Chapter 172, What One Can Handle (6)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

The forest that had been full of green was now immersed in deep ashen darkness.

 

It was a season with unusually many blue stars, but the deep and dense forest did not show even a single piece of the open sky. The sky would barely reveal itself between the leaves and appear only for a moment, then repeatedly disappear again, hidden by the swaying of leaves facing the wind.

 

At that moment, a blue shooting star fell, leaving a short afterimage. But there was no one here who could murmur a wish while watching it.

 

First of all, the sky was not visible, and there were no leisurely people who would exclaim in admiration while gazing at the sky.

 

*Crackle, crackle!*

 

Instead, there was one Mage who seemed to hold the tail of the fallen shooting star in her grasp. Purple Mana gathered with wind dwelling in it, causing her long robe that reached the ground to billow and flutter.

 

She had neither eyesight good enough to see distant places or identify things in darkness, nor had she learned Magic to make such things possible. Still, Euria’s eyes were accurately watching the direction from which enemies were approaching. Through her Mana spread thin and vast across the ground she stood on, she could sense where and how many people were approaching.

 

“Two people.”

 

There was no sound of horse hooves, nor could she feel the presence of large animals, so they must be running on their two legs.

 

Nevertheless, they were fast.

 

Feeling this, Euria smiled slightly and muttered.

 

“Did they get excited coming to the forest after only breathing desert sand? You Wolf Pups.”

 

There was no tension in her words, gestures, or expression, but her eyes were different. There was a reason why the presence of the approaching ones felt unusual, but it was more because she had no way of knowing what Arsene’s situation was like.

 

*Crackle, crackle!*

 

The power of lightning that had been flickering repeatedly in Euria’s hand gathered at her fingertips. The thing that had been shining like a purple star that had descended to earth gradually reduced in size, then soon became invisible as if nothing had been there.

 

Then, Euria extended her right hand forward.

 

From the tips of her long fingers, always hidden by wide sleeves, a thin bolt of lightning with no color or light extended quietly. She felt a squishy sensation under her feet for a moment before it disappeared. It was the movement of water.

 

Not long after sending the invisible lightning and water toward her enemies, purple light flickered once at a distance, which was neither far nor near.

 

And then, it began.

 

*Boom! Booom!*

 

Water that had been condensed silently exploded from the ground. When the bodies of the two approaching Warriors were completely soaked with water, the lightning spread in the air touched the water.

 

*Crackle!*

 

Electric current flowed into the bodies of the Warriors who were not yet protected by shields and were completely soaked with water.

 

Euria, who had launched a preemptive attack powerful enough to end the life of any beast living in the forest in one strike, teleported to a thick branch of a tree quite far away.

 

It was a swift movement without any thought of checking what damage they had suffered. She knew well that these were not Warriors who would die from something like that anyway.

 

*Flash!*

 

Unlike Arsene, Euria did not engage in close combat with sword-wielding opponents. Euria’s fighting style was to quickly move her body while unleashing Spells before those who had identified the attacker’s position could rush at her.

 

Therefore, she had no intention of giving them a chance to rush at her and swing their swords.

 

*Crackle!*

 

She moved lightning once more. Gathering the Mana she had spread in the air a moment ago, she enveloped their entire bodies and poured out the great power of lightning.

 

Each time the forest flashed, she could glimpse the figures of the two who had now approached very close. Both held swords, and there were no major wounds on their faces or bodies. She had failed to eliminate the red shields they had quickly surrounded themselves with.

 

Euria slightly frowned, realizing that her previous attack had not been very effective.

 

[They can heal fairly well, and I can’t call down lightning.]

 

The opponents were definitely different from those who had swarmed in a group to attack Euria and Arsene.

 

Euria could not move while calling dark clouds in the sky to strike down lightning. Using such large-scale Magic without another Mage to assist would be tantamount to suicide, wouldn’t it? They would rush in and thrust their swords before she could properly cast it.

