CH135: Hero of the Kingdom vs. Hero of the Empire (1) Scorching Space
Immediately after closing in on the <Hero>, he activates the [Spatial Leap Space Leap] he’s spent so much time constructing and moves to a wooded area near the border.
The trees here are well spaced and there’s plenty of room to swing a sword, just as old man Eddington told me.
In fact, we might be able to use these trees to our advantage in battle.
[The <Hero> was surprised by the sudden change in scenery and was not able to take advantage of the gap.
He immediately jumps backwards to gain distance.
We’re in the vicinity of the Cryo Mountains.
The <Hero> who was looking around muttered as he caught sight of a nearby mountain range.
The Cryo Mountains are a mountain range on the border between the Kingdom of Nohitant and the Sauber Empire.
As the <Hero> guessed, this is a wooded area near the Cryo Mountains, the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Nochtant.
“Yes. I want you to go back to the Empire.
I tell <Hero> and he turns back to me and opens his mouth.
“I can’t do that. It’s my job to take control of Regulif’s territory. I can’t leave until it’s done.”
“Work” means that this invasion wasn’t the Hero’s decision.
This man is the Crown Prince.
There’s only so many people who can give orders to a man like that.
“I don’t care if the Empire takes over this territory. You’re free to do as you please. As long as it doesn’t involve my people or the members of the Night-Heron’s Silver Rabbit. We’re leaving this territory. So promise me you won’t touch us.”
“That promise was already made to the gray-haired man. And you went back on it. But fine. I’ll make you one more promise. If you stay out of our way, we’ll stay out of yours.
Two members of the A rank party were killed… does that mean that we made our move first and got hit back?
If this is true, then we are at fault here.
“All right. I’ll make sure the others stay out of your way. We’ll leave this territory and you’re on your own…”
You can’t do that. You’re gonna stay here.
I thought we would be able to return to Tutrail without fighting, but I was suddenly denied permission to leave the territory.
Why?
“You’ll have to do something for us after we take control of this territory. We can’t let you leave.”
You want us to do it?
The old man said the Empire invaded to secure the labyrinth.
If we need to secure it, it stands to reason that the number of labyrinths in the Empire is dwindling.
If the number of labyrinths decreases, we won’t have enough magic stones.
So, the answer that can be derived from this is that we need to get a head count for the labyrinth search as soon as possible.
But if that’s the case we can just send the Imperial explorers here after the Heroes conquer Regulif Territory.
So does that mean that the shortage of magic stones and labyrinth materials is so severe that we can’t wait for them to arrive?
If there’s a shortage of magic stones… the Empire must be desperate to hide it.
It’s not good for diplomacy.
The fact that eddington’s agents know about it suggests that the situation is too serious to conceal.
Then how can the heroes retreat here?
“Okay. Then negotiations are dead. I’m going to incapacitate you right here.
You activate the magical weapon you’ve been preparing while conversing with the <Hero> so far.
The magic stone inside the large stone that Eddington’s grandfather had given him was gone in an instant and the stone became like a glass ball that had lost its color and then shattered.
Immediately after you activate it, the trees surrounding the hero suddenly glow. The glowing trees are magic tools that mimic the trees.
Each of the four luminous magical tools is connected by light-like lines, becoming a translucent square that traps the <Hero> within it.
<The <Hero> punches the wall and attempts to destroy it, but the moment his fist touches the wall he flies backwards as if bounced back.
The inside of this wall is all [reflective barrier reflective wall], which makes physical destruction difficult.
The <Hero> is surprised to find himself bounced back, and flames rise in the space sealed by the magical wall.
In the blink of an eye the flames spread throughout the square and the <Hero> was engulfed in flames.
This is the hero’s magic weapon.
But it can’t be as simple as burning them in a box of magic with a hot flame.
The drawbacks are that they can only be activated in certain places and take time to prepare, but if you can overcome these drawbacks, they can be powerful magic weapons.
And I’m guessing it was Grandpa who built this arcane weapon.
The formula I used to activate this weapon was not something an ordinary mage could have assembled.
And the best proof of all is that this wall of magic is a reflective barrier.
[The Reflective Wall is an original spell I developed.
But I was able to complete it with some advice from my grandfather in the development stage.
Which means Grandpa knows the Reflective Barrier Reflective Wall.
In other words, me and my grandpa are the only two people in the world who know this trick.
I can’t say I don’t wonder why my grandfather was developing such evil magical weapons or why he’s connected to the Eddingtons, but I suppose it’s none of my business.
