Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 153
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Game Opportunity Becomes Reality Episode 153
37. Hero's Archive (4)
-Swoosh!
Four swords flew in ferociously.
Each one flew at the speed of a bullet no, faster than that.
The Aura Blades wielding Sword Aura appeared as nothing more than streaks of blue light, and for ordinary people without enhanced abilities, they couldn't even perceive the attack.
Moreover, the distance to Duke Crimson was only about fifty meters, allowing each Sword Aura to be controlled with meticulous precision as if alive, so relying solely on physical ability to play dodge-mage would end in disaster.
Attacks that changed their trajectory irregularly made it hard to gauge distance, and since they weren't attached to arms, predicting their movement was also difficult.
Even for the same Sword Aura, this was completely different from when I was attacked at Heaven-Piercing Fortress earlier.
So I...
-Boom! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I chose to deflect every single attack.
"...!!"
Duke Crimson stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
And rightly so.
What knocked away his Sword Aura was none other than my Magic Staff.
To be precise, it wasn't just a Magic Staff it was one wrapped in a 7th Circle Great Shield.
The densely compressed Great Shield lacked the ability to cut enemies like an Aura Blade, but it possessed powerful repulsive force, making it possible to knock away Sword Aura.
Of course, reshaping magic requires deep understanding, and the more it's compressed, the smaller the defensive area, greatly increasing the risk but for me, this was enough.
The defensive barrier of the Magic Staff swung like a spear clashed with the repulsive force contained in the Aura Blade, creating a massive explosion as the Sword Aura was sent flying far away.
"You defy common sense."
But the crisis didn't end with the Sword Aura.
Duke Crimson, having accelerated his charge, appeared right before my eyes with blood-red pupils flashing.
From releasing four Sword Aura to reaching me it must have taken less than a single second.
"As I thought, you must die."
-Rumble!
He swung his sword, imbued with an aura of a completely different caliber from that of an Aura Master.
The Aura Blade within the Sword Aura also surpassed that of a typical Aura Master, but the sword held directly in hand was beyond comparison.
The mere act of swinging the sword produced a shockwave like a sonic boom.
-Gasp.
To anyone watching, it was a hopeless situation.
But the moment our eyes met, he suddenly swallowed his breath.
-Thud!
And he forcibly twisted his body, choosing the humiliating option of rolling across the floor.
"What a waste."
To anyone watching, I, a mere Mage, should have been cut in two by Duke Crimson, a Grandmaster.
But it was Duke Crimson rolling on the floor, and I curled the corners of my mouth upward.
On his cheek, as he quickly rose with an acrobatic landing, was a long gash as if cut by a blade.
"I could have killed you."
What attacked him was the white hilt in my left hand the Holy Sword in the form of a beam blade, named Excalibur.
Caught off guard by the equipment advantage, he put on a show of rolling across the floor to dodge the blade of light that rose aimed precisely at his throat.
-Grind...
Duke Crimson gritted his teeth and charged again.
-Shk!
At the same time, his scattered Sword Aura came back to life, flanking him on both sides, and the Croysen Empire special operations unit members, who had arrived a step late due to the gap in physical ability with the Grandmaster, also lunged in like assassins.
Attacks surged from all directions like waves.
-Thud! Thud! Thump! Thud!
But there's something I must not forget.
The fact that I'm not alone on this battlefield.
Arcia's Sword Aura knocked away Duke Crimson's Sword Aura, and Duke James's Sword Aura obstructed the special operations unit's approach.
Following behind, Gregory, Count Acres, former Marquis Vincent, and former Margrave Ignis flew toward High Elder Iris, who was floundering in a flustered expression, and their battle opponents were decided.
"Time's up."
Duke Crimson's attacks, as he charged with clenched teeth, were vicious beyond measure, but the Great Shield held within my Magic Staff returned to its normal barrier form, obstructing his path.
Even though the ordinary Great Shield shattered like glass before the sword held by the Grandmaster, that process created a delay of less than 0.1 seconds, and I swung the Holy Sword as if mocking that opening.
-Shink!
No matter how well a Mage swings a top-tier Holy Sword, they can't compare to a Grandmaster.
My attack missed feebly as he simply twisted his body.
-BOOOOM!
But my goal wasn't to take his head it was to buy time.
The shield that appeared right after delved into Duke Crimson's flank and struck him mercilessly.
Then Duke Crimson was sent flying like a baseball hit by a bat.
It was the beautiful swordswoman with flowing light-brown hair Arcia making her entrance.
"I'll protect the young master."
* * *
The moment an ambush is predicted, it is no longer an ambush.
Rather, it becomes a poor strategy that only invites grave danger.
As a result, Duke Crimson and his party became mice sticking their heads into a snake's mouth.
'I underestimated Duke Lawrence.'
Adrian was a renowned commander before he was a famous Battle Mage, and he was also skilled at reading people's psychology.
Yet against someone like that, their confidence that their forces could never lose, combined with the thought that every passing moment meant more suffering for the Empire's people, bred impatience and they judged the situation far too optimistically.
-BOOOOM!
"Ugh!"
-SWISH!
-Shink!
Thanks to that, Duke Crimson found himself walking a razor's edge in mortal peril.
High Elder Iris of the Elysian Coalition, who had been the trump card of this ambush, was pinned down by four Aura Masters and couldn't help anyone else.
The Empire's special operations unit, bearing the reputation of Grandmaster-class, was locked in a fierce life-and-death duel with Duke James of the Kingdom of Rhinehearts.
