Chapter 255 : Chapter 255
Side Story 14. Sylvia (4)
Sylvia could only stare in disbelief.
“Like master, like disciple. Even your personalities are exactly alike.”
“I will take that as a compliment.”
“You are unbelievable!”
Sylvia clenched her fist.
She intended to teach Johan’s arrogant disciple a proper lesson.
“But listen, brat. If you keep acting so recklessly, you might die.”
“Then perhaps my master might appear in person after all.”
Seo Ji-han smiled as he looked at Sylvia.
“You bastard. You are joking with me right now, are you not?”
But Seo Ji-han did not answer.
He knew perfectly well that simply maintaining his smile at a time like this would irritate Sylvia even more.
‘Just what does this bastard have to be so confident about?’
She did not know how he had managed to tame a Hatchling, but she was certain he had not done it through sheer force.
Even Johan Raven could not have accomplished such a thing.
There was no possibility that some mere disciple of his could do what Johan himself could not.
“Then prepare yourself!”
For now, she would sincerely beat him senseless.
If she could not strike the pheasant, she would settle for the chicken. Even landing a blow on Johan’s disciple might relieve some of the resentment that had built up over the past seven years.
BOOOOM!
Dense clouds of mana began swirling around Sylvia’s hands.
Within them, currents of extraordinarily high voltage churned into existence.
The entire process occurred in an instant.
And then—
BOOM!
The lightning shot toward Seo Ji-han with blinding speed.
The bolt streaked forward in a straight line with enough destructive force to obliterate anything in its path.
Sylvia was certain.
From this moment onward, that disciple would be begging her to spare his life.
He would kneel before the absolute power of magic, unable even to react.
‘He is not actually going to die, is he?’
For the briefest instant, even that concern crossed her mind.
But—
SWOOOOSH!
The lightning she had fired suddenly vanished.
Even after seeing it with her own eyes, Sylvia could hardly believe it.
His blade had split the straight bolt of lightning perfectly in two.
It was almost as though she were looking at Johan Raven from long ago.
“You seem to have held back too much. Were you worried I might die?”
An indifferent gaze.
An equally indifferent tone.
Even that was exactly like that bastard.
“Ha.”
Sylvia released a short breath.
As he had said, she had indeed reduced the force at the last moment.
She bore him no grudge deep enough to kill him. She had only intended to give him a thorough beating.
Even so, she had used more than thirty percent of her power.
The fact that it had accomplished absolutely nothing came as a considerable shock.
“I will give you another chance.”
He even had the composure to say something like that.
Sylvia knew little about swordsmanship.
However, that brief exchange alone had been enough to tell her that Johan’s disciple had reached the realm of Sword Master.
‘Well, he is that bastard’s disciple.’
In that case, there was no need to worry about accidentally killing him.
Even if an Archmage like herself unleashed magic at full strength, a Sword Master should at least be able to preserve his life somehow.
“Then I will not hold back.”
The greatest thing a mage had to beware of when dueling a swordsman was the opponent’s opening attack or a surprise assault.
But if the swordsman willingly surrendered the first move, the mage entered the fight with a considerable advantage.
WHOOOOOSH!!
This time, it was a Feast of Winds.
Sylvia seized control of the surrounding space and summoned countless currents of wind.
Naturally, they were no ordinary winds.
Masses of mana sharper than blades and more destructive than bullets formed from every direction and converged upon Seo Ji-han.
There were thousands of them.
As the relentless attacks poured down, Seo Ji-han’s sword began moving even more rapidly.
‘It is useless.’
Sylvia smiled with confidence.
There was no way he could continue defending indefinitely against attacks that were invisible and carried not even the slightest scent.
The instant he exposed a single opening, everything would spiral beyond his control.
Watching from the side, Leviar clicked his tongue in amazement once again.
‘What kind of human is this?’
These were by no means attacks being hurled out at random.
Every individual current of wind was a crystallization of extreme concentration.
Leviar had never once imagined that a human mind could reach such a level while wielding magic.
‘But what does that matter?’
There was an even greater monster standing right there.
A mysterious swordsman who defended against every one of Sylvia’s attacks without making even the slightest mistake.
Now that Leviar had stepped back and was watching the two of them from a distance, the difference in their respective levels became painfully clear.
‘What kind of human is this?’
Leviar had no choice but to completely revise everything he thought he knew about humanity.
***
Red blood trickled from Sylvia’s nose.
It was a sign that her mana was being depleted.
She bit her lip.
“I lost.”
In the end, Sylvia declared her own defeat.
Even back when I had been Johan Raven, I had never heard such words leave her mouth.
Her skill aside, her pride had always been monstrously strong.
But that was not what surprised me most.
‘Even at this level, she is not the greatest in Kalia?’
The quest completion message had not appeared.
That meant there was a mage more powerful than Sylvia.
I knew a great deal about Kalia’s other Archmage, Dejan Berger.
He was Sylvia’s rival, yet he had always been regarded as the superior of the two.
But after seeing Sylvia today, I had become fairly convinced that their positions must have reversed.
Sylvia had fought a Hatchling evenly without being pushed back at all.
