Chapter 151 : Chapter 151
Chapter 151
The moment Mogul, having dashed forward at full speed, raised his axe.
What appeared on the Legion Commander’s face was neither a competitive spirit, nor interest, nor enjoyment.
‘Does he mean someone like me isn’t even worth laughing at?’
Even until the moment he reached right in front of him, the Legion Commander’s gaze was directed at Sven, not him.
‘To think that I am not acknowledged as a warrior.’
He could not accept it.
Because no one in the world could ignore him when he held an axe.
Even if it was the King of Reime.
No, even the Emperor of the Empire could not ignore his axe.
For he was a master who had surpassed human limits with a single axe.
Grind.
Mogul gripped the axe handle as if to crush it in his grasp.
And, he chopped down towards the bastard.
- Grrk.
In the eyes of Mogul as he swung his axe, the Legion Commander was visible with his arms spread wide, as if daring him to try.
‘Right, that’s how it should be.’
He already knew the bastard wouldn’t block the attack.
He also knew that the bastard's ability to stop attacks was enough to block even Sven's full-powered strike.
That was why, right now.
‘Isn’t this the best moment to witness my limit?’
* * *
From the day he received the order from the former Duke to hide his strength and prepare for danger, Mogul had not let go of his axe for a single moment.
Even when the Count's domain was devastated and Moner was shaken, and even when the child the Duchess had entrusted to him was swept up in all sorts of gossip and falling from grace, he held his axe and swung it.
It was the same later when that child fought the trash gnawing away at the domain, and when he fought against the Royal family to reclaim the domain.
He had to build his strength.
Only after the Duke disappeared did he realize that the weak could protect nothing, and he had to find ‘a way to kill an enemy that even the Duke could not handle.’
The first thing he clung to was a ‘full-powered strike.’
He believed that if he could concentrate all his power into a single strike, that strike alone could deliver a blow comparable to an attack several levels above him.
The result he faced after years of dedication was the limit of his body and technique.
‘It is impossible to put one’s full power into a single strike.’
First of all, his body could not withstand it.
Muscles pushed to their limit tore and could not fully transmit the power, and the same was true for his mana channels.
Whenever too much mana moved at once, the mana channels would tear and burst.
‘In the end, the power that can be transmitted is less than 20%.’
Even that alone was strong enough.
With a single strike, he had destroyed the Count family’s training ground, which had stood for hundreds of years, to the point where not even a trace could be found.
‘But… it is not enough.’
Truly a single strike; considering he could swing it only once, it was a woefully insufficient attack.
It fell far short of the standard he desired.
‘Even if I move while protecting my muscles with mana, the problem is that the mana loss is too great.’
Although he later came up with a plausible theory, the training that had continued for years eventually ended in failure due to the judgment that it was too dangerous to use in practice.
* * *
Mogul’s gaze turned to the axe blade.
‘As long as one uses a human body, the limit of mana is fixed.’
The mana channels in the body are for controlling mana.
So, he gave up on control.
“Hraaaah!”
When he released his control over his mana and struck his Mana Heart, the mana that burst forth from his body naturally wrapped around the axe.
‘Stronger.’
That was the only thing he had wished for during all that time.
‘Stronger, even stronger.’
If I have power, I won’t have to hide.
Even as the aura that had formed abnormally on the axe flickered unstably, Mogul added more mana to it and layered his will on top.
‘More, more, more……!’
What he had longed for so much was the power to destroy everything that threatened Moner.
Even though all his mana had settled upon the axe, he was not satisfied.
‘Right, if my mana is not enough……!’
Mogul activated his dormant Authority.
His Authority was ‘Absorption.’
It was an ability to absorb an enemy’s mana to sustain battle.
It was an Authority born from the desire to not fall as long as the enemy remained standing, but its limitations were clear.
The amount of mana that could be absorbed from a single enemy was fixed, and he could not absorb from the same target twice.
Above all, even if he absorbed another person's mana, he could at best use it for body enhancement or healing to minimize the repulsive force.
‘But, if I do not control it…….’
As his Authority activated, the Legion Commander’s red fighting spirit settled over the blue aura wreathing the axe.
‘Not yet.’
As he urged his Authority once more, Garius’s grayish-white mana and Sven’s mana were added to it, and eventually, even the forest’s dark purple mana mixed in.
‘Aaaaargh!’
He felt a burning pain throughout his entire body as a backlash from manipulating the mana of others.
Since he had no mana left to protect his body, perhaps he really was burning up.
Nevertheless, Mogul relentlessly drove his Authority.
‘Still! There is still some left! There is still mana left to absorb!’
Because there was still mana faintly felt at the edge of the battlefield.
‘Swallow it all, to the very last drop!’
As he activated his Authority amidst pain that made him feel like he would black out at any moment, a light pink mana settled onto his axe, accompanied by a sweet scent that pierced his nose.
At the same time, a pain incomparably stronger than anything before rushed up the hand gripping the axe, but Mogul did not let go until the end.
Instead, he smiled as he looked at the Legion Commander, who was still watching him with a confident expression, arms spread wide.
It was, at most, a fleeting instant.
