Book 2: 367

Book 2: Chapter 367

Diablo wasn’t immediately able to carry out his sentence.

There were two reasons for this.

The first was Iris.

It seemed that she had managed to figure out how to bypass his ‘Absolute interference’.

‘Annoying.’

Diablo had no choice but to raise her threat level by two tiers.

If he failed to end Iris Phisfounder here, she would without a doubt go beyond the level of ‘simply troublesome enemy’.

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The interference wasn’t something unique to Diablo. And in some cases, he might actually end up as the one being affected.

He didn’t even have to think too deeply about it.

Lord, the leader of the Demigods, had conquered the continent in the past.

In front of that being, who was almost like a god, even 9-star Wizards were powerless.

Iris had inherited some of Lord’s power. If she learned to freely use that power, she would, without a doubt, become a greater foe than Snow.

As for the second reason.

Fwoosh!

Flames erupted in front of Peran.

It was a simple 2-star spell, Fireball, which was no threat to Diablo. Even if he were to stay still and allow it to hit him, it wouldn’t even be able to burn the black robes he was wearing.

But that wasn’t the problem.

‘How can he still use magic?’

Of course, Diablo hadn’t fully released his Absolute Field.

If he were to extend his absolute space to cover the entire area, while it certainly would be advantageous in this situation, the burden on his mind would be too high.

In truth, he didn’t feel that the situation was bad enough to force him to rely on his Absolute Field. For now, just using Absolute Line was enough.

Absolute power lingered wherever the Line passed, and that remaining force was enough to stop any Wizard from being able to use magic.

Depending on the level of the Wizard, it wouldn’t be strange for the internal organs to shake and bleed the moment they tried to use their mana.

‘It might be possible if he was squeezing out his mental power, but...’

That would have only worked a few times.

By now, Peran had already cast an unknown number of spells.

—It’s weird.

At that moment, the words of Cairo Wilsemann, who had failed to capture Peran at the Jun Family Mansion, came to mind.

—The difference between Peran and I was clear. And yet, I couldn’t easily subdue him. It was almost as if I couldn’t interfere with him, do you know what I mean? As though I couldn’t influence the mana room in his body.

When he’d first heard that, Diablo had just assumed that Cairo had been careless.

There was no other possibility he could think of apart from that.

The correlation among high level Wizards was absolute. It wasn’t like Knights, Magic Warriors, or Mercenaries. Just the difference in their levels meant that they couldn’t compete with each other.

For example, depending on the strategy, terrain, or condition, it was possible for a Second Class Warrior to defeat a First Class Warrior.

But Wizards were different.

In particular, the higher the level, the more those differences stood out. A 6-star Wizard could never beat a 7-star. Likewise, it was impossible to defeat an 8-star at 7-star or a 9-star at 8-star.

That’s why, when he first heard the report, he doubted what he’d heard.

Cairo and Shepard, two high level Wizards, had let Peran escape.

...But now that he was in front of him, he could finally understand why.

‘It’s not talent.’

It was something else.

There was something unexplainable and alien about this man.

* * *

“Flame Ball.”

Throb-

As soon as the spell manifested, Peran felt a sharp pain as if his skull was being cracked open. He had to forcibly stop himself from screaming.

It was fine. He could still take it.

It was so painful that he felt like he would die, but not enough to actually kill him.

“I owe you one.”

It was at this moment that he heard Iris’ voice.

As he couldn’t afford the effort to open his mouth and respond, Peran simply gave her a small nod as he sent the Flame Ball forward.

Shuk-

Diablo’s black robe swallowed the Flame Ball. It disappeared as naturally as a drop of water in a waterfall.

“Paimon’s Curtain. Spells at or below 5-stars will not be able to break through that curtain.”

“Is it black magic?”

“Yes.”

Spells at or below 5-stars wouldn’t work.

In other words, it meant that he would need to at least use 6-star spells, a level higher than the spells he’d been using until now.

...He corrected his breathing. Just by drawing on his mana slightly, he could feel pressure as if his organs were being twisted. If he actually finished the spell, it wouldn’t just end there.

“Howling... Tempest.”

The 6-star spell manifested.

Gurgle.

And in the same instant, blood rushed up his throat. It was similar to the backlash one would experience if they failed to cast a high level spell. No, it was about five times worse than that, but that wasn’t the point.

‘I’m starting to feel it.’

‘Ah.’

Peran’s face paled.

It felt like flames, which had only been tickling his toes before, had suddenly reached his shoulders.

[I’m glad I was able to kill you here. Truly.]

Buzz-

Absolute Line.

Peran could feel his inevitable death slowly approaching.

‘Is this how I die?’

His eyes widened.

That was all. Even if he could move, there was nothing that could block the beam of light.

He never would have thought that his end would be like this.

Then what? Did he expect to die a more meaningful death?

No. That wasn’t it.

There was a real reason why Peran could not accept his death.

‘I... not yet...’

It was because he had not achieved anything yet.

Genius.

That was what everyone said when they saw Peran, but his own feelings were different.

In his eyes, he had just walked a bit faster on the road of magicology which had already been paved and polished. He hadn’t created the path himself.

He hadn’t pioneered anything, hadn’t truly challenged himself.

So he hadn’t accomplished anything.

...I.

‘...can’t die in a place like this!’

Boom!

It was at that moment that an explosion sounded. Peran blinked. Just now, the dark red beam, which had been heading towards him with unstoppable momentum, disappeared without a trace.

Peran turned to look at Diablo.

The white, fleshless fingers that had been stretched out were now a bit curled. The flames in his eye sockets were also flickering as if they were being hit by strong winds.

For a moment, Peran could not understand what happened.

‘Who is he looking at?’

It wasn’t Peran. It wasn’t Iris, or Anastasia, who was still fighting Lucid in the distance.

Instead, Diablo’s gaze was locked onto something behind Peran.

[Who are you?]

There was a deep sense of caution and unmistakable shock in his voice.

He’d never been more shocked than at that moment.

Even if an unexpected event occurred, he wouldn’t be more shocked than necessary. He would just feel that it was unfortunate that things didn’t go as calculated.

This was because he was confident that he could solve it one step later. He knew he had the ability to clean up a mess, regardless of what it was.

But it was different this time.

Absolute Line.

The power that tore space itself apart was impossible to defend, as Peran thought. If she had enough time, Iris, who had the power of space, could cut off its source, effectively stopping its progression. But that was a skill that only she had.

In general, there was only one way to truly stop an Absolute Line.

Cancelling it out.

And that was what happened.

Diablo’s Absolute Line had been canceled out.

By another Absolute Line that had shot from the opposite direction.

[I asked you who you were.]

Diablo muttered again in a deadly tone.

His gaze was locked on an abandoned building behind Peran.

There wasn’t a response.

Instead, a person appeared.

Tap.

It was a young man who appeared in the grass.

A face that was unfamiliar to everyone.

“...”

Except for one.

“You...”

Peran’s voice trembled.

His expression continued to shift back and forth like a raging wave.

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“Do you know that man?”

He couldn’t answer Iris’ question immediately.

But in his head, he was certain.

He knew. Of course, he knew. He couldn’t not know.

This man,

This man with spiky gray hair and an almost emotionless expression,

He was the man he had been looking for for 10 years.

“....Frey... Blake.”