Chapter 116

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Chapter 116: The Mage of Ashes (6)

Oscar looked around.

The basement, which he usually thought was unnecessarily spacious, felt cramped today.

‘…Am I nervous?’

It made sense.

His opponent was a 7th-level high knight.

Taking a small, deep breath, he reminded himself of his task:

To stop Commander Theodore’s rampage until he regained his senses.

‘What happens in this basement is hard to detect from the surface.’

After all, the space itself was originally a secret vault, enchanted with various spells.

For that reason, allowing the commander to escape this basement was out of the question.

‘If anyone were to witness his current state as a demon…’

All the hardships he and Lloyd had endured thus far would turn to nothing.

Gripping his wind blade tightly, Oscar spoke.

“It’s cold outside. How about staying warm here in the basement with me?”

“Grrr…”

Commander Theodore, like a rabid animal, drooled uncontrollably.

The sinister energy emanating from his body squirmed as though alive, writhing incessantly to maintain its grip on its host, exerting fierce mental domination.

“...Krrr.”

The commander, glaring savagely at him, suddenly bolted down the corridor.

Boom!

In an instant, the opponent closed the distance.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The force of the impact was so tremendous that Oscar’s wind blade nearly dissipated.

‘Fast!’

But this clash revealed a crucial detail:

The commander’s attacks, though powerful, were excessively simplistic.

‘No technique at all.’

It was as if a child had taken over the body of a high knight.

Despite rising to the rank of a high knight through refined swordsmanship, Theodore wasn’t utilizing any of it.

Instead, he merely swung his sword wildly, relying solely on the overwhelming power of his demonic energy.

‘But even that alone is…’

Oscar’s wrist nearly twisted under the force.

Glancing briefly at his tingling wrist, he retreated to widen the distance.

‘I’ll have to avoid close combat at all costs.’

In that case, he would use the standard method for a mage facing a knight:

Keep a distance and block the opponent’s approach.

Gathering his mana, Oscar swiftly manipulated the flow of air around him.

Thud. Thud.

Theodore, guided by instinct, took slow, heavy steps toward him.

“……”

His hollow eyes brimmed with madness, having sunk so deep into darkness that no words could reach him.

Oscar parted his lips.

“From now on, things might get a bit rough, so I hope you’ll forgive me.”

The moment he finished speaking, he threw his wind blade toward his opponent.

Theodore, narrowing his eyes, moved to strike it down.

“Magic Reconstruction.”

Oscar’s fingers moved swiftly to form a hand seal.

At the same time, whoosh!

The wind blade split into dozens of currents, brushing past Theodore.

“Krr?”

As Theodore showed a faint reaction, click!

A shackle appeared, binding the wrist that held the hilt of his sword.

“Grrrrr!”

The startled Theodore tried to move his arm, but the shackle refused to budge.

Clank, clank!

The more he pulled, the tighter it clamped down, delivering sharp pain.

“Wind Shackles.”

Three more shackles materialized and flew through the air, binding his remaining limbs.

Oscar let out a soft sigh of relief.

"Good thing I didn’t mess up—it’s been a while since I used Magic Reconstruction."

This technique involved dismantling a completed spell and using its power to create a new one.

Even just dismantling a spell was incredibly complex, and doing it in combat?

It was like changing your hand in rock-paper-scissors after seeing your opponent’s move.

‘If my guess is right and his strength has dropped to around level 6, this should hold him.’

Oscar cautiously observed his restrained opponent.

“GRAAAA!”

Suddenly, Theodore thrashed wildly, shaking his body in all directions.

Clang, clang!

The shackles strained under the pressure, making ominous noises as if they might snap, but they held firm.

‘Is it working?’

Just as a glimmer of hope entered Oscar’s eyes—

“Grrrr, GRRAAAA!”

A surge of demonic energy erupted from Theodore’s body.

The overwhelming energy filled the corridor, suffocating Oscar and making his head spin.

“Urgh!”

Sweat streamed down Oscar’s face as he struggled to maintain control of the wind shackles.

His chest tightened, his vision blurred, and he felt as though he was holding onto a fragile leash that could snap at any moment.

‘Please…’

But his silent plea was in vain.

The demonic energy seized the moment his focus faltered.

Bang!

Theodore shook himself violently, shattering one of the shackles binding his wrist.

The sound of the wind exploding filled the air as Theodore, now free, tore off the remaining shackles with his unbound arm.

“GRRAAA!”

demonic energy surged along his hand as he slashed at the corridor’s floor and ceiling.

Oscar barely managed to throw himself aside to evade the attack.

Crack!

Theodore, having freed himself completely, appeared right in front of Oscar.

“……!”

Oscar’s wide eyes caught the descending blade aimed at his head.

It wasn’t just an ordinary strike; it was a blow capable of cutting through him in a single stroke.

