Chapter 407 – Only Me (4)

Becrock looked at the falling rocks and the red arrow with a precipitous expression.

"…Shit! Tower Master-nim!"

Some of the mages making the grey circle shouted toward Becrock as they watched the red arrow.

'Damn it!'

The mages' pupils were shaking.
It could not be helped.

The arrow created by red mana that had gobbled up a large number of highest-grade magic stones was extremely strong.
The mages started to become frantic and not know what to do. This was the same for the black mages as well.
It was at that moment.

"Snap out of it!"

Becrock's shout cut through the noise of the mana and reached his subordinates' ears.

"Southern Tower Master!"
"Yes sir!"

Becrock quickly moved his one hand to create a magic circle.
The Southern Tower Master started to create a black magic circle as well to merge together.

"Becrock-nim!"

The Southern Tower Master's eyes headed toward the large red arrow quickly flying toward them.

"Do it faster."

He could hear Becrock's stoic voice.
The Southern Tower Master moved his eyes.
He could see that the precipitous expression on Becrock's face had been replaced with a cold and calm expression.
He could also see Becrock's casting that had become even faster.

'…He's faster than me even with only one hand!'

The best way to mix magic and black magic was to cast magic with one hand, black magic with the other, and have the two mix together.

The Southern Tower Master drew out all of the dead mana in his body and increased his casting speed to try to match Becrock's formidable speed.
He then started to think as he did that.

'No wonder he is the one that the liege treats as the most important!'

The Bear tribe had told the Southern Tower Master about how the White Star had rescued Becrock as they escaped from the Castle of Light.
He had been so shocked to hear that.

'…He had even thrown away the Alchemists' Bell Tower's Tower Master.'

The White Star had not cared whether the Bell Tower's Tower Master had died or not.
Of course, the Southern Tower Master knew the White Star was like this and still chose to follow him for almost eighty years.

Why?

A person with infinite life was the most honorable overlord.
Furthermore, black mages had no choice but to be subservient to the sky attribute ancient power user. It was the only way for black magic to come out of hiding and dominate the world.

'Their skill levels are quite different.'

He understood why the White Star would care for Becrock.

Becrock was now twenty-four.
He was only twenty-four, but his magic talents were beyond human levels.
The Southern Tower Master looked forward and started to speak.

"It's coming."

The large arrow was right in front of that.

"It's fine."

The Southern Tower Master finished casting the spell the moment he heard Becrock's words and looked toward him.
The last bit was Becrock's responsibility.

Crack. Crack. Crack!

Black magic and magic mixed together to create a large shield.
Becrock looked at the tip of the red arrow on the other side of the grey shield and started to mumble.

"Come."

The red arrow then crashed into the grey shield.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

A loud explosion filled the area.

"Ugh!"

Sir Rex subconsciously let out a groan. There was a silver shield in front of him.
However, the strong crashing of the two manas shook his body.

'…Is this what a true magic battle looks like?'

The crashing of mana against mana.
It felt as if even the air was shaking in fear.

The wind was roaring and the hot air made it hard to breathe.
It was different than getting cut by a sword.
This was a power that worked with nature.

Sir Rex's gaze moved toward Rosalyn without even thinking about it.
He was able to be safe from the explosion because of young master Cale's silver shield.

'…Rosalyn-nim.'

He could see Rosalyn looking forward without a shield around her.
Her red hair was fluttering in the wind.

She didn't need a shield.

The exploding manas were gobbled up by the red mana around her before they could touch her.

Crack. Crack.

There were still magic stones still pouring out of the spatial pocket bag and providing mana to Rosalyn.
Watching this made Sir Rex think about an existence.

'…She's like a Dragon.'

He had seen Raon and Eruhaben fighting against enemies in the past.
Rosalyn who was covered in this red mana that was slowly getting stronger as it absorbed magic stones reminded him of Dragons in battle.

"I knew it would not be easy enough to finish in one shot."

Sir Rex returned to his senses after hearing Rosalyn's voice.

"Sir Rex, young master Cale."
Rosalyn looked toward the nervous Sir Rex and the stoic Cale.

Baaaaaang!

The battle between the red arrow and the grey shield had not ended yet.
However, Rosalyn knew this attack was just the beginning. That is why she started to speak to the two, no, the three people including the hidden Dragon.

"I will take care of this place."

'Hmm?'

Sir Rex started to frown.

The magic battle.
The original plan was for Cale and Raon to be with Rosalyn.

"That's different than our original plan."

Sir Rex looked toward Cale after hearing his voice.
Cale was looking at Rosalyn. She smiled as she responded.

"The Southern Tower Master and Becrock, I will handle those two is what I am saying. Especially Becrock."

