Chapter 329 A Parting Gift (2)

Half an hour after undergoing the process of integrating the Heart of Bahamut into his heart, Charles regained his ability to control his body. He immediately moved to another room, because he felt it was unsightly to just lie on the ground.

The foremost reason of why he moved to another room was still, of course, to prevent his body from being exposed to any danger. He had a premonition that someone would come there, and didn't want to be interrupted.

Because of that, he surrounded himself with a Rune that would blow him up along with everything around him by using the Mana inside his body and the Dragon Heart when it detected an abnormality in his Mana Flow.

In other words, the Rune would be triggered if someone disturbed his Dragon Heart Integration process. Lucky him, his premonition turned out to be a reality.

Because of Charles' safety measures, Basil, even though he knew where Charles was, didn't bother of find him.

There was nothing Basil could do to Charles while he was still in the process of integrating the Dragon Heart. Basil knew he would die if Charles blow himself up, so he waited for Charles to show up by himself.

Although he had let Charles completely integrate the Heart of Bahamut by doing that, he still found it better than getting himself killed for killing Charles who was in the middle of integrating the Dragon Heart.

"Our reunion is sooner than I planned, isn't it, Basil?"

With an extremely fierce aura surrounding him, Charles grinned at Basil. He had grown a few centimeters taller, and looked more muscular than before.

The Heart of Bahamut gave him unimaginable benefits: he felt more energised, more powerful, and; of course, physically stronger. The amount of Mana he possessed now was even comparable to that of Eighth Circle Mages.

Charles had just turned into a Seventh Circle Mage last month; he was still far away from finishing his eighth Magic Circle. In other words, for him to posses such an amount of Mana proved how great the effect of possessing Bahamut's Heart.

"Can you feel it, Basil? The pressure in the air?" Charles swept the air with his hand obnoxiously. "That is the amount of Mana my Magic Circles can not control. The Mana that my Dragon Heart has pumped into my body."

Charles was knowledgeable enough about Magic; he was qualified to be a scholar. Because of that, he knew that his body and his Magic Circles would not be able to contain all of the Mana inside Bahamut's Heart.

He would only explode if he forced his body and Magic Circles to contain all of the Mana, so he decided to be wasteful and released some of it to the surrounding. He constantly exuded Mana because of it, pressuring everyone in his surrounding.

"Well, it is quite impressive for someone who took a shortcut." Of course, there were also people like Basil who didn't feel intimidated by the pressure. "Congratulations, you now have the aura of a Dragon Heart possessor."

Charles was about to smile when Basil added, "Or what I like to call the aura of an idiot. It belongs to the people who think too highly of themselves, and think that they can handle a Dragon Heart."

The smile that was about to from on Charles' face immediately crumpled. He tried to think of a comeback, but couldn't think any since he couldn't refute Basil's claim; he was aware of how spot on Basil was.

"Hmph! You are a dead meat in front of me regardless," Charles scoffed. "The fool may be scorned, yet he will live longer than the one who scorns him."

Boom!

Materializing his seven Magic Circles, Charles blasted the floor below him, creating a quite deep dent on the marble floor. Such a thing shouldn't happen by merely materializing one's Magic Circles, which proved just how much stronger he had become.

"Iliana, wear your armour," Basil ordered without turning his head. "Take care of that waste of space, and stay away from the battle."

"What are you talking about?" Iliana frowned. "Do you think I am so weak—"

"Yes, you are. I know you have gotten your sixth Magic Circle, but you are still not ready for battle. The foundation of your sixth Magic Circle is still shaky. On top of that, you need to rest ... Just stay away from the battle."

Iliana didn't look like she could accept what Basil had said, however she knew Basil was right. Therefore, when Ione touched her shoulder and looked at her reassuringly, she sighed and nodded her head helplessly.

"I will support him as much as I can."

"... I will entrust him to you."

"Iliana..." Ione grasped Iliana's shoulder tighter. "There are so many things I want to talk to you, so make sure to stay alive."

"That is my word." Iliana smirked.

Ione smiled lightly at that, and let go of Iliana's shoulder in the next moment. Apparently, the two had known each other for a long time, and both of them couldn't wait to trade stories of what had happened.

"Do your best to destroy his Grimoire," Basil said as soon as Ione stood behind him. "I will fight him closely, so be careful not to hit me."

"Understood," Ione replied simply.

Charles merely smirked at the two, showing his clear disdain towards their brief discussion. Basil and Ione were uncaring towards his reaction; they prepared themselves to engage in battle.