 

So, she had no choice but to simply kill them.

 

Euria’s body disappeared once again.

 

This time, she appeared on a rock a little distance away behind them, in the direction they had come from.

 

The ground was wet and Mana still spread around them. They had not yet found where Euria was. Yet, Euria knew their exact location.

 

Two spears like swirling water streams, but with ends much harder and sharper than tempered iron, appeared before Euria. Mana of different Elements intertwined around their surfaces. She had created water spears covered with purple sparks.

 

Euria did not hesitate.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Spears containing both water and lightning, which no one but Euria could create, extended toward them one by one. The two Warriors who saw the spears rushing in instantly with dazzling trajectories each raised their swords to try to strike them down. However, they had overlooked the fact that what Euria had created were spears of ‘water.’

 

*Splash!*

 

The spear that touched the sword immediately lost its form and poured down.

 

*Crackle! Crack!*

 

Lightning that had been infused in the water was transmitted to their hands through the swords. If they were protecting their bodies with shields, she could directly attack the hands that were outside the shields, could she not?

 

At the lightning attack that instantly penetrated their bodies, they stopped without being able to drop their swords. It was temporary paralysis from electrocution.

 

Not missing the opportunity, Euria raised her arms like lightning. Then, as if following those arms, the earth vibrated and scattered dirt in all directions. It was the power of water that had pierced through the ground and risen up.

 

*Whooom!*

 

Two water columns containing such sharp energy trapped them and whirled. At the same time, Lightning Spears with light bright enough to dazzle the eyes shot out successively from Euria’s hands.

 

Those trapped in the rapidly rotating water had their entire bodies cut and torn. If the tips of the water spears were forged like iron, the whirlpool of the water columns was honed like blades.

 

Nevertheless, the Warriors did not die.

 

The bodies of those trapped in the surging water columns while enduring lightning attacks glowed red. Their healing power had manifested.

 

*Boom! Boom!*

 

Two streams of lightning fell toward the center of the water columns.

 

Amazingly, one of the two barely managed to move his arm and swing his sword. With a vibrating sound of *Whooom,* red aura shone on that sword. Then, the strongly rotating water column was cut away just like that.

 

“Oh.”

 

A meaningless pure exclamation burst from Euria’s mouth. It was because she had never seen anyone escape from inside her water column by themselves until now.

 

A look full of interest appeared in Euria’s eyes.

 

The green eyes of the opponent, illuminated by the lightning, were directly staring at Euria.

 

*Thud!*

 

Without any thought of helping his companion, who still could not escape from the water column, the opponent’s body kicked off the ground. Reaching Euria’s front in an instant, as if not intending to give her time to teleport, he immediately raised his sword and diagonally struck down.

 

*Clang!*

 

The blue Shield that blocked the sword strike shook greatly, and at the same time Euria’s body disappeared from the opponent’s sight. Having lost his target again, he gritted his teeth.

 

Euria, who revealed herself on a tree, extended her arm.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Another spear, containing both the power of water and lightning, shot toward him. The opponent who had already learned what result would come from striking it down twisted his body to avoid the attack.

 

And that spear, after grazing and cutting the waist of another Warrior who had just escaped from the water column and was rushing over, stuck into the ground and disappeared.

 

“Ugh!”

 

The opponent whose shield had not yet been reconstructed after the previous attack gritted his teeth. The lightning that had seeped through the grazing wound transmitted vivid pain as it passed through all his blood vessels.

 

Without time to look at his companion, the Warrior who had rushed at Euria charged toward the direction from which the Magic Spear had come from.

 

The distance between Euria and him was instantly closed.

 

*Claaang!*

 

The sword he swung while jumping up struck the Shield once more with great force. Euria, who quickly restored it, shot lightning and water together toward his belly.

 

The attack shot without even taking shape strongly struck his abdomen, or precisely the red shield surrounding his abdomen.

