Chapter 360
Chapter 360: I’m a Mage Too. (2)
Hubert pointed his finger at Delmood, who had stepped forward, and shouted.
“What, what’s going on! Why are you coming out!”
“Why? Is there a rule against me coming out?”
At Delmood’s cold words, Hubert shut his mouth. He had nothing to say.
The tower owners and elders didn’t usually participate out of convention and face-saving, but it wasn’t long ago that the elders would challenge each other too.
With Delmood’s appearance, the atmosphere shifted again. The mages of the Tower of the Bloody Flame could only stamp their feet, unable to decide on a course of action.
“Who will come out?”
Delmood scanned the Tower of the Bloody Flame with sharp eyes. Those who met his gaze lowered their heads and avoided eye contact.
Since the tower owner had come out, their side needs to send out a tower owner too. But Hubert lacked the courage to do so.
Eventually, Vanessa stepped forward with a determined expression. Anyway, she was supposed to be the last one standing.
“No, don’t go.”
Alfoy grabbed Vanessa’s arm and shook his head.
She looked at him with trembling eyes.
“Lord Alfoy.”
“No matter how talented you are… no, even if you’re the head researcher, you can’t win. If you go out, you’ll die.”
There’s a limit to how much one can know through experience. Alfoy knew better than anyone Vanessa’s abilities.
She might have the accumulated knowledge and talent to be better than Delmood. But for now, she was at a lower circle and severely lacking in magic power.
No matter how outstanding Vanessa was, the current gap in strength was too great.
“Still… there’s no one else to go out.”
Hubert and the elders couldn’t step out, shivering in fear. At their pathetic sight, Alfoy bit his lip and said,
“Just say we’re not going. Let’s agree we lost.”
“That person will never accept that.”
“Then we’ll just have to fight. Fighting together will increase our chances of survival.”
Alfoy shouted at the mages behind him with an angry expression.
“Damn it! What are you doing right now! Don’t you realize yet? Those bastards are trying to kill us all! They came here with the intent to kill us!”
Hubert looked at Alfoy with trembling eyes.
“Alfoy…”
“Get a grip! If we don’t fight, we’re all dead! Everyone step up! You idiots!”
Everyone flinched at Alfoy’s fierce momentum. Hubert spoke with a voice as trembling as his gaze.
“But… why are you moving backward?”
Alfoy, only looking serious, was slowly backing away while holding onto Vanessa.
“….”
Alfoy said nothing and stopped walking.
He still kept his serious expression, glancing around before taking another step back.
While everyone was in a daze, Delmood’s chilling voice cut through.
“Someone hurry and step out.”
Hubert didn’t know what to do. Whoever went out would be dead. There was no one here capable of stopping that guy.
Well, there was one person.
Some time ago, Ghislaine had stood up from the spectator seat and approached.
“Count Penris. We must conclude this duel. Please mediate quickly.”
Now, the only person to trust was Ghislaine. An all-out war would truly be the worst outcome. He couldn’t let the Mage Tower be destroyed under his watch.
Ghislaine nodded a few times before speaking to Delmood.
“They wish to stop here. What is your stance, Tower Lord?”
“It is unacceptable. I have no intention of stopping. Also, remember that to interfere in matters between mages is an infringement of noble authority.”
Paahhh!
Powerful magic emanated from Delmood’s body. It meant he had no intention of backing down.
He was full of rage from the death of his first disciple.
Of course, there were limits to how far Count Penris could intervene.
He planned to wipe out the Tower of the Bloody Flame first under the pretext of it being a matter between mages, then turn to deal with Count Penris afterward.
Killing everyone here was just the easiest way to go about it.
Ghislaine nodded once more and said to Hubert,
“Lord of the Bloody Flame is not wrong. There are limits to my interference in customary practices.”
‘You’re the one who ignores customs all the time!’
Hubert felt dizzy hearing someone, who disregarded conventions the most, now bring up custom.
If Count Penris didn’t intervene, they truly would have to fight, but their opponent was a 7th Circle Mage.
Knowing they would die if they stepped out, he couldn’t send his disciples; now, neither could outsider Vanessa.
Looking at the elders, everyone shook their heads in panic.
