The Master of the Brave - Chapter 148
The Master of the Brave
Chapter 148. The one who reaches the realm of the divine
Although the power of destruction did not disperse, a light and a roar reached the horizon unhindered. Citizens all over Simurgh woke up and looked at the Imperial Palace with anxious eyes, due to the suppression of the knights of the Zaunas faction and the thunderous roar that suddenly sounded from the center of Simurgh. From the Imperial Palace, violent lights and explosions could be heard again and again. Something beyond human knowledge was happening. Some citizens asked the patrolling soldiers and the knights gathered in front of the Imperial Palace about what was happening. But neither the knights nor the soldiers were able to answer their questions. The reason why the knights remained motionless while such a supernatural phenomenon was occurring was because the Royal Guard knights in the midst of the central knights spread Emperor Alexei’s order for all knights and soldiers to stay in their positions. They had no choice but to stand in line with the citizens and watch the imperial palace.
The fierce glares and roars of the imperial palace had reached a fortress far from Simurgh. It was a hall with a radius of about ten meters. In the center of the hall stood the High Elf princess, the Great Sage Tiara Scyrus Velfa. And in front of Tiara, there was a black stone tablet floating in the air. The stone tablet was engraved with magic characters, and below it in the air was a magic circle with magic characters engraved on it as well. The pale blue light emitted by the tablet and the magic circle illuminated Tiara’s serene expression, creating a solemn atmosphere. This was one of the six fortresses that stood around Simurgh. It was one of the fortresses of the Lemmrousell Empire. This was the device that activated the Seven-Fold Magic Circle. On the top floor of each of the six fortresses, there was a similar magic circle and tablet to which Tiara and her companions were directed. Five of the six towers were already in place and ready to activate the device. Only one remained. The continuous roar coming from Simurgh was getting louder and louder, not stopping even now. However, that meant that Wynn and Leticia were still fighting as long as this roar could be heard. As long as this sound continued to be heard, the battle would not be over.
“Tiara-sama, the final preparations are ready!” A fellow high elf jumped out from the magic circles.
“Here it comes.”
At last, everything was ready. The will of Anastasia, the goddess of creation, was transmitted through the World Tree. It was to reseal Noale, the God of Destruction, until the time of the end. To do this, they would activate the Seven-Fold Magic Circle.
From now on, I will borrow the power of the World Tree to activate the Seven-Fold Magic Circle and suppress the power of Noale, the God of Destruction.
It was a magic barrier that nullified magic, which utilized the magical devices installed in the six towers built around the Simurgh imperial city. It was a deadly magic that forcibly sealed the magical power of those within the circle connecting the six towers, and for demons who obtained magical power from the miasma, it could seal their power. That was why it was one of the assets of the Lemmrousell Empire. An ordinary being would be unable to even move within the seven-fold magic circle, as if his entire body was bound by heavy chains. However, the opponent was an ancient god. He was the god with the most power, the God of Destruction. Not even the ruins of the ancient Kingdom of Rentheim, which boasted of its superior magical technology, would be able to suppress the divine power of the God of Destruction. That is why Tiara and her companions came. They received a prophecy from Anastasia, the Goddess of Creation. Tiara and the other High Elves knew how to extract the power of the World Tree. And the source of the power of the World Tree was Anastasia herself. With her, the Goddess of Creation who was the counterpart of Noale, the God of Destruction, one could seal the power of an angry god with the Seven-Fold Magic Circle.
Tiara and her select group of high elves from the other five towers began to recite. And so, the “Barrier of Protection” that enveloped Simurgh was completed.
What was most striking in the audience hall, where the fierce battle between gods and men was taking place, was the magical sealing barrier activated by Tiara and the other high elves: the Seven-Fold Magic Circle.
“What is this… My power is escaping?”
The lightning that spread snakelike around Noale gradually dissipated, and the defensive barriers that had spread around the audience hall disappeared. The thunderous roar vanished, and the air in the courtroom, which had been churning as if a tornado had struck it, returned to calm.
