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chapter 60




(TL: Before we start, the Basilisk Tails’ Circle Master is ‘Pelik’ not ‘Felix’, sorry about my previous misinterpretation)
Antoine’s face trembled as he shouted.
“Th-, this…! What kind of trick did you use?”
“Trick?”
Frey laughed at the ridiculous statement.
“You aren’t serious.”
“I-, if that’s not the case, then there’s no way that one of the best Wizards in our circle would just collapse without being able to do anything.”
“You can check for yourself. Isn’t it possible to have a Relic Battle three times in one day? You guys still have one chance left.”
“…kuh!”
Antoine realised that he had no choice but to step out himself.
He raised his staff and glared at Frey.
“I don’t know what tricks you’re using, but you won’t be able to fool this staff!”
Antoine aimed his staff, which had an eye-shaped gem at the top, at Frey.
The [Eyes of Truth] was a staff that could perfectly pierce through the veil of all kinds of illusory magic. So of course the usefulness of this staff went without saying.
Antonie glanced at the referee.
This glance made the referee swallow some saliva to help his dry throat, before shouting.
“B-, begin!”
Antoine felt something shooting towards him the moment he heard the referee’s voice.
‘I can’t block it!’
He couldn’t stop it.
Antoine realised that even with his skills, he could not block Frey’s attack, so he immediately cast the Blink spell.
Chantless Magic! (TL: this one kicked my butt)
This was a skill that only wizards at 5 stars and higher could do.
Antoine remained vigilant.
The strength that Frey had shown was far above his expectations.
“Fire Arro-…w?”
Antoine’s mouth widened involuntarily.
In front of his now slightly teary eyes, he saw a large number of Ice Arrows. The number of which easily surpassed a hundred.
“Th-, this doesn’t make sense. Was it not…Arcane Magic?”
“Arcane Magic? This?”
Frey smiled and touched one of the Ice Arrows beside him with his index finger.
“As you can see, they’re Ice Arrows.”
“That’s impossible! I-, Ice Arrows can’t do that much dama-”
“It can do enough.”
“Besides, the Ch-, Chantless Magic…to make all of this without preparation…”
Antoine realised just how ridiculous the sight before him was.
His blank face quickly became red.
“K-, kill…! Kill him!”
When the circle members all looked at him with blank expressions, Antoine furiously shouted at them.
“What are you doing!? Are you going to let him take all of our artifacts?!”
“B-, but…”
“Follow my orders! No matter how strong he is, he can’t overcome our numbers!”
“Ye-, yes!”
“Fi-, Fireball!”
“Magma Wall!”
“Wind Cutter!”
The circle members hurriedly chanted their spells and began to attack Frey.
Dozens of spells flew towards Frey, creating a very magnificent sight.
Boom!
Boom!
For a moment, continuous deafening explosions sounded in the cave.
If it weren’t for the defensive arrays, the entire cave would have collapsed from the commotion.
It was incredibly devastating, yet Antoine did not feel relaxed.
Anxiety began to creep in.
Common sense dictated that it would have been impossible for anyone to survive the sheer destructive force of that magical bombardment.
And because there was a wide range of spells, it could not have been avoided or negated because several different elements had exploded at the same time.
So why was he still feeling uneasy?
Crackle.
The flames subsided, and standing there, without even a scratch, was Frey.
The only thing that had changed was the cold smile that now graced his lips.
Antoine’s heart shook.
“Can it be considered self defense from now on?”
“Th-, this doesn’t make sense. How could you survive…”
“I have no intentions of killing all of you. Go call your Circle Master. Your judgement will be decided after my conversation with him.”
That was impossible.
Antoine bit his lip.
If Circle Master Pelik found out about this, then his position would be in jeopardy.
Now was the time when he had started flying after crawling on the floor all his life. Even if he were to die, he would not let it be taken away.
“That’s ridiculous! Do you think you’ve already defeated us? Nonsense!”
Frey pointed at Antoine.
“You’re good at inciting a group. In an emergency, you push your men forward to act as shields and only think about yourself.”
He could only be described as scum worse than Dugenjar.
In truth, Frey didn’t think too badly of Dugenjar.
His only problems were his arrogance and not understanding just how high the sky was.
But this man was different.
He was such an ugly human that Frey hated the fact that he was considered a Wizard just like him.
“I want to kill you right now.”
Frey shook his head.
He had to think twice before he took another Wizard’s life.
This was a request that Schweiser had made to him.
“…but I’ll reconsider it after remembering the words of my old friend. But if you open your mouth again…”
“S-, shut up! You’re the-”
Pit.
“…!?”
A thin red line appeared on Antoine’s neck.
He reached up to his neck as the focus in his eyes disappeared.
And like a fruit that had been cleanly cut from a tree, his head fell to the ground.
“Ro-, Rounder Antoine!”
“This doesn’t make sense!”
A Wind Cutter had appeared from Frey’s hand and cut Antoine’s neck before anyone could realise.
Even Antoine, whose neck had been cut, did not realise how he died.
“The Circle Master…”
Call them.
Frey didn’t finish the rest of his sentence.
This was because he saw someone walking over from the far end of the cave.
It was a middle aged woman.
