Chapter 141 - Second Coming of a Legend (4)
“Hmmph. That’s right, Laura. You were right. I did come here too early.”
He was stubborn as a mule, so he left behind the Shadow’s Sword Belt to fight one on one with Laura. However, he couldn’t hold a candle to her. This truth greatly wounded his pride.
“However, that is all there is to it. You merely had more time to learn more magic than me! If those old bags weren’t so picky about pa.s.sing on their techniques, I would have needed a little bit more time. I wouldn’t have lost to you!”
“Dikal, I….”
Suddenly, Laura raised her hands, and she placed them on her neck. She let out a forlorn laughter as she spoke.
“…this is the first time I felt sorry for someone.”
“What?”
“You are a pitiful person. More so than my previous self….”
In the past, Laura had been a puppet of the Aunsaurus family. She lived to bring about the result desired by them.
Dikal was similar to her in that fashion. However, there was a big difference between Dikal and her.
Dikal based his own self worth on their judgement, and he accepted that fact as a given.
He was subjected to what amounted to a curse, yet he still thirsted for their approval. He cursed them with his mouth, but he would do anything to hear their praises. He had no idea what else to base his own self worth on.
“I can see why I hated myself.”
When she first met him, Laura considered his hatred to be a given. His life had been stolen away by her. Of course, he would hate her.
However, as she listened to Dikal’s words, she realized there was something more to this. The real reason why Dikal hated Laura was…..
“I threw away what you clung to as if it was trash.”
“What nonsense……!”
“I think I can understand what you are feeling. Still, I will a.s.sert it once again.”
A red air current started emanating from the tip of her fingers, which she had placed on her throat.
“They are trash. They are trash that should have been eradicated a long time ago, yet they act as they please by stepping on our lives.”
“Shut up!”
“I’d rather die than be caught within their hands.”
Dikal flinched. He had been focusing on her words, so he was a beat late in realizing what was going on.
“s.h.i.t! Stop her!”
Laura was trying to commit suicide.
She would rather die here than be caught by them. However, it wouldn’t be enough just to take her own life. They had the power to call back the souls of the dead. This was why she had to terminate herself in no uncertain terms.
‘I want to live.’
She wanted to live a bit longer. She had so much more she wanted to see.
‘I finally found out who you really are.’
Suddenly, Azell’s face appeared within her thoughts. She had always wondered about it, but he really was the hero Azell Karzark.
When it was in regards to him, everything was on the table. When she found out the truth, she laughed even in the midst of danger. She didn’t feel any surprise. It simply cleared up the pressure she felt inside her chest.
‘If I die here, will you mourn for me?’
Up until now, she had no one that would have shed a tear for her if she died. She hadn’t lived her life worrying about such things. However, while she travelled with Azell’s party using the excuse of being a prisoner, she developed lingering attachments.
‘At the very least, they won’t get angry, because a tool had become unusable. They would view it as my death, simple as that.’
Laura was baffled by her thoughts, so she laughed. Dikal and the Shadow’s Sword Belt looked at her as if she had gone mad. She had put a defensive magic around here, so they had to watch as she completed the cursed power.
-You give up too quickly.
At that moment, a voice flowed into her consciousness.
-Why don’t you put a little bit more faith in your comrades?
The magic spells that had been pouring out towards her was rapidly dissipating. Moreover….
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!
A pure white light that looked like white fire and lighting ran across the sky.
It was the Sky Splitter. While Laura was distracted, three members of the Shadow’s Sword Belt was cut down from the surprise attack.
At the same time as the magic and thunder detonated, her surrounding became distorted as if it was a hot day in spring.
‘Vitan’s Maze!’
Laura immediately recognized the ident.i.ty of the phenomena.
She quickly canceled the power of the curse as if she was putting out a fire.
“Ah-oohk…….”
She was able to cancel it, but it was a magic where even her corpse would have been destroyed. She hadn’t wanted to hand over anything to her enemies. This was why the backlash was fierce. Black smoke emanated from her entire body, and she felt her insides churn.
She suddenly spoke in a sullen manner.
“…I’m only a prisoner.”
“You were until now.”
