NOVEL WEB Chapter 54
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The black magic spread between them like a gloomy fog.
…….
In the darkness-filled underground, black flames and magic power surged. A murderous intent to kill each other relaxed the air.
Sssss…
The ceiling, unable to withstand the pressure, was the first to start collapsing. Momentarily obscured by falling debris, as if on cue, the wolf and the mage moved simultaneously.
“Lanțul corupției―!”
Three layers of chains pursued the wolf. Even in the narrow room, the chains couldn’t reach him. Agail clenched his teeth, suppressing a headache.
‘Let’s see how long you can keep running!’
Chasing after the chains, the black magic followed close behind. In the ominous darkness, the wolf ran without hesitation. Just before getting caught by the chains, the wolf kicked off the wall and jumped. As Agail raised his hand, black thorns shot up. The wolf, seemingly anticipating this, turned around and bared its fangs.
“Don’t mess around!”
The black magic now accelerated faster than before. Agail, grasping the wolf’s trajectory, spat out the chant.
“Congelare.”
Extreme cold that instantly freezes everything.
In the chilling atmosphere, moisture in the air froze and turned to ice.
“Sloi de gheaţă― Lansa!”
With his breath, his exhalation turned to frost. The thermometer showed a temperature plummeting endlessly until it finally shattered. The frozen moisture formed icicles that were shot forth. Agail’s second spell failed to reach the wolf; it all melted away.
‘This is different.’
Something was igniting in the wolf’s eyes.
‘……!’
For a very brief moment, he caught a glimpse of a fragment of something.
‘What is that?’
For just a moment, he felt a disinterested gaze…
‘Is it an illusion?’
Agail shook his head.
‘Guess I’ll have to check it out.’
The chains of corruption were wrapped in black magic. Just touching them would be as good as death. The chains and black magic closing in surrounded the wolf.
‘This is the end.’
As the confident mage clenched his fist, a furious wind blew from the wolf.
“Kuh!”
With a swipe, he knocked back the approaching chains and pushed away the black magic.
In the frozen room, ice fragments that hadn’t yet evaporated scattered. Countless shards lodged into his reflexively raised arms.
“……!”
Agail’s eyes exploded with light. Even so, his mind remained cold. As long as he was careful of that wind, the flames wouldn’t touch him. Having calmly finished his assessment, he waved through the air. The flames engulfing the hideout were swallowed once again by his magic power.
“You should have never shown up.”
The troublesome flames began to dwindle.
If he had run away, he might have saved his life.
Ignoring Agail’s mockery, the wolf lowered its stance. As once again the wind burst forth, the wolf vanished.
‘How?’
In an instant, the wolf had slipped from the mage’s sight. The room, cloaked in ash, was swirling with a gust stirred by the whirlwind.
‘Just a beast after all.’
Agail, spreading his magic wide, sensed the wolf’s presence but frowned.
‘Is it charging at me?’
Was it not a surprise attack? The creature was charging straight at him.
‘How?’
The black magic was already swallowing the room. The wolf’s flames absorbed all of the black magic. In other words, this room was already his territory. But how?
‘Impossible.’
There was no way he should be able to withstand it and not collapse under the black magic.
Yet the wolf rushed forward, unyielding and direct…!
Agail’s magic flared up like it was oil, igniting fiercely. The black flame that ignited from the creature’s eyelids devoured the magic power.
‘Was this it?!’
The wolf had its final trump card.
Agail’s eyes widened. With evident murderous intent, he charged to kill. This was on a different level from before. Its nature was completely different. Not merely burning, but voraciously consuming.
‘How did it happen suddenly?’
Just a moment ago, the magic power held the advantage. But how? Had he been hiding it all along?
‘I can’t stop it.’
As if possessed, the greedy black flame voraciously devoured the black magic. As their gazes crossed, Agail muttered with a twisted expression.
“…Yeah. Fine.”
He couldn’t stop the creature’s charge.
Agail didn’t evade the charging wolf. Instead, he stepped forward and raised his magic power.
If what it was hiding was the insatiable flames that could even consume black magic—then he just had to break that too. Agail drew the magic power that spread through the air. Following his gestures, it took shape. No, he reclaimed it.
“――.”
He incanted.
Though the black rose couldn’t bloom, it hadn’t lost either.
With the incantation suspended, the last magic he possessed rose once more.
“O liniște nesfârșită va cădea Totul se va sparge―!”
The fourth incantation—and finally, the fifth incantation interrupted by the wolf.
The great magic that Anela had greatly feared finally revealed itself to the world.
As soon as the magic manifested, Agail knelt. Without [Great Magic Power (B)], he would have fallen long ago. He had forcibly drawn out magic beyond his limits, leading to a fierce backlash.
‘This is a mess.’
It was terrible.
It felt as if someone had shoved their hand into his body and was stirring around carelessly. Was the shock affecting even his insides? Blood flowed as he wiped his mouth, desperately holding onto his fading consciousness.
The fifth incantation. ‘Silence Rose.’
