Chapter 205 : Chapter 205

'Ugh......'

More than half of his body had evaporated.

Even if his Yeon-Un-Shin could relocate injuries or control the loss at will, this was a fatal wound that could kill him instantly the moment he materialized.

To reconstruct his body from the 'smoke cloud' state, he needed to absorb a large amount of moisture or high-quality water-attribute mana, but the enemies didn't give him that leeway.

THWIP THWIP THWIP.

Blue arrows flying up to the sky again.

"Victon!!!!"

WHOOSH!

And even Muno, who had soared up to this sky without him noticing when, extending his iron chains again.

'I'm really going to die......'

THUMP.

The feeling of his heart tightening.

To think that the ones executing his death were his comrades until not long ago.

THUMP.

A sense of crisis and despair stimulated his brain tinglingly.

However.

'I can't die here!'

Considering how I've lived.

His childhood, especially the time that drastically changed his life, flashed by like a panorama.

- Your trait is ultimately for magicians.

- .......

- You can become the strongest battle mage. Imagine it. The usefulness when your trait and magic that mocks providence are combined. That incomprehensible trait that mocks providence is what proves you are a legitimate grandson of the Ares family.

- I refuse.

- What?

- I want to become a knight. Not relying on an Outer God, but becoming the best with my own ability.

Starting with his grandfather, who was called a Seven-Star, the Master of the Red Tower, or the Mage of Lava, his father, mother, and even his uncle.

Every member of his family opposed his dream.

But eventually, they couldn't break his will.

- You foolish boy.......

- If you insist, there will be no support from the family from now on. Get lost! Get out of my house!!

From the moment his grandfather declared disownment, the background of being from the Empire's most prestigious family became nothing but shackles.

Support was cut off, but the shadow of the family still loomed over his life.

- A genius? Hmph. Just because he's from the Ares family.......

- Ghost Knight? Hmph, no matter how good his skills are, can he become that without the family's backing?

- If not for that bizarre trait, could he even do swordsmanship properly?

No matter what achievements he made, there was no one who looked at him purely for himself.

Even more so when he achieved the fourth evolution at the age of only sixteen and became an Imperial Royal Inspector, recognized for his potential.

- Ha, damn. At that age, only 4-Star but an Imperial Royal Inspector? As expected of the Ares family.......

Even record-breaking achievements unprecedented in the Empire's history were buried under the family name.

Even if the Deus Empire favored magicians, there were times he thought about defecting to Iron, the country of knights.

Of course, it would have been absolutely impossible because of his bloodline.

The more it happened, the fiercer he lived.

As an Imperial Royal Inspector, he volunteered for countless missions in places out of the public eye and crossed the line of death several times.

And eventually, in the Iron mission, he succeeded in the fifth evolution at the age of nineteen.

He prided himself on living fiercely every moment of his 20-year life.

But.

He couldn't die here at the hands of his old comrades.

WHOOSH.

Avoiding arrows while enduring the burning pain as if his entire body was burning away.

CLATTER.

He dodged the iron chains.

"Victon......!!"

He saw the falling Muno shouting something, but he couldn't hear it well.

Because hot heat began to wrap around him from all directions again.

Amidst the pain, absurdity came first.

'This doesn't make sense. How......!?'

He knew that Spirit Masters, unlike magicians, could continuously pour out abilities through a unique imprinting method called 'Spell'.

But even that was only within the limits allowed by their own mana.

Even if a fire-specialized mage poured out memorized spells at once, they wouldn't be able to pour out explosions of this scale in succession.

'Surely.......'

A hypothesis crossed his mind for a moment, but there was no time to think deeply.

If he didn't escape this crisis, he would die right there.

But the heat surrounding him from all directions didn't give a single gap to escape.

It was questionable whether his body, which had already taken a fatal hit, could materialize safely, and even if it did, whether he would have the minimum strength left to counterattack.

The spells of Ignis were also completely exhausted.

However, amidst the sense of crisis that felt distant, his concentration rather maximized.

BOOOOOOOOM------!

Even while the explosion burst again and intense heat rushed in, the time of the world began to flow slowly as if he alone was walking in a different time.

And at that moment, recalling the words of the old knight who taught him the direction of growth in the past, something that had only been tickling inside his head began to unravel.

- The fourth evolution is the wall of the mind, the fifth is the wall of the body. The sixth evolution is the Gate of Unity, solving by merging the walls of body and mind into one.

While absorbing countless clouds and fogs, he grew his body in the smoke cloud state to the limit of growth.

And beyond the family background, he stuck to his own path in his heart.

But he didn't even have a clue about merging those two.

Now that his body in the smoke cloud state had shrunk infinitely and faced a life-threatening crisis.

In the heat that seemed like it would evaporate him right away, a thrilling inspiration flashed through his mind.

The mass of smoke reduced to less than half functioned as a brain and found a possibility.

- In the end, it is one.

When he was very young, learning the Empire's ideology and (emperor studies/leadership) in a controlled life.

What became his only resting place then were storybooks from the East.

The story of a monkey flying on infinitely free clouds.