“Brat, I said I lost! What is with that reaction? Why are you standing there looking dazed?”
Well, Sylvia had every reason to be furious.
This was probably the first time in her life she had ever acknowledged defeat, yet the person who defeated her was standing there thinking about something else.
“Sorry. I thought you would refuse to admit defeat even if it killed you.”
“Damn you! I could refuse if the difference between us were small enough! I am so humiliated I could die right now!”
“Do not worry. I will keep it secret.”
“Do not make me laugh! Do you think I am worried about rumors spreading?”
She absolutely was.
Sylvia cared more about her reputation than almost anyone.
That was precisely why she had never once fought Dejan Berger directly.
She would vehemently deny it, of course.
“Hey, let me ask you one thing.”
“I will hear the question first.”
“How much stronger is that bastard than you right now? He is your master, so he is stronger, correct?”
“Hmm.”
It was difficult to answer immediately.
I had never considered how to explain something like this naturally.
“That bastard really was the greatest swordsman in Kalia’s history, but from what I remember, even he was not as strong as you are now.”
That made sense.
Even back when I was Johan Raven, Sylvia had never admitted that she stood beneath me.
The fact that she had acknowledged defeat now meant she had accurately grasped my current level to some extent.
“My master is....”
“Yes?”
“Obviously stronger than I am.”
“Damn it!”
Sylvia immediately exploded in frustration.
Seeing that reaction made me think I had given the right answer.
Her desire for advancement would only become stronger now.
“Then let me ask you one thing too.”
“What is it?”
“Dejan Berger. Do you know what he has been doing lately?”
“Haa! That bastard?”
Sylvia’s expression worsened the instant his name came up.
She had always been conscious of Dejan Berger in the past, but never to this extent.
“It sounds like you know something.”
“I do not know whether I should say this, but that bastard has been somewhat unhinged lately.”
Unhinged?
That was nothing like what I had expected.
“Well, I suppose he must be getting desperate. I completely caught up to him about three years ago.”
“Caught up? In magic?”
“What is with that reaction? Are you looking down on me just because I lost to you?”
“That is not what I meant.”
At present, Sylvia was unquestionably not the greatest in Kalia.
Quest messages did not make mistakes.
“I can swear on my honor as an Archmage. My progress accelerated dramatically several years ago, and I definitely caught up with that bastard.”
“All right. And?”
“That pathetic bastard has completely lost himself over it lately. He has even fallen into some absurd religion.”
“A religion?”
“I went to his Magic Tower a few months ago, and I found traces of some very strange things he had been doing. I could not meet him, so I eventually left.”
It was information I had never heard from Cheonra.
Then again, Sylvia was probably the only person who could have obtained it.
Dejan Berger rarely left his Magic Tower, and he did not meet just anyone.
“Can you tell me what you mean by traces of strange things?”
It might have been a sensitive matter, but Sylvia was surprisingly loose-lipped.
She was difficult to meet in the first place, but once someone managed to meet her, she tended to speak without concealing much.
“He had drawn some bizarre pattern on the floor and performed what looked like a religious ritual. If I had actually met him, I probably would have given him a piece of my mind.”
Sylvia began describing the grotesque pattern.
The symbols and phrases incorporated into it felt strangely familiar.
Then, at some point, realization struck me.
Leviar’s expression, as he listened beside us, also gradually hardened.
‘Demon King!’
It was a concept that did not currently exist in Kalia.
That was why Sylvia had dismissed it as some bizarre religion, but there was no mistaking it.
It was related to a Demon King.
Then everything fell into place.
Why Sylvia had surpassed Dejan Berger’s former level.
And why, despite that, Dejan Berger was still currently considered the greatest.
‘He must have received power from a Demon King.’
There was also a strong possibility that what Sylvia had described as him becoming unhinged was a side effect of that power.
And with that, my next destination was decided.
There was only one important matter I needed to take care of first.
***
“You want me to make a restraint device?”
That was one of the reasons I had come to see Sylvia.
I needed her to create something capable of restraining Leviar.
The bastard attempted to escape whenever the slightest opportunity presented itself, so I needed a reliable way to keep him under control.
“Why? Are you not confident?”
“There you go again! You are looking down on me again! Like master, like disciple, seriously! Instead, why not leave the Hatchling with me? I will lock him up and make certain to study him thoroughly!”
“WOOF!”
At those words, Leviar began growling.
If I had not been there, he looked ready to fight Sylvia to the death.
In the end, a flick to the forehead was enough to calm him.
“I have no intention of letting you study the Hatchling. There is another reason I am keeping him with me.”
“Another reason? What is it?”
He was bait to draw out the Red Dragons that would soon emerge.
Of course, I could not tell Sylvia that much.
I intended to settle the matter quietly on my own.
“You do not need to know. Just make the restraint device.”
“Even the way you talk is exactly like that bastard!”
Sylvia complained, but she did not refuse my request.
Give her a couple of hours, and she would bring back a perfectly serviceable magical device.
Just as she always had in the past.
Only Leviar remained by himself, fuming with an expression full of resentment.