abcnovels
Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Chapter 29
Four blades remaining.
No, five.
Huff! Huff!
She pulled out the blade piercing Hansennel’s head with both hands and glanced back at the ceiling.
The top of the tower is the 9th floor. From the 1st floor up to the 7th floor where Renee stood now, every human in sight, she had killed. According to Renee’s memory, the 9th floor was a warehouse, so practically, only the 8th floor directly above remained.
She tapped the floor with her shoe. The low, resonating sound was quite thick. If she had fangs, it might have been possible to collapse the ceiling and bring down the upper floor altogether, but with the four daggers she currently held, it was impossible. Even if she were to collapse right now, her body condition was nothing out of the ordinary.
However, even though she hadn’t allowed a single attack, Renee’s slender legs trembled.
‘There’s one human left upstairs.’
?Now, there’s only one human left.
For the leader on the 8th floor to escape the tower, they could only either descend the stairs or use “Flight” to escape through the window. The latter option, however, rendered them defenseless until just before landing, making it practically a suicidal act. If the leader had any sense, they wouldn’t choose the latter. Anyway, it’s a rat in a trap. The leader has no choice but to come down these stairs.
‘There are two choices.’
It’s simple. Either go up first or wait.
?There was no need for Renee to choose first.
It became unnecessary.
“…You seem quite confident.”
Renee muttered to himself, hearing the clacking of shoes from upstairs.
?Unexpected.
“Oh my, have you laid out a nice trap here~? But who is it? Judging by the magical aura, it definitely seems like a monster….”
Following the sharp shoes, a rather long-legged figure came into view.
Unlike the attire of ordinary female magicians, this attire caught the eye with a thin metal skirt worn over pants that men would wear. Apart from the unusual bottoms, the attire sported a neatly ironed crimson shirt, almost whirlpool-like, with red hair twisted down to the chest. The dangling ornaments on the shirt made a jingling sound that pricked the ears.
No doubt about it. It was Graumitz Amer, the one who sold the ‘Red Mana Stone’ to Renee and got rid of it.
The leader of the Mage Tower ‘Wing,’ Graumitz Amer, smiled. Whether he had sensed the situation or not, he was in a state adorned with several layers of protective magic. Amidst the smile he feigned, there was an underlying artifice.
“Oh? Where have I seen you before? Could it be? Really? The young lady who came a few days ago… Is it you?”
“…”
“Amazing~ Is this really true? I almost didn’t recognize you because of the change in attire. Were you a monster? You seemed too foolish to be a human, you know.”
Renee tightly gripped the daggers in both hands. The urge to tear him apart surged within. But it’s not time yet. There’s still something to figure out. Something to conclude.
“…Where are you?”
Suppressing the impulse tinged with malice, Renee spoke. Clenched teeth.
“The fangs, where are they?”
“Huh? What’s this? The fangs I sold you last time, aren’t they gone now? Or did you already know about them? Is there somewhere I’m supposed to return the item? Oh~ Perhaps the reason you came here was to get them back? What a complete fool you are?”
“Speak, right now.”
“Your expression is quite scary~ But, wasn’t that already my possession? Wasn’t it my duty to inform you about it? Right? Or did I have to return it to you? Oh, by the way, I have a question too.”
Amer’s deep voice slipped through his crimson lips.
“Right, you. How are you still alive?”
As soon as the words ended, something cut through the air beside Amer.
The sound of glass breaking made Amer stiffen his expression.
It was only after hearing the sound that Amer realized the translucent barrier ‘Rejection Wall’ surrounding him had shattered. Amer widened his eyes. Though he tried to smile, a hint of bewilderment lingered beneath the mask-like expression, and his mouth twitched slightly.
‘An attack that can’t be followed with the eyes… is it magic?’
It must have been a protection magic that was considered even sturdier than a shield.
With eyes widened, Amer shifted his gaze toward Renee. There was no change in Renee’s expression. As if this was nothing, Renee retrieved another dagger from the garter belt, and fiddled with it.Her gaze filled with murderous intent was chilling.
‘Oh, what a great look in your eyes.’
A monster that could break through intermediate-level protection magic with a simple throw.
This wasn’t something to take lightly.
