ALL NOVEL Chapter 44
Chapter
“So, you figured out who it is?”
“Yeah. They’re more famous than I thought.”
Iris Repain, the lady and master of the red-haired elven lord, quickly skimmed through the documents she received.
Haken Welt, Gray, Adolf. After finishing her speed read, Iris let out a chuckle.
“Was that girl really Gray? She’s quite the big name, huh?”
Gray. Nicknamed Whisper of Shadows. Rarely does a woman ascend to master as an assassin, and her discretion is unparalleled. The poisons she personally concocts can even affect a master, meaning that as soon as she is allowed to strike, the battle is as good as decided.
“So, this little kid took down Gray, huh?”
Adolf is certainly not an easy opponent, but the fact that a disciple of the Swordmaster killed Gray was more striking to Iris. Even if Adolf was confident he could win, the mere thought of being targeted by Gray would be terrifying.
No matter how much of a master one is, there’s always a rock-paper-scissors aspect. What would happen if Adolf, who seeks to deal heavy blows, fought against Iris? She would simply widen the distance and unleash her magic, and the fight would be over.
Conversely, what if Gray faced Iris? With a silent approach, she’d probably get a knife stab and end up with her throat sliced.
Of course, it’s expected for a master to have some means to cover their weaknesses, but at this point, what difference does it make?
“Gray’s really unlucky, huh? Meeting someone like that.”
In that sense, the Swordmaster’s disciple is the perfect counter to Gray. How he solved the poison situation is unclear, but it seems his Ki Sense surpassed Gray’s stealth.
He even moved faster than Gray and had enough output to suppress her identically-called phantom sword. For an assassin like Gray, once she couldn’t finish the fight with the first blow, everything was as good as sealed.
“The Swordmaster raised a monster.”
“Was it that significant?”
“No, not really.”
As mentioned earlier, there’s a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. Usually, that means being weak to some and strong against others, but that guy? He seems to have none.
To win, you’d need to completely overpower him, and that’s just a given. If you want to consider different strategies, maybe the risks of that strange technique?
It seems somewhat akin to a rampage-type technique, but once drawn out, dragging it into a long-term battle could work. However, if you really consider the might of that technique, isn’t it essentially the same as overpowering someone?
“Uhm… You can’t win against him either, can you, my lord?”
“Me?”
Pfft—Iris laughed confidently.
“Of course not. I’m a mage. Even if I’m close to being a battle mage, I can’t beat someone like that.”
Mages are quick to objectify.
*
The next morning, Enok woke up, sprawled like laundry on a branch, staring blankly at the ground. Crawling ants, swaying blades of grass, and suddenly appearing Rionne’s face.
“Woke up? Let’s go.”
“…Where to?”
“To see the lord.”
Ignoring the nonsensical remarks, he assessed his condition. Overall, it was the worst. Indeed, False Thunder God Transformation is a technique unsuitable for his current state. If he pushed to the limit, his body would probably scatter in Ky.
However, unexpectedly, the side that got stabbed by the dagger was quite intact. The stab was rather deep, and the dagger twisted at the moment, causing a tearing wound, but for some reason, it seemed like the wound was almost healed.
‘Is it really related to Heavenly Death?’
After rampaging before, it seemed like the wound had almost healed. Perhaps he should find out later.
“Hey! You’re not listening to me again! We have to go!”
“…Why?”
“Because you destroyed the city!”
“Why is that my fault?”
It was because of those people chasing him down to kill him. His only response had been to counterattack.
“So, you destroyed a lot, and they destroyed even more.”
“I did destroy a lot, didn’t I?”
“What about the people whose houses got blown away because of you?”
“That’s not my problem, is it?”
If they were upset, they should have kept things in order from the start. Why did they allow their houses to be blown away?
“…How do you protect a house from there?”
“Rionne probably did.”
“Ordinary humans and Rionne are the same!?”
“If you’re jealous, you should have gotten stronger.”
If he had lived a weak life due to his laziness, the responsibility lies with him.
“…That guy seems really dangerous.”
Shouldn’t they eliminate him first for the peace of the world? Rionne sighed deeply.
“Anyway, let’s go. We promised.”
“Ah, the promise.”
If he promised, he should go. Enok reluctantly got up.
“I really don’t get it…”
What exactly are the criteria? Rionne mused.
*
[Ah, Dad… That technique seems really off… I think it’d be better to throw myself into lava instead…]
As Enok wandered towards the city, slowly coming to his senses, Eri crawled out from the Central Dantian, tired and lifeless. Eri, with a weary expression, was drooping over Enok’s head, her tail wagging weakly.