His physical condition was a disaster, but he completed the incantation.
This was the end. Agail believed wholeheartedly that the rising rose would take away not only the wolf but all creatures residing in the hideout.
‘This turned out well.’
Both the troublesome Team Leader and foolish sister, as well as the disciple of Changseon that had been a hindrance. Even the bugs dwelling on the ground.
‘As long as there’s a full elixir.’
It wasn’t impossible to escape the hideout. To shake off the pursuit.
No, perhaps even more could be possible. No matter what anyone said, that was a mimicry of a miracle. Agail’s lips curled into a smile.
‘Mother.’
It was a mistake not to kill me. Yes. What expression would you make if I brought your daughter’s head? Would that icy expression crack just a little? Imagining that scene alone was enough to have a smile sneak out.
‘I’ll come find you soon.’
***
‘That black magic is troublesome.’
Its power broke and crushed everything. That included my ash flame, which was no exception. The ash flame that had filled the hideout seemed to align horizontally with the black magic for a moment, but in reality, that was not the case.
‘So.’
So I wished for it.
A stronger flame. A flame that could defeat and kill it. The pitch-black flame that burns everything…!
‘Transformation.’
[You have acquired the skill Transformation (C) Lv.1]
[Ash Flame (D) Lv.3 has merged into Transformation (C) Lv.1]
[The skill level of Transformation (C) Lv.1 has reached maximum. Transformation (C) Lv.1 → Transformation (C) Lv.2]
[Remaining skill points: 1]
I poured all the skill points I had been saving.
I had acquired the only skill that could possibly kill it.
True to its name, the ghostly flames greedily consumed the black magic. The situation had changed. Now that it wouldn’t be overpowered by the black magic, there was certainty that it could be defeated.
—Until I saw its magic.
From the moment the black rose bloomed, I could no longer breathe.
‘That is.’
Different.
It wasn’t about the scale of magic or powers; it was simply qualitatively different. I could understand why that woman had despaired. That was a power that shouldn’t exist. The threatening murderous intent and bubbling emotions dispersed with overwhelming fear.
‘Ah.’
Despair washed over me, squeezing my chest.
Instinct as a living being told me this was the end.
There was no further path. There was no remaining time. My destination was right here, it insisted.
The black rose thoroughly and brutally mocked me.
The fifth incantation. What finally bloomed was ‘the endpoint of all life.’
A fear that seemed to embody death itself. My advancing legs trembled. I wanted to stop at once, but for some reason, I couldn’t.
If I turned my back and fled, perhaps I could escape this eternal silence.
‘Run away.’
My mind thought that.
But—my heart screamed.
Would you really run away just like this?
Would you be alright with that?
Surely not. How could I have come this far?
Somehow, a voice began asking me over and over.
There wasn’t time to spare an answer.
I just kept running.
Though I was running, for some reason, I wasn’t moving.
‘Am I dead?’
I don’t know.
In the end, I couldn’t win.
I was frustrated beyond measure.
Frustrated and furious….
The galloping light was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, time slowed.
Like a wound-up spring progressively slowing, my consciousness began ebbing away.
***
The endlessly questioning voice became clearer.
‘What do you desire?’
Like a curious fairy. But it wasn’t a gentle being like a fairy.
‘Do you want to live?’
Yes. I want to live.
My mind says so. But right now, at this instant, there was an emotion that surpassed that. The burning feeling was a resentment that would never die until everything in the blind spot was finished.
‘Then do you want to kill?’
…I want to kill.
I want to rip them to shreds and burn every last trace, leaving nothing behind. I vowed to kill them all and offer them to those who have lost their eyes and tongues.
So I cannot fall. I cannot retreat. I must not turn my back on this feeling—therefore I was running endlessly.
‘You’re foolish.’
It giggled.
Mocking me as the world’s biggest fool.
That’s fine. If I could just release this resentment. If I could keep that vow.
‘Fool~ That’s not your feeling either, right?’
I didn’t reply to its words.
Instead, I thought. Surely. Surely I can’t be the only one who can be angry for myself. Then it laughed as if it were dying with laughter.
‘Dingbat! Fool! A monster with altruism!’
Still rolling around laughing, it wiped a tear from its eye. Then, with a smile, it said.
‘Alright. I’ll help you.’
As if trying to be generous. It placed its hands on its hips. Then it whispered as if measuring.
‘Listen well. My name is…’
***
The spring was wound up again.
The world began to move once more.
“……?”
Agail furrowed his brows in bewilderment. He felt that something was different, but he didn’t know what. In any case, the fight was ending here. The wolf that had been running endlessly stopped at some point. Had it accepted death now?
“You should have never come.”
How foolish of a beast. Agail mocked the wolf. Thanks to it, he had a headache. Ah, yes. Wasn’t it a pretty impressive effort for a bug?
‘Now…!’
The black rose began to bloom.
In ecstasy, Agail felt a shiver. The fragrance of the black magic began to spread from the ‘Silence Rose.’ The scent of death that silenced the lives it touched—breathing in the aroma of the black rose, Agail fell into deep ecstasy.