Azell suddenly appeared next to her. Azell smirked as he gave his answer. Azell spoke as he tapped her once with his finger.
“Let’s stop doing this.”
The magical shunt placed with Laura’s Energy Pulse was removed. Laura looked at Azell with rabbit eyes.
“You really do whatever you want.”
“Everyone told me the same thing around 220 years ago. It seems the era may change, but people do not.”
“Old man.”
“But my body and mind is still that of a 28 year old. There’s no reason why I should hear such words from a Dragon Majin lady who is older than me.”
“You are shameless.”
“I hear that a lot too.”
Azell replied in a sly manner.
“Anyways, you should take care of your body from within this place. I’ll take care of the rest.”
He didn’t know if his enemies had techniques that could penetrate the Vitan’s Maze. Even if they did have such a technique they would be too busy fighting Azell to use it.
However, Laura grabbed Azell before he could exit the Vitan’s Maze.
“I’ll take care of Dikal.”
“With that body? I know you have some kind of history with him, but if you fight in such a state….”
“I can do it.”
“…….”
Laura’s att.i.tude was so firm that Azell just watched her for a moment. He turned his head away as he let out a bitter laugh.
“Whether it’s the present or the past, I’m unable to stop anyone who’s willing to risk their lives on a task. A lot of people cursed me for it…..”
He continued to speak as he canceled the Vitan’s Maze.
“It seems I’ll be the one cursing you out. If your bravado gets you killed, I’ll curse at you.”
“…this is the first time.”
“What is?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard such words.”
“You have too many firsts.”
As he spoke those words, Azell’s sword turned into burning thunder as it sped along the sky.
5
“This makes no sense.”
Dikal was in a state of panic.
When he found out Azell was really the Azell Karzark, he was shaken up for only a brief moment. At that moment, the capture of Laura had been more important in his mind.
He had been tenacious in his hunt, and at last, his goal had been right in front of his eyes.
However, this had occurred.
The flash of light was actively moving across the sky.
Normally, magicians were adept at fighting in the air. Spirit Order pract.i.tioners and Dragon Arts pract.i.tioners were able to stay in the air for a limited amount of time. Even if that problem was solved, they had no way of propelling themselves through the air. This was why it was hard to fight a magician in aerial combat.
However, Azell ruthlessly broke such common sense.
Pah-jee-jee-jeeek!
The light was moving in every direction, and it cut through one of the Shadow’s Sword Belt. For a brief moment, Azell could be seen, so another member of the Shadow’s Sword Belt sent a flame towards him.
However, it was useless. Spatial Distortion appeared in front of him, and the flame was sent right back to the user.
When the attacker paused to block the flame, another Azell appeared from behind to cut him in half.
“Oooh ooh ooh……!”
Dikal was terrified.
The Sword Splitter and the Vitan’s Chalice was creating a synergistic effect. The attacks were beyond one’s imagination. The sword wasn’t constrained by s.p.a.ce, yet now the additional effect of dimensional manipulation was added on to it. The combination of the two was a calamity that no one could stop.
Moreover, the Shadow’s Sword Belt hadn’t studied the available information in regards to Azell. From the onset, they had used lighting and light magic without thinking much about it. They had pretty much sealed their own death. The Sky Splitter absorbed it all as all six members were burnt to a crisp.
“Dikal.”
Light and the roar of thunder filled the battlefield.
However, a low voice could be heard clearly within Dikal’s ears. He turned to look at the owner of the voice in surprise.
The thoroughly injured Laura was standing there glaring at him.
“Let’s end this. This is between the two of us.”
“Ha…….”
Dikal laughed as he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
“Are you out of your mind? Now that you’ve jumped on the back of Azell Karzark, it seems you’ve gone mad. You want to fight me one on one in that state?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmph. Do you think I’ll fall for such a trap? You will probably act like you are fighting me, and Azell Karzark would use the opportunity to hit me from behind.”
At his words, Laura tilted her head in puzzlement.
“Do you really think you are worth doing such a maneuver?”
“…what did you just say?”
“If it wasn’t for my request, you would already be dead. I extracted a promise from him. If you win against me in a one on one battle against me, he’ll let you leave the battlefield alive.”