“This… I have experienced this before.” Leticia also felt the golden light that had enveloped her body fade and disappear. Leticia had experienced this same situation when Zaunas had made his coup d’état.
“But… what is it? At that moment, I felt a heaviness as if something invisible was entangling my body… But this is… something warm?”
“Is this the power of the World Tree… of Anastasia?” Hearing Leticia’s murmur, Noale got an idea of what was holding their power back. “Goddess of Creation, you dare to interfere in our battle…?” The God of Destruction looked up at the sky and gazed at it with an angry expression on his face. It was as if he was speaking directly to his counterpart there. “…But, Anastasia, that was a bad move. You and the girl who received the World Tree’s blessing have lost your power. My power and yours are the same. You cannot remove my power completely, and you can only block it temporarily. And if we both lose our power, the difference between God and man will be absolute.”
As proof of this, even in the situation where Leticia’s power was completely suppressed, Noale’s hands were still holding a sword of light made of divine power. Noale did not know this. He did not know the true nature of Wynn, whom he had dreamed of and longed to see again. This was because when Noale recognized Wynn, he had been infused with power by Leticia. A swordsman with power equal to Leticia’s and with abilities that surpassed Leticia’s: this was Noale’s perception of Wynn. However, the real Wynn was nothing like the Wynn Noale imagined. Because of his magical power less than that of an average human, he failed his exams three times at the knight school and was nicknamed the “Eternal Knight Candidate”. Being an orphan, he led a poor life and lagged behind his peers in his studies. Because of this, Wynn trained to be as good as anyone with a sword. Even though he had no magical power, he was able to improve his sword skills through training, and depending on how he fought, he could even beat people who could use magic. His efforts paid off, and he was now within reach of the title of “Sword Crafter”, one of the strongest swordsmen in the world.
Not only Leticia, but also Cornelia, Locke, Wedge, Lino, Kelvin, Alexei and the rest of the Royal Guard knights suffered a feeling of weakness reminiscent of fatigue, and only one of them was unaffected by the Seven-Fold Magic Circle.
Although his powers were sealed, Noale, the God of Destruction, and Anastasia, the Goddess of Creation, were equal in power. The sharpness and dexterity with the divine sword wielded by the god Noale was not inferior to that of Mito, the Sword Crafter, which Wynn once saw. However, he slightly surpassed them all. Concentrating and sharpening his nerves, he narrowly dodged Noale’s god-speed sword. The tip of the sword grazed Wynn’s body, causing some blood to spurt out. In any case, he kept looking for an opportunity to sneak his dagger towards Noale’s chest. He couldn’t bring him within range of his dagger without going through his divine sword technique, which kept him on the edge of cutting off a chunk of skin. Noale couldn’t help but feel surprised at the concentration Wynn showed.
Brilliant…
Well worth waking up from his several thousand-year slumber.
If so, how far can you keep up that pace?
More speed in swinging the sword. More strength in the sword. The stone walls, pillars and floors Noale’s sword touched cut as easily as cutting butter with a hot knife. With a mixture of physical techniques and feints, Noale created in his mind, dozens, hundreds, even thousands of possible sword trajectories to create the perfect attack. As if responding to Noale’s wishes, Wynn ducked and dodged the sword.
How close can you get to me?
They exchanged blows several times. After several exchanges, finally the balance was broken. Wynn’s legs became entangled as he dodged Noale’s attack. His posture collapsed.
Did he no longer have enough strength in his legs due to fatigue? Without missing a chance, Noale thrust his light sword. So far… you’ve done well for just a mortal. He was sure that his light sword would reach Wynn. You won’t be able to dodge this blow!
