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Episode 299. Dreams… do come true?
Dozens of lightning bolts burned the body to a crisp.
It was a destructive magic that would break the force field if blocked with a force field, and would kill in one hit if struck with bare body.
But, amidst the ceaseless thunderclaps.
“…….”
Aster's grip tightened around Leodis's wrist.
My whole body ached as I tried to strengthen my muscles, which had been stiff from the electric shock, but Aster's bloodshot eyes were full of murderous intent.
“You… have also mastered the light of healing?”
“…….”
It was a remark made after seeing his burned body recover, but Aster didn't respond. Instead, he focused his magical power into a firm grip on Leodis's wrist.
Kiing―
Transcendence that opens.
The realm of perception expanded, splitting the moment into hundreds. The eyes held Leodis, but at the same time, they looked down on all directions, as if they had gained a third field of vision.
A world brightly illuminated by the light of the thunderbolt.
The roiling sea stared down at them like the jaws of an abyss, and the dock where they had been fishing lay in ruins. Debris from the shattered fishing boats drifted into the sea in the aftermath of the battle.
Urrrrung―
The dark clouds in the sky cried out.
Thunder crackled between the clouds.
I thought I heard a crackle, but sound doesn't travel faster than light.
Even in the split-second time divided into hundreds, the lightning was still lightning. The faint ripple of electricity soon spread throughout the clouds, then converged at its starting point faster than it had spread.
and-
Wow… … !
“……!”
Aster's head was thrown back in indescribable pain.
It was an inevitable reaction.
Even if he is a great wizard who has reached transcendence, he is still human and cannot resist the neural responses created by the electricity.
If he had used his magical power for defense, it would have been different, but instead of blocking the current, Aster diverted all his magical power outward, leaving only the minimum magical power remaining.
Even so, the cognitive realm, which had expanded beyond the realm of the transcendent, remained robust.
In that moment, split into hundreds of segments, Aster looked at Leodis.
Had Leodis also opened his eyes to transcendence? His eyes gazed at Aster with a clear, clear understanding.
Those glass-like, transparent eyes were observing Aster.
It was as innocent and serious as that of a child observing an ant with a magnifying glass, and Aster looked into those eyes and then looked down at the world with a third eye.
Again.
Urrrrung―
The dark clouds wailed, and thunder surged. The current, which had started from a single point, seemed to spread out again…
Wow!
Another thunderclap.
It was painful.
The heightened awareness brought about an amplification of all senses, and the splitting of moments into hundreds meant that the duration of suffering was correspondingly increased.
However, Aster endured all that pain, drawing out his magical power and manipulating the mana in the air. The four circles spun violently, squeezing the mana in the air along with his magical power.
At the same time, the power of transcendence gripped Mana's reins tightly.
Magic, and circles and transcendence.
Grasp the magic with three powers―
Wow… … !
Aster took control of the area amidst the thunderbolts.
The first start started from around Leodis.
The mana around Leodis was removed—or rather, it was cut away—as if a skilled butcher were butchering meat along the muscle fibers.
It was then that a strange light appeared in Leodis's eyes.
“……!”
Without even the minimal mana to sustain the levitation spell, his body fell downwards, driven by gravity. Of course, Leodis's awareness was fleeting, and his body remained as if nailed to the air, but it was a bad omen.
That's why Leodis used the magical power contained in the core to perform floating magic, and it was at that very moment.
That pole, that pole… … .
Suddenly, a tremendous amount of mana surged into the empty space surrounding Leodis. No, it didn't surge in.
Crunch, crunch… … !
High-density mana filled the area around Leodis, binding him tightly.
Even though he was bound, he was physically free. However, the high-density mana filled the surrounding area, leaving no room for magical energy to leak out.
For a wizard, it was an act that brought greater deprivation than physical bondage.
It was at that moment that Leodis's gaze changed.
Those eyes, once steady as a watchful gaze, were now filled with emotion. Anxiety or alarm? I couldn't tell. Even that emotion was so faint.
But, apart from the faint emotion, the reaction was immediate.
Kikkikkik… … Kikkikkik!
An immense amount of magical power surged from Leodis's core. Like a dam breaking… no, like a tidal wave, the magical power surged forth, pushing away the firmly established mana.
However, it felt like it was a step too late.
The mana already controlled by Aster stood firm like a solid wall, not allowing even the slightest gap. … … Not even a gap to create a force field.
but.
Urrrrung―
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The lightning magic Leodis had cast was still intact. Or perhaps it was because it had escaped the caster's control.
Piss off, piss off… …!
The brain waves are pounding more and more violently.
Aster had to hurry.
The signs of thunderclouds were ominous.
Even in the split seconds it was split into hundreds, it spread and gathered at the speed of light, growing in size, and it contained an energy incomparable to that of the previous lightning strikes.
With only the bare minimum of magical power being used for defense, if I were to be directly hit by that lightning bolt, I would definitely not be able to survive.
Aster spurred the mana array.
This was the wizard's fight.
