Chapter 90: The Light and the Wizard
Abyss confidently explains everything as if he was teaching a lecture, and Igni and Miru look sick of listening to him.
Abyss: “Hey, don’t look so glum. It’s bothersome for me too, you know?”
Abyss laughed as he looked towards Igni and Miru.
Igni: “Then please go back to where you came from.”
Abyss: “That, I can’t do. I need to take that girl over there with me when I leave.” Igni: “Why are you so intent on chasing Sara?” Abyss: “What? OHHH! I get it now. So you guys don’t know.”
Abyss looked appreciative of his own realization.
Abyss: “You both know about the world’s greatest disaster, humanity\'s ultimate crisis, the [Demon King], right?”
Igni: “.........yeah.” Igni doesn’t quite understand why Abyss suddenly brought up the [Demon King], but he follows along for now.
Abyss: “Then you know about the corrupt, Magic pollution done by the Demon King’s Army, right? Basically, the path the Demon King’s Army walked turned into a cursed region where neither tree nor grass grew.”
Igni: “You’re referring to the [Demon King’s Realm].”
Abyss: “Yeah, everyone knows this. Everyone’s heard about it. This is what is taught in the world.”
Igni: “But what does that have to do with you coming after Sara!”
Abyss: “Don’t be so hasty. I’m about to get to the fun part right now.”
Abyss quietly speaks as he makes the statement.
Abyss: “But…...what if the corrupted, cursed land was not being created by the [Demon King] after all?” Igni: “.................then……” Igni: (There’s no doubt about it. He’s talking about Sara.)
Through Sara’s Magic Power, the land was tainted, and the region was called the [Demon King’s Realm].
Abyss: “Yeah, at first, I thought it was a [corpse]. The [Demon King’s Corpse]. But I was wrong. The Demon King actually <had a daughter>.”
Igni: “.........a daughter?”
Igni wanted to think he misheard and looked at Abyss.
Abyss only smugly smiled at him and said nothing back.
Igni: “A daughter, you say?” Abyss: “That’s right.”
Igni sucked in a breath.
Even though Miru who was next to him didn’t quite understand, Igni was able to extract what Abyss was trying to say and the situation at once.
Abyss: “You already know, right? She’s the [Demon King’s Daughter].” And Abyss directly pointed at Sara.
Igni: “Stop playing around!”
Abyss: “I’m not playing. I’m dead serious.” Abyss’ smile disappeared instantly as he quietly spoke each word clearly.
Abyss: “What are you going to do? You’re currently protecting the absolute worst disaster that ever befell upon humanity’s ー the daughter of the one who birthed that crisis. She’s from a completely different world than me or you.”
Igni: “...............no. You’re wrong.” Igni takes one step forward.
Abyss: “How am I wrong? She’s barely holding herself together with one Magic Artifact. How fragile is her ‘normal’ life right now? One mistake and <BOOM!>, she’s gonna blow. She’s like a ticking time bomb. That’s why I’ll be the one to use her.”
Igni: “...................” Igni takes another step forward.
Abyss: “What’s amazing about that thing is its ability to continually pour out Magic Power. I don’t know if it’s some type of Spell…..or even Magic. I don’t know, but she can exert Magic Power faster than she can generate. In other words, she would give me an infinite Magic Power supply.”
Abyss’ words flow smoothly out.
Abyss: “You guys wouldn’t be able <to handle that thing>. I’m giving value to something that was born without any meaning. Isn’t that so gracious of me?”
Igni: “Who are you…….!”
Igni’s roar.
Igni: “ーーto determine anyone’s worth!!”
An incredible amount of Magic Power initiates inside of Igni’s body.
Igni: “[Equip Flame] Ignition : [Molecular] {Minima}!”
Igni creates an accelerating Cyclotron that creates a glowing halo directly behind him.
Igni: “{Acceleration}!!”
The molecular-sized {Fireball} accelerates to the speed of light inside the Cyclotron!!
Abyss: “You’ve already shown me that.”
Igni: “[Launch] {Fire}!”
Abyss: “[Undo it]”
<PAAAAN!> (sfx)
With the sound of air erupting, Igni’s {Fireball} explodes 2 meters (~2 yards) before Abyss’ eyes.
Abyss: “Good. It went well for a first-time using that Spell.”
Igni: “........!”
Abyss: “You don’t need me to explain right? I told you already. I <memorized it>. I said so, right?”
And with that, Abyss leaps into the air.
With a single step, he lands near the lodge area.
Miru: “Miko! Run!!”
Igni: “Lilly! Stop him!”
“ “ UNDERSTOOD! ” ”
The two yelled in unison.
And right as Igni was about to initiate the [Flame Engine] {Accel Boot}, Miru stopped him.
Miru: “Wait, Igni!”
Igni: “Yes?”
Miru: “The Spell Inscription he’s using is mine. So, do you understand?!”
Igni: “........yes, I think he’s using some sort of method to copy President Miru’s Spell Inscription…...probably.”
