The Sword Genius of the Magic Empire - Chapter 10
Only Noblemtl
The sword cried out as it cut through space, and the magic responded with a roar.
Tables and chairs in the bar were smashed and tossed around, light fixtures broke and glass shards flew everywhere.
But even so, the battle continued without stopping.
Peeing!
Enoch dashed past the fireballs and ice bullets that whizzed past his eyes.
First of all, in order to deal with the wizards with swords, it was necessary to close the distance.
Shhhh!
Enoch’s black eyes confirmed the trajectory of the ice bullet flying at an unavoidable angle.
He braked his running legs and slid long, while simultaneously stepping on a table that was rolling around and lifting it up.
The projectile struck the top of the wooden table rising straight in front of Enoch.
The impact shattered the wood, sending flying shards that tore at the skin on his forearm.
But it was only a minor scratch. Enoch violently kicked the table he had been using as cover at the wizard in front of him.
“Cough!”
Enoch quickly closed the distance towards the man who had been knocked unconscious after being hit on the table.
Then he swung his sword towards the line of mana extending from the magic circle he was hastily trying to build.
The sword tore through space with a cold sound, cutting off the flow of mana.
Scratch!
“Damn it! Why is there magic….”
The wizard shouted with a pale face at the number of times he had been blocked by magic.
But Enoch moved his sword at that moment and cut the line of mana extending from another wizard who was aiming for this blind spot from the side.
Chaang!
The magic circle, which had lost its power source, was canceled as it shattered into shining mana crystals.
The wizards who were about to cast a spell immediately lost control of their mana and staggered greatly from the recoil.
“What, what did you do!”
One of the wizards, unable to bear it any longer, let out a scream of rage and confusion.
But instead of answering, Enoch swung his sword and cut through the lines of mana, moving quickly without stopping.
However, even though he was continuously cutting the lines of mana, it was virtually impossible to completely block the magic of five men and dodge all the magics raining down from all directions.
Phew!
Just then, an ice bullet that I couldn’t dodge in time grazed my side.
Although he was hit by the bullet, a considerable amount of shock hit his body. Enoch quickly turned his body to change direction and slid back a few steps.
Not missing that moment, one of the enemies shouted proudly.
“No matter what tricks he uses, he’s desperate to avoid it! In the end, he’s just prey!”
Enoch’s expressionless black eyes, which looked at him pitifully, narrowed slightly.
These dullards still haven’t noticed.
‘You have no idea who is being hunted.’
I must have cut them down dozens of times already to finish them off.
But this was still not enough.
They just need to give it a little more effort, just a little more.
‘Only then will you be able to fully acquire the feel of using mana in actual combat.’
Meanwhile, the wizards, who were turning pale from fear and fatigue as their magic was increasingly blocked, were desperately drawing up their mana towards Enoch once again as he had desired.
Wheeing!
Once again, dozens of spells poured down from all directions.
But the flow of the battle had already changed unilaterally.
Enoch moved his body, relying on the feeling of the sword that was completely different from the first time.
‘As expected.’
The prediction that practice is the fastest path to growth was not wrong.
At first, the dark blue mana was rippling faintly.
Before I knew it, it was blooming so clearly that it was dyeing the entire sword a bluish color.
‘It has definitely grown.’
I realized it instinctively.
Mana, a mirror that reflects oneself.
The feeling of putting that mana into the sword and projecting it.
That unfamiliar feeling was now definitely his.
It was an absurd development considering the very beginning when it was difficult to maintain even after swinging once.
‘At least this is all we can gain from this battle.’
He swallowed his satisfaction and looked at the grateful wizards before him.
Most of them were gasping for breath, almost running out of mana.
‘Then let’s wrap it up soon.’
Thud, thud.
Enoch slowly walked towards them, exhausted.
“this……!”
The wizards at the very front instinctively raised their staffs as if trying to resist somehow.
But the next moment, his shoulder was blown away along with the staff. The sword left a dark blue trail in the air, spraying blood.
“Ugh!”
He rolled on the floor, writhing in excruciating pain.
Enoch swung his sword, spraying the blood off him, and walked across the ruined tavern towards the wizards.
“Oh, don’t come!”
Someone let out a single scream, but Enoch did not stop.
The wizards, who no longer had the energy to cast spells, fell one by one under the sword without even being able to resist.
“개새끼가!”
It’s a bit too far to narrow the distance.
The last remaining wizard unleashed a magical field in the form of a grimoire floating in the air.
And then, in a final desperate effort, he began to write glowing sentences in the air with his finger.
