Rebirth of the 8th-Circle Mage

Chapter 110: The Second Awakening (3)

Flames exploded, lightning flashed, and blocks of ice shattered.

The dark space flashed with tens and hundreds of Henry’s killing spells, full of slaughter and destruction for Benedict, who was trapped inside. Klever’s stomach caused so much pain that one could wonder if it was hell.

].

However, even in the midst of such violence, Klever waited for Benedict to die with a calm expression.

Thud.

Henry landed and put Venus and Selena down.

“Does it hurt?” asked Henry.

- I’m alright, master.

“Okay, let me know when Benedict is dead.”

- Alright!

It was strange.

Inside Klever’s stomach, a disaster was going on. It was as if the world could collapse at any moment, but Klever was acting in an indifferent way.

‘I didn’t expect that I would use the Chest this way,’ thought Henry as he looked at Klever.

This would have been impossible with any other mimic, but Klever was from the real Demon Realm, the hometown of demons. The place of destruction inside Klever’s stomach was none other than the Chest Henry was using as a personal subspace.

The Chest was a special place. At first glance, it looked similar to Subspace, a spell that created a storage space by taking advantage of gaps between the dimensions. However, it was actually a part of the mimic’s body, although it wasn’t made of the mimic’s flesh. The size of that space was determined by Klever’s power, and it had a certain limit.

Henry had entered and set up a trap full of slaughtering magic that no ordinary person could survive. Klever transformed into a cat and sat quietly, waiting for the explosion to end.

However, due to the many types of magic, it took much longer than expected.

As the explosion eventually subsided, Klever slowly opened his eyes and spoke.

- Master.

“So, how’d it go?”

- He’s still alive.

“What?”

Unexpectedly, Benedict was as hard to kill as a cockroach. Henry couldn’t help but admire that trait. ‘What a cockroach.’

In this case, Henry had no choice but to deal with Benedict himself.

“I’ll deal with him myself. Open up a path,” said Henry to Klever.

- Yes, master!

As the cat distorted, a portal the size of a man appeared, and Klever guided Henry inside.

‘Is it here?’

Henry didn’t have to look around too long. As soon as he arrived in the Chest, Klever lit up his stomach. In the center, a tattered and wounded Benedict was struggling to stay alive.

Benedict saw Henry and his eyes opened wide. He said, “How dare you…!”

“You’re still alive after being hit by so much magic… Is the desert’s best warrior really that unique?”

“I-I’ll make you regret this…!”

“Who? You will?”

“Draw your sword!”

Schwing!

Benedict was on the verge of death, but he pulled out his sword, his voice full of anger. His sword was full of his blue Aura.

Henry smirked and said, “Why should I?”

“What?!”

“It seems like you’ve forgotten that I specialize in magic.”

Clap!

Henry clapped and countless magic circles appeared around him. “If you survive this, I’ll use my sword.”

Clap!

Rumble rumble!

Henry clapped once more, and the magic circles waiting to be activated flashed with a purple light and started the second bout of magic bombardment.

Henry had consumed a much greater amount of mana than expected, and he felt dizzy for a moment and stumbled due to the sudden loss of mana.

‘...I’ll have to focus on collecting mana for a while.’

However, he believed that it was a pretty good price to pay if he could deal with Benedict.

Just then…

Shaaa!

“...!”

Gray smoke filled the entire Chest from the magic bombardment. Henry believed that Benedict would be dead by the time the smoke cleared. He was about to relax when orange flames shot up in front of him.

“Magic shield!”

Clank!

Henry cast the magic shield, which was a fast process, and Benedict’s sword, surrounded by the flames of La, bounced off. However, La’s flames spread onto the magic shield.

‘Damn it!’

Henry had avoided getting beheaded, but the destructive power of the remaining flames was beyond imagination. Henry quickly removed the magic shield so the flames had nowhere to burn anymore.

‘Fuck…’

He consumed a huge amount of mana in an instant to block La’s flames. Henry felt dizzy once again and stumbled. The magic bombardment also stopped.

“Did you think you could kill me so easily?”

Woong!

Instead of his sword, Benedict appeared through the thick gray smoke. He had an incredible life force. Even the most powerful sword masters would have died instantly from this level of magic bombardment. However, not only was Benedict alive, he even took advantage of Henry’s weaknesses.

‘Fuck, why does it have to be now!’

Henry saw Benedict coming through the thick smoke, but even though he twisted his body to avoid the attack, he couldn’t fully dodge it because of his lingering headache.

