Chapter 138: Chapter 125
Chapter 125: Sweeping the Dark Horses, Monsters Beyond Human Limits?
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Behind Ash surged a raging tide of countless rocks, above loomed a whip of light, and ahead stretched countless crosses of light.
The sheer force of the rock tide and the crosses of light effectively sealed off even the left and right sides.
Faced with attacks coming from all directions, even a typical first-Class magician would find no way to escape. After all, the most effective defensive magic often involves overwhelming offensive mass—like this very rock wave, a clear attempt at suppression.
Yes, a normal first-Class magician would be helpless in this scenario, but—
A smile spread across Ash's face as purple light gathered in his free hand.
With a sudden sweeping motion, the purple lightning struck the earth. The overwhelming wave of rocks met this raw, unrelenting power, only to crumble instantly upon contact. In mere moments, it collapsed.
The difference in the quality of magic was stark—Ash's power was on an entirely different level. The rock tide disintegrated into fine dust.
Simultaneously, as Ash unleashed the gravitational thunder to crush the rocks, a light blue diamond-shaped shield materialized around him, encasing him entirely.
Boom—!!!
The thunder obliterated the rocks, the light struck the shield, and the combined assault unleashed a deafening roar that echoed throughout the vast city barrier.
Debris, dirt, and dust erupted into the air, forcing everyone nearby to shield their faces with their arms. But for Richter—who had manipulated the land and launched this overwhelming mass attack—it was a devastating loss. Overpowered by Ash's sheer force, he was forced to retreat, levitating into the air and fleeing a considerable distance to avoid being crushed along with his own creation.
Though Danken couldn't clearly see the situation through the thick haze, a sinking feeling in his gut told him the situation was far worse than he had imagined.
---
In the aftermath of the combined ultimate attack, even an ordinary first-Class magician would struggle to recover—especially without a timely counter-strategy.
Yet as Danken stared at the dissipating smoke, he was struck by the absence of any counterattack. The Crosses of Light continued their assault, raining down upon the battlefield.
The ongoing bombardment appeared eerily composed, as if Ash had resigned himself to his fate after his initial burst of resistance.
This prompted Danken to hesitate—should he stop the attack to prevent unnecessary casualties? But just as doubt crept in—
"——You've grown up, Danken."
Ash's voice emerged unexpectedly from behind, calm yet tinged with nostalgia. "No... before Macht was sealed by the Great Barrier, you must have been taller, right?"
"——?!"
Though his tone lacked hostility, the suddenness and the way the voice appeared froze Danken in place.
"But since you started this fight," Ash continued, a sly edge to his words, "now... let me have some fun!"
Before Danken could turn around, a flash of purple lightning shot toward his back, accompanied by a low rumble.
How is this possible?! In such a dense barrage, he managed to escape and even slip behind me? Duncan's eyes widened in disbelief.
Reacting swiftly, three diamond-shaped barriers formed behind him, coalescing into a defensive magic shield. But—
The gravitational thunder surged forward with unrelenting mass, crushing the defensive shield with ease.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three consecutive shattering sounds echoed as Danken was hurled backward. Turning mid-air, he fled at high speed, desperate to escape the destructive lightning that threatened to tear him apart if it closed in.
Laufen, observing the situation, realized her attack had missed, and Danken was now teetering on the brink of annihilation. Yet, rather than retreat in the face of Ash's overwhelming power, Laufen, took action. With a whip of light transformed from her staff, she extended it horizontally, sweeping it across the battlefield in one decisive motion.
The trees along the path were felled one by one as laufen's light whip cut through the air. As it neared Ash, it suddenly flicked backward in laufen's hand, accelerating to a speed that broke the sound barrier, resulting in a sharp explosion.
This move was designed for fixed targets. If Ash remained still, once the whip's end struck and the counter-swing succeeded, it would be nearly impossible to defend against.
Even if Ash managed to hastily conjure a shield, the whip's considerable mass would easily overwhelm it. In essence, this attack was almost guaranteed to succeed—
"—Success~!" Laufen exclaimed triumphantly, a smile spreading across her face.
However, in the distance, Richter who had landed in a chaotic heap, struggled to voice a warning. Before he could, Ash casually caught the whip's end with one hand and replied with an unbothered smile:
"—I don't think so, unfortunately."