Rosalyn recalled the grey shield.
It was a large shield that was created in an instant.
That shield that was a mix of dead mana and natural mana was as strong as Rosalyn's arrow that was fortified with numerous magic stones.

The one who made it was a young mage.
He was someone who dreamed of becoming the Tower Master like she did.

"I need to take care of him."

She wanted to do it.
She felt as if she needed to do it.

It wasn't because of either of those thoughts.

She had to do it.
That was Rosalyn's decision.
She came to that decision after thinking about her team as well as her future and her desires.

Cale's expression turned odd.
It could not be helped.

– Human! I will take care of the other black mages and mages! I will also keep an eye on Rosalyn so that she doesn't get hurt!

'Don't worry! We will keep an eye out!'
'That's right, that's right. We'll use our wind to help her run away if she is about to get hurt.'
'Kahahahaha! What a cool mindset! Destruction! Obliteration! Affection!'

It was because of Raon and the Wind Elementals' loud conversations.

'Well, if they're going to watch over her…'

Then she should not get hurt nor be in danger.
Cale understood Rosalyn's mind as well. He nonchalantly responded.

"You're trying to monopolize the most desirable thing. You really can be greedy at times."
"Isn't that a part of my charm?"

Rosalyn smiled as she responded.
Pat. Sir Rex put his hand on Cale's shoulder.

"Please help us on the ground, young master Cale-nim."

Cale nodded his head at Sir Rex who was saying they should trust Rosalyn and take care of other things first.
That was the signal.

"Raon."

A video communication device appeared in the air once Cale called Raon's name.
It connected right away.

"Shall we go?"

Sir Rex asked and Rosalyn sent them off with a smile.

– Human! I'll be watching you too!!
'Mm, there are three of us, so I'll go with Cale!'
'I will go. Chaos, destruction, despair!'
'…Sure, sure. You're probably better next to Cale.'

He could hear Raon and the Wind Elementals again.
Cale put his hand on Sir Rex's shoulder.

"Descend."

Cale and Sir Rex instantly started to descend.
They got out of the grey circle and headed toward the ground. Cale's body turned invisible as they descended. It was thanks to Raon's magic.

Boom!

The breaking Southern Alchemists' Tower.
The enemy forces around it.
There was one person descending to the ground between those things.

It was Sir Rex.
Raon had placed a one hour amplification magic on him.

Sir Rex took out his sword and shield once he reached the ground.
He then shouted.

"Start the attack!"

That was the beginning.

Baaaaang! Bang!

Soon the sounds of alchemy bombs exploding, and weapons clashing could be heard.
Once a bomb went off near him…

"Sir Rex!"
"Rex-nim!"

A group of soldiers and knights came out of the forest toward the Alchemists' Tower.
It was Sir Rex's people.

"…A, attack! We just need to capture Rex, the leader of the rebels!"
"Capture Rex, he's the murderer who killed the royal family!"

The enemies nearby started to charge toward him.
Rex started to chuckle.

The leader of the rebels. The murderer of the royal family.
Those were his sins according to the enemies.
Those could be justified to be true.

"…But I can't let it be that way."

Rex's eyes lit up.
Rosalyn was fighting against Becrock and the Southern Tower Master. They were the White Star's subordinates. However, the people pointing their swords at him right now were soldiers for the royal family, nobles, and power players.

He and the Mogoru people needed to defeat these enemies with their own hands.

"Throw it away!"

Rex shouted.

Tang.

Sir Rex dropped his sword to the ground.

"W, what the…?"
"Mm!"

The approaching enemies flinched.
The enemy leader put his sword down?

But Rex was not the only one.

Clang! Tang.

The soldiers behind him put their weapons down as well.
Instead, the knights surrounded Rex and the soldiers and put their swords back in their scabbards before holding up shields.
They had formed a rhombus-shaped formation.

"What the-"

Someone within the enemy ranks who figured it out started to shout.

"Its bombs! Dodge!"

However, Sir Rex took out alchemy bombs from his spatial pocket bag and started to shout.

"Throw them!"

Sir Rex and the soldiers started to throw their bombs.

Baaaaang! Bang! Baaaaang!

The small explosions that had filled the forest were now going off here as well.

"A knight threw his sword away and is using such shady...!"

Sir Rex could hear one of the enemy knights who had retreated shouting toward him with disgust.
He scoffed at that comment. He then started to speak to his soldiers.

"We are not shady."

The soldiers nodded their heads.
The knights nodded their heads as well.

These were people who had come under Rex after seeing the battle at the capital's Alchemists' Bell Tower battle.
The soldiers and knights who were with Sir Rex here had seen the attacks the Empire had thrown at them with black magic.

Shady?
A knight throwing away his sword?
Why did that matter?

War was a chaotic place where someone dies and someone lives.
It did not need to be beautiful.

One of the soldiers around Sir Rex shouted back in anger.

