Chapter 94 - Forest of Eternity (2)
“Hoo. I see it.”
“······we really can see it. I still can’t believe it.”
They had destroyed everything that was in their way. At times, they took a short break, and they had to heal their horses. However, they were able to reach the capital of Aedia in just two days.
If a trained war horse ran its fastest speed on minimal break, the estimated arrival time had been one week. The current result was like a smack on the nose to the king of Daitan.
“We should slow down soon, your majesty! I can see the enemy force!”
“Wow. I’ve never seen so many magicians gathered in one place!”
Aedia had sent multiple small elite units towards Artpe’s party one after another, but they determined a small force couldn’t stop the progress of Artpe’s party. They even attempted to use a spell that would have incinerated a small territory. However, the spell was stopped before it could be activated. It was decided the powers within the capital had to be mobilized.
Aedia had sent out magicians to ascertain the extent of power possessed by Artpe’s party, but they had lost contact with all the magicians. This was why the only thing known about Artpe’s party was its size.
It was also the reason why they had declared this the worst crisis since the founding of Aedia as a nation.
They gathered everyone that was capable of using magic to face their enemy! The quant.i.ty of magicians that could be thrown at their enemies was something only the magic kingdom of Aedia could do.
The only problem that remained was the fact that they were having a hard time evacuating the civilians. It was to be expected. At the guidance of Artpe, Daitan’s troops had arrived in just two days. It hadn’t been too long since Aedia had realized the seriousness of the problem they faced. Two days was too short of a time to finish their preparations.
“The defense facilities installed all over Aedia are too good that they’ve never experienced their capital being ransacked by enemy forces. Of course, they have a procedure to deal with an attack on the captial. They possess evacuation sites.”
Artpe gave a running commentary to his party as they watched the capital, which had turned upside down from the impending attack from an enemy force. The magicians were all gathered, and the civilians within the city were running about in confusion. It was a funny sight.
“Artpe, do we have to kill the civilians?”
Maetel bit her lips as she spoke. Artpe grinned as he shook his head from side to side.
“I decided to go straight towards the capital, because I wanted to minimize civilian casualties. So why would I order you to do something like that?”
“But Artpe…. I can feel an enormous amount of Mana from the capital. If we clash against them, how can we not cause harm to the civilians…...?”
“What do you mean by clash against them?”
“Huh?”
Artpe’s reply was unexpected, so Maetel t.i.tled her head. The fact that he wasn’t going to attack civilians weren’t the important part. He was stating that he would bring everything to a halt before he would have to fight the enemy force! When the king of Daitan heard their conversation, he questioned Artpe in disbelief.
“Is there a way to subdue our enemies without clashing against them?”
“Well, they are getting ready to fight to the death, so why should we get bloodied by charging straight into them······? I won’t be affected, but a lot of your knights will be killed.”
“However, you baited them into making those preparations…...?”
The king of Daitan had an expression on his face that said he was ready to shed a bowl or two of blood for victory. Artpe smirked when he saw this.
“I told you that this would be the world’s dirtiest and fanciest festival. It won’t be much of a festival if someone dies..”
“A war where countless people die en ma.s.se is a festival. If not, what else could it be?”
“Nope. You guys don"t have to do anything. I’ll show you myself.”
This was what was wrong with muscle-brained knights. Artpe clicked his tongue as he used a spell. His body floated into the air.
“I’ll be going first. You guys should follow me at a slower pace. You can be at ease. I’ll take care of the magicians along the way.”
There were spells that all magicians learned at an early stage. For some reason, Artpe had been very unlucky, and he hadn’t been unable to learn some of these spells until he had pa.s.sed level 250. One of these spell was the Float spell.
In truth, a magician of Artpe’s level should have learned the Flight spell by now. No, it was more befitting for him to use teleportation spells at his level. However, movement type spells refused to drop for him. This was why he was thankful for the fact that he was able to learn the Float spell.
In the end, he could only put his trust in Mycenae now. However, he hadn’t met her in awhile, because he had been playing underwater. When he solved the Forest of Eternity quest for her, he would use it as leverage to acquire spell books from her. He planned on being forceful in his request.
“Thankfully, I have the Float spell. As expected, looting is worth doing.”
“Didn’t you just steal the items from the magicians you captured as prisoners? You were just lucky that the spell books were in their possession…...
Several amongst the magicians had possessed spell books. It was common for magicians to come across spell books they had already learned.
It was logical to sell or give the spell book to someone else. However, most magicians hid the spell books or they carried it around in their possession.
Some did research on the spell books or they kept it as a memento. It was, because there was a chance their compet.i.tors might get stronger if these spell books became available to them..
Magicians were innately ostentatious, and they were small-minded.
Anyways, that’s how it was.
“Well, it’s time for me to move out.”
“Artpe, you shouldn’t do dangerous things.”
“I’m not. I’m not doing anything dangerous.”
He planned on using a mere Float spell to fly to the capital, yet Artpe was confident. If one could see the Mana Strings roiling around him, one would be inclined to believe his confidence.
“Oppa, do we have to do anything specific?”
“You just have to make sure to protect our employer so he doesn’t die. At a certain point in time, all the magicians inside the capital will be facing a ma.s.sive amount of chaos. It is easy to become distracted in such a situation, so you have to be vigilant.”
“Yes…...”
“Since this spell will guarantee to bring the capital to its knees, I’m sure it will cause a big commotion. However….. There are so many people gathered in the capital. Are you sure you can bring them to their knees without any lives being lost?”
The king of Daitan still looked to be half in doubt. However, Artpe had told him all the information he needed to know. It wasn’t up to him to convince the king.
