Infinite Mage

Translator/Editor: Ryuu

Chapter 151: Forced Breakthrough (5)

"Rian, I'll be back. Explain to Tess and Amy."

"Huh? Hey, Shirone!"

Before Rian could stop him, Shirone had already cast teleportation, speeding away at an incredible pace.

And shortly after, Amy and Tess caught up with Rian.

"Rian! Where did Shirone go?"

"He went ahead just a little while ago."

"What was he thinking? What did he say when he left?"

"He must be planning to prematurely exhaust the traps with his Wildfire. He said he had to go alone because you might not allow it."

"Of course! Who would allow such a reckless method! Moreover, Wildfire is a mobility shield, so it could be dangerous if the timing is off!"

"Right. That's exactly why he went alone, to avoid hearing those words."

Amy was irritated. Not because Shirone acted unilaterally, but because the strategy he chose was indeed the most effective in terms of results.

But it was too risky. In a normal situation, they might take the chance despite the low probability, but in this case, even with a high probability, they had to consider the possibility of failure.

"If he fails, he dies! This idiot!"

Amy, screaming at Shirone who was not present, put her hands on the waists of Rian and Tess and said,

"We can't stop him. Let's just support him. Everyone, be on alert. We'll follow at top speed."

Amy bent forward and cast teleportation. A bright flash cut through the stream, shooting out refreshingly.

***

The only way to the hideout in the upper part of the valley was completely blocked by a 20-meter-high wall.

Currently, about ten subordinates were positioned, and Falcoa's subordinates who were building the encirclement began to arrive one after another.

"The enemies are coming! Get ready to activate the traps!"

"They're much faster than expected. We don't have enough time to activate them all."

The leader clicked his tongue. Whoever came up with this was quite clever. If there was no way to bypass the traps, they planned to rush in the shortest distance possible and take action.

"It doesn't matter. The traps were designed to annihilate hundreds from the start. Even if only half are activated, it's enough to bury four people."

The leader remained calm to the end and instructed his subordinates.

However, when he saw a boy running alone from 200 meters away, he couldn't help feeling perplexed this time.

"What? Why is he alone?"

"He must have rushed ahead in a hurry."

The leader didn't think so. It wasn't entirely impossible, but the moment he realized the enemy was alone, he felt an unusual sensation in his heart.

He began to feel it was a waste to trigger the traps.

"He's good at psychological warfare. It's a waste to use the wide-range traps just to catch one person."

"What should we do? Should we go out and fight?"

"What do you mean what should we do? Hurry up and activate the traps. Are you not thinking? That's what the kid is thinking. I acknowledge that he's risking his life in this gamble, but he's underestimated us too much. It's not the time to hold back. Catching even one of the two mages could turn the tide. There's no time to spare."

"Understood. Hey, we're starting now! Everyone, get ready!"

Shirone glared at the wall standing across the valley. About ten enemies had drawn their bows and were aiming into the sky.

'Arrow attack?'

Shirone was puzzled. It was nearly impossible for merely ten archers to hit a target 100 meters away.

But the enemies released their arrows without hesitation, and Shirone stopped running and looked up at the sky.

The arrows looked no different from ordinary ones, only that their tips varied in color.

'They're magic bullets!'

Shirone, who had cast teleportation, instinctively retreated. If he hadn't seen the magic bullets at the Kergos Ruins firsthand, he would have been caught without a chance to react.

"Shirone!"

At that moment, Amy's voice came from behind, and Shirone stopped retreating.

He could tell how anxious Amy was by the fact that she arrived much sooner than expected.

But Shirone didn't change his mind. In a situation where neither advancing nor retreating was possible, the magic bullets fell to the ground.

A powerful explosion occurred. The roar shook the valley, and smoke thickly enveloped Shirone.

Shirone realized their strategy. They planned to end it with traps after blocking the view.

"Amy! Don't come!"

Even without Shirone's words, Amy couldn't enter, because from where the smoke hadn't spread, she could see the massive vibration operating above the valley.

As expected, terrifying mechanical devices similar to catapults lined up along the cliff appeared. They were equipped with wheels, but still, several people had to push to move them.

"Now! Pour everything on them!"

Following the leader's command, Falcoa's subordinates activated the devices. Massive boulders were hurled down the valley with the help of levers.

The boulders were enormous enough to fill and even exceed the V-shaped cross-section of the valley.

Given their power, they weren't meant to stop a few individuals. They were the ultimate weapons to annihilate the enemies in the final battle.

"Shirone!"

Amy screamed in despair, but it was already too late. The giant boulders were plunging into the smoke, one after another.

Amy heard the imagined sound of a crunch as if being crushed. But the next moment, a powerful shockwave blew away the illusion.

The smoke that had been lingering in the valley dispersed in all directions, revealing Shirone surrounded by a sphere of light.

'Wildfire!'

The sphere of light centered around Shirone flashed brightly. The Spirit Zone, with a maximum diameter of 20 meters, was larger than the boulders.

As the enormous light raced wildly, onlookers feared they might go blind.

The light, laden with mass, tried its best to create a counterforce, but the boulders, too, were formidable in weight.

