Chapter 245: ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ (2)
To be honest, if she had caught them off guard even once, it was not difficult to destroy them to the point that they could no longer be used. However, the reason she was unable to do so and just played along with their attacks was because of the monster of The Underworld that Ferzen had summoned
「 ■■■. 」
Snap-!
Crash-!
After all, the voice of the wicked monster that looked like a melted wax doll that sat on top of the throne made of huge bones that covered the gorge like a spider web made her feel a strong impulse and an urge to submit that was difficult to resist.
Even though Gremory had lost her hearing because her eardrums had ruptured after hearing that voice for the first time, she could still hear the monster’s voice and the strange language that living beings would not dare to say with their vocal cord in her mind.
And when she tried to fight against that strong urge and impulse, an enormous amount of her magic power was consumed in an instant.
Naturally, ordinary soldiers who did not have the magic power to resist it passed to the underworld by stabbing their own hearts on the spot or being cut and pierced by the enemy's swords and spears.
The situation would have been better if the monster was just a simple monster with overwhelming power. However, since it was a monster that had an unfavorable matchup against her, Gremory's eyebrows were always furrowed and could hardly straighten.
It was not all negative though as there was also good news. It was the fact that the speed of the melting wax accelerated every time the voice that forced into submission anyone who heard it rang out.Did he have any goods left?
It seemed like it was impossible for him to make a deal with monsters on the Second Floor or higher.
Therefore, he summoned a monster that had a good matchup against her and took advantage of the situation to the fullest. If he still had some goods left, it would have been better for him to open the gate of The Underworld one more time and secure the victory to settle the matter. However, Ferzen did not do that.
No, maybe he could not do that.
On the other hand, Ferzen, who could vaguely guess what Gremory was thinking because of all the actions he had taken up until now, smiled bitterly and balled his fist.
His magic power was starting to be consumed much faster than expected and signs of magic exhaustion started to appear on his body. However, Ferzen tried to ignore the feeling of helplessness rising from within him and concentrated as much as possible to accomplish what he was planning.
However, Lizzy's curse as well as the OCD he had carved into himself to distract his focus from it that appeared every time he did forced him to split his thinking.
Of course, no matter how much Ferzen forced himself and struggled, it was impossible for a mere human body to handle it without complication. So, when his brain, which was already fatigued beyond imagination, was overloaded, blackish-red blood started to pour from his nose.
Slide-!!
As Ferzen realized that the nosebleed only poured from one of his nose holes after wiping it away, he closed his palm and hit it hard to the bridge of his nose.
Pour-!!
As more blood dripped and stained the area around his lips, Ferzen lifted her head while letting out a self-deprecating laugh.
He had already suffered quite a lot from the OCD symptoms that were caused by the scars that Laura gave him, from the wounds he had inflicted on himself with the dagger, and from the curse that Lizzy had left him with.
Therefore, If he split his focus even more than this, it would only do more harm than good.
“…… Just like you who struggled with your curse when you were still alive, I have also lived a truly ugly life.”
Seeing Isabel, who was exuding a cold aura that was unique to the dead, guarding his side, Ferzen took a deep breath and used his magic.
The first thing that Gremory kept a close eye on was the monster that he had summoned.
The magic that came to reality by transforming his high-density magical energy through Isabel should be the second thing that she was wary of.
However, what would pierce her body soon should be a pure ‘physical blow’ rather than magic or a monster.
The magic that surrounded the body of an Auror Knight would only react to the magic and ability of monsters from The Underworld.
Of course, her body, which had no impurities whatsoever and had magic energy flowing through it, was as sturdy as armor in itself.
However, her confidence and vanity would become a weakness that would make her take a sip from the poisoned chalice.
Please forgive this unfilial descendant of yours.
Before long, Ferzen stopped the bodies of his ancestors, which were holding Gremory, from moving automatically and linked his consciousness directly to them before making them surround her from all sides.
“……!”
Naturally, Gremory, who was directly clashing swords with them had no choice but to see the change the fastest.
However, in her posture, which was balancing her attack and defense, her weaknesses were fully revealed. After all, it was a move that was prepared to give death to her defier.
If it were a normal knight or an ordinary Auror Knight, they would calmly take a defensive stance first before launching a counterattack to cut the head of the enemy who was too disoriented to receive a counterattack. However, since her body had reached the extreme, she did not find the need to do so.
Will a tiger try to hide their sharp teeth in the face of a mere puppy?
Of course not. After all, it would be the dog who will be crushed miserably.