Boohoo!
The magic circle is built up in an instant and takes effect.
In an instant, the tables and chairs around Enoch rose into the sky one after another.
A type of magic that involves psychokinesis.
Now that I think about it, that guy was the biggest reason why the interior was so destroyed by the battle.
Somehow, in the middle of a battle, all sorts of things, including food and furniture, flew at me like crazy.
Without hesitation, Enoch turned his sword around to his side and kicked the ground.
Taang!
Run away from the tables and chairs flying towards you and twist your body to the side to dodge them.
He quickly swings his sword while rotating his body around the one foot he just stepped on.
Crispy!
The mana surrounding the wizard disperses, and the completion of the magic gate that was attempting to implement telekinesis is released.
The mana that had been built up with glowing letters was completely scattered.
“…!”
The wizard holding the grimoire was about to let out his last scream in despair, but there was nothing he could do in the face of the sword rushing towards him.
thud!
The sound of the last enemy’s body collapsing echoed dully across the floor.
Enoch took a deep breath as he watched the last of the soldiers fall.
But it’s not over yet.
The most difficult enemies still remained.
Kwaaaaang!
As if waiting for it, the entire wall and table on the upper floor of the bar were destroyed, and a large shape came crashing down on Enoch at an incredible speed.
As soon as he sensed the sound, Enoch’s body reacted immediately.
By the hair’s breadth, he pulled back from the surprise attack.
Phew!
What crossed right before Enoch’s eyes was a shell made of rock the size of a person’s upper body.
The overwhelming mass of the bombardment destroyed all the equipment in the bar and penetrated it. It went straight through the opposite wall and crashed down.
As soon as Enoch saw the absurd power, he immediately knew what kind of magic it was.
‘An elemental magic that can be acquired in the mid-14th grade. [Artillery] with earth attribute.’
It literally projects a barrage of giant rocks in front. Its power is 14th grade, and is among the highest among earth attribute attack magic.
“While I was away for a moment, a rat crawled in.”
Thud, thud… .
And among the thick dust rising from the debris inside.
Footsteps were heard from the direction where the rock bombardment had just come from.
“… Even in the dark streets where the sun never shines, there are rules.”
The warehouse keeper of the underworld.
He appeared through the thick dust in the room, wearing a large, triangular fedora pulled down low.
He was walking slowly toward me from beyond the broken wall, his eyes gleaming with anger.
“Once you set foot on this street, there are rules you must follow.”
His eyes, hidden behind the shadow of his triangular fedora, were brightly colored with the light of mana that was beginning to form a magic circle.
“You broke that rule.”
Shhh!
At that moment, the magic circle he had constructed began to rotate and activate.
The blade of wind swept low once.
Enoch immediately kicked off the wall and dodged it by flipping his body in the air.
Instead of his body, just by a hair’s breadth, the table right behind him split in half with a loud noise.
Enoch’s eyes, which had been frozen for a moment to evade the spell, sharpened for a moment.
‘As expected, both power and speed are stronger than those I’ve faced so far.’
In the previous fight against the 15th-rank Akkelon, he had the complete upper hand.
But this time, the warehouse keeper was a 14th-grade wizard. He was the highest-grade wizard Enoch had ever faced.
Even if the difference is only one level, it has enormous significance to wizards.
The range and power of magic that can be learned.
The speed and application of magic casting.
In all of these aspects, the gap in wizarding ability that occurs with a one-level difference is quite large.
Even so, I have no intention of backing down.
Enoch crouched, grabbed his sword, and quickly approached the warehouse keeper, kicking his way through the debris.
With the “Mana Sense” inherited from the last swordsman of the empire and Enoch’s excellent mobility, it shouldn’t be difficult to evade simple high-power magic like that.
‘But the problem is….’
Phew!
In an instant, the rock flying towards Enoch changed its form at the warehouse keeper’s gesture. It shattered and exploded in midair.
A large number of rock fragments spread out like a confetti cloud before his eyes, covering Enoch’s vision.
Percussion!
Enoch quickly stopped himself by grabbing the bar table with one hand, just as he was running.
I grabbed it and immediately jumped over, using the bar table as temporary cover.
And one beat late.
As he moved, his ears were repeatedly struck by the horrible sound of shards of rock shattering tables and bottles of liquor.
Go go go go!
Fortunately, since it was split into small pieces while flying, its destructive power itself seems to have been reduced. The pieces did not penetrate the bar table used as cover.
Beyond that, the warehouse keeper’s proud shouts could be heard.
