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Despite entering the realm of the Class 8 mage, which already put him at the level of demons, Evergrant continued to seek out power. There was a reason for that: he didn’t think he had enough.
Despite his meticulous planning, the people who would be arriving soon in Reinhardt were no more normal than he was. They were called “Stars” for a reason: they were the most powerful beings in the continent.
But with the authority of the legend, a Primordial Stone, then things might change.
‘Class 9. Even being limited to the wind attribute, it wouldn’t be impossible to use it as a stepping stone to become the Big Star in one fell swoop.’
A way to rise beyond the ranks of the current nine brightest stars, to become a star that would shine above them.
The Big Star. No one had received this title since the modern calendar of Igrant had been established.
Evergrant clenched his fist as he looked at Joshua.
“... Why?” he asked angrily.
Joshua gave him a questioning look.
“Why do you always hold such animosity against me that you’re always standing in my way? I don’t think you’re in it for merely wealth or honor, Joshua Sanders.” Evergrant glared at Joshua. “Are you
 smiling?”
After confirming that Joshua was indeed smirking, Evergrant scowled at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“I’m sorry
 It wasn’t intentional. I just remembered old memories.”
Joshua turned to face Evergrant and stared directly into his eyes. Joshua had heard those words before, and they had been so painful that the words had been imprinted in his brain.
But now their roles were switched, and Joshua was going to return the favor.
“Evergrant, there are people in the world that are a threat just by being alive.”
“... Huh?”
“And that’s me.”
Evergrant gave Joshua a bemused look.
“Wealth and honor? I could get that whenever I want because I have the power to do so.”
“You—” Evergrant found Joshua’s assertions truly frustrating, yet he couldn’t formulate a reply. It was Joshua Sanders himself speaking, after all.
“But I’m not particularly greedy for those things. In fact, it’d be more correct to say that I’m not interested. The only thing that matters to me is
” Joshua paused and looked up at Evergrant. “Allies.”
“Allies?”
“Well, to be more accurate, they were traitors that I thought were my allies.”
“What kind of nonsense are you talking about—”
Evergrant's eyes widened abruptly as his opponent’s mood suddenly shifted.
Whoooooong
“Let me show you.”
With the sound of something vibrating, a crimson spear dropped into Joshua’s waiting hand.
“This spear is the only thing you fear.”
Joshua took a step toward Evergrant.
“This weapon had defeated numerous enemies of the Empire but was never defeated itself.”
He directed the spear's tip at Evergrant.
“Now, I’m gonna use it on you,” he quietly finished.
Evergrant didn’t listen to Joshua’s final words before he started cursing.
“You crazy—!”
Almost immediately after, he lifted one hand.
“Mages from the Magic Tower,” Evergrant yelled, “Be prepared to cast your memorized spells!”
“Yes, Tower Master!”
The mages in the back stepped forward. At that moment, there was an immediate and noticeable shift in the environmental mana levels.
“Huh?” Gabiji, a Class 4 mage from the Magic Tower, looked around in the middle of wielding a whirling orb of mana.
They were preparing for a flame-type magic, Fire Wall. But why was the ground below them turning to ice?
The answer that Gabiji was looking for came in an instant.
Flash!
Gabiji gaped, blindsided by the sudden explosion of light in his face.
“Blink?”
Two people came out of the flash of light.
“You guys should—”
“Move!”
A guy with one eye and a lady as beautiful as an elf emerged and were shouting before they even hit the ground.
“Ice field!”
Previously, only a small section of the ground had been frozen, but with the woman’s words, the entire area froze. That wasn't the end.
“Wind Storm!”
The air roared in response to the one-eyed man’s shout.
Class 6 magic erupted right in the middle of the Tower mages.
“Kwaak!”
The situation descended into chaos in mere moments.
The mages that Evergrant took with him were mostly Class 4 mages or lower. They were confronted with Class 6 magic when they barely had even Class 5 mages.
Gabiji, spared from the onslaught of mana, slowly backed away.
Screeeeeech
He had to stop suddenly.
“There’s
 more?”
Between the throng and the Tower Master stood a man.
Cain had landed softly and was surveying his surroundings with a beam on his face.
“No one will go beyond this point.”
“...!”
Gabiji’s eyes naturally fell to where Cain was pointing. He trembled.
There was a straight line dug deep into the ground—that eerie sound of something scraping against iron had come from this man.
