Chapter 42 Gazing At Black Radiance
The guys surrounding me seemed to think that all their attacks were meaningless, so they stopped attacking.
They must be thinking about how to attack me next.
Meanwhile, I continued to pour aura into the longsword I took from one of my enemies.
Wrapping my entire body with [Dragon Scales] while doing this is a mentally taxing task. [Dragon Scales] isn't my ultimate technique, but just a combined technique, but in terms of difficulty, it's even harder than my ultimate technique.
I was only able to do this recently, after I completed Silver and fought against Ignitor on the 45th floor.
Of course, it's not the real "Dragon Scales," and it has many fatal flaws... but since they're being too cautious, they're not choosing to engage in close combat, which is convenient for me.
Taking advantage of their inaction, I continue to store aura in my sword.
And then――
"Now it's my turn, right?"
When I had stored enough aura, I made my move.
I stepped out to the side, using my right foot as an axis, while rotating my body once, and then slashed my sword horizontally.
My ultimate technique, [Absolute Flash Blade]—variation [Flash Blade Array].
A massive, sharp aura blade.
In an instant, it extended and caught all the guys surrounding me within its range.
A gigantic aura circle blade flashed, centered around me.
It's a blade that could cut even the ≪Ice Elemental Treant≫ in 2. No matter how strong they are, no matter how much they're strengthened, it's not a power that humans can defend against if they take it head-on.
And the guys didn't even have time to react and dodge.
The upper halves of 28 bodies, cut off from the torso, danced in the air, and then the lower halves, which had reacted too slowly, spouted out fresh blood.
"......"
As I released my tension and straightened my knees, the lower halves of the guys' bodies also lost their support and fell to the ground.
And the longsword in my hand also couldn't withstand the aura of my ultimate technique and shattered into dust.
"......"
"...M-Mr. Aaron...?"
I had defeated the enemy.
But I didn't let my guard down, and before receiving another attack, I decided to search for the Storage Ring that had been recovered.
"Found it, it's this one!"
Luckily, the guy's face was unharmed. I found the guy who had recovered the Ring and searched his body, and soon found the Ring.
By the way, you can't store a Storage Ring inside another Storage Ring.
I'd like to ask a scholar for the detailed reason, but apparently, it's because Space Magic of the same system interferes with each other.
Anyway.
I took out a Healing Potion and an Antidote Potion from the Ring, one each, and rushed to the only survivor left on the scene, excluding Chloe and me.
If I had to say, it was the guy I had punched in the gut first, who had unfortunately been blown to pieces, but had also borrowed a longsword.
He seemed like the leader of those guys, so I had spared his life to keep him in custody.
The guy who was lying on the ground, vomiting blood from his mouth, was still conscious, and his gaze was fixed on me.
I turned him over onto his back, lifted his head, and tried to give him the Healing Potion first.
The expensive Healing Potion provided by the Clan would not completely cure him, but it would at least get him out of danger.
However, this guy refused treatment, keeping his mouth shut tight, as if he was determined not to drink it.
I got frustrated, forced his mouth open, and poured the potion into it.
"Drink it! Swallow it all, damn it!!"
"Ugggh...!!"
I forced him to drink the Healing Potion, and then the Antidote Potion as well.
The investigation of Judas's body revealed that they had taken poison beforehand. It's not certain if these guys did the same, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
While I was holding him back, I made the man drink the antidote potion. As the first healing potion I gave him started to take effect, the man's voice grew faint.
"This... is... futile. Even if I'm tortured, I won't tell you... anything..."
I let out a snort, placing my right hand on the man's forehead.
"It's not my job to make you break your mouth."
I gathered a small amount of aura in my palm and converted it into a shockwave, shaking the man's brain.
"Gah?"
The man let out a brief cry, but soon lost consciousness and closed his eyes.
That's the power of [Blast Blade].
"Well..."
I prioritized the man's treatment since he was on the verge of death, but for now, he shouldn't die. He's lost consciousness, and I don't have to worry about him counterattacking or escaping.
But...
My senses were still telling me that there was someone else around.
――I'm being watched.
I stood up on the spot, focusing my [magical energy sense] to its limits. However, I still couldn't figure out where the gaze was coming from.
This person is quite skilled.
There's no place to hide in this open wilderness, yet I'm being watched for sure. If it's someone with a Unique Job like Ail, a scout-type, they might be able to recognize my presence without being detected.
