Chapter 731 – The Betrayer (完) DeepL

The five “masterpieces” inscribed with Engahelo’s formula transfer their remaining magic and life force to another when one of them falls.

-Crack.

The main battle begins now.

While the entities in the Masterpieces were certainly threatening, they could not cross the line.
It takes a creature’s will and conviction. It requires determination.
Even with conviction, a woodcutter’s limits were clear, second only to humans.
There were still only a few precedents, such as the Heavenly Horse and the Martial Palace, and even in the Golden Generation, very few wood people had crossed over.

However.

Even without breaking through, there are many ways to surpass the limits of life.
It was not as if a martial artist who hadn’t reached the peak had no means of defeating someone who had.

Li Shihun knew that.

He had to find a way to get the orb, even if it meant letting his guard down.
Yi Shihun’s massive body crushed her tiny frame. A few moments passed.

-BANG!

A flurry of gunshots.

The bead that had brought the muzzle of the gun to the stomach of the opponent holding him down pulled the trigger.
The explosive magic bound to the chamber was triggered, and the bullets spewed forth.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

-Degurr.

The ricocheting shells roll down the crater.
Several shots rang out in quick succession, but the sight of Yi Shihun, unscathed and unmoving, gave Beadle up and he dropped the pistol.
The hastily holstered pistol didn’t work.

“Li Shihun.”

Immediately, Bead’s eyes turned crimson. Blood began to pool over his swollen conjunctiva.
Tears fell from her cute face.
The playfulness was gone.

The bead muttered.

“I need to get rid of you.”

It didn’t sound like a familiar voice.

“Do you remember?”
“…….”

At his unspoken question, the orb stretched out its arms and pulled him into a hug.

Long nails dug into his shoulder blades, and as he hugged her with all his might, she closed her eyes and whispered.

“──落羽松”

A coniferous tree with falling leaves.
A surge of magic from beneath the ground broke through the atmosphere, forming a mushroom cloud.

Flames engulfed the two of them, exploding with a reddish glow.
Lava, molten rock, slicked the ground.

The sphere of light and smoke grew larger and larger as it exploded in a chain reaction of dense magical power, its power enough to end a war.

Sanshou Yu and Diefenbakkia, who were swept away, could only protect themselves by increasing their magic power.

“Shi Hun…!”
“Your Majesty-!?”

Their voices were drowned out by an explosion.

-Bang!

The heat of the explosion condensed into a huge spherical mass.
A thin saber cut through the light, clearing away the aftermath of the explosion.

Smoke and clouds, heat and ash, scattered in all directions. Two silhouettes floated through the air.

-Whoosh!

A vast magic power that had never been seen before.

Was Yi Shihun using the crown?
No, it wasn’t.

A large amount of magic power erupted from a single source, defying the common sense of everyone standing there.

-Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The density of the magic broke through the singularity, destroying the attraction of the surrounding space, and the light around it became distorted as it was unable to escape.

Each one of these [masterpieces] possesses destructive power.

The orb’s body, with all of its power concentrated, was literally on a rampage.
The perfected necklace, the culmination of all of Engahelo’s years of work, was overwhelming Ishihon’s magick.

“…….”

A woman’s body twisted as if her entire body was distorted.
Her red eyes were so bright it was hard to distinguish the pupils.

A face covered in blood and tears. Her body is encased in a hard stone, not bark.
The amount of compressed mana wrapped around his body was …. of the world’s water, and if it were to be contained, it would inevitably dissipate.

Waves of mana burst forth, crushing the continents. Artifacts and devices all over the world malfunctioned.

【 無名木 】

Beads.
No….

It’s a nickname she’s made up for herself, but she doesn’t have a name in the first place.
Her voice, which had a touch of the academy about it, hovered in Yi Shihun’s ear for a moment before falling away.

-Fihihi, I don’t know-it’s just a bead.

She has no name, let alone a surname.
Just an abandoned corpse in a compost bin that no one expected.