While a knight cannot overcome physical limitations due to the limitations of his body even if he splits the moment into hundreds, a magician can freely manipulate mana and magical powers outside the laws of physics through accelerated cognition.
Of course, knights could also display swordsmanship that was not bound by the laws of physics, but in the fleeting moments of time, it was the magicians who had the most freedom.
And that freedom… … .
I tasted Aster for the first time.
I realized at the same time.
How did Aeviron provoke such a sluggish battle?
It's hard to get started, but once I entered the horizon of the moment and accelerated my thinking, I felt an indescribable sense of liberation.
This is… … .
okay.
It was a similar sense of liberation to when I had run out of Dekulan with the wyvern in my eyes in my previous life.
It was also full.
The black sea that looked like the mouth of the abyss, the dark clouds in the sky, the darkness of the night that filled the sky… …and even the stars and moonlight obscured by the clouds.
If up until now, I have recognized the ‘world’ through the existence of ‘me’… … .
I feel ‘me’ because I know that ‘the world’ exists.
As I entered that horizon of enlightenment, all my preconceived notions about 'transcendence' came crashing down.
True transcendence can only be realized by unfolding transcendence to its extreme.
In that world, Aster reminisced about his battle with Destroyer, his encounter with Muhad, the lord of Lortel, and his battle with Aeviron.
And now I can finally understand the world they see.
'He's like a clever old man.'
Even if he were to face Aeviron again, it seemed he wouldn't be defeated as easily as before.
But, what's important now is… … .
Aster emerged from his trance of enlightenment and gazed at Leodis. Their eyes met, and each captured the other's retinas.
His face was truly ugly. The burns from the stroke were healing in real time, but blackened soot clung to his face. Even in that state, Leodis's face held a guilt that couldn't be hidden, but Aster's face, reflected in his transparent retina, resembled that of a vagrant just emerging from an alley.
Looking at that sight, Aster suddenly remembered the past.
– Hey kid.
– I'm Damian.
– Anyway.
– My mother is Bianca.
– Are you lacking something?
– I don't have a mom.
– Yeah, I don't even have a dad. I guess I won. Well then, let's go.
Was it because Jin was angry?
Damian said.
– right.
– why.
– I don't have a father either.
… … Why don’t you have a father? He’s alive and well right before my eyes.
“Father.”
Aster emerged from the fleeting horizon and gazed at Leodis. A single spark flickered from Leodis's wrist, which he had grasped. No, it seemed to flicker, then drew in the surrounding mana, growing in size in an instant.
The sight was vivid in Leodis's eyes, who had not yet emerged from the horizon of the moment.
The entire world's mana was sucked into Aster's grasp. The ravenous flame, like an insatiable ogre, consumed all the mana, burning it. The mana consumed thus soon became nutrients, nourishing the flames. Leodis watched the flames swell, unable to do anything.
I can't even summon the force field, nor can I cast magic. Even if I try to pull myself away, the vicious grip won't allow it.
Paat―!
That's how, a moment of escape from the fleeting moment of time.
Aster's voice rang in my ears.
“Still, are you happy?”
The sound ended there.
Beep beep beep beep
The explosion drowned out even the sound, and flames engulfed the entire area. The black sea evaporated in the heat, rising steam, and the clouds vanished from the sky.
As if the sun had risen.
A brighter world.
Aster thought in that light.
‘The dream is… … .’
It is done.
* * *
Kokartana coastal region, city of Kotana.
Cortana's Pier 7.
An unseasonable light flashed across the dock where fishing boats came and went.
Suddenly, a fireworks burst out in the middle of the sea, illuminating the entire area like the sun. The light was so intense that it woke up the nearby residents who were sleeping.
“Um, what is that…….”
“Hey, is the sun up?”
When the residents who woke up came out to the dock, what they found was a sight they could not believe their eyes.
The seawater bubbled as if it were boiling. The half-ruined dockside was a mess, melting in places with the heat. And beyond the circular, gaping clouds, a clear, immaculate sky, dazzling stars poured down.
Is this what it would be like if the god of heaven descended?
The townspeople stared in amazement at the sight, but no one suspected that it was the mark of a clash between two wizards. No, they couldn't have guessed.
Finally.
“The sea god is angry! The sea god is angry!”
“The sea god always says yes.”
“Sea God, are you angry?!”
“You said yes.”
Until some old fishermen knelt down and bowed their heads toward the sea.
So, a little way from the chaotic docks, a shadow came out onto the shady shore.
No, there were two, not one.
A man with platinum hair and a boy with gray hair.
The man who came out onto land carrying the boy on his shoulders laid him down on the sandy beach and looked at his face for a moment.
… … Naturally, the man’s identity is Leodis von Brando.
"hmm."
Leodis looked at Aster, who had his eyes closed as if he had lost consciousness, and loosened his grip.
As if he was wondering whether he should gouge out the eyes first or break the core first.
Just like that for a while.
After taking out a clean cloth from the subspace, Leodis wiped Aster's face… …and especially the area around his eyes, thoroughly.
… … If salt water gets in, it hurts.