Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The domain of Sephia, an elven sorceress belonging to the sixth circle, came to life under the ground they were treading upon.

It was a territory exclusive to practitioners of magic, an isolated plane that neutralized any external influence; a coliseum of death from which it was impossible to escape unless one of the contenders lost their life.

A desolate plain of perpetual ice opened up before them, shining as if it were made of pure crystal.

Facing this, Walter Burning Blood, a dark warlock also belonging to the sixth circle, manifested his own conceptual plane. Right behind his back, the dark corners of his mind began to take physical shape.

“Is this an operating room…?”

No, reality was very different. Dale took a step back, holding his breath for an instant.

The panorama was crowded with hospital gurneys, convalescent individuals, shackles that imprisoned them, and a variety of gruesome torture tools. Echoing moans erupted from every corner. These were not cries for help, but desperate pleas to find an end to their lives.

The truth was revealed immediately. This was far from being a place of healing.

Walter, the high-ranking member of the Red Tower and commander of the infamous 6th Division of the Black Red Brigade, possessed a domain that faithfully replicated the facilities of said faction’s laboratory.

A forbidden magic research center destined for experimentation on humans.

That place represented absolute cruelty, a site where the longing to obtain “knowledge and power” had buried any trace of mercy. A true earthly purgatory in which unnamable aberrations were executed on prisoners still alive.

“Do you have any idea why they call me ‘Burning Blood’?”

Walter inquired, standing in front of the gloomy representation of the Black Red Brigade. Sephia remained silent, allowing her gusts of icy, bluish energy to dance throughout the crystal wasteland.

“When you raise the temperature of a living subject’s blood until it boils… do you have any notion of what their organism experiences?”

The old man questioned. The implicit use of people as mere objects of study caused Dale’s gaze to become severe and somber.

“……”

“How many captives do you imagine we had to execute to perfect the most lethal and destructive igneous combination?”

Walter added, while behind his back a multitude of “study objects” were consumed by flames.

Each individual was subjected to different intensities of heat in order to calculate the exact fire to cause death. The mere premise was abominable.

“Do you know how to intertwine electric currents to achieve the greatest performance using the minimum amount of energy?”

How many victims suffered indescribable torments in the laboratories of the Black Red Brigade, all sheltered under the pretext of scientific advancement and the exchange of knowledge among sorcerers?

“Do you know the trajectory and the perfect detonation force to cause the highest rate of casualties?”

Although everything was a mental emanation of Walter, it was useless to doubt the veracity of those memories.

“Evolution advances in consonance with the torrents of spilled blood, and the progress of the world only marches over the corpses of the sacrificed.”

Walter’s words evidenced a deranged and unwavering devotion to his ideals. What they had in front of them was a true monster with human features.

“I finally understand.”

Sephia broke her silence, nodding slightly at Walter’s propositions.

“You are nothing more than scum devoid of all redemption.”

“What exactly is it that you intend to understand?”

Walter replied.

“Testing theories over and over again, building a monument of knowledge on the basis of real experimentation… isn’t that the true goal of any mage in search of knowledge? How could the Blue Tower, which refuses to dirty its hands for a superior purpose, ever assimilate our convictions?”

The old warlock’s questioning only received Sephia’s silent disdain as an answer.

“Do you judge that there exists any transcendental achievement in this era that has been obtained without spilling a single drop of blood?”

“Certainly, the filth of your acts knows no bounds.”

After a brief pause, Sephia released the vast potential of her sixth-circle elven magic to face the aberration that challenged her.

At that precise moment, Dale placed himself firmly in front of Sephia.

“Dale, get out of there…!”

Sephia warned with evident concern, but the young man made a gesture of refusal.

“No, I refuse to back down.”

His clothing of shadows expanded, standing up to the mental territory of the leader of the Red Tower.

The environment that a high-ranking mage manifests is the living image of their experiences and the faithful reflection of their mind. And that gloomy nightmare constituted the very foundation of Walter Burning Blood, the leader of the Black Red Brigade.

The dogmas of the Red Tower dictated that strength was the supreme end, and that the lives extinguished in said process were mere necessary rungs to reach a greater goal.

The incessant screams of the victims of experiments, crying out for the end of their torments in the midst of such a hell, sank deep into Dale’s being, sowing an everlasting grudge.

He would never show mercy to the Red Tower or the forces of the Empire.

“It is not only I who refuses to forgive this subject’s actions.”

“Ha! A mere beginner belonging to the third circle intends to stand up to the great Burning Blood?”

Walter mocked the dark and bluish sparks that were beginning to sprout around Dale’s feet.

“Just by possessing an iota of aptitude, do you think you have the right to touch the firmament?”

For a sixth-circle strategist and high command of the Red Tower like Walter, Dale represented an insignificance of the third circle; the gap in abilities was colossal. At least, under the standards of any average mage, that would have been the reality.

