Episode 166: The North #6
Yohan slowly ascended into the sky. His pupils trembled, but there was no hesitation.
“Hoo…”
He extended his hand toward the monstrous being of the snowy mountains.
In that instant—
Kwaaa—!!
Space trembled.
Two spheres materialized.
Emission.
Absorption.
They repelled and pulled at each other simultaneously. And at the center of this force, a vortex was born.
Wooooong!!
Mana erupted explosively. The sphere of absorption devoured mana as if insatiable. Its rotation accelerated sharply, forming a spiral that tore through space like a raging storm.
His fingertips trembled.
Yohan’s entire body wavered.
Yet, there was no miscalculation. His mana circuits remained intact. Now, all that remained was to bring this power to its ultimate conclusion.
He infused it with the strength he had attained upon ascending as a transcendent mage.
Spatial Distortion.
Mana Manipulation.
And at last, it was complete.
Transcendent Magic—Heaven’s Ruin.
Wooooong—!!
Emission and absorption intertwined. They sought to consume each other yet simultaneously desired to become one.
At the very center, space distorted.
A colorless sphere slowly rose.
Then, leaving behind a flash of light, it shot forward.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
An explosion.
A shockwave.
The condensed essence of mana, fused with three different attributes, crushed the monstrous being of the snowy mountains.
-Kuaaargh!
In that moment, the mana of the entire land came to a halt. The beast let out an earth-shaking roar, but Heaven’s Ruin had already struck, and the explosion was in progress.
Kwaaaaaaa!!
Ashen mana erupted, swallowing the entire area. A deafening roar threatened to rupture eardrums. The monstrous being twisted violently.
Beeeeeeep—
After the blast, only a ringing silence remained. Within the stillness, opposing forces of mana clashed, triggering a chain of explosions.
Kuuung!
The beast staggered. Half of its upper body had been obliterated. Space contorted, and mana swirled chaotically. Everything caught within the blast radius was consumed, leaving not even a trace behind.
Kugugugugu…
Space itself was torn apart.
At that moment, the sky, once peeled open, began to mend. The radiance that had spread like an aurora was sucked into the vortex and vanished.
Due to the relentless mana explosions, the fate of the monstrous being was unclear. All that remained was a rising plume of ashen smoke.
“Haa…”
Yohan exhaled deeply as he descended. Heaven’s Ruin was immensely powerful, but its energy consumption was extreme. Even his mental energy had been drained, making exhaustion inevitable.
“…Is this really magic?”
“At this level, it’d be strange if anything survived.”
“This power is absurd…”
The warriors muttered in awe, their voices tinged with exhaustion. Yohan’s magic had completely defied common sense.
However—
Boom!!
The ground trembled once more. The thick dark energy the beast harbored spread in all directions.
-Kuaaaah!!
“Ugh!”
“Kh…!”
“What the hell…!”
The deafening roar made the warriors instinctively cover their ears. Yohan was no exception—he clutched his head as his brain felt like it was shaking.
‘Damn it…’
Yohan looked into the distance, where the ashen flash had dissipated. Though it had managed to defend itself momentarily, the beast of the snowy mountains had lost its right arm. However, it charged forward as if such an injury was insignificant.
‘It can be killed.’
But whether they had enough time and resources to do so was uncertain. The beast had crossed, in a single step, a distance that would take a mounted rider an hour to cover.
Heaven’s Ruin couldn’t be used consecutively. It required a delay to unleash its full power. He needed something to fill that gap.
“How much longer for the combined magic?!”
Yohan turned back and shouted. Right now, their best bet was the coordinated spell of the mages.
“We’re ready! We can cast it now!”
“Fire immediately!”
“Yes!”
A massive surge of magical energy erupted behind him. The mages’ combined spell—its power was undeniable.
Of course, it had to be.
The mages of the Imperial Bureau and the Purification Bureau were, on average, first-class. Their spell would rival even transcendent magic.
Kwaaaaaah—!
Beams of radiant, multicolored light shot forward, slicing through the air like a blinding flash.
And then—collision.
Boom!!
The concentrated magic, gathered from hundreds of mages, engulfed the beast of the snowy mountains. Violent gusts of wind roared, and an immense mana shockwave momentarily halted all mana circulation in the area.
-Kuaaaaah!!
Yet, the beast remained unscathed. It stood firm, without a single wound.
“It’s ineffective!!”
The warriors’ faces turned pale, fear creeping into their expressions.
“Do not waver! At least we stopped its advance! Prepare another combined spell!”
Yohan remained unfazed. The lack of damage was unexpected, but it wasn’t the worst outcome. At the very least, they had halted its movement.
“Duke!”
“I’m aware!”
Duke Fervache immediately began his incantation, gathering his magic for another strike. It didn’t take long.
Kwaaaaaah!!
Pure, destructive magic surged forth—elementless, yet undeniably powerful. Its might rivaled that of the combined spell.
The blue beam of mana, radiating with brilliance, hurtled toward the beast of the snowy mountains.
Boom!!
A massive explosion followed. The force of the shockwave was so intense that keeping one’s eyes open was nearly impossible. Yohan quickly deployed a mana barrier, straining his gaze to assess the situation.
Not even a scratch.
However, the beast’s advance had halted once more. That was enough. It meant he had bought time for his mana circuits to recover.
