Chapter 79
'What just happened?! I didn’t see him make that move!'
However, the moment Jack heard the shattering noise, he immediately understood.
It was a strike that took advantage of Jack's carelessness due to the ongoing conversation. Unfortunately, Lugia only managed to pierce Jack’s robe rather than his body.
Joshua became gloomy upon seeing that Jack was unscathed.
Jack had used Blink to reappear ten meters away from Joshua, and he muttered, "That was dangerous. It would have pierced my ribs if I hadn't heard it before it landed."
"What is that? An ancient artifact?" Jack muttered in praise while staring at Lugia in Joshua’s hand.
Lugia looked rather lovely after being converted into a complete 'spear' from being an ordinary iron rod. The spear had a strange shape that resembled more like a fork with two spearheads parallel to each other on a white and clean glass-like cylindrical spear shaft.
However, the most eye-catching part of the spear was its two dark-red spearheads, which were seemingly drenched in blood. They shone so sharply that it felt like gazing at them alone would tear one’s flesh apart.
"An artifact with its own integrated subspace. It’s pretty large as well. Is that the source of the lightning that you're using?" asked Jack, unaware that Joshua had already absorbed Bronto.
"Well—" Joshua started.
However, Jack interrupted him and said, "Well, if you don't want to talk, there's nothing I can do about it. However, you should know that if I want something, I'll do everything to get it. I'm going to use psychic magic to forcefully open your lips."
At Jack’s words, Joshua muttered, “So you’re going to use Mind Control?”
Joshua became sure that he was dealing with one of the top ten powerful mages of the vast Igrant continent. After all, Mind Control was one of the most powerful psychic spells, and it was only available to Class 6 Mages or higher.
It seemed the Seven Mages of the Magic Tower couldn’t be taken lightly.
"Your head’s just going to hurt a bit, but don't you think it's better than going crazy??”
Jack let out a sullen laugh.
Unlike elemental magic, psychic magic consumed not only the caster’s mana but their mental power as well. As such, it was an unpopular choice of discipline among mages.
In addition, most mental-type magic was reserved for the upper caste, so high-ranked mages had mental-type spells regular people couldn’t even begin to fathom.
However, the problem was the rebound effects. Since it directly affected the target’s brain, it could directly cause the collapse of the caster’s mind if something were to go wrong.
"Lightning Blade." Jack smiled as he casually cast a 4th Circle spell with a short two-word chant. The lightning blade let out sparks thanks to the ultra-high voltage current running through his hand.
"I won't kill you because I need information. Since it looks like you won’t speak, I'll just use torture. When it comes to pain and anguish, psychic magic is considerably more effective."
"..."
Joshua held up Lugia with both hands.
Jack's smile widened when he noticed Joshua's apprehensive expression. Jack wasn’t a Battle Mage, but there was a reason he chose Lightning Blade for this fight.
It was all because his opponent was a blue-eyed knight with piercing pride in his ability. In addition, The damned Avalon Empire, in particular, had always disapproved of the existence of magic.
In Avalon, mages had always been treated as outsiders and ostracized. The people of Avalon said that if mages didn't have the advantage of distance, they were practically useless.
‘I wonder what will happen if a genius who has never lost a fight loses against a mage in close combat?’
Jack was sure that the shock from such defeat would boost Mind Control’s success rate.
“Hoooh,” Jack chuckled. He was satisfied with the situation. Moreover, he felt like he was about to shatter someone's treasured prize. Jack had always been the type of person to derive excitement and pleasure from doing such things. It seemed that old habits truly died hard.
"Why are you so quiet? You don’t have anything else you can show me?"
"..."
Jack chuckled as he looked at Joshua, who was biting his lower lip and keeping silent.
"If you have nothing else to show me, then it's my turn..."
At that, Jack abruptly vanished.
***
Joshua's stress level wasn’t so high, but he had to maintain a calm mind.
His hazy mind was in a hyper-focused state.
‘I have to memorize his attack patterns.’
Unnecessary massive movements would provide the enemy with extra opportunities to hit him.
All of a sudden, Joshua thrust his spear to his left.
He successfully blocked the lightning blade.
"Huh?"
The man briefly exclaimed amidst the sparks flying in all directions.
Jack vanished once again.
Joshua thrust his spear to his right, behind him, and above his head. Amidst all this, his eyes started shining with hope.
Lugia's Lightning Spear—a 3rd Circle spell—caused a series of explosions.
