Chapter 755

Chapter 755

Are they targeting that place? (2)

The sound of thick ropes snapping echoed sharply through the canyon as the suspension bridge broke apart. The people who had been tied as hostages screamed as they plummeted into the air.

"Aaaaah!"

People were falling deep into the dark canyon below. Watching the scene, the black mages let out eerie laughs.

There was only one reason they hadn’t killed the people immediately. It was to lure Ghislain into using his power to save them. After all, any kind of attempt would drain his strength.

However, Ghislain had already seen through their intent.

"Ereneth."

"I know!"

As Ereneth raised her hand high, the spirits of wind appeared. Transparent spirits flew toward the falling people, cutting through the air.

Faaah!

The fall of the people slowed down gently, like feathers floating down. The intertwining winds supported them.

But the ground below was a river. Deep, powerful currents surged without pause.

"Breath of water! Embrace them in your calm arms!"

At Ereneth’s shout, a giant wave rose above the river. Water spirits formed towering pillars of water, gently catching the falling people.

The people did not fall into the river but safely rode the water pillars and were embraced by the spirits.

Burlag, the leader of the black mages who was observing the situation, bit his lip.

"Spirits? We had no information about a spirit-wielder."

But even as he watched the scene unfold before him, he couldn’t deny it. They had tried to drain that mad mage’s strength, but an unexpected enemy had appeared.

"Kill the people first."

The black mages, who had been watching, quickly extended their hands.

Dark mana condensed as the powers of lightning, fire, and poison surged simultaneously.

Ereneth was already handling two elements of spirits at once. She was using significant power and had no room to respond to the black mages’ attack.

At that moment, Ghislain stepped forward.

"Shield."

The chant was short and simple, but its power was anything but trivial.

Faaah!

A massive dome-shaped shield formed above the people embraced by the spirits. The black mages’ attacks were blocked by the dazzling barrier.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-boom!

Fragments of magic scraped away at the canyon cliffs in vain. The people were safe.

Ereneth let out a sigh of relief and began pulling the people toward herself.

Julien and Kyle rushed over and shouted.

"Ghislain! We did it! We saved everyone!"

"Good. It went according to plan. Now let’s retreat quickly."

With the suspension bridge cut, they had no means to cross the canyon from here.

Their plan had been solely focused on rescuing the people. They would have to retreat, circle around, or come up with another way to deal with the enemy.

But suddenly, Ghislain grabbed both of their arms.

"This is a perfect situation."

"What do you mean?"

“This kind of training opportunity doesn’t come often. When will you ever see so many monsters gathered like that again?”

“...?”

Ghislain immediately grabbed the two of them and hurled them across to the other side.

“Aaaaah!”

“What the hell!”

Julien and Kyle’s bodies flew through the air, cutting across the canyon.

The other mercenaries watched the scene with dazed expressions. At that moment, Ghislain quickly approached Lionel.

Looking at Lionel’s blank face, Ghislain grinned.

“You should put what you’ve learned to use. You’ve built up a bit of mana too. Nothing’s better than real combat to improve your skills.”

“D... don’t do this. You lunatic.”

“Hold onto your shield tightly. You can’t afford to lose it while flying.”

Ghislain grabbed Lionel and threw him as well.

Lionel didn’t even scream. He simply flew across with a vacant expression.

Thud!

Landing on the other side, Lionel immediately raised his shield.

‘What is this? If he wants to kill me, he could do it himself. Why go through all this trouble to kill me?’

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like Ghislain simply wanted him to die fighting monsters so it looked better.

Lionel gritted his teeth.

‘I won’t die! When I get back to the Papacy, I’ll report everything!’

Kaaah!

On the far side of the canyon, vicious monsters were swarming.

Chimeras with grotesquely combined bodies.

Undead creatures dragging rotting flesh as they approached.

There were so many of them. It looked as if every monster in the area had been gathered here.

Julien muttered in a low voice as he watched them.

“...This is a bit much.”

Kyle let out a hollow laugh and drew his sword.

“Ha ha... Surely he doesn’t expect us to deal with all of these, right?”

Lionel held up his shield, darting his eyes around nervously.

But there was no time to hesitate. The sound of hooves echoed throughout the canyon, and the stench of rotting corpses filled the air.

“Damn it! Why is training always like this!”

