Chapter 674: Chapter 674

This was a special training exercise ordered by Ghislain. After hearing about the undead trap from Zico, Ghislain thought it was a golden opportunity.

Opportunities to fight this passionately didn’t come often.

So, thanks to Ghislain pushing forward with the plan despite everyone’s objections, Deneb and Kyle were forced to face off against hundreds of undead.

“Graaaargh!”

As the soldiers herded them, the undead were slowly being pushed back, but once they got close enough to the two, they naturally began to attack them.

Surrounded by undead and their own allies, Deneb and Kyle had no choice but to fight with their lives on the line.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The undead quickly fell. It meant Deneb and Kyle had improved to a level incomparable to before.

The knights of Nodehill, observing the situation, cut down the undead that got close to the soldiers. This level of assistance had been permitted by Ghislain.

While the undead were being taken down in waves, Ghislain and Julien had already broken through the enemies blocking their path and gotten close to Basilude.

Seeing the two approaching, Basilude panicked.

“W-What the?!”

There were still over a hundred undead just in front of him. And yet, they had broken through so quickly.

The two hadn’t even properly killed the undead. They’d just shoved them aside haphazardly and charged forward and one of them was even a mage, of all things!

“You arrogant bastards!”

A massive wall of bones rose up in front of Basilude. It was a barrier not easily cut through, even by a skilled knight.

At the same time, his hand began to be imbued with dark energy.

“I’ll make you regret challenging me!”

At that moment, Ghislain, who was ahead of Julien, adjusted his grip on his staff with both hands. Then, swinging it like a club, he brought it down with great force.

Boom!

A huge hole was blasted into the bone wall, with fragments scattering everywhere. Basilude, who had been about to cast a spell, widened his eyes in shock.

“Aren’t… aren’t you a mage?”

The question came out absurdly, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just seen.

Even after witnessing it himself, it didn’t seem real.

“No matter how you look at it, I’m a mage.”

Ghislain answered curtly and slammed his staff down from above with force.

Boom!

Basilude quickly deployed a shield and retreated. Stretching his hand forward, he released a burst of dark mana.

“Die!”

Even in his flustered state, the speed of his counterattack was worthy of a 6th-circle mage.

Dark energy poured out from his hand like a torrent.

Flash!

Ghislain, who had been rushing toward Basilude, swiftly spun his staff.

Clangclangclangclangclang!

The dark mana clashed with the staff and scattered in all directions. Basilude’s jaw dropped again in disbelief.

“Wh-What?!”

What kind of magic scattered like rocks struck by a club?! It was a sight beyond imagination.

“Wh-What the hell? This crazy….”

A mage’s duel wasn’t supposed to be like this. Traditionally, it was about clashing mana, dispelling each other’s spells, and the one who gained the upper hand would win. That was the norm.

But this mage wasn’t engaging in a mana duel at all.

Basilude, flustered, kept retreating. His mind went completely blank, unable to think of what to do next.

Because of that, he completely forgot there was another person fighting alongside Ghislain.

Flash!

While Ghislain was deflecting the spell, Julien quickly closed the distance, advancing right up to Basilude’s face.

“Gah!”

Basilude twisted his body as he saw the sword swing right in front of him. But he was a little too late.

Slice!

“Aaargh!”

One of Basilude’s shoulders was slashed by Julien’s sword, and his arm was severed.

Gritting his teeth, Basilude thrust his remaining hand toward Julien. Julien quickly raised his sword, but a surge of immense mana overwhelmed him.

Boom!

Julien couldn’t withstand it and was thrown to the side.

Basilude tried to follow up with another attack, but he didn’t have the chance.

A long staff (?) was once again swinging straight toward his face.

Basilude hastily raised his remaining arm and cast a shield. But because he had been focused on Julien, his reaction was slightly delayed, and the shield didn’t fully form.

Boom!

“Gah!”

The tremendous impact made Basilude cough up blood as he staggered back. With relentless attacks coming his way, he couldn’t focus properly.

Even so, thanks to his superior mana, he barely managed to defend himself.