 

*Boom!*

 

A roar loud enough to shake a giant tree burst out, and the opponent who had been leaping was thrown down to the ground as if hurled. At the strong impact, a bloody cough poured from his mouth. Taking her gaze off him to look elsewhere, she saw another Warrior emitting red healing light from his entire body hurling his body toward her.

 

The one who had fallen to the ground coughing blood, and the one rushing at her.

 

In a split second, she had two choices.

 

[Should I avoid it or not?]

 

At the tip of Euria’s hand, who had made a quick decision, a water drop the size of a cherry was created. The appearance of a purple spark clustered in the center of the transparent water drop was quite pretty.

 

After condensing lightning to the size of a fingernail and then wrapping and fixing it with compressed water. Euria, who had manifested her own Magic, which she had never used on a person and had not even given a name to, moved her finger as if flicking it.

 

*Swish!*

 

The thing that had been formed at her fingertip descended at high speed. Into the open mouth of the opponent who was just trying to get up from his position.

 

*Gulp.*

 

Seeing him unable to avoid and swallowing the water drop that fell into his mouth, Euria quickly kicked off the tree and launched her body.

 

*Thump!*

 

Almost simultaneously, the sword of the rushing opponent struck the tree branch where Euria had been standing just before. However, Euria had already disappeared from mid-air and had hidden herself.

 

And then, the Spell that had entered the body of the opponent lying on the ground began to exert its effect.

 

The water drop that had gone down his throat lost its form.

 

It released the lightning hidden within it into his body.

 

Even the powerful shield surrounding his entire body could not protect his internal organs. The electricity that stuck to the fragile stomach wall traveled along the organ walls and tore through his entire body.

 

*Crackle! Crackle! Crack!*

 

Euria’s lightning does not disappear.

 

Purple sparks continuously flowed from the opponent’s mouth. No sound came from the mouth of the opponent whose vocal cords had been fried. Sparks also flowed from his eyes that had lost sight and become cloudy. Though he twisted his entire body in resistance, the lightning trapped inside his human body would not disappear until it had burned everything inside.

 

How much time had passed like this?

 

*Thud.*

 

The hand of one who could no longer breathe dropped to the ground. Black smoke was streaming from his mouth.

 

The Warrior who had witnessed his comrade’s horrible death gripped his sword anew. And he rushed at Euria again, who was standing at a distance shooting Lightning Spears at him.

 

No. He tried to rush.

 

He was going to rush right now and mercilessly twist the neck of Mage who was said to invariably deliver death when encountered as an enemy.

 

“Stop.”

 

However, his body would not obey.

 

As if crushed by something, as if his feet were bound to the ground. Or as if his body weight had suddenly increased tenfold, he could not move a single fingertip or turn his head.

 

This was not the method that purple-haired Mage had been using until now. She had cast Spells that dropped lightning from the sky and made water surge from the ground. She had even killed a person with a single transparent orb. But she had not attacked in this manner.

 

Even while running around like a mouse and casting Spells, she had not been able to bind the feet of a charging Warrior, had she?

 

[What is this?] He tried moving his fingertips with all his might, but his body would not loosen. That said, his body was not paralyzed either. It was just heavy. Therefore, wanting to know what was happening now, he turned his gaze and something he had never seen before entered his eyes.

 

A small crimson orb was flying from far away. Perhaps knowing that he would not be able to avoid it, its speed was extremely slow.

 

[Shield!]

 

The opponent deployed a shield to avoid the attack of that approaching orb. He surrounded his entire body with that thick and powerful shield that had blocked Euria’s lightning and protected his body even from the bombardment of water columns.

 

*Tap.*

 

Approaching at a slow speed like someone who does not use swords throwing a single stone, it touched the red shield. At the small sound that was not threatening at all, laughter came despite still being unable to move properly.

 

[What? So, it was nothing special after all.]

 

Just as he thought that…

 

*Swish*

 

The orb did not destroy the shield.

