The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 42

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 42. Collide
Collide MacDwell.
There was a time when he’d been called a prodigy.
When he achieved his first Awakening at nineteen years old.
And when he underwent his second Evolution at twenty-five, people still called him gifted.
But when he achieved his third Evolution at thirty-three, he was merely counted among the ordinary in the Aslan Knights Order.
By the time he barely managed his fourth Evolution at fifty, he was already listed on the retirement roster.
He couldn’t accept it.
So he endured.
He delayed his retirement and trained with manic desperation.
But even after twenty years had passed, he could not achieve his fifth Evolution.
In that time, his peer who had been the order’s commander passed his position to his disciple and retired with honor.
Naturally, the eyes of scorn turned toward him, still clinging to the order.
— Why won’t that old man retire…….
— He’s a burden. Pure burden.
— A seventy-year-old knight? It’s ridiculous.
He took pride in having lived a life of greater effort than anyone.
But what remained as a result was only humiliation.
So he took hold of the dark hand that approached him in secret.
— You need only provide us information about the Aslan Duke’s House.
— The veil will be impenetrable to any priest or spirit-user. You need not worry.
The dark hand laughed and promised sweet compensation.
And with nothing more than a nod at that moment, he crossed the fifth barrier he had never been able to overcome in his lifetime.
The knight who had been treated as antiquated suddenly became the model for his peers.
A knight who, after endless effort, had shattered his own limits?
So at an age when he should have retired long ago, he obtained the honorary position of vice-commander.
And began to be treated as one of the important figures of the house.
He was happy. But at the same time, he was afraid.
— Recruit knights like yourself.
The dark hand that had given him glory in his late years no longer spoke to him with deference.
And commanded him to spread poison throughout the house he had devoted his entire life to.
He wanted to refuse. But he could not.
Somewhere in his mind, he heard something snap with a sharp crack.
And from that point on, he began to lose his memory in fragments.
When he came to his senses, blood was on his hands or everything around him lay in ruins—such occurrences became the norm.
So the house began to direct him outward.
It was almost a relief.
‘They won’t entrust me with anything important again.’
But after that, too, an undeniable command from the dark hand fell upon him.
— Capture him alive. If possible, seize the moment when he is alone.
— Target the night hours, but ensure you confirm that he pierces through the veil.
When this command first came, it was as if his mind suddenly snapped awake.
He instinctively grasped that this was not merely betraying the Aslan Duke’s House, whom he had served his entire life, but starting a conflict with the Trian Count’s House, the ruler of the Northern Region.
But from the moment he had already sealed the Contract by selling his soul, he was no longer a free man.
Even as he lamented this, following the ‘master’s’ command was his only choice.
He waited for the target, feeling once again on his skin the price of easily crossing a barrier that had seemed insurmountable his entire life.
The moment he first saw his objective, independent of the command, he felt an overwhelming impulse.
‘I want to kill him…….’
He knew at once. Unlike the information he’d received beforehand, the man had already reached the realm of Star-tier second rank or higher.
When he first heard that the man had awakened at sixteen, jealousy boiled up—but he could suppress it.
Such prodigies appeared from time to time, after all.
But this.
‘Already star-tier two? Or three? It’s impossible!’
An achievement beyond anything he’d ever heard of. That shock twisted into murderous intent.
How could such a man exist? It made no sense.
The world was wrong.
‘Otherwise my entire life…….’
becomes utterly worthless.
It cannot be so.
Yes. The world is wrong.
‘I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him for certain!’
From that moment, Collide’s eyes fixed on the target—Muno Dracen—began to burn with a feverish heat.
– Take him alive.
– Find out what you can.
The ‘command’ was still carved into his soul, but with his mind shattered and reason drowning in rage, he could not fully accept it.
The target was the enemy.
Which meant the enemy was…….
‘……to be killed.’
Then, the faint thread of reason still remaining whispered a cunning thought to him.
“……I’d like to teach you a lesson.”
But something about the reactions around him felt wrong.
Had I made another mistake?
It didn’t matter.
As long as I could manufacture an excuse.
He forced down the seething turmoil within him.
But then.
“That old man is a Mage…….”
The moment the target spoke of the secret he must conceal.
Thump.
His mind flooded red.
Thump.
It was all over.
Thump.
No. If I just kill them all…….
Thump.
If I kill them all, that’s enough!
The moment madness consumed him entirely, Collide struck down on the Spiritcaller Razman’s exposed neck, then——
“Die!!”
——swung his blade toward the target.
Bang!
‘Gasp!?’
Through the dizzying impact, Muno felt the Armor on his left arm shatter halfway.
In that moment where time seemed to slow, he barely managed to raise his arm in time, and he could only be grateful that he’d managed to deflect the blow of a five-star knight.
But the problem was that this Armor was no ordinary protection—it was part of his body.
‘Nnngh!!’
A blinding white pain shot through his mind.
In that instant, the bones in his left arm broke as well, but it hurt far less than the shattering of the Armor.
Perhaps the harder the material, the greater the pain when it fractured.
Even as consciousness began to slip away in that torrent of agony, his body—mercifully—responded as trained.
He threw himself backward, dropped low, and drew the Greatsword from his back in one fluid motion with his right hand.
In that moment, as his vision finally steadied, he saw it: the broken blade.
The enemy’s weapon, now before his eyes and cleaved in half, still hurtled forward with murderous speed.
‘Get away!’
Gritting his teeth, he activated his ability to deflect its trajectory upward.
He tucked his chin lower, twisted his body, and drew the Greatsword in a lightning arc from above to below, left to right.
But.
“Hah?”
The blade that should have veered upward suddenly let out a sneer and forcibly twisted its trajectory again, meeting his first spell—Wind Blade—head-on.
Crash!