‘D-Distance… I need distance…’

Without even checking what was ahead, Basilude stumbled backward. He needed to regain his composure first.

Boom! Crash! Boom!

Mana burst from under his feet, propelling his body backwards as if he were flying. Only when his opponents didn’t give immediate chase could he finally catch his breath.

Ghislain didn’t follow because of Julien. There was something he intended.

“Tsk tsk, still not enough training.”

“Guh…”

Holding Ghislain’s hand, Julien stood up with effort, a fracture in his ribs. Ghislain immediately reached out and channeled mana.

“Healing.”

Flaaash.

A clear green light enveloped Julien’s body. The fractured bones slowly began to mend.

While not as strong as a priest’s divine power, a 5th-circle mage’s healing spell was still quite useful.

Ghislain wore an expression of amazement.

“Wow, magic is really something. I can treat minor injuries with ease now.”

He was impressed by his own magic. More than anything, he was thoroughly enjoying himself. That’s how deep Ghislain had fallen into magic recently.

Seeing that, Basilude ground his teeth in rage.

“You bastards…!”

He had lost an arm in the blink of an eye. And yet, those bastards were leisurely healing themselves.

To think that he, a 6th-circle mage, would be beaten like this. His wounded pride turned into unbearable fury.

“How dare you pull such a stunt…”

He hadn’t been in such a brawl since learning magic. So, he didn’t know how to properly respond.

His opponent had charged in recklessly, making it impossible for him to fight like a proper mage. Grinding his teeth, Basilude took a few more steps back and began to draw upon his mana.

Rumble…

The ground trembled, and the nearby rocks floated into the air as a powerful energy surged out.

He intended to cast a spell powerful enough to blow away the entire area.

“Keh keh keh… Quite the clever strategy. Who would’ve thought a mage would attempt close combat? You tried to catch me off guard, didn’t you?”

Originally, he only needed to block knights from getting close to ensure his victory. That’s why he had created a wall of undead, intending to wipe them out with overwhelming magic.

He didn’t care about losing the undead he had gathered. New corpses would be created in due time, and he could replenish them with patience.

But these strange bastards had charged in so quickly that he couldn’t execute his original plan and had gotten caught up in chaos.

Now, however, it was over. He wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

“I’ll show you the difference between our circles.”

Basilude’s body lifted into the air. At the same time, countless bones began to rise from the ground.

It took a bit of time to cast, so this was his way of preventing the enemy from approaching.

Rumble!

A massive surge of dark mana erupted from his body. In the sky, dozens of writhing black masses began to take shape.

If this storm of darkness was completed, no one here would survive.

“Now, what do you think? At your level, you’ll never be able to dispel this spell.”

Basilude grinned widely.

Sure, being 5th-circle, the opponent might weaken the spell’s power a little, but dispelling it? Impossible.

The difference in circles inherently meant a vast gap in mana as well.

And with this spell, even if its power was reduced, it would still be enough to sweep the area clean.

Confidently, Basilude began casting the spell.

But then…

Boom!

A fireball flew straight at him.

“You little…!”

Unable to multi-cast, Basilude immediately deployed a shield.

The casting had been interrupted for a brief moment, but it was fine. The mana being rearranged during casting would remain suspended in the air for a short time, even if he paused. He could just pick up where he left off before it dissipated.

The fireball crashed into the shield and vanished. It happened in such a brief instant that he didn’t pay it much mind.

“If I can just finish this spell quickly…”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Urgh! Wh-What is this speed?!”

But Basilude couldn’t properly continue casting his spell.

With Fireballs flying at him like mad, he couldn’t concentrate. Every time he deployed a shield, the casting was interrupted again.

His eyes widened in shock. It wasn’t even a matter of dispelling his magic, just a relentless barrage to disrupt his spellcasting! This was something ordinary mages simply couldn’t do.

To pull something like this off required a specific talent.

“M-Multi-Casting?”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Before Basilude could even regain his composure, dozens more Fireballs came flying his way.

And that wasn’t all. The mana lances that Ghislain favored also rained down on Basilude in a flurry.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boomboomboomboom!

