Chapter 343

And so I joined Bulei and the others in order to crush the base that the celestials had made.
We marched through the grove and were close enough that we could see the building.

Our distance from the building, taking into account that the area was flat, would be two or three kilometers in a straight line.

And there, the residents of the Celestial World were fighting.
It seemed like nearly a thousand of them had come out of the building.

They had swarmed around, and were using their holy power to hold up the barrier.
Because…

—Bwa.

A hurricane slammed into us.
Melvis had unleashed his magic, causing the holy power barrier to distort and be eaten away.

And the aftershock of that magic had reached us.
“Don’t breathe it in! It will destroy your insides!”

But some were not prepared. They inhaled and then began to vomit.
Judging by the amount of blood that was inside, their inner organs must have melted or been damaged.

“So this is how King Melvis fights… It’s no wonder King Dalm wanted to avoid any engagement.”
Next to me, Bulei was already taking a few steps back.

It was no surprise.
Melvis hadn’t even been targeting us.
His magic was being used to attack the barrier of holy power.

And so only a small amount of it had flowed towards us.
In spite of this, it had done great damage to the army.

Those who were wounded were already starting to retreat.
And so I also fell back and entered the grove once again.

“I suppose King Melvis is going to destroy the barrier on his own.”
During the previous attack, I had been able to see the outline of the barrier.
It seemed to be a few hundred meters in diameter with the base in the center.

Normally, in order to take down a base, you had to get inside and kill all of the enemies.
There really wasn’t any other way.

And yet Melvis was hitting it with magic from the outside and trying to break it.
What a reckless thing to do.

As for the celestials, they were all working together in order to protect it.
They were using their holy power in order to reinforce the parts that had been eaten away.

“Mana and holy power. It’s a matter of which runs out first… So he was moving around and crushing bases just like this.”
Bulei looked very troubled as he muttered about understanding why the damage had been so bad.

If you fought inside of the barrier, your power would be restricted.
The force of your attacks would not leak to the outside.

However, the damage in the areas that Melvis had fought were quite bad.
From what he could tell, the barriers had been broken by force, and then he had stomped over them.

“So, what does it mean?”
I asked. But I had a bad feeling about it.

“The magic he is using now is something that eats away at holy power. Though, I’m sure it eats away at other things as well. But we know what our goal is. As long as we stay away from that strange wind, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

“Indeed. And the surrounding area doesn’t seem to be too affected.”
The trees were still standing, for instance.

“The real fighting will start once the barrier is gone. When the celestials and King Melvis fight, there will be those who fight at a distance or even run away. And so King Melvis will surely use long-range magical attacks.”

“In other words, the attacks will be going in every direction once the barrier is down? Then the damage will be…”
Bulei nodded somberly.
“Several times worse than it is now. Perhaps even dozens of times worse.”

I thought about it as well, and could find no reason to disagree with him.
Now that I thought about it, a stray bullet had passed us once.

“Uh, perhaps this isn’t a safe place to be…”

Just as I started to say this, a wind made of mana more dense than I had ever seen began to blow from below my feet.

“Is the barrier broken!?”
Melvis’s magic, which had been used to break the barrier, suddenly had nowhere else to go, and it began to spread everywhere.

“…Ah.”
Bulei’s mouth opened.

“Ah?”
What was he going to say?

“…All of you! Fall back!”

The soldiers picked up their gear and began to run.
They ran in the opposite direction of Melvis.

“…Ah!”

My hand stretched out and cut through the air.
It was a smooth and swift retreat. As if they had been trained well.

“Well, they must have been.”
Though, there was also the fear of Melvis.

The whole army had acted together.
They rushed through the trees, and I could no longer see them.

I had been left here alone.

My goal was the same as theirs. Destroy the celestial bases.
However, I couldn’t do it alone. That’s why I decided to join them.

And Melvis, who I wanted to meet, was on the other side of these trees.
I might be able to approach him once the fighting had stopped.

And then perhaps we could finally talk.
Was it possible? I was starting to think that it was.

But if Melvis continued to run wild, then the damage to the surrounding land would continue to increase.
In that case, I should take this chance, even if it is dangerous.

“The barrier is gone, so they should be fighting for quite a while. I think I should move farther back as well.”
But since I was looking for the right timing, I couldn’t go too far either.

So I could rush in when he was finished…

—Don!

Just as I was thinking this, something exploded at my back.
I didn’t know what had happened. But there was a sudden explosion.

I turned around, fearfully. And right up to my feet, a great hole that was dozens of meters deep had appeared.
“Could it be…”

Was it just a stray bullet?
It was one of the magic bullets that Melvis was unleashing at the celestials.

He was shooting a lot of them. As if he didn’t care about accuracy.
It was just one of countless shots. But for me…

“I almost died!”

I would have died if it hit me. There was no doubt about it.
In fact, I really underestimated the danger of this distance.

I couldn’t stay here anymore.
I strengthened my body and was about to run away. But at that moment, the clouds suddenly darkened.

Actually, the whole area seemed to have turned black.

“Are you serious!?”
I had…been trapped inside a black space.

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Makai Hongi