Chapter 39
The Unspoken Rule of Mages
Crackle!
An electrical explosion erupted in front of Yuren.
A blue barrier shimmered before him.
It was Magic Shield, a Fourth-Tier spell.
His reflexive response had prevented him from suffering even the slightest injury, but he was still struggling to calm his startled heart.
‘Was that… Elemental Bolt?’
Elemental Bolt was a Third-Tier spell.
More powerful than Mana Shot, it was a fundamental spell whose effects changed depending on the element imbued into it.
‘The imbued element was lightning, so that makes it Lightning Bolt.’
Lightning magic specialized in speed, allowing it to catch enemies off guard.
When applied to Elemental Bolt, it increased the projectile’s speed to roughly three times that of other elemental variants.
‘It felt like an arrow fired by a divine archer.’
Had he not responded instantly, some part of his body would undoubtedly have been blown away.
‘And he is supposed to be a Third-Circle mage?’
Ferda had reached the Third Circle, but Yuren had not underestimated him solely because of that.
Ferda possessed a Red Circle, and those who possessed Red Circles invariably displayed immense strength with their compatible elements.
The fact that he had defeated Thessalos Wolcher while still in the First Circle was already widely known.
For that reason, Yuren had placed him among the strongest mages of his level.
‘I even thought he might be comparable to a Fourth-Circle mage.’
Yet even that had been an underestimation.
Ferda’s spell had displayed power far beyond anything Yuren had imagined.
‘What method did he use?’
Yuren glared at Ferda.
Perhaps Ferda was secretly receiving assistance from some artifact.
But that should have been impossible.
There was no chance he would have been allowed to carry a weapon into the Sealed Vault.
‘He achieved that casting speed using nothing but his own mind, without a wand or staff to assist his calculations?’
There was only one way to increase casting speed.
Repetition and mastery.
And such mastery could not be achieved through the equivalent of repeatedly copying sentences as a student.
The process of drawing the mana pathways had to become as natural as breathing, to the point that one might cast a spell while asleep.
Something like that was impossible even for Yuren.
Ferda’s talent was awe-inspiring.
“You seem curious about what spell I used.”
Ferda deliberately provoked Yuren in a leisurely voice.
“For your information, it was Elemental Bolt.”
“You insolent little brat.”
Yuren’s face flushed bright red.
No matter how high his status might be, Ferda was still only a Third-Circle novice as a mage.
A magic circle formed above Yuren’s hand.
“Let us see how long you can maintain that arrogance!”
In a duel where both sides had staked their lives, titles and status no longer mattered.
The completed magic circle did not vanish from Yuren’s hand.
Instead, it remained floating in the air.
‘A sustained-concentration magic circle.’
Ordinary consumptive magic circles converted the mana composing the circle into the spell itself when activated.
A sustained-concentration magic circle, however, remained intact without consuming its structure, allowing the caster to repeatedly fire spells simply by injecting more mana.
It was a technique any Fifth-Circle mage could naturally perform.
‘The magic circle is the same Elemental Bolt I used.’
Ferda deduced it from the circle’s shape and the inscriptions engraved within it.
Just as he expected, pure-white icicles formed inside the magic circle.
They were Ice Bolts.
“Try dodging this as well!”
And it was not a single shot.
It was rapid fire.
Ferda threw himself behind a display pedestal to evade the attack.
The ice struck the white stone display and shattered.
The bolts were frozen so solidly that the repeated bombardment threatened to destroy the pedestal itself.
‘As expected, sustained-concentration spells are troublesome.’
It would have been a lie to say Ferda was not at a disadvantage.
The instant a gap appeared in his composure, a sinister voice crawled toward him.
—Do you require my power?
It was the temptation of the demons.
They offered contracts whenever people were cornered, demanding absurd prices in exchange.
‘They have noticed my talent.’
Even demons had discernment and did not attempt to tempt just anyone.
Naturally, Ferda was not shaken in the slightest by the voice.
For now, he focused on the battle.
‘Mana is not infinite.’
Neither Ferda nor his opponent possessed limitless mana.
Before the stone display could collapse, the barrage of Ice Bolts ceased.
Ferda immediately rose and looked toward the suspended magic circle.
There was one way to eliminate a sustained-concentration magic circle.
“Disrupt the caster’s concentration.”
As Yuren prepared to resume the bombardment, Ferda thrust the magic circle he had prepared toward him.
“Lightning Bolt.”
A projectile of lightning shot forward in a straight line.