『Blink』

Instinctively, Oscar tugged at the strings of space, teleporting behind his opponent’s back, and simultaneously—

Crack!

Theodore’s animalistic reaction read Oscar’s new position, and a powerful back kick slammed into his side.

Oscar’s body was flung and crashed into the basement wall.

“Ugh! Cough!”

Spewing a handful of blood, he looked up through his blurred vision at the opponent slowly walking toward him.

‘Level 6, my ass...’

The rampaging mana far exceeded his expectations.

Even in raw power alone, it rivaled a Level 7, showing no signs of inferiority.

‘It’s fortunate he can’t use swordsmanship... but how am I supposed to survive 21 more minutes against that?’

Oscar let out a bitter laugh, pushing himself up and brushing back his sweat-drenched hair.

‘The commander is nearly impervious to regular attacks.’

In this frenzied state, Theodore wouldn’t feel any pain.

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On top of that, thanks to the enhanced regenerative power of demonic energy, minor wounds would heal almost instantly.

‘In short, I need overwhelming firepower to incapacitate him in one decisive strike.’

Staring at the monster striding toward him, Oscar quickly calculated his options.

But few spells came to mind that could work against a high knight’s resilient body.

‘The most promising option is that wave spell... but...’

Even that had limitations.

When he fought Kaya Lockwood, the circumstances were entirely different.

Back then,『The Lonely Garden』 had nullified her tattoo magic’s defense system.

‘Against Commander Theodore, there are no shortcuts like that.’

This was a battle that required brute force.

The problem was that a Level 4 mage couldn’t possibly break through the defenses of a high knight with sheer power alone.

‘There is... one way. But...’

Oscar hesitated, concern flickering in his eyes.

‘Tch. Master Ado told me not to use this on people, at least for now.’

The reason was simple: he lacked fine control over the technique.

But Oscar decided to trust the time he had spent honing his craft in this place.

‘Mana prioritizes the host’s survival above all.’

In other words, if Theodore sustained a near-fatal wound, his demonic energy would shut down all other functions to focus solely on recovery.

For a situation where stalling for time was critical, it was the ideal scenario.

Reaching his conclusion, Oscar murmured to himself.

“Please, hold out somehow.”

A gust of wind swirled before him.

Pressing his palms against the current, Oscar began folding the wind inward.

Once.

Twice.

With each fold, the wind grew louder and more menacing, its power exponentially increasing.

Finally, Oscar managed to compress the wind three times.

‘This is my limit for now.’

Though it was just three folds, attempting a fourth would theoretically require sixteen times more mana.

Even reaching Level 7 wouldn’t guarantee enough mana for such a feat.

Woooom!

The wind, now compressed threefold, emanated a terrifying energy, but it still wasn’t enough.

His opponent was a Level 7 high knight.

Theodore’s body, refined through a lifetime of blood and sweat, wouldn’t crumble to this level of force.

‘Which means I have to go... even further.’

Oscar’s eyes shone with resolve, and the world before him shifted.

The dingy, dark basement vanished, replaced by a world of strings.

With practiced skill, he grabbed hold of five strings.

‘Ugh!’

Five strings—this was just within his capability but still a heavy burden.

His entire mana circuit strained under the pressure, and blood trickled from his eyes and mouth.

Despite the pain, Oscar focused all his will on completing the spell.

‘Using spatial magic... to fold space along with the wind.’

Snap! Snap!

Like a thick piece of paper folded to its limit, the very fabric of space folded twice more.

The wind, compressed to its breaking point, let out a heavy, ominous roar.

Wooosh!

“...Here we go.”

This was the strongest lance he could muster—his ultimate creation.

『Fusion Magic: Space and Wind』

The Breath of Annihilation.

“Grrgh!”

Unable to contain the wind any longer, Oscar released it.

The unleashed force surged forward, tearing through the corridor like a voracious beast.

The wind, so powerful it warped the surrounding space, consumed everything in its path like a piercing lance of destruction.

“...”

For a brief moment, silence engulfed the world as though time had stopped.

Then—

BOOOOM!

A delayed shockwave, as deafening as a thunderclap, shook the entire basement.

“Huff, cough, cough!”

Covered in dust, Oscar lowered his trembling hands and stared tensely at the settling debris.

Slowly, the silhouette of the Level 7 high knight emerged from the dust cloud.

Theodore’s body was in utter disarray.

‘Even his demonic energy’s regenerative power can’t keep up.’

Crackle, crackle.

Like a broken machine, Commander Theodore stood frozen in place, unconscious.

Confirming this, Oscar finally exhaled deeply and slumped to the floor.

“...Phew.”

Leaning against the corridor wall, Oscar closed his weary eyes.

Now, all that remained was to wait until Theodore’s demonic energy fully converted into energy.

Savoring the brief calm after the storm, Oscar let himself catch his breath, realizing he had survived another close call.

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