Overwhelming Firepower

This young one in front of me, in my prime, was someone I could kill with a few spells. Yet now I was having a difficult battle.

I could not accept such a thing, someone who had the blood of those b*stards was smiling so brightly against me.

Why? Does he not fear death? Does he not fear pain? Does he not care that I can take everything he has?

”It doesn’t matter... I will carve fear into your very souls.”

”Then come and try it!”

The second the young man said those words, the woman mage raised her staff, and several illusions obscured my vision.

The false images were obvious. Mana clung to every illusion like thin threads. To ordinary eyes, the chamber had become filled with countless copies of the young man and his companions. To me, they were merely hollow shapes created from mana.

”I, who can see through the very essence of mana, no illusion would work on me.”

I swiped my hand at the illusions. The surrounding mana bent toward my will. The false images distorted, their forms beginning to collapse.

Something struck my head and hands. The child named Lucen hit my hand, another was a blind woman, and the last one was a shot from what seemed to be a rough-looking man.

As they disrupted my movements, the oldest of the enemies present appeared in front of me, his fist nearing my face.

The fist struck my face. The defensive barrier around my body appeared a fraction too late. It softened the impact, but it did not stop it. My head snapped backward as the force lifted my feet from the ground and sent me flying.

I spoke in the draconic language and stopped my body as I then floated above them. Yet before I could make a move, a spear came flying towards me. It was not that fast, so easily dodged, but then four swordsmen appeared in the direction I had dodged.

One was holding a broadsword, another a longsword, the other twin blades, and the last rapier. Compared to the others present, these young ones, brimming with talent, were also the least experienced.

There was also the young man holding the broadsword among those present; he was someone different. I have no anger towards, in fact, I actually have a nice feeling about him. While I was thinking about such things, I blocked their advances using a bone wall.

The wall rose between us, formed from the remains scattered throughout the chamber. Several layers of interlocked bones pressed together, creating a barrier thick enough to withstand their weapons.

The four young warriors struck it. Their blades cut through the outer layer, but the wall immediately repaired itself using the bones beneath them.

Before they could continue, a woman covered in blazing red aura appeared at their side.

Heat spread throughout the chamber. The air around her distorted as flames gathered along the edge of her sword. Unlike the young ones, her movements contained no hesitation or wasted effort.

[Runescar Swordsmanship First Form: Blazing Flame!]

Her sword descended. The flaming edge cut through my bone wall. The bones did not merely break; they burned into ashes.

I can no longer use those, as there was nothing left to use. As expected, flames are really troublesome.

The woman did not stop after destroying the wall. Her body blurred. Several images of her surrounded me, each carrying the same blazing sword.

Unlike the illusion mage’s creations, these were not false bodies formed from mana. They were afterimages created through footwork and speed.

She circled me without allowing the flames around her sword to weaken.

[Runescar Footwork: Hazy Steps.] The attacks came from different directions.

I raised my remaining arm. Several bone spears emerged from the ground, forcing the woman to abandon her approach. She moved between them with surprisingly little wasted movement. Her blazing sword cut through every spear that came too close, turning them into ash before they could be used again.

How Troublesome. However, she was not the real threat. The young mage standing farther away had not moved since the battle began.

His expression remained calm, almost uninterested, yet an enormous amount of mana surrounded him.

One blessed by mana, even back in my era, people with such a constitution were rare. As I was momentarily distracted, the stone beneath me suddenly shifted. A wall of earth rose behind my back.

At the same mana wrapped around my legs as if giant hands had grabbed hold, pulling me down.

My feet struck the ground. The amount of mana being used to pull me down was absurd, and trying to remove the manipulation would take a few seconds.

The woman covered in blazing red aura moved first. She used the wall behind me as a foothold, stepped upon its surface, and launched herself forward. Her flaming sword descended toward my neck.

I raised my remaining arm. The black bones extending from my wrist formed into a blade and met her strike.

