Chapter 225: A Subsurface War (2)

[Haste]

Desir cast a spell to drive his body right up to its limit. It didn’t take long before the main gate of the tower entered his vision.

‘Crash through the front door and enter as quickly as possible.’

There was no more time to lose; he had already squandered far too much. He no longer had the luxury to worry about appearances nor pay close attention to his surroundings.

A magical array unfolded right in front of him and a mighty amount of mana gathered around him.

“It’s so touching that you came all this way to meet me.”

As Desir heard the voice, the magical array he had been forming dispersed and disappeared. Desir looked back.

Someone strode towards him out of the darkness.

It was Swan Katarina.

She was a wreck. The clothes, which would have certainly been loaded with defensive magic, were torn and soaked in blood. It was dubious whether they still had any defensive functionality remaining. Her body was entirely covered in wounds and her complexion was not very good either.

Desir hurriedly approached her and helped support her.

“What happened?”

Swan opened her mouth, her face contorted with pain.

“There was someone with a crow mask waiting inside the tower.”

He was the one Desir regarded as the most threatening individual amongst the Outsiders.

“He was stronger than anyone I’ve ever known. I wanted to take care of him on the spot, but it was rather difficult to even get out alive.”

Desir breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Still, this situation is much better than what I feared had come to pass.’

It was fortunate that Swan was safe. Desir felt that was enough.

While still supporting Swan, Desir made the call to retreat.

“Well, let’s get out of here.”

“Yes.”

At the moment Desir turned around and took a step forward, he felt something penetrate his back. It was cold and hard.

[Charged Bolt]

Desir immediately invoked a spell behind himself. Despite the unexpected situation, he did not lose his composure.

Swan kicked against the ground and avoided Desir’s magic.

“You’re not flustered, and you’re even attacking your colleague. You are really unsympathetic.”

Desir frowned at the pain.

“You’re not Swan.”

“Yes, I’m not the one you’re looking for.”

It may have been her voice that Desir heard, but those words definitely didn’t belong to Swan Katarina. Their appearance, intonation, and even the minute and trivial details all matched Swan perfectly.

“Who the hell are you?”

Swan brought her palm to her face, masking her expression. And as the hand began to lower, the face that once belonged to Swan had now been masked by the vizard of a pantomime.

“Who the hell am I? What a boring way to define oneself. Why would I limit myself to a single one, when I could be anyone?”

His face, once more, began to distort. After a brief moment, Desir’s eyes widened as he was face-to-face with a familiar individual.

The King of Divide. It was the face of Clora Baldershu.

Pierrot Mask’s mouth was bent into a crooked smile when he saw the distraught face of Desir.

Only then did Desir begin to understand the series of events that had unfolded. He thought Divide was being manipulated by a figure known as the Advisor, similar to the Holy Kingdom of Artemis and the Magic Kingdom.

But this guess ended up being far off the mark.

Unlike those other two, the Kingdom of Divide had already lost its king to the Outsiders.

Desir could not help asking Pierrot Mask.

“What happened to the King?”

“Well? What do you think happened? Is he dead? Or is he still alive? Did he ever exist to begin with?”

The face of Clora disappeared and he was once again wearing a ridiculous Pierrot Mask.

Pierrot Mask began to prance around like a madman, spinning on the heels of his ridiculous shoes, circling around and around Desir. It was almost certain he was mocking Desir.

It was completely beyond Desir’s anticipation, for there to be someone in the Outsiders with the ability to imitate others perfectly. Numerous thoughts crossed his mind, but he decided to put everything aside and focus on only one thing.

‘I need to find Swan.’

The worst possibility came to mind, but he forcibly suppressed it.

Desir took a step forward.

“Step aside.”

“Come on, play with me!”

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As soon as Pierrot Mask took out a dagger, he slipped back into a shroud of darkness and disappeared completely. Desir panicked immediately. He had been keeping a keen eye on Pierrot Mask, but he was still able to slip away so easily. He looked around, but couldn’t feel any signs of anything.

Out of the blue, a blurred figure began to emerge before him. Desir immediately reacted and invoked a spell.

[Sigh of Kizard]

The dagger dug deep into the shield, its deadly tip aimed directly at Desir’s neck.

[Burst Fire]

Desir rapidly released numerous balls of fire, homing in on his target.

Pierrot Mask retreated back to escape the searing flames, but then whimsically spun around and launched himself at Desir once again.

‘For now, l need to focus on the enemy in front of me.’

Desir took a deep breath and calmed himself. Although he was itching to continue searching for Swan, Pierrot Mask was not such an easy-going enemy to deal with that he could afford to be distracted while dealing with him.

He freed Runel from his sleeve and simultaneously invoked another spell.

[Scream of Wriggling Earth]

Desir unleashed Fourth-Circle ground magic. The floor beneath them began to vibrate intensely, and the stone paving cracked and crumbled. The smaller stones compressed together, transforming the arena by filling it with numerous animated whips.

A chilling grin emerged on Pierrot Mask’s face. His eyes took in the sight before him, widening in awe.

“There you go, Desir Arman! Now this is the attitude of someone ready to play a game!”

The whips swung at Desir’s beck and call. Each of them were incredibly fast, and moved with deadly precision. Those closest to Pierrot Mask surged towards him, threatening to skewer and slash his body.

*Rumble*

Whatever unfortunate mass laid between the whips and Pierrot Mask had been gouged deeply, large chunks of stone and wood having been reduced to dust. Despite the carnage, none of those whips had reached Pierrot Mask.

Pierrot Mask moved shrewdly, his body contorting in nearly unnatural ways, and avoided all of the whips.

