novelraw Chapter 348
Chapter 348
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 348: Wind and Lightning (7)
Fwoooosh, as the sea breeze swept through and shook the trees once—
KWA-A-A-A-A-A!
Yellow lightning tore the entire forest apart.
“Gather over here!”
Andre shouted loudly, and as people rushed toward him, he deployed the wide-area defensive formation he had prepared.
Pajijik, pajik!
Lightning bolts flew in from all directions and raked across the barrier, but they could not penetrate the ironclad defense.
“Huff, huff.”
“Thank you.”
Sasha, who had expressed her gratitude to Andre, bit her lip tightly.
Now, not a single tree in the forest remained intact, and the sea of flames burned so brightly that one could forget it was night.
“A sight the elves would never forgive.”
“…I know. But thanks to that indiscriminate attack, the situation itself isn’t bad.”
Everything except the clearing they stood on was ablaze.
The scorching heat could be felt on their skin, the flames burning bright.
“That is being controlled… by the wind.”
KWA-A-A-A-A!
At the same time a massive magic circle unfolded above Sasha’s head,
a gigantic storm descended from above.
That wind instantly devoured all the surrounding flames, turning crimson.
“If it were the Blue Tower Master, he would have blocked this attack without difficulty—but you are not.”
Without hesitation, Sasha fixed the endpoint of the storm on the Yellow Tower Master.
KWA-A-A-A-A!
As the raging firestorm approached, the Yellow Tower Master slowly nodded.
“Yes, indeed. In terms of sheer power, fire and lightning are natural opposites.”
The mages of the Yellow Tower had no means to extinguish flames once they had taken hold.
The lightning they wielded was closer to reviving dying embers than putting them out.
That was why, when mages of the Red Tower and the Yellow Tower clashed, the outcome often saw fire dominate everything and eventually dry the Yellow Tower’s mage to death.
“…But everything in this world is but a fleeting transience. Even flames are no exception.”
“And someone who knows that chased power to that extent?”
“Foolish. Lightning is the force that leaves the shortest yet most intense trace in the world. It is precisely because I realized that fleeting transience early on that I came to cling to a power that would not disappear so quickly.”
Pentario flicked his finger.
“And this—this is the power that will never fade, no matter how much time passes. Eternal and indestructible.”
The moment he finished speaking, lightning rising from all directions converged toward him.
KWA-A-A-A-A-A!
At the same time, the crimson storm reached where he stood.
“……”
“……”
The knights and mages swallowed nervously as they watched the scene.
The violent winds made it hard to see clearly, but occasionally a silhouette flickered through the storm.
‘At this level, even the Yellow Tower Master…’
Just as Sasha cautiously predicted his death,
Pentario’s characteristic dry voice spread through the crimson storm.
“World Liberation, Yellow Age.”
The moment those words spilled into the world—
Flash, flash!
Blinding lights erupted everywhere as if countless camera flashes had gone off.
“Gah! My eyes!”
“I—I can’t see!”
Amid the cries of knights and mages who had lost their sight,
Sasha, Andre, and Walker—who had reflexively shut one eye at the moment the light burst—opened their other eye.
And what they saw next was—
A world dyed entirely in gold.
“What is this…?”
Suppressing a groan, Andre looked around.
The soil, the rocks—even the trees that had been burning just moments ago—
everything in the world had turned to gold.
“Where is Pentario Ereus?”
The first to regain his composure, the Black Sword, Walker, raised his head.
What he saw there was a storm, dyed gold, frozen in place like a preserved specimen.
“This is something of no value.”
Crack, craaack!
The massive storm split in half, and from within, Pentario emerged completely unharmed.
At his gesture, the remnants of the Yellow storm scattered in the air began to move toward him.
Tuduk, tududuk!
In an instant, Pentario donned Yellow armor and a helmet, his blue eyes gleaming.
“…Pentario Ereus. Is this grotesque world your ideal?”
At Walker’s question, Pentario’s voice—now thickly modulated—let out a faint laugh.
“Grotesque? Yes, to you it may appear so. But to me, this is the most perfect world.”
Finishing his words, he gazed toward one side.
“It has already begun over there.”
“What?”
Turning their heads, the three saw people slowly hardening into gold, starting from their feet.
“L-Lord Andre, my legs won’t move.”
“Urgh! Chief! It seems I… here…”
Some people quickly solidified into Yellow statues, while for others the process was slower.
Meanwhile, Andre, Sasha, and Walker showed no signs of turning to gold at all.
Walker, who had scanned the crowd, muttered quietly.
“Strength.”
“Hmm? Chief Walker, what do you mean? Explain.”
Andre asked urgently, and Walker looked at the people.
“The lower their level and the weaker they are, the faster their bodies solidify. Stronger individuals remain unaffected.”
“……”
Hearing that, Andre observed the troops again and let out an exclamation.
Even among the Level 7s, aside from Walker, those at the lower threshold had already turned to gold up to their ankles.
“It’s true. Then… is there no way to stop it?”
“In cases like this, there’s usually only one option.”
Walker’s gaze turned to Pentario.
