“How did you manage to break in? The defensive magic on this facility isn’t that simple . ”
They sensed somebody’s presence on the other side of the room . A woman strolled out of the darkness .
“Another research group? Or a spy sent from abroad? Hmm, you guys look too young for such a violent mission . ”
It was a woman with bobbed hair .
Wearing a long lab coat that reached her calves, every time she walked, there was a clicking sound coming from her high heels striking the floor . She looked at the cylinder in which the subject was contained .
“Given the fact that you killed valuable data producing material, you guys are clearly not part of the research industry . So who the hell are you guys?”
“Are you the general manager of this facility?”
“I’m the one who will be asking questions, not you . You should know your place . ”
As she spoke, the nearby mana changed subtly for just a moment . Desir sensed a spell on the level of the Fifth-Circle based on the amount of mana she was using .
‘At this time, Fifth-Circle wizards are unlikely to be common, even in the Magic Kingdom . '
Desir guessed that she must hold a rather high position in this plan . Given her demeanor, it wasn’t particularly difficult to guess, and wasn’t far from the truth .
The director of the research institute, Totlina, spoke while reaching out towards Desir .
“Oh well, guess I can just drag you over and perform my own investigation . ”
Her spell was finally invoked . The whole building shook as hundreds of earthen spears rose up out of the ground . They descended on Desir’s party like waves .
[Burst Fire]
*Boom*
Dozens of fire bolts were instantly invoked by Desir and collided with the ground . None of the hundreds of stone spears retained their shape . But that wasn’t the end of it . Totlina invoked magic again .
[Stalactite Rain]
Sharp stalactites began to form on the ceiling and soon poured down on Desir’s party .
*Boom*
*Boooom*
She had invoked this spell at a tremendous speed . However, Desir’s response was almost instantaneous .
[Sigh of Kizard]
Totlina whistled, betraying her slight admiration for Desir, since he had managed to stop two consecutive attacks .
“Oh, you’re pretty good . ”
She spoke with a relaxed smile .
“I’ll put my heart into this just a little bit more . ”
Totlina beckoned and the walls of the lab began to wriggle like a bunch of living creatures .
As the research conducted here was dangerous and uncertain, the laboratory was not only equipped with defensive facilities; the building itself was constructed out of solid stone and concrete . This made it the best battleground for Totlina, an earth attribute wizard . She held the utmost confidence in beating any enemy with her home-field advantage .
*Swish*
The development speed of a Fifth-Circle wizard is always very high . Her magic was no exception to this, as it devastated the place Desir had been standing just moments before . Desir deployed defensive magic, blocking such spells, and shouted out a command to Pram .
“Pram, open the way . ”
As if expecting this command, Pram dashed forward towards Totrina . He flitted along a path, as if enhanced with speed and reflex magic, narrowly dodging the numerous spells that Totlina flung out . Tortlina snorted .
“What a riot!”
[Scream of Wriggling Earth]
Fourth-Circle magic .
Totlina was powerful enough to invoke Fourth-Circle spells in just five seconds .
*Crack*
Parts of the stone walls and floors were compressed into the shape of whips, and within a few moments, dozens of them could be seen . It was clearly a powerful magic . Any place the whip passed was destroyed, leaving nothing but a gaping hole . . Countless whips blocked the way forward while the rest rushed forward towards Pram directly .
“Haah!”
Pram did not slow down in the slightest, even as the menacing whips bore down on him . His rapier flashed brilliantly and several whips fell to the ground . However, they regenerated in an instant . It was impossible to clear the way by removing these whips one by one .
[Scream of Wriggling Earth] was a notorious spell among swordsmen . The infinitely regenerating whips gave a wizard complete control over the battlefield, limiting the movement and actions of their opponents . For swordsmen who need to close distance and fight directly, the spell was infamous for just how oppressive it could be . Truly a spell that played into the ego of wizards of the Magic Kingdom .
‘It’s said that earth attribute wizards that reach the Fourth-Circle must develop magic like this in order to deal with swordsmen . ’
Pram recalled the things he had learned while training with Desir . The most important thing he had learnt from the training was how to remain calm and cope with unexpected situations . He had to rely on the hard work he had put into honing his swordcraft .
‘This magic has a mechanism in which every whip attacks enemies charging the caster from head on . But, if an opponent were to attack the wizard from a large enough distance… ’
Pram was not afraid of getting swarmed with whips and approached Tortlina without thinking further . It was an act that could only be pulled off due to his full trust that he placed in his party members .
Approaching a certain distance, Pram pulled his sword back as if drawing a bow . With an explosive burst of power, he stepped forward and launched his Blankšum rapier towards the wizard with all of his power .
As he did this, Aura gathered at the tip of the rapier and was concentrated into a single point . It was the technique of concentrating Aura until the durability of your sword reached its limit . It was one of the techniques that Pram learned from Professor Hersaint-Blanc to control the strength of one’s Aura .