Eventually, his conviction and trait were in the same direction.

- I want to be truly free.

Change began the moment realization flashed through his mind.

Of course, no matter how well he knew the direction, it was Yeon-Un-Shin that should have undergone training and refinement originally.

However, now that he had unintentionally suffered a fatal injury and his volume and mass itself had shrunk significantly, the total amount of the body to be evolved through realization was just too small.

WHOOSH.

Smoke, which might amount to a handful, shot through the heat burst by the highest-ranking Fire Spirit Master.

At the cost of losing most of his body, he succeeded in evolving by increasing density with only a tiny core remaining.

Of course, even so, it was a situation where he would fade away before going far.

- I want to be free.

Victon's last body, with only conviction remaining, found the presence of massive water mana nearby.

- I can live.

Having lost his reason, he began to move again following his survival instinct.

"Oh my......!"

"Sir Muno! Are you really planning to kill him!"

"We have to ask about the situation! Lord Muno!"

"Damn it. I know too! Let's follow him!"

If Victon could speak, he would have protested that you guys practically killed me just now.

But his body, or rather a handful of smoke better compared to a soul, only flew slowly towards the nearby oasis.

Passing by the place where the enemies who tried to kill him just before were positioned without any thought.

"Lord Muno, he seems too weak?"

"Old Man, you should have gone easy on him! I have a lot to ask."

"Wasn't it you who rushed out first as if to kill him?"

"That was because I got a bit heated thinking I was deceived......."

"Excuse me, can someone explain this situation right now?"

"Ah......."

PUFF PUFF PUFF.

- Must live.

That small smoke cluster with only instinct left fell straight towards the oasis.

SPLASH.

"Uh!?"

WHOOOOSH.

As soon as he did, the water level of the massive oasis, which seemed to be over 100m in radius, began to lower noticeably in an instant.

Not long after.

A young man with white hair and red eyes in an almost naked state floated up to the surface.

"Ugh....... Cough."

Victon's body, letting out a low groan, flowed along the water surface and naturally reached the shore.

His consciousness, which had almost flown away, was slowly returning.

And all his eyes could see was.

"Lauel, close your eyes!"

"Ho-oh. That young man, quite impressive."

......Why? What is impressive?

When he couldn't judge the situation because his reason was still blurry.

"Victon, you bastard! You were turning items into smoke just fine. Wear your clothes right now!?"

The familiar shouting voice made him recall the situation just before, and brought a bitter smile to his face.

'Because of whom, did I end up like this.......'

All the clothes he was wearing, and even the named magic sword like Ignis, evaporated instead of him to protect a handful of his body from the last flames.

Regenerating items that are not his own body is impossible no matter how much his trait deviates from common sense.

In other words, it meant the flames that engulfed him were terrible enough to blow away even a named magic sword at once.

Of course, in return, he succeeded in the sixth evolution at the age of only twenty.

It was an achievement that would remain in the Empire's history, but now something else was more surprising than that.

"Heh......."

With a scoff, Victon's eyes, which became a bit clearer, headed towards the white-haired Spirit Master crossing his arms behind the group.

The crystallization of mana that was the opposite of him, felt more distinctly now that his level had risen.

That the scale far exceeded the level he imagined.

"You, surely...... Seven......?"

Seeing Imadi nodding lightly, Victon let out a bitter smile and lost consciousness as he was.

"Hey punk! Where are you closing your eyes......!"

Shut up, Muno.

Words didn't come out.

Because his body, barely recovered from a situation just before death, desperately needed rest.

* * *

"Mmm......."

How much time had passed?

As soon as he barely opened his eyes at the swaying unfamiliar touch, Victon felt someone grabbing him by the collar and pulling him up.

"Now, we have a lot to talk about, right?"

"Muno?"

"If you try to run away again, I'll really kill you this time, Victon."

......This bastard.

I believe I'm about two years older than you, but you speak damn fiercely.

However.

"Surely it's not something you knew from before, right?"

He seemed to know what the burning anger, expectation, and bewilderment in the guy's black eyes meant.

'I don't know why this guy is in Trey, but.......'

Given the situation, it would be safe to say that this mission was effectively a failure.

"Let go. I'm not running away."

"Speak first. About this whole situation."

With his temper, he wanted to say you explain the situation first.

'......I can't do that.'

No matter how positively he wanted to think relying on patriotism, it was difficult to side with what his motherland was doing right now.

Moreover, in front of him were Muno's group, who were once comrades and had now perfectly subdued him.

"How much do you know?"

"Enough. I've gained certainty that all this chaos right now is the Empire's doing."

"Ha......."

As expected.

He looked at the other group members lining up near the bed before he knew it.

Unwavering gazes, all alike.

At that, Victon started his story with a long sigh.

From the secret of the Empire he learned at the Imperial Palace to the reason he came here.

Throughout the story, the group nodded.

"See! Isn't what I said correct!"

Victon couldn't bear to refute the refreshing shout of the Spirit Master.

Still.

"......Still, it is my motherland, Sir Imadi. Is there no way, to resolve this peacefully?"

This was the limit of what he could say.