The Legion Commander, sensing an unusual energy, could not raise his axe.
Nor could Sven block Mogul, who had suddenly charged forward.
It was truly a split second.
The axe, imbued with layers upon layers of aura, dug into the Legion Commander.
* * *
Neither a flashy explosion nor the sound of clashing auras was heard.
Slice!
Thud.
Only the sound of severing was heard as Mogul’s axe cut off the Legion Commander’s left arm.
- Kuaaaaaaaah!
Watching the Legion Commander clutch his left arm and scream in agony while widening the distance, Mogul let out a low groan.
“Damn it…… He twisted his body in that split second?”
Although he had severed the arm of an opponent against whom attacks had previously been ineffective, his expression was grim.
Because this attack was practically his everything.
“Mogul? Since when did you have such a technique!”
“Heh, surprised?”
Sven, who had rushed towards him, stopped at the sound of Mogul’s weak voice.
“You… are you really okay?”
“Well, somehow.”
Mogul, speaking bluntly, checked his condition.
‘It’s much more serious than I thought.’
Of course, there was no way he could be okay.
The strike just now was an attack created by pouring out all the mana in his Mana Heart and overlaying the mana of others on top of it.
As if the backlash of manipulating others' mana was still continuing, a pain that felt like every muscle was tearing and his blood vessels were burning up washed over him.
The biggest problem was that there was no mana left in his body.
He barely managed to move his body, which felt like it would collapse from exhaustion at any moment, to grip the axe, but he couldn't lift it at all.
Mogul let go of the axe as if it were nothing and looked at Sven.
“Hehe…… How was it? Did your big brother look a bit cool?”
“You idiot! Didn't I tell you to buy time just now!”
“For someone who said that, you didn’t look confident at all.”
Chuckling, Mogul pointed to the arm that had fallen on the ground and continued.
“I wanted to show you that no matter what kind of Authority it is, there is no such thing as an invincible Authority. And I had something I wanted to confirm.”
“You could have just said so with words!”
“No, I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t tried it once.”
Mogul clenched and unclenched the hand that had held the axe a few times, then looked at the Legion Commander standing far away.
“The attack just now was a failure. Just before it reached him, my hand lost its strength.”
“What? Then how……”
“I don't know either. When I relaxed my strength thinking I had failed, the mana I absorbed last moved me.”
The moment his concentration broke with the thought that he had given up on the attack, the light pink mana had moved his body.
“The mana you absorbed last?”
Mogul nodded.
“It was a mana so sweet and intense it was bewitching. Only after surrendering my body to that mana did I begin to understand.”
Realizing he had reached his limit, Mogul slumped to the ground and spoke.
“That bastard has no Authority.”
“What?”
“Fear, hostility, killing intent—whatever you call what monsters possess. He is merely controlling that very thing.”
Just as his Authority manipulated the mana of others, an Authority is an ability that realizes impossible miracles.
The ability the Legion Commander possessed was not of that kind.
“The mind reacts first to the extremely concentrated killing intent. The body freezes out of fear.”
He remembered it clearly.
The moment he faced the bastard’s killing intent head-on, his body froze like prey facing a predator, and his mana attempted to backflow to protect him.
Garius’s mana.
Sven’s mana.
Even his own mana.
None could overcome the killing intent that was greater than his own will.
“In other words, it’s like a frightened brat terrified of something scary.”
“Then……”
The gazes of the two men simultaneously turned to the Legion Commander, who was clutching his arm and glaring at them.
“You mean it’s an ability that’s nothing special against an equal opponent, but infinitely strong against the weak…… Then there’s no way we can win……”
At Sven's weak voice, seemingly having realized the Legion Commander's ability, Mogul chuckled.
“No, you idiot. It means it’s fine as long as you aren’t weak.”
He then gestured with his chin towards the arm rolling on the ground.
“His killing intent likely comes from the conviction that he can beat us, but will he be able to think the same after losing an arm?”
He had also despaired the moment he thought the attack had failed, but now it remained clearly in his memory.
The Legion Commander’s trembling eyes upon seeing his axe, his urgently moving body, and his mouth gaping in shock.
The sight of the bastard howling as he watched his arm fall futilely the moment the axe sliced through it.
“That bastard is absolutely not a predator.”
He is strong.
But he is merely a Legion Commander.
A remnant who couldn't even become a King.
Even those madness-filled eyes and that fighting spirit were nothing more than an act.
The moment he was in danger, he chose defense over attack, and when even that wasn't feasible, he twisted his body to protect his vitals and widened the distance as if fleeing.
“He’s just an Orc struggling desperately to become a predator.”
“However, if he were an opponent we could defeat with mere willpower, we wouldn't have struggled this much.”
Sven, who still couldn't forget the shock of the moment the attack failed, spoke, and Mogul nodded.
“Indeed. Of course, he is an enemy the two of us cannot defeat.”
“It seems you’re at your limit, too. Stay back now.”
“Hmm? But I clearly said I was okay earlier.”
At Sven's voice, which seemed to hold concern for him, Mogul leaned on his axe and barely managed to pull himself up.
“Because it seems our magician has finally made a move.”
At the same time, the forest began to shine as if it were ablaze.