And Duke Crimson, the pride of the Croysen Empire, was left to face Adrian and Arcia barely managing to hold on against their insane coordinated attacks.
"Tch!"
Duke Crimson's and Arcia's Sword Auras clashed repeatedly in midair, and the shockwaves tore the earth apart.
When Arcia's shield and Duke Crimson's sword engaged in a stalemate of raw power, Adrian's Holy Sword and magic struck at his openings.
Thanks to that, he was pushed back again and again, until he ended up quite far from his companions.
For Duke Crimson, it was an utterly humiliating battle.
To be so thoroughly overwhelmed by the combination of a young woman who only recently became a Grandmaster and a mere 7th Circle Mage a situation he could never have imagined.
It was almost like seeing a reflection of the war itself.
'This doesn't make sense!'
He could accept that the ambush had failed.
After all, prioritizing speed had certainly made their movements predictable.
But even so, Duke Crimson had judged that they still held the advantage in combat power.
That was why the unending crisis felt so deeply wrong.
'Duke Klein's combat ability is by no means above mine. Rather, with his low Grandmaster proficiency, he could be considered below me. In the end, that means the difference-maker is Duke Lawrence.'
What happens when an ordinary 7th Circle Grand Mage faces a Grandmaster?
The conclusion: instant annihilation.
No matter how clever a Mage might be, a proper fight simply couldn't take shape.
Especially since Vanguard equipment had already weakened the Battle Mage's standing, and defensive magic only served to buy a moment of time.
Yet Adrian had not only made a fight of it against the Grandmaster before Arcia joined in, but had even pushed him into crisis.
Moreover, the strange composure in his demeanor made Duke Crimson's unease grow heavier and heavier.
-BOOOOM!
"Damn it!"
All of his attacks were 7th Circle spells, yet oddly their casting was fast, and their power felt far above the level he'd seen from countless other Grand Mages.
'Huh? Wait.'
That was why Duke Crimson couldn't help but think.
As if, 'I'm facing an 8th Circle Mage using 7th Circle spells'...
It was just a casual thought that crossed his mind.
But the moment that thought etched itself into his mind, Duke Crimson's eyes went wide.
"You don't tell me!"
At Duke Crimson's question, born of a single possibility, Adrian curled the corners of his mouth upward.
As if he knew exactly what he was about to say.
As if unlocking the stats that had been placed on him one by one, Adrian's combat ability felt like it was steadily rising.
As the worst-case possibility grew closer to certainty, Duke Crimson's complexion turned pale.
His agitation soon became an opening.
-Chwaaak!
The Holy Sword, appearing from the blind spot created by the shield, grazed Duke Crimson's left chest.
"Kugh..."
Along with a cough, a handful of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
He had taken a blow to the lung.
Duke Crimson had no choice but to hastily retreat.
A Duke of the Empire would naturally possess at least one 8th Circle-grade recovery artifact, so this was to buy time to heal his wound.
But the problem was that Adrian and Arcia were hardly the type to let such an opportunity slip by.
"Farewell."
His wound healed almost instantly, but Adrian and Arcia's attacks, allowing not a single inch of leeway, aimed for his heart and head respectively.
-Bang!
Duke Crimson blocked Arcia's attack flying toward his head using the sword in his hand.
-Puak!
He then tried to block the attack aimed at his chest with Sword Aura (sword control).
But the Sword Aura that flew in fiercely was Canceled Out by his Sword Aura, and he allowed a single Strike to land.
"Huh..."
With a gruesome sound effect of a pierced heart, Duke Crimson let out a sentiment filled with bewilderment.
The artifact imbued with 8th Circle Revive magic once again tried to heal Duke Crimson's wound, but the one holding the Holy Sword was not a swordsman but a Mage.
The Holy Sword that pierced his heart became the medium for a subsequent explosion spell.
"Everyone was just being played with."
-Kwaaaaang!
And so Duke Crimson, with that brief final statement, was blown to death.
For a swordmaster of the Empire who once dominated an era, it was a truly shabby end.
* * *
High Elder Iris Maryang of the beastkin nation, affiliated with the Elysian Coalition, deftly portrayed the image of a criminal being dragged away by police, staring blankly at the handcuffs being placed around her wrists.
"Wouldn't it be better to just kill her?"
At former Marquis Vincent's question, voiced with reluctance, Adrian shrugged his shoulders.
"The reason we could win this battle so easily is that High Elder Iris acted passively. If she had fought us aggressively, the losses would have been severe."
Hearing that, former Marquis Vincent, who had believed it was thanks to their efforts that they managed to keep High Elder Iris in check, furrowed his brow.
The conflict between the two of them had yet to be resolved, but Vincent was someone who acknowledged her ability nonetheless.
If even such a person said so, then it must be so.
Former Marquis Vincent took a fresh look at the fox beastkin girl a cute little girl's appearance that seemed utterly out of place with battle being dragged along by Arcia.
"Former Marquis Vincent, former Margrave Ignis. You've worked hard. If you keep up this level of performance just for today, you should be able to recover your Count title. I'll help with that."
"We fought for our homeland, not for a Title. Our honor died with Prince Luke, Your Highness."
They were precious Aura Masters, so he had spared them, and indeed, in a critical situation, they proved highly useful in many ways.
Adrian nodded at the resolute response from the two and followed behind Arcia.
"Our chances of winning the war have increased, haven't they?"
Then, at Margrave Ignis's question, he had to turn his head.
Adrian, who had turned from enemy to ally, gave him a genial smile and answered simply.
"100%."
It was former Marquis Vincent and former Margrave Ignis who, for the first time, smiled at Adrian's conviction.