Boom!

Ione materialized her six Magic Circles, blasting away the dust on the floor below her. She extended her left hand, then summoned her Grimoire, which looked like a 600 pages thick glowing red book.

It was her first time using it in a fight alongside Basil, so she was quite eager to show off her skills as a Spellcaster. Flipping it open in a second, a Spell was instantly cast.

BOOM!

On the other hand, Basil materialized his five Magic Circles. The pressure he exuded was even heavier than Ione's, and it became even heavier when he infused his Mana into Caliburn and Durendal.

The floor below him instantly cratered as it couldn't bear the pressure he was exuding. The crater wasn't as deep or big as the one below Charles, however considering that he had only five Magic Circles, it was absolutely mind-bogggling.

In fact, it even managed to bewilder Charles, who didn't think such a thing was possible.

"You really are an interesting—"

Swish!

Charles was cut mid-sentence by Durendal. If not for the fact that he had Blinking Eye that could teleport him to anywhere he wanted in a second, he would have already been bisected.

He had been standing close to the door of the Temple before he teleported himself to the corner of the room. Thanks to that fact, the door of the Temple—the entrance of the Temple was the only thing that was cut in two by Durendal upon his disappearance.

Durendal's sharpness made Charles hum to himself, however he could still smile since he was faster than Basil. Of course, that didn't mean he could take the matters lightly.

Boom!

He still had to constantly dodge the attacks Ione sending at his Grimoire. This irked him greatly since he didn't like it when someone was messing with his personally crafted Grimoire.

"Get out, Iliana!" Basil exclaimed. He had cleared the way, so Iliana and the shackled Tristan could exit the Temple.

Iliana still felt uncomfortable running away from the battlefield. She had realized, however, she couldn't possibly join the fight after feeling the overwhelming Mana clash; therefore, she didn't hesitate to follow Basil's instruction.

"Do you think I will—"

"You are loud, aren't you?"

Charles, who was about to prevent Iliana from getting out of the Temple, was once again interrupted by Basil. Caliburn suddenly appeared in front of his face—he was lucky he was quick enough to erect a Barrier in less than a second.

Boom!

The hastily erected Barrier, of course, instantly crumbled upon making a contact with Caliburn. This, however, gave Charles a time to utilize Blinking Eye that he wore like a pendant around his neck.

"Tsk. I need to destroy that Artefact," Basil muttered to himself.

Blinking Eye allowed one to teleport oneself to anywhere one could imagine without Carving a Magic Circle on the ground. It was a very convenient Artefact for someone who liked to run away.

Using it continuously, of course, had a drawback: Mana Exhaustion. Charles, however, had plenty of Mana, which was why he could abuse it as he liked.

Basil still could instantly locate where Charles was due to his keen Mana Sense and the Guide's Visualization, however he still found it irritating to always miss Charles in the last milliseconds.

"A Mage is who uses everything he has in his hands, am I correct?" Charles said from across the room. "You should have learnt Space Ma—"

"I have."

"Oh, darn it!"

Charles was baffled when Basil suddenly appeared in front of him. He had been about to joke that Basil wouldn't have missed him if he had learnt Space Magic, however Basil immediately showed that he had.

Charles could dodge, or rather, teleport himself away; still, for a Fifth Circle Mage to utilize [Teleportation] that well was mind-bogggling to say the least.

Swish!

As Durendal was swung at the place where Charles had been standing on previously, it cut the wall cleanly in two. The Temple still could hold itself together, however it was just a matter of time until it was split apart.

Durendal was a fearsome weapon—what it could do showed it—however due to how slick Charles was, it was close to being useless. It had been more than five minutes and Basil hadn't even cut a part of Charles' clothes.

"Playing here will be your greatest mistake, Charles," Basil muttered as he looked at Charles dodging Ione's attacks aimed at his Grimoire.

Flash!

In a blink of an eye, Basil appeared on Charles' side. Charles had expected it, unfortunately, so he could immediately teleport himself away.

"What the—"

Boom!

Surprisingly however, Basil could also teleport himself instantly to the place Charles had teleported himself to. Another hit was landed on Charles thanks to that; he was annoyed that it happened.

Utilizing Blinking Eye to teleport himself to every spot in the room, the Artefact blinked its eye so many times, its eyelid turned into a blur. He disappeared and reappeared to the point that Ione could no longer attack him.

In the next moment however, Charles found that Basil was still capable of following him, much to his bewilderment. He was always a few milliseconds late, however, he still had enough time to swing his fearsome swords at Charles.