The boulders, shaking violently as they penetrated the Wildfire, seemed about to crush Shirone at any moment.

However, the moment they reached halfway, the boulders shattered into dozens of pieces. And from there, Shirone's Wildfire began to overpower the boulders.

The number of medium-sized boulders increased exponentially, causing a chain of explosions.

Smaller and smaller.

Shirone unleashed a rapid-fire of photons until the rocks turned to dust.

By the time the remnants of the boulders reached near Shirone, they were nothing but small particles. Even those were swept away by the cycle of light.

The boulders took only 2 seconds to fall to the ground, and the same amount of time to disintegrate into dust.

The thousands of events that occurred in that time compressed in human cognition, creating an illusion akin to a massive explosion.

Dust spread in all directions, rustling as it settled on the ground.

An eerie wind swirled through the valley.

Falcoa's subordinates couldn't comprehend what had just happened. A flash of light followed by the boulders bursting into dust was all they saw with their own eyes.

Shirone, covered in dust, stepped out of the stream and glared at the wall. The subordinates who had operated the traps were beginning to retreat.

The leader realized something had gone terribly wrong. He had survived over a decade on the battlefield, but had never heard of such magic.

"Damn it! What the hell is that kid!"

"Leader! What do we do?"

"Prepare the magic bullets! Shoot them down!"

As the subordinates quickly detached the arrowheads and attached the magic bullets, Shirone, who had been glaring fiercely, focused his mental strength in front of him.

A sphere of photons was born with a bang, absorbing the surrounding light and vibrating powerfully.

"Leader! Look over there! That's dangerous!"

Someone who had previously experienced Shirone's technique at the Royal Pub shouted to the leader.

Indeed, even to the leader, the sight of a light larger than a human face compressing seemed ominous.

"Damn it! Hurry up! Fire the magic bullets!"

The subordinates' hands moved faster, but the magic was quicker.

A line of light suddenly appeared between Shirone and the wall, as if a flash of lightning had been born.

The Photon Cannon hit the steel gate squarely, causing a piercing metallic sound that tormented the ears.

The subordinates, assembling the magic bullets, winced and bent over. The impact was so strong that vibrations could be felt even atop the wall. Even after the magic disappeared, the steel gate was still making a humming sound.

"What, what? Is it broken? Check it!"

A subordinate went down the stairs connected to the ground and examined the gate. The thick steel plate was bent overall, but it wasn't destroyed.

Feeling triumphant even with such an outcome, the subordinate shouted cheerfully.

"The gate is safe!"

"Good! Now it's our turn to attack."

With the Photon Cannon's attack turning out to be futile, Tess turned to her friends and said,

"We can't break the gate with magic. Rian, let's climb up the wall."

To win a siege, one of two things must be achieved.

The first is to destroy the gate with siege weapons or magic and then push the troops through.

But if the gate cannot be destroyed, the alternative is to climb the walls and eliminate the enemies. This was a task for swordsmen like Tess and Rian.

"Okay. It's better if we go up."

Rian inserted his straight sword behind his back to run more comfortably. But as the two of them bent forward to start, Amy stopped them.

"Wait, hold on."

"We don't have time to delay. We need to strike before the enemies regroup. Now is the chance."

Tess was right. Amy, being of the flame affinity, was weak in shock impact, and Shirone's Photon Cannon was useless against the thick steel gate.

But Amy knew that Shirone had another weapon at his disposal.

It was a magic that could show the highest efficiency in this situation.

"It's okay. Shirone will handle it."

Tess, not understanding the situation, looked perplexedly at Shirone, then suddenly widened her eyes.

Shirone's body was emanating a red light.

"What, what's that? Isn't that dangerous?"

Humans feel uneasy when they see red because it reminds them of bleeding.

Even Tess was scared to see such a chilling red light, let alone the enemies.

"Leader, what on earth is that?"

Shirone fired a flash of red light forward. A laser beam, fast enough to be called instantaneous, reached the gate and heated its surface.

"Argh! What's that?"

Having already experienced the power of the Photon Cannon, the subordinates were terrified and stepped back.

But there was no expected shockwave or loud noise.

Looking down from the wall at the gate, the leader regained his confidence. The current magic was merely illuminating the gate without any visible effect.

"Good! Now! Prepare the magic bullets!"

With the returning subordinates from the traps included, there were over 40 personnel. With this number, they could devastate Shirone's surroundings with a barrage of magic bullets.

As all the subordinates finished aiming, the leader lowered his hand and shouted.

"Fire the...... Huh?"

The wall began to vibrate violently.

Both the leader and the subordinates, about to release their bowstrings, looked at each other in shock.

A subordinate, bending over to inspect the gate from outside the wall, spoke with a trembling voice.

"Le-Leader! That..."

The gate shook insanely. Eventually, the vibration starting from the gate spread throughout the wall, shaking the very foundation of the structure.

Falcoa's subordinates were appalled by the unprecedented sight.

The iron at the point where the laser touched boiled, bulging out like bubbles.

Then, the wall shook as if it were about to be uprooted, and finally, with a loud boom, the gate burst open.

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***

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