Killing Magic

The air seemed to freeze. The aura of corruption and death radiating from Qual was like a tangible quagmire, pressing down on everyone until they could hardly breathe. The battlefield beneath the city walls had become the arena for a contest between the Hero's party and the "Corrupt Sage."

Himmel, Eisen, and Ruby surrounded Qual in a triangular formation. Heiter stood a little farther back, clutching his holy emblem as a gentle light enveloped the wounded Association mages. He was also ready to support the others at any moment. Frieren glanced at Lowell beside her and blinked her green eyes, her tone flat:

"Aren't you going to help?"

Lowell leaned against a broken wall with his hands in his pockets, watching the tense battle. "If either of us joined in, there wouldn't be much suspense. Let Himmel and the others get some practice. It's a good chance to see how powerful 'Killing Magic' is, too. With us here, they'll be fine."

Frieren said, "Oh," apparently finding that reason convincing enough. She looked around, found a relatively flat boulder, and dusted it off. Then she actually sat down, fished a Star Candy wrapped in transparent paper from the small pouch she carried, and unhurriedly unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth, looking ready to watch the show.

Lupa, whom Frieren had left where she stood, was still trembling slightly with hatred and fear, her mismatched eyes fixed on Qual. Mina and Linié stood quietly farther back.

At the center of the battlefield, Qual let out a low, raspy laugh, his voice as mocking as a cat playing with mice. "Heh... a Hero, a dwarf, and a little human girl. Admirable courage. Pity it's all in vain."

Before he had finished speaking, and without even making any obvious casting motion, his fingertip twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Hiss!"

A slender, concentrated beam of magic, dark as tainted blood, appeared out of thin air without a sound and shot straight at Eisen on the flank, too fast for the eye to follow! A faint hiss, like the sound of corrosion, came from the air in its path.

"Eisen, left shoulder!" Himmel shouted urgently. Though he was no mage, his extensive combat instincts had allowed him to pick up the trajectory of the flowing magic in advance.

Eisen was immensely experienced in battle. Almost as soon as Himmel spoke, the stocky dwarf took a forceful step to the right, while bringing his heavy battle-axe across his body just in time.

"Clang—!"

The dark red beam struck the axe. Eisen grunted, feeling a tremendous force travel through the weapon and instantly numb his entire arm. He stumbled back three involuntary steps, and a shallow dent had appeared where the beam struck his axe!

"What?!" Ruby cried. She had seen it clearly: Eisen's battle-axe, forged through countless rounds of tempering and inscribed with magic-resistant runes, had been damaged in a single hit! Even though Lowell had mentioned it... she had never imagined its penetrating power would be so great!

"Careful, don't take it head-on!" Eisen growled, shaking out his numb arm, his expression grave. The magic's penetrating power was far beyond anything he had imagined.

"Hmph, not slow to react." Qual's tone was flat as his fingertip moved again.

This time, three identical dark red beams shot out in a triangular formation, aimed at Himmel, Ruby, and Heiter respectively! They were faster, and their angles were trickier!

"Goddess's protection!" Heiter shouted. A brilliant shield of light instantly spread out before Ruby. Even if it couldn't stop the attack, it had to weaken it as much as possible.

Himmel moved like lightning, his blue hair flying as he narrowly dodged the beam aimed at him and tried to close the distance to Qual.

"Boom!"

The beam struck Heiter's shield of light, shattering it almost instantly, but its power was greatly reduced. Heiter took the hit head-on, though his face turned pale; clearly, he had not resisted it easily. As for the beam aimed at Ruby, Heiter's shield held it off for an instant, after which she dodged it with high-speed movement magic. But casting that magic so quickly had clearly cost her a great deal.

"There's no end to this!" Ruby gritted her teeth and swung her staff. "Try this! Arcane Missiles Volley!" Several glowing arcane projectiles whistled out, bearing down on Qual from different angles.

Qual didn't move his feet. He merely raised his other hand and spread his fingers. A shield made of countless white honeycomb shapes appeared before him. The Arcane Missiles struck the mesh shield and vanished as if swallowed by the sea, stirring only a series of ripples before silently disappearing!

"What?!" Ruby's eyes widened. Her Arcane Missiles had no effect at all?

"It's no use, little girl." A trace of mockery flashed in Qual's pitch-black eyes. "The defensive magic that elf used just now was very interesting..."

As he spoke, both his hands flicked repeatedly, sending dark red beams swarming toward the four like deadly venomous bees! The beams were no longer limited to straight lines; some even traced bizarre arcs through the air, attacking from incredible angles.

Himmel pushed his speed to the limit, his sword flashing as he relied on exquisite footwork and anticipation to narrowly evade the beams again and again. Occasionally, he tried to block with the spine of his sword, but every contact sent a heart-stopping shock through the blade, forcing him to retreat repeatedly to dissipate the force. He couldn't get within ten paces of Qual at all.

Eisen swung his battle-axe wildly, relying on the formidable strength and combat skills of a dwarf to either meet the beams head-on with the axe head or evade them with agile movements. But every block worsened the damage to his axe, and his arms remained sore and numb. He was in a perilous position.

