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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 204: The Summoning (1)
In a space enveloped by darkness, a throne atop a staircase glows with light.
Below it, the bowing demons simultaneously lift their heads as if snapped from a trance, their gazes locking onto us.
Dozens of pairs of black eyes, each with a vertical slit, pierce the gloom.
Black murmurs in a low voice:
"These are a bit different from the ones we've faced before."
"They're his familiars."
The eyes are like those of rabid dogs.
It's a sight so unsettling that I, too, instinctively channel the power of the Black Dog, glaring back at them.
An unnerving silence hangs in the air, a tense standoff.
There's no need for excessive thought.
The priority is to focus on the present situation.
Whoosh—!
The moment I scatter flames forward to secure our vision, a demon from the rear launches itself forward.
Swoosh—
The very moment they begin their leap, I blink rapidly to register their positional shift.
Among the demons of the past, some were so swift that they left afterimages with a single blink, but these are different.
'Five seconds.'
They're not particularly fast.
Considering the distance, we have about five seconds of leeway.
I prepare a concussion-type incantation in my left hand and an ice-type incantation in my right, all the while keeping my eyes fixed forward.
Swoosh—
The demons continue their leaps in a disciplined, orderly formation.
It's just as I expected.
There's no way ordinary creatures would display such controlled movement.
Blink.
The moment my eyes open again, five demons are upon us in an instant.
'Shock Wave.'
'Ice Glacier.'
Bang—! A shockwave erupts to our right, blasting the air, while a stream of icy energy shoots out in front of us, exuding a chilling aura.
Simultaneously, I generate wind pressure behind me, accelerating my body like an arrow.
Triple Incantation.
What sets a 6th-circle mage apart from those of lower circles isn't merely the ability to unleash high-level incantations.
It's the pinnacle of magical mastery.
In the past, the high-level mages of Samael were able to easily overcome knights of comparable divine power because of their versatility.
The completion of multiple magic manifestation.
It's not just about simultaneously casting two incantations; it's the ability to simultaneously unleash three or more 5th-circle incantations.
Fwoosh—!
I advance forward, my eyes tracking the demons scattering to either side.
The space isn't particularly wide.
The shockwave and icy blast spreading to the left and right seem to have swept the demons away at first glance.
But in reality, aside from the demons at the very front, not many individuals have been significantly damaged.
Just before the incantation's range could reach...
The demons in the rear were even faster, scattering to the left and right, evading the range of the incantations.
'As expected.'
Perfectly controlled movements.
Their motions are too restrained to be the innate, instinctual movements of demons whose very nature is honed for combat.
They're fundamentally different from the ones I saw in the Demon Realm.
Familiars
Whoosh—!
In the meantime, the concussion and ice incantations that had been surging toward the throne dissipated simultaneously.
I gazed at the source of the strangely swirling, emanating cold wave.
A single demon remained hunched and huddled below the throne's steps.
However, what truly captured my attention was the magic circle encircling the throne's steps.
It's not a type of magic circle I recognize.
The bizarre mist of mixed cold air and demonic energy emanating vertically from the magic circle, enveloping the throne, instinctively triggered a warning in my mind.
'It's a summons.'
The ritual that the Seven Demons referred to as a summons.
And considering the current situation, there aren't many possibilities to deduce.
Are they really trying to manifest a Count-rank demon on that throne?
Whoosh—!
It was then that the demon bowing below the throne turned to look at me.
This one is likely the highest-ranking among the familiar.
Slightly larger than an adult male.
The artificial black mask covering its face seemed somewhat familiar.
It, too, was a symbol indicating its status as a member of the familiar.
"Who is your master?"
"……."
There was no reply.
Is this one truly a demon? Or a human who has been demonized?
What's certain is that the emotions of the one before me are fluctuating wildly.
Its shoulders continue to heave. It's not difficult to discern that the emotion stems from rage.
There's no time to waste.
Whirr—
I unleash the Shock Wave I had prepared with a pre-emptive incantation, while simultaneously extending a fist infused with condensed wind pressure.
At the same time, demons charged at me from all directions.
'Explosion.'
Boom boom boom—!
The demons caught in the fiery explosion erupting with a deafening roar are blown away in all directions.
In that instant, a high-intensity surge of demonic energy subtly extended from the demon amidst the chaos.
I unleashed the hidden dark lightning within the Shock Wave's shockwave, colliding head-on with it.
Internal Strength
Surprisingly, the demon vanished into the darkness with a fleeting afterimage, only to reappear below the throne again.
"Damage?"
This wasn't something I had prepared for in advance.
It was a situation where I sensed the dark lightning's vibrations in that fleeting moment of unleashing the Shock Wave and reacted accordingly.
I immediately looked up at the throne.
The level of the familiar directly reflects the level of their master.
Dealing with familiars of this caliber means the possibility I'd anticipated has become reality.
The throne remains shrouded in an ominous black mist, its form obscured.
Yet, the ominous fluctuations of demonic energy only intensify.
'Count-rank?'
Whirr—
I fully open all the circles of my heart.
The six violently churning circles spin as if burning.
The demon who had taken a step forward from the front crosses his arms.
His blazing eyes, filled with rage, pierce me as if daring me to attack.
"You don't know your place."
This was merely a preliminary probe in the first place.
6th-circle, Spatial Acceleration.
At the moment the demon loses track of my position, a hint of doubt entering his eyes, I instead launch myself towards the throne beyond the vertically stretching staircase.
