◈ Episode 580: To the center of the battlefield (3)
Area E-34 is currently covered in all kinds of fighting.
The sluggish offensive and defense that continued between the steel structures was like watching a trench war in which an endless war of attrition continues.
If one side had been stronger, it could have been a one-sided victory, but the fight between the two groups was perfectly balanced, as if they were placed on a scale.
Of course, the balance was not achieved by chance.
It was an artificial yet highly sophisticated balance created by external intervention.
A fight between warlocks and an emerging power.
And it was the New Magic Tower, the actual ruling organization of Isla Machina, that encouraged the fight behind the scenes and sold their goods.
“Hmm. “It’s not a bad situation.”
Pomfoot, a 5th rank wizard from the New Magic Tower, checked the ledger of artifacts sold to warlocks today.
In the ongoing war of attrition, the warlocks used their own funds to purchase weapons and artifacts from the New Magic Tower.
The amount of money the warlocks had accumulated so far was at an astronomical level, and even though some time had passed since the fight broke out, they continued to spend what they had.
‘No problem. ‘What good is money when your school might disappear?’
Moreover, the warlocks were not completely out of ideas.
The emerging power that has arisen now is dangerous, but if they can be defeated, the intellectual property will be theirs.
‘They probably also have valuable magic data from various schools of warlocks that have already disappeared. I believe that if I just drive them out, I will be able to extract more than the money I invested so far.’
Pomfoot did not necessarily laugh at the dark wizards’ intentions.
If you don’t think like that, you won’t be able to get any comfort from continuing to spend a huge amount of money now.
‘Well, we just have to keep making money on our own.’
Pomfoot tapped the ledger with his fingertips.
It doesn’t matter how many warlocks die in this fight.
The same goes for the residents on the first floor caught up in the fight and dying.
Most of them have no money anyway, and most of them are poor people or beggars who live in slums.
Although there may not be innocent victims, the first floor was mostly a crime-ridden area, so the residents were also of poor disposition and quality.
If they were swept away to their deaths, Pomfoot would be glad that Isla Machina would be purified a little more.
‘To be honest, it’s disgusting to see the warlocks capturing nearby residents and using them as meat shields or sacrifices, but I guess we can get over that.’
It’s unpleasant at first, but when you see the number of money in the ledger, those thoughts start to sink in.
Pomput, who was in charge of accounting and instructions, did not operate alone in the E-34 area.
Several War Mages were already waiting in the nearby area and were steadily watching the situation of the fight.
If the fight seems to be in crisis for one side, the war mages will intentionally step in and intervene to prevent it from ending.
‘I should be grateful that those so-called emerging powers are strong.’
If the warlocks who received support from the New Magic Tower had been strong, the New Magic Tower would have had no reason to stop them.
The only way to do it was to call in war mages during the fight and pull them to the rear to lower their power, but there was no way that method would work forever.
Nevertheless, this situation continued because the Warlock Alliance was always inferior.
‘Anyway, you idiots. Even though a common enemy has appeared, we don’t want to lose anything, so we just pass it on and put it off somehow. ‘They don’t know how to control their desires, so there’s no way they can fight properly.’
It was okay to invest and pay a certain amount of money together, but sending someone was a completely different matter.
Even if just one third-tier warlock dies, it will result in a significant loss of power to the school.
As I continued to live like that, I ended up getting pushed back by the army of test subjects who were fighting for their lives.
War Mages passively intervened in such situations and tried to keep the situation as normal by pushing out the test subjects.
‘The only problem is that the resistance of emerging powers is becoming increasingly harsh. I guess I’ll have to ask them to send new forces here too.’
Of course, there is no way elite war mages would be defeated by something like an experiment.
Pomfoot thought there was no harm in being careful.
Recently, warlocks have been capturing residents around the first floor and brainwashing them or using them as meat shields through curses to prevent power leaks.
‘Curse you. Come to think of it, a school was continuously sending out rescue requests to the isolated area of E-34.’
Did you say it was the ancient curse school?
Despite their vicious-looking name, they were much more docile than other schools of warlocks.
They were simply investigating an ancient curse, and did not actually conduct human experiments or commit anything nefarious.
They were treated as warlocks simply because of their reluctance, and their actions were reminiscent of a typical school of wizards.
Although it was a school with its own traditions, it was greatly pushed back in the current fight and found itself in a situation where the wind was at a standstill.
A curse requires considerable skill, effort, magic power, a medium, and materials.
Because it was not a simple curse, but an ancient curse, the conditions for its activation were much more stringent, and naturally, it was difficult to utilize it properly in actual combat.
As a warlock who was lacking in power, he could not afford to go and rescue those people.
Even if I had money to spare, I had no intention of saving him.
As the number of competitors decreases, your share of winning later will increase.
‘There’s no need for help here either. ‘Because they don’t have money.’
Pomput thought little of the ancient school of curses.
At that time, a communication came from the war mage on site through a portable artifact.
“Oh yeah. what’s the matter?”
[This is a big deal!]
Pomfoot’s eyes wrinkled at the sudden urgent news.
“What’s happening all of a sudden?”
[An unknown third party intervened in the fight!]
“Why is that!”
[Yeah, but he’s too strong! He is unilaterally sweeping away everything around him!]
“what?”
Pomfoot raised his eyebrows as if asking what kind of bullshit he was talking about and shouted, spitting at the artifact.
“What are they doing! Have you forgotten that this is a business?! Stop it!”
[We are doing our best to stop it! But the opponent is too strong!]