While I was thinking about this, the flame inside Masakata’s body suddenly went out.
This arcane weapon can easily kill a man.
But it doesn’t kill people.
Because the flame is set to go out before a person dies.
You’ll still be seared by the hot air, though, and you’ll get severe burns all over.
But the real evil doesn’t come until later.
The hero is unharmed in the burning space where the flames are gone. Not a single burn.
From some of <Hero>’s sagas, we can somewhat guess what his unusual abilities are like.
I thought this magic weapon would be able to inflict at least a few burns on him, but I guess I was wrong.
But the unharmed <Hero> crouches down and appears to be suffering.
The reason is simple, he can’t breathe ・・・・.
It is said that a flame needs air to burn.
The air is limited because the space is sealed with a square of magic.
Most of it has been consumed by combustion, so that there is little air left in the space where the <Hero> is now.
Burns them with searing heat and renders them unconscious with difficulty breathing. That’s the effect of this arcane weapon.
It’s only a matter of time before <Hero> loses consciousness… That’s what I thought.
Suddenly the ground starts to distort.
“… Not good!”
I immediately put my left hand on the ground to activate my magic.
The ground tries to quell the distortion somehow, but it does not work, and the distortion grows larger and larger.
The distortion finally affected the formula imprinted on the ground, and the box of magic vanished as the spell could not be sustained.
A heatwave spreads out around us.
“Gohoho… Gohoho… “Ahh… Huh… Huh…”
The <Hero> has escaped from his confinement and is kneeling down, catching his breath.
(You can’t miss this opportunity…!)
You activate [Sharpness Reduction Sharpness Zero] on the Schwarzhase you’re holding with your right hand, then close the distance to physically reap the <Hero>’s consciousness.
You are about to swing your Schwarzhase at the kneeling <Hero>, when he looks up.
His eyes were filled with anger and murder.
Immediately afterwards, I felt a strange sensation as if I was being pushed backward with a powerful force, and then the figure of the <Hero> became smaller and smaller.
“… What?
By the time I realized I was being blown backwards, the trees were closing in behind me.
Immediately activate [Vitality Increase] and [Resist Increase] to prepare for the impact.
A tree crashes into his back, but he snaps it off and keeps on flying.
[I was finally able to stop by using some kind of foothold to adjust my stance and resist.
“… The same one as before…”
Immediately cast [healing heel] on yourself.
I was just recovering when suddenly the sunlight was blocked.
The <Hero> appears beside me and says, “I thought I was going to die from that…” and his right leg kicks me in the neck.
He takes the kick with his left forearm.
I received a strong impact with my left arm and was kicked away… But then, about two meters into the air, I feel an invisible force pulling me down, and I feel a pain so intense that I feel as if my body is going to be torn apart, and I’m forced to stop.
The <Hero> approaches directly in front of you and swings his fist at you.
A <Hero> who touches the translucent wall flies backwards.
Immediately healed by applying [Healing Ex Heel] to his left arm.
(I finally have some time to spare. But even if there’s no external injuries, you must have sustained a lot of physical damage from the situation you’ve just been in. But you’re really human to be able to move like this so soon after that.)
I was confused by the sudden series of events, but I finally regained some composure by forcibly distancing myself from <Hero>.
The <Hero> quickly adjusts his stance and kicks the ground with his right hand gripping the sword that appears, closing the distance between you again.
The arcane weapon has failed to neutralize it.
Then the next thing we need to do is stop the heroes.
But now I’m realizing it’s a defense.
There’s too much of a gap between our abilities in our bare state.
You’d probably have a better chance if you used a lot of overlapping, but that’s not going to keep me in combat for long.
The old men in Royles are probably on their way here as fast as they can with their armies, but at the best of times I’ll be down before they get to me.
Ki activation is still unstable. [There’s no such thing as unsealed Culmination.
The only way to keep <Hero> at bay for long periods of time is to keep the buffs to a minimum by stacking them on top of each other and using Ki activation to make up for the lack of buffs.
Now if only we could stall them with a conversation or something… but they used that kind of magic weapon on us by surprise.
It’s hard to believe they’re gonna take me up on it.
It’s going to be a tough fight, but we have to be ready for it.
“… [All Ability Increase Status Up][Triple Multiply Triple].”
Having decided on a course of action, I improve my physical abilities with a combination of magic and Ki, and fight back against the approaching <Hero>.