(Are they not coming?)
Are they waiting for an opening or just observing?
I waited for a while, but the owner of the gaze didn't reveal themselves. So, I kept a part of my consciousness on high alert and relaxed my body.
It doesn't seem like they're planning to attack.
"M-Mr. Aaron, what have you been doing all this time...?"
Chloe's voice was filled with confusion.
Come to think of it, I had left Chloe alone.
"Ah, no, it's nothing. ...More importantly, are you okay? I'm sorry for knocking you down earlier."
I turned around, apologizing for tripping her up earlier. Well, it was an emergency, so please forgive me.
"No, that's not it at all!!"
For some reason, Chloe shouted and covered her face with both hands.
"M-Mr. Aaron!!"
"What's wrong? What's going on all of a sudden?"
"Oh, oh no, oh no... not that! H-h-here!!"
"Huh? Here?"
"Here, here... I mean! P-put on some clothes, please!!"
Come to think of it, I was completely n*ked at the moment.
No, it's not like I wanted to be n*ked. It's just that when those guys attacked me, my clothes got destroyed along with the "Anti-Magic Ring".
My clothes didn't have the durability to withstand their attack. So, this is an unavoidable state of nudity.
"Well, I'll put some on. There's no need to rush."
"Rush or not, that's not the problem! Are you not embarrassed at all?!"
"Embarrassed? What's embarrassing, Chloe? You're not making any sense unless you explain it clearly."
I put my hand on my hip and shook my head, trying to appear nonchalant. Please don't talk to me like that, omitting the subject.
Chloe's face turned bright red as she shouted.
"It's because you're n*ked!! I can see everything!!"
"Everything, huh?"
I felt like asking what she meant by "everything", but I decided not to since it was pointless.
In other words...
Chloe's face was covered with her hands, but I could see her peeking through her fingers, staring intently at my "Black Radiance".
I wonder if she thinks I haven't noticed.
* * *
I put on some clothes.
By the way, the spare clothes were stored in the Storage Ring.
Since I often go on long explorations with the clan, I always carry spare clothes with me.
Well, even if I didn't have any, I could always take some from the guys lying around, but that would mean wearing bloody clothes, so I guess I was lucky.
And...
After I put on some clothes, Chloe turned back to face me again.
No, I knew she was glancing over at me even while I was changing, but Chloe's at a sensitive age, so I'll just ignore that.
"Um, Mr. Aaron, thank you for helping me. I appreciate it."
"Yeah, don't mention it."
I couldn't believe it was not Lady Eva, or so I thought. But I couldn't say it out loud. If their words were true, it'd be like she was kidnapped to lure me out.
"So, I just want to ask you something..."
Chloe said, her voice trembling slightly.
"What is it?"
"Umm... why are you still alive?"
"...Huh?! What do you mean?!"
Was I not supposed to be alive? Did Chloe hate me or something?
But it seemed that wasn't the case.
"No, that's... normally, you'd be dead, right?"
Chloe pointed to the massive crater in the wasteland. I understood what she meant.
She wanted to know how I survived the simultaneous attack from the guys.
I thought for a bit and answered.
"That's because I used this."
I raised my right hand, and from my elbow to my fingertips, I deployed [Dragon Scale].
Instantly, a semi-transparent, glowing dragon scale-like armor made of aura covered my forearm to my fingertips.
My unique battle technique――[Dragon Scale].
This is a combined technique of [Aura Armor] and [Aura Blade].
I can deflect anything that touches the surface of the scales in any direction, and by sliding the scales against each other, I can redirect incoming shooting skills and magic to my back.
As a defensive technique, it's more robust than [Continuous Blade Barrier].
However, there are 2 major drawbacks.
One is that controlling the numerous [Dragon Scale] auras is an extremely delicate and difficult task. In reality, I couldn't master this technique before I completed Silver.
And the second is a fatal flaw in actual combat.
To put it simply, when I deploy [Dragon Scale] all over my body, I can't move.
When I bend my joints with the scales covering my entire body――in other words, when I move, the scales inevitably rub against each other or come into contact with each other, causing them to repel each other and restrict my movement. It's as if the scales would force my joints to bend in the opposite direction, generating a strong repulsive force.
In short, if I move, I'll self-destruct."
So, to be honest, it was a big help that they chose to launch a simultaneous attack from a distance first.
I was able to activate [Dragon Scale] without worrying, and when I eliminated the guy who was restraining Chloe, their large-scale attack was useful too.
