Chapter 196 - Message (3)
“Sir Baldazark!”
Suddenly, Niberis let out a desperate shout. At the same time, she unleashed her spell.
Ggah-gwah-gawhng!
An unbelievable amount of thunder was sent towards them from a long distance away, and it exploded.
Kieren’s eyes opened wide in shock.
“Where the h.e.l.l did that…...”
Niberis had created a Magic Eye that relayed information to her. She had done this as a precaution, and she was observing a radius of 3 kilometers. An attack had been sent from farther out.
On top of that, they were in a mountainous region. If the attacker was farther out than 3 kilometers, one wouldn’t be able to secure a clear view of them. So how did someone manage to pull off this attack?
-Rise Dragon weapon! Bleeding Star!
As they asked such questions to themselves, they immediately summoned their Dragon weapons. The two of them had faced several life threatening situations in the past. They wouldn’t be taken unawares anymore.
Even if they hadn’t been careless, their minds couldn’t make sense of what had happened. They were caught off guard. It couldn’t be helped.
Paht!
Kieren’s eyes widened.
Something had penetrated their multi-layered barrier magic. As if that wasn’t bad enough, something pierced through his shoulder.
‘T….this is…..!’
Kieren realized the ident.i.ty of the attack.
‘Dragon weapon: Underworld"s Marksman!’
It was the Dragon weapon that had critically wounded the Dragon Demon general Baldazark during the Dragon Demon war. Kieren was Baldazark’s descendent. Of course, he knew about this weapon.
“Azell Karzark!”
The lightning strike in the beginning was bait. On the surface, it looked like a poor move that would cause unnecessary vigilance in one’s opponent. However, the Underworld Ruler’s Marksman was used right afterwards, and they were taken by surprise.
Kieren endured the pain as he pushed his body forward. The blood coming out of his wound sparked as it turned into flames that surrounded his body.
Paht! Pah-baht! Pah-bah-baht!
The bolts sent by the Underworld’s Marksman hit the flame. After Baldazark almost died from this weapon, he had developed a barrier spell that would counter this weapon.
The magic consumption was extremely high, and it had a critical flaw of increasing his susceptibility to all other attacks. However, it was better than being killed by the Underworld’s Marksman. Unfortunately, this defensive method could only be used on himself.
“Koo-ahk!”
His subordinates that were outside the range of his barrier were dying. Kieren grinded his teeth.
“s.h.i.t! I want everyone to retreat inside for now!”
They were being sniped by something that defied reason. It was dangerous to be in a wide-open s.p.a.ce. With this in mind, Kieren retreated into the cave.
Niberis followed after him. However, she felt puzzled by what had occured.
‘ Why were none aimed for me? Why?’
Not a single bolt from the Underworld’s Marksman had been aimed at her. Half of the bolts were focused on Kieren, and the rest were aimed at her subordinates.
Soon, Niberis was successful in locating Azell.
‘Over there!’
Unexpectedly, Azell wasn’t putting in too much effort in hiding himself. He just used an Invisibility technique that discouraged his enemies from seeing him through sight.
‘We are at a disadvantage right now. We’ll have to retreat for now….’
She was having such thoughts when her surrounding suddenly warped.
“Niberis!”
Kieren extended his hand in surprise, but he was a beat too late.
Niberis’ figure disappeared as if she was a heat shimmer in the distance.
Ggwah-gwah-gwahng!
Afterwards, violent lightning impacted the cave. The cave entrance collapsed.
5
In a flash, Niberis realized that she had been transported a long distance using the Dimensional Distortion.
Niberis knew of only one person that could pull this off.
“Laura!”
Vitan’s Chalice could use Dimensional Distortion to connect point A to point B. It was Laura’s specialty. She could use this trick to pull anyone in front of her. It was an unpleasant experience, but it was true that Laura had used this move to save her from being killed by Azell.
Still, that was the past. It was clear that Laura was an enemy.
‘I’m still within 1 kilometers.’
Niberis quickly a.s.sessed her situation.
Thankfully, the Vitan’s Maze hadn’t been used. This was why she was pulled only a distance of a kilometer. She was also able to sense that she was cut off from Kieren and her allies when the cave entrance was brought down.
If Kieren used his ability, he would be able to come out of the cave in short order. However, Niberis wasn’t confident that she could last that long against Azell’s party.
‘If I had the time to use the Queen of Darkness….’
