Chapter 313: Winged Heavenly Being Subjugation (1)
The largest dark gray volcano in this world, with an altitude and area that was unmatched by any other mountain.
The wilderness that the Floating Islands swept over long ago was only a small part of Black Stone.
If a person were standing at the center of the mountain, they would feel as though they were on a vast, flat expanse, due to the mountain’s sheer, overwhelming size.
However, as one drew closer to the crater, the slope sharply steepened, forming a towering hill that evoked the feeling of an actual mountain.
Near the crater, the altitude was so high that the air was thin, making it difficult for a normal person to breathe.
Paaaah.
Somewhere in Märchen Academy, the heavenly clock emitted light, sending a brilliant white wave across the entire world.
It happened in an instant. The flow of everything dealing with unusual forces, including mana, was thrown into chaos.
Thus, the function of all magic tools that sustained the cycles of cities in various nations came to a halt.
“It has begun.”Near the crater of Black Stone.
At an altitude where breathing was still possible, the Allied Forces from various nations assembled in formation, preparing for battle.
The Imperial Knights of the Zelver Empire, the Holy Knights of the Holy Kingdom of Bardio, and the Frost Legion of Düpfendorf.
Among them, the knight commander of the Zelver Empire looked up at the sky filled with a white aurora and spoke.
Now, it begins.
Hwaaaaah!
The heavens opened, and a radiant light poured down toward the crater of Black Stone.
“All troops! Prepare for battle!!”
“Prepare for battle!!”
The allied forces all drew their weapons in unison.
─ When the Heavenly Clock activates, it becomes hard to handle magic properly. Fight as if magic never existed in the first place.
Isabel Silverwolf, a Legion commander of the Düpfendorf, recalled the instructions of Isaac, the Ice Sovereign.
“Mana is getting chaotic. Just as our lord said.”
Mana did not circulate as smoothly as intended.
Transmitting ice mana to the double-handed axe, Farahorn, felt incomparably more difficult than usual.
The allied forces were organized with a focus on pure physical prowess, following Isaac’s orders. The wizards merely assisted in the journey to Black Stone.
“They’re coming!! Defend Black Stone!!”
The sound of flapping wings.
Heavenly beings clad in silver armor descended, riding on the radiance of the heavens.
Each of them wielded a weapon imbued with Divine Power and charged toward the allied forces of humanity.
To craft the Spear of Longinus using the mana flowing within Black Stone, it was necessary to deal with any obstacles beforehand.
War was inevitable.
Kuuuuuuuu!!
“Is it an earthquake?”
The mana inside Black Stone surged, causing the ground to tremble.
With the center of the allied forces in disarray, the heavenly beings seized the opening to strike with their swords, spears, and other weapons.
The knights responded immediately.
Chaaang!!
Hwaaaah!!
As the weapons clashed, the flood of Divine Power caused a secondary shock, pushing the knights back.
The effect of the Heavenly Clock disrupted the Divine Power of the heavenly beings as well. However, most of the skilled rebel forces of Vuel managed to elevate their Divine Power to a level usable in battle.
The screams of the knights echoed, and blood splattered everywhere.
Rumble.
Roots of verdant green mana stretched out from the ground, healing the injured knights.
Kaya Astrea’s plant magic. She aided the healing of allies from the rear, under the protection of the Allied forces.
Due to the effect of the Heavenly Clock, it was difficult to handle magic properly, but the fairy powers were less affected.
Kaya’s role here was that of a healer, as plant magic held the highest rank among healing abilities.
Chara-rang!
Dorothy’s starlight magic struck the heavenly beings.
Although its power was significantly weakened, it didn’t greatly affect the armor of the Heavenly army, however, it was more effective than most elemental magic.
Dorothy’s role was supportive, as her starlight magic could dent and even crush the armor of the heavenly beings or interfere with their movements.
“Magic has gotten ridiculously hard to use!”
Dorothy forced a smile as she drew up her mana.
The two female students, Kins of the fairies, had joined the allied forces following Isaac’s orders. They were devoted to their respective roles.
Chaeng!!
Isabel blocked a heavenly being’s slash with her large axe blade.
[What are you? Is this the work of the Ice King, whatshisname?]
“You dare call our lord ‘whatshisname’? Just because you have a mouth, you think you can talk any way you want, you damn bitch!”
A cross-shaped vein bulged on Isabel’s forehead.
Isaac was a great being, almost like a living legend. Isabel felt it was a great honor to serve him as her lord.
To refer to such a person so crudely, Isabel couldn’t hold back her anger.
She poured all her strength into unleashing her ice mana.
“Know your place!!”
Kaaang!!
Isabel swung Farahorn forcefully, pushing the heavenly being back.
The fierce cold spread out but had no effect on the heavenly being.
Isabel bared her sharp, protruding fangs, threatening like a wolf.
“Magic really doesn’t work on them. Annoying bastards.”
The heavenly beings’ armor maximized elemental resistance. This was information Isaac had provided to the Allied forces.
“Do not falter!! Defend Black Stone!! For the Ice Sovereign!!”
Isabel swung Farahorn toward the heavenly beings, shouting.
The Legion of Düpfendorf shouted in unison as they fought against the heavenly beings.
Meanwhile, in the solitary cell of Düpfendorf.
A heavenly being defeated all the guards and opened the door to the solitary cell.
Light entered the once-dark cell.
An empty room. Methel Valencia sat there dazed.