They had poured all sorts of skills and magic into it. Inside the crater, the aura and magical energy were temporarily saturated, and I was able to activate [Flying Control Sword] and fly up into the air without them noticing. Plus, the dust served as a smokescreen.
Well, I won't explain all that to Chloe.
"Wow, this is amazing..."
"Idiot! Don't touch!!"
Chloe looked stunned and tried to touch [Dragon Scale], so I hastily deactivated it and pulled my right hand back.
"If you touch it carelessly, your fingers will fly off!"
"Eh... Eeek!!"
Chloe's face turned pale and she took a step back.
I realized that she now understood what [Dragon Scale] was like. However, her doubts were still not cleared up, and she continued to ask questions.
"Ah, I get that you used this to defend against those people's attack... but isn't it strange that you could defend against it in the first place? I mean, Mr. Aaron was wearing an 'Anti-Magic Ring', right? So how did you activate your skill? And why were you, um, completely n*ked?"
Well, that's a reasonable question.
I don't mind explaining, but I wonder if she'll believe me... Even in the clan, they still don't believe that I'm a 'Beginner Swordman' Job.
But as for me, I can only tell the truth.
"That's because I had used my aura before putting on the ring."
"?"
Chloe looked puzzled, tilting her head like she had heard a foreign language for the first time.
I thought my explanation was insufficient, so I decided to elaborate further.
"The Anti-Magic Ring's effect is to disrupt the wearer's internal magical energy, making it uncontrollable. At the same time, when the internal magical energy is disrupted, it can't be converted into an aura."
"Yes, that's right. I know that too."
"So what? In reality, the magical energy gets disrupted, but the aura doesn't."
"Huh?"
The aura is energy converted from magical energy, but it's not the same as magical energy. They're completely different things. So, the "Anti-Magic Ring" can't take away control of the aura.
That's why I wore the ring, stalling for time while converting my magical energy into an aura and keeping it inside my body.
After that, when they attacked all at once, I brought out the aura I had stored inside my body and deployed the [Dragon Scale] on my skin to defend against it――that's what happened.
By the way, I deployed the [Dragon Scale] on my skin instead of over my clothes because I wanted to destroy the "Anti-Magic Ring" on my neck with their attack.
Well, I could have destroyed it myself, but that would have been a hassle.
It was impossible to do something as tricky as deploying the [Dragon Scale] only on my skin, with the rest on top of my clothes, in that one instant. Plus, it was faster and easier to deploy it on my skin since I was bringing out the aura from inside my body.
"No way, no way, no way! That's ridiculous!!"
I explained it all so carefully, but Chloe still didn't seem to understand.
"Even if you can control the aura, if you can't convert new magical energy, the aura will run out soon! Then the skill's operation will stop, won't it?! I mean, even if you can maintain the skill's activation, you can't delay the skill's activation itself, can you?!"
I was at a loss for what to say.
It seemed Chloe was misunderstanding from the start. What I did wasn't delaying or maintaining the skill's activation. It was storing the aura and activating the skill (martial art).
The reason Chloe misunderstands is simple. It's because she can't believe it.
To be sure, if I use the method I mentioned, I can activate a skill by exploiting the weakness of the "Anti-Magic Ring". However, there are hardly any people who can execute this method. So, originally, the "Anti-Magic Ring" doesn't have a weakness in terms of controlling aura.
Those who can't handle skills as skills can't keep their aura in check.
Even if they have a skill like "Aura Blade" that keeps their aura in a blade-like shape, the skill will stop working a few seconds after equipping the "Anti-Magic Ring".
At first glance, a skill like "Aura Blade" that seems to consume little aura will continue to consume aura as long as it's activated. And if the supply of new aura is cut off, the skill will stop working due to aura deficiency.
This is a common problem with high-powered skills that require charging. Such skills are already activated when they're being charged, and they're just a series of forced actions. If new aura isn't supplied, the skill will stop midway, and if the control over aura is weak, the charged aura will dissipate along with the skill's stoppage.
However, if one can save aura without consuming it, they can use the saved aura even after equipping the "Anti-Magic Ring".
In any case, if they can control aura to some extent, they can separate the aura from the skill's operation, store it, and use it to activate the skill later.
But in most cases, people can't separate aura from skills and control it, so the "Anti-Magic Ring" has an absolute effect on magician and non-magician combat Jobs alike.