Laufen froze, her expression a mix of disbelief and confusion. "Ah... On second thought, that makes sense. If you can catch a Meteoritic bird, it wouldn't be strange for you to catch this. But still, it should be hot, right?"
Laufen's gaze shifted to the whip of light in Ash's hand—a weapon capable of splitting a house in two—and yet, Ash held it effortlessly. Her face twisted in frustration. "...What kind of monster are you?"
Ash chuckled. "I have a protective spell on my body. It's obvious your magic can't penetrate my defenses."
Laufen hesitated before smirking. "But... both your hands are occupied now. Aren't you worried?"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"
"—It means you lose!" Laufen's confident smile returned.
In the distance, Richter, who had retreated earlier, pressed his hands against the ground, pouring all his strength into his magic.
The earth began to tremble violently as if an invisible hand had overturned the entire forest. Within moments, Ash found himself standing in the depths of an artificial canyon.
---
Towering semicircular rock walls, hundreds of meters high, rose majestically on either side of him. With a thunderous rumble, they began closing in rapidly, "squeezing" the sky into a thin line above.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
The deafening crashes echoed like a massive demolition project. Sunlight was swiftly consumed by the encroaching rock walls, and the dust cloud they kicked up blanketed the entire barrier.
If Ash couldn't escape in time, he would be crushed along with everything else in this tightening "canyon."
Adding to the chaos, two tornadoes erupted from either side of the canyon, their violent winds cutting off all possible escape routes.
"—Wind flame magic!"
Midway through, Danken altered the properties of the tornadoes.
In an instant, the wild winds transformed into blazing infernos, becoming twin firestorms that pierced the heavens.
The ferocity of the flames was overwhelming, enough to make even the most composed hearts race with fear. It was a desperate situation, the ultimate coordinated attack between Danken and Richter.
---
Ash surveyed the spectacle with mild amusement. "...Quite the setup. Let me guess—the plan is to drive the fire tornadoes at me from both sides, then compress them with the rock walls to create a fiery cage? I'll admit, it's a grand display. But Laufen…"
His eyes shifted toward Laufen, who stood not far away, still bound by the whip she'd let Ash catch. But before Ash could finish his sentence, he realized Laufen had already let go of the wand.
In the blink of an eye, Laufen vanished from her original position, as if teleporting.
It was clear that Laufen was using high-speed movement magic—Ash could see the traces of magic she left behind, all pointing toward a narrow gap in the rock wall on the left, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
But as he watched, the gap was rapidly closing. It was obvious that this escape route had been prepared exclusively for Laufen.
"—This time, you'll never break through, no matter what!"
Denken wand radiated a dazzling light as he poured even more magical power into the fire tornadoes, which now completely sealed off all space outside the rock walls. His voice boomed as he issued a final warning:
"If you surrender now, fire a flare yourself! We'll stop! Otherwise... we won't be responsible for what happens!"
Both Denken and Richter had poured nearly all of their magical power into this coordinated attack. Their hopes, their bets—everything—was riding on this one desperate move. Deep down, they even hoped Ash would surrender quickly to avoid further escalation.
They were also worried that the Iron Meteoritic Bird might be accidentally killed in the chaos, but—
"...To be honest, I don't really like standing here and just taking a beating like this," Ash muttered, brushing off their warning as if it were inconsequential.
Instead of surrendering, he bent his knees slightly, gathering power. The next moment, his feet crushed the ground beneath him.
BOOM!
The ground exploded with a deafening roar as Ash, wrapped in crackling lightning, launched himself directly at the fire tornado.
The rapidly spinning tornado, despite its overwhelming intensity, failed to stop him.
When Ash's lightning-clad figure made contact with the tornado's outer wall, the high-speed rotating flames were effortlessly torn apart as if they were nothing more than fragile paper.
He punched through the fiery blockade with ease, leaving behind the defeated remnants of the "fire dragon," now dimming to a rich purple glow.
The very next moment, Ash soared skyward like an inverted meteor. But then, defying all logic, his trajectory arced sharply back down toward the ground—directly at Denken!
---
"Oh no...! Not again—me?!"
Denken could only watch in stunned disbelief as the fire tornado was breached by the lightning-clad figure. Overwhelmed by shock and the realization of his dire luck, he hesitated.
Snapping out of it, he hastily retreated, conjuring layer after layer of protective magic in a desperate attempt to block the incoming attack.