It possessed exceptional speed, but because of that speed, its trajectory was equally straightforward.
Having read the direction of the magic circle, Yuren created a blue barrier in front of himself.
Crackle!
Ferda’s Lightning Bolt struck the Magic Shield and vanished.
It was an exceptionally fast spell, but its destructive power was comparatively low.
‘If only I could combine two elements, I could have pierced it.’
Combining darkness, the element with the highest destructive power, with lightning, the fastest element.
That was still impossible for Ferda, who had only reached the Third Circle.
‘In that case…’
Ferda turned his gaze toward the suspended magic circle.
Yuren had stopped injecting mana into it, but three Ice Bolts were already flying toward Ferda.
‘Magic Intercept.’
It was a technique used to seize control of an opponent’s spell.
Threads formed from mana reached toward the three flying icicles.
Ferda had once been an Eighth-Circle Archmage, but he was currently only a Third-Circle mage.
It was impossible for him to claim all three rapidly approaching spells.
By abandoning one, however, he could seize two.
‘I will sacrifice the one aimed farthest from a vital point.’
A swift and rational judgment.
The Ice Bolt he abandoned tore deeply into Ferda’s thigh.
His skin split open, blood poured out, and pain surged through his veins.
It did not matter.
The other two icicles created by Yuren now bared their fangs at their former master.
“I shall return these to you.”
A magic circle formed over Ferda’s hand.
It was another Lightning Bolt.
This time, however, the Lightning Bolt was fired from behind one of the Ice Bolts.
“Lightning Bolt.”
Whoosh!
The Ice Bolt shot forward with lightning-like speed.
It pierced straight through the blue barrier Yuren had created.
Crash!
The Ice Bolt disintegrated as the blue barrier shattered.
Yuren’s eyes widened.
‘My barrier broke?’
The Magic Shield had been unable to withstand the impact created by combining the Ice Bolt’s solidity with the Lightning Bolt’s speed.
Yuren’s astonishment lasted only an instant before he sensed death approaching.
Ferda still had one Ice Bolt remaining.
“Lightning Bolt.”
This time, the icicle flew directly toward Yuren’s forehead.
“Aaagh!”
Yuren abandoned his concentration and hurled himself aside.
The sustained-concentration magic circle distorted and vanished.
Adrenaline surged through Yuren’s head as he climbed back to his feet.
“Whew… You caught me off guard. Are you truly a Third-Circle mage?”
Ferda replied,
“Are you such an incompetent mage that you need to hear the answer directly from me?”
“Everything you do makes me question it. Even the Court Archmage—that old fossil—could not have responded as you did if he were restricted to the Third Circle.”
“That old man is still one of the wiser people in this palace.”
“You speak as if you know him, despite never having met him.”
Never met him?
Ferda had confronted that old man until the Emperor himself bowed his head.
While Ferda thought back on it, Yuren pulled something from inside his coat.
It was a magical tool consisting of a round crystal fixed atop a wooden rod.
A wand.
By merely channeling mana into it, the magic circle engraved within would react and discharge a spell.
The fact that Yuren had drawn it carried significant meaning.
“Are you admitting that you have lost in skill?”
“Mock me as much as you please. All that matters is eliminating you!”
He injected mana into the wand, revealing its magic circle.
Ferda rapidly analyzed its structure.
‘Judging from its design, it contains a Fourth-Tier spell.’
Just as he predicted, the magic circle belonged to the Fourth Tier.
The mana within gathered together, releasing pure-white frost as it sharpened into a pointed form.
Its shape resembled the Ice Bolts Yuren had fired earlier.
Yet it did not feel like an ordinary Ice Bolt.
The insight within Ferda’s eyes revealed its true nature.
‘It contains an excessive amount of cold energy.’
It was a Frost Bomb disguised as an Ice Bolt.
The instant it struck something or shattered, the cold energy compressed within it would erupt.
Attempting to dodge it clumsily, block it, or seize control of it would only cause the defender to suffer instead.
‘Therefore, I must detonate it from a distance.’
Ferda flicked a small sphere of mana from his fingertip, sending it into the Frost Bomb.
Fwoosh!
Mist-like cold burst outward and froze the surroundings.
Ferda’s mana sphere itself froze solid and rolled across the floor.
It was a destructive spell powerful enough to freeze even condensed mana.
‘He saw through my Frost Bomb.’
Yuren was not surprised.
A mage skilled enough to perform Magic Intercept would naturally recognize such deception.
