A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 75

Episode 75. At the End of Nightmares (2)

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The legendary demon, master of a quest that had belonged to the highest tier of difficulty in the Shadow Labyrinth, revealed itself.
The demon emerged, shattering the cliff face as it rose, and moved its enormous eyes to survey the city sprawled along the coastline. Then it began to shift its massive frame forward.
It was a cataclysm incarnate. With each step, the earth trembled, and everything in its path crumbled to dust. The parasols that had once dotted the beach in colorful rows were crushed and destroyed.
The demon paused suddenly before a fortress half-collapsed, bearing the unmistakable traces of having partially melted and then refrozen. That same fortress had once served to check the demon’s advance.
Whether stirred by some ancient memory, the demon brought its foot crashing down upon the fortress. Centuries-old stone that had endured through the ages shattered beneath the impact.
A rumble echoed across the land.
“RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
A roar that sounded like thunder itself. The sea that had shone golden moments before turned black as pitch, and the sky itself became a starless night.
“Where in the world could such a monster even come from……!”
The capital’s defense forces and the Avalon Brigade—the finest warriors the Western Kingdom Alliance could muster—arrived belatedly and formed their lines along the city wall of Delta Heim.
Yet they too stood transfixed in horror, watching helplessly as the towering catastrophe bore down upon them.
The commander leading the Avalon forces went pale. Even these veterans, who had entered countless Shadow World incursions, had never laid eyes on a creature of such colossal proportions.
‘If it reaches this place……’
All would be lost. There were still thousands of civilians remaining in the city.
There was nowhere left to retreat. Knowing full well the futility of the order, the commander had no choice but to give it.
“Hold the line!”
The gates opened, and Delta Heim’s forces surged forward to intercept the demon. From the fortress, mages unleashed their spells, and archers nocked arrows to their bowstrings.
Soon the sky filled with arrows and magic. Yet nothing availed. The spells and projectiles bounced harmlessly off Tadeneur’s body without so much as leaving a scorch mark.
The soldiers who engaged him wielded their swords and thrust their spears. Weapons honed from finest steel shattered against the demon’s flesh without piercing it.
Tadeneur’s hand swept across the field like one brushing away an irritating insect, and dozens of soldiers were cleaved in two. The forces of the Western Kingdom Alliance were slaughtered without mercy.
Dezir’s company felt the weight of despair settle upon them. The demons they had faced during the Promotion Exam suddenly seemed like child’s play compared to Tadeneur.
Nothing about it could be compared—not its size, not its overwhelming power, not the oppressive dread it radiated. The demon, driven only by mindless destruction, continued its relentless massacre.
“We have to help them.”
Though overwhelmed by the horror before her, Romantica caught sight of the demon advancing toward the capital and moved to step forward.
“Stop.”
Dezir held her back. His dark eyes narrowed, trembling faintly.
“You going there won’t change anything.”
Romantica knew this truth as well. She pointed toward the soldiers standing in the demon’s path.
“Neither will they.”
Dezir cut through her argument.
“You’re saying you want to go die?”
“I’m not asking you to help. What happened before was enough. But this is my homeland. How can you ask me to just stand here and watch?”
Dezir understood the depth of feeling behind her words.
But he could not bring himself to let her go.
He knew it was terribly selfish. Yet there existed something he needed to protect, even if it meant ignoring her feelings.
Dezir forced out his next words with great difficulty.
“Remember our promise.”
“Promise?”
Romantica recalled it in an instant.
That if they ever faced a threat they could not overcome, they would run without hesitation. That was their vow. They had sworn to keep it.
As if they had foreseen this very moment.
Romantica’s voice trembled with anguish.
“But Dezir……!”
“But Dezir, if we do nothing, the lines will collapse, and this city will fall. They need reinforcements.”
Pram stepped forward to defend Romantica, but Dezir remained resolute.
“Yes, they do. But it won’t be us. We can do nothing here.”
Pram, unable to find any counter to that truth, fell silent.
“AHHHHHHH!”
Just then, a cry mixed faintly with the sea breeze reached their ears. Sensing something amiss, Dezir’s company turned their attention back to Tadeneur.
Tadeneur had opened its enormous maw. Within it, they could feel an immense tide of Mana beginning to build.
In the next moment, an Ultra-High Temperature Heat Wave erupted from Tadeneur.