“I-I can’t believe this!”

Basilude was frantically deploying shields to block the barrage. He had no way of continuing the spell he had been casting.

The mana that had been rearranged was now beginning to unravel and dissipate with time.

Casting spells at such a rapid pace required a high level of computation. Unfortunately, Basilude lacked talent in that area.

And as time passed, another problem began to grow worse.

“M-My mana…!”

He was using mana just to keep himself floating in the air. Maintaining the shield also drained his energy.

He had already used a considerable amount of mana in preparation for his powerful spell. And now, even what remained was depleting at an alarming rate.

“N-No!”

Boomboomboomboomboomboomboom!

The spells kept coming like a hailstorm. He had never seen anyone cast spells this quickly before.

Even as a 6th-circle mage, it was impossible for him. Just what kind of lunatic used magic like this?!

In truth, Ghislain had no intention of engaging in a mana duel with Basilude or attempting to dispel his magic.

Basilude had more mana, being a 6th-circle mage. And dispelling magic required reverse-engineering the opponent’s mana structure.

“That’s too much of a hassle.”

Why bother with all that mental strain when he could just bombard him with spells like this?

And Ghislain’s strategy was highly effective.

At the very least, no one could match Ghislain in mana efficiency. That was why he could fire off spells nonstop, even with less mana.

Boomboomboomboomboom!

Basilude’s shield trembled under the continuous impact. He let out a scream of disbelief.

“This is impossible! And you’re only a 5th-circle mage!”

Surely, he had far more mana, being a 6th-circle mage. His understanding of magic should’ve put him at a clear advantage.

Yet he was the one being pushed back. He had no chance to counterattack because he was too busy defending against the unrelenting barrage of magic.

Each time his shield clashed with a spell, more of his mana was drained. In the end, he had no choice but to descend back to the ground to conserve even a little mana.

But Ghislain and Julien were already smashing through the bones scattered across the ground and closing in fast.

“Urrrgh! Wh-What are you?! What the hell are you to use magic like this?!”

Basilude screamed, his face twisted in disbelief at the incomprehensible situation.

Ghislain, who had now reached Basilude, gave a fierce grin.

“Magic isn’t about circles. It’s about the battlefield.”

Boom!

Ghislain’s staff, brimming with mana, slammed into Basilude’s body.

Basilude wasn’t injured thanks to pouring all his strength into maintaining his shield. But once again, a huge chunk of mana vanished in an instant.

Clang!

Julien followed up, channeling his mana and slicing at Basilude’s shield.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The two didn’t stop their attacks. As time went on, Basilude’s face grew increasingly pale.

“N-No…”

Less than half of his mana remained. Having never fought in a battle like this, he had no idea what to do.

In situations like this, one had to quickly shift spells and adapt. But he lacked both the experience and the talent for that.

Naturally, as a mage, he was also terrible at physical movement, so he couldn’t even dodge properly.

This was the very weakness most mages had. That was why Jerome had never stopped honing his physical skills.

In fact, the Tower of Radiance emphasized training in martial arts even before magic.

Boom! Clang! Crash!

Basilude trembled uncontrollably.

To go on the offensive, he had to dispel his shield. But if he did, a part of his body would get cut off again no, this time, his head might be severed.

Once fear took hold, he couldn’t even begin to think about attacking.

“W-Wait a moment…”

Boom! Clang! Boom!

Basilude finally opened his mouth with a trembling voice. His hands quivered as the shield shook with each impact. His mana was nearly depleted.

But the two showed no signs of stopping. Sensing that their enemy’s fighting spirit had broken, they struck his shield even harder.

“Wait, wait!”

Basilude kept shouting. No spells came to mind anymore.

His will to fight was completely gone. All he could think about was not dying.

Ridiculously enough, a 6th-circle mage had been completely dragged into a 5th-circle mage’s style of combat.

When he finally felt all of his mana had been drained, Basilude let out a scream.

“S-Stop!”

Crash!

The shield shattered. Basilude froze, paralyzed by fear.

Without hesitation, Ghislain swung his staff toward Basilude’s leg.

Crunch!