She had escaped from the nightmare. Due to the effect of the Heavenly Clock, even the power of the Vorpal Sword had become disrupted, allowing her to awaken from the prison of nightmares.
However, due to the nightmares of countless repeated wars, her mind was not entirely clear.
[It’s an order from Lord Vuel. Methel, arm yourself immediately and follow me.]
Hearing the words of the male heavenly being clad in silver armor near the open doorway, Methel looked at him.
[Lord Vuel…?]
Staring dazedly into space, Methel murmured the name and gradually regained life in her eyes.
Under the command of the Heavenly god, the heavenly beings waged endless, grueling wars with countless races.
The Heavenly god regarded all deaths, suffering, and tears as mere expendables.
Their god had to be dragged out. Today was the rare, one-in-a-million chance to do so.
Methel rose from her seat.
As a soldier of the Heavenly rebel army, she would sacrifice her life.
Everywhere in the world, people stared in awe at the sky where a white aurora danced.
Instructor Ronzainus prepared to leave Märchen Academy.
He looked down at his hands. His Divine Power was in disarray, preventing it from working properly. Even his immortal power was now useless.
That day, he had to have been prepared to face death.
By now, the rebel Army following the Vice-Commander was likely engaged in battle at Black Stone.
It was fine. As long as they weren’t facing monsters like Isaac the Ice Sovereign, the heavenly beings were far superior in strength compared to humans.
Soon, when the Black Stone’s mana erupted, there was a high chance that the Elemental kings would also join the fray.
That, too, didn’t matter. Vuel was confident he could defeat them all.
Boom!
Two heavenly beings broke through the outer wall, scattering pure white feathers in Instructor Ron’s office.
They knelt on one knee and paid their respects to Vuel.
[We have come to escort you, Lord Vuel.]
One of the heavenly beings held the blood-soaked Phantom Cat Cheshire, in one hand.
The Phantom Cat, while monitoring Vuel, was caught off guard and ambushed by a heavenly being during a moment of distraction.
[Meow… it hurts too much…]
[What should we do with this magic beast? Shall we kill it?]
When the heavenly being showed him the Phantom Cat and asked, Instructor Ron shook his head.
[There’s no need for that. Let it go.]
[Yes.]
In any case, once the spear to drag out the Heavenly god was to be made, all life in the world would perish.
Unless faced with an unavoidable obstacle or a necessary sacrifice, Vuel did not wish to engage in needless slaughter.
The heavenly beings understood the ironic attitude. They wanted to bring down the Heavenly god, exhausted by endless wars. This was a fight to end the slaughter once and for all.
The heavenly being threw the Phantom Cat against the wall.
With a thud, the monstrous cat hit the wall and then fell helplessly to the floor.
[Meow… Alice, Isaac…]
The Phantom Cat wanted to reverse-summon itself, but due to the effect of the Heavenly Clock, even after constructing the reverse-summoning spell, its mana was so disrupted that it couldn’t do anything.
All it could do was mutter the names of the masters it longed to see.
[Let’s go.]
Instructor Ron, or rather Vuel, transformed into his true form and walked toward the breached outer wall.
The two heavenly beings followed behind Vuel.
Vuel spread his four pairs of wings, and feathers glowing with Divine Power fluttered in all directions.
They kicked off the ground and soared towards the sky.
Booom!!!
In the blink of an eye, they disappeared, leaving a sonic boom in their wake.
They sliced through the air at tremendous speed, heading in the direction of Black Stone.
At that moment, as they left Märchen Academy.
Whooosh!!
From above, the power of nightmares rained down like flames, obstructing their path.
Vuel instinctively wielded his Divine Power to shield himself and his subordinates, then halted mid-air.
They flapped their wings and looked up.
A black dragon enveloped in reddish-purple flames was gazing down at them. It was the nightmare dragon, Jabberwock.
Standing atop the black dragon, holding the Vorpal Sword, was Alice Carroll, the ruler of Wonderland.
Her cold gaze was fixed on Vuel.
[A nuisance. Take care of it.]
[Yes!]
One of Vuel’s subordinates surged up toward Alice.
At that moment.
Boom!!
[…!]
Another heavenly being was struck by a kick imbued with wind mana and slammed into the ground.
Surprised by the unexpected ambush, Vuel turned his gaze in confusion.
What he saw was a blond boy he had never seen before.
[And who might you be?]
He was wrapped in an unremarkably ordinary wind mana.
When did he get here and did we fail to detect his approach? Is mana perception delayed?
No. It wasn’t that mana perception was delayed.
The boy had reached the heavenly being and launched his attack the instant he released his mana.
It was an inconceivable speed, enough to surprise even Vuel.
The boy reached Vuel as if were a speeding bullet, instantly throwing a wind-imbued punch.
Vuel lightly caught the punch and blocked the attack.
Boom!!
The condensed wind mana in the boy’s fist exploded, but it was ineffective against Vuel.
However, Vuel found the boy in front of him to be irritating.
He didn’t rely entirely on wind mana. Even with the Heavenly Clock’s effect active, his mana efficiency was so high that he could still skillfully control it.
At that point, he even resorted to hand-to-hand combat to make up for his lack of power.
It was not the typical fighting style of a wizard. It was different from that of a magic knight as well.
If class A students distinguished themselves by following conventional methods, the boy before him was a wizard forging his own independent path.
“Ha! So now even the instructors are enemies?”
The blond boy, Tristan Humphrey, let out a scoff in an arrogant tone.
“You never get tired of this, do you!”
Tristan launched a series of kicks aimed at Vuel.