“Sigh, is this really the end for our Mage Tower under my leadership?”
Eventually, he had to go out himself. He might last longer than others, but Delmood would definitely try to kill him.
‘That guy really seems determined to wipe our Mage Tower off the face of the earth.’
If not, he wouldn’t come charging out like this, even with Count Penris around. It meant he trusted he could somehow alleviate the political pressure coming his way.
‘What should I do? Do we really have to fight here?’
He couldn’t send someone to die. Yet he didn’t want to die himself. Even if one person were sacrificed, he couldn’t be certain that would end the duel.
Ultimately, the only option would be to fight together. One of the two towers must be destroyed for this to end.
Hubert looked at Ghislaine with a dark expression.
“Count, you should step back. It seems we must reach a conclusion today.”
Then Ghislaine said with a nonchalant face.
“If you lack confidence, you could always use a guest mage, couldn’t you?”
“Huh? Vanessa’s a 6th Circle Mage. She can’t win. But if you would allow her to go…”
“No, no. Another mage.”
“Who…?”
Ghislaine smiled brightly and said,
“I’ll step out.”
“Excuse me?”
Before Hubert could say anything, Ghislaine stepped forward.
“I will participate in this duel as a guest mage from the Tower of the Bloody Flame.”
At those words, Delmood’s eyebrows twitched. What kind of joke was this?
“Count, don’t joke around. Do you really think you can stop the duel like this?”
“I’m not joking. I’m serious about participating.”
“This duel is between mages. You are not a mage, are you?”
“Who says I’m not a mage?”
“What?”
Suddenly, a chilling smile appeared on Ghislaine’s face.
“I’m a mage too.”
At that, Hubert and the elders thought to themselves.
‘Ah, that crazy person is starting again.’
Grateful for her stepping up but wondering why she had to insist so stubbornly. If you’re going to cheat, shouldn’t you make it at least plausible?
But regardless of what others thought, Ghislaine slowly spread her arms.
Paahhh!
Suddenly, many glowing red spears formed behind Ghislaine.
Everyone’s jaw dropped at that sight.
“What, what’s that? What kind of magic is that?”
“It… it looks like a magic power, but maybe it’s not…?”
“Count Penris is really a mage?”
The power of Dark is a force combining magic and spirit power. And it’s utilized based on Ghislaine’s mana.
So the mages couldn’t precisely identify the nature of the power he was using.
But that was typically a power only mages could display. Thus, they couldn’t disbelieve it.
Delmood was also somewhat surprised by the power Ghislaine had shown.
‘That guy uses magic?’
There hadn’t been any talk of that in the Count Desmond and Duke Faction. Even rumors about the war didn’t mention anything of the sort.
‘They said he was an excellent knight, but he never showed such abilities.’
Just looking at it, it seemed to exude tremendous power. This wasn’t something one could gain in just a day or two of training.
‘Has he been hiding his power?’
He had always thought Ghislaine was intriguing each time he heard news about her, but now seeing it direct was even more astonishing. She had been hiding such power while fighting until now.
And yet, she had also roamed freely across the battlefield, defeating Count Desmond.
Delmood narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the magical spears floating behind Ghislaine.
‘This isn’t pure magic power. What the hell kind of power is that?’
It felt like a mix of chaotic energy. As a 7th Circle Mage, he sensed that the source of that power was very ominous.
‘Did he learn some scraps of dark magic somewhere? Well, whatever.’
Delmood grinned cruelly. He was one of only two 7th Circle Mages in the kingdom.
Whether Count Penris had hidden power or not, he would not be adequate as his opponent.
‘It’s good that I was planning to kill anyway.’
Only the order of things had switched. Moreover, since she took over the duel, no one else could intervene.
Killing Count Penris first would actually make it easier to kill the others afterward.
‘Since I participated in the duel, it provides me with justification to escape the pressures from the Crown Prince Faction. A better opportunity doesn’t arise.’
Delmood pretended to be displeased and opened his mouth to stack clear reasoning.
“Count, even if I acknowledge you as a mage, it’s still inappropriate for a noble to participate in a duel of mages…”
“Hey, Duke Faction’s dog.”
“…?”