She decided to quickly summon her Book of Darkness. She had to use the great magic called the Queen of Darkness to amplify her ability. However, she wasn’t given the time to use it.
Puh-buh-buh-buhng!
Unfortunately, her enemies wouldn’t give her the opportunity to use such a move. She didn’t even have time to say anything to Laura, who was in front of her. Lightning rained down from all directions towards her.
‘Sky Splitter!’
Azell had initiated his attack.
The lightning was like a mixture of flame and electricity. The lightning hammered on top of her barrier spell. It felt as if dozen magicians were attacking her at the same time. Niberis could only focus on her defense.
‘If I cannot endure this…. This place will be my grave.’
When she hardened her defense, she started bouncing around the air like a ball. She didn’t have the luxury to a.s.sess her surrounding. She put all her efforts in not losing her concentration.
Soon, she realized that she was high up in the sky.
The lightning that had been mindlessly impacting on her barrier was gone in a flash. Azell had halted his attack.
Soon, she heard Azell’s voice.
“Niberis, will you have a conversation with me?”
“…what underhanded scheme are you plotting this time?”
Niberis couldn’t comprehend his motive, so she furrowed her brows.
When she looked down, she saw that the ground was very far away. Even as a high rank magician, she had never climbed up to such elevation.
‘Did he intentionally bring me up here?’
She was chilled with fright.
Basically, Azell had used his Sky Splitter without a single ounce of killing intent behind it. He didn’t given Niberis the chance to counterattack, and he had separated her completely from her allies without injuring her. It had all been done for this purpose.
Azell shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t like the fact that I have to go through all these annoying steps to have a conversation with you. However, I made a promise, so I have no choice.”
“You promised? To whom did you make this promise with?”
“The Simpleton Prince…. I meant to say your father. I made a promise with Saibein. ”
“…….”
Niberis’ eyes widened.
However, her surprise lasted only a moment. In a short amount of time, her expression calmed.
Azell queried her.
“You don’t seem as surprised as I thought you would be.”
“If my father was alive, I had a feeling my father would run across you.”
In the past, Niberis had tracked down Saibein’s whereabouts. She had gone into the Albatan forest. However, she had experienced something unbelievable in there. A water dragon of unknown origin had delivered the Book of Darkness to her.
From that moment on, Niberis was sure that Saibein was alive. She didn’t know why he wouldn’t meet her, but she knew he had his reasons for doing so. She had swallowed her disappointment.
“However…..”
A determined resolve appeared in Niberis’ eyes.
“It seems you plan on deceiving me by trying to sell information about my father to me. I want you to give up on such empty dreams.”
There was a wide river of grudge separating Azell and Niberis. It wasn’t a relationship that could be salvaged.
‘I told myself I wouldn’t become careless, yet….’
She thought herself to be pathetic. It was the same in the past when she had tried to attack Azell’s party. She had been helpless as she was walked all over by his party.
Azell let out a bitter laugh.
“I expected such a reaction. However, I did make a promise. Therefore, I don’t think it would be right for me to kill you just because you cannot drop your hostility towards me. Just listen to me for now. Then I’ll send you back alive.”
“You continue to show contempt by looking down upon me. How much before you are satisfied?”
“I don’t have any plans on putting in any effort to look down on you . It would be much cleaner for me to kill you when the opportunity presents itself. If I wanted to, I could have killed you 100 times over since I’ve arrived here.”
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d……!”
Niberis’ body shook from anger.
An acute sense of humiliation washed over her. On the other hand, she was a high rank magician, so she tried to cooly a.s.sess the situation.
She didn’t want to admit it, but it was as Azell had said.
‘I’m sorry, Duran. I will not be able to take revenge for you. I found myself lacking.’
Niberis apologized to Duran, who had died for her. However, his presence still lived within her heart, so she wouldn’t give up even if the fight was insurmountable. She couldn’t withdraw her grudge just because she was curious about her father. Her pride wouldn’t let her do so.
‘As expected, this is how she’ll respond?’
Azell could read Niberis’ resolve. She showed no signs of compromising.
There was no way she could win this fight. Her life was being threatened, and she wanted to know about her father…..
These were the reasons why she should withdraw her grudge against Azell. She should accept the demand for a conversation, but she wasn’t going to humiliate herself by choosing that option. Her pride was strong and upright like a blade.
“I kind of like that about you.”
He had to deliver Saibein’s message to her. From his perspective, it was a frustrating situation.