A liberated world was an ideal realm reflecting its master’s inner self and values.
To stop it, there was only one way—defeat the owner of that world.
“Hm, then we must also liberate our own worlds. Are you ready?”
“Wait. Using it all at once could be dangerous.”
Sasha cut in at Andre’s words.
Looking at the entirely Yellow world, she continued,
“We still don’t know the rules of this world. If possible, wouldn’t it be better for only one person to use it first?”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, that’s not wrong.”
“Then I’ll go first.”
“Isn’t that too dangerous? If anything, I, who don’t have much time left anyway—”
“No.”
At Andre’s concern, Walker spoke as he stabbed the Black Sword into the Yellow ground.
“In terms of time, I’m weaker than both of you. I’ll turn into gold first, so it’s right that I go first.”
The next moment, Walker Blackion quietly moved his lips.
“World Liberation.”
The air shifted around the Black Sword.
As if drawn by a massive magnet, all surrounding mana began to be sucked toward him.
Unlike the mage-type liberation that scattered domains outward,
this was a fusion-type World Liberation that directly contained the domain within oneself.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“I see. A fleeting world that vanishes in the blink of an eye.”
Having grasped the structure of Walker’s world, Pentario harshly mocked it.
It was the exact opposite of the eternal, indestructible world he pursued.
Raising both hands, Pentario spoke.
“I will teach you. How meaningless a fleeting sparkle is, and why eternity is truly great.”
“……”
Walker slightly bent his knees, lowering his stance.
The Black Sword, drawn slightly back, was ready to strike at any moment.
“……”
To pour out everything one had without regret.
Walker’s World Liberation condensed the entirety of his life into a single strike.
Through the tightly gripped hilt, he could feel the sword trembling.
As if the blade that had been with him his whole life was speaking—
that it was possible, that if all their time and effort were melted into this one move, nothing would be frightening.
“One Sword, One Life.”
And just as that explosive power was about to descend upon a fleeting instant—
Pentario smiled faintly.
“Foolish.”
“…!?”
Crack!
In the next moment, the Black Sword’s legs turned gold.
And not only that—
even the sword bestowed upon him by His Majesty the Emperor began rapidly turning gold.
“Why?”
The Black Sword frowned.
He did not panic or grow angry at the situation he did not yet understand—he began analyzing it.
Because even the slightest information he could uncover might help Sasha and Andre.
“Do you not understand? Eternity does not fall from the heavens. It is stolen and accumulated.”
In a dry voice, Pentario delivered his final declaration to Walker.
“This, too, is a fleeting defeat.”
“……”
Without a word, Walker glared at Pentario as he turned into a Yellow statue.
Watching the entire scene unfold, Andre let out a groan.
“Hmm… what do you think, White Tower Master?”
“It’s consumption.”
Sasha spoke, trusting her instincts.
“In this world, any power that is consumed seems to be treated as a loss.”
The time of the weak is finite.
And the power someone expends is converted into gold and becomes Pentario’s.
In other words, a structure where those who are inherently strong continuously increase their power.
“…Indeed.”
Pentario did not deny her words.
“And this is also the law of the world we once lived in. Those who have will gain more, and those who lose will eventually lose everything.”
The weak consume, the strong accumulate.
That widening gap eventually becomes a difference in rank itself.
“A structure where attacking first puts you at a disadvantage…”
Sasha muttered softly, biting her lip.
In a world like this, even fighting freely was impossible.
She first warned Andre.
“Lord Andre, don’t use mana carelessly. If we’re not careful, we’ll turn into gold as well.”
“Understood.”
Listening to their conversation, Pentario raised one hand.
“Will that be enough? I have already accumulated much. I possess power close to eternity itself.”
Pajik, pajijik!
Yellow lightning struck where they stood.
Each time Pentario used magic, the gold-transformed soil and trees disappeared little by little.
But even that was negligible compared to the whole.
“Do you have the confidence to survive until all my attacks are spent?”
With a scoff, Pentario dropped lightning once more.
Sasha, who had instinctively tried to return to her previous position to evade, flinched.
‘This is…?’
The lightning that had struck earlier still remained there.
She hastily twisted her body and rolled in another direction.
“The lightning… doesn’t disappear?”
“I told you. What I pursue is not a fleeting moment, but eternal, indestructible power.”
Pajik, pajijik.
Lightning that had struck once did not vanish, remaining exactly along the trajectory it had traveled.
Seeing this, Sasha frowned.
‘At this rate… the longer this goes on, the worse it gets.’
It meant their room to maneuver would steadily shrink.
And if they lost patience and consumed mana, it would only hasten their demise.
‘In other words, there’s only one optimal move right now.’
Defeat Pentario while using the absolute minimum amount of mana.
But facing an opponent difficult to defeat even at full power, and winning while conserving mana?
Easy to say, but nearly impossible in reality.
“Two Level 8s and several Level 7s. I’ll be able to accumulate quite a lot today.”
Just as Pentario leisurely affirmed his victory—
Crack!
Space split apart, and two figures stepped onto the battlefield.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]