Chapter 55

As soon as I ended the simulation, I activated the primordial incantation.

<Transportation!>

[T-rans-por-tay-shun!]

This time, it wasn’t a large-scale transportation. I only transported two items. It used less magical power and had a shorter activation time.

<Panic!>

Perfectly timed with Han Se-hoon’s Panic, helmets were placed over Yuria’s and my head.

The helmet’s protective function completely nullified the <Panic>.

“Jun-woo! What is this?”

The helmet inherently repelled magical power. Feeling the discomfort, Yuria shouted.

“Just a moment!”

Though I reduced the activation time with small-scale transportation, there was still a delay, and Han Se-hoon still held the initiative. We had to endure one more exchange before we could begin.

‘What’s next?’

[Simulation]

I ran a simulation of what would happen in the next five seconds.

[Simulation End]

As soon as I ended the simulation, I threw off my helmet and shouted.

“You can take it off now!”

I immediately prepared my next spell. In that moment, Han Se-hoon’s spell struck.

<Nullification!>

Just as I’d seen in the simulation, Han Se-hoon used <Nullification>. The beam hilt, beam shield, and booster boots all lost their functions.

Monggu in particular, who relied on the power from his full-body suit, was greatly destabilized by the sudden drop in ability.

The deadlock we’d barely maintained collapsed in an instant.

With our objective strength significantly inferior, once our momentum broke, defeat was certain.

I needed to seize the initiative somehow.

‘Damn… I have no choice.’

To reclaim the lost timing, I finally pulled out one of my trump cards.

“Yuria! Cover me!”

Swoosh!

As Yuria’s arrow was fired,

“Transportation!”

[T-rans-por-tay-shun!]

I activated transportation again. This time it was a large-scale transportation.

“Hmph! Spell Wedg— Ugh!”

Han Se-hoon was about to activate Spell Wedge but quickly jerked his head aside to avoid Yuria’s arrow that came flying stealthily.

Three arrows fired in a single breath targeted Han Se-hoon beyond his protective necklace. It was the ghostly accuracy of her [Mystic Eye] power, targeting the smallest opening.

Of course, focusing on Han Se-hoon meant Yuria herself was now in danger.

Spells and arrows aimed at her. Busy firing her arrows, she had no time to dodge them.

But at that moment, my transportation spell was completed.

Whiiiiine!

Bang! Boom-boom!

Twenty-one beam hilts tore through space and attached themselves to our enemies, unleashing close-range bombardment.

Monggu was equipped with a new full-body suit, and all three of us received beam shields to defend against enemy attacks.

One move that completely turned the battlefield upside down.

Especially for Han Se-hoon, six beam hilts concentrated their bombardment on him, forcing him to quickly shift into a defensive stance despite his earlier momentum.

<Triple Shield!>

Unable to recite a long spell, he consumed a memorized spell.

Thud-thud-thud!

His solid <Triple Shield> absorbed all six beams.

Han Se-hoon remained unshaken despite this onslaught. He felt like an iron fortress.

‘Still, he’s nearly out of memorized spells now.’

I made a mental calculation.

Han Se-hoon’s memorized spells used so far:

<Nullification> twice,

<Air Cannon> once,

<Freezing> once,

<Spell Wedge> three times,

<Grease> once,

<Panic> once,

<Triple Shield> once.

Ten in total.

<Escape> wasn’t a memorized spell but seemed to be a magic inscribed on his clothes, so excluding that…

He has exactly three memorized spells left. Based on what I’d seen in the simulation,

<Spell Wedge> once,

<Push> once,

and one spell I hadn’t seen yet, for a total of three remaining.

The last one was probably a shield or another spell wedge, but I couldn’t be sure…

Though he might have more spells or magical items he hadn’t shown yet… it was clear his resources were running low.

But my situation wasn’t good either.

I’d used all three large-scale transportations, and I only had enough magical power left for one <Saíl> and about four 2nd Circle spells. Plus, I had 45 seconds of simulation remaining.

Considering just these factors, I was at a severe disadvantage, but I still had a chance of winning because of:

“Huff, huff… I’ll, I’ll join you.”

Monggu, covered in blood but still breathing hard, and

“I still have a few spells left.”

Yuria, who was spinning a single Circle, were both on my side.

The surprise beam hilt bombardment had devastated the mana users and severely disoriented the mages. Taking advantage of this opening, those two had managed to eliminate all the other enemies.

Two reliable allies had joined me.

Over the past while, both of them had surpassed the original goals of our covenant.

Yuria had completed Stage 3 physical enhancement and became a 1st Circle mage. When she activated her Gift [Mystic Eye], she could defeat even 2nd Circle mages.

Monggu, who I’d been uncertain about, had managed to raise his synchronization rate with the ten pieces of equipment to over 80% and even completed Stage 5 basic training. He’d also completed Stage 2 physical enhancement. With the full-body suit, Monggu’s combat power now exceeded that of a 1st Circle mage.

It was unexpected that Monggu had accomplished this much, but…

‘He’s useful after all.’

I was simply glad.

Han Se-hoon and we stared at each other. Both sides had nearly exhausted their resources, so we naturally became more cautious.

