Chapter 112: The King of Blazing Heat (3)

Chapter 112: The King of Blazing Heat (3)

"You impertinent brat...!!"

Ramine's flames suddenly flared up, significantly expanding in size. He was now as big as an adult man, and as he spread his hands wide, five fireballs formed above both his palms.

“Hup...!”

Karyl quickly gathered his mana and dashed to the side with all his might, the fireballs trailing behind him and crashing into the ground.

Kaboom...!!

The fireballs exploded on impact, engulfing Karyl in searing heat despite the illusory nature of the space. Timing his movements with the blasts, he twisted his body and drew his sword with all his strength.

Colorless Air Sword, Fifth Form.

As the aura of frost clung to his Freezing Talon, the blade shimmered a light blue, nearly resembling the color of a clear sky.

Let’s see how far this can go.

Karyl penetrated deeper into Ramine's domain.

"Weight, release."

Once he lifted the weight-increasing spell from his arms and legs, Karyl darted forward, moving considerably faster than before.

Since gaining mana from Einheri, Karyl had used restrictive spells on himself as if they were prohibitions, enhancing them after unlocking two more meridians at the Spring of Vision.

The amount of mana he could use had increased exponentially, and Karyl instead released the auxiliary spells that had compensated for his lacking physique and strengthened the prohibitive ones.

Swish-!!

As a result, his physical conditioning had improved exponentially compared to his previous life.

And in addition to that...

“Haste.”

Karyl further enhanced himself with some auxiliary spells he hadn’t been able to use in his past life.

“Auxiliary Acceleration.”

Karyl's silhouette blurred, leaving only afterimages behind. Not even Ramine could track his speed with his eyes.

“Strength.”

A heavy force filled Karyl's arms as he gripped his sword.

Kaang!!!

A deafening sound erupted as his sword struck the ground, but Karyl didn't stop, slashing repeatedly.

“Dex.”

Feeling as though an invisible force was pushing him from behind, Karyl moved even faster, pursuing the fleeing Ramine.

He spun mid-air, bringing his sword down in a sweeping arc.

Swish—!

The sharp sword aura sliced through Ramine. Although his physical form scattered along with the cold wind resulting from the slash, the flames didn't extinguish and instead retaliated against Karyl.

“Cough...!!”

Despite his magic shield, Karyl was assaulted by a searing pain as though branded with a hot iron. The flames engulfing him eventually converged in the air, forming Ramine’s body once again.

[That's the sword from my memory. Yes, it was made from grinding Clear Distilled Water and Cradle Stone. There were those who crafted such artifacts even back then.]

With that, Ramine clenched his fist, and a long flaming halberd formed in his grasp.

[Did you think you could defeat me with just a sword? How foolish.]

Ramine grew even larger in size, his flames swelling like thick armor. Karyl looked like a dwarf before him.

“Monster...”

Karyl looked up at Ramine, who had taken the form of a halberd-wielding knight, ready to strike him down.

The sheer oppressive aura of that enormous halberd made it seem like it could crush Karyl at any moment. Karyl hadn’t even felt this way when facing the giants during the Oracle War.

The flaming knight swiftly swung his giant weapon at Karyl, the blade seeking to slice him in half. Karyl was flung back with the speed of a bullet, rolling across the ground several times before the echoing sound ceased.

“Cough!”

Although he had no eyes, Ramine’s gaze seemed to shift, widening and narrowing as he looked into the distance.

Five Sword Steps.

Allen Javius had controlled Arcane Mana with overwhelming precision, fine-tuning the repelling forces to a minute degree, but Karyl had not yet reached that level. Despite his vast magic power and knowledge, his mana control was still rough and unrefined.

Hence, he had resorted to using the Arcane Blade as a desperate measure, and even that hadn’t been easy.

But this time, as Arcane Mana had flowed through the meridian affected by Ramine’s flames, the unstable reaction produced by the conflicting forces of light and darkness had been neutralized by the flames.

Death turned out to be an opportunity.

Karyl couldn’t help smiling, though he was still on edge. The flames connecting light and darkness were inherently unstable.

[You... you scoundrel...]

Ramine, stunned by the unexpected outcome, looked at Karyl in disbelief.

[Water and earth are calm and quiet, fire and lightning are fierce, and wind is free.]

Just as the five elements were defined in magical tomes, the characteristics of the five Spirit Kings were similar.

If the catalyst for Arcane Mana were Ethereal or Maktuun, I might have handled Arcane Mana as well as Allen.

The Queen of Tides, Ethereal, and the Lord of Rocks, Maktuun—knowing how fortunate he was to meet Ramine, Karyl already coveted the power of other Spirit Kings.

If I find a way to open the spirit realm, it’s not impossible. Karyl, drawing on his Arcane Mana, looked at Ramine.

So...

Feeling the mana flowing pleasantly through his meridians, Karyl felt like he was experiencing true magic for the first time.

“I must have you even more.”

Squeak-

Karyl tightened his grip on his sword.

[Impossible...!!] Ramine shouted in disbelief.

"Thank you."

A red spot glowed for a brief second on Karyl’s forehead. It was a sign that the fifth meridian had been opened.

“Thanks to you, I’ve ascended another level.”

With a single slash, the Arcane Blade cut through Ramine, shattering the subspace he had created and engulfing it in flames.

***

“What just happened?”

“I have no idea. He suddenly vanished in front of our eyes...”

Yurin Huygar had struck the invisible barrier with his mace multiple times, but it hadn’t even left a scratch.

“What’s inside there?”

Joey Johansel looked anxiously at Karyl, who stood motionless behind the opaque wall.

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of anything like this in the lair of the Flame Dragon. What on earth is going on?”

He’s used us.

Yurin gritted his teeth at Joey’s words.

“When we get out of here, I’ll make sure he pays!”

But it was too late for regrets.

Boom—!!!

Suddenly, an explosion occurred, sending thick black smoke billowing over them. The wall that had been blocking their way shattered, debris flying in all directions akin to glass shards.

“Cough, cough...!”

The sound of footsteps approached through the smoke, sending a chill down Yurin Huygar’s spine.

“...!!”

As the figure slowly emerged from the smoke, Yurin's eyes widened in disbelief.

“Holy... crap!!”

Yurin Huygar couldn’t help cursing, and his outburst wasn’t directed at Karyl.

Whoosh—

It was aimed at the massive, flaming giant standing behind him.