Chapter 5

Chapter 5. Proving the Hypothesis

***

"Give it to me for ten."

A crude bit of haggling.

The owner jerked his chin toward the register.

Taking customers for suckers was routine at Hunter equipment shops, but this shop was an exception.

I knew because I had been scammed countless times before the regression.

This place had that back-alley kind of trust, the sense that they did not tamper with their goods.

CLACK—

I slung the newly bought Short Sword onto my back.

It was definitely light.

I bent at the waist and looked into the full-length mirror.

The look was not bad.

Only, my instincts as a mage kept voicing complaints.

The blade was short, so its reach was lacking, and its magic amplification rate was ordinary.

"Can’t I carry both a staff and a sword?"

An idea suddenly came to mind.

"Owner, do you happen to have a Sword Stick?"

"···What?"

The owner stopped wiping the blade and shot me a look. His eyes were like he was looking at a patient.

"What would you use a half-baked toy like that for? Planning to imitate a Magic Swordsman?"

"Something like that."

"Forget it. A whole truckload of bastards in this business got themselves killed trying to mix swords and staves. You end up with neither porridge nor rice."

A firm refusal.

At this point in time after my regression, Magic Swordsman was synonymous with "jack-of-all-trash."

Mediocre magic, mediocre swordsmanship. The perfect class to be treated as dead weight if allowed into a party.

Naturally, their dedicated weapon, the Sword Stick, was also treated as "decorative garbage."

"Pick one."

I swallowed a bitter smile. He was not wrong.

An ordinary Hunter could never endure the insane act of running magic power circuits and an Aura Core at the same time.

It would be perfect for tangling the circuits and self-destructing.

But I had reached the realm of the 9th Circle.

Whether it turned into porridge or rice, chewing it up, swallowing it, and turning it into energy was my job.

"Understood. Then give me one of these too."

I pointed at the sticky note attached beside the counter.

[Mana Backflow Prevention Potion - Works Fast]

"Well now, you sure buy all kinds of things."

"You never know what might happen."

The owner clicked his tongue and handed me the vial.

Leaving his cackling laugh behind me, I stepped out of the shop.

It would be best if I never had to use it, but the more insurance I had, the better.

***

Donggureung, again.

The air was heavier than it had been at dawn. The moment I stood before the entrance of the Gate, an ominous vibration rose from the ground.

THUD—

A rumble like a heartbeat. The mana inside was twisting as if it had gained life.

"It’s angry."

My intrusion that morning had been like poking a sleeping beehive.

I tore through the hidden barrier and entered.

A strong wind and dust blocked my vision.

When the dust settled, the scene spread out before my eyes.

"······This is driving me insane."

Over a hundred.

No, perhaps even more than that.

Bleached-white skeletons were lined up in perfect rows and columns.

This was not a simple group of monsters. It was an "army."

A regular army with a command structure.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of their synchronized steps squeezed my heart.

If it had been me in the past, I could have swept away these troops with a single finger.

Small fry that would have vanished without a trace from one 5th-Circle flame spell.

But not now.

I stood on an awkward boundary, neither mage nor swordsman.

If I had left them alone, they would have multiplied into the thousands one year later.

Because I knew that horrible future, I absolutely could not retreat.

I had to deal with them here and now.

[Warning. Enemy scale exceeds expectations.]

[Secure escape route?]

AIRI’s dry voice.

In the eyes of a calculating AI, this must have looked like a suicidal act with no chance of victory.

"No."

I drew the Short Sword.

Cold metal dug into my palm.

"This is my fight."

This place was a graveyard inside my memories.

I could not borrow someone else’s hands to clean it.

Even if it was inefficient, to me, this was a kind of memorial rite.

My fighting spirit boiled up.

I could not tuck my tail between my legs in front of mere bones.

The pride of an Archmage and the legacy of the Sword Saint would not allow it.

"Skill activated, [Synchronization]."

CRACKLE—

At the same time as the chant, my blood vessels swelled.

The pain of mana forcibly twisting and converting into Aura.

A burning sensation like lava boiling between my bones and muscles.

