A Returner's Magic Should Be Special

Chapter 105. The Clue to Transcendence (2)

Chapter 105. The Clue to Transcendence (2)

Pram, Romantica and Adjest unleashed a flurry of attacks aimed at the Mother Worm.

The number of injuries sustained by Mother Worm increased rapidly, yet they had no lasting effect. She was able to regenerate before the next attack landed on her.

Argeria quickly assessed the situation they found themselves in.

“As far as we can tell, that thing can keep regenerating forever. Meanwhile, we only have a limited amount of mana to work with.”

No matter how much damage they dealt, if they couldn’t kill her in a single blow, she would continue to regenerate in an instant. In the end, all of their achievements would only amount to a waste of mana.

“It won’t be impossible for us to beat it if we regroup. Shall we briefly retreat and join up with another party?”

“… I would like to only do that if we run out of options.” Desir examined his surroundings.

“The Mother Worm isn’t the only reason why we can’t escape safely.”

Before Argeria could discern what Desir meant, the Mother Worm made her move.

*SHRIIEEEK*

Her cry was so loud that even the ground around them began to rumble. “Th… That’s!”

Argeria turned ghastly pale as Great Worms flooded into the cavern. The worms flooded in like a tsunami, threatening to overwhelm and envelope them. As a large force assaulted them head-on, some worms proceeded to the sides of the room, threatening to encircle the party if not dealt with.

“The Mother Worm has concluded that we are a threat and has decided to summon the remainder of her Great Worm colony.”

Although the attacks that Desir’s party dished out lacked the raw power to kill the Mother Worm, each one of their attacks had the damage and precision required to inflict what would normally be a fatal wound. The Mother Worm had essentially been cornered; she had to stop moving and put all of her energy into regenerating in order to outlast their mana-dependent onslaught.

The Mother Worm’s hostility was understandable.

The number of Great Worms that the Blue Moon party had gathered to interfere with Desir’s party couldn’t hold a candle to the sheer number of them that were now flooding towards the hall. In fact, the number was only increasing without end

The escape route was blocked.

“Argeria, regrouping isn’t an option. The only way to make it out alive now is to handle all of them.”

“…”

Argeria seemed to be at a loss for words in the face of this desperate situation. “I have a plan. Would you be willing to follow my command?”

At Desir’s unexpected words, Argeria yelled in protest. “W… Wait a minute!”

Desir turned back to face Argeria. “Perhaps you have a better idea?” *SCREEECH*

Horrible wails could be heard approaching the group of students from all directions.

After studying his surroundings, Argeria felt hopeless. There really was no choice but to trust

Desir’s directions. “No, not necessarily… ”

“I’ll take that as a yes then?” “… Alright.”

Having gotten confirmation, Desir reconfirmed the situation in front of him.

Out of the four people that remained standing from the Blue Moon party, only two were in a battle-ready condition. The high-ranking knight Argeria and the Fourth-Circle magician Kelt. However, their stamina and mana had been exhausted.

Everyone in Desir’s party was alive and well, but Freechel and Takiran couldn’t contribute much to the group’s overall fighting power.

In other words, only six people from their party could engage in combat. It didn’t seem like enough to take down the Mother Worm, not to mention that the horde of Great Worms heading their way made the situation that much harder to deal with. The fact that they had to fight, while protecting the ones who couldn’t, made it even worse.

‘But it’s not entirely hopeless.’

Desir looked at the passageway from which some of the Great Worms were swarming from. ‘Thankfully it’s a narrow entrance.’

Desir determined that preventing the Great Worms from entering into this battle was the highest priority.

There was only one way for the Great Worms to enter the hall. If they could be restrained before they passed through that entrance, it would be possible to fight the smaller swarms that forced their way through other locations.

“We’ll split up into two groups. Argeria, Kelt, Pram and Romantica, please work together to stop the Great Worms at the entrance before they enter the hall.” “W… Wait! What are you thinking?”

Romantica bleated, taken aback by Desir’s unexpected command.

If four out of their six members were stationed there, that meant that Adjest and Desir would have to fight off the Mother Worm alone.

It was impossible. There was no way the two of them could handle a monster like that alone. No, there was only one way…

“You aren’t planning on attempting the impossible again, are you?”

He, Desir Arman, had defeated a monster more powerful than the Mother Worm. He wasn’t exactly sure how he did it, but if he reenacted the situation step by step, defeating the Mother Worm seemed simple enough.

But there was a cost.

Knowing what Romantica was about to say, Desir stroked his left eye as he smiled bitterly. “I haven’t forgotten our promise. I won’t do anything to make you worry.”

Their promise.

Romantica nodded silently as she recalled the conversation they had in Adeinia Kingdom’s top hospital.

“The rest of you may be skeptical, but please trust me for now.”

Everyone looked like they had something they wanted to say, but since time was against them, they soon enough decided to just focus on Desir’s instructions instead.

“Argeria, please block their path from the frontlines.”

