Chapter 145. Reverse Scale (3)
The unofficial laboratory of the Bohemirn Magic Tower.
Eighteen-year-old Verden, who dreamed of becoming a greater Mage, was there.
────Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Mana circuit booster and memory expand.
Two drugs digging into his veins forcefully awakened both his mind and magic power.
Lights filled his vision.
Syringe needles pierced through flesh and muscle.
Magical knowledge crammed into his head.
Every one of those moments was unforgettable.
Even if he wanted to close his eyes, cold metal clamps pulled at his eyelids, and even if he wanted to twist his body, the tightly strapped restraint suit did not budge.
The effect of the tranquilizer lasted only briefly for Verden. Before long, even that triggered an immune reaction.
────Stop! Stoooop!
He screamed.
With a voice torn at the throat, filled with the stench of blood, he begged for mercy. He cried out to be saved, to be helped.
Dozens of gazes turned toward him.
Of course, no one paid attention.
The Mages, wearing sneers, either joined the experiment with curiosity, looked on, or merely focused on their own tasks. After the tower master's forced magic circle had rendered Verden unable to even scream, they even wore relieved expressions, glad the noise was gone.
To them, Verden was not human, but merely experimental subject number seventy-seven.
It was there that Verden learned despair.
But it was not as though no one reached out a hand.
────...What's wrong?
One day, Rovellin asked.
She was not asking about the unofficial experiment. The forced magic circle enforced absolute security. It must have been about the rumor that Verden had tried to steal the Multi-dimensional Continuity Theory.
Rovellin was one of the promising talents of the Bohemirn Magic Tower.
She spent an overwhelming number of days outside the tower, receiving all sorts of diverse education. She met Verden face-to-face only a few times a year. If the rumor had reached her ears, it meant it had spread considerably.
Verden shook his head.
────No, nothing's wrong.
He denied the rumor.
Partly because of the compulsion of the magic circle, but he had never intended to speak in the first place.
Even if by some infinitesimal chance he broke through the compulsion and told Rovellin the truth…
Then Rovellin would pour her effort into uncovering the truth of the theory. She might even try to abolish the unofficial experiments so Verden would no longer suffer.
Because before Rovellin was his fellow apprentice in the Magic Tower, she was family, having grown up with him in the same orphanage.
But even so, nothing would change.
Compared to the tower master, Rovellin was powerless.
The chance that she alone could overturn the tower simply did not exist. If she learned the truth, she too would become a sacrifice of the unofficial experiments. Or else a puppet moved by compulsion.
Whatever it may be, Verden had no intention of dragging Rovellin into his misfortune just because he felt wronged at suffering alone.
At Verden's answer, Rovellin asked no more.
Even if she kept pressing, he would never admit to the rumor. They knew each other far too well.
Helping someone without expecting anything in return is never simple.
To reach out when someone needs help is to share their misfortune, and to grasp that hand is to shoulder that misfortune together.
Because of a rashly grasped hand, one might even be killed. There had once been a farmer who donated grain to the orphanage, only to be persecuted by villagers for encouraging more orphans.
If the donor had been a noble, what then. If a powerful Mage, what then.
No doubt they would have remained silent. On the contrary, they would have busied their mouths clapping and praising such benevolence.
Thus, in this world, even to extend kindness, one needed qualification.
Overwhelming power that could trample every misfortune.
The standard of the world never changed.
***
Claws of the earth shot out from Verden's hand toward Costa.
Startled by the sudden ambush, Moknen urgently yanked Costa by the scruff of the neck.
But it was already too late.
Shhhrrraak!
Three deep gashes carved across Costa's face and chest.
Not enough to tear his body apart, but deep enough. Blood spurted like a fountain, staining his makeup-covered face.
"L–Lord Costa?!"
"Potion! Bring a potion right now! Highest-grade!"
Costa's guards bustled about.
Even after immediate first aid, the severed hand did not rise again.
A clear instant death.
Moknen, Boldren, and the other guards wore twisted expressions. The situation was simply incomprehensible.
Boldren's staff-bearing hand trembled.
"W–What the hell is this?! Lord Costa extended kindness, so why—!"
Kindness.
To the standards of Roafra, perhaps so.
So they could not understand.
Aiden.
And Costa's mention of magical test subjects.
Moreover, the lust-filled gazes of Costa's Mages. Every one of these things stabbed at Verden's reverse scale, his past.
Of course, he had no intention of explaining that truth.
He had not the slightest thought of bestowing such kindness.
Verden pulled the Oculus from his spatial bag.
Just then, Galliark spoke.
"Hey, Asher, want me to help?"
"No."
Verden's gaze briefly lingered on Aiden and Charlotte.
"Instead, take care of those three."
"Fine. But later, you owe me a meal."
Galliark stepped back neatly.
It was a shame he could not test Hwihwol right now, but more than that, he wanted to see just how strong Verden had become.
'Besides, the mood here is…'
Despite his huge build, Galliark was quick to sense the atmosphere.
Verden activated his mana circuit.
At once, magic power overflowed from his whole body, taking form and seizing control of the surroundings. At the same time, every door in the restaurant slammed shut.
No one would be allowed to leave without his permission. At that meaning, Moknen could not hide his dismay.
"You don't mean to—us…!"
There was no dialogue.
Thunder roared.
***
The fire Mage Boldren, and the Scourge, Moknen.
For years, the two had been Costa's enforcers. Among them, Moknen in particular had earned infamy as a thief of the Kingdom.
But in the end, the Marquisate Esperanza caught him, wiped out all his men, and drove him to flee into Roafra.
And what did he find there?