She was wearing a witch’s hat and her face was heavily covered in makeup.
Frey looked at her and said.
“Are you the Circle Master of the Basilisk Tails?”
The woman nodded with a stiff face.
“…that’s right. Who are you?”
Frey ignored her question and continued.
“I just had a Relic Battle with your circle.”
Pelik, the Circle Master of the Basilisk Tails, bit her lip as she realised that she could not have a full conversation with him.
Frey turned his gaze back to the decapitated body of Antoine.
The blood from his neck had already formed a puddle.
‘Rounder Antoine so easily…’
She didn’t know who this young wizard was, but she was sure of one thing.
He was at least 7 stars.
An Archmage!
An Archmage, which was rare even in the Three Great Circles, had come to this place.
“…continue.”
“I fought a total of three times and won every time.”
The final battle could be considered his win since Antoine had incited his men to attack before the fight had ended.
“But that man. Rounder Antoine was it? He incited his men and tried to kill me.”
“So he…”
“I killed him. I gave him one chance. Antoine didn’t heed my advice, and there are no second chances. I hope you aren’t the same.”
Pelik involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva at those words.
She heard sincerity in Frey’s calm voice.
“What is your name?”
“Pelik Oviet.”
“Master Pelik, tell me, what is the purpose of the Circle?”
“Yes?”
Frey looked at Pelik silently.
Stricken with fear, Pelik quickly recalled his words.
“T-, to break free of the Demigods’ clutches.”
“Do you know what they are?”
“O-, of course. They are transcendent beings who surpass human understanding and are capable of destroying an entire city with a single finger.”
“You know it well. Right…you know it well.”
Frey took a step forward.
“But it seems that you lost control of yourself after becoming powerful.”
Crack crack!
The earth beneath his feet began to freeze.
The circle members tried to move their feet to evade the ice, but it spread and froze their feet in an instant.
“Ugh!”
“I can’t move!”
Even the Circle Master Pelik was unable to escape its range.
‘Th-, this…it’s not something that we can handle.’
After judging the situation, Pelik urgently informed her members.
“Everyone, don’t try to forcefully escape! If you make a wrong move, you might lose your flesh!”
“I don’t think you have the time to worry about other people.”
The anger Frey held toward the Circle seemed to be exploding all at once.
When faced with a powerful enemy like the Demigods, pathetic guys like these were not only not united, but they even kept each other in check!
Their purpose wasn’t to overthrow the Demigods.
They were focused on snatching artifacts and keeping the Trowman Rings in check to boost their own power.
Their goal was obvious.
To gain power and wealth.
Boom.
Frey’s eyes were filled with anger.
His anger turned into momentum, and this momentum became pressure aimed at Pelik.
“Ugh…”
Pelik felt pressured as if someone was squeezing her heart.
Breathing became difficult, and sweat began pouring down her body.
With clattering teeth, she stared at Frey, realizing that she was the only one who hadn’t been frozen.
Making a quick judgement, she fell to her knees.
“P-, please spare us.”
“…”
“T-, tell me what you want. I will follow your orders. So please…please don’t destroy our circle.”
“Even if I asked you to take your own life?”
“…!”
Frey’s heartless eyes stared at Pelik.
She was shocked for a moment before she nodded with determination.
“If you can promise that you will not destroy our circle after that. Gladly.”
“M-, Master Pelik!”
“Don’t!”
The circle members all began venting their anger loudly.
Frey slowly lifted his hand.
There, red mana began to flow and an incredibly hot flame soon appeared on his palm.
“…”
Pelik closed her eyes and waited for her end.
Instead, she heard Frey’s voice, filled with admiration.
“Excellent.”
Pat.
At the same time, the ice that had frozen the bodies of the members quickly disappeared.
Pelik looked around, confused.
“Bring all the artifacts you took from the Trowman Rings.”
“U-, understood.”
After that, Pelik hurried to her home from which she brought back the artifacts and handed them to Frey.
Frey looked at them with a complex gaze.
One of them was a purple ring.
A ring that he had made.
The other was a pair of blue gloves, but this was the first time that Frey had seen them.
It was likely a relic of a hero who came after him.
“Tell me the locations of all the small and medium circles around here. Without exception.”
“Th-, that…”
“Can’t you say it?”
“…”
It was basically stabbing the members of their alliance in the back, but Pelik shook her head.
This was not the time to hold back.
“No.”
It couldn’t be helped.
Pelik couldn’t resist the man in front of her.
And the alliance had only been formed in pursuit of practicality.
They didn’t have much of a bond between them.
So Pelik clamped down on her weak guilt and started talking.
“Apart from us, there are a total of five medium and small circles nearby. The closest one to us is…”
Frey only asked for their locations, but Pelik told him everything she knew, their features, numbers, and points to take note of in detail.
It was a clear betrayal, but the more she explained, the more she realised.
There was no circle in this area that could resist this man.
In general, that was the status of a 7 star Wizard.
Pelik sighed.
Antoine’s death had been a major loss, but it could not be compared to what was going to happen that night.
‘I hope our circle doesn’t get any collateral damage.’
Pelik sincerely hoped.
And as she expected, before dawn had come, the six small and medium circles, including the Basilisk Tails, had been defeated by one man.