Laura had been adamant about this point.
When he realized she was serious, Dikal grinded her teeth.
“How long are you going to ignore me like this, Laura!”
“That is what I want to say to you.”
Laura attacked first. When Dikal received her attacked, something incomprehensible occurred.
Pah-jee-jee-jeek!
“Kuh-uhk?”
He possessed six swords that had a curse placed on each of them. Each curse was flowing backwards now. His eyesight started to darken as openings appeared within his formation of magic.
Ggwah-gwahng!
An explosion detonated from within his barrier. He was sent flying. Dikal was barely able to right himself as he plummeted to the floor, and he started using his magic indiscriminately.
“Koo-ahhhhhhhhhk!”
Unlike Laura who was dying, he had plenty of magical energy. Laura was superior to him in terms of using magic, but he decided she wouldn’t be able to cut through the hail of magic spells.
However, as if to break Dikal’s prediction, he heard Laura’s cold voice.
“You don’t even know why you are losing…..”
There was pity in her voice. Dikal became angry, so he tried to send the magic swords towards her.
“Ooh-ahhhhhhhk!”
As if it had been waiting for him to try that move, the curses flowed backwards again. It felt as if the pain was frying every single nerve inside his body.
Dikal finally realized what she had done.
‘I’ve lost ownership of the magic swords!’
If he was to be precise, he hadn’t lost complete ownership of the magic swords. However, the part of the magic that allowed one to move the magic swords was in her control.
Hoo-oooooooooooh…….
While Dikal was barely able to dispel the curse, Laura’s condition was rapidly improving. Her physical state wasn’t getting better, but she had taken control of the magical energy expended in vain by Dikal. She was absorbing it to recover her magical energy. She was displaying an appalling amount of refinement in her control over her magical energy.
“This is the end, Dikal.”
“How laughable! You’ve created some confusion using my magical tools, yet you act as if the fight is over! You’ve required only a modic.u.m of magical energy. It won’t be enough!”
Dikal unleashed his magical energy in anger.
‘I only have the use of defensive magic and magic amplification of the magic swords. I’ll have to use the two functions to end this. I have to overwhelm her with my magical energy. Even if she is better than me at using skills, the difference in the quant.i.ty of magical energy available to me is absolute. I’ll crush her with my firepower!’
His judgement was correct. Laura’s magical energy was almost depleted. He could use several dozen spells, while his opponent could use only one or two spells. The result was preordained.
In the end, he pushed back against Laura’s control with pure power. He used all of his magic at once. A vortex formed on the ground. A storm of lightning raged, and flame exploded forth.
“You are the one that will meet your end here, Laura!”
He shouted out those words as he felt enraptured.
“It is as I’ve said. This is the end.”
Laura answered in a low voice. The sound cut through the noise of the explosion. It meant she had used her magic in a narrow scope to deliver her voice on purpose. Gooseb.u.mps arose all over his entire body. All the spells he sent towards Laura returned towards Dikal.
Kwah-gwah-gwah-gwahng!
“Kahhhh……!”
Even Dikal’s scream was buried in the sound of the explosions. Dikal fell as fire and smoke surrounded his body.
Laura tracked him down.
Soon, Laura stood in front of Dikal. It looked as if half of his body had been blown off, and he was gasping for breath.
It was a miracle that he was still alive. He asked in disbelief.
“How….?”
“Vitan’s Chalice.”
Laura answered him.
“I’ve been researching it all this time.”
“…….”
Dikal was satisfied with the answer.
No on inside the Plain of Darkness had been able to learn magic that dealt with s.p.a.ce. However, Laura had used the Vitan’s Chalice. After much research and experiments, she was able to replicate some of the magic.
Dikal laughed as if he was baffled.
“I...really…did come here…too soon…..”
“They will perish too, so you can go rest now.”
“Ha ha ha. As always…. You are really an unpleasant….woman…..”
After saying those words, Dikal’s life came to an end. Laura created fire to burn his corpse. She looked up at the brilliant and deadly light moving across the sky.
“Those words…. I’ve heard them way too much.”
As she looked into the empty air, clear tears ran down from her eyes.