Chapter 408 – Only Me (5)

Mage Becrock turned his gaze away from Rosalyn.
He looked down at the soldiers who were being destroyed by the alchemy bombs and tight formations from Rex's side before nonchalantly starting to speak.

"I already told you, right? I found a way to mix dead mana and mana together. Wouldn't that mean that I can control both of them?"

Crack. Crack.

Grey mana started to surround Becrock.

Boom.

The Southern Tower Master fell from Becrock's hands and into the burning tower.

– Human!

Cale could feel paws on his back once he was in the air.
Raon was the only one who would do this.

"What is it?"
– The smart Rosalyn was using magic stones to make her mana stronger and that Becrock bastard was defending with a grey shield before he suddenly absorbed the Southern Tower Master like that!
"…How is he fine even after absorbing dead mana?"

Cale looked toward Becrock in disbelief.

Living humans should feel pain once dead mana entered their body.
Of course, there was an exception.

"A black mage...?"
– …Dead mana and mana cannot coexist.

If that was possible, Dragons would have absorbed dead mana and used black magic as well.
Dead mana was not something that had to be forcefully gathered like the White Star and his subordinates were doing.

All living things would naturally die at some point.
Dead mana would come out of their bodies upon their death.
That was why Dark Elves used to live near cemeteries to absorb the dead mana flowing out of them.

"…Huh?"

Cale's eyes opened wide as he looked toward Rosalyn and Becrock.

"Raon, Miss Rosalyn's hand-"

Cale could see Rosalyn's hands were shaking.

'Did she get hurt?'

That did not seem to be the case.
Raon would have jumped in if she was about to get hurt.
Then what was it?

"Kekeke, your hands are shaking."

Becrock resolved Cale's question for him.
He looked toward Rosalyn's shaking had as he continued to speak.

"It's not manageable, right?"

He pointed to the spatial pocket bag that was no longer pouring out any magic stones.

"Do you know why I divided the magic stones up with my subordinates instead of using them all by myself?"

Crack. Crack.

Dead mana and mana continued to clash and grow in size around him.
The grey mana was slowly getting bigger.

"I didn't want to get indigestion."

Cale flinched at that response.

"Magic stones are concentrated balls of mana. You want to control tens, no, hundreds of them on your own? You'll explode and die."

Becrock sneered while Rosalyn, whose face was covered by her hood, bit down on her lips.

"If you want to use them, you need to use them within your limits."

Tens of them at a time if that was the limit.
A hundred at a time if that was the limit.

"That is why Rosalyn, there has to be a limit to how much mana you can control at once."

The evidence of that was Rosalyn's shaking fingertips.

"…Don't say such nonsense."

Rosalyn's mumbling reached Becrock's ear.

"Kahahahahah!"

He started to laugh. He then stopped himself before giving an order.

"Go down to the ground."
"Yes sir!"
"Yes, Tower Master-nim!"

The black mages and mages paired up before heading down. Sir Rex started to shout toward them.

"Throw the bombs!"

The alchemy bombs were thrown into the air.

Baaaaang! Bang!

– Hey, Cale. It looks like it will really end up as a chaotic mess at this rate.

Bud who was still connected started to speak with concern.

There were still many alchemy bombs.
However, it was likely for the soldiers to struggle if the black mages and mages helped out, especially if they used that combination mana.

Crack. Crack.

– Crazy… the mana is still getting bigger.

The grey mana was continuing to get bigger.
Bud was watching this with disgust. Cale was looking at Becrock with shock.

"Isn't this amazing?"

Becrock opened his arms to the side as if he was proudly showing off his grey mana.

"The dead and the living continue to clash and get bigger. Do you know what the difference is with magic stones?"

He looked at the grey mana around him as if he was in love.

"I only need to use my powers at a power level of three in order to obtain a power level of ten of this combined mana."

That was the greatness of this combined mana.
He just needed to put in three for them to clash against each other and get to ten.

"Isn't this great?"

Becrock could see Rosalyn's red eyes underneath the hood.
Those eyes were telling him the following.

"How is something like this possible?"

Becrock could tell that the robed woman was confused and bewildered at how he could control both magic and black magic.
That was why he started to smile.

He then started to speak in an insidious way.

"I know a bit about you. I looked into you because I was curious about this talented mage people kept talking about."

Rosalyn and Becrock made eye contact.
Becrock continued to speak in a relaxed manner.

"I was shocked by what I found. We had a lot of similarities."

Shhhhh.

Becrock's one hand started to move.

Oooooooong-

The combined mana that was clashing with each other started to gather together.
He kept his eyes on Rosalyn even as he did that and continued to speak.

"First of all, our ages are similar."

24 years old.
Becrock and Rosalyn were the same age.

"We are both very smart. We show great talent in magic."

Becrock's smile changed into a twisted smile at that point.

"But I was born poor. That's where we are different."

Becrock looked down at the soldiers under his feet.

"I was trash like them."

