Chapter 5: Battlefield (4)

I quietly observed the man standing before me.

His disheveled hair, beard, rugged physique, and the dense tattoos covering him were of little importance.

Instead, I focused on something else.

The countless scars that even his tattoos couldn’t fully cover, and his wild eyes, revealed how strong a warrior Valion was, and how many life-or-death situations he had overcome.

“Are you the wizard named Kyle?”

Valion raised his axe, speaking as if to warn me.

I gave a slight nod.

“Yes. I am Kyle.”

“Hmph, I already know how many of my subordinates you’ve killed. But it truly surprises me. I didn’t know suicide was your hobby.”

As I raised an eyebrow, Valion continued mockingly.

“I’m not particularly curious how strong a wizard you are. What’s important is that a wizard dared to rush here alone. Do you think you can face this numerous army by yourself?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do.”

“Ha, they said you’ve jumped into the jaws of death countless times, but you truly are insane. Fine. Along with that damned Kadia, I’ll kill you too. If I do that, this war will be my victory.”

At Valion’s words, I glanced at Kadia’s condition.

Her stamina and the curse made it seem difficult for her to fight any longer.

This meant I would have to face the enemies alone here.

“Well, we’ll see.”

It didn’t matter.

My goal was to kill Valion here and now, and end the war.

That was my objective.

Valion said no more, charging at me with a speed difficult to follow with the eye.

And he swung his axe, imbued with axe-aura.

I deployed a shield, but the axe, charged with magic, tore through my shield as easily as paper.

However, at least the shield slowed the axe down.

I stepped back, evading the axe.

“Ha, you didn’t deploy the shield to block it from the start, but to slow it down? You have a cunning side.”

“It would be troublesome to assume a wizard is weak in close combat.”

During my time on the northern front, I experienced countless battles, and among them, there were innumerable times I had to engage in close combat with the enemy.

At the very least, the weakness of wizards being poor in close combat was not a story that applied to me.

Valion let out a ‘hmph’ and swung his axe once more.

With a gesture, I created a fireball, hit the axe with it, and then, in the brief moment Valion’s balance was disrupted, I shot an arrow of light.

“Don’t think such a paltry thing can kill me!”

Valion casually snatched the magical arrow with one hand.

At that sight, I gathered my magic once more.

After that, Valion and I continued to exchange blows.

It was mostly Valion approaching me, and me parrying his attacks.

Like a bullfight, the battle continued with me deflecting Valion’s continuous charges.

“Typical wizard, you have annoying tricks…!”

“Why don’t you tell any other wizards who can do what I do to come out?”

Valion charged at me again, raising his axe high into the sky.

The moment his abdomen was exposed, I swiftly shot a flame arrow, piercing his body.

The magic that pierced Valion’s body before he could even blink was the fastest spell I had ever cast.

“Cough…!”

Valion coughed up blood, falling to one knee.

At that sight, I was certain of victory.

That is, until I saw his torso squirming and automatically regenerating.

“Damn it… I’ll… activate the price of the contract…!”

“What?”

The moment Kadia, who was behind me, uttered a question at the incomprehensible situation, Valion’s body began to crumble.

His skin turned black, and his eyes began to scatter a red glow.

And crucially, a pair of horns began to sprout from his forehead.

He looked just like a demon from legend.

Valion, who had completely transformed, crumpled his face in anger and roared.

[Damn it, damn it, damn it…! You, a mere wretch, dared to make me ‘contract’!]

His voice was distorted and eerie, unlike a human’s.

I glared at the transformed Valion and spoke.

“A contract?”

[If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have needed to make a contract… Now my soul belongs to a demon.]

‘So he sacrificed his soul to a demon and became like that?’

I frowned for a moment at the sight, something I’d never seen in my life, then Valion began to charge in a frenzy.

[Therefore, I will surely kill you, who made me like this!!!]

I launched a fireball at Valion, who charged without even taking a minimal defensive stance.

However, the fireball merely faded without piercing his skin, inflicting no damage.

“What in the….”

Even for a mighty warrior, was it possible to deflect magic without even minimal protection like that?

Considering that my magic had reached a power that no other battle mage could match, it was truly astonishing.

However, I couldn’t afford to lose my composure.

I used an extremely compressed shield to deflect Valion’s axe in mid-air.

The shield, which should have had the strength of hundreds of normal shields combined, shattered into pieces after blocking just one attack.

At the power of the attack, which had become incomparably stronger than before, I gritted my teeth.

[You resist in vain!!!]

Valion charged, scattering a red glow from his eyes.

Even when I shot magic at him, it caused almost no damage.

“How absurd. It’s as if he’s completely transcended humanity.”

[Then, did you think human magic could pierce this body, strengthened by forsaking my soul?]

‘…The problem I faced right now was firepower.’

‘Small-scale magic was continuously deflected.’

‘Even if I cast large-scale magic, I wasn’t sure if it could completely kill the enemy, so continuing to attack Valion like this was virtually meaningless.’

‘If given time, I might be able to use magic powerful enough to kill even this transformed Valion, but in this current one-on-one situation, I couldn’t just stand still and focus on chanting a spell.’

“Well, what can I do? I have to, if I want to win.”

[What are you babbling about!]

As Valion swung his axe, I hit his axe with a fireball, deflecting its trajectory.

The axe blade grazed my cheek.

I felt blood trickling down my face.

[Die!!!]

I didn’t attack Valion, but continuously aimed only at his axe, narrowly deflecting its trajectory.

During this process, faint wounds were carved onto my body, but I didn’t mind.

It felt like performing acrobatics while standing on a thin thread.

Even with a shield, I felt wounds appearing all over my body.

[This is the end!]

The moment Valion shouted, I shot a final fireball at his axe.

Then, Valion’s massive battle axe could no longer withstand the continuous barrage of magic and was seen shattering.

[Wha—!]

“You should have checked your equipment’s durability properly.”

[…Even without an axe, tearing you to death with my bare hands is no problem!]

Valion, revealing his terribly transformed fangs, charged with his mouth wide open.

I smirked at his appearance.

“You foolishly keep coming closer. Close enough to reach you.”

I dove inside Valion’s guard.

And I activated the spell I had been continuously chanting while defending against his axe.

‘Small-scale magic can’t pierce Valion.’

‘Large-scale magic can’t unleash a concentrated enough attack to finish off Valion alone.’

‘Then, what if I compress large-scale magic?’

‘If the magical firepower that covers a battlefield were concentrated solely to kill one person.’

A small sun formed in my hand.

[W-wait…!]

Only then, perhaps sensing the unusual magic, Valion tried to retreat.

However, it was already too late.

Because breaking his axe was intended from the start to draw him into range so he couldn’t escape.

[Don’t make me-]

The sun pierced Valion’s body.

Valion began to scream as the magical power erupted from inside his own body.

[This, this is impossible! How can the magic of a mere wizard… destroy my body that has transcended humanity! The power I gained by selling my soul to a demon, to a mere human…!]

“Die.”

Crimson flames erupted from all over Valion’s body.

Finally, the moment those flames even burst his head, Valion burned away without a trace.

“Ugh…”

‘Did I use too much magic?’

I swayed for a moment, dizzy, then quickly regained my balance.

Next, I spoke to the enemies surrounding Kadia and me.

“Your king is dead.

Eyes filled with terror.

I looked at those eyes and gathered my magic once more.

“Do you want to continue?”