Chapter 1041

Magic was an unpredictable and powerful force.

It could strengthen allies, weaken enemies, and change the course of a battle in countless ways, from wide-area attacks to defensive barriers.

That was why mages were so highly valued even in the modern world, where the insane profession known as Hunter had taken root.

But if someone asked me whether mages were the most powerful among Hunters of the same rank, I’d answer without hesitation.

No.

Under the right circumstances, they could wield more power than anyone else on the battlefield. But they needed a few things in place first.

The first was allies who could protect them while keeping approaching enemies at bay.

SHING!

I cut through it.

There was no sensation of slicing through flesh and bone, no hot blood spurting like a fountain. And yet I felt it clearly.

I’d cut straight through something intangible and odorless that people called qi. The System knew it, too.

Ding.

System

• You successfully dispelled Gravity Magic!
• Qi Sense has improved slightly!
• You can now control qi a little more freely!

A translucent holographic window appeared as the System notification rang in my ears.

I paid it no mind.

I drew up every bit of qi sleeping deep within my body and kept moving forward.

SHWEEEE!

The several dozen jang¹ between us vanished fast. As I closed in, the immense energy covering the hill surged more violently.

“F-Fire Ghost, answer our call!”

“Strange rocks and crags, block our master’s enemies!”

The incantations came out in a rush.

Dozens of massive fireballs filled the air. Ahead of me, the ground turned over and a wall of stone rose high.

FWOOSH! GRRRR!

If anyone else had seen it—or even a seasoned master of the martial world—they would have stared in awe, calling it the work of supernatural powers.

But in all the vast world, I was the one exception.

Fire Ball. And Stone Wall, too?

The moment I recognized the newly manifested Magic, my face stiffened.

Was it because these spells were too much for even me to dispel easily?

Wrong.

Judging by their size, range, and power, even B-rank or upper C-rank mages could cast them.

The problem was that I’d just realized my earlier theory was wrong.

They weren’t limited in the kinds of Magic they could use. They just hadn’t used them.

Magic was valued not only for its power, but for its variety and all the ways it could change a battle.

Yet despite having both the ability and the opportunity, all they’d shown so far was body-enhancement Magic and Gravity Magic.

Why the hell?

The question filled my mind.

But the Magic reached me before I could find an answer.

KWA-AAAA!

The dozens of fireballs had been tiny when they were first launched from afar. Now, as huge as boulders weighing a thousand geun², they sailed over the stone wall and fell toward me.

The heat alone would have taken anyone else’s breath away.

But the heat in White Flame’s spearhead as I brought it down on them was deeper and fiercer beyond comparison.

SHING—KWA-BOOOOM!

I dodged half and cut through the rest.

The fireballs exploded in midair, scattering brilliant flame in every direction. I burst through the acrid smoke and drove my fist toward the enormous stone wall blocking my way.

WHOOOM!

My fist cut through the wind—no, burned through it.

The art had none of the ever-changing forms or profound principles boasted by the other great sects. But for sheer explosive force and destructive power, it had no equal.

Long ago, the third Sect Leader of the Fire Gate Clan had been obsessed with fist-and-foot martial arts, unlike his spear-loving master. He’d named the martial art he created:

Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

CRUNCH—KRRR!

True to its name, the wall of strange rocks and crags gave way, breaking into hundreds, then thousands of pieces.

No—it melted and burst apart at the same time.

GRRRR!

The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.

I passed beneath the boulders raining down overhead and shot toward the hill again.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

System

• You successfully dispelled Fire Ball!
• You successfully dispelled Stone Wall!
• Qi Sense has improved slightly!
• You can now control qi a little more freely!

“He’s—he’s coming!”

“Arrows of Radiance, answer our call!”

As their shouts rose almost to screams, I stared straight at the hilltop.

Twenty people in white robes.

Some were vomiting blood from the backlash of having their Magic dispelled. Others were casting another spell. Still others trembled, their faces as white as their robes.

One person stood out because none of that applied to him.

So it’s you.

The Grand Mage.

A great mage who had reached the very edge of truth—and an enemy I absolutely had to defeat. He was a man.

His voluminous robes couldn’t entirely hide his slender figure. Red lips showed beneath his silver-white veil.

He was another formidable foe, one whose presence had been overshadowed by the Blood-Sword Demon Lord.

He might also be the only person who could answer my question.

SHWISH-SHWISH-SHWISH!

Magic Arrow.

I swung my spearhead up toward the countless streaks of brilliant light shooting at me.