He was born without money, power, nor anything to his name.
However, unlike those trash down there, he had talent.
That was why his liege, the White Star, cherished him.

He was a genius. He was also a hard worker.
He worked his ass off.

Becrock was certain.
Unlike Rosalyn in front of him, he had learned magic in extremely difficult conditions, which allowed him to have greater results.
Sacrifices were necessary for such results.

It was fine as long as it would take him to higher places.
Who cared if some useless trash died for a genius like him to reach greater heights?

His gaze headed toward Rosalyn.

"You must have had it really easy learning magic."

That was why he hated Rosalyn.
She was a princess, had a lot of money, and probably had an easy time learning magic with a great instructor.
As part of Cale's group, she also had a great reputation.

"So why should I tell someone like you?"

Oooooooong-

The grey mana that had been gathering together started to take shape.

"Great heroes of history always grow up from the bottom. You look like an extra who will be sacrificed in my path to greatness."

Ooooooong-

The noise slowly got louder.
It was now at the point where the people fighting below flinched and looked up.

They all flinched at what they saw.

"…Dragon?"

Someone subconsciously made the comment.

The grey mana was slowly forming into the shape of a large Dragon.

"You probably learned magic from Dragons, right? Those stupid Dragons."

Becrock thought about how Rosalyn would have peacefully learned magic from the black Dragon and the ancient Dragon as he started to laugh.

"So, it would be entertaining for you to be killed by a Dragon. Kekeke."

"Rooooooooooar!"

The large Dragon made of grey mana let out a loud roar.
The grand and overwhelming appearance of the Dragon made some people blank out in fear.

However, Becrock was just happy.
How could he not be when he was controlling a Dragon that was known to be great and mighty and was going to use that Dragon to kill Rosalyn?

Crack. Crack!

The grey mana Dragon continued to grow in size.
It already overwhelmed Rosalyn's red mana.

Bud who was watching this from the other side of the screen started to shout with urgency.

– Hey! Shouldn't you go do something? Why are you flying down instead?!

He could not help but be concerned as Cale was heading down instead of heading toward Rosalyn.
Cale calmly responded.

"I will help from down on the ground."
– What about Miss Rosalyn?
"I need to trust her since she said that she'll take care of it. I'll save her if she seems to be in danger."
– Hey! Is she not in danger right now?!

Bud who was shouting toward Cale flinched.

Rooooooooooooooooooooar!

The grey Dragon started to flap its wings.

"Why are you so quiet? Are you scared? Kekeke!"

Becrock leisurely continued to speak to Rosalyn.
The woman in the red robe had her head down. That made Becrock start to laugh even louder.
It was at that moment.
He heard a voice coming from the robed woman.

"How shameful."

'What?'

Becrock looked toward the robed woman.
He had flinched at the words she used as it did not fit typical royalty, but he was more shocked that she was saying such things in the current situation.

Rosalyn was shaking her head.
She was scoffing and shaking her head. She then started to speak to Becrock.

"Hey bastard, you are the biggest trash here."

Rosalyn thought about Lock and Choi Han at that moment.

She had not heard details about Choi Han's life, but she did hear that he had lived a difficult life by himself away from his family.
He had said the Forest of Darkness was his hometown.

What about Lock?
How many painful things did that little kid have to go through? And the other Wolf children?

And Miss Mary?
Raon-nim?

She thought about her friends before thinking about her own life.

"…I had an easy life."

She didn't choose to have an easy life.
There were some difficult situations, but she had money and power since she was born.
There were many benefits she had because she was born a princess.

"So what?"

'Did I do anything bad because of it?'

She had not.
She did not consider her benefits as guaranteed and stood in the vanguard of the Breck Kingdom during the battle of the Gorge of Death.
She had lived a life she would not be embarrassed about.

But she was embarrassed now.
Why?

"I was shamefully scared."

It was only for a moment, but that bastard's strong grey mana had scared her a bit.
She had even wondered if he was a better mage than she was.

However, she had heard a voice at that moment.

– Rosalyn! I told the human not to worry about you! I told him you are a genius!

She had heard Raon's voice.

– You have an area where you are great as well! Gramps said so too!

The corners of Rosalyn's lips slowly started to go up.

Cale was heading down to the ground during that time.
He could still hear Bud mumbling through the call.

– No, but still, she's fighting someone like that.
"Shut up."

Bud looked at Cale as if what Cale had said was unfair.
However, Cale didn't even give him a glance as he started to think about Rosalyn.
Raon had said the following before he decided to descend to the ground.

'Human! Rosalyn will lose right now!'

He had been shocked at that.

'But she will soon win!'

He was relieved after hearing what Raon said next.
She would lose right now but will soon win.
An odd smile appeared on Cale's face.

Choi Han, Lock, and Rosalyn.

These three were heroes who were the main characters of 'The Birth of a Hero.' The three of them also had the type of personality that would destroy a foreign kingdom's palace without any concern.
Now that he thought about it, the only one Raon always said was smart was Rosalyn.