‘This is it.’
Since that day five years ago. Since the day he was swallowed by his desire, he had long awaited this moment—something began to ignite as if to disrupt it.
‘Hah.’
Agail didn’t hide his displeasure.
The black flames ignited once more. The final desperate struggle. Useless floundering. Nothing more and nothing less. Yet… the flames that blossomed from the wolf, for some reason, didn’t extinguish.
‘……?’
The magic that saturated the area was swallowed by its flames. Agail couldn’t help but feel perplexed.
‘But the bloom had already completed?
The black rose had bloomed. The thick aroma had engulfed the vicinity; how could it still be standing?
***
That was the precursor.
“…….”
From the murmuring wolf, flames erupted. Black and dense, or rather, it wouldn’t tolerate any color at all, just purely black flames. Even the dawn that brightened the world could not illuminate it.
On the contrary, it was swallowing the light. The jet-black flames that had risen underground swallowed all light, coloring the world in darkness.
The brightening dawn was entirely consumed by the singular flame that had risen from the underground.
The world transformed back into pitch-dark night. In the world coated in pitch-black, I cautiously called its name.
‘Black Flame.’
[You temporarily acquire the skill Black Flame (黑燐)]
Skill of unknown grade—the voice that had been whispering all along.
“……?”
Noticing Agail’s gaze of confusion, I watched the aroma of the black rose.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
I don’t know. But I instinctively realized.
‘Desire.’
What I hoped for answered with black flame. It ignited the black rose—as if it had to, it consumed the thick aroma throughout the area.
‘…….’
Staring blankly at the billowing jet-black flame, it flickered restlessly.
‘It won’t last long.’
Next, I looked at Agail. The look of disbelief on his face widened as he shouted.
“What have you done!”
Agail shouted loudly.
In disbelief, his expression twisted. Then the demon appeared, tearing apart his back.
‘Greed.’
I knew.
It was the symbol of his sins and a mark.
The embodiment of the demon manifested as a skill. As Greed finally opened its mouth, it reached from the ceiling to the floor of the hideout. Greed, with its grotesque appearance, declared to consume everything as it opened its maw wide, chewing through the ceilings and floors. Its charge was in a category that could not be halted.
‘Then.
It has to be burned.
The black flame, responding to my desire, incinerated Greed, annihilating it.
“……!”
As the demon vanished, Agail went wild.
Shedding the composed facade he had maintained until now, his eyes blazed with frenzy.
“You, you…!”
—There is no power without a price. Every power must be paid for with a corresponding price.
‘So it was.’
What the black flame takes as its price was my emotion.
My bubbling resentment was beginning to simmer down.
Now, only Agail remained. Perhaps he was showing signs of depleting magic, as he clenched his fist and rushed at me. Despite being a mage, his potential surpassed any ordinary hunter. As I stood stupefied, it quietly whispered.
‘What will you do?’
I shook my head lightly. Then the black flame chuckled.
‘As expected, you’re a fool.’
Maybe so.
Charging towards Agail, I rushed head-on.
“――!”
He shouted something.
Striving to seem calm, my magic had already run dry. The mage and the wolf locked eyes. Nothing had changed from the beginning.
There was still the same determination to kill each other.
Intent to kill aimed at each other.
Agail reached out his fist. The powerful fist born of high potential cleaved through the air.
‘Too fast.’
Even seeing it, I found it hard to chase. But—
There’s something that can go even faster than sight. Intuition and understanding. I already knew he would move like that. I lowered my body, evading his fist. Then I sprang up from my low position with a powerful kick. His gaze trembled. His jaw was stretched to its limit. Was he realizing it was too deep to turn back? Agail swung his other hand.
“……!”
It was the same for me; I too was in too deep. He bore a twisted smile, certain of his victory, and swung up from below with his fist. Almost 400 in power. Combined with perfectly timed execution.
‘There’s no way to evade.’
It was already too late. Even if I tried to exert momentum, I wouldn’t be able to evade. A clean strike utilized as a counterattack. Just before the gaping jaw reached him, his fist sent my skull soaring upward.
“Kuh…!”
The mage laughed, filled with ecstasy. The sensations left in his hand told him so. It was an unparalleled feeling. Surely, he believed that the fight ended here.
However—
“……!”
Clack, clack, clack.
The wolf’s teeth locked together.
Agail didn’t make a single mistake.
Even without magic, he was a skillful fighter beyond B-class. The mage’s fist possessed the strength to crush the wolf’s skull in one hit.
‘But how?’
As Agail filled with questions, he glanced at his hand, which he had used to strike the wolf’s jaw.
“Ah.”
It seemed he only noticed then, letting out a single sound.
“Hah…”
The hand that struck the wolf’s skull was his wrist. Not his fist.
‘Now that I think about it, I was bitten.’
At the final moment, he burst into a hollow laugh.
“Damn it.”
And the wolf showed no mercy whatsoever.
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