FWOOSH!

Blue-black Force surged like wildfire and swallowed the light.

No—as soon as I thought it had, everything there burned to ash, and new spells came rushing in.

POW-POW-POW! SHWEEEE!

The air and the ground below it were blanketed in lights of every color.

A spear of ice. A rain of fire. Blades of lightning and wind.

All of it came crashing down on one person.

Me.

The countless streaks of light merged and followed one another, each as powerful as a Peak Master’s Sword Energy.

But that was all they were. They could never wound me.

SHING.

I cut through the ice spear with my own.

SHWISH-SHWISH! KWA-BOOOOM!

Moving as swiftly as Shifting Form and Position, I dodged the rain of fire falling all around me.

BA-BOOM!

The heat of Flame Divine Palm swallowed the lightning and blades of wind waiting for me.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Clear chimes rang in succession, announcing that I’d dispelled the Magic.

The pinnacle of mastery.

The high, densely wooded peak I’d built by surviving the brink of death again and again—none of their spells had come close to threatening it.

Here on the hill overlooking the blood-soaked battlefield, nothing could stop me now.

Not people. Not Magic.

“Plants sleeping beneath this earth, rise up and bind our master’s enemies!”

RUSTLE!

I felt it before the incantation was even complete. I knew what it was.

The pulse of energy beneath my feet. The nature of this Magic.

But there was no reason to dodge, and no need to cut it apart.

Thick roots burst from deep underground and coiled around my whole body, binding me tight. I simply stepped forward in silence. That was enough.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

The stems, hardened like steel by Magic, trembled.

They were wrapped tight around my limbs, my waist, even my neck. I felt their pressure, reached out, and tore them apart.

KRRRUNCH!

Ordinarily, I shouldn’t have been able to reach out at all. I certainly shouldn’t have been able to take a step.

But…

That’s what you think.

That was only what they thought, staring at me in disbelief.

To me, this was perfectly natural.

A Reward earned through one life-threatening adventure after another.

Pure physical strength that a simple binding spell couldn’t restrain.

That strength, far beyond human limits—and the several jiazi³ of internal energy still surging endlessly from my lower dantian—made it possible.

CRACK! BOOM!

The stems binding my body burst apart in an instant.

They kept coming, persistent as living creatures. I trampled them again and again, then ripped them out by the roots.

So they could never rise again. And so whoever had cast the spell would collapse, spitting blood.

Ding.

Another chime announced that I’d dispelled the binding spell.

“Ugh—bleeegh!”

Another white-robed figure fell to his knees, vomiting dark red blood.

He looked like the oldest of the twenty mages. He was also the nineteenth to fall.

What that meant was clear.

One person remained.

While the mages under his command kept collapsing from the backlash of their energy, the Grand Mage stood alone on the hill without the slightest sign of being shaken.

No—more precisely, it was just him and me, now almost face-to-face.

“I’d only heard about you until now… I’m glad to see you in person.”

His red lips moved beneath the closely woven silver-white veil.

His voice was calm, with what sounded almost like a hint of excitement.

“Crazy bastard.”

At my heartfelt insult, a breeze accompanied by a low laugh stirred his veil.

“What an ill-mannered man. Cursing someone whose face and name you don’t even know.”

He was right.

I didn’t know this man’s name or face.

I already knew that even the supernatural ability granted to me by the System couldn’t reveal any information about him.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare speak to me like that with less than a jang¹ between us.

WHOOOOOM.

I couldn’t see it, but I could feel it.

The immense, deep energy blocking the space between us.

Though we occupied the same space, it separated us as if we existed in different worlds. It was an extraordinarily solid defensive barrier.

“So you’ve been sitting up on that hill, scheming away, and this is all you’ve got?”

“Ah, I knew you’d be able to feel it.”

The Grand Mage nodded happily, then added,

“And I knew you wouldn’t try anything lightly in a situation like this.”

“…!”

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?”

I silently clenched my teeth.

He was right.

I had one attempt.

If I failed to break the barrier and take his life with that one strike, the Grand Mage would escape the narrow distance I’d managed to close.

That was why I couldn’t act rashly, even with every second counting.

But the quiet voice that slipped into my ears next was enough to shake me far more than anything he’d said before.

“Still, I’m a little disappointed. This isn’t all I prepared.”

“…What?”

“Shall I show you? I was getting a little bored anyway.”

At that very moment—

GROOOOOM.

In stark contrast to his bright, laughter-filled voice, an utterly dreadful amount of energy surged up around his slender body.