A splendid underground city, one fit perfectly for Moknen.
Outside, infamy, inside Roafra, prestige.
And so, upon receiving Costa's proposal, he took a place beneath Roafra's rulers.
The days of violating, tormenting, and killing the weak at will, were more addictive than any narcotic.
Of course, he was not completely free, as he sometimes had to lend a hand in Roafra's minor territorial skirmishes, but it was no problem.
Moknen's metal thorned whip, even a graze, led to heavy bleeding. At times, he added paralytic poison or serpent venom, turning it into a whip of deadly toxins.
For that reason, enemies had not dared to recklessly brandish their blades.
Until now.
"Kkyaaaahhhh?!"
"Arrrrghhh!"
The lightning that burned through the front ranks of guards chained forward.
It was magic impossible to block with bare flesh. Moknen made his decision instantly and bolted behind the Mages. The Mages extended their staves toward the oncoming bolts.
Walls of earth, the opposite element of lightning, rose in succession.
With this, they should have been able to block the relatively weak physical force of the lightning element, buying time to prepare another spell.
But that expectation was shattered, blatantly.
Kwaaang!
The stone walls struck by lightning shattered at once.
Strength and range boosted by Maybel's Earrings and the Amulet of Thunderwing. Even stacked in layers, such tier-2 magic was nowhere near enough to stop it.
The lightning that broke the walls surged toward the Mages.
They quickly deployed mana barriers to block the follow-up. Fortunately, the force had weakened, so no one died, but the mana barriers were destroyed.
"Ghhk…!"
Immediately, the burden of mana circuits seized their bodies with stiffness.
Verden casually swung the Oculus.
Wind blades infused with lightning shot forth.
The Mages, unable to overcome the burden, had no way to dodge. As the magic pierced their bodies, they were split clean in half.
The cross-sections were scorched by heat, so their organs and blood did not drench the floor.
Moknen ducked his waist just barely, dodging the spell.
Far behind him, Boldren shouted in urgency.
"Buy time, Moknen! Time!"
Even as he shouted, Boldren began preparing magic.
To so brazenly demand sacrifice—Moknen clenched his teeth, but he had no choice.
"Charge! Now!"
"B-But…"
"There's no way we can get close—"
Thwack!
Moknen's whip burst open the back of one guard's skull. Murderous intent flared as he roared again.
"Run at him now!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
Costa's guards rushed Verden all at once.
Sharp stone fragments, searing bolts, blades of wind churned corpses into heaps. The Mages beside Boldren supported with spells, but nothing worked.
It felt like facing a monster.
'Still, that bastard is human…!'
At that pace of reckless spellcasting, he would soon exhaust himself.
They did not know why he sought to kill them, but the die was already cast.
Using the corpses of the guards as shields, Moknen closed the distance, watching for an opening, then pounded the floor with all his strength.
Then, swinging his arm in midair, the metal whip aimed for Verden's head, suddenly dropping toward his leg.
'No Mage's perception could react in time—?!'
Verden casually shifted his leg, dodging the whip.
As if he had precisely read its trajectory. A reaction speed incomprehensible.
Landing on the ground, Moknen lifted his head to meet Verden's gaze.
That moment.
Crackle.
A tiny spark of lightning flared between them.
Instinct warned of danger, but he could not avoid the strike. A sharp sting on his arm—then blue current flared across his entire right arm.
"Ghhkk?!"
The whip fell.
Smoke rose from his scorched arm, now without sensation. No matter how many spells there were, he had never heard of such magic.
But it was not immediately fatal.
With his remaining left arm, Moknen pulled out a long spike and rushed Verden. He had lost one arm, but he had closed the distance enough.
If he could not fight from afar, then he would fight in close combat.
Moknen focused his aura into the tip of the spike.
"Huh?"
Verden and Moknen crossed paths.
In that fleeting instant, the Oculus brushed Moknen's side. Effortlessly slipping behind him, Verden simply walked forward.
At the sudden disregard, Moknen's brow twitched.
"What the hell are you—"
Thud.
A powerful tremor. Felt not from outside, but from within. Moknen fumbled at his body.
At the spot where the staff had brushed, something had seeped inside.
"Ah."
Boom!
The shards of earth that had burrowed within exploded.
His lower body, barely holding form, collapsed to the ground.
Costa's guards.
More than half were annihilated, leaving only Boldren and the Mages.
"Hahahahaha! You bought time well, Moknen!"
Boldren laughed.
His staff was brimming with flame.
"I'll send you to the afterlife with Lord Costa and Moknen as companions! Burn and die!"
Tier-4 concentrated magic.
Just before Boldren's spell was complete.
A beam of light pierced his chest.
A lightning spell, burning only the exact point of impact.
Struck in the heart, the Mage's very source of power, Boldren fell to his knees.
"Lord Boldren!"
"Ghhhk, hhhkk…!"
"For a Mage to fumble before his spell is even complete. Pathetic."
At Verden's sneer, Boldren could do nothing.
He could not gather mana, could hardly even breathe. As Boldren collapsed helplessly, the remaining Mages instantly lost their will to fight.
Some stumbled back, some darted their eyes, seeking escape, some begged Verden for their lives.
Boldren forced out words with difficulty.
"W-Why…? What in the world did we ever do to you, to deserve this? Why…?"
You don't know, and that's why you die.
Verden answered only in his heart, finishing his calculations in an instant.
Bolts of lightning raging around the Oculus formed the shape of a spear.
The lightning spear was hurled at Boldren, at the center of the group.
With thunder, a blue light burst forth.
That vast explosion of electricity engulfed the entire restaurant.