“Hmm?”
Enok suddenly looked up. The sensation of her tail brushing against the back of his neck felt strange. He picked Eri up and brought her closer to his eyes.
[Dad?]
“Wow.”
Enok’s face brightened.
“Your tail has grown longer.”
[Huh?]
Eri, caught by the scruff, looked down. One tail, two, three… four.
[Wow!]
“Seems like the False Thunder God Transformation helped.”
[That’s a lie…!]
Enok noted that the False Thunder God Transformation benefited Eri’s growth and carried on towards the lord’s castle. However, not even halfway to the castle,
“Here you are?”
The lord herself came to greet him.
“Truly an elf. You never fail to keep a promise.”
“A promise is meant to be kept, isn’t it?”
“Some idiots think they’re allowed to break them sometimes.”
The lord chuckled as she reached out to Enok. After a brief handshake, she introduced herself to Rionne.
“I am Iris. Iris Repain. So I found out those Haken Welt bastards are behind this? It’s really hard to tell whether I should thank you or be mad.”
“If it’s vague, let’s just go with thankful. I’m off.”
“Where to?”
Just as Enok, who was trying to escape, had his scruff grabbed. Reflexively readying a Thunderstrike, fortunately or unfortunately, he hadn’t released it due to previously pushing himself too hard.
“I’m not asking for much. Sure, this is your fault, but you couldn’t have gone easy against Haken Welt, could you?”
“Then why not let me go?”
“Just cleaning up the debris and taking care of the injured.”
Tsk, Enok clicked his tongue and was obediently taken by Iris. Soon they arrived at the place where Enok had fought yesterday.
[Wow, this is a real mess.]
Enok, unaware of power control, had unleashed with full force. It was a scene that could well describe part of a city erased, leaving Rionne’s face pale.
“Are we supposed to clean all this up?”
“Yep.”
Due to the nature of Heavenly Death, the buildings weren’t neatly disassembled. It meant that large fragments of destruction were rolling on the ground. At least smaller debris from punches looked a tad bit more manageable, Enok observed blankly.
“Hmm…”
Enok tightened the gloves he was wearing on both hands to a firmer fit.
“Sigh…”
With a single sigh, a spell was cast.
“Why am I…?”
With a single complaint, another spell was cast. After ten grumbling casts, intricate circuits were engraved on the gloves, and when he focused forward by putting both hands together, Iris was gaping at him in astonishment.
“Y-You! How…!”
“What’s wrong?”
“W-What’s that? Magic! You! Magic!”
Seems like she had lost her grasp on language. Her intelligence seemed to have devolved to that of a monkey, so was it okay to make a run for it now? Just when he thought about it, Iris shrieked.
“How are you using the method that dragons use!?”
“Oh, that? What about it?”
“What do you mean, what about it!? Do you have any clue how amazing that is!? Ahhh…!”
Looking rather flustered, Iris clutched her neck. It seemed she had a lot to say.
“First off, that original magic isn’t something you learn easily! Just because you learn it doesn’t mean you can master it—how did you even do this!?”
“Original magic?”
“No! You don’t even know that!?”
According to Iris, the magic system breaks down into three main categories.
The original magic, which can truly be called magic, used by dragons.
The classic magic developed after the Circle was created by the father of magic, Pagandal Magicion.
Recently separated from classic magic, quantum magic.
Quantum magic is currently so complex that very few can master it, which is why people often simplify it to just original and classical magic.
“I’m just doing what Rionne taught me.”
“Swordmaster…! Yeah! Speaking of which, the Swordmaster also started using original magic after becoming a Grandmaster!”
Iris jumped up.
“But how do you use it!? Why is your Central Dantian open!?”
“Haa…”
Growing tired of trying to keep up with her energy, Enok decided to ignore her. The ten spells stored in his gloves were ready. He flattened all ten fingers in front of him and created a halo around them.
“Classify and process.”
Merging layers upon layers of magic inscribed miracles onto reality. Large chunks of stone gathered in one place, while smaller debris flew outside the city walls.
“Ugh…”
As a result, his already poor physical condition worsened. Enok collapsed onto the ground.
“I’ve done my part.”
“You! Come with me somewhere!”
“…I’m sleeping.”
“Sleep already! You’ll wake up at the Magic Tower!”
Cool… Enok truly fell asleep.
And when he really opened his eyes, he was at the Magic Tower.