In the meantime, Yuren began casting another spell.
“O Shield of the Empire!”
A magic circle drawn with highly concentrated mana took physical form and transformed into a shield.
Aegis.
A Fifth-Tier defensive spell named after a legendary hero, renowned for its impregnable protection.
The shield would recognize incoming magic and move autonomously, without requiring Yuren’s direct commands.
‘What a troublesome spell.’
Anyone who had never encountered it before would naturally think there was nothing more troublesome.
‘Or so one would assume.’
But Ferda knew it well.
The more troublesome an opponent was, the more clearly Ferda remembered them.
And so he waited.
He waited for the moment Yuren placed too much faith in his own magic.
“Now.”
That moment came while Yuren was casting Frost Bomb through his wand.
At the same time, two spheres formed in Ferda’s hand.
One was an ordinary Mana Shot.
The other was a Mana Bomb, created by compressing a much larger amount of mana.
‘No way…’
The moment Yuren saw the Mana Bomb, an ominous intuition struck his mind.
He tried to deny it.
It should have been impossible.
How could a mage who had only reached the Third Circle know how to counter a Fifth-Tier spell?
Despite his denial, Ferda’s spheres flew toward him.
The first projectile was the Mana Bomb.
The Aegis detected the incoming spell and moved to intercept it.
Boom!
Mana burst outward and filled the surrounding area.
At the same time, the shield’s movements became unnaturally sluggish and erratic.
Yuren’s eyes widened.
‘He knows how to counter Aegis?’
A battle between mages was a matter of revealing one’s cards.
A mage often played a card on the assumption that the opponent would not understand it.
No, that assumption was practically unavoidable.
If a mage had to prepare for every conceivable possibility, including situations that defied all established standards, then no spell could ever be cast.
Yuren was now facing precisely such an abnormality.
‘Then the second sphere is…!’
It would target the Frost Bomb.
A spell cast directly by a mage could be dismissed through the caster’s will.
However, spells created through a wand or staff could not be stopped once activated.
Ferda intended to strike the Frost Bomb the instant it was completed and detonate it in Yuren’s face.
‘As if I would allow that!’
Yuren immediately cast Magic Shield.
A blue barrier spread across his front.
It was a defensive spell that could not be penetrated by a single Lightning Bolt.
The mana sphere would never reach the Frost Bomb.
He could simply throw the completed Frost Bomb somewhere else.
Yet contrary to his expectations, the spell Ferda cast was—
‘Lightning Bolt?’
It was the same lightning projectile as before.
Yuren could not understand.
‘It cannot penetrate my barrier, so why would he choose that spell?’
Even with its considerable force, it lacked the power necessary to break through his shield.
As Yuren tried to find the answer, he finally noticed something.
Something darker than the surrounding shadows was attached to Ferda’s back.
It resembled an arm Ferda had been concealing, making a throwing motion from close to the ground.
“Ah.”
What entered Yuren’s vision was the frozen sphere of mana.
The aftermath of the Frost Bomb had frozen it solid.
It was hard enough to serve as a metal projectile.
Ferda had retrieved it from Yuren’s blind spot.
“Lightning Bolt.”
The instant the frozen sphere entered the spell’s trajectory, lightning was fired.
The Lightning Bolt carried the solid lump of ice forward.
Crash!
The Magic Shield shattered.
Yuren’s body lurched violently.
Even so, he was an experienced mage.
He did not close his eyes in front of an enemy.
Within his field of vision, he saw the mana sphere Ferda had saved flying toward him.
‘I need to find a way…!’
But by then, the sphere had already struck the Frost Bomb.
Fwoosh!
White vapor erupted, transforming the entire area into a field of frost.
The mist refused to disperse.
‘That should have killed him instantly.’
Judging by the destructive power, it would not have been strange for Yuren to die.
His defenses had been neutralized, and even with magical resistance, no one could survive taking a Frost Bomb directly.
Yet Ferda did not lower his guard.
This was the Sealed Vault, and the human desire to survive was powerful.
‘Sometimes, demons grant that desire.’
His concern became reality.
Crack—
The figure of Yuren, now resembling a mage carved entirely from frost, began to move.
His frozen clothes and wand shattered into fragments of ice, but Yuren himself did not break.
At some point, a book had appeared in his hand.
“Kihihihit…!”
His laughter, steeped in madness, rang with ecstasy.
“Ah… So this is what it feels like to obtain a demon’s power.”
It was the kind of thing spoken by those intoxicated by demonic power.
