“Shield!”
Ernolf could not simply stand by either. The moment he wrapped a Shield around Kazar’s body as he dove down without a trace of fear, Kazar was swallowed by black smoke and vanished.
The death smoke fired by the dark mages billowed up like dark clouds, threatening to cover the entire cliff.
Ernolf held his breath as he stared at the black smoke, into which no light could penetrate.
‘Kazar, come back if you can’t handle it!’
The magic they used was mixed with an evil energy. They were opponents too difficult for Kazar, who was not yet skilled in using Aura. Ernolf prayed desperately for Kazar to return safely.
“Aaargh!”
After a brief scream, one dark mage fell beneath the black smoke.
Ernolf focused mana in his eyes as he searched for Kazar. Though weak, he cast Clairvoyance magic.
Kazar was fighting within the black smoke.
Kazar’s Aura Blade tore through a dark mage’s Shield and cut into the bastard’s shoulder.
The moment the man let go of the cliff with one hand, Ernolf thrust out his own hand.
“Fire Arrow! Shield!”
Ernolf cast two spells in succession at a speed no one else could imitate.
Their casting speed was fast because they were low-grade spells, but Ernolf’s potential had an even greater influence.
There was a great difference between the same kick delivered by a master and by a novice.
Magic was the same. The low-grade spells Ernolf unleashed possessed killing power that far exceeded expectations.
“Aaargh!”
The Fire Arrow pierced the priest’s wrist and severed it completely.
At that moment, a black beam shot toward Kazar’s back from another direction. The Shield Ernolf had raised collided with the black beam and caused an explosion.
‘This bastard!’
Holding onto a rock with one hand, Kazar flipped his body over and wrapped both legs around the priest’s neck, snapping it.
CRUNCH.
With the sound of bones being crushed, another priest fell beneath the cliff. Two out of the seven had been removed from the fight.
Ernolf placed his hand on the cliff and prepared an earth spell.
It was a spell of considerable scale, so he needed a suitable amount of time to gather mana and construct the Magic Circuits.
The moment the Magic Circuits were complete, he sensed an unfamiliar presence right beside him.
‘What!’
A large hand carrying a terrifying energy flew toward Ernolf’s chest. It was Beligan’s hand.
Beligan, who had swiftly climbed up from beyond their field of vision, immediately targeted Ernolf.
“Tiri!”
Kazar threw a dagger at Beligan.
CLANG!
The dagger rising from below struck Beligan’s palm and fell away. As a result, the hand that had been reaching for Ernolf’s heart changed direction.
Beligan gripped Ernolf’s wrist so hard that it felt as though he would sever it.
“Aaargh!”
Ernolf screamed, feeling as though the bones in his wrist were being crushed.
“Heh heh heh. You still haven’t opened God’s Library!”
Seeing that the Beast King’s Heart was black, Beligan grinned broadly.
“That was never an item meant for you!”
Black smoke seeped out of the hand Beligan had wrapped around Ernolf’s wrist.
“Aaargh!”
The energy of death began to consume Ernolf’s arm.
“Tiri!”
Kazar sent Aura flying at Beligan with all his strength.
A crescent-shaped Aura Blade struck Beligan’s arm. At that moment, Ernolf’s spell was completed.
‘Rock Buster!’
Spiderweb-like cracks spread from Ernolf’s hand gripping the rock.
CRACK, CRACK.
Like the bed of a river dried out by drought, the rocky cliff split into large pieces and broke away.
“Uuugh!”
The priests clinging to the cliff flailed, trying not to fall together with the rocks.
Healers and dark mages were alike in that they both dealt with life. Their nature merely changed as easily as the turn of a hand, depending on whether they used that power to save lives or take them. At their foundation, both operated mana through the healing arts.
‘A healer’s method of handling mana is a level below that of a mage.’
In other words, even if someone had trained longer than Ernolf, as long as that person was a healer, it was impossible to be certain that they were stronger than Ernolf, a mage.
As if proving that point, the priests Beligan had brought fell like leaves alongside the chunks of stone.
“Aaargh!”
“Aaaaargh!”
The effects of the spell Ernolf had unleashed did not end there.
The large chunks of stone torn from the cliff burst repeatedly in midair.
Countless stone bullets scattered throughout the area.
The Shields of the priests struck by the buckshot became tattered and ceased to function.
Some fell with the chunks of rock and were crushed to death. Others used Levitation Magic to escape their fall, only to be indiscriminately battered by the buckshot and left covered in blood.
“What?”
The rock Beligan had been holding broke away as well, causing him to lose his balance.
Kazar did not miss that moment.
“Hup!”
Kazar kicked off the cliff, embraced Ernolf, and flung himself into a gap in the rocks.
The gap the two entered was only wide enough for one slender person to barely pass through. It was wide enough for the two skinny youths.
“Are you okay?”
The moment they had a little breathing room, Kazar checked Ernolf. The arm Beligan had grabbed had turned as black as charcoal.
“Damn it....”
“I’m fine. I can bear it.”