‘On the right!’

Desir made tactful use of his whips’ numerical advantage, and pressed his opponent into the corner. By limiting Pierrot Mask’s possible moves, Desir would force him to move more predictably. Little by little, Pierrot Mask found himself in an increasingly threatening situation.

Pierrot Mask twirled to the side, narrowly avoiding the oncoming whip. The floor where he once stood had been replaced with a nearly foot-deep crater, filled with the rubble of the stone that once formed the pathway. Desir had expected this, and several whips were already flooding towards Pierrot Mask’s new position.

There was no room left to avoid this attack. Yet still, Pierrot Mask looked incredibly calm.

“Hey, you’re pretty good!”

Pierrot Mask clapped his hands. At that moment, silvery lines flashed all around him.

‘… … Wire!’

With every move Pierrot Mask had made, he installed hooks for razor-sharp wires to create an impenetrable defense.

*Boom*

Every single whip rushing towards Pierrot Mask exploded into a cloud of dust. His vision may have been obscured, but Desir wasn’t going to give his opponent an opening.

[Fire Storm]

Desir unleashed one of his modified spells, with unbelievable destructive potential, now boasting the power of a Sixth-Circle spell.

*Booom*

An unstoppable storm of flames arose. Once again, there was no room to avoid this attack, and it should be impossible to block flames with mere wires.

“How cruel, Desir! That attack was pretty good though… ”

The voice came from behind Desir.

Desir turned his head hurriedly. As he recognized the threat, Runel shot towards the enemy.

*Baaaang*

‘This speed… !’

Pierrot Mask did not avoid or block Desir’s attack, but rather rushed forward. Pierrot had managed to evade his attack by skirting through the tiniest gaps that an ordinary opponent wouldn’t even notice, let alone think about them as something to exploit. And yet, he had dared to pull it off.

This was only possible because of the tremendous speed of his movement.

The fighting had turned into close combat. A close-fought battle between a wizard and a swordsman. Under normal circumstances, Desir would have been absolutely unfavoured by the fundamental nature of their classes, but he had Runel to compensate.

*Whoong*

Runel moved at the speed of light and struck down the attack of Pierrot Mask.

‘… … !’

In an attempt to multi-task, Desir tried to invoke magic, but it ended up being impossible after all. Pierrot Mask’s attacks were extremely fast, but most of all, completely unpredictable.

It was hard to read the trajectory of his dagger that seemed to have a life of its own. For Desir, who fought against everything through sheer calculation, this was a terrible matchup. It was impossible for Runel to stop all of the attacks in this seemingly endless onslaught. Blood trickled down from his accumulating wounds, soaking his Clothes Line red. The barely-invoked spell swept towards Pierrot Mask’s face, but he simply dodged.

An all-encompassing smile covered Pierrot Mask’s face.

The situation continued to repeat in this manner. Every time Desir lost an exchange, Pierrot Mask did not inflict any fatal wounds on Desir. Instead, he only left a small cut on his skin, as though he was playing a prank.

Wound after wound continued to appear on Desir’s body. His Clothes Line was truly soaked in blood now.

Desir knew that he couldn’t afford to allow this to be dragged out further.

[Parie Arund]

He had to pour out everything he had.

Desir gathered all of his mana, exhausting its supply to the very limit, before arranging a spell.

[Ice Sh–]

Seeing that Desir was about to unleash a powerful spell, Pierrot Mask quickly flexed his arm. Aura-imbued wire shot out from his arm and smashed the building behind Desir. The falling debris quickly threatened to flatten him, so Desir quickly changed his spell and used it to defend himself

[Giga Lightning]

*Boom*

The debris of the building that had been falling toward him collided with his magic, quickly replacing the lethal chunks of building with dust that scattered harmlessly in the air..

Immediately after, Desir looked around in an attempt to locate the Pierrot Mask. He soon spotted him far away.

Pierrot Mask slouched against the building, resting his head in his hand. He let out a sigh.

“This is no fun, and if we keep going it’ll only get riskier… ”

He spoke, showing the blood on his sword to Desir.

“What do you say, Desir? Have I done my part? I’d say I’ve worked hard enough, haven’t I?”

Desir was no longer in a state where he could afford the leisure of listening to his bullshit.

Just as he was about to once again invoke another spell at Pierrot Mask…

“I’m getting bored. Why don’t we make a deal?”

“What?”

“I’ll let you go without further interruptions. Of course, I’ll also recall my men who are attacking your party.”

Pierrot Mask shrugged lightly.

“Don’t make such a face. I mean it. Besides, I was never interested in fighting you in the first place.”

It was a dubious offer. Desir couldn’t understand why he was suddenly offering such a deal. Under normal circumstances, he would ignore his opponents words, but since he was in a hurry…

“What’s the condition of this deal?”

“Yes, wise. Very wise. Ever the skeptic, aren’t you?”

Pierrot Mask’s usual whimsical attitude dropped, and he spoke with more seriousness than ever before.

“I want to see you fight Crow Mask. He’s a real fun guy. And the fight between him and you will be a fun game beyond any other show. Show me that game. That’s all I want.”

It was an absurd condition. It was so fishy.

But Desir intuitively believed that Pierrot Mask was being genuine. In some twisted way, Des1r felt that Pierrot Mask’s proposal was that of pure desire, and wasn’t some mastermind plot to catch him off guard.

If that was all there was to the deal, there was no reason not to accept it.

“You’re such a funny bastard.”

“Gasp. I think that’s the first compliment you’ve given me. So, your answer?”

“… Deal.”

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