Argeria was one of the most skilled swordsmen in the country. Without him, this plan couldn’t work.

“Pram will assist you in maintaining the frontlines. Please focus exclusively on defense.” Argeria and Pram nodded.

Desir directed his attention towards Kelt.

“Kelt, please continue to drive the approaching enemies back with magic. Don’t waste all of your mana trying to clear the entire horde. Just trim the frontlines to maintain their size. We can’t afford to lose more power. Romantica will cover for you.”

“Alright.”

Unable to come up with an alternative solution, the two members of the Blue Moon party had decided to follow Desir’s instructions.

“And Adjest and I will take care of that thing.” Receiving Desir’s signal, Adjest nodded wordlessly.

After Desir had finished giving out his orders, Pram and Romantica headed to the passage where the majority of the Great Worms were swarming out of. Argeria and Kelt also prepared themselves to fight.

With everyone heading towards the passage, only Adjest and Desir were left in the hall. Desir gestured at the Mother Worm that was approaching.

“Now, we’re going to take care of that thing.” “I wonder if that’ll be possible.” *Crackle*

As the Mother Worm drew nearer, she shot out acidic fluid.

Desir and Adjest avoided the acidic fluid by splitting off into opposite directions. A rock vaporized with a gurgling sound at the spot they were both standing just a moment before. “Adjest. Don’t worry about conserving mana anymore.”

“… Got it.”

Fighting with everything they had. It was the most welcome thing she’d heard in a while. Adjest had been saving up her mana to cast a Third-Circle spell anyway. In an instant, the air flowing around her changed.

*Swoosh*

Magic gathered around Adjest as a palace made out of ice materialized. Majestic ice pillars rose out of the ground all around her, arranged in a way that left space for her. As Desir watched the palace emerge, he momentarily fell into contemplation.

‘Adjest’s ice palace can inflict continuous damage.’

It directly countered the Mother Worm’s ability to regenerate.

To take down a monster that could heal itself endlessly, the only options available were to either deal a blow strong enough to kill it before it can regenerate, or to deal attacks faster than it can regenerate.

And Adjest’s ice palace magic was capable of doing just that.

Hundreds of ice spears materialized and flew towards Mother Worm. The magic pierced her skin and shredded the flesh.

However, all she needed to do was curl up for a moment before all of the injuries on her body healed. She then attempted a counterattack by flinging her acidic fluid everywhere.

*Crash*

Colliding with the acidic fluid, one of the palace’s pillars fell down. Ice flakes and dust cascaded down.

“Is there a way to take care of that thing?” Adjest uttered. “It’s simple. Blast it faster than it can regenerate.”

“Blast it faster than it can regenerate… that could work.” Easier said than done though.

“Maintaining the ice palace at a point where it can consistently inflict that much damage is hard Desir.”

Since they couldn’t fell the beast in one blow, the only other option was to damage it to the point where its regeneration could no longer keep up.

But no matter how much they thought about it, the attacks had to be made by a magician of at least the Fifth-Circle to slaughter a monster of this caliber in one go.

But was it possible for anyone here to invoke Fifth-Circle magic? *Craaaaash*

The ice palace activated once again and hundreds of ice spears were flung at the Mother Worm.

However, the blow wasn’t strong enough. No matter how much mana Adjest had, she was only a Third-Circle magician. Dealing an attack on the level of Fourth-Circle was simply beyond her current ability.

Amidst the fighting, Desir started to speak.

“I have a plan in mind, but it’s crucial to completely immobilize the Mother Worm first.” “No problem.”

Even without the details, Adjest believed in Desir and rushed headfirst towards the Mother Worm.

[Magic Sword: Ice Strike]

As her magic sword took shape, she faced off against the Mother Worm. Invoking the ice magic within fractions of a second, the ice palace covered for her.

A one-man army.

The Mother Worm, who was hard to take down with the might of all six members of the Blue Moon party, was having a hard time advancing past a lone Adjest.

When it came to skill, Adjest clearly was superior.

‘Now all that’s left is to knock it down with a single blow.’

But could Desir invoke magic strong enough to overthrow Mother Worm in an instant? Of course, if he used draconic magic, taking down the Mother Worm would be easy. However, he had barely succeeded in invoking draconic magic in the Prillecha Empire thanks to the help of Priscilla and Zod, two of the most powerful individuals in the world. Without their backup and support, there was no way he could invoke it on his own.

Without draconic magic, there was no magic he had at his disposal that he could use as a finishing blow. Crow Mask had also pointed out this flaw.

That was Desir’s limit as a Third-Circle magician. It was a wall that could only be bridged with the help of an artifact.

---But all of this was based on the standard of his past life.

Through the incidents in Prillecha, Desir had been able to experience new things that he hadn’t in the struggles of his previous life.

‘Crow Mask.’

Desir smirked as he expressed his thanks to the being that he hadn’t encountered in his old world.

‘Thanks to you, I’m surpassing my past life.’