Come to think of it, she had reached here alone and took down Hansennel in one blow. Judging from the situation, among all the monsters encountered so far, this one might be the strongest. Amer wiped his lips with a glove. If he had encountered such a monster in the dungeon, he definitely would have been at a loss and torn to shreds.
“Speak.”
“Wow~ You’re really remarkable~ But there’s no need to be so angry, right? Fine, I’ll tell you properly.”
But no matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem promising.
“The fangs, I mean.”
Amer raised both hands in surrender, showing a gesture of submission. However, despite the gesture, his smile remained unchanged, evoking only a slight furrow of Renee’s brow.
“They’re not here. I sent them away some time after Raize left. I’m sorry~”
Amer chuckled.
With a manic grin across his face, Amer spread his arms wide.
The Magic Realm.
A dazzling flash covered the sight.
The glowing entities were mana. The mana filling the 7th floor, constituting it. All the mana that made it up.
Originally, the Mage Tower was a structure artificially built over a region called the ‘Mana Spring,’ where mana was heavily concentrated underground, turned into human territory. Like a tree drawing nutrients from its roots at the Mana Spring.
That’s why the mana circulating inside the Mage Tower was ‘excessive.’ To those studying magic, the tower was a small utopia, but at the same time, it displayed the limitations starkly. Even if mana overflowed, without the discretion of a mage, it would be a hindrance. Conversely, if one could utilize all that mana…
‘…I can, I can do it!’
Because of who Amer was, or rather by wielding the A-rank Mana Stone staff, it was possible.
Of course, it was impossible for Amer to utilize all the mana in the tower. Would there even be a human capable of using half of this tower’s mana in the first place? Being able to pull just 1 percent would be boast-worthy among the mages, and if one could draw 3 percent, they could cause a stir among the mages. It was said that exceeding 8 percent would earn one the title of a Sage.
At present, Amer’s talent allowed for about 5 percent. And that 5 percent was more than enough. It was enough to control all the mana that filled the 7th floor.
“You seem… pretty strong~”
Yes, that silver-haired monster was powerful. Normally, he wouldn’t stand a chance.
But here was the Mage Tower ‘Wing,’ a stage for mages.
? The star of the show was on this side.
“I’ll go all out from the start.”
Right after, Amer casted the advanced magic, [Holy Lance of Longinus.]
Light gathered. A luminous lance, combining light and mana, with its sharp tip poised, revealed itself in front of Amer, exuding a divine presence.
Of course, Renee wasn’t about to idly wait. Leaping forward, Renee hurled two daggers at Amer. Flying along a straight trajectory, the daggers were neutralized by the two layers of magic barriers, falling weakly.
In no time, the completed lance of light aimed at Renee. Additional magic was bestowed upon the massive lance.
[Divide], [Chase], [Accelerate], [Changing Properties? Depravity of Holy Light].
The straight-moving lance of light split into distorted black fragments. These black fragments rained down upon Renee, a multitude of dark shards directed at one existence.
‘Block it, block it, you stupid girl…!’
It was a high-level spell. The kind that even most dungeon bosses couldn’t withstand. Typically, one would have to squeeze out all their internal mana just to cast it twice, that’s what such magic was.
Who would think to use such a spell just to buy time?
?An action only possible because the stage was the Mage Tower.
The ‘Holy Lance of Longinus’ imbued with ‘Divide’ and ‘Chase’ lacked squares. To escape the torrent of blades, that monster definitely had to deflect the fragments and create squares. It seemed theoretically possible, but if anyone could, it would surely be that monster.
In that case, this side would prepare for a ‘real attack’ in the meantime.
Two magic circles appeared simultaneously in front of Amer.
Double-casting advanced spells, [Black Extermination], [White Extermination].
If one had to choose the most straightforwardly named magic, this would undoubtedly be the one mentioned. Using the word ‘extermination’ wouldn’t be an exaggeration. Amer had never seen any being withstand this magic, even after being hit directly. He smiled in triumph, tossing aside his pretentious voice and reveling in madness.
Thrilled by power that even the conditional ‘sage’ couldn’t overwhelm.
“Oh… Ahahaha! This is the best! The best!”
Moreover, these two spells weren’t the end. The mana overflowing in the tower didn’t deplete just by casting three advanced spells. So, it was a festival. That stupid girl. No, that stupid monster would perish under dozens of spells, becoming unrecognizable, just a mass of flesh.
