novelCollapse (8)
| ← Ch.281 | Ch.283 → |
Fragments of airship poured from the sky, a sick twist of wooden and metallic raindrops pelting into the shattered planet. More than ten ships had been shattered in a single spell, several more severely damaged, and the fleet's formation had been completely torn asunder.
Desir quickly broke through their encirclement. Fragments of boat slammed into the side of his airship, but he paid it no mind. Instead, his focus was on his own airship's primary engine. He had been flying well beyond its limits, and was about to give out. The moment it blared its final warning, Desir's eyes shifted towards the remains of Brigant, left completely defenseless. With Priscilla onboard, he had no reason to hesitate.
Using all the knowledge at his disposal, a vast number of spell arrays appeared around Desir, seemingly without any pattern or reason.
A battleship, the Brigant, which sat just beyond the collapsed formation.
With Priscilla on board, it was now defenselessly exposed.
There was no reason to hesitate. Desir prepared another spell.
Using all of the magic he had at his disposal, a vast number of magical spell arrays appeared around him chaotically.
[Gravity Control]
The highest tier gravity magic. *Rumble*
A massive torrent of mana surged around Desir, and a resulting wave of gravity crashed into everything around the Brigant. It may have been the Artemis Church's flagship, equipped with the strongest defensive magic known to mankind, but it meant nothing in front of Desir's wrath.
The massive ship literally crumpled like a sheet of paper. The wings were bent awry, the hull was squeezed and flattened, and the entire ship was left structurally unsound. It was only a matter of time before the defensive spell broke down and the ship was completely destroyed. But Priscilla, who was standing onboard its deck, was calm. A flash of light burst forth from her hand, as brilliant as several concentrated suns, and an absurd sight followed.
Brigant began to quickly cover as the light draped over it. Broken wings, crushed hull, smashed engine. All of them retook their original form, as though time itself was turning back. Even the other half of the ship, which had been melted by Desir's [Fire Storm], was being restored.
*Crash*
*Crack*
Desir's spell continued. The mighty force of gravity continued to weigh into Brigant, continuing to tear into its foundation. Each time it came close to fully breaking the defensive spell, the ship was quickly restored, and the magic remained functional. With each cycle, Desir got further and further away from breaking the spell. The conclusion was obvious.
Priscilla's resilience overwhelmed Desir's offense.
That could not be. Never in his previous life, nor in his present life, had he ever seen her manifest her ability on this scale and in this way.
'It was... all a lie?'
She had to have been lying to them.
The former Priscilla must have concealed the true strength of her Blessing of Light right until the end, even when faced with the Dragon of Destruction.
*Crack*
Brigant's collapse had stopped. At that moment, the Brigant was quickly restored to its original form."Hah... Hah..."
Desir breathed heavily. The aftermath of casting a spell equivalent to the Seventh-Circle was huge. He felt his legs threaten to collapse underneath him.
Nevertheless, it was because of his obsessive desire to enact revenge that he could still stand. Many questions had been raised, but the unparalleled rage was what occupied his mind.
He clenched his teeth and supported himself against the railing. He raised his head and stared forward. Fully recovered, the Brigant took off and began to widen the distance between itself and Desir's near-engineless airship.
The eyes of Priscilla and Desir, standing on their respective decks, met.
She was smiling and talking at him.
[-I'm sorry. ]
Sorry for what? The lies? Zod's death?
Or her betrayal?
Blood flowed as fingernails penetrated the palm of the hand that grasped the cane so tightly. [-You'll understand one day. ]
No. Never.
Brigant was speeding away from Desir, and he still needed to break through the reformed blockade before he had a chance at catching up to her.
However, it was obvious that he would miss Priscilla if he were to deal with every ship in this fleet first. His opponents were not difficult, but they would cost vital time that would give Priscilla time to recuperate her losses.
The situation was the worst. But there was still a way.
Desir began to channel his cane, Mana Hole, to quickly gather mana from the atmosphere. Desir's mana circles quickly began to refill themselves, having been drained empty by the strange sound flowing from Desir's mouth.
Draconic language was something exclusive to the ancient race of dragons.
This was the strongest and simultaneously the worst magic that Desir could develop.
To use it now would be akin to suicide. His body was as battle weary as the airship he stood upon. He had not prepared any artificial magic circles to share the burden, either.
However, he did not care.
It was just unacceptable. The very existence that took away Zod Exarion's life was allowed to take another breath, and that transgression fueled Desir's blistering determination.