Unless one is a new-generation wood swordsmith like me, it's difficult to exploit the ring's weakness.
"......"
And so, I was about to explain all this to Chloe until she believed it, but I got tired of it in an instant and decided to deceive her instead.
"Well, it's not like it's a big deal or anything. I just actually did it. That's it."
"What?! No way, that's not good at all!! That's super important, isn't it?! If we knew that, we might be able to save everyone in the clan when the time comes!! I want to know!!"
"Chloe's really enthusiastic about studying, huh?"
Does she have a strong intellectual curiosity? She looks like it, too. Yeah, somehow...
She's still asking me with a serious face, but I've already answered her questions, so...
"There's nothing more to say than what I've already said."
Whether or not Chloe believes my answer is up to her.
"What?! So, don't say that and tell me!!"
"What's with that? I've already answered, haven't I?"
"Tell me more about that part!!"
"No way, it's too much trouble――――."
And with that, I drew my Black Radiance from its sheath and turned around.
"Waaahhh!? Sorry about that!!?"
Chloe screamed when I suddenly drew my sword, but I didn't have time to worry about it.
Behind me. There was a guy lying there, unconscious. He was definitely unconscious, so it wasn't him.
――Magical energy detection.
An attack was coming from somewhere.
I had been on high alert, ready for a surprise attack, and I couldn't move from that spot because Chloe was behind me.
But even if I hadn't been prepared, it would've been hard to react.
That's because the attack wasn't targeting me.
――Bang!
A loud, but not flashy, sound echoed.
There was no warning or indication of the magical energy attack, aside from the sound.
At the same time as the sound, the unconscious guy's head was suddenly cut off.
And just like that, the magical energy detection and the gaze that had been watching me disappeared.
"――――Damn it!! Not again!!"
I couldn't help but curse.
I thought I had finally caught a prisoner, but they ended up dying again. Probably, or rather, definitely, it was a silencing.
They're thorough, aren't they?
And then――,
"Now's attack... isn't Wind Magic, is it?"
I confirmed that the gaze had vanished, and I approached the guy who had just been killed.
His head was cut off cleanly, as if by a sharp blade. However, it was strange that not a single speck of dust was raised when it was cut off, and I couldn't see the characteristic light refraction of Wind Magic.
In an instant, some unknown magic was deployed, cutting off the guy's head and then disappearing.
What's more, when I traced the source of the magical energy that was released, I found that it came from a few meters above the guy's head. Of course, there was nothing and no one there. In other words, the magical energy suddenly emerged from thin air and shot towards the guy, activating some kind of magic.
That's an incredible technique――or rather,
Considering the attack just now and the unnatural magical energy release, the one who can do such a thing is...
"Space magic?"
It's not a baseless speculation.
If the master of the gaze is this guy's superior, it's a perfectly plausible story.
"W-w-w-wait, it's not me, I swear?"
Chloe frantically shook her head, trying to prove her innocence in response to my muttering.
Since Chloe is the only one who can use Space magic in this place, she must have thought she was being suspected.
"I understand."
However, it's clear that Chloe didn't do it, as I sensed no magical reaction from her at that moment.
I sheathed my Black Radiance, let out a deep sigh, and looked around.
The captives were gone, and we might as well take these corpses back with us. Fortunately, the guys had Storage Rings, so I could store them and bring them back. If it were just my and Chloe's Rings, we wouldn't have enough capacity.
Anyway.
I hope we can identify these guys' faces and figure out who they are. It's probably a long shot, though.
"And, Chloe."
"Yes?"
I turned to Chloe and asked her a very important question.
"Can we teleport to Necronia with your magic?"
"Hmm..."
Chloe and I simultaneously gaze at the massive crater that has been dug into the wilderness.
Although we can't see it now, there should have been a teleportation circle there. Although we can't see it now.
However, Chloe is an exceptionally talented Space magician, adopted by the main family from a branch family. I look at her with expectation, thinking that maybe...
"Ah, I'm afraid that's impossible... If the teleportation circle was still there, we might have been able to do it, but without it, short-distance teleportation is the best I can do..."
Chloe answers with an apologetic tone.
Seriously...? I look up at the sky.
It seems like I won't be able to return by tomorrow, when the meeting is scheduled. The Clan Master will probably be decided by the other 2 people besides me.
My ambition to privatize the clan and recklessly gather materials for the ≪Attribute Treant≫ has been crushed in an instant....
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