“This is what happens when you pretend to be a human while being a monster~”
Amer chuckled. The two extermination spells were taking shape. Focused on casting, Amer raised his head slightly to track Renee’s movements.
Amidst a creeping chill that felt like suffocation, Amer involuntarily let out a sound.
“Oh?”
Renee was right there, close enough that he could feel her breath.
?When did she get here?
The sound of cutting flesh interrupted the thought. Amer’s wrists were severed, floating upwards. Soon, the hands fell to the ground with a thud.
A chilling sensation that drained the blood followed by an excruciating pain that was nearly impossible to endure soberly.
“Ahh, hah, what… what…? It hurts, it hurts? Ahh… Argh…!”
The two almost-finished extermination spells disintegrated into fine particles, scattering in all directions. Amer writhed on the ground. His severed wrists oozed blood, quivering.
“Uwaaa… Aaaaah!”
The screams grew louder. Renee furrowed her brow. Seeing Amer dropping pretenses and screaming in agony, she couldn’t help but think he was no different from a slaughtered pig.
?Noisy
Muttering briefly, Renee crushed the squealing pig beneath her heel. The screams overlapped with another cry.
For a while, Renee kept her foot pressed down before finally lifting it. She breathed heavily. Despite being covered in blood all over her body, Renee was no different from before.
Countless fragments of ‘Holy Lance of Longinus’ stuck in her small frame.
Amidst the fragments raining down like drizzle, if one were to create space, it might have been possible. However, pursuing safety in that situation would undoubtedly lead to a prolonged battle. Renee’s stamina was already nearing its limit. The throwing daggers she could barely use were almost depleted.
So, she endured rather than repelling.
Ironically, it was a more dangerous choice. Despite being small fragments, ‘Holy Lance of Longinus’ was an advanced spell, and the power of each fragment exceeded that of an average low-level spell. If Renee had lacked even a bit of energy, her daggers would never have reached Amer.
“It hurts. My arm. M-my arm hurts. What’s happening, what is it? Hurts. Wh-why? Hurts. My arm, where, ah. Ahhhh. Aaaaaaaa. It hurts. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Save me, save me… Anyone…”
Rarely does one find a being as feeble as a mage unable to cast magic. Having lost both hands, which were the essence of being a mage, Amer lost his composure and screamed. It was a pitiful sight, like a human contorted by a curse or a fish gasping for air outside the water, squirming on the ground.
Amer, who tried to cover his face with his two hands, once again expressed his agony. His face was covered in blood. He was completely broken, far from the confident figure he was just now, staining the floor of the tower increasingly red, a far cry from his previous vigor and composure.
“Just because both hands got chopped off.”
Thud. Thwack. Thwack.
Whether filled with anger or not, Renee kept repeating in a low voice while incessantly trampling on Amer.
“Stop your groveling.”
Behind her restrained expression, the evident emotion was unmistakable anger.
It was much later that Amer, who had struggled for a while, regained some semblance of composure. It was a calmness originating from a mind muddled by the copious bloodshed.
“I… don’t want to die… I-I don’t want to die… Haa… so much mana… left… I have to… live…”
?Pitiful.
The sight of Amer desperately crawling on the stairs, using elbows on the ground, resembled livestock.
Pitiful. This is his true nature.
Renee thought. Just a bit more desperate struggle. Yes, it would be too merciful to end that human’s life right now. There was no chance of survival anyway. He had already shed too much blood and was losing consciousness. Rolling on the stairs, pouring blood with each step, gradually losing even the hope of ‘just a bit more,’ dying was the best for that human.
Renee, whose whole body completely drained of strength, also collapsed on the floor.
“…”
It’s over.
?I’m not happy at all.
“…I erased my traces.”
Renee murmured to herself and questioned herself. She erased them. Just as Batory said. Now what should Renee do? What’s left for Renee?
“…Hah.”
She chuckled.
The wounds throbbed, making it difficult to even stand. Her right eye throbbed. Leaning against the pillar supporting the floor, Renee laid down.
?I’m exhausted.
Her body relaxed, consciousness gradually blurred. Listening to Amer’s cries, she closed her eyes slowly.
She felt if she slept now, she might never wake up.
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