But they couldn’t keep this up for long. Unlike him, the others didn’t have unlimited reserves of mana. Maintaining maximum firepower drained them even faster.
A swift decision was needed.
‘There must be a way to kill it in one strike.’
Heaven’s Ruin had been effective. The missing arm was proof of that. But using it once more wouldn’t be enough. He’d need to strike at least twice, maybe even three more times.
‘Think.’
Yohan furrowed his brows, his mind racing.
There had to be a way.
“The coordinated spell and Duke Fervache’s spell can only be used one more time. We have to make the most of this opportunity.”
In that case—
Yohan turned around and shouted.
“The next coordinated spell!”
“Team 2, ready to cast immediately!”
“Fire the moment I give the signal!”
He gathered his mana, and his body slowly began to rise into the air.
“Duke! Use your magic on my signal as well!”
“What are you planning?!”
“We’ll strike from both inside and outside!”
If they hit it with transcendent magic at the same time, not even that monster would be able to survive. That was Yohan’s judgment.
“Here I go! Get ready to cast the spell immediately!”
Yohan stretched out his hand and formed a distortion orb in midair. Using its absorption properties, he pulled himself forward while manipulating his mana to reduce resistance.
Kwaaaa!!
His vision narrowed to a single point as everything around him stretched. He closed in on the beast at high speed.
Kuaaaah!!
That was when it happened. Sensing Yohan’s mana, the mountain beast of the snowfields turned its head. Ice spikes erupted unpredictably from its body, hurtling toward him.
Kwa-gwa-gwang!
But they couldn’t pierce the Eternal Flow Technique. The ice spikes were caught in the web of mana and froze in midair.
Faster!
Yohan created more distortion orbs, increasing the force pulling him forward. He accelerated even further toward the beast.
There has to be a cave.
The cave where he had met the celestial mage. He would enter and detonate Heaven’s Ruin inside.
It was a self-sacrificial strategy, but he had already survived a battle with the Tower Master. The data confirmed it—he could survive this.
“Kuaaaaaah!!”
He reached the creature’s front. Its roar slammed into him directly, shaking his entire skull. If he listened to it for too long, his body would feel like it was bursting apart.
Damn it.
Yohan gritted his teeth and covered his ears, synchronizing his mana and senses with Omniscient Perception. He rapidly scanned for the cave’s location.
There!
He found the entrance and adjusted his trajectory, darting inside at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Kugugugung!
As he entered, he felt the tremors. The beast was moving its legs again.
I can’t rush this.
Maintaining his composure, Yohan pushed deeper inside. He had only one chance. He had to succeed.
Kugugugung!!
Ice fragments rained down from the cave’s ceiling. Even though he was flying, his vision wavered from the massive vibrations.
At last, he reached the core of the cave. The celestial mage was nowhere to be seen—she had already left.
“Huuh…”
Yohan took a deep breath and gathered his mana. The previous explosion hadn’t been enough. He needed something even more powerful, something that could erase the space itself where the mountain beast stood.
Pazzzzzzt!!
His mana erupted violently, discharging electricity in all directions. A whirlwind formed around him, stirring up the ice fragments falling from the ceiling.
He combined a dispersing sphere and an absorbing sphere. Two orbs floated in midair, infused with the property of Void, forming mana capable of obliterating everything.
Kugugugugu-!
The tremors intensified—not from the mountain beast, but from the sheer concentration of Yohan’s overwhelming mana.
Kwoooooooo—!!
At that moment, the mana went out of control.
The accumulated energy had surpassed its limit.
A gray flash burst before his eyes. The air was torn apart, and the atmosphere was violently sucked inward. A momentary vacuum. He couldn’t breathe. No, there wasn’t even air left to inhale.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-!!
The second impact. The compressed mana failed to endure and ruptured. Light and darkness reversed as the gray flash exploded outward. This was no mere detonation.
The very laws of reality were torn apart.
Space distorted, severing the flow of mana.
And what was created was—
Transcendent Magic — Heaven’s Ruin
Yohan detonated the colorless sphere that had been pushed to its absolute limit.
***
The remaining warriors at the defensive line swallowed hard.
All they could do was wait for the signal.
Gulp.
Their throats felt as if they were swallowing stones.
Then—
Kwaaaaaa—!!
An explosion erupted. A condensed mass of mana, imbued with three distinct properties, had detonated. Duke Fervache instinctively realized—this was Yohan’s signal.
“Fire!!”
The coordinated magic and the Duke’s spell fused into one. Their respective manas amplified each other, radiating a dazzling light.
And then—
Kwaaaa!!
A surge of multicolored light erupted with overwhelming force.
Explosion met explosion.
A chain reaction ignited.
The violent streams of mana collided and amplified into an even greater force. In that instant, a supernova-like flash burst forth.
It was too bright.
No one could keep their eyes open.
Right now, all they could do was shut their eyes and wait for the outcome.
Biiiiiiiiiiiii—!!!
After the deafening explosion, all that remained was a ringing in their ears.
“…Did it work?”
“What happened?”
The warriors hesitantly opened their eyes.
The explosion. Within it, every trace of existence had vanished.
The frozen mountain’s remnants were gone.
Even the fragments had been completely erased.
At the center of that massive explosion—
Only emptiness remained.
“W-Waaaaaahhh—!!”
“We… we did it!!”
“Glory to Minister Lahart!!”
A triumphant roar erupted like a storm.