“You will pay dearly for your arrogance by being consumed in the embers of the underworld!”

Walter released a gust of scarlet-toned energy from his six sources of power. Simultaneously, an infinity of experimental prisoners were stripped of their chains.

“Blood, more blood, let everything be covered in blood!”

Once free, the mass of test subjects began a frantic onslaught. A crowd of bodies wrapped in fire advanced straight toward Dale and Sephia, emulating a horde of living specters.

“The gear of civilization only advances through the sacrifice of others!”

The environments created by high-level mages are not mere intangible projections.

──And Sephia, the sixth-circle elven sorceress, was prepared to prove it.

The vast wasteland of crystalline ice began to react.

A deafening crack ran through the surface.

The frozen ground fractured completely, releasing a gust of icy wind of devastating proportions.

“Ha! Do you intend to stop the advance of destiny with a simple cold trick?”

Walter performed a gesture with his fingers, causing the immediate detonation of the experimental subjects. Using them as biological projectiles, their vital fluids were violently propelled by the blast.

For the old man, blood represented the fuel to mobilize the threads of destiny, and that same substance sought to corrupt Sephia’s icy ecosystem. That boiling fluid that gave him his feared alias of Burning Blood.

“Manifest.”

However, Sephia made a slight gesture with her hand, imperturbable in front of the frozen horizon.

A musical note, pure and disconcerting, vibrated in the environment. Flashes of bluish energy scattered rapidly throughout the perimeter.

《Blue Dissonance》.

“The framework of dissonance.”

In that microsecond, the particles of the 《Blue Dissonance》 began to intertwine, forming bluish filaments similar to a spider web. The torrent of burning fluids that was advancing like a tidal wave was quelled without the slightest difficulty by that mystical barrier.

At that turning point, Dale burst into action. His mantle of shadows dilated and a tide of darkness overflowed the place, claiming the terrain.

It was the faculty he had claimed that day, after subduing the Orc Warlord.

The dividing line between the domains of both colossi of magic ended up being devoured by a liquid mantle of shadows. From the depths of that dark sea, the 《Shadow Stalkers》 emerged stealthily.

《Shadow Stalkers》.

“……!”

Walter was visibly shocked by the panorama. As he had previously stated, a mystic of the third circle had no chance whatsoever against one of the sixth.

However, Dale was far from being a conventional initiate, and Walter’s adversary was not limited to the boy.

“Stay alert, Dale.”

“Having such an exceptional mentor guarding my rear, there is no reason for fear.”

Replied Dale, sketching a subtle grimace of confidence at Sephia’s words. The doctrine of the blue mages does not focus on direct confrontation. Their mastery lies in dissipating and countering enemy spells, excelling in protection and assistance duties.

And that experienced user of the blue arts, an elf of the sixth circle, was covering Dale’s back. There was no more formidable protection in the entire continent.

As the geography submerged into the sea of shadows, Dale lunged to the attack. He headed straight toward the macabre scene that evoked a surgical room, entering the domain that Walter Burning Blood had manifested.

“A miserable insolent one intends…!”

Walter roared upon noticing the maneuver.

“Consume yourself…!”

His six sources of power rotated at high speed, unleashing a tempest of scarlet energy. A devastating igneous bombardment, comparable to a barrage of heavy projectiles, fell upon Dale.

Despite the lethal bombardment falling from the firmament, Dale’s advance experienced no hesitation whatsoever.

“Flash.”

From the rear, Sephia’s command was heard clearly.

The magical projectiles that threatened to pulverize Dale abruptly altered their trajectory, being inexplicably attracted toward the blue energy focuses that orbited near Sephia. They functioned identically to the decoys used to bypass projectiles guided by thermal sources.

As the distance decreased, the shadowy sea increased its expansion by leaps and bounds.

When a mage materializes his mental plane, this becomes his sovereign territory, and no dark fog can claim it with ease from the outside. However, if the opponent dares to physically tread on the rival’s land, the rules of the game vary.

Dale entered decisively into the conceptual territory that the blood warlock, Walter, had established.

With every stride he took, the control of the sea of shadows extended beneath Dale’s feet.

“Intercept him, my servants!”

Inside the biological facilities of the Black Sect, an endless wave of artificially created entities lashed out at Dale, begging for the end of their days while burning in flames. Despite everything, they were no more than mere constructions of Walter’s mind, devoid of real life.

Without hesitation, Dale materialized the blade coming from his 《Shadow Cloak》. A gust of black slashes, unusual in the repertoire of a mage, lashed out at the entities, dismembering them instantly. Immediately after, the remains tried to explode to bury the young man in fire.

Or at least, that was the plan.

“Blue Quarantine.”

Sephia murmured, and the detonation that intended to incinerate Dale was contained instantly within a bluish cubic structure.

A mystical isolation cell.

