Chapter 19

The explosion threw my body far backward.

I bounced off various surfaces and rolled across the floor before I could finally get back on my feet.

The scorching heat had burned part of my left arm, and due to the bruises from rolling, there wasn't a single spot on my body that didn't ache.

Even in that moment, I quickly determined my location and lifted my head to check Viscount Lemming’s condition.

From within the magical flames that filled the engine room, Viscount Lemming walked out.

“You… How dare you…! A mere soldier, I’ll make you regret ever wounding me!”

“…Crazy bastard. He’s still alive.”

Viscount Lemming was alive despite having suffered two such large wounds.

Upon closer inspection, I could confirm that he was barely clinging to life, his fading breath sustained by magic.

A bluish glow of magic forcefully sealed his wounds, preventing further bleeding.

“I’ll kill you… No, I won’t let you die easily. I’ll make you writhe in pain for the rest of your life, begging for death every single day!”

If anger alone could burn someone to death, I would have long since turned to ashes.

Things had become troublesome.

How good it would have been if he had died with a single blow.

However, my opponent was a magician, a type of person who used all sorts of outlandish magic.

Since I had sufficiently considered the possibility of him not dying, I wasn't particularly flustered.

In other words, it was within the expected range.

The blazing flames further widened the damaged areas of the already rickety airship.

The parts that held the side and upper deck in place melted, causing the walls and ceiling to collapse, revealing the sky.

Far away.

I could see Selina and Lirisa, who had perceived the problem and were rushing over.

The expression on Adam’s immobile face was… quite a sight, almost too good to witness alone.

KWAANG!

Once again, flames surged.

I hid behind a nearby wall, closed my eyes tightly, and held my breath to protect my eyes and lungs from the heat.

The violent flames scoured the interior of the crashed airship, like a greedy snake flicking its tongue, searching for prey.

‘The first magic was an explosion. The current magic is flame manipulation? If so, the magic power used was 3, and 5… No, was it 4?’

To fight a magician, one must first be calculative.

There’s a limit to the magic power they can use.

One must be able to calculate and exploit that limit to achieve victory against a magician.

At least, the me in Odin had fought that way, brought down countless magicians, and eventually even earned the nickname "Mage Killer" for my subordinate hero.

‘Two wounds were sealed with magic, so the total magic power consumed is 2. That means the total magic power consumed is 9.’

Now, based on experience, I had to calculate how much magic power Viscount Lemming had stockpiled.

Magicians who pilot ultra-compact airships typically reserve about 20-22 magic power.

However, Viscount Lemming was a person who didn’t hesitate to engage in defense corruption, even embezzling very basic supplies that should be distributed to soldiers, and he was so protective of his own safety that he wouldn’t even show his face in the airship he operated.

He must have quite a bit of magic power stockpiled for himself.

In that case, I needed to estimate at least the late 20s, or even the early 30s.

‘I need to make him use as much magic power as possible.’

There’s no need to completely deplete it.

As the stockpiled magic power decreases, magicians tend to become anxious and economize their magic use.

When that happens, openings will naturally appear, and that’s when I should aim for a fatal blow.

While I was thinking, the flames subsided.

The moment I was about to peek around the wall.

WHOOSH!

A large quantity of water, from who knows where, poured out, creating a water stream.

The flowing water wrapped around my ankles.

Upon inspection.

A water spirit was pouring out a large amount of water.

‘A water spirit. Adds 2 magic power. And the fact that he summoned a water spirit, which has no killing power, means…’

I leaped onto the nearest table.

Immediately after.

CRACKLE!

Electricity was discharged onto the flowing surface of the water.

A current discharge following a water spirit.

This was one of the attack patterns frequently used by magicians, almost as if they learned it in some combat magician training facility.

“Damn it…!”

The table wasn’t a perfect insulator, as a slight electric shock was administered.

It wasn't enough to paralyze me, but considering my opponent, I judged it necessary to improve my condition even slightly, so I poured a healing potion, looted from the supplies, into my mouth.

I felt my condition improving rapidly.

THUD. THUD.

Footsteps were heard.

“Where are you hiding… I’ll kill you. I will definitely kill you…”

And the incredibly ferocious muttering that followed.

It was difficult to tell if he hadn't identified my location or if it was a trick.

For now, assuming the former, I left the door open and hid behind the wall, waiting for his footsteps to draw closer.

The footsteps grew closer and soon began to be heard directly behind the wall.

The moment Viscount Lemming stepped in to check the interior of the room, I swung my sword.

CLANG!

With a metallic sound, the sword was blocked by something.

A translucent barrier around Viscount Lemming perfectly shielded him from external attacks.

“Found you.”

Viscount Lemming looked at me, baring his teeth and smiling brightly.

A red fireball, created by his familiar, which mirrored his grin, flew towards me.

I raised my shield and braced for impact.

The fireball, as expected, exploded the moment it hit the shield.

KABOOM!

Following a shock that felt like my arm was about to be torn off, I realized my body was flying backward.

The flight wasn’t long.

My body slammed into the airship’s wall.

“COUGH!”

Due to the strong impact, I expelled all the air from my lungs.

My vision blurred momentarily.

I shook my head, desperately trying to regain my sight.

Viscount Lemming’s summoned fire spirit plunged a large fireball onto the ground.

Again, I raised my shield to protect myself.

KWAANG!

A shock far more intense than before enveloped my body.

The wall, unable to withstand the impact, shattered into pieces, and I rolled on the floor with the fragments.