A deafening roar tore through the air.
Everything in the path of the heat wave was obliterated. The surrounding landscape warped and shimmered from the ultra-high temperature.
“…….”
Romantica and Pram stood speechless before the incomprehensible devastation.
Only one person in this place could hope to respond to something so absurd.
Jord turned to Dezir and the others.
“I’d better step in. You all should take cover here.”
“Master Jord, the creature likely has a core embedded deep within its body, behind the spine. But even knowing its location, the hardened exterior won’t make it easy to exploit.”
A core.
Demons always possessed a core within their bodies that constituted their physical form.
Upon hearing this, Jord questioned him with a puzzled expression.
“How do you know that?”
“I’ll explain the details later. Right now, stopping that creature is what matters.”
Tadeneur continued advancing toward Delta Heim. There was no time to waste.
“And when the Rune Symbols carved on its fangs glow red, it will unleash another attack like the one we just saw. It’s impossible to defend against with magic, so the only solution is to twist its neck and change the direction of the attack.”
“……I have no choice but to trust your information for now. Leave it to me.”
Jord was rolling up his sleeves to begin casting his spell.
“I can’t allow that.”
At that moment, a voice called out from behind them.
When they turned to look, there stood a hooded figure. The Raven Mask.
While he wasn’t Jord’s equal, he possessed enough power to stand against him. If Jord was tied down by him, Delta Heim would be left defenseless against Tadeneur’s rampage.
‘But I can’t ignore this one either…….’
He was in a bind.
The Raven Mask began deploying his magic. Jord, in turn, began casting his own.
But then—
“Master Jord! Teleport me and this one away using Space Magic! I’ll hold him off!”
“But…….”
“Master Jord!”
Jord hesitated for a moment, but seeing the fierce determination in Dezir’s eyes, he made his decision.
The Space Magic calculation commenced.
“I told you it wouldn’t work.”
When it came to Space Magic, the Raven Mask held the advantage over Jord.
The moment Jord’s Space Magic began to unfold, the Raven Mask’s spell deployed as well.
Ting.
But the magic the Raven Mask deployed caused Dezir’s body, which had begun to dematerialize, to solidify once more. Something was interfering with his incantation.
The Raven Mask stared at Jord.
Had he inverted the spell while simultaneously deploying his Space Magic?
‘When did he reverse it?’
Jord’s spatial transfer completed. A brilliant light flooded his vision.
When his eyes opened again, the Raven Mask found himself in the heart of Delta Heim’s city center.
“Playing tricks now, are we?”
The Raven Mask began calculating once more.
Whooooom!
But just as before, the magic refused to unfold—as if stopped by an invisible wall.
Sensing something amiss, the Raven Mask finally turned his gaze to the boy before him. A mage he’d dismissed entirely, possessing barely three Circles of Mana.
That boy was reversing his spells.
The Raven Mask opened his mouth.
“So you were the one who disabled the magic I set up at the Royal Palace.”
“Perhaps.”
“Your Mana reserves are pathetic, yet your calculation ability is considerable.”
The Raven Mask’s gaze shifted to the garment Dezir wore.
Closeline.
The defensive armor issued only to Single Rank holders in the Hebrion Empire. Upon confirming this, the Raven Mask abandoned his attempt to return to Jord, instead reaching out toward Dezir.
“My plans have changed. I’ll dispose of you first, before I kill the Tower Master.”

Gravity Control.

An enormous pressure of gravity bore down on the area surrounding Dezir.
Crack.
The pavement cracked and fractured, unable to withstand the weight of the gravitational force.

[Gravity Reverse.]

The reversal of gravity itself.
Dezir inverted the very gravity beneath his feet, slipping free from the spell’s grip.
As Raven Mask’s magic continued its assault, Dezir swiftly decoded the incantation underlying it.

[Night Claw.]

Raven Mask’s outstretched hand slashed diagonally through the air. Along that trajectory, space itself was cleaved open.
Crack.
The street tree behind the crouching Dezir toppled.
By a hair’s breadth, he had escaped.
Dezir rapidly analyzed the opponent before him.
‘A mage wielding both Space Magic and Fire Magic at once. Though the art primarily being deployed is Space Magic, it seems.’
Space Magic had no opposing magic to counter it—it reigned supreme in destructive power above all other spells.
For now, all Dezir could do was read the opponent’s incantation patterns through their formulae and dodge accordingly.
‘I cannot get too close, nor dare I distance myself too far. I must maintain a measured range and meet him there.’
Even as Dezir formulated his strategy, Raven Mask’s magic continued to unfold relentlessly.

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