t something that could be countered by ordinary magic.
To be precise, it couldn’t be countered with ordinary mana.
This was one of the main reasons most people were defenseless against black magic.
Even the simplest black magic couldn’t be resisted with the magic people usually used.
Even Yuria Prisis, who had been researching black magic for a long time, still hadn’t found an effective countermeasure.
Vmmm—
Instead of wasting effort on the descending mist, I opened a space around me.
The rapidly spreading mist was sucked into the subspace and disappeared.
Shing—
If the mist was descending in front of me, then behind me came a swift attack.
Just like Randgar’s previous technique, black mana was sharpened into spikes that surged toward me.
Vmmm—
It was a classic distraction with the mist in front and an ambush from behind.
But it didn’t work on me.
Around me was a barrier far more effective than the First Elder’s.
Like the mist, the black spikes were absorbed into the subspace, and the First Elder quickly moved away.
As if he knew I would leap toward him immediately.
‘Sharp instincts.’
I had noticed from the very moment we met how quickly he acted.
Unlike Randgar, this First Elder was highly perceptive.
He also seemed to handle black magic more adeptly than Randgar.
Randgar’s previous attacks felt like crude chunks of mana being flung around, but the First Elder’s techniques were refined spells.
Especially the mist—it was exceptionally troublesome.
Although I could just send it into the subspace, it wasn’t something I could do endlessly.
While basic Spatial Movement was effortless, these other techniques were different.
Using skills that relied on manipulating space required concentration.
To others, it might look like I was using them effortlessly, but in reality, it wasn’t that simple.
These techniques consumed a great deal of focus, and overusing them caused mental fatigue.
“Where did he go again?”
Even as I scanned the area, the First Elder was nowhere to be found.
This location clearly favored him.
Since his appearance, he must have set up some kind of barrier, making it difficult to sense him.
When I first arrived, only the area around the wooden house felt blurry, but now the entire surrounding area seemed shrouded in mist.
The First Elder must have done something.
‘Ugh, how annoying.’
I had no intention of prolonging this fight with the First Elder.
The plan was to deal with him quickly, rescue Elaine, and leave.
I didn’t want to linger and risk exposing myself in front of the O’Neill Kingdom soldiers.
Shing— Boom—
As I gathered my thoughts and scanned the area, an unexpected attack struck.
It was the same black spikes I had deflected earlier.
The spikes struck the ground far from me, creating a massive explosion-like sound.
Though they looked small, the power contained within them was significant.
‘But why there…?’
Shing— Shing— Boom—
More spikes followed, striking repeatedly near me.
I couldn’t tell where they were coming from, but their accuracy was improving.
At first, they landed five meters away, but now they were within three meters.
Shing— Vmmm—
Finally, one of the First Elder’s attacks came within range.
Instead of striking the ground, it grazed my spatial barrier and was absorbed into the subspace.
After that, the attacks ceased momentarily.
Following the puzzling sequence of attacks, the First Elder finally revealed himself.
This time, he wasn’t floating but standing firmly on the ground, directly in front of me.
“So, where’s the student?”
“The diameter is approximately two meters, enveloping you in a spherical form.”
“…Huh?”
“I’m not sure exactly how it works, but you’re utilizing ‘space,’ aren’t you?”
The First Elder spoke excitedly, as though he had discovered something fascinating.
It seemed the previous attacks were meant to probe the extent of my defensive range.
Indeed, the First Elder had figured out quite a lot about my abilities with just a few attacks.
He was nothing like Randgar, who charged blindly relying solely on his strength.
“Stop dodging the question. Where is the student?”
“…Who knows? Where do you think?”
Boom—
“Hey, wait!”
With the sound of air bursting, the First Elder disappeared from sight again.
As irritating as it was, I couldn’t track where he went.
Instead, massive mana began to ripple around me.
Rumble—
With the sound of the ground shaking, enormous walls began to rise around me.
Walls of black mana surged up on all sides, surrounding me.
‘Ha, how tiresome.’
The rapidly rising walls extended toward the ceiling, attempting to trap me.
There was no way I would be confined by something like this, but I wasn’t about to sit idly and let the First Elder dictate the terms.