Flames exploded between us. The force pushed my feet deeper into the stone, while the fire coating her weapon crawled along my bone blade. I attempted to pull away, but the invisible force around my legs tightened.

It would seem that I need to finish this even if I use most of my power. I gathered mana around my body. Before I could release it, a sharp smell reached me. It was a smell that was hard to describe.

I looked in the direction of the smell. The one who was wearing a weird mask had thrown something in my direction.

”Come show me what you’re made of!” The masked man shouted as the thrown object shattered against my chest. A thick liquid spread across my ribs and robes. The unknown liquid burned.

It entered the cracks between my ribs and clung to the markings carved across my bones. Something interfered with the mana around me.

It was at that moment that Lucen Thornehart appeared before me with that weapon of his aimed at my chest.

Lucen Thornehart pulled the trigger, and his weapon, as usual, roared. The same as before, fire and metal struck my chest at the same time. This child loved hitting my chest.

The strange liquid covering my bones ignited, and the reaction tore through the markings carved across my ribs.

The explosion tore through my chest. The markings carved into my ribs shattered. The mana flowing through them broke apart, and something buried far deeper than bone rose within. It was a memory.

I saw a warm sunlight. Not the pale light of this underground chamber, but sunlight passing through the leaves of a garden. A young woman stood beneath them, holding a ring between her fingers.

This person was someone I would never forget. The names of everyone else had been forgotten, even my own name was, but a hazy memory, but hers will forever be etched into my soul, Liora.

That shining smile of hers, that face that could melt my very heart. ”Will always be together, right?” Her voice tickled my ears. As I was about to respond, the scenery changed, and the garden disappeared.

Chains replaced the sunlight. Liora stood within the imperial palace, iron restraints around her wrists. Her dress was torn, yet she still held her head high while armed men surrounded her.

Behind her knelt her father and mother. Viscount Veyne’s face was covered in blood. His wife could barely remain upright.

My own parents were there as well. They had never possessed power or influence. They were merely commoners who had worked until their hands became rough so that their son could study magic. Yet chains had been placed around them too.

The emperor’s messenger stood before me. ”Win the eastern war, and they shall live.”

I remembered refusing the empire before that day. They wanted me to become their weapon, to burn cities and erase armies merely because an emperor desired more land.

I had believed that fellow humans, as beings with intelligence, that the very act of war was an idiotic act and everyone would understand... How wrong I was...

I won the Eastern War. I burned fortresses, shattered armies, and returned with the victory they demanded. I had believed the sight of me would force them to honor it.

Instead, soldiers surrounded me at the capital gates.

The emperor’s messenger smiled as he informed me that Liora, her parents, and mine had been executed. Their bloodlines were condemned for producing people who dared resist imperial command.

Even my victory had changed nothing. They had never intended to release them. The promise had only been a chain placed around my neck.

Of course, I didn’t believe them. How could I believe people who lie so easily? Once I escaped their pursuit, I went to Liora’s hometown, and what I saw was that the Veyne estate stood empty. Its crest had been torn from the gate, and an imperial decree remained nailed to the wood.

The truth was right before my eyes. Everything they said happened. How could they? I did everything they wanted, but they still took everything from me.

My parents, who loved and cared for me. The Veyne household, which treated me well, despite my coming from a commoner background.

Liora, my love, my one and only. I would never be able to see her smile again. Something within me broke that day.

I begged the lady of the night, the Goddess of death, to bring back my loved ones to me. I would pay anything, but no matter how hard I begged, no matter how much I offered, how much I sacrificed, she never responded.

I cursed at her and all the Deities that allowed this to happen. My hands, stained with blood and ash, closed around the ring Liora and I had once shared.

I carved my soul into it, abandoning death itself so that vengeance would never end. I had failed to destroy the empire then, but its descendants still lived before me.

The chamber vanished beneath a tide of hatred. Dark mana erupted from every broken bone. Seeing those memories again, my hatred and my anger were rising.

”I shall drown you all in my eternal hatred!”