Joshua took advantage of the small explosions to thrust his spear forward.
Another small explosion occurred...
Jack used Blink. He deactivated his Lightning Blade and muttered, "You're truly an incredible kid. Instead of avoiding the attack, you confronted it head-on. B-Class Knights often find it hard to recover amidst the sparks caused by 4th Circle magic."
Joshua couldn't properly hear Jack’s words. He couldn’t let his guard down like Jack was doing right now. After all, a single moment of inattentiveness would surely have a great impact on his life.
"Have you not realized?" asked Jack with a wide smile.
.
"...!" Joshua's eyes widened. It was all because hundreds of lightning spheres had suddenly surrounded the two of them.
Every escape route was blocked.
"I suggest you tread lightly. These adorable spheres will stun you the moment you make contact with them."
"...!"
“The spell is called Lightning Bolt, basically a 1st Circle spell. The effect it will produce is unconventional if I were to cast this, so it's best if you leave them alone if you don't want to get reduced to ashes."
Joshua momentarily trembled as he looked around.
However, Jack suddenly clenched his fist.
At that, the hundreds of lightning spheres collided at the same time.
A bolt of lightning struck the ground and sent its current out in all directions.
The ground and air itself trembled as a result of the collision.
"Lightning Bolt,” Jack muttered before the dense cloud of dust dissipated.
The hundreds of lightning spheres converged at the location he wanted them to go, and they all burst with a bolt of lightning at Jack’s chant. When the bolt of lightning struck where the colliding spheres, they formed a chain of explosions.
"..."
When the dust settled, Joshua finally reappeared. He had burn injuries all over, and his previously clean look was nowhere to be found because his clothes had turned into tattered rags.
However, he was still standing.
"Interesting," Jack thought of Thunder Cannon. However, he shook his head afterward because Thunder Cannon was a 5th Circle spell. It was a spell that shouldn’t be used if one wanted their opponent to live, so they could torture them.
Jack fell into deep contemplation for a moment.
"Rune Flare,” he muttered.
Among the four attributes of magic, the fire attribute was the most destructive.
Jack swung his flaming spear and chuckled. "If you can withstand this, well, I will forgive you for saying that I'm just a mere mage."
The scarlet flames converged and flew at Jack’s will.
Joshua's lower abdomen was the target.
Even the average knights would have their own mana hall in their lower abdomen.
"..."
Joshua bit his moist lips as he watched the scarlet flames rushing toward him.
Every spell Jack had revealed so far was strong enough to send shivers down Joshua’s small body.
Dodge?
At the moment, Joshua’s young body was too weak. As a result, the number of complex attacks he could perform and the kind of attacks he could dodge could only be counted with his two hands.
Joshua tightly gripped Lugia at the scarlet flames’ rapid approach.
However, Joshua suddenly heard a familiar voice in his head.
- What idiocy is this, Joshua?
"...!"
'Lugia?'
Joshua noticed it by then. Time had stopped—no, it was more like it had slowed down.
It felt as if the seconds had been divided into microseconds.
- I just saw a pathetic boy unable to use his new powers.
‘The enemy is too strong!’?Joshua inwardly grumbled.
- When did you start caring about such things?
'...!'
- Your way had always been to break through everything, regardless of the situation you found yourself in and the strength of your enemy. Hadn’t that always been your way?
'My way…'
- Even if the route leads to defeat, I will always be by your side. So, let it go. If you do so, Bronto’s power will propel you to a higher level.
Lugia's voice faded away.
Time seemed to have flowed even faster, but it was still slow.
Joshua finally got the chance to decide, and he quickly made a decision.
Joshua was once again surrounded by hundreds of lightning spheres.
Joshua slowly swung his spear.
However, that single movement created an infinite number of spears.
Perhaps they were afterimages?
The way they moved made them seem like they were all moving at the same time.
Joshua had finally made a move.
‘My enemy’s identity doesn’t matter. After all, I am Joshua Sanders.’
The move he made to win this fight was to hide his spear amidst a myriad of afterimages and stab his enemy with his spear when the latter least expected it.
His spear should silence the enemy…
'Magic Spear Arts Level 3...'
As Joshua channeled the mana into the spear's tip, mana started pooling in the muscles of his arm and wrist.
The mana eventually blossomed in full glory.
"Asura's Path."
At Joshua’s mutter, hundreds of Lugias beautifully carved a path in the air.
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