‘Gah!?’
“Ugh!”
Boom. Boom.
As he recoiled backward, he caught sight of the enemy’s blade—shattered into countless fragments, scattering through the air. At least it wasn’t an Artifact.
A moment of relief.
Whoosh.
The manic old man’s face was suddenly inches from his own.
“Die——!!”
The enemy’s expression twisted in fury, a fist already rocketing up from beneath his jaw.
Too close to swing a blade—Muno’s instincts made him drive his elbow downward in a reflex strike.
But.
“……Ah!”
Bang!
Crack.
The elbow that had driven the fist down snapped back upward, and a searing pain shot through his right shoulder blade.
‘Damn it, this doesn’t make sense…….’
The stark difference in their power became impossible to ignore.
Just as he was about to hurl his head at the fist bearing down on him again.
Shriek!
A sharp metallic blade tore through the air where the enemy’s fist had been, cutting with a clean whistle.
And from the flank of the deranged old man whose arm had been withdrawn, a gale swept through.
Crash!
The moment the enemy went flying backward.
A familiar back blocked his vision.
“Are you hurt!?”
“I’m not—”
“Grab on!”
“It’s not over!!”
Boom!
“Grrr. Die……!”
The deranged old man, who seemed to have smashed through the office wall and crashed outside, came charging back in.
Impossibly, Muno’s sword was now gripped in his hand.
‘That bastard!?’
Grit.
His teeth clenched of their own accord.
Just then, as Clam and the old man collided head-on again like lightning.
‘Die.’
Muno canceled the sword at that precise moment.
Whoosh.
The black greatsword that was meant to deflect the spinning spear crumbled into metal dust in an instant and scattered.
The old man’s eyes widened with shock and madness.
With nothing to stop it now, the spear was about to pierce straight through his body……
Slash.
Shriek.
Had the old man not twisted his body in panic, tearing away a chunk of his armor and flesh from his ribs.
That split-second judgment to accept a shallow wound and preserve his life in such an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position proved beyond doubt that he was a practitioner of the Hard Body Technique on a level far above Clam’s.
But.
“How dare you touch my student!!”
A sharp, piercing cry rang out, and the Wind Blade that followed, sweeping in all directions, could not be entirely evaded.
Shriek-shriek-shriek-shriek-shriek.
“Scream!”
Bang!
The old man resisted with roars, striking and kicking in all directions.
Yet the Wind Blade summoned by Rasmia shredded his armor almost completely and carved dozens of cuts across his entire body.
“Grrr.”
Even after scattering all the wind blades, the old man staggered forward with bestial groans.
To any observer, the battle seemed decided.
And yet this madman’s behavior remained utterly beyond reason.
“Kill……!”
Bang!
He stamped the marble floor with savage force, leaving a clear footprint and trail of blood as he charged at Muno once more.
The spirit mage Rasmia, caught off guard for a moment, flinched.
But Clam, still on guard, immediately stepped in front of Muno and thrust his spear forward.
Bang.
“Obstruction……!”
Crunch-crunch-crunch.
“……Don’t!”
Bang!
‘Insane……!?’
The old man, consumed by madness, let his abdomen be pierced straight through by the spear while closing the distance with Clam to strike him across the head.
An exchange so reckless and unimaginable that no one could have foreseen it.
Clam, who had desperately tried to throw his body out of the way, instead took a powerful impact to the left side of his head and went tumbling backward.
Conversely, despite bearing a mortal wound, Collide MacDwell’s face held a ghastly smile.
Bang.
Even as the target that had lunged at him swatted away the spear that pierced his abdomen, sending it ricocheting behind his back.
Whoosh.
Even as two strands of Black Iron Chain that rose from the ground, extending from the target’s legs, suddenly coiled around his ankles.
He dismissed it all as fresh but meaningless thrashing.
But then.
“Hmph!”
The moment he let out a snort and tried to charge at the man again, he felt his strength suddenly drain away.
“What……?”
Was it the wound?
Yet he’d surely kept enough power to finish off that detestable creature.
Confusion flickered across his crimson eyes.
Then, as his Magical Power ebbed and his mind cleared somewhat, he could roughly discern that his strength hadn’t vanished entirely—it had simply dropped to the level it held before the Contract.
Still, even at that level, he should have been able to finish off the target before him.
……if his body hadn’t been so thoroughly mangled.
‘How is this……?’
His nature consisted of momentary combat enhancement through Body Activation and Regeneration.
But Collide MacDwell, now fallen from Five-Star to Four-Star, was no superhuman who could ignore a gaping wound that had torn through his abdomen and continue fighting.
And yet.
‘I cannot abide this…….’
Even in that state, rage born from his profound inferiority complex stimulated his fractured mind, moving his body forward.
Thud.
“I cannot abide…….”
Collide MacDwell took another step.
Unlike before, far weaker now.
“……this.”
But in his eyes, where the red glow had begun to fade, emptiness now swirled where madness had been.
Spurt.
The surging blood was draining his strength rapidly.
But still.
“This mad old fool……!”
Crash, crash, crash, crash, crash.
Thud.
As sharp shouts rang out and Wind Blade attacks tore across his entire body again, Collide MacDwell instinctively resisted the barrage, pressing forward with each step.
Thud.
“How is it…….”
Splinter, splinter, splinter, splinter, crack.
“How is it possible……!!?”
Collide MacDwell snarled, his face grotesquely mangled.
Before him stood Muno Dracen, his expression now contorted with strain.
This mad old fool’s ravings made no sense and needed no understanding.
But he thought he knew what answer would turn his enemy inside out.
“Like this!”
Crack.
With the sound of broken bone forcibly knitting back together.
A fist encased in thick black Gauntlets swung viciously across Collide MacDwell’s twisted face.
Crash!

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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