Raon had continued to speak.

'Human! Both Goldie gramps and I think Rosalyn is a genius! Think about it!'
'The smart Rosalyn used tens of magic stones in the Gorge of Death!'

Rosalyn was now hearing the same thing Raon had told Cale earlier.

– Rosalyn! You easily used tens of magic stones in the Gorge of Death! You coughed up a bit of blood at that time, but so what? You handled them well!

Rosalyn could see her shaking hands.
She then started to think.

Was she having difficulty right now?

No. It was not hard.

She clenched her hands into fists. She forced her hands to stop shaking.

– That Becrock bastard seems to be a genius when it comes to making magic law.

The black Dragon admitted what he needed to admit.
He still needed to tell her the truth.

There was a reason both Eruhaben and Raon believed Rosalyn would become the Tower Master.
There was also a reason they agreed to Cale's magic stones plan.

– Smart Rosalyn!

Becrock was a genius when it came to magic circles or magic law.

– You are a genius when it comes to handling mana!

Rosalyn was someone who showed overwhelming talent for handling mana.

It made Rosalyn think about when she was controlling mana as a young child. She had finally been able to play with mana late at night after a long day of lessons to be the future Queen.
Those were her happiest moments as she thought about becoming a mage and handling mana.

– I think that you need to become the Tower Master! Smart and nice Rosalyn!

Smart and nice.
That was Raon's view of Rosalyn.

Rosalyn never complained when dealing with the complicated and annoying things on the back end, and it did not seem like she was doing everything just because Cale brought her magic stones and said that he would help her construct a new Magic Tower.

Even Choi Han, Hannah, and Mary who were extremely wary of people were relaxed around Rosalyn.
Furthermore, Raon remembered how Rosalyn had come to find Cale when Lock first went berserk, even though she knew her identity as a princess could be revealed.

– And if you really think you can't do it, we'll beat that bastard up together! That fake grey Dragon is so ugly! Our gramps is more handsome and m, my mo, anyway! There are cooler Dragons!

She could hear Raon's mumblings.

"Did you go crazy looking at overwhelming strength?"

She could hear Becrock's mocking tone as well.
Rosalyn had been blankly staring at the grey Dragon.

"What the…?"

However, he soon had to start frowning.

"…Hehehe."

Rosalyn was laughing.

Becrock started to frown after hearing her laugh. Her choice of words and actions did not seem like a princess at all. Her red mana was decreasing in size as well.

"How annoying."

It was annoying to deal with her anymore.
Someone he had been curious about was now boring him. He'd rather go find and kill the assassin who took his hand.
Becrock sneered as he gave the order.

"Go."

Rooooooooooar!

The grey mana Dragon flapped its wings and charged toward Rosalyn.
The sharp fangs inside its open mouth and its long claws looked ready to rip Rosalyn into pieces.
The gust created from the flapping wings was enough to make Rosalyn stumble.

It was at that moment.

"How entertaining."

Rosalyn said that as she started to move forward.

"Huh?"
"…Why?"

The mages who were watching her found this to be odd.

"Hahahaha! Looks like you want to die!"

Becrock was laughing so loud his shoulders were moving.

Rosalyn was charging directly at the grey Dragon.

– Hey! Hey! Isn't Miss Rosalyn going to get hurt like this? Huh?

Bud was shouting with anxiety.

– …Huh?

A confused huh then came out of Bud's mouth.

– That just now, what the-?

He was confused.

Cale started to laugh.

"This is how it should be."

He looked at Rosalyn.

Riiiiiiiiiip!

He could see the spatial pocket bag being ripped open.
It was the spatial pocket bag that Cale had given her.
Rosalyn had ripped that bag open.

Tens, hundreds, no, thousands.
An almost endless number of magic stones flew out of the ripped back.

Oooooooong-

Her red mana shot out and started to gobble them up.

Crack. Crack.

The magic stones started to break apart. They started to then break apart even faster.

Bang! Bang!

Some of them started to explode as well.

Rosalyn was surrounded by the red mana and magic stones.

"…Is that okay?"

The enemy mages who were looking up were mumbling in shock.

"Crazy! She'll explode like that."

She was still going.
The red mana was gobbling up magic stones nonstop.
Rosalyn's whole body was red as if she was a human surrounded by fire.
She looked toward the grey Dragon and made a comment.

"You can't look down on my desires."

Her hands were shaking.
Her whole body was shaking.

However, Rosalyn continued to gobble up the mana from the magic stones.

She dominated them.
She made them her own.

– Human, what did I tell you? Rosalyn is smart! She is a genius! She is better than that bastard! Even gramps said that Rosalyn is smart!

Cale could hear Raon's cheering.

– Rosalyn is unmatched when it comes to handling mana!

It was at that moment.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang-

Rosalyn who was covered in red mana crashed into the grey Dragon causing a loud explosion.

Cale could then see it.

He could see the red mana ripping apart one of the grey Dragon's wings.

***

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]