 

To be precise, it simply passed through it.

 

It passed right through that thick and powerful shield and entered inside. Only now was the orb’s appearance accurately reflected in the opponent’s eyes.

 

A small orb the size of a human eyeball. Something that looked like crimson lava swirling madly inside a glass sphere… there was only one person on this continent who used such a thing.

 

[Ah…]

 

The person who arbitrarily controls gravity applied to humans.

 

The person who casts Magic with temperatures too difficult to gauge.

 

Who that was, and then what this orb was.

 

Belated realization came.

 

He felt the orb with its gentle movement tap against his fingertip. At the fact that it was his hand that it touched first, the Warrior of the Great Dunes felt great regret.

 

Why had it touched his hand and not his heart?

 

Why did he possess healing power.

 

Such regret it was.

 

It was regret felt because he knew it would start from his fingertips and very slowly burn his entire body before finally burning his heart last.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Thus, Allan Manasil’s quiet and cruel fire consumed the Warrior’s body.

 

* * *

 

The shoulder injury was not light.

 

There was no need to examine it; the smell of blood was different.

 

Kalian, who had been looking at Arsene’s face that had turned blue, turned his head toward the forest and spoke.

 

“Raven.”

 

With a low clip-clop sound, a black horse that seemed like it would not lose its elegant bearing no matter where in the world it was placed approached Kalian. Kalian, who had stroked Raven’s neck a few times, pointed to his saddle and said to Arsene.

 

“Use the Magic Circle to go to the Royal Palace. Older brother has probably already called for Hina, so you’ll be able to receive treatment right away.”

 

Arsene made a face full of questions upon hearing this.

 

Since his shoulder was in great pain, it was not the part about needing treatment that was questionable. He already knew that the ‘older brother’ Kalian was referring to was Plants, so there was no question about that either. There was nothing particularly questionable about the statement that Plants would have called for Hina.

 

The question that now filled Arsene’s face was caused by the fact that what Kalian was saying sounded like he was telling him to ride Raven.

 

“Are you telling me to ride Your Highness’ horse?”

 

So Arsene asked this even in his dizzy state.

 

Kalian, who had torn the robe fabric tied to Raven’s saddle into long strips, began wrapping the wound with skilled hand movements while answering calmly.

 

“It would be dangerous if we delay further. You probably have no sensation now either.”

 

Besides, was there any other creature besides Raven who could run fast while not shaking too much so the wound wouldn’t open further, and deliver Arsene safely to the Royal Palace even if he fainted on the way?

 

So, Kalian had made the best judgment possible.

 

“But…!”

 

Arsene, who was about to state the problem was this black thing in front of him didn’t seem like something born to carry people around, stopped speaking and frowned. It was because Kalian had forcefully tied the end of the robe that had finished wrapping the wound.

 

Of all things, Arsene had injured his left shoulder. Of all things, Kalian was the one giving him first aid.

 

Kalian, who had pushed away the thought of directly cutting off the left shoulder that had been damaged beyond healing, said in a quiet voice.

 

“Go quickly. I’m a bit angry right now.”

 

It meant not to provoke his anger further and do as he was told. Raven, who had read Kalian’s feelings well, made a *snort* sound from the side. It meant to stop the chatter and quickly go with him.

 

Arsene, with the feeling of ‘fine,’ grabbed Raven’s saddle with one arm and climbed up.

 

*Stomp!*

 

Raven, who showed his displeasure by stamping the ground once with his foot, indicating he really disliked this but would endure it, departed before Arsene could even greet Kalian. There was no need to kick his belly or hold the reins. He literally went on his own.

 

Kalian watched Arsene’s receding figure intently, then turned around. There was still work to be done.

 

Walking over, he poked the Mage who was lying unconscious. He then spoke to the Mage, who barely opened his eyes and looked up at him.

 

“Hello.”

 

And then, quite prettily, he smiled.