“Where did these people come from—?” Gabiji looked towards Evergrant hopelessly, but what he saw made him tense. “T-Tower Master?”
“...Cocky,” Evergrant hissed through clenched teeth. “Anti-magic.”
Craaaack!
“...!” A sound akin to glass breaking made Gabiji’s eyes open wide.
The frozen ground melted instantly, and the raging wind that almost tore down the place slowed and eventually stopped.
“Yes!” Gabiji cheered without thinking.
Right. What was there to be afraid of? The Archmage was one-of-a-kind and had even brought Ian tun Murray to his knees. He was the new pride of the world.
“Thetapirion Whitesox.”
Theta flinched as his mana began to fade, and he turned around.
“You’re alive?”
“Thanks to you.”
“Lucky you.” Evergrant licked his lips regretfully. “I thought you’d already gone to join your master.”
Theta's eyes widened; Evergrant’s words were like a knife in the gut.
“You
 You
 No way—”
“Hoho.” Evergrant smiled pleasantly.
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“Grandpa Tower Master—”
“Unlike a certain foolish someone, I'm not the kind of person to kindly spare someone who could become a major nuisance in the future.”
That was what Tower Master Ian did in the past, and now, Evergrant was comparing himself to the former Tower Master.
“YOU MOTHERFUCKER—!” Curses sprang forth from Theta's lips. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
“Supposing that’s even possible.” Evergrant looked across at Joshua then. “Are you going to interrupt?”
“No.”
“...?” Evergrant's confusion showed through on his face.
“I promised him that I would give him the opportunity to slit the throat of the most villainous mage on the continent first.”
“Hohoho. You will come to regret that decision deeply.”
“Don’t worry; I plan to step in at any time if necessary.”
Joshua was unfazed by Evergrant’s taunt and stepped aside without hesitation.
“AAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Theta’s last string of reasoning snapped, and he heaved at his mana with all of his strength. His heart pounded as he created magic circles; it felt like it was going to explode at any moment. Theta, of course, had no plans to quit at any point. He kept pushing through the discomfort, and, of course, rings continued to form one after the other.
Whooooong!
The air soon thrummed with powerful mana.
The quick operation of his Mana Hall put Theta’s body under extreme stress. When he reached five rings, he experienced a sudden, intense agony across his entire body. When the rings counted up to six, veins began to bulge all over his body. And when the rings came to seven, Theta only held back the stream of blood by swallowing it.
He gritted his teeth and held out his hand.
“Twin Cyclone, triple!”
Knowing the time was right, Theta screamed at the top of his lungs.
He used overlap magic, like that used by Joshua back at Reinhardt, but with a threefold effect. It went beyond what Joshua had used back then.
“Foolish.” Evergrant smiled mockingly.
A powerful wind swept between them.
Theta’s eyes popped open as he realized that something was deeply wrong.
“This
 what the hell—” His jaw dropped.
The magic he had done was a reflection of decades of hard work, but that giant force of the wind was being compressed and vacuumed into one place—nowhere else but Evergrant’s own palms.
“The Primodial Stone isn’t called God's artifact for no reason. In front of Stormwind, Storm of the Seven Magicians
” Evergrant trailed off into a widening grin. “You’re no match for me even before we talk about our Class.”
“...!” The shock and awe on Theta's face was palpable.
Stormwind absorbed all of Theta’s mana and set it sailing in a different direction—but far more potent now.
“Guhahahahahahaha!”
With the power of the storm raging in both hands, Evergrant burst into laughter.
“You bastard! Die by the hands of the people you think you’re allied with! This is a Primordial Stone! No matter how much power you have, do you dare challenge the power of a god?” Evergrant glared at Joshua with wild eyes. “Experience divine power for yourself with your frail human frame.”
Joshua reacted with laughter.
“... Kehehehe.”
Evergrant trembled when he saw that.
‘He’s laughing again?’
Evergrant's brows wrinkled as a wave of worry washed over him. It had been a long time since he felt this kind of feeling.
“Sorry about that,” Joshua apologized.
But Evergrant’s worries only intensified—and he was usually right about those kinds of feelings.
Joshua created two kinds of energy from his hands: crackling in one hand and buzzing in the other.
“Right, and I have two of them.”
At first, Evergrant seemed confused by Joshua's statement, but then astonishment crept onto his face.