Ernolf spoke with all the color drained from his face.
‘But who are those bastards? Their clothes are different from those of Blue Vine Temple’s priests....’
The moment he turned his head, wondering about their identities, Beligan appeared there. The moment he blocked the entrance, the surroundings became dark in an instant.
SHWICK!
Kazar sent an Aura Blade flying, and Ernolf swiftly raised a Shield. A small wound appeared on Beligan’s face when the Aura Blade struck him.
“Is that thing really human? What kind of shell is that hard?”
“We are no match for him. Don’t go, Kazar.”
Ernolf grabbed Kazar as he moved to fight Beligan. After seeing that neither his own magical attacks nor Kazar’s attacks had any effect on Beligan, Ernolf resolved to flee.
“Avoiding him is our best option. Let’s go farther inside.”
“Do you want to compete to see who lasts longer?”
Both of them were being consumed by death energy, and their stamina was steadily draining away. If they competed to see who could endure longer inside the narrow gap, they could never beat Beligan.
“Look over there.”
Ernolf indicated the inside of the crack in the cliff with his eyes. Deep inside the dark, narrow gap was a cave entrance covered in moss.
“Poison Mist!”
Beligan repeatedly fired black fog filled with poisonous energy into the gap in the cliff. The Shield Ernolf had raised by the entrance began to melt from the poison.
“Let’s go.”
“Why are you taking the lead? Get on my back.”
Without a word of complaint, Ernolf wrapped his arms around Kazar’s neck and climbed onto his back.
“Hold on tight.”
“Got it.”
With Ernolf clinging to his back, Kazar pressed himself close to the cliff. Then he moved toward the cave with all his strength.
CRUNCH.
RUMBLE, RUMBLE.
Beligan began breaking the entrance to the gap apart with his hands.
“You little rats.... Stop right there!”
Kazar and Ernolf were young and skinny enough to pass through side by side, but the gap was far too narrow for Beligan to pass through.
Carried on Kazar’s back, Ernolf continually deployed Shields to block the poisonous mist Beligan was furiously firing at them.
“Just hold on a little longer. We’re almost there!”
Worried by Ernolf’s strained, labored breaths, Kazar stretched an arm toward the cave entrance.
“Death Spear!”
A long black spear shot out of Beligan’s palm.
Condensed death energy filled it, and it easily pierced the Shield as it flew toward Ernolf’s chest.
Ernolf responded at once.
“Fire Lance!”
A tooth for a tooth. An eye for an eye. A spear for a spear.
The flaming spear collided head-on with the spear of death.
“Urgh.”
The two spears exploded and vanished, but some of the death energy scattered in every direction and covered the two of them.
‘Just a little more, just a little more....’
Kazar held onto a protruding rock with one hand while stretching the other toward the cave entrance.
If he could grab the protruding rock at the cave entrance, he planned to flip his body over and throw Ernolf deeper into the cave.
The rock was just out of reach. As his fingertips touched it and slipped away several times, Beligan cast another spell.
At that moment, a green arm shot out of the cave and seized Kazar’s wrist.
“Grah! Grah!”
Then came a loud voice.
‘No way!’
The moment Kazar recognized the sound, the green hand pulled him in.
As he was dragged toward the cave entrance, Kazar flipped his body over.
The Death Spear Beligan had fired passed in front of his face, scattering an ominous energy.
Because Kazar flipped his body, Ernolf, who had been clinging to his back, entered the cave first.
“Oof!”
Ernolf landed hard on his backside and fell flat onto the ground.
“Hey, Kazar....”
Lying down with his head tipped back, Ernolf gathered mana in both hands. Green monsters gathered in the darkness, their yellow eyes glinting.
“Does that look like a goblin to you too?”
“....”
When Kazar looked at the goblins, their eyes grew even wider.
“Hero! Hero!”
The goblins suddenly stomped their feet and began shouting noisily.
Kazar let out a deep sigh and slowly moved his hands up and down, signaling for the goblins to calm down.
“Oh....”
Seeing that, Ernolf’s eyes lit up as he pushed himself up.
“Wow. I thought you were a loner, but you had friends!”
“What kind of bullshit are you spouting now?!”
When Kazar burst out in anger, the goblins closed their mouths.
Then the sound of Beligan breaking the rocks grew louder.
“Grah!”
One of the goblins gestured at Kazar to follow. Ernolf rose, bracing a hand on his knee, and smiled faintly.
“An abandoned facility is just the sort of place that becomes a monster’s home.”
“No, they aren’t creatures that live here....”
“We have come to visit my younger brother’s friend’s home, but what should we do? We came empty-handed.”
As though he really were visiting Kazar’s friends, Ernolf dusted the dirt from his clothes, pulled here and there to straighten them, and made himself presentable.
“Shall we go?”
“Why are those things my friends?!”
Ignoring Kazar’s protest, Ernolf followed the goblin deeper into the cave with steady steps.
He even walked along saying, “Excuse us,” with scrupulous politeness.