The feeling of something scraping along the inner walls of my blood vessels stabbed my brain, but I held my breath and focused.

If it scattered, I died.

I had to control the flow of mana without the slightest error.

My right hand burned hot.

Pointing the tip of my sword, I murmured a short spell.

"[Wind], [Fire]."

1st-Circle basic magic.

Toy-like spells even rookie Hunters could cast.

But with my Trait, which connected all magic like branches.

And if those met the Sword Saint’s swordsmanship.

WHIR—

Wind swirled around the blade.

Red flames climbed atop it.

The fire, supplied with oxygen, blazed explosively and wrapped around the entire sword.

The sword vibrated with a low hum.

RUUUUMBLE.

The air inside the Gate grew scorching hot.

The Skeleton Soldier army sensed the abnormality.

Over a hundred red eyes turned toward me at once.

Clack, clack.

They advanced, increasing their speed.

"···This will be a little impressive."

I lowered my stance.

I drew in mana to the limit.

I compressed the Aura and magic spread throughout my body into a single point.

"Fast Slash. Output—10%."

Sword Draw.

The moment I declared it, the world slowed.

The timing was just before the sword touched the enemy. I would explode the flames wrapped around the blade and add acceleration.

Action and reaction.

A precise calculation that converted the explosive power of magic into physical impact.

BOOOOOOM—!

It was not a simple slash.

A storm containing fire and wind burst out in a fan shape.

The shockwave plowed through the ground.

CRAAAACK—!

The skeletons at the front burst apart like popcorn.

Those struck directly were turned to powder, and those merely grazed were swallowed by flames and slammed into the wall.

The stone floor overturned, and fragments flew like buckshot.

The front line collapsed in a single blow.

Skeletons fell like dominoes.

"Hoo···."

It felt as if my palm were burning.

From the backlash, my shoulder throbbed as if it were about to pop out.

As expected, the recoil was severe.

Every joint screamed.

If I had not reinforced my joints with mana, my arm would have been torn off.

But a smile hung at the corner of my mouth.

It worked.

The fusion of magic and swordsmanship.

The moment theory became reality.

The training from the Altar of the Inheritor had paid off.

But there was no time to sink into emotion.

More than half of them were still intact.

CREEEAK—

An ominous noise came from the corner of my vision.

Behind the collapsed formation.

One Skeleton Archer was drawing its bowstring.

Its target was my heart.

"That one first."

The distance was far.

It was too late to run over and cut it down.

An ordinary mage would have raised a barrier, and a swordsman would have dodged.

But I was neither.

"I can also do both."

With my left hand, I tapped the end of the Short Sword’s handle.

I pushed mana into the tip of the blade.

"[Energy Bolt]."

GRRRR—

Blue electric current flowed along the blade.

It was not an ordinary Energy Bolt.

Using the blade coated in Aura as a barrel, I compressed and accelerated magic power.

Creak.

The moment the archer’s fingers released the bowstring.

I swung my sword too.

Not to cut.

To fire.

BANG—!

Like a batter striking a ball.

A condensed magic bullet ricocheted from the tip of the sword.

Not a slingshot, but a Railgun.

At the same time, the arrow fired by the archer flew toward the space between my eyebrows.

The Energy Bolt, containing Sword Energy, rushed forward in a straight line.

The two forces crossed in midair.

An overwhelming difference in mass.

The arrow was caught in the shockwave and turned to powder before it could even touch.

The Energy Bolt drove straight into the archer’s skull without losing speed.

CRACK—!

The skull burst.

Its neck bones shattered, and its body was blasted backward.

Even the skeleton soldiers standing beside it were swept up by the wind pressure and fell.

"······Good."

The afterglow of the Short Sword faded.

I lightly shook out my wrist.

For improvisation, it was excellent.

The balance between mana and Aura was stable too.

"Stay calm."

It was not over yet.

***

What came next was not difficult.

I advanced, smashing the remaining skeletons one by one.

The sharper my senses became, the simpler my movements grew.

Slaughter without excess.

Before long, all hundred or so skeletons had returned to the earth.