“You’re running away like a rat. You must be confident in your body strengthening magic!”
It’s magic.
Ignoring the warehouse keeper’s rambling nonsense, Enoch leaned his head against the hidden table and briefly assessed the situation.
‘As expected, since they’re at that level, they figured out how to deal with this situation.’
The shotgun attack just now.
Perhaps the warehouse keeper also judged that this was an opponent that would be difficult to hit with magic, so he immediately launched an easy-to-hit range attack to counter its mobility.
‘No matter how well you read the enemy’s attacks with your sense of mana, there is a limit to how much your body can evade them.’
It hurts.
Before he knew it, the blood from the wound on Enoch’s shoulder was dyeing the hem of his robe dark red.
Just like before, it is impossible to respond to long-range attacks that are so wide and fast that they cannot be completely avoided with simple physical ability alone.
But that doesn’t mean you can hide at the table forever.
If we hid in the cover for just a little longer, it was obvious that the cover would be turned to dust by another barrage of rocks boasting their powerful destructive power.
‘I need some space to approach.’
Clank.
Enoch picked up a bottle of liquor from the shelf beyond the bar table. Enoch’s dark blue eyes were reflected above the glass containing the liquor.
Whirl!
Taking advantage of a brief lull in the attack, he threw the bottle of liquor onto the table.
“You’re throwing a tantrum!”
The warehouse keeper laughed, exclaiming that it was ridiculous.
A bottle of liquor flying in a parabolic arc so slowly that it’s obvious it’s intended to attract attention, but it doesn’t even pose a threat.
You don’t have to worry about things like that.
“No way!”
The warehouse keeper lifted the saddle and shouted confidently.
The 14th level magic circle that was supposed to blow away Enoch’s hidden cover began to take on a geometric shape.
But Enoch had already kicked the wall of the shelf and launched himself forward─
Chaenggrang!
He swung his sword and cut down a bottle of wine flying through the air.
“…!”
The glass shards and contents from the broken bottle were directed straight at the warehouse keeper.
The wizard, who was about to cast his spell towards Enoch, suddenly stopped as debris from bottles poured down, blocking his vision.
‘this!’
The warehouse keeper noticed that the activation of his magic circle was slightly delayed due to that short gap.
And for a brief moment his nerves were focused.
The enemy was right in front of his nose.
Woof!
A frighteningly sharp blade was threatening his life. The warehouse keeper felt the hairs on his body stand on end at the instinctive sense of crisis.
However, the warehouse keeper suppressed his momentary confusion and continued to build the magic circle.
‘He approached, but he was still out of sword range.’
Even before he began his business under the industry name of warehouse keeper in the underworld, he had fought dozens of battles for his life.
Of course, it’s not like I’ve been crossing the line like that all this time.
Even the number of times I’ve faced a magician who focuses on close combat like that is countless.
That’s why you can tell.
‘Anyway, it’s faster to complete the magic circle here than for that bastard to approach completely within the sword’s attack radius!’
In other words, if the magic circle is activated like this, the guy will be hit with the magic directly in front of his face without being able to evade.
And by a hair’s breadth, the magic circle on this side is completed faster. This means that even if he makes a last-ditch effort like that, it’s meaningless.
But the next moment, the warehouse keeper’s expression turned suspicious.
Scratch!
The sword, which had a dark blue glow, was swung before it could even reach my body.
The sword danced and cut through the air before his eyes.
The cutting line of the dark blue sword was engraved into space.
‘Why are you wielding a sword outside the intersection?’
But the moment that incomprehensible sword attack completely split the air-
Chaang!
-The magic circle shattered before the warehouse keeper’s eyes. And beyond that, countless mana crystals flew into the air.
The swordsman with dark blue eyes rushed up to my nose and swung his sword for the second time.
“Cough!”
The blade that cut off the arm holding the horse’s pole sprayed blood along the dark blue trail.
Enoch kicked the warehouse keeper, who had just lost his right hand. He lost his balance and fell, rolling on the floor several times before he could stop.
Thump.
Enoch slowly approached him, his sword hanging down.
“What on earth did I do? Why isn’t my magic working…?”
The warehouse keeper, writhing in pain, looked at Enoch, who had come right up to him, and spat out a question.
Then he suddenly remembered something and muttered.
“… No way, “unique magic”?”
Unique magic.
An act of creating unique magic with one’s own talent, which is only possible for a very small number of magicians who have reached level 10 or higher.
If so, then what happened just now would also be explained.