He didn’t give a reply as he shot into the air. He was moving at such a fast speed that no one would have suspected that he was using a Float spell! It was a miracle created by pouring in an enormous amount of Mana into the spell!
“It’s him! That magician is revolting against Aedia!”
Since Artpe was flying high in the air, he was highly visible. Several magicians yelled out towards him.
Artpe had never joined Aedia, yet they were saying he was revolting against them? They were full of hot air. Did they think all magicians in the world originated from Aedia? He sneered at the arrogant and narrow-minded magicians as he increased his speed.
“You dare to bare your teeth on your benefactors. You stupid…. Punish him!”
“Show them the power of Aedia!”
Countless spells surged into the sky of the capital. The most common spells seen was the Magic Missle, Fireball and Ice Spear. Then there were the more uncommon AOE magic coming towards Artpe.
Each Mana had its own color and texture, so the banquet of spells surging into the air looked like a firework show. However, each spell contained enough power to easily kill a person. If one underestimated the power of these spells, it was a mistake one would never make again in this life.
‘They know that all the magicians they sent towards me had been wiped out, yet they are attacking me in such a simplistic manner….. I guess it is in the nature of magicians to act this way.’
Artpe was high in the sky, and spells were flooding towards him. The sight made him remember an incident from his past life. It wasn’t something that he had experience, but it was something he had witnessed.
‘At the time, Regina had been with them. When she found out of the truth, she became enraged and she sided with the hero. However, Aedia foolishly continued to believe until the end that they would be able to control her. They had been extremely foolish…..’
As the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly Kings, Artpe was tasked to keep surveillance over the hero’s party. When he saw the sight of a girl regain her freedom, he clenched his fists as he cheered for her. He cheered for her even though he wasn’t in a position to do so. After the Absolute Control had been used against him, he had been tormented for a long time. When he looked back on it, it was a fond memory….. No, it wasn’t a good memory at all.
“Let us engrave the laws of the magic kingdom onto his soul!”
“It isn’t enough. I want everyone to pour out more spells!”
It seemed they were dissatisfied with the sight of Artpe floating in the air in a free and easy manner. Artpe hadn’t asked for it, but the magicians sent additional spells towards him. They were recklessly consuming their Mana. It seemed some had consumed potions ahead of the battle, and there were those that were currently consuming potions. It was a sight to behold.
“You all haven’t noticed that just pouring out your spells towards me is ineffective. You lost the moment you failed to realized this fact.”
No, they might have lost from the moment they thought they could imprison Regina indefinitely. This had been true in the past life. They were brought down completely, because they had been deluding themselves.
“Eh-eet.”
Artpe lightly swung his hand. The several hundred Mana Strings split into couple thousand Mana Strings. Each strand of Mana String nullified a spell, and Artpe was able to charge forward without losing momentum.
He didn’t feel nervous at all, since he could easily block the attacks. The spells were only a minor annoyance to him. Any magic spell that could be used by the magicians of Aedia didn’t amount to much.
‘There’s only three magicians that are over level 200. I’m sure many of the higher level magicians are dispatched to Tiata and the Forest of Eternity. They are lacking in terms of the number of powerful magicians they possess. ’
This was why the magic kingdom, which had been touted to be the strongest on this continent, was in such a predicament. This was also the reason why the hero was the only hope for humanity. Aedia didn’t possess much power, yet they became full of themselves. It was so pathetic that it made him want to shed a tear.
“Still, I shouldn’t repeat what happened in the past.”
In the middle of the sky, Artpe kept erasing the countless spells that were being thrown at him. As he did so, he slowly closed his eyes, and he started gathering all his Mana that wasn’t being used by the Mana Strings.
“You are an organ that excretes the foul desire.”
Artpe started chanting the only Great Magic he could use.
“You have accepted the filth of humans. You are a mystery of nature locked up away in misery.”
He had already set his target. As he blocked all the magic spells, he reached the center of the capital where there was a raised structure.
“Reval your fermented anger. Put the humans in their place.”
Magic circle?
It was surprising. Artpe hadn’t made any prior preparations, yet the magic circle was present. The magic circle encompa.s.sed the entirety of this regions. If one wanted to find such magic circles, one could probably find it in all the cities within Aedia.
This was obvious, but Artpe hadn’t installed it here. They had done it themselves.
“I will allow it, so go find your freedom. Rampage to your heart’s content.”
A purple magic item started to rise out from his bosom. It was the Demite, which he had finished refining, It possessed a will of its own, and the Demite acted to support Artpe in the chanting of his spell. It endlessly amplified the magical energy.
“He’s casting a spell! He’s using a Great Magic through a magic circle!”
“You idiot! We would have known if he created a magic circle here.!”
“Destroy it! We have to destroy the magic circle now!”
“B...but this magic circle is….. Oh my G.o.d.”
Yes, they wouldn’t be able to destroy it.
This magic circle was a symbol that represented the prosperity of the magic kingdom of Aedia.
A magic circle wasn’t made purely out of Mana. Other material was needed to make what was considered to be greatest technique of this century.
A complete magic circle could created and maintain a spell.
The magic circle was a reminder to humanity and even the Demon race that magic was boundless in its use!
“That is why I want you to cover them equally.”
In the end, Artpe hadn’t been interrupted while he completed his magic spell. However, there wasn’t a smile of relief on his face. He had a resigned expression on his face.
“Flow backward.”
All of Artpe’s Mana was sucked into the Demite. In an instant, it spread across the raised structures in the region. It spread ‘below’ to permeate into the buried magic circle.
Arpte’s expression seemed to question whether he should be doing this or not.
He finished his spell.
“G.o.d Flush.”
······the sewer system that was installed across the entirety of the capital exploded all at once.