Stripped of all her braces. Absorbing the power of other masterpieces, she is unrecognizable, unrecognizable as a living being.
Black blood dripped from the bead’s bared gums.

-Kigigik.

It tilted, its limbs rattling like rusted mechanical parts.
Crouching down, it leaped from the sky and charged toward Yi Shihun.

-Kaaaaaah!

A ring-shaped shockwave exploded with a thunderous sound.
A sonic boom.
Every time it leaped, trampling on the foothold it had created in the sky, the pressure from the atmosphere created a booming sound.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

After advancing three times, Gu Bei’s hands were coated with red power.
When she reached Yi Shihun’s nose, she lightly clenched her fist, shattering the energy. The swirling energy slams into his entire body, threatening to tear through his flesh.

Li Shihun’s body crashed to the ground.
The hem of his robe fluttered, a vague sheen of magical energy drifting from his body.

The orb follows.

【Magic Release (解放) 】

No technique, no complicated formula.
Simply an attack to release the magic he had condensed in his monkfish.

He fought back with a flurry of petals.
Even the deformed form of magic that Yi Shihean had created was distorted by the vast, overly concentrated magical power, and became disorganized like light being sucked into a black hole.

“…What.

Yi Shihun’s falling body was caught in a blast of magic power.
He sped toward the ground even faster.

‘Ignorantly strong. No, I should call it ignorant.

Pure destructive power without any tricks.
Only twice had he allowed himself to attack, and the blood in his body couldn’t withstand the excessive magic power and began to strain.

If only Yi Shihun had used magic instead of magical energy.
Even the self-defense weapon he wore on his body would have been overwhelmed by the magic power and turned to dust.

It was that dangerous.
I had anticipated it to some extent, so I didn’t get caught off guard.

“Using magic was the right answer.

The difference in skill is overwhelming, like the difference between heaven and earth.

However, despite the vast difference in skill, it was Li Shihun himself who fell to the ground.
Without batting an eyelid, he grasped the movement of the marbles.

-Pow!

Action before sound.
That living, breathing ball of magic is not an opponent to be judged by sound.

The ball’s fist slammed into the junction of his knee and elbow.

-Giggle, giggle, giggle!

The two sides’ magic powers mesh, creating a grotesque sound.
Skin ripped and blood gushed, and bones and muscles popped under the pressure of the clashing powers.

The two men’s bodies, threatening to crumble to the ground, parted from side to side just before they hit the ground.

Without taking a breath, the orb slammed into the ground again.
Yi Shihun, who had also reacted, stepped back, shooting out a light magic.

-Black Flame

A flame of condensed magic.
But instead of reaching the orb, it changed its trajectory and deflected outward.

The distorted space before him, like the surface of a lake or a reflection in a skewed mirror, expanded in some places and contracted in others, obscuring her attack.

It was faster than sound, and I didn’t trust my hearing.
All sorts of bizarre magical phenomena ruined her vision.

How do I develop my magic senses to fight?

It’s impossible to predict the behavior of enemies who are constantly projecting huge amounts of magic outside of their bodies.
Usually, they would lower and level down their magic power to conceal their moves, and Yi Shihun would also use it against people with particularly developed magic senses, but other than that, it was ineffective.

The only thing that can do this in the first place is the orb in front of him.

-Yourself.

You can’t use any of your senses to predict its behavior.

Its speed and power would be too much to handle.

“Only.

The orb’s hands spread out in front of it as it approaches. He stretches out his fists.

【Ten Demon God Gong’s Formation One, White Peach】

A radiant flower that bursts forth at close range!

As the uninterrupted magical energy of the orb met the magical energy of the orb, a tremendous ripple swept through the surroundings.

-Dig in!

A single blow.
The orb, pushed back by the burst of magic, slams its heels into the ground and charges again.

The overwhelming force canceled out any difference, but the movement was unmistakable.

-BANG!