On the other hand, he could understand and sympathize with her intentions.
Azell and his comrades in the Dragon Demon war had felt the same thing as her. The Dragon Demon king’s army held an absolute edge against humanity. The Dragon Demon king’s army threatened their lives to forcefully forge a deal with humanity. However, Azell and his comrades never agreed to such terms.
“I have no choice. I’ll make you listen with my strength.”
“You won’t be able to accomplish that easily.”
“Unless you immediately take your own life….”
She had opened her Book of Darkness as she was about to cast a spell. Her heart lurched when she suddenly heard Azell’s voice from behind her.
“You have no choice but to hear me out.”
Lightning exploded against her barrier. Niberis’ body shot upwards.
‘Is it Incarnation?!’
This was one of Azell’s moves that instilled extreme fear in her. She had experienced it ad nauseam.
She had experienced it before, but she had no way of countering it. Several dozen forms of Azell surrounded Niberis, and a storm-like attack was sent towards her.
Gwah-gwah-gwah-gwahng! Gwah-gwahng!
It was the same situation that had sent her up to this elevation. It was such a fierce attack that she could only defend against it.
No, she was in a worse situation.
‘T...this is……!’
The Sky Splitter had changed itself into several thousand strands of light, and they were attacking Niberis’ barrier from all sides.
While this was going on, another fatal attack was being used against her.
Azell was using his Moon sword to eat away at her magical energy.
Normally, she would immediately try to counter such a move. However, she was having a hard time just lasting against Azell’s bombardment. Her barrier was slowly decaying, yet she couldn’t do anything about it.
“Do you now realize why I took the trouble to bring you up here?”
It felt as if she was going to lose her sense of hearing as the explosive sounds a.s.saulted her ears, yet Azell’s voice could be heard clearly. It was as if he was whispering his words right next to her ears.
‘Do you think I’ll take this lying down!’
Niberis used her hidden card. She hadn’t used it, because of Laura. However, Laura wasn’t present in this elevation.
The Book of Darkness let out a wave of terrifying Dragon Demon magic. Several dozen spells poured out into the surrounding.
Kwahhhhhhhhh!
The Book of Darkness’ strength was its overwhelming firepower. There were a great number of spells baked into the book, and she didn’t need to chant the spells to use them.
Once she took out the Book of Darkness, it was basically like having several dozen magicians as her support.
In a flash, Niberis’ firepower exceeded Azell’s firepower. Her spells pushed aside the lightning from the Sky Splitter as she created s.p.a.ce for herself.
“Respond to my call! Oh, Book of Darkness!”
She used the Book of Darkness to create an opportunity for herself. He chained the spells together as she used a continuous stream of magic. She planned on stacking the spells in order to fight against Azell.
Pah-jeek!
Niberis’ eyes widened.
‘What?!’
Her spells were broken. A high level spell had intruded from outside.
‘Laura?’
Naturally, she thought about Laura. However, Laura hadn’t followed them up into the alt.i.tudes. However, she was here at the same time.
“They are a lesser version of her, but I basically have four Lauras with me. That should be enough magical support.”
Amongst Azell’s clones, there were four silhouettes made out of light.
It was the Dragon weapon called Dawn’s Defender. He had created clones with the help of Laura.
‘I heard it in our lore, but how many Dragon weapon can he summon all at once?’
Niberis was at a loss for words.
The Sky Splitter was an incredibly terrifying Dragon weapon in itself. However, Azell was using the Storm’s Wing to fly at high speeds, and the Moon sword was eating at her magical energy. Now he had manifested four clones of Laura using the Dawn’s Defender.
“Let’s talk.”
Azell continuously attacked her as he calmly spoke to her.
“As you"ve surmised, the Simpleton Prince is alive. He is alive and very healthy. He delivered his Dragon weapon to you, because he made an oath to become the resident of the Albatan forest. This was why he couldn’t meet you.”
“Ooh-ook……!”
“Your father wanted me to persuade you to leave the Plain of Darkness. I think his request is nonsense, but he made the request. I’m delivering his message to you.”
“Azell Karzark!”
Niberis raged. It felt as if her brain would fry from the humiliation she was feeling. However, Azell didn’t care what emotions she was feeling. He was meticulous in hamstringing her spells. He continued to put her on the defensive as he spoke.
“Your father left the Plain of Darkness, because…….”
She couldn’t shake off Azell’s voice, and it shook Niberis’ heart.