Silence arrived.

But the red light of the Gate did not go out.

"That can’t be all."

A law born from experience.

Once the small fry were handled, the boss appeared.

A cliché, but a certain law.

WHOOOOOO—

The ground rumbled.

A vibration on a completely different level from before.

In the deepest part of the Gate, the hill rising like the mound of a royal tomb split open.

Step, step.

Heavy footsteps.

A massive figure over two meters tall.

A general clad in red studded armor walked out.

The clattering sound of its rusted scale armor scraped at my nerves.

Beneath its helmet, scarlet light blazed inside empty eye sockets.

"Your Majesty··· I shall protect you···."

The obsession of the dead seeped from cracked vocal cords.

The greatest culprit behind the Donggureung Tragedy.

"Skeleton Warrior."

[Warning: Named Monster appeared.]

[Classification: Elite]

"So you must have been the ringleader of that massacre."

I ground my teeth.

The blood-red curved saber in its hand gleamed coldly.

It was a blade that had already drunk the blood of countless people.

"Your Majesty··· please understand··· your servant···!"

The creature lowered its waist.

Magic?

No, was it going to leap?

PAH—!

Explosive acceleration.

A speed that did not match its size.

The creature closed the distance in an instant, and its curved saber aimed for my neck.

"It’s fast!"

CLANG—!

My reaction was late.

I hurriedly raised my sword and blocked it, but the force of impact exceeded my imagination.

My shoulder screamed as if it were about to dislocate.

My body floated into the air.

Screeeeech—

The moment I landed, I was pushed backward.

My grip tingled.

A bone-ringing vibration flowed through my whole body.

"Damn it."

A single exchange.

I had been pushed back in a pure contest of strength.

With a low-level body, a head-on contest of strength was impossible.

Center of gravity, muscle power, reach. Every physical condition was against me.

That thing was a tank wrapped in heavy armor, and I was infantry with my bare body.

If a proper hit even grazed me, my ribs would turn to powder.

The creature gave me no time to breathe and took its stance again.

Overwhelming pressure.

But rather than fear, exhilaration came first.

"Interesting."

I forced strength into my staggering legs.

My mana sharpened like a blade.

The efficiency of [Synchronization] rose.

The battlefield instinct that made my senses grow sharper the greater the danger.

The creature’s movements, the joints of its armor, the contraction of its rotten muscles.

All information flowed through my mind in numbers.

You cannot fool my eyes.

If I could not crush it with strength, I would crush it with information.

FWOOOSH!

I lit flames on the Short Sword in my right hand again.

This time, it was not wind.

I drew blue lightning from the fingertips of my left hand.

[Fire], [Lightning]

This time, a fusion of fire and lightning.

Rather than wide-area destruction, I focused on Penetration that would pierce a single target.

Adding the speed of lightning to the explosive force of flame.

"Fast Slash···!"

I stopped breathing.

I compressed all the muscles in my body like springs. I kicked off the ground.

Blue lightning and red flame twisted into a spiral as they aimed for the creature’s breastplate.

A trajectory impossible to create with magic alone.

THWACK!

The tip of the sword touched the creature’s red armor.

Current dug into the gaps of the armor, and flames exploded.

BOOOOOOM—!

With a tremendous roar, the creature’s body was pushed backward.

A direct hit.

This time too, it worked.

But.

When the smoke cleared, I frowned at what was revealed.

The armor was only scorched black. It had not broken.

The creature stood perfectly intact, looking down at me.

"···Magic Resistance?"

The red energy flowing over the studded armor.

It was a resistance option that offset magic damage.

A troublesome thing that scattered 1st-Circle magic the moment it touched.

I lacked physical power, and magic was blocked.

The worst possible matchup.

"So you’re tough, is that it?"

I twisted up the corner of my mouth.

It had Magic Resistance?

To me, that sounded like it was saying my magic was weak.

That irritated me quite a bit.

In that case, there was only one method.

I just had to drive enough firepower to exceed the threshold its resistance could withstand into a single point.

"I’ll burn you until you’re ash."

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