It was fortunate that the crashed airship’s durability had dropped to its limit.

Otherwise, I would have melted, trapped in the wall and the fiery storm.

“…Current Discharge 1. Magic Shield 2. Fireball 2. Fire Spirit 4. Total 20.”

He had consumed more than half of his estimated total magic power.

It seemed like I could continue to wear him down like this, but my body was also in a terrible state.

My left vision had been blurry for a while now.

It seemed my eyes had been damaged by the heat.

This was a problem that couldn't be solved with the low-grade healing potions in my bag.

"Ryan!”

A desperate cry was heard.

It was Lilisa.

I could see her gripping her bow tightly.

I shook my head.

And gave a signal with my mouth.

‘Stick to the plan.’

Fortunately, it seemed my message was properly conveyed, as Lilisa nodded with a sorrowful expression.

Viscount Lemming had not yet played his trump card.

I, too, had to keep Lilisa as a critical last resort for that very moment.

Until then, I had to endure it alone, even if it meant my body was broken in pieces.

Viscount Lemming walked out of the airship.

Neither the surging flames nor the collapsing debris inflicted any damage on Viscount Lemming.

I knew it, but magicians truly are an unfair profession.

“……”

I got to my feet.

Compared to the airship’s interior, the open ground had very limited space to hide.

This would be an even fiercer and more difficult battle than before.

Viscount Lemming extended his hand to cast a spell.

I, too, lowered my body and prepared to charge.

This was to make him use magic for protection as well as attack, to consume even more of his magic power.

“Viscount Lemming! Ryan! Stop fighting right now!”

Selina shouted.

Under the sky where the sunset was giving way to night, her desperate cry was the only sound.

There was no way her voice couldn’t be heard.

However, Viscount Lemming showed no reaction.

He must have decided that he had no reason to obey Celina’s orders.

Perhaps, if not for his anger towards me, he might have even cast an attack spell at selina for daring to order him around.

The same went for me.

If I was going to stop just because someone told me to, I wouldn’t have even started in the first place.

“I’ll burn you to ashes, leaving nothing behind! I’ll find your family, every single one of them, and burn them to death!”

“You talk too much. You seem to have used quite a bit of your reserved magic power too, are you getting scared?”

“You bastard!”

Viscount Lemming, whose reason was all but paralyzed, had no resistance to even light provocation.

Behind Viscount Lemming, whose eyes were stained blue, five spheres of flame swirled, forming the shape of spears.

‘Five scorching spears. Consumption is 10. Total 30.’

Perhaps this would be his last magic.

It was quite a dangerous spell, but with its clear pros and cons, it wasn’t something I couldn’t endure.

Since scorching spears gain acceleration and increase in power as the distance increases, I needed to reduce the distance to the user to get hit less painfully.

I ran forward.

“Die!”

The first spear flew.

Reading its trajectory, I threw my body to the right without slowing down.

The scorching spear, which fell very close, exploded.

My body flew helplessly through the air, then bounced and rolled on the dirt ground several times, like pebbles skipping on water.

From the pain throughout my body, I knew there was no intact part of me left.

But if I lay down just because it hurt, this spot would become my grave.

I got up.

Trickle.

I felt something hot flowing down my philtrum.

I roughly wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

Hot, red blood stained it.

I wanted to plug my nose with tissue or something, but I didn't even have that much time.

Because the second spear had already reached right in front of my nose.

I thrust out my shield.

KABOOM! CRACK!

With the impact, the shield warped, and a large crack appeared, splitting its center.

The heat, which the small shield couldn't completely block, rushed towards my face.

It was only this much because the shield blocked it; otherwise, the flesh on my face would have all melted away.

I tried to get up, but my legs trembled.

My stamina had long since been pushed to its limit, and it was fair to say I was holding on with sheer willpower.

I lifted my head.

The third spear was flying towards me.

Beyond it, I saw Viscount Lemming’s expression.

As expected, Viscount Lemming was anxious, as he didn’t have much magic power left.

‘Not much left.’

I raised my shield and blocked the incoming third spear.

Was it luck, or had Viscount Lemming’s concentration also significantly dropped?

The spear merely grazed the shield and fell far behind.

Simultaneously with the scorching wind swirling from behind, the shield fixed to my left arm declared its limit and fell off.

Looking at its condition, picking it up and holding it wouldn't be much help.

“……”

Viscount Lemming and I stared at each other.

Viscount Lemming held a spear in his hand.

This was likely to use his remaining magic power as sparingly as possible.

While my stamina had already hit rock bottom, Viscount Lemming’s stamina was still robust.

However, his physical abilities as a magician were far inferior to mine, who had benefited from the growth system.

It was a situation where even I couldn't predict the outcome.

We walked towards each other, emitting strong killing intent.

Now, even my mental strength was at its limit.

My vision grew increasingly blurry.

Just as I was about to completely lose consciousness, I hastily shook my head, repeating the process of regaining my senses a couple of times.

Before I knew it, Viscount Lemming was close enough to touch if he extended his hand.

“Ughhh!”

Viscount Lemming swung his spear widely in a vertical motion, like wielding a baseball bat.

I extended my hand, prepared to sacrifice my left hand.

This time, I thrust my sword, determined to pierce his heart.

And then.

“…Yes. I misjudged.”

Selina leaped between the swinging sword and the spear of flame.

Surprisingly.

Her eyes glowed blue.

“I should have done this sooner.”