The warehouse keeper glared at the sword Enoch was holding.
Not only was his movements incredibly agile earlier, but if he had been a level 10 or higher magician capable of using his own magic in the first place…
I began to understand this absurd situation.
‘That’s all, he’s definitely a level 10 or higher wizard!’
Once a conviction is formed, more evidence is found.
‘Then that would explain why they use such a strangely shaped ‘horse helmet’!’
A primitive weapon that would normally only be kept in a museum.
knife.
There is no crazy person who would use magic with a raw blade that is nothing more than a lump of iron and not even a magic stone embedded in it.
But as the warehouse keeper learned from the previous battle, what he used with that blade was to disperse mana before the magic was activated-
‘「Dispel Magic」!
One of the more common types of unique magic that is well known to the world.
It was a powerful unique magic that even he, who was proud of his extensive combat experience, only knew of through rumors.
‘So of course, that is definitely a uniquely shaped magical weapon in the shape of a sword!’
Then maybe he is someone who has far surpassed level 10.
Unless you are a wizard of a certain level, you will not be able to produce such powerful magic without using standard magical tools.
Gulp.
He swallowed dryly, convincing himself of his reasoning.
At first glance, he didn’t seem like that kind of wizard at all. Is this what it means to misjudge someone?
The warehouse keeper spat out in resignation.
“… They say that among the 10th-level wizards, there are only crazy ones. Who would have thought that they would go around casting magic with such an antique?”
But Enoch, whether he did or not, ripped the pendant from around his neck as he lay motionless under the rubble.
At that moment, the man’s expression became even more distorted.
“Oh, no! That’s…!”
As a warehouse keeper, he guards a dark logistics warehouse.
And the warehouses here were all specially-built products of modern magic engineering.
The security device is specially designed to ensure that the warehouse itself will cause major damage to its contents if forcibly destroyed or opened, which is what sets it apart from other logistics warehouses.
This extreme warehouse design is the reason why this shabby underworld still exists in the outer city of Elseid Fortress.
The ‘logistics storage’ business is the last bastion of business owned by the wizards of the dark world.
There has always been a surplus of those seeking to keep things secret throughout the Empire, and their secret items are kept in warehouses built so that only one person can open them.
And that specially made pendant was the key to that warehouse.
‘I think it was the essence of a magic engineering security system that utilized a magic stone called the Engraving Stone.’
Meanwhile, the warehouse keeper looked at Enoch with a mixture of fear and hatred.
But despite the look in the guy’s eyes that said that it shouldn’t be done, Enoch spoke calmly while spinning the pendant around and holding it.
“If you tease me, I’ll kill you.”
The storehouse keeper gritted his teeth, as if he had received back what he had said to Enoch earlier.
But regardless, Enoch slowly rose from his seat.
Inside that warehouse, there were many items that I definitely had to use in the future.
In particular, items that are absolutely necessary to follow the ‘main story’.
The man shouted at Enoch, who turned his back, growling like an animal.
“You made a mistake! Do you know who commissioned the storage of that machine carriage?”
He clearly remembers those who brought him the carriage. Those who a mere rat of the underworld like himself could not refuse to take on such a request.
The warehouse keeper said through gritted teeth.
“If I knew this, I would never let you go in ‘Vendetta’!”
Enoch paused for a moment.
-Vendetta.
A fairly powerful group of villains within the game.
One of the most prominent villain forces in the , consisting of considerably powerful magicians.
‘In the original, the Vendettas were a fairly large force that even influenced the endings of each route.’
Of course, it would have been a force that existed even five years ago.
But in this underworld, who would have thought they were involved?
‘There was no such backstory in the game.’
This was just a simple subquest in the game.
Because it was highlighted as a simple carriage hijacking incident.
‘Well, looking back, there were quite a few strange things.’
Of all places, it had to be in the Elseid realm, the terrifying battle magic sect.
Those who would dare to steal things from the outskirts of the castle of the Zhou clan.
And those who are intelligent enough to not take the stolen religious goods ‘outside the castle’, but rather secretly store them in the dark streets north of Elseid Castle.
There was only one force that met all of those conditions.
The warehouse keeper continued in a suppressed voice.
“Vendetta is a force beyond comparison to you. You’ve never seen them, so you’d never know, but they…!”
“You’ve never seen it before?”
At Enoch’s sarcastic words, the man suddenly raised his head.
His gaze is above the ground where he lies face down.
The boy’s dark blue eyes, hidden behind the shadow of his hood, were looking down at him coldly.