Ruby and Heiter could only defend themselves. Ruby cast protective spells one after another, but whether flame shields, ice barriers, or arcane barriers, none could hold out for long against the strange dark red beams before being pierced or corroded away. She was forced to keep dodging, narrowly escaping danger again and again. Heiter's holy light magic was highly effective at healing, but its defensive power was greatly reduced against these direct energy attacks, and he could barely hold on.

The battle was a completely one-sided suppression. Qual had barely moved from his position, yet with that bizarre "Killing Magic" alone, he had driven the Hero's party into a sorry state. Beneath the city walls, four figures could be seen struggling to weave and dodge through the dense dark red beams. Sword qi, flashes of an axe, magic, and holy light shone from time to time, but they could not break through the net of death beams at all.

"This can't go on!" Himmel parried a beam, his breathing somewhat ragged. "His magic is too troublesome! We have to get close!"

"Hahahahaha!" Qual burst into raspy laughter, seemingly enjoying the pleasure of overwhelming them. "Struggle, insects! Let me show you what true despair is!"

He suddenly brought his arms together before his chest, and the dark red magic around him surged violently as if boiling! The next moment, he thrust both hands forward!

It was not one beam or several, but dozens, hundreds of dark red "Killing Magic" beams. Like a blossoming flower of death, or a dense swarm of bees, they burst out indiscriminately in every direction with him at the center, covering every inch of space within dozens of meters!

There was no avoiding them! Nowhere to dodge!

"Look out!" Himmel's pupils contracted sharply. He swung his sword in an impenetrable flurry, trying to block the beams aimed at him and his companions behind him.

Eisen swung his battle-axe with all his strength, whirling it into a curtain of light.

Ruby's face turned slightly pale as she instantly cast layer upon layer of magic shields before herself and Heiter, hoping to reduce the attack's power.

Heiter also pushed his holy light to its limit.

But everyone knew that, faced with this terrifying saturation attack that could not be effectively defended against, they would probably...

At that critical moment—

"Tsk, that's enough."

Before the words had faded, Lowell vanished from where he stood.

It was not an afterimage left by high-speed movement. He had truly vanished, as if he had merged with space itself.

The next instant, he appeared as if out of thin air before Qual, who was preparing to savor the sight of his prey's dying agony. The two were within arm's reach.

Qual hadn't even seen how Lowell got there. The boiling magic around him and the death beams about to erupt seemed to have been paused at that moment.

"You...?"

Lowell raised his right hand. The movement didn't look fast; it was even somewhat casual as he gently pressed it toward Qual's face, which had twisted slightly in astonishment.

"Petrification Seal."

"Hum—!"

An earthy yellow light instantly enveloped Qual's entire body. The slightly astonished expression on his face froze.

The boiling dark red magic around him rapidly dimmed and solidified like frozen magma. Starting from the spot on his forehead where Lowell's palm pressed against it, his skin, muscles, bones... everything lost its vitality at a speed visible to the naked eye, taking on the luster of dull gray stone that spread rapidly across his entire body.

Qual wanted to cast magic to resist, but he found he couldn't move so much as a finger. Even his thoughts grew sluggish and stiff. He could only watch and feel as his life, magic, and consciousness were completely sealed away by that irresistible power.

In just two or three seconds, Qual, the "Corrupt Sage" who had been so overbearing moments ago, had been completely transformed into a lifelike stone statue, standing rigidly in place. The suffocating fluctuations of magic around him had also vanished without a trace.

The dark red beams shooting across the sky lost the magic sustaining them and silently dissolved into the air like dust scattered by the wind.

The battlefield instantly fell deathly silent.

Himmel remained in his blocking stance, the tip of his sword still trembling slightly. Eisen's battle-axe had stopped in midair. The light of Ruby's many shields gradually faded. Heiter panted heavily, sweat beading at his temples.

They all stared at the statue that had suddenly appeared, and at Lowell, who had appeared in front of Qual at some unknown point and was now gently withdrawing his hand. Their faces were full of shock and confusion.

The grueling battle that had driven them into a desperate situation had just... ended?

Lowell clapped his hands as though merely dusting them off. His face returned to its lazy, easygoing expression, and he smiled at Himmel and the others, who were still staring blankly.

"All right, all right, that takes care of it. See? I told you everything would be fine, didn't I?"

Sitting on the rock, Frieren had just swallowed the last of her Star Candy. She licked the corner of her mouth, her green eyes sweeping over the statue before turning to Lowell. She gave a soft "Mm," as if to say, "Just as I thought."

Himmel finally came to his senses. He sheathed his sword and walked over to Lowell, his expression complicated. In the end, it gave way to a wry smile. "Mr. Lowell... that was... a bit too..." For a moment, he couldn't find the right words to describe such an overwhelming way of resolving the fight without playing fair. It had been quick... but wasn't that a sneak attack?

Lowell shrugged, his tone relaxed. "A quick victory saves everyone the effort. Besides, I think you've gained plenty of experience dealing with that kind of magic. You won't run into anything similar anytime soon, but you've still gained the experience, right?"

Himmel scratched his head. Though he didn't quite approve of that way of fighting, saving people was the most important thing, after all. He merely smiled and began dealing with the aftermath.