The tip of the sword approached as if it was being sucked out of Wynn’s chest. No matter how he moved, the sword would surely pierce Wynn. Or so it seemed. He twisted slightly and turned his body to face the sword. The light sword pierced Wynn’s shoulder without much resistance, and the tip even pierced through his back. With his shoulder pierced by Noale’s light sword, Wynn thrust the valuable dagger Leticia had given him into Noale’s chest.
“It was brilliant.”
He jumped away from Noale, who had put away his sword, and took distance from him, breathing heavily.
“Onii-chan!”
“Wynn-kun!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay…”
He managed to nod to Leticia and Cornelia, who came running towards him, shouting and jumping to their feet.
“It’s not okay! We’ll get you medical attention immediately.”
“You can’t use magic with Anastasia’s barriers.”
As soon as Noale finished saying that, a glow appeared in Cornelia’s hands and enveloped the wound on Wynn’s shoulder. It looked like Noale had forcibly lifted the sealing barriers magic.
“I’m not very good at healing, but I’ll do it too…” Leticia also followed Cornelia’s example and put her hand on Wynn’s wound.
Noale squinted dazzlingly as Wynn received healing magic from the two girls.
“Onii-chan, did you hint at having the God of Destruction attack you with the light sword when you staggered before delivering the final blow?”
“I got the idea when I saw how easy it was for him to cut through the hard stone. I thought, “If he can pierce the stone so easily, it should be able to pierce my body with ease”. If I had just dodged, I wouldn’t have been able to close the gap between us. If that was the case, I should let him pierce me at some non-vital point and close the gap head-on.”
“How risky… If you keep doing that, you’ll destroy your body!”
“I’m sorry.” Wynn apologized to Cornelia, who expressed her anger. “But my enemy was a god. It would have been impossible for me to win as a human without paying a price.”
Noale smiled and expressed his admiration to Wynn.
“Well, that was truly a magnificent hit. I am a god and therefore cannot be destroyed, but your blow certainly hit a god. You could say I lost this time.”
He then put his hand on the valuable sword still stuck in his chest and pulled it out with a jerk. Next, he carefully placed the dagger in front of Wynn, who was kneeling and breathing over his shoulder.
“I’ll give this back to you. I would like to have it as a reminder of the fact that a man could reach a god, but it seems the blade contains thoughts that must be respected.”
Looking at Leticia, Noale stood up. Then he opened his mouth to address the Emperor, who was watching the proceedings from his throne.
“Emperor, I am sorry. I have lost. I have sullied your name, which should always be victorious.”
“My friend. Why do you have to apologize? This battle was a memorable moment when a man overtook a God, wasn’t it? And I was able to witness that moment. And my pride was not hurt. Because it was my daughter’s squire who delivered that blow to a god. Because at the end of the day, it’s the one who bears the name Lemmrousell who comes out victorious.”
“I see.” The God of Destruction laughed at the Emperor’s words. “I really enjoyed this awakening. Anastasia, it seems our children have become very strong.”
After catching his breath, Wynn asked Noale from a kneeling position.
“God of Destruction… I have hurt you, won’t you be angry with me?”
“Me getting angry? Why? All the beings of this world are the beloved children of us gods. This child has got near to me, a god. Where is the need to be angry, or to rejoice?”
Noale nodded to Wynn as he said that. Seeing this, Wynn finally let out a big sigh, looked at Leticia and smiled. Cornelia and Locke, who were watching the fight, also had smiles on their faces.
In the midst of all this, there was only one person who was still wrapped up in the tension of the battle. He loved to fight and looked for strong opponents, and as he watched the battle between Wynn, Leticia and the God of Destruction Noale, he kept picturing in his mind what he would have done if he had been able to fight. That’s why even Wynn and Leticia couldn’t notice the change in the air. Behind Wynn, in a blind spot, several terrifying black spears spread out. When Kelvin saw their sudden appearance from space, he immediately kicked the ground, drew his sword and blocked them. But the number of spears was too many.
“…Gahaa…”
Several spears pierced Kelvin’s body, which surrounded Wynn until they reached his back.
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