Swish!

Benedict shot out like an arrow and cut Henry’s side as he passed him. Blood spattered and a burning pain swept through Henry’s body.

“Damn it…”

Henry couldn't help but curse.

The cockroach Henry believed he’d caught was struggling till the end and ended up cutting him.

“Huff… Huff… Huff….”

However, Benedict was slowly dying for sure. He gripped his sword and glared at Henry with all his might.

‘Using more mana than normal is basically poison.’

Henry had already used a huge amount of mana that no other wizard could imagine using. Using more would be poison to him.

‘Do I have to use this now?’

Schwing!

Henry unsheathed his sword. If he couldn’t use mana, the only thing left was swordsmanship.

“Huff, huff… Haaa, you said you were a wizard or something… Huff….”

Benedict started laughing like a madman because he felt satisfied thinking that he had forced Henry to draw his sword.

“It seems like you’re at your limit too.”

“Huff… Huff… You bastard…! Even without La’s power… I can… destroy you…!”

Indeed, he had the mindset of the desert's best warrior. He would not admit defeat even though he could barely use his Aura, let alone the power of La. Benedict’s weak Aura seemed similar to that of an Expert user.

However, Henry’s condition was not that great either.

‘Argh, my wound…’

The strike had been loaded with Aura, and the wound on his side was much deeper than he had thought, so Henry had to pour all of his remaining Aura onto his side to stop the bleeding.

‘...There’s not much time left.’

The more time he spent on staunching the bleeding, the more mana he used. It was clear that Henry would pass out even before he could use his sword.

It was a desperate situation, as if they were both dancing dangerously on the edge of a blade.

‘I will end him first!’

Henry still thought that his situation was better than Benedict’s. He used the Hector Step to quickly close the distance.

Clank!

The two swords collided.

Henry never expected that his sword, which did not have Aura, would be overpowered by Benedict’s sword with its weak Aura.

‘Damn it!’

Benedict’s sword was cracking Henry's sword as though it were slicing through paper.

Henry was frustrated. He was angry that he had to fight without having mastered Aura, even though he was only at the Expert level.

“Hmph!”

The blood dripping on his face forced Benedict to close one eye. He wound himself up to swing his sword.

Woong!

The tip of Benedict’s sword cut a lock of Henry's hair. The two did not try to create a distance from each other because the further they were away from each other, the more they had to move, and they didn’t want to waste any energy.

Henry and Benedict swung their swords with a murderous force. The more their vision grew blurred, the clearer their murderous force became.

‘Damn that bastard!’

Henry was angry at Benedict. Benedict looked like he was on the verge of passing out, but never actually passed out. Henry knew that he couldn’t win the match by dodging Benedict’s attacks forever.

‘Once, please just one last time!’

In order to counteract the Aura that could cut through steel, Henry had no choice but to condense his mana onto the tip of the sword. Thus, he slowly began to release the mana wrapped around his side.

Cough!

He vomited blood. His vision was spinning. However, in order to make the final blow, Henry had to condense mana onto his blade no matter how dizzy he was.

Shhh…!

His body was smoking; it was a sign that he couldn’t withstand the overwhelming amount of mana he was consuming, but he had to continue.

With his powerful mental strength, Benedict could anticipate Henry’s final attack. “I’ll take it, you bastard…!”

A candle burns the brightest before it goes out—just like Benedict’s Aura. In order to make the blue flames that consumed his life force shine more brightly, Benedict increased his Aura by gathering his life force even though he could barely stand.

Clank!

The two swords collided, filling the Chest with a massive clashing sound.

“Ahhh!”

“Ahhh!”

It was difficult to say whether they were screaming or crying out loud. Neither of them could back down from the final attack. However, no matter how much mana Henry gathered and condensed, it was nothing compared to the power of the Aura of the desert’s best warrior.

‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’

Curses spewed out like water from a burst dam as his body released more smoke. Henry felt like his eyes would turn inside out at any moment, but despite his effort, he was frustrated to see that his sword was slowly cracking.

‘I won’t accept this. I can’t die here like this!’

Henry didn’t want to admit that Benedict’s sword, which was cutting through his blade, might also cut through him at any moment. He was afraid that the moment he admitted it, it would really happen. It seemed that death was near.

In this desperate situation, unable to draw out mana, Henry recalled the time he had swallowed poison and knelt in front of the execution site.

“Ahhhh!”

As blood rose in his throat, Henry squeezed out his last breath and the last bit of strength he had left. His vision turned white.