Kyle’s shout rang out. Without another word, Julien swung his sword, slicing through the approaching monsters.

Lionel, not wanting to die either, kept pushing back the monsters with his shield.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

And so, the three of them desperately fought against the monsters.

Ghislain watched the scene briefly. With the three of them, they should be able to withstand the monsters’ assault.

He wasn’t worried about the black mages’ attacks. All their attention was focused on him.

‘All of them are 5th Circle.’

From their earlier attack, he had gauged their circle level precisely. They were conserving their strength to face him, a Transcendent.

Ghislain turned his head. Deneb and a few remaining mercenaries were still there.

With a pale face, Deneb stretched her hand forward.

“Ghislain, not me. I’m not ready yet.”

“Man Osval! If I go there, I’ll die!”

Ghislain hesitated for a moment, then nodded. It seemed unlikely that the others could hold out over there.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey! Hurry up and help!”

Kyle’s shout rang out. It seemed the number of monsters was overwhelming him.

Kwaaaang!

Ghislain shot forward like an explosion. Breaking through the pressure crashing against his body, he pierced right into the center of the monsters.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-boom!

The mana Ghislain unleashed burst in every direction. Blue flashes pierced through and shredded the monsters’ bodies.

Amidst the blood and flesh scattered in the air, Ghislain’s mana spread like a dance, piercing through the remaining monsters.

Julien instinctively stepped back, while Kyle mumbled with his mouth wide open.

“He could’ve done it all by himself from the start... seriously.”

Lionel flinched at every explosion.

‘I really am a small fry.’

His self-esteem had fallen quite a bit.

Ghislain didn’t completely wipe out the monsters. He needed to give the three of them the opportunity to train.

He only cleared the monsters blocking the way as he began to advance.

Then, at last, four black mages revealed themselves from afar.

“Target only him.”

At Burlag’s command, magic circles rose up on all sides as dark red mana poured out.

Kwaaaaang!

Magic shot out like lightning, splitting the ground and striking Ghislain.

In an instant, the battlefield was covered in smoke.

However, Ghislain pressed forward, maintaining his shield.

He smashed aside the charging monsters through the surging spells, tearing and breaking everything before him as he advanced.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As Ghislain joined the fight, the number of monsters heading toward the three decreased. There were still many, but if they gave it their all, it was manageable.

Behind them, Ereneth was safely pulling the people up.

“Slowly! It’s okay! The spirits are holding you, so don’t be afraid!”

The mercenaries ran over and led the people one by one to the safe area behind them.

Once everyone was rescued, Ereneth used the wind spirits to lift herself into the air.

“You stay here and guard the people. It’s dangerous over there.”

She spoke to the mercenaries and crossed over to the other side.

Watching her fly, the mercenaries muttered one after another.

“Sis, we can’t fly, you know.”

“Not like we’d be much help even if we went.”

“Man Osval! Frustrating as it is, we’ll wait here!”

All they could do was take the people back and calm them down.

Kwaaaang!

Flames scorched the sky, and the winds screamed.

As Ereneth set foot on the battlefield, the power of the spirits following her erupted all around her.

A blue whirlwind swirled, slicing off the chimeras’ heads, while blazing fireballs exploded and engulfed the undead hordes.

The disorganized horde of monsters, despite their overwhelming numbers, collapsed helplessly under that tremendous force.

The black mages were horrified as they watched. There weren’t many of them, but each one was far too powerful.

Especially the one at the very front, steadily knocking away monsters as he advanced, was even more formidable than the rumors had suggested.

Burlag, his face tense and cold sweat dripping down, muttered.

“Astion… You really are something.”

He had heard the information that their opponent was a Transcendent. He had expected it would be difficult to win, but had not fully grasped the reality.

But the moment he witnessed Ghislain personally, slaughtering countless monsters as he advanced, all the black mages felt fear.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every time Ghislain swung his staff, monsters were sent flying, and each time a spell was cast, explosions rocked the surroundings.

Watching the scene, Burlag clenched his teeth tightly.

‘More than half the monsters are already gone.’

At this rate, they too would inevitably be captured and killed.

They had no choice but to use their final option. Gathering a massive amount of mana, he spoke.

“...Let’s begin.”

They hadn’t expected to win in a head-on fight with a Transcendent when they were only 5th Circle mages.