“He restricted the perimeter with total accuracy to neutralize the totality of the impact.”

She had calculated with millimetric precision the radius of the explosion, nullifying the damage that Dale should have received.

“Damn sorceress of the Blue Tower…!”

The status of high command of the Blue Tower that that elven elf of the sixth circle possessed was not a mere ornament.

The space between both contenders vanished and Walter’s domain ended up finally buried by the dark sea. The thorny appendages of the 《Shadow Stalkers》 suddenly sprouted to the surface.

Walter raised a wall of fire to protect himself from the onslaught of the dark appendages. He was not an easy rival to subdue; after all, in the past he had measured his strength against an Orc Warlord.

Despite his efforts, the panorama did not vary.

“What did you say was the ideal method to cause death?”

“Don’t make me laugh, you decrepit old man!”

Dale declared sharply. Walter, plunged into dementia, unleashed a shower of burning bursts. It was an implacable offensive, but no attack managed to graze Dale.

“Modification of quarantine parameters.”

Isolation of magical properties. It was a restrictive barrier, a technique proper to the blue mages focused on cutting the interactive flow of enemy spells. It was not limited to a simple use of elements like ice or water.

As a high-ranking blue mystical expert, she was blocking the very root of the rival’s magic. Additionally, she had not even used her mental plane for offensive purposes. Despite focusing merely on protecting Dale, the disparity of conditions was abysmal.

A mystic of elven lineage.

Not all practitioners of the sixth circle share the same level. Particularly when confronting elves, cataloged as the preferred lineage of mana, with simple humans.

It was at that instant that the reality became evident. Walter resembled an insect trapped without escape in Sephia’s web.

Under the gloom that devoured Walter’s environment, the sharp appendages of the Shadow Stalkers restarted their offensive.

The outcome of a battle between a warrior and a mystic is usually sealed at the precise instant that the safety distance is allowed to be broken.

To make matters worse, Dale’s skill with steel surpassed the abilities of a conventional aura knight, and the fact that Walter boasted the sixth circle did not alter that outcome.

However, in front of a sorcerer of such magnitude, not even Dale would have been able to approach with such fluidity on his own. Such a feat was only viable thanks to Sephia’s coverage, and once the gap was closed, the end was unavoidable.

“Back, don’t come any closer…!”

The self-proclaimed Black Prince stood firmly in front of his target.

The absolute rule of “what happens when a mage allows a swordsman to position himself at close range” materialized at that very point.

The warlock was highly overwhelmed trying to repel the sharp appendages of the Shadow Stalkers, a circumstance that Dale took advantage of immediately. The Shadow Blade descended with force upon Walter’s figure.

Upon tearing the skin, the vital fluid was sent in multiple directions.

“Faaah…!”

Walter let out a scream of agony, causing Dale to tilt his face, showing strangeness.

“What is the reason for your complaints?”

The Shadow Blade struck again, staining Walter’s body with his own fluids. An insufferable torment was reflected in each of his laments.

“Is this not the ‘progress through sacrifice’ of which you boasted so much?”

Dale interrogated with amazing coldness in the midst of the old man’s laments.

“You asserted that the gear of civilization only advances over torrents of blood.”

Again, the dark weapon moved viciously, making more vital fluid sprout. He did not seek to provide a quick outcome, but to inflict a punishment loaded with malice to prolong the suffering.

“Shouldn’t you be pleased now that said gear advances using your own blood?”

“A-ah…”

Devoid of any show of mercy, Dale continued with his interrogation, ignoring completely Sephia’s gaze, who contemplated the scene from the back.

The dark sword punished Walter again, who writhed and begged for mercy in the midst of the pain. Multiple crimson marks were drawn on his being, one after another, emulating the disorderly strokes of an infant using a red dye on a blank canvas.

“I beg you…”

Walter managed to articulate with the few forces that remained to him.

“Put an end to my life…”

The red liquid continued to sprout ceaselessly.

However, a peaceful conclusion was not contemplated for the blood warlock, Walter. The threads of destiny continued their course and Dale could not help but mock such a spectacle.

“A gear that requires the torment and the lives of innocents to advance, is a gear that deserves to be destroyed.”

Sentenced the one determined to break the system.

Rejecting absolutely the member of the Red Tower who lay before him, as well as the philosophical bases of said faction and of the Empire itself.

With a definitive movement, the thorny appendage of a Shadow Stalker pierced his thoracic cavity.

The shadowy extremity divided, tearing the old warlock’s organism to pieces as if it were a shredding mechanism.

Facing the brutal execution perpetrated by the Shadow Stalker, Sephia chose to keep a heavy and melancholic silence.

Walter’s remains ended up scattered around the place, causing the collapse and definitive disappearance of his mental environment.

The only thing that prevailed in the area was the plain of crystalline ice, now stained by the crimson remains of the battle.