“You came to kill all these people anyway. Why keep playing word games? Let’s settle this between us.”
Ghislaine said with a fierce grin, causing Delmood to momentarily wear a blank expression.
A moment later, Delmood snickered and burst into laughter.
“Cough, hahahaha!”
Zzzzz—!
People couldn’t stand the power contained in his laughter and covered their ears, stepping back.
The might of a 7th Circle Mage was indeed tremendous. Just the sound of laughter was enough to deal damage to everyone.
Delmood glared at Ghislaine, saying,
“Yeah, I was bored with this charade. Since it’s all going to be settled with power anyway, I don’t know why we had to go through all this.”
He too had merely suppressed his strength due to the wishes of Count Desmond and the Duke Faction.
He had struggled all this time to hold back his destructive instincts. He had never properly used his power since reaching the 7th Circle.
Once someone has power, they want to show it off. He had been patiently waiting to stain the kingdom with blood.
But that was enough. Count Penris and the Tower of the Bloody Flame had to be erased.
“Today, all of you will turn to ash.”
Guoooooo!
Delmood’s body began to lift off the ground.
Hubert shouted upon seeing this.
“Magic Barrier! Set up the barrier!”
Zzzing—!
The magic barrier was deployed, but everyone knew it would be useless.
The power of a 7th Circle Mage couldn’t be blocked by some barrier. It would surely break through easily.
“Get back! Everyone, retreat!”
As Hubert and the elders shouted, the mages of the Tower of the Bloody Flame moved back. The mages of the Tower of the Bloody Flame had already distanced themselves.
“Lord!”
Vanessa tried to help but wriggled Alfoy’s hand away. But she soon ran into Gillian.
“Lord Gillian! The Lord!”
Gillian shook his head. Having received prior instructions from Ghislaine, he didn’t intend to let anyone intervene in the duel.
“Trust the Lord.”
“But…”
Vanessa looked at Ghislaine with a worried expression.
As a mage, she knew well why a 7th Circle Mage was called a superhuman.
From the 7th Circle onward, the power they wield is entirely different from earlier circles. Literally, a being capable of causing supernatural phenomena is a 7th Circle Mage.
She could say that Delmood was the strongest enemy Ghislaine had faced until now.
Delmood was floating in the air, looking down at Ghislaine with an overbearing expression.
“Because of you, the events in the North have all gone awry. Today, I shall bring you to justice.”
Ghislaine looked up at Delmood and smiled.
“You said we would settle it with strength in the end, right?”
“Yeah, since I’m going to kill you all anyway, there’s no need to delay. Killing you will allow Amelia to take the North. Then all regions except the East will be in our hands. The civil war can be easily resolved.”
“That’s a very welcome statement to hear.”
“What?”
“I frequently tell people something.”
“What is that?”
In an instant, red light shone from Ghislaine’s eyes.
“I also prefer resolving things with strength.”
Bang!
The dozens of spears floating behind Ghislaine shot toward Delmood.
Delmood scowled at that spectacle.
“You insolent brat.”
As he reached out, immense magic power surged, dominating the space.
“Fire Storm.”
Flames surged around Delmood. Those flames mingled and twisted together to become a gigantic storm.
Pahhh!
The flame storm devoured all the magic spears shooting toward the sky, and then enveloped Ghislaine’s body.
“Lord!”
Vanessa finally brushed past Gillian, who had been blocking her, and rushed forward.
However, others moved even further back. That colossal flame storm looked ready to break through the magic barrier at any moment.
Everyone wore expressions of horror. Someone muttered in disbelief.
“T-this is 7th Circle magic…”
The flames engulfing the surroundings were no mere magic level. It could easily be compared to a natural disaster.
“It’s… over.”
“We can’t win….”
“We need to run… now.”
Hubert realized he had been mistaken. Not even all the mages here could win against Delmood.
He finally felt the truth that the higher the circle, the greater the gap among the circles.
They needed to flee. That was the only way to survive.
“E-everyone, withdraw! We must urgently request troops from Count Brivant…!”
“Waaaahhhh!”
Before Hubert could finish, a cheer erupted among his disciples.
Paat!
The massive flame storm split apart, and Ghislaine sprang out.
