I Became the Only Non-mage in the Academy

Chapter 197: Union (8)

Bzzz.

Ershil orchestrated the battlefield with threads of magic. There wasn’t much she could do in the clash of the upper ranks. Even the upper ranks were terrified of the power of that black goat. Despite being called a prodigy of illusion magic and the hope of Merchen, she couldn’t control it with illusions.

‘Magic transformation. Structure manifestation.’

Threads of magic overturned the battlefield.

She attached the threads to the figures of the upper ranks. Through them, she injected magic.

She casted auxiliary spells.

Pain suppression, speed enhancement, anti-magic barrier, strength augmentation.

Ershil calmly observed the battlefield.

‘This isn’t good.’

Ershil knew that fact. There were a total of eight combatants here. One of them hadn’t reached the upper rank, but another had reached the highest rank.

Was it doable? If asked, Ershil could only shake her head.

However, they did not retreat. Some fought to repay the grace they received from the Lion King, risking their lives. Others knew they would be captured and killed even if they escaped. Others simply didn’t want to be seen as fleeing.

Their reasons varied, but they did not retreat thanks to the masked man.

Kuuooo!!

The black goat roared.

A tremendous wave of dark energy erupted around it.

Thud.

The first to react was the masked man. Golden, radiant flames spread wide. His black coat fluttered in response. Ershil furrowed her brow.

-The world is indeed vast.

A transcendent being in her inner world spoke.

-That power, no matter how I look at it, is similar to the Heavenly Demon.

‘In what way?’

-In its fundamental nature. It denies dark energy.

Well…

Ershil looked at the masked man with complicated eyes. She knew who wore that coat.

Lee Seo-ha.

It was a gift she had given him. At first, she thought it was a similar item, but upon closer inspection of the mark, she realized it was the same item. It didn’t seem like Lee Seo-ha had given it to someone else, so she asked him subtly.

‘Melanie definitely said no.’

The reason was simple.

-The energy of defying heaven denies everything. The Heavenly Demon couldn’t solve that problem and had to die. Unlike other powers, the energy of defying heaven makes it difficult to extend one’s lifespan.

The Black God Martial Arts was created this way.

It tuned the body. Among all the martial arts in the universe, it was the best in external martial arts. If one did not obtain the energy of defying heaven, it would be incomplete, but it could forcibly extend lifespan.

Therefore, the person using those brilliant golden flames was likely an acquaintance of Lee Seo-ha.

That’s what she said.

Ershil nodded with a complicated heart.

Honestly, it didn’t make sense. Sometimes it was hard to believe that Lee Seo-ha, who transformed the field of alchemy, was the deity of alchemy, Veritas. If it weren’t for her receiving the special potion of Veritas.

Boom!!

A massive shockwave swept through the surroundings. As soon as the shockwave occurred, all the magic threads she had placed on the battlefield were cut. They couldn’t withstand just a shockwave.

But the cause was different. It was a monstrous beast boasting a giant build and among existing monsters, an incomprehensible highest-ranked hero.

“A critical hit is needed.”

The man muttered.

He was a member of the British faction. Originally, he could join the Round Table, but he chose to rescue citizens instead of joining the Round Table, opposing the Nazi empire.

“Ershil, can you send me over there when I signal?”

“I’ll try.”

“Thank you.”

The British man, Daniel, took his stance.

Bzzz──.

The space around Daniel started to distort. It was the manifestation of an idea. It was an idea equivalent to a one-hit kill.

‘Shall I open it?’

Looking at Daniel, such thoughts crossed her mind.

Unlike others, she had Melanie Merchen.

An idea.

A power usable from the upper rank onwards. It distorted the laws and granted the user tremendous power.

Ideas usually fall into two forms.

Either they created a world or became something absolute. There’s an exception with the permanent implementation type sword used by Sword Demon, but that’s an exception among exceptions.

Most chose the latter. It was a power usable from the upper rank onwards. Creating a world implemented a favorable battlefield, but most lost to those who choose the latter.

One point of concentration.

With that, ideas were broken. Therefore, there were those who did not choose the power to create an idea.

Ershil chose the latter power. Originally, she would have chosen the former. Even those called prodigies and geniuses couldn’t keep up with her. Thus, many advised her to choose the world of ideas.

But she had Melanie.

A world created by illusions.

She could draw out the idea Melanie once created.

“Serve your lord with courage and faith, respect and protect the weak, this is the knight’s vow.”

At that moment, the black goat’s gaze turned this way.

“And here exists an absolute evil that must be destroyed. This fight does not contradict my vow!”

Idea manifestation.

Sword of the Sun.

The crimson light intensified. The blazing sunlight’s power imbued the sword. Along with it, a sacred power bloomed.

-That’s an interesting idea. Did a friend die to a being of darkness?

Melanie commented. Ershil agreed. That brilliant, sun-like power seemed born to annihilate an existence.

So warm, yet so lonely.

Setting that aside, Ershil began her preparations. She gathered magic threads to the extreme and created a foothold. She imbued it with spring-like properties.

“Looks interesting, can I join?”

A robed figure smiled. The pure white robe reached the ground. The figure, seemingly not human, was the second one she noticed. A being with long white hair and a long beard reaching below the neck despite looking in his twenties.

“Sir Merlin…? Are you here to rescue the Lion King?”

“Well, you could say that. But it’s curious. To think there would be a being of mixed blood like me here.”

Merlin looked at Ershil intently.

At the same time, she realized. He was a being sharing the blood of a dream demon like her.

“Oops! Don’t get distracted, Sir Daniel. Keep your hatred for the darkness.”

“…Yes, understood.”