Two blows.
After being pushed back and forcing himself to his feet, the marble charges back in a straight line.

-BANG!!!

Three shots.
This time, it was knocked back several hundred meters, and in less than a second, it reached Yi Shihun again.

The second and third auras of the Heavenly Demon God unfolded in his hands one after another, a relentless battle of strength and power.

[Heavenly Demon God Gong Yi’s second form, Manchu White Peach]
【 Heavenly Demon God Skill: Three Forms of Crimson Blossom】

A myriad of full-body attacks.
The petals of the crimson astragalus streaked towards the zigzaggingly approaching orb like flames.

-Flash!

This time, he was outmatched.
The bead that had pierced the Crimson Zodiac pushed through and reached for Yi Shihun. It opened its mouth like a wolf and bared its fangs.

【Ten Thousand Demon God Gong’s Four Forms Baraboks】

The two men’s forms flashed and disappeared, and two streams of blood sprayed into the air.

The distance widened for a moment, then narrowed again, like a stretched rubber band coming back together.

-Bang!

Muscle fibers shot out of Yi Shihun’s shattered arm, and shards of broken glass rolled down the bead’s body.

Spitting out the breath he’d been holding, he swallowed the blood and thought to himself.

“Not easy.

On the one hand, you have to guide the orb’s movement without killing it, defend the castle from a considerable distance, and avoid involving too much of the land in the radius.
On the other hand, I’d have to find a way to bring it back to consciousness.

The barrier planted in the middle of the ground is tattered.
The [Thorns] that were still active had almost used up their time limit.

Most of all, he had to admit that the bead’s pure weight class was beyond him.

“…….”

Stumbling over the blood on the floor, Gu Fei placed both hands on the ground and tilted his body’s center.
Her red eyes were turning white, and her hair was graying.

A strange aura.

【 ─── 】

A gemstone sprouted from the inside of her shoulder blade.
The spiky bark that sprouted like a beast’s fur and the gemstone tangled and intertwined, creating even more magic power.
I wondered if all the magic on this planet could be compressed into something like that.

“…No way.

Pounding, pounding.
A signal of danger.

【 ─解放 】

In mythology. It resembles the wings of an angel.
I can’t let this one go.

-Snarl.

The crown rising from his head emits a powerful aura, settling on his magi-clad body.

The union of the magick and the crown is not yet complete.
My vision is stained red as the black dragon cannon blurred with white.

I hold back my power for a moment, just in case.

“…….”

Bead’s knees slammed into the ground, and his outstretched wings shattered.
Its emotionless face went lifeless, and a pool of congealed blood dripped from its open mouth.

“Ugh…gah, crane….”

The blood color was gone.
Just as his body was about to collapse in a heap, he inwardly sighed in relief.

-There.

As he took a step closer, the bead’s eyes widened.
Like an exhausted hound firing its last shot. It grunted and reached out.
The flesh she could still feel proved that her memories were still not there.

“…That’s dangerous.

The magic is clean.
It would be disastrous if the magic condensed in the orb’s body were to scatter around.

However, the orb’s magic was gone, and I couldn’t feel it.
An incomprehensible phenomenon means a dangerous situation.

The black ash-colored tree that had crawled out of nowhere wrapped itself around Yi Shihun’s ankles and the orb’s body at once.

-Boom!

A binding force pierced through the instep.
The remaining magic power burst out, giving him no chance to escape.

Ishihon’s eyes lit up with certainty.
This was Engaero’s plan.
Quickly reading the magic and realizing its identity as spatial magic, Ishihon spat out a wry smile at the exhausted old man in the distance.

Engaheero had some idea that he was trying to get the orb back.
If he wanted to get the orb, he should walk into the trap.

“Tsk.”

After clicking his tongue, Ishihon gave up resistance and lowered his fist.
His torn clothes were repaired and his body was healed.

The life of the old man who had cast the spell was about to be extinguished, and he was no longer worried about the empire without him.