A Blankšum sword is strong enough to hold all the Aura a user could possibly pour into it . This was the reason why it was often referred to as a material with infinite durability . As a result of this, the power of the sword that Pram had chucked far exceeded Fourth-Circle magic .
*Baaaam*
The whips burst apart in all directions as the rapier flashed by . A path had momentarily opened .
“Adjest!"
Right on queue, as he called, Adjest kicked off against the ground and leaped forward . Totlina quickly attempted to deploy a spell as Adjest swiftly narrowed the distance to close-combat length .
All that Totlina could do was defend herself . She had thoroughly lost the initiative .
[Dancing Thorns]
Up from the ground sprang a thorned rose, surrounding Totlina in an attempt to buy her breathing room .
*Kagang*
Adjest’s sword struck the stone thorns, showering the room in sparks .
Totlina barely managed to fend off Adjest’s attack, but Adjest had already gained the initiative, allowing her to pressure Totlina . Eventually, her relentless attacks gave her the opening she needed .
[Ice Speaker]
A flood of magic attacks were launched by Adjest .
It took a bit longer to compute and invoke upper tiered magic, and Adjest did not allow Totlina any opportunity to reverse the tables .
*Kagagang*
Totlina’s magic and Adjest’s sword clashed fiercely . Enough sparks had been generated at the contact point between the two parties that there was sufficient heat to even start a fire .
In this brief confrontation between the two forces, it was already clear that the situation was favorable for Desir’s party . No, rather, Totlina found herself being pushed back little by little .
‘Who the hell are these guys?’
With her skills, she thought she could quickly subdue the enemy without causing much damage to the research facility .
But it was purely her delusion . Desir’s party was not at a level that could be handled with composure and restraint .
Totlina was forced to gather the magic she was spending to keep the others in check . She wanted to invoke higher tiered magic to see if she could win .
[Stone Break]
While Adjest responded to the magic just sent, Totlina suddenly widened the distance between them before invoking another spell .
[Vindell Earth]
Fourth-Circle defensive magic .
As the magic was deployed, the stones and rubble lying around the room were lifted up and compressed around Totlina .
A cube-shaped wall was soon formed .
It was magic that was developed with one purpose in mind… defense . No matter how strong a blade filled with Aura was, it was not easy to break through this magic . As Totlina breathed deeply in relief and tried to calculate a Fifth-Circle spell, they pierced the wall .
*Bang*
*Bang*
*Bang*
A series of loud clashes rang out and cracks appeared on the wall of the cube . A long time ago, Romantica had encountered this magic when fighting against a leader of the Outsiders who was attacking the Magic Tower . For her, it used to be a magic strong enough that she couldn’t even conceive the idea of breaking it, but things had changed .
Romantica now had the ability to penetrate even Fourth-Circle defensive magic .
Totlina, who saw the wall of the cube beginning to collapse, shouted urgently .
“Wait… Wait!”
“Are you trying to buy time with such a lame trick?”
Adjest approached Totlina immediately . Piles of stones and debris lay scattered around Adjest .
“What a waste of five circles . ”
Desir’s party had been harshly trained by Desir for the past year and had received all kinds of experience as a result . They were now too much for a lone Fifth-Circle wizard to deal with on their own .
Seeing the approaching Adjest, Totlina crawled backward in fear . Her previously relaxed appearance was nowhere to be found .
“Shit-!”
Totlina tried to invoke magic out of sheer desperation, but the magical array in front of her scattered instantly . It didn’t take her long to realize that it was magic inversion .
But Totlina couldn’t believe it . There was certainly no wizard here who possessed a higher circle than herself . It was impossible .
She traced back the mana to figure out who was blocking her spell invocation, and soon realized it was the boy .
Totlina, who looked at Desir, could plainly see that he had blocked her magic with tremendous computational speed .
“You little bastard… !!”
Tortlina cried out .
But her consciousness was reaped .
“Shut up . ”
Before she knew it, Adjest, who had still been approaching Totlina, punched her in the stomach .
“… !!!”
Totlina immediately collapsed into a heap .
No matter how strong Fifth-Circle wizards were, their bodies were no different from ordinary people . Adjest looked down in contempt at the fallen Totlina .
It took less than five minutes to subdue the Fifth-Circle wizard . The result showed that they had achieved considerable growth, but no one was happy about it .
“This is a Shadow World, which means it actually happened . ”
“… Yes . ”
It was clear that people would flock here shortly, after having caused quite a ruckus in their fight . Desir began to destroy the lab by invoking various spells before the interruption could arrive .
Chapter brought to you by SlopypeepS .
???: …
ED2: Purplemen101
TLC: N/A (this could be you!)
QC: Dr Lock