Crack–!
Sure enough, when one of the past Heads of the Brutein, who was facing her directly, allowed her to counterattack, her face was crushed in half while her right cheekbone and skull fell to the floor along with its flesh.
Bam-!!
Another past Head of Brutein, who was swinging his sword at her from her side, had his abdomen pierced by her magical prosthetic leg, shattering the spine that supported his body and causing his upper body to fall sharply backward.
Nevertheless, the sword still slithered in a dangerous trajectory and put pressure on Gremory.
It was only possible because the one who had attacked was not among the living but already dead.
But it was not a favorable condition by any means.
After all, the higher the damage a corpse suffered, the lower the implementation rate would be even though it was given the same amount of magic power.
To Ferzen, whose connection to the corpses was already unstable due to the curse that Lizzy had engraved on him, it was the same as imposing an even greater overload on his mind.
Flinch-!!
“Keuk! More……!”
Despite that, Ferzen did not sever his connection to them or make them move autonomously again.
Rather, he forced Gremory to focus on defense for a very short period of time with the help of a move that destroyed the bodies of his ancestors and the monster he had summoned.
“Keu……! Keheuk!”
He then poured all of his available magic power into Isabel, the youngest Apollyon-level elemental mage and the one and only witch of the Ernes Empire.
Due to the intense pain that naturally followed, Ferzen groaned out loud.
A large amount of his magic power evaporated in an instant. On top of that, there remained a gap that could not be filled by the amount of magic power that was restored from the unstable connection.
Wouldn't it be like this if humans could recreate the pain of food eaten by insects, or have their stomach shrink from hunger through extreme starvation?
Blurred focus.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
Even the simple act of breathing made him nauseous. Thanks to all that, Ferzen felt like he was about to lose consciousness.
Nevertheless, Ferzen pulled out an ash-gray metal from his subspace through his altar.
As soon as Isabel took the metal as if she was commanding the overwhelming magic power that Ferzen had given her, she repeated her habit that she had when she was still alive–letting her finger dance in the air–and unleash an intense burst of electricity.
Crackle-!
Boom-!
Rumble-!!
Due to the sheer amount of highly concentrated magic power being transformed into thunderbolts at once, uncontrollable beams of light scattered in all directions and violently struck the innocent ground.
However, as the robe that covered Isabel’s face fell down and her alluring beauty which was worthy to be called the appearance of a true witch was revealed, she began to control all the wild lightning as if making a crying child stop misbehaving.
She then created a radiant hexagram in the air and floated the ash-gray metal that Ferzen had handed her.
At first glance, it looked like they were trying to fire a fearsome thunderbolt through that radiant hexagram. However, it was nothing more than a facade.
To be exact, it was just a performance that was used to announce that a bundle of intense lightning, created by transforming a high concentration of magic power, would soon be fired.
Yes, the more flashy it was,
The more Gremory had no choice but to believe it.
However, that was not what Ferzen was preparing through Isabel.
His true plan was the linear pathway which was created by converting the electricity that was caused by the lightning into a solid state hidden behind the radiant hexagram
The barrel-like structure, formed by solid orbs of energy placed on either side, each with different potential differences, would create an intense magnetic field the moment a highly conductive metal is introduced.
Through this, the inserted metal would be launched like a bullet.
The power, of course, is proportional to the voltage and the length of the orbit.
Considering that point, the preparation was flawless in every aspect.
After all, the highly concentrated magical energy, condensed in large quantities, possessed by an Apollyon-class magician, served as both the voltage itself and the gun barrel.
Just like when he had used the superconductivity phenomenon when confronting Ciel Midford, the thing that Ferzen was currently preparing was the knowledge of a civilization far ahead of this era–something he had pulled from Lee Seojin’s memory.
The physical force contained in this linear pathway could not be fully realized even in that world,
Will her body which could be said to be at the peak of Auror Knight be able to handle it?
Before long, Isabel, who had interfered with the atmosphere, gently pushed the ash gray metal and put it into the linear pathway.
Crackle-!!
Then, a very short electric current, that was difficult for any eyes to discern, flashed.
After that, a huge magnetic field formed around it pushing the radiant hexagram that they were using as cover.
Kwaang-!
Immediately afterwards, a loud noise, which made even the soldiers who were fighting in a trance, stop their movements momentarily, covered the battlefield...…
Swoosh-!
Like a falling meteor, the metal left a distinctive mark in every area it had passed through and directly struck Gremory.