The relaxed atmosphere tensed in an instant. The knight intensified his hatred towards the dark. The wavering Sword of the Sun blazed and grew larger.

“I’ll show my juniors what the master of illusion magic can do.”

Ssssh.

Flowers bloomed. The power of the dream demon enveloped the surroundings. Starting from Merlin, a flower garden began to blossom.

“The boundary between dream and reality is erased. Once that’s achieved, the power of illusion magic boasts near-omnipotence.”

The blood-red sky, the blackened earth, and the withered trees were all engulfed by flowers.

-At an absurd speed.

“The noble being within you is also surprised. My 500 years of studying illusion magic have paid off.”

“…!!”

Regardless of Ershil’s surprise, Merlin continued to prepare his magic.

“There are two options for dealing with that entity. Either trap it in an illusion forever or seize this opportunity to eliminate it.”

His voice spread clearly, reaching those ahead who turned their attention towards him.

“Let’s eliminate it. After the last monster incident, we don’t have much ‘space,’ right?”

“Haha, you truly are like my king. But aren’t you a bit too informal?”

“Normally, I would exude charisma, but everyone here is of the upper rank, right?”

A light voice, but the energy it held was not light. In full plate mail that shone silver, with a helmet shaking like a lion’s mane, a presence descended.

-The Lion King…!

“Hitler. Such a cheeky move. Claiming to have captured me without ever having done so.”

The Lion King smiled.

Though it wasn’t visible through the helmet, Ershil felt it.

“Sir Daniel, you have fought valiantly against the dark until now. Though I’d like to say you can rest now, the enemy is formidable. Will you join me?”

“Of course, Your Majesty!”

“Then let’s go. Merlin, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yes, yes.”

At the same time,

Light burst forth. Flowers began to dominate the space.

-You, you Lion King! How dare you interfere with the grand game between me and the Masked Man!!

“He’s truly odd.”

Merlin, exasperated, planted his staff into the ground.

Idea manifestation.

Garden of Yggdrasil.

The staff transformed into a tree and rose. A colossal tree. A pure white tree as large as the goat rose.

“Well, it’s not the real Yggdrasil.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. The Fairy King cherishes the real Yggdrasil dearly.”

Merlin said with a mischievous smile.

“Well, that’s part of his charm.”

Sway.

The pure white branches of Yggdrasil swayed. The power of life enveloped the surroundings.

“That’s what I like about domains. You can screw over those who turned their turf into something like the Nazi Empire.”

At the same time, the black goat’s aura intensified. The black shroud surrounding the goat, which had been the most troublesome, began to peel away. The heroes also started moving differently than before.

Rumble!!

A tremendous explosion echoed. Ershil quickly turned her head. Did the Lion King already do something? - But no.

What she saw was one thing.

The Masked Man killing the black goat alone.

Since Merlin’s appearance,

I began to quietly prepare.

‘The Lion King has joined.’

That led to one conclusion. Merlin would manifest an idea, and the knight and Lion King who manifested their ideas would kill the black goat.

‘I won’t let that happen.’

It wasn’t that I wanted to save the black goat.

Though they didn’t know, I had the system, talents, and rewards and quests from Reading (-).

Therefore, I had to get the final blow.

Despite the difference in rank, I was satisfied with participating in this fight.

I conserved my strength.

However, even if it overlapped with the power of Veritas, Lee Seo-ha’s black flame must not be revealed.

‘The attacks I can use are “Surt’s Strength (S)“ and “Ultimate Flame Demon Sword (A)”.’

And the special stat, Dragon (龍).

Crack.

Black scales filled under my coat. My eyes turned bright yellow, and the dragon’s blood took over me.

-Black Dragon of Heaven? The attribute of Heaven (天) is a bit tricky…

-Well, it’ll be the most splendid. It won’t be as great as you expect, but.

Dragons were born with attributes.

These turned into powers that symbolize themselves by name. The name given to me was Black Heaven (黑天). The black sky.

Saaa.

A power from the idea flowed in.

Heaven Destroyer (滅天).

It didn’t dominate the space. This was because it was not a power classified as a domain.

Crackle!

The black lightning transformed into the power of alchemy. Golden lightning appeared before me.

[The narrative of the savior, Lee Seo-ha, spreads far and wide.]

[The will of the world is watching you.]

White power began to imbue this place. Lightning created flames. Lightning was heat. Therefore, lightning was also treated as flame.

[The Black Flame God(?) observes your will. The Black Flame God(?) distorts the world's laws.]

[The chief god of Olympus watches you.]

[The chief god of Asgard gazes at you.]

At the same time, the world changed. The hellish scenery surrounding this place was covered by another’s idea.

The black goat’s aura weakened.

Rumble!!

Lightning screamed. I leaped.

Kuuoo!!

The black goat resigned to its fate. The emotion in its eyes was murderous intent. The immense power gained by sacrificing its life force swirled around the goat.

Pfft.

Black spikes protruded. Life force turned into a barrier. It glared at me with the intent to block my attack and kill me.

‘Ridiculous.’

Laughably, to stall time, while I toyed with the black goat, it didn’t know. It didn’t realize the sword that cut its hide wasn’t fully exerting its power. The energy of defying heaven didn’t lose its essence through transformation. The beast didn’t know that the energy of defying heaven denies its entire existence.

‘A barrier against me.’

A laugh escaped naturally.

Hitler becoming a reformed hero was more absurd.

I gripped the lightning with all my strength and threw a spear of lightning from close range.

The black goat moved.

It resolved to block the spear and perish together with me.

And the spear struck its heart.

[......!]

Countless spears greeted me in the retina.