"You are the shady bastards!"

That knight. The noble that that knight served.
It was one of the nobles and subordinate knights who had escaped from the Whipper Kingdom War while leaving the soldiers behind.

But he wants to talk about shady?
The bastards who killed innocent people to make dead mana and watched as their own soldiers died after getting caught up in the explosion from that dead mana want to call them shady?

The soldier could not believe it.
That was why he put another alchemy bomb in his hand. It was their new weapon to fight against black magic.

"Attack again!"

The soldier started to move after hearing Sir Rex's firm voice.
Such attacks were happening in multiple locations.

'It's going as expected.'

Cale took a step away from the battlefield and stealthily started to move.

'The enemy doesn't even have time to get into formation.'

The enemies could not get it together as they faced this sudden attack. Alchemy bombs would fly at them and disrupt them every time they tried to fix their formations.
Many unintentional small battles were taking place in the forest and around the Southern Alchemists' Tower.
That was why the enemies could not gather together in large numbers either.

Cale who was standing on top of a tree with nobody around it started to speak.

"Speak."

He heard a voice from the video communication device.

– Reporting the current situation.

He could hear Mercenary King Bud's voice.
Bud was currently in the Mogoru capital.

– The East, West, and the North. They have all been infiltrated as planned.

Based on the changes to the original plan, sword master Hannah was at the East, Saint Jack was at the North, and alcoholic alchemist Rei Stecker was leading the soldiers to the West.
Of course, the trained knights took care of the official leading of the soldiers, but the three people led the direction of the battle.

– They are all focusing on surrounding the Alchemists' Towers and keeping the enemies trapped. They are mainly focusing on defense.

"And the magic stones?"

He could see a smiling Bud.

Four hours.

The amount of time they had before the Southern Alchemists' Tower war had begun.

– All successfully taken.

Cale started to smile.

– That made them find us, but everybody infiltrated in a defensive formation so thankfully the goods and the people are fine.

The allied forces to the North, East, and West sent strong individuals and stealthy individuals into the three other towers to first steal the magic stones.
Of course, they were all caught in the process because they didn't have Raon nor the Wind Elementals as Cale did, but it did not matter.

It was fine as long as they stole them.

– The enemies do not dare to attack us while knowing that their magic stones were stolen.
"Still, tell them to be cautious of a combined attack of the black mages and mages."

Bud nodded his head.

Baaaaang! Bang! Bang!

He could hear the explosions around Cale. He could also hear people screaming and weapons clashing against each other.
He could sense how chaotic it was. However, he soon focused on what Cale was saying.

"We will immediately commence step two once Mary contacts us."

Mary had not contacted them yet.

Necromancer Mary and the Dark Elves.
Once they acquired all of the dead mana storage facilities…

Black magic will be finished in Saint Jack and Mary's hands.
Bud cautiously asked.

– Can you come back before that?

According to the plan, the attack on the Southern Alchemists' Tower had to be almost finished before they started step two of the operation against the other three Alchemists' Towers.
Cale debated for a moment before starting to speak.

"Probably, I think it is po-"

However, he could not finish speaking.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!

He heard a large explosion in the sky.

– Human!

He could hear Raon's urgent voice as well.
Cale looked up to the sky in shock.
And then he saw it.

"…That- that crazy!"

He could see a neck in Becrock's hand.
It was thin and weak looking neck.

That neck was slowly being ripped apart by grey mana.

Cale subconsciously shot up into the air.
The person with their neck being choked started to speak at that moment.

"W, why are you doing this to me-?"

The Southern Tower Master.
He was looking at Becrock in shock while being choked.

– Human! That Becrock bastard is absorbing the Southern Tower Master's black magic, no, the dead mana!

Cale could hear Raon's astonished voice.
He could also see the Southern Tower Master dry up like a mummy.

Crack crack.

Becrock then crushed the Tower Master's neck.
He then looked toward Rosalyn.

There were still plenty of things they could use even without magic stones.

Cale could hear Raon's voice.

– …He can somehow possess dead mana along with mana! That's not possible! He should die as they clash inside him!

However, Becrock in front of them was showing that it was possible.

"I was only going to pretend to be slightly smart, but it looks like I need to do it properly."

'What's up with this bastard? What the hell happened in that short instant?'

Cale could only look at Becrock who became stronger after killing someone from his own side with disgust.
He could then see it.

He could see the concern on Rosalyn's face.

– …Human, Rosalyn is going to lose.

He could hear Raon's low voice.

"Are you in shock? I wonder if you know. Don't you want to get stronger? Then you need to learn how to use the lives of the people around you for your benefit."

Becrock started to laugh as he looked at Rosalyn.

"You're Rosalyn, right? How would a mage from a royal family who had a comfortable life understand what I mean? Isn't that right?"

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]