But it was too late.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ash's figure tore through each shield as effortlessly as before. Within moments, Denken's defensive magic was completely exhausted, leaving him vulnerable.
BOOM!
Ash slammed into the ground, causing the earth to collapse and tremble violently.
The sudden quake sent Denken sprawling uncontrollably to the ground, his magical reserves entirely depleted. For a brief moment, all dignity was lost as he lay there in disarray.
He stared in disbelief at the crater left by Ash's impact.
Despite the destructive force of his landing, Ash himself was entirely unharmed. He stood in the center of the crater as if nothing had happened, still holding the little bird in his hand—completely unscathed, even spotless.
Denken's heart sank as bitterness crept in.
---
All their efforts—every strategy to attack or retreat—had failed. Their coordinated plans had been reduced to nothingness. Denken sighed in despair, his spirit broken, as he resigned himself to defeat.
"There are people this powerful in the world..." he muttered. "I've finally seen it for myself today."
Ash smiled faintly. "Giving up already? I haven't even started fighting back."
Denken let out a weary chuckle, the faintest trace of his earlier defiance still lingering. "...There's no point. I'm self-aware enough to know when struggling is futile at this level. I just can't figure out one thing..."
"Oh? What's that?"
"Why would a monster like you bother taking this exam?"
If he were in a normal state, he would have wanted to fight, even if it meant engaging in physical combat, but...
Looking at the Meteoritic Bird in Ash's hand, which had gradually become obedient and stopped struggling, he found it hard to imagine that his struggle in hand-to-hand combat could be more effective than that of the Meteoritic Bird, that his strength could surpass the Meteoritic Bird's, or that he could withstand more attacks than the Meteoritic Bird.
"You two as well?" Standing on the messy ground, Ash turned back to the two people not far away. His tone was full of boredom, carrying a kind of frustration, like punching cotton.
"…My magic power is exhausted, and I can't fight anymore… I'll die if I continue…" Richter squatted on the ground and sighed. The two rock walls in the distance had also stopped moving entirely.
"I don't have enough magic power to use high-speed movement anymore," Laufen said silently, raising her hands in surrender. "…I ask for prisoner treatment."
"What? You really can't continue? I even stayed on the ground to fight you."
"You actually figured it out? …And have you been holding back against us the whole time?" Denken's face was filled with frustration.
Denken didn't think Ash was bluffing or exaggerating; he genuinely believed it. When dealing with a magician like Richter, who could control the ground, his combat effectiveness would be reduced by at least 80% as long as he chose to fly.
Yet, despite clearly noticing this disadvantage, Ash still remained on the ground, allowing Richter to control the terrain and attack from the most advantageous positions.
"…He's simply a monster," Richter muttered, her face filled with deep frustration upon learning that Ash had already discovered the flaw and still chose to fight in such a way.
"Don't feel inferior. As far as I know, not even a first-class magician has such a ridiculous ability," Denken said, shaking his head to comfort Richter. However, his gaze remained fixed on Ash as he asked, puzzled, "But speaking of which… you said you know me?"
"It was about forty years ago, right? You were taller and younger then. I didn't expect you'd get shorter," Ash said, half-kneeling on the ground and touching his head with a nostalgic expression. "But earlier—maybe fifty years ago? I also met your teacher. He was quite a troublesome opponent."
"My teacher… Macht?! Wait, fifty years ago? How old were you? You met Macht and survived? No, no, that doesn't make sense…"
"I think it's rude to ask a gentleman his age," Ash said, smiling. He didn't answer the question, brushing off Denken's shocked reaction, and took the birdcage from him, locking the bird inside. "This will be my trophy! And today, I will… huh?"
Before Ash could walk far, two intersecting golden halos appeared beside him, causing his body movements to pause for a moment.
At that moment, another team of three emerged from the forest, their faces filled with joy.
But this scene didn't surprise anyone. After all, the noise they had made was enormous—easily the biggest battle in the entire examination room. It would have been strange if no one had noticed, observed, or tried to take advantage of the situation.
However, these three had clearly stayed far away to avoid being discovered and only came closer once things had calmed down. This caused them to underestimate Ash's strength drastically.
Denken, Richter, and Laufen looked at the newcomers as if they were fools walking to their deaths.
"…How naive does someone have to be to think they can defeat this monster? Anyone else would have been a better choice…" Denken sighed softly but couldn't help a bitter smile as he remembered that, moments ago, he'd felt the same confidence.