As the mysterious voice flowed from Desir's mouth, a super massive spell array formation arranged in front of his eyes. The way the intricate violet designs interweaved to develop the array was the epitome of beauty.
Mana surged from Desir's body into the spell array, his flesh a conduit for the Mana Hole's near-endless supply. The human body was not a particularly resilient medium, and he felt all the muscles and fibers that held him together begin to burst under the pressure.
The outflow of mana was intense enough to strain the Holy Paladins closest to his airship.
But there was a problem. The spell was being arranged into a massive array, which would take an obscene amount of mana and a comparatively long cast time. Even still, it was not for lack of a good reason. The power in this spell would be beyond anything that a single person could cast using the modern magic system.
The Holy Paladins, aware of the strain that Desir's draconic magic put on him, did not miss the opportunity to end his life. The fleet began to converge towards Desir, and within an instant a dozen ships blocked the path between his spell and Priscilla, with more hovering nearby.
They bombarded Desir with attacks, encircling his airship on all sides, all to prevent the completion of his magic.
*Boom*
There was a violent sound.
Desir's body shook incessantly. The upgraded Aurora System mounted on the airship held out, but it would not last much longer.
But it was also impossible to counter their attacks. No matter how strong he may be, it was impossible to complete his spell while also dealing with their fleet.
"This is our chance!"
"Attack now, he can't respond!"
And the Church of Artemis had clearly grasped this point. *Boom*
The airship shook again. The Aurora System's effectiveness had noticeably diminished. They launched attacks at him nonstop, and Desir certainly felt the pressure.
There was nothing more annoying than an enemy that knew your weakness. Nevertheless, Desir did not stop casting his spell.
Instead.
*Piying*
Desir flexed his left index finger. He activated a spell stored by Memorize.
*Crack*
An electric spell fired from Desir's free hand. It was only one stem at first, but it soon divided into several branches, increasing whenever it collided with the flood of attacks. By the time it bridged the distance, there were several hundred branches, each ship under attack by nearly twenty offshoots.
Desir had stored a modified spell in Memorize. It was an upgraded version of [Chain Lighting], a Fourth-Circle spell he had modified to use against Skull Mask.
In an instant, five ships were utterly destroyed and crashed to the ground helplessly. But the remaining ones did not stop pressuring Desir.
"Memorize has a five-use limit! Don't stop!" "Four charges left! Have six of our ships charge!"
Some ships had closed in on Desir, breaching the minimum distance required to maintain gunfire on Desir. They were using their vessels as a weapon to take down his airship.
It was a seemingly reckless charge, but an attack that Desir could not afford to ignore.
Desir had no choice but to use the magic stored in Memorize to defend once again. The ships that remained back continued to fire between the gaps, trying their best to wear down the already exhausted Aurora System.
There was no way to stop their strategy, built around their readiness for self-sacrifice. It was an extremely effective tactic to force the enemy to consume their limited resources. They had decided to wage a bizarrely fast-paced war of attrition.
Would the Artemis Church's ships be annihilated first, or would Desir run out of spells stored in his Memorize?
Desir had no other choice but to follow their tempo. He aimed at the approaching ship and deployed another spell from Memorize. *Fire*
Thousands of fire bolts were created this time. The sky turned red as they were ejected in unison.
*Boom*
Fourth-Circle magic, [Burst Fire].
It was reinforced by remodeling the formula, and each fire bolt had power on the level of a Fourth-Circle spell.
*Collapse*
The ships that were approaching were all burned to ashes and scattered in mere moments. Still, they did not revise their strategy. Like moths running towards an open flame, they constantly swarmed towards Desir.
As a result, Desir's airship had slowly accumulated damage, and it would ultimately result in a definite blow. In this moment, he keenly felt the shortcomings of draconic spells.
Not only was the casting time enormous, but as the spell array was completed, his body was reaching its limit.
The Mana Hole, which had been supplying the mana so far, stopped operating. The burden on his body increased several times more.
His mana circles began to collapse. Bones and organs twisted, and streams of blood gushed out of his body as his blood vessels began to burst. His body could not withstand the invocation any longer. Gradually, his vision began to blur, and even following Priscilla with his eye was difficult.
Even if he could not, the end was in sight. Desir's spell was almost complete. As he launched the fourth spell stored in Memorize, the original fleet was left with just twenty percent of their ships.
*Crack*
That remaining twenty percent was all they needed. Desir's Aurora System was smashed, and the force field shattered with the echo of broken glass. Ten shots slammed into his airship, and two of his four auxiliary engines exploded.
| ← Ch. 281 | Ch. 283 → |