Vmmm—
‘If I can just find where Elaine is.’
Instead, I decided to finish this quickly.
Recalling the wooden house from earlier, I stepped forward.
The moment my foot lifted from the ground and touched it again, I was already outside the black walls.
Ignoring the massive mana I felt behind me, I swiftly opened the door to the wooden house.
This place had the highest likelihood of where Elaine could be.
Clunk—
“Hm.”
But of course, life wasn’t that simple.
It would’ve been nice if Elaine had been right there as soon as I opened the door, but the room was empty.
“You escaped from there? What kind of…”
Vmmm—
Hearing a voice from behind, I instinctively swung my sword wide as I turned around.
The First Elder, still shrouded in his robe, stood there.
He interrupted his words to avoid my blade.
“Looks like I need to deal with you first.”
Crack—
“Ugh.”
My spatial slash shattered one layer of the barrier surrounding the First Elder.
I had thought I could ignore him and focus on finding Elaine, but that was a mistake.
Rather than ignoring him, I needed to deal with him first and force him to tell me where Elaine was.
“Here I come.”
I charged at him, moving so quickly that he couldn’t even think about using Spatial Movement or fleeing like before.
***
‘It must be a magic that absorbs energy itself or something related to Spatial Movement.’
Kilbis formed a hypothesis as he watched the Black Shadow Corps leader absorb his attacks.
Given how the blade had pierced through his barrier earlier, it wasn’t a matter of simply nullifying energy.
If that were the case, the barrier itself would have disappeared, but it hadn’t.
That made it more likely that the technique was related to Spatial Movement.
After all, the Black Shadow Corps leader was an expert in spatial magic, capable of executing Spatial Movement with incredible speed.
‘Is he opening space to transfer incoming attacks to another dimension?’
Kilbis, hidden from view, pondered calmly.
If this hypothesis was correct, it presented its own set of challenges.
Not only could he use Spatial Movement, but his ability to manipulate space with such proficiency would make landing an attack nearly impossible.
Shing— Vmmm—
‘The defensive range is approximately two meters.’
Kilbis deliberately aimed his attacks to miss, testing the opponent’s defensive reach.
The leader of the Black Shadow Corps absorbed attacks that fell within about two meters of his surroundings.
‘Let’s see if he’s free from this as well.’
Rumble—
Kilbis quickly conjured a massive wall made of black magic, something impossible to overcome with ordinary mana.
The enormous wall shot up from the ground, surrounding the Black Shadow Corps leader in an instant, but it failed to trap him.
The leader passed through the wall as if it were laughable and used Spatial Movement to appear by the wooden house.
That confirmed it.
The technique he was using wasn’t powered by ordinary mana.
It was a new technique capable of countering black magic.
“You escaped from there? What kind of…”
Vmmm—
As Kilbis expressed his astonishment, the Black Shadow Corps leader’s sword slashed toward him.
Its speed aside, the range of the attack was completely unpredictable.
Though Kilbis had plenty of close-combat experience for a mage, he had never faced an attack that could close over five meters in an instant.
Fwoosh— Shing—
“Ugh.”
The black blade sliced through multiple layers of his barrier with ease, tearing through his robe.
Had he been a second slower, it would have cut into his flesh.
‘I need to hide…’
Vmmm— Crack—
“Argh!”
Kilbis tried to hide like before but failed.
The Black Shadow Corps leader didn’t allow him even a moment’s reprieve, relentlessly pressing the attack.
‘W-what is this…?’
Kilbis couldn’t help but feel a familiar dread, reminiscent of when he had first encountered black magic.
No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop the leader’s blade.
Kilbis tried using every form of black magic he knew to push the sword away, but the blade cut through it all and closed in on him.
Fwoosh— Shing—
“Whoa!”
Kilbis ducked forward in alarm, narrowly avoiding an attack from behind that nearly sliced through his back.
Thud—
It barely missed, only cutting his robe instead of his flesh.
Unfortunately, this left his robe split vertically in half, falling to the ground.
“Finally, I get to see your face.”
“You… who are you?”
Kilbis didn’t have the luxury to care about that.
He could only stare at the leader of the Black Shadow Corps with a look of utter shock.
—
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