‘But if we’re talking about winning chances, we have the advantage.’

I whispered to Monggu and Yuria.

“If we can just destroy his protective necklace, we’ll win.”

Without it, no matter what cards he might still be hiding, I could end his life with a strike too fast for him to react to.

Han Se-hoon, who had been watching us cautiously, suddenly sighed.

“Ah… this is really unexpected.”

He frowned but also seemed somewhat excited.

“You’re all ridiculously tough. That strength — you got it from this relic, right? I’m really envious… And…”

His gaze swept over me and Monggu.

“A knight fighting alongside a mage…? I’m truly surprised. You’re not affiliated with a knightly order, I assume… Did you get that equipment and combat technique here? And even a spell that summons ancient knight equipment in real-time! I’m jealous. So jealous! This relic site. It’s much more valuable than I thought.”

Ignoring his fallen comrades, he seemed delighted instead.

“I originally planned to use them as shields, but I never expected them to be completely wiped out by mere children… Anyway, I’m grateful. If I’d come alone, I would have been helpless against you, right? Ancient treasures are truly amazing!”

He suddenly spoke as if he’d already won.

“Now, I’ve seen enough of your abilities, so surrender and come with me to the Tower of Covenant. If you follow me now, I’ll treat you well.”

He bluntly suggested we surrender.

My brow furrowed.

“What does ‘treat us well’ mean? If we follow you, can we leave whenever we want?”

“Of course.”

To this man who was smoothly talking nonsense, I retorted:

“Can you make that an oath?”

“Hmm? You’re quite stubborn for a kid.”

His evasive response made it clear. If we followed him, we would never be able to leave freely. He would take all our information and treasures, and then he would take some kind of ‘measure’ to ensure we wouldn’t become a liability later. Killing us, or forcing us to swear loyalty to magical power.

I don’t know what he’s counting on, but the conclusion was already reached. We needed to fight while we still could. Right now, we had a chance of winning.

But first, I decided to extract more information. We were ignorant outsiders who knew nothing beyond the Saharan Plains.

Even if we escaped from here, we would have to face the wider world. We needed more information.

“By the way, what’s a knight? Why do you call Monggu a knight?”

He seemed to know about our equipment. That concerned me.

“Ah, at the Tower of Covenant, there are people like that. They’re not mages, but warriors armed with weapons found in relic sites. They hunt mages on sight because they hate them, so among ourselves, we call them ‘butchers.’ Well, your stuttering friend doesn’t seem like that, but anyway, we call anyone wearing that kind of gear a ‘knight.’ The organization they formed is called the Knightly Order.”

‘Knightly Order… butchers.’

The more I heard, the more it seemed the Tower of Covenant was a chaotic battlefield of factions. Earlier he mentioned the “Truth Tower” and “Magic Tower,” and now the “Knightly Order.”

Han Se-hoon broke into a smile.

“Anyway. If you don’t want to surrender, I’ll show you why you should.”

Snap.

Han Se-hoon snapped his fingers once.

Immediately, mana began to move.

“Yuria!”

Whoosh!

Before I could even call her name, Yuria’s arrow and beam shot forth.

Monggu and I also immediately fired beams.

[Simulation]

At the same time, I activated a simulation to see what his spell would be.

But I wasn’t too worried.

Among the memorized spells he could use immediately, <Spell Wedge> and <Push> would be useless in this situation, and only the last unknown spell was a variable. But just one spell. Once we blocked this one attack, we wouldn’t need to worry about memorized spells anymore.

‘Let’s see what your hidden card is.’

In the simulation, I confidently observed Han Se-hoon.

And then I despaired.

‘It’s not a memorized spell?’

Much faster than that, an instantaneously completed spell.

“A Gift?”

It was Han Se-hoon’s Gift, which he hadn’t used even once until now.

“This is my Gift. [Time Reversal].”

Han Se-hoon mockingly declared.

Click! Clack!

His Circles, which had slowed from depletion, began to writhe vigorously again. The ten deactivated gears reactivated as mana once again flowed into them.

His body, which had suffered various injuries during the fierce battle, was completely healed.

It was as if time was flowing backward only for him. In an instant, Han Se-hoon returned to his perfect condition from before the battle.

<Triple Shield>

<Nullification>

Clearly, the memorized spells he had already used were being cast again.

Our attacks meant as a deterrent were neutralized by the <Triple Shield>, and immediately after, <Nullification> caused our equipment to lose its function.

With few spells remaining, the loss of our equipment had terrifying consequences.

For a moment, we failed to check Han Se-hoon, and

<Panic>

<Freezing>

<Air Cannon>

<Push>

<Grease>

A barrage of attacks threw us into panic, froze us, battered us, and pushed us around.

We completely lost the initiative, and Han Se-hoon took out the stone that would invoke <Wind’s Protection>.

Once <Wind’s Protection> was complete, our chances of winning would drop to 0%. We’d just be punching bags.

So… it was over.

“My Gift is, you could say… the ultimate recovery ability.”

Han Se-hoon grinned nastily.

I stood there momentarily stunned.

…Is a 3rd Circle mage really this powerful?

[Simulation End]

I had 30 seconds of simulation left.