Miru: “You’re probably right. But that Spell Inscription isn’t that great.”
Igni: “It’s not? What do you mean?” Miru: “That is one of the simplest disruption Spells. I received my Wizard Title because I never depended on that. So of course, that Spell Inscription has a critical weakness.”
Igni: “Which is……?”
Miko held Sara in her arms as she jumped backwards, and Lilly drew out her short sword and leaped forward.
Miru: “Igni, Abyss’ copy of that Spell Inscription destroys the Spell <after he sees it>.”
Igni: “Which means………”
Miru: “Shoot him before he even sees the Spell.”
Igni laughed at Miru’s words. Igni: “Even if you say so, all my Spell Inscriptions are {Fireballs}, you know?” Miru: “But, I can tell that you’re still confident. Am I right?”
Igni: “Yes. I am……..[The Strongest] after all.”
Miru: “But, even if we defeat that one, another one will come out.”
Igni: “Yes. Do you want me to take them all out?”
Miru: “No. I’ll identify the location of Abyss’ soul and secure it. When I give you the signal, I want you to shoot right through him.”
Igni: “Understood.” Igni created thousands of {Fireball} under his feet.
The [Flame Engine] {Accel Boot} gives each one direction and begins to move into the air.
It’s not for aiming at Abyss from the sky.
If he does, Abyss would surely stop his Spell.
Abyss saw even the Spell Inscription that accelerated the {Fireball} to the speed of light as it was accelerating. That’s why he was able to stop it before.
That’s why Igni needs speed.
He needs a Spell that will end the fight the moment it initiates ー a Spell of that caliber.
Lilly: “AHHH!”
Lilly is thrown aside.
Yoori attempts to slow down Abyss, but his Spells are getting scattered away.
Miru: “[Call. Call. Call forth the soul]"
Igni: “[Rotating Ember] {Ignite}”
Igni begins to rotate his Magic Power while suspended in midair.
He rotates at a speed of 50 times per second!!
Miru: “[Darkness comes from the Shadows, and picks up and binds the soul that calls back]”
Igni could hear President Miru’s words from somewhere far behind him.
For Igni, it was not something he could keep under his control, but it was only for a single moment in the air.
In that moment where it almost seemed as though time paused, he would be able to push past his limits.
And as the entire world slowed to a halt, Igni stared directly at Abyss with both eyes.
Miru: “Igni!”
And President Miru’s signal reaches Igni’s ears.
Abyss turns slowly towards Igni.
He probably plans to stop Igni’s Spell.
The next instant, from the shadows, a chain made from darkness rushes out towards Abyss’ heart.
Abyss begins to turn his attention from Igni to the chain.
The chain is what President Miru created to fix the soul to an exact position.
If he completely turns and sees the chain, he will destroy the Spell that is holding his soul in place.
That’s why…..
Igni: “[Equip Flame] {Ignition} : [Ultimate Light] {Lucas}!”
Igni fired his Spell.
But looking around Igni, there are no {Fireballs} to be seen.
Under ordinary circumstances, Igni would pour his Magic Power into his {Fireball} during the [Equip Flame] {Ignition}, and increase the power of the Spell several hundred times more with the incantation.
But this time, Igni’s [Equip Flame] {Ignition} differed greatly.
That’s because Igni concentrated his Magic Power <before he created> the {Fireball}.
Igni can only use {Fireball}.
That’s why Igni only has 3 ways to manipulate {Fireball}
Changing the size
Changing the power
The speed to release the Spell
But because of the friction with the air, the {Fireball} he creates will slow down.
And there is a limit to how fast Igni could fire the Spell as well.
That’s why Igni thought……
He thought about how he could fire a faster {Fireball}.
Firing a {Fireball} that accelerates to the speed of light is just one of his ideas.
It is a Spell Inscription designed to defeat the [Light] Wizards.
But for Igni, that wasn’t enough.
Igni’s Master and Teacher ー if he couldn’t defeat his grandfather, the Strongest man, he could never reach the realm of being the Strongest himself.
It happened at some point during that time, Igni received something similar to a divine revelation as the realization hit him.
What if he creates the speed and velocity even before the Spell takes shape. What would happen then?
There is a sequence of his will and consciousness when he creates a {Fireball}.
The Shape → The Power → The Speed. If this is the standard flow of events, if he completely ignores this formula and changes it to Speed → The Shape → and Power, maybe he could finally set foot into that realm of the Strongest?
But this was only an empty theory that you could play around in your head, but you could never bring it forth into reality.
Even with his [Ultimate Spell Specialization • Spell One]’s processing abilities, he could not fire off a {Fireball} at the speed of light.
But now, with the [Rotating Ember] {Ignite} in his repertoire, the impossible just became possible.
Hence, he names the Spell after his grandfather.
The Spell Inscription that allows him to apply the speed of light to a {Fireball}...
Igni: “[Rush Forward] {Fire}!!”
In that instance, a single beam of light glittered through the air as Abyss’ body disintegrated.