Swoosh—
Momentarily bending and then straightening my knees, I fluidly execute the Crazy Mage's footwork.
I've long since progressed beyond the stage of surpassing Super Speed through past training.
Originally, Spatial Acceleration, which involves piercing through space with extreme acceleration, exerts unimaginable omnidirectional pressure on the body itself.
However, my body, now feeling as light as a feather, perfectly offsets the disadvantages of Spatial Acceleration.
A level of footwork so light and stealthy that not even a trace remains when I step on snow.
In fact, I had even come up with a name for this footwork, preparing for anyone who might ask, but since no one ever did, I mentally speak it for the first time.
'Treading Snow Without a Trace.'
Whoosh—!
The demon, unable to grasp my movement that vanished in an instant, leaving only an afterimage, looks around bewildered.
By the time the doubt in his eyes turns to shock, I've already arrived right in front of the throne and completed my incantation.
"……!"
I draw the Red Dagger towards the throne enveloped in deep darkness.
Whoosh—
Crimson flames blaze along the short blade, and at the instant concentrated heat, like that of lava, hovers at the tip of the blade,
I swing it horizontally, putting my full weight into it as if to cleave through the mist.
6th-circle Heat System.
Inferno.
The area the spell reaches is small, but the concentrated heat is one of the top incantations among 6th-circle fire-attribute spells.
If you unleash the incantation while wielding a bladed weapon, its destructive power is further multiplied.
Swoosh—
The moment hot flames burst out, the mist in front of me splits open vertically, revealing the throne through the gap.
Something swirling like a storm was slowly taking shape.
Piercing through the eerie demonic energy flowing out, I swing the Red Dagger towards the throne.
Whoosh—
"……!"
Suddenly, I feel an unfamiliar sensation in my wrist.
It's cold.
It's not due to recoil.
The moment I intuitively feel the coldness, an unfamiliar stinging pain surges from my fingertips gripping the Red Dagger.
Instinctively, I look down at the Red Dagger at the chilling sensation that feels as if it would shatter my hand.
"……It's freezing?"
The moment the Red Dagger's blade, imbued with powerful flames, touched the storm swirling around the throne, it instantly froze, turning stark white.
In a split second, the Red Dagger was completely frozen.
The freezing didn't stop at the blade; a massive amount of cold air surged along my wrist and penetrated my body.
I immediately reversed the rotation of my heart's circles, forcing the chill out of my right arm, and extended my hand forward.
Dark Explosion.
Boom—
Instantly, I felt an immense repulsive force on the front, and my body was launched into the air.
'Tch.'
Suppressing the feeling of my insides being violently shaken, I righted my body in mid-air just before I was about to crash back to the ground.
Even faster than that, I lifted my head, as a terrifying chill swept over my entire body.
Shatter shatter shatter—
Pure white icy tendrils, shot out from the throne, containing sharpness like blades, and flew towards me at an incredible speed.
It was the very moment I was about to rotate my heart's circles and chant an incantation.
Slash.
A chilling sound that stimulated the depths of my ear canal.
Simultaneously, the icy tendrils, which had been stretching out as if to tear everything apart, stopped in mid-air.
……No, they didn't stop.
I distinctly remember the sound I just heard.
The icy tendrils, which had momentarily maintained their form in the air as if someone had stopped time, fell straight to the ground.
This is, the space has been severed.
"Heart Void Stream."
The origin of Heart Void Sword Technique, Balthazar.
Black, with his back to me, landed in front of the throne's steps, after wielding the dark sword in a downward strike.
The distorted cut surface of space, created along the trajectory he swung, shone for a moment before disappearing.
Although it is clear that he has not reached the realm of his former comrade, Black's swordsmanship is already astonishing simply by the fact that he has manifested the Heart Void Sword.
However, what caught my attention even more than that was the still swirling mist above the throne.
"familiar."
Black, who had been looking at the throne with his back turned, murmured in a low voice.
The mist was gradually taking on a human form.
The eerie demonic energy was gradually spreading in all directions.
I suddenly raised my head and looked at the sky.
The sky was still as dark as an abyss.
'Not yet?'
It is impossible that those outside have not yet dealt with the aftereffects of the heat.
The four great magic towers were gathered, Altair was there, and the Crazy Mage Squad was present.
They must have noticed something strange.
And yet, there is still no sign of anything…….
Damn it.
What on earth is happening outside as well?
"Dodge, familiar!"
Fwoosh—!
In an instant, immense pressure, as if my knees were about to be crushed into the floor, pressed down on my body.
Suddenly, I feel as if gravity has increased several times.
Screeeeeeech—!
An invisible wave, emanating from the throne, spread out in a circle along with a rough melody that directly hit my eardrums.
Sound pressure.
Black, who had driven the dark sword into the ground with one hand, roughly raised his head.
It was the moment when Black and I simultaneously looked at the throne.
"……The First Young Master of the Divine Clan. How."
Suddenly, the demon guarding the throne's steps opened his mouth for the first time.
Perhaps it was because the grand scheme he had prepared for so long was being disturbed?
His voice trembled as if filled with rage.
The moment I thought that it was a voice I had never heard before…….
[Up to here.]
Sound pressure that reverberated throughout the entire space erupted.
At the same time, pure white rays of light, extended from the mist that enveloped the throne, pierced the demon's chest as it was.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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