“No one knows these guys better than me.”
***
The basement of a dark-street bar.
Enoch descended a long way down the closed sewer hidden within it.
Then, the solidly built, huge warehouses below appeared in an orderly manner in the darkness.
‘Even though it was 5 years ago, it hasn’t changed that much.’
“Warehouse of the Dark World”
The reason why the lawless area known as the Dark Street exists in the shadows, and it is a place where all the secret materials of the empire pass through.
Compared to the original, it didn’t seem like much had changed.
‘Then the method of opening it and the items would be the same.’
Crunch. Crunch.
When I brought the pendant to the engraved pattern on the rightmost warehouse door among them, the magic stone crystal inside reacted by glowing.
A brief flash of glowing magic circuitry emerged from the door, and in an instant, the door opened with the mechanical sound of intricate gears turning.
‘As expected. It’s just like in the game.’
Enoch slowly stepped into it.
The interior of the warehouse was dark, but as soon as he entered, the lights that detected movement automatically turned on, illuminating all around.
And there, of course, the stolen machine carriage was stored.
Enoch walked around slowly and inspected it once.
A body design that is both functional and stylish.
From the sleek and sophisticated design of the black machine horse to the metallic sheen that radiates from the indoor lighting.
Although I had ridden a mechanical carriage to get here, seeing it up close felt incredibly realistic, just like what I had only seen in games.
Of course, there were no noticeable abnormalities like in the original.
‘I confirmed this.’
Enoch walked towards the storehouses on the side.
Items that must be obtained here.
I remember it all clearly.
Crunch!
First, I opened up the document archive.
The very thing he was looking for appeared.
A bundle of letters and documents, with a sealing wax seal of no engraving. Enoch put them in his bosom and packed them away.
‘This is actually the most important thing.’
Letter from unknown sender or recipient.
And a few documents.
“A bundle of documents proving the true nature of the vendetta”
Did this item appear in the original?
Enoch unfolded one of them for a moment.
There, the activity records densely recorded in ledgers were dazzling to the eyes.
‘I couldn’t read it in-game either, so I guess I’ll have to read it all.’
These are things that cannot even be compared to all the precious metals and such here combined.
In the original, we could roughly understand information about the vendetta through these bundles of documents.
That was exactly the information we needed most.
Now that I’ve become Enoch Elseid, I’m sure I’ll have a lot of ties to these guys in the future.
Enoch, who had just finished putting it away, happened to find something else stored nearby.
‘What is this?’
A pocket watch made of black metal.
At first glance, it looks simple with no decorations, but it was impressive that it was designed so that all the intricate movements of the gears inside could be seen.
And Enoch knew the identity.
“… It’s an unexpected harvest.”
A pocket watch is the symbol of the vendettas and is also their identification card.
It seemed that what the warehouse keeper said about them stealing the carriage was true.
Enoch slowly grabbed the watch.
‘This has never been implemented as an item that players can have?’
I’ve seen Vendetta wizards carry around a pocket watch just like this in-game, but I never thought I’d get it so directly.
‘I guess I’ll have to retrieve it first and then think about how to use it.’
The watch itself didn’t seem to have any special abilities, but it might definitely come in handy in the future.
Enoch, who had packed it in his bosom, suddenly saw his reflection in the mirror inside the warehouse.
He was no different from a thief, rummaging through the storage room of valuables with his hood pulled over his face.
‘First of all, I am the son of a count… … .’
But you can’t stop doing something just because you’re not in good shape.
Enoch gathered up the things he had to retrieve and boarded the carriage. But as soon as he sat down, something suddenly occurred to him.
“But, this control is….”
I just realized this suddenly, but I have no idea how to control this thing.
Enoch felt a cold sweat run down his spine.
‘You’ve done everything and now you say you can’t do this?’
Clearly, there was a cutscene in the original where the protagonist retrieves this and drives it away.
Enoch grabbed the reins hanging over the mechanical horse.
Then suddenly the headlights mounted on the machine horse’s eyes turned on like the headlights of a car. Then it immediately raised its front hooves in the air and began to swing them vigorously.
“ah.”
I realized it instinctively at that moment.
This thing is started.
Enoch tried to keep his mind positive.
‘… Well, driving can’t really be that difficult?’
For a car, you only need to know how to press the accelerator and brake.
Let alone a machine-made horse.
And a little later.
Kuuung! Kuuung!
In the night, the darkness begins to deepen.
A mechanical carriage began to bang itself against the roadside, cutting through the darkness toward the great castle of Count Elseid.