The book in his hand was Marbas’s Art of Frozen Transmutation.
‘Marbas, the Demon of Cold and Ruin.’
One of the Seven Great Demons and the Overlord of the Frozen Hell.
A demon perfectly suited to Yuren, an ice mage.
‘He must have formed a contract with Marbas just before the explosion and survived.’
Those who sold their souls to Marbas received the blessing of surviving extreme cold.
Ferda watched him and sank to the floor.
He had lost too much blood, and there was no longer any strength left in his thigh.
Even his superhuman concentration had reached its limit.
“My… What happened to the regent who was so confident a moment ago? Come now. We still have a fight to finish, do we not?”
Yuren mocked Ferda.
Everything had turned against him.
At that moment, the malice filling the chamber began moving once more.
Every demonic book within the Sealed Vault stirred.
—Offer me your soul. Then I shall grant you the power to kill that worthless creature.
—I shall give you the power to burn the one who dares humiliate you! Offer your soul to me!
—I will grant you power. Surely even rolling through filth in this world is better than death, is it not?
The demons’ whispers swirled around Ferda.
It felt as though they were pulling him in every direction, each trying to seize possession of his body.
It was proof that Ferda had been driven to the edge of a cliff.
Ferda, who had only been breathing raggedly, opened his mouth.
“They say that just before death…”
A smile appeared on Ferda’s lips.
It was different from the few smiles he had shown before.
This one came from genuine emotion.
“…the face of the person you love appears before you first.”
Yuren frowned at Ferda’s sudden nonsense.
“And do you know what I see before me right now? You. Do you know what that means?”
“What kind of bullshit is that? You are not about to tell me you love me, are you?”
Ferda’s blue eyes stared directly at Yuren.
They shone with the light of magic.
That undying light was pride itself, and those eyes made Yuren seem pitiful.
“It means this is not yet the moment of my death.”
At that instant, Yuren’s intuition flared once more.
‘I cannot… defeat this man?’
Even after forming a contract with the demon Marbas, he felt that he could not defeat Ferda.
‘That cannot be.’
Then what had he sold his soul for?
What would it make him if, even after surrendering everything at the brink of death, he still could not defeat a Third-Circle mage?
As Yuren tried to steady himself, Ferda asked,
“Do you know the unspoken rule of mages?”
The unspoken rule of mages.
A mage never revealed their final means of survival, not even until the moment of death.
In other words, it referred to a wildcard capable of overturning everything.
“So you intend to use your final spell? You should not have enough mana left for anything significant.”
Yuren was correct.
Ferda had only enough mana remaining to cast Elemental Bolt once.
The blood flowing from his thigh had not been staunched, and he no longer had the strength to move properly.
It was clearly Ferda, not Yuren, who had been cornered.
Ferda smiled broadly.
“Do not jump to conclusions. When did I ever say it was a spell?”
Not a spell?
At that moment, Yuren sensed a presence behind him.
“Looks like I’m not too late.”
A man’s voice suddenly rang out.
Yuren turned his head.
A brown-haired man dressed as a palace guard stood there.
‘A guard…? Impossible.’
There was no way an ordinary guard could enter a restricted area like this.
He was clearly an intruder.
And not just any intruder.
Anyone capable of breaking into the Sealed Vault had to possess considerable skill.
The man moved first.
He swiftly closed the distance.
‘I have to respond.’
Yuren began drawing a magic circle.
At that instant, the man’s ordinary eyes turned crimson and shone.
‘What? Why is the mana…?’
Wherever that crimson gaze fell, the mana gathering into the magic circle was forcibly scattered.
“No way…!”
A race Yuren had believed lost to history surfaced in his mind.
“You are one of the Red-Eyed Tribe?!”
They were also known as Mage Killers.
The dagger in the man’s hand pierced Yuren’s throat.
“Ghk… Kgh!”
It accurately penetrated both his windpipe and artery.
The only sound Yuren could make was the hiss of escaping air.
Watching from behind, Ferda spoke to the man in a familiar tone.
“Be careful. He sold himself to a demon.”
“I know.”
The man gripped his dagger with both hands and took his stance.
“I have a rather deep connection with demons myself.”
He ripped the embedded dagger free and swung it in a wide arc.
Yuren’s vision spun as his severed head flew through the air.
Within the final remnants of his consciousness, he saw Ferda.
Ferda was casting Lightning Bolt toward his head.
“Farewell, beast who abandoned his pride.”