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“what?”
As if those words were not true, a series of loud explosions echoed beyond the artifact.
The urgent cries of war mages could also be heard beyond the artifact.
Pomfoot sensed that the current situation was not a simple incident.
More than that, I had a gut feeling that this was an issue so serious that the business currently taking place in this area would be wiped out.
“Stop it!”
Pomfoot shouted at the artifact.
“Stop it as much as you can! “I’m going too!”
There was no answer. Maybe he doesn’t have the energy to answer because he’s fighting.
Pomfoot urgently grabbed his cane and headed outside.
To see what kind of big-headed bastard would dare interfere with the business of the New Magic Tower.
* * *
Gurgling!
Lightning struck the dry sky.
The purple lightning split into ten branches in an instant, falling down like the strong roots of a tree and sweeping the ground.
The steel structures could not withstand the force of the lightning and melted.
It was not simply destroyed, but a tunnel was opened as if the metal where the lightning had passed through melted.
Cold sweat broke out on the back of the God Magic Tower War Mage as he faced that intense power.
“What on earth is that monster?”
It was a disaster that appeared very suddenly.
At first, it was a fight between warlocks and emerging powers.
Armed with meat shields and sacrifices, the warlocks launched an onslaught to reduce the number of opposing test subjects.
At first, it seemed like the warlocks had the advantage, but as time went by, the subjects adapted to the fight and overwhelmed the meat shields.
Even the magic of the warlocks who came out there did not cause much damage to the test subjects.
As the corps of experimental subjects tried to surge in, the War Mages who were watching the situation stepped forward to provide support.
Although magic was used, there was a minor annoyance in that the number of subjects caught up in it was reduced compared to before, but the result was the same as usual.
This is the moment when you want to relax and hope that the test subjects will retreat.
Something black appeared in the sky.
It’s like condensing a lot of the darkness of the night sky and then squeezing it out to make a drop of ink fall out.
The black dot suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield.
People later realized that it was not a drop of black ink, but a person casting a shadow.
The appearance of an uninvited guest out of nowhere.
There were some minor doubts, but no one stopped the fight and attacked the troops.
Well, there is only one opponent.
The act of interfering in the center of a battlefield like this seemed like nothing more than an act of suicide.
I don’t know where you came from, but I think you made a big mistake.
However, that thought changed the moment I saw the black man standing up and performing a magic trick around him.
The War Mage sensed something was wrong.
“Everyone avoid it!”
Wow!
At first it was a huge shock wave.
The human covered in a black shadow released his magic and force in all directions, sweeping away the entire space in one fell swoop.
The moment he realized that it was a release of pure magical power, the War Mage felt for the first time a feeling of ‘overwhelm’ that he had never experienced even in countless battles.
The war mages suffered less damage because they kept their distance and watched.
But the ones that were close to that shadow crow were different.
Those who were hit hard by the shock wave and were sent flying far away were in poor health.
The damage to the pale-skinned test subjects was severe.
Those who were close by had their limbs broken and were scattered on the floor and surrounding walls like dolls with their strings cut.
Seeing this, the warlocks who were being pushed back turned their arrows of anger at him.
It’s a good thing that that annoying test subject was wiped out, but it also caused damage.
“How dare you tell me where this is!”
“I don’t know who sent it, but I must have seen the other person and tried to trick them!”
The appearance was flashy, but that was it.
Either all of his strength has been used up in the previous attack, or it will be quite some time before the next attack.
It didn’t take long to realize that it was a big mistake.
A new technique was developed.
Bluish smoke rose around the black shadow, and those who recognized it as a magical fog phenomenon widened their eyes.
Magic fog.
I realized that the level of a wizard capable of that was at least the 6th level Rexerer level.
“6, 6th rank archmage… … .”
Soon, the red flames expanded ravenously, engulfing all directions as if exploding.
The warlock who was closest to muttering those words quickly turned into ashes and disappeared.
“Oh, this is crazy!”
The warlocks were not left alone.
They urgently deployed defensive magic and poured out all the artifacts they had.
“Stop it!”
“Spend everything you have left!”
More than a hundred layers of defense were spread out, and a tsunami of flames engulfed them.
The test subjects instead chose to run away.
As if they had the instincts of animals, the moment they saw Ludger appear, they quickly left the place without even looking back.
Should I say it’s thanks to that?
The test subjects did not suffer much damage from Ludger’s fire magic.
The few that were late in escaping were swept away by the widespread tsunami and were reduced to ashes.
The barrier broke, and the warlocks were unable to withstand the force and were thrown away.
Ludger watched the scene in silence, then raised his head.
Parching!
The metal cubes created around him quickly assembled to create a large lightning rod.
As soon as it hit the ground with a thud, lightning struck the lightning rod.
“Who are you to barge in here on your own?”
War Mages came out and surrounded Ludger.
Here too, the 4th rank was gathered, led by the 5th rank.
Considering the power, it was worth a try.
“Don’t be scared! I used anti-magic a little while ago, so my opponent still has no power! “Ride now!”
“There is no need to ask about your identity! “Remove it immediately!”
The moment when the war mages surrounded and were about to unleash their magic.
Ludger narrowed his blue eyes inside the crow mask.
Squeeze!
And purple lightning began to wriggle around him as if it was unraveling.
“for a moment… … .”
How long has it been since you used 6th level magic, and is it still 6th level magic?
The war mages were shocked and tried to react, but it was already too late.
Purple lightning swept away the surrounding area in an instant.