They had prepared extensively to capture one such as him.

“Pour it all out.”

At his command, the black mages simultaneously pushed their mana to the limit.

Goooooo...

All the mana they released seeped into the ground in every direction.

Soon, the earth began to tremble slightly.

While cutting down the monsters and moving forward, Ghislain frowned. He sensed an unusual energy churning beneath the ground.

‘This is...?’

An immense amount of mana was gathering underground. This wasn’t something four 5th Circle mages could produce alone.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘Could it be... like what I once did...?’

Before he could finish the thought, an enormous surge of mana exploded from beneath the ground.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

The entire canyon shook violently.

A towering pillar of fire engulfed Ghislain’s body and split the sky.

The air burned, and the ground melted.

At the center of the explosion, a hole was punched clean through, as if that part of the earth had simply vanished.

Everything nearby was swept up in the storm of mana. The monsters evaporated instantly, leaving behind nothing but blazing flames of annihilation.

Watching the scene, Burlag’s face twisted into one of ecstatic delight.

“Keuk, kukukukuk! Amazing! Absolutely amazing!”

Burlag and the black mages had planted numerous runestones into the ground to set the trap.

Its power was beyond imagination. Even a Transcendent wouldn’t survive something like this.

Even if he did survive, he would surely have expended all his mana and become completely incapable of fighting.

“Kuhaha! Even a Transcendent is helpless! Did you really think we were just waiting here idly?”

Taking people hostage and gathering hordes of monsters had all merely been bait.

It was to divert attention and conceal the true trap.

To lure in a Transcendent and eliminate him in one blow.

“Hehehe… For it to have such power… All those runestones were worth it.”

The runestones had been supplied by priests from the Salvation Church. It was a shame to have used so many, but capturing a Transcendent was a massive accomplishment.

Especially one who was infamous across the continent as a madman.

The other black mages also let out sighs of relief. All that remained now was to kill the ones across the canyon and the mission would be complete.

The moment they relaxed and stepped forward slightly—

Bwoooong!

Suddenly, Ghislain shot out through the flames.

His condition didn’t look good. He was on one knee, gasping heavily for breath.

Blood kept dripping from his nose and mouth, as if he had pushed himself too far.

The black mages were shocked.

“N-No way…”

“He’s still alive after taking that head-on?”

“Is he even human?”

Burlag shouted in a panic.

“Kill him quickly! He can’t possibly fight anymore!”

The black mages scraped together what remaining mana they had. Though they were nearly spent, they were still in better shape than Ghislain.

Ghislain twisted his body and tried to stand. But his toes wobbled and he sank back down to one knee.

“Cough!”

Vomiting blood again, Ghislain smiled as if finding it amusing.

“This… Taking it directly really isn’t a joke.”

The four 5th Circle black mages had poured all their mana into detonating an enormous number of runestones.

The power was far greater than what Vanessa had used during the Ferdium Siege.

He could somewhat understand how Viktor must have felt when he fell into this very trap.

“Ha… To think I’d get caught in something like this. I got careless, thinking it was nothing.”

They must have prepared quite a lot to take on a Transcendent, even digging such a trap.

But there was nothing to be done now. This wasn’t his fault.

“This body really is too weak.”

Had it been his original body, he wouldn’t have been hit this hard. The problem was this frail body.

At Ghislain’s remark, Astion asked in an exasperated voice.

― …Just how monstrous was your original body?

“You’ll find out one day too.”

If Astion ever reached the level of battling the Apostles or Prophets, that is.

At any rate, the problem was that he had taken quite a heavy hit. He needed more time to recover before he could move.

Seeing Ghislain unable to stand properly, the black mages relaxed once again.

Burlag shouted loudly.

“Kill him now! This is our chance!”

They were exhausted too, but had enough power left to kill one man. The distance wasn’t even that far.

The black mage at the front extended his hand. If he released his mana like this, that arrogant bastard would die immediately.

But as he was about to pour out his remaining mana toward Ghislain—

Ghislain, with his head lowered, murmured softly.

“But I’m not alone right now.”

Faaah!

Cutting through the hot flames, Julien burst out from behind Ghislain.

“Huh?”

The black mage’s eyes widened. Caught completely off guard, his body froze.

And in that brief instant—

Slash!

Julien’s sword cut clean through the black mage’s neck.

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