Chapter 146: The Fine Line Between Hero And Killer (1)

Chapter 146: The Fine Line Between Hero And Killer (1)

Proxia was doomed to fall even if left alone.

Ray didnt bother to personally kill them.

He entered the castle solely for the legacy of the Age of Magic.

If he could obtain that, he would be satisfied.

Not knowing his way, Ray kept running toward a place that might house a library.

As he stormed through the front yard of Proxia, someone directed a fierce blade energy at him.

He dodged it easily by slightly tilting his head and showed no sign of stopping.

The attacker, who had sent the blade energy, was taken aback.

Hey, stop!

As a knight in splendid armor chased him, Ray increased his speed even more.

Once he started running seriously, not even Iriel could catch up to him.

No matter how skilled these knights were, catching him was out of the question.

Running at an incredible speed, Ray quickly turned his head, searching for the library.

Since the castle wasnt very large, he soon found it.

This is it.

Ray, who broke through a window, started searching for what he needed among the well-organized bookshelves.

He wasnt certain he would find texts from the Age of Magic.

The library was vast, but it was possible that precious magic texts had not been left in such an accessible place.

He rapidly pulled out books from the shelf labeled magic and perused them.

His brain absorbed the new knowledge and began to memorize it at a terrifying pace.

He found some books that were not even available in the Imperial Palace.

Although Ray had been practicing magic, he never fully grasped the theoretical level of those who studied it systematically.

He had given lectures based on his own discoveries, but that had only been possible for special classes.

In a regular course, he would have had to conclude the lecture without being able to teach much.

Ray skimmed through the books, tossing those worth reading into his backpack, and discarding the rest on the floor.

The entire inspection process took place in an instant.

He delved further into the collection and discovered books that werent just simple overviews but contained well-explained principles.

Proxia is doomed anyway.

Wouldnt it be a loss to humanity if he didnt take these treasures?

Of course, he intended to keep them all for himself.

Books that seemed to hail from the Age of Magic began to surface.

Unlike ordinary books, these were crafted with high technology, each page imbued with preservation and fortification spells.

They also featured complex locking spells, indecipherable without magical knowledge.

Ray crammed all the magic-enchanted books into his backpack and quickly vacated the premises.

Lingering any longer would mean confronting them, which would undermine his efforts in spreading the Black Death.

Rays footsteps steered not back the way he had come, but toward the forest.

Escaping through the forest would make it difficult for the soldiers to follow him.

However, a scouting party had already been dispatched into the woods.

Ray cast a spell on them.

Entangle.

Mana surged, beckoning the nearby plants.

Suddenly, entwined tree roots ensnared them, leaving them immobilized, and they let out screams.

Aaaaah!

Its magic!

They attempted to sever the roots with their swords, but to no avail.

His mana within the roots repelled the intrusion of their blades.

Ignoring the trapped scouts, Ray continued on his way.

His pace was markedly faster than when he had first entered the forest.

The once vast forest was rapidly left behind.

About ten minutes into his run, as Ray was nearing an elf village, a group obstructed his way.

It consisted of a strikingly handsome young man accompanied by seven middle-aged men in elegant robes.

Rays brow furrowed.

Each of them radiated a significant amount of mana.

Their aura dwarfed that of the aura user he had encountered in the castle.

How dare you be so brief in my presence.

Hold.

The young man smirked at his magic.

The Hold spell only works on those who are of a lower circle.

He considered himself the first Lord of the continent.

Who would dare cast a Hold spell on him, a 7th circle magician?

Now that he had regained his youth by reaching the realm of a Lord, he was brimming with confidence.

Even a Sword Master couldnt match him, he knew unconsciously.

His overflowing power could disrupt a nation, and a slight serious use of magic could overturn the balance of power.

Hold against him? It was a laughable suicide method.

Deciding to end the joke, the young man began to gather mana to manifest magic.

A massive flow of mana should have surged from his circle.

But, contrary to his expectations, he couldnt move a finger at will.

The young mans face turned pale.

Im caught in Hold.

Did this mean the man was of a higher circle than him?

Above his own 7th circle?

8th circle or higher?

The thought was ludicrous.

Reaching the 8th circle was deemed impossible, even for elves brimming with talent and blessed with long lifespans.

Moreover, he found it hard to imagine someone capable of restraining him, especially since his mana quality had evolved after he reached the 7th circle.

Nonetheless, Ray was indifferent to the young mans thoughts.

Keeping you alive would be dangerous.

Should he be spared, he might rebuild Proxia or cast magic in the Holy Kingdom recklessly, causing Ray a headache.

He had no desire to spare a potential major problem.

In a way, this signified that he recognized the young mans strength.

With such might, even the current Iriel or Zik would be no match for him.

Should the young man seriously cast magic against the Holy Kingdom, they would face near obliteration.

Having encountered several 6th circle magicians in the Kingdom, none possessed the aura of this young man.

Perhaps he was the 7th circle great magician Ray had heard about while dealing with the Necromancer.

The true master of magic, a Lord, as esteemed in this world.

Had it been an ordinary army, they would have perished without laying a finger on him.

Hence, he couldnt let him live.

It would spell trouble if he sought revenge.

Ray conjured an Aura Blade in his hand.

Without time to marvel at the manifested aura, Ray thrust the sword into the young mans heart.

While immobilized by Hold, the young man couldnt even scream, merely coughing up blood.

But this alone wasnt sufficient to guarantee death.

Consider Ziks case; his heart was destroyed, yet he lived.

Ray pulled the sword from the heart and then pierced the upper part of the lung, above the rib cage.

A punctured lung could no longer maintain a vacuum state.

It could not inhale oxygen or exhale carbon dioxide.

This would lead to death.

To ensure death, an attack on the brain would be best, but not doing so was the final consideration for someone who had reached the realm of a Lord with a human body.

Ray, noting the blood flowing back and the young man shedding tears of blood due to the effort, watched him for a moment before moving on.

The Lord was dead.

This signified the complete annihilation of Proxia.

No matter how many soldiers there were, they were nothing compared to a 7th circle Lord.

He sighed and, turning his back on the bodies, headed towards the elf village.

He always felt it, but killing people was not a pleasant feeling.

Having always saved lives, that emotion was even stronger for him.

Somehow, in the modern world, he saved lives to save people, but here, it felt like he was killing to save lives.

By killing Proxia, he saved many lives that would otherwise have been lost to it.

To some, he might be a hero, but to others, just a mere murderer.