Chapter 171
Wheeeeeek!
The sound of wind brushing past my ears.
The sensation of my vision shrinking drastically.
The extreme sense of speed felt throughout my body.
It couldn’t even compare to the roller coasters I rode as a child.
But why am I so calm?
‘Because it’s all or nothing!’
Lloyd shouted inwardly.
This is no time to be picky.
The Namaran Barrier has been erected.
People inside the city trapped behind the barrier will be collapsing in real-time.
Thinking about that, there was no more room for hesitation.
Am I a hero of justice?
‘Honestly, not really… I have someone over there who’s going to pay me!’
Namaran City cannot fall.
Count Namaran must not die.
I have to save the city and the Count, finish the construction, and get paid.
With that burning determination, Lloyd tightly gripped the Steel Shovel in one hand.
And he lowered his body close to Ggoming’s back as he plummeted.
‘Let’s goooo!’
The ground rapidly approached.
He saw the man in black standing there.
He was looking at the barrier, his arms wide open.
From that man, he felt a strange and gloomy flow of mana.
It’s certain.
A Black Wizard.
Lloyd’s eyes flashed.
“Ggoming, now!”
“Ggoming!”
He yanked the saddle handle hard.
Ggoming spread his folded wings wide.
A sudden change of direction.
From a vertical dive to horizontal flight.
Using the speed of the dive, he glided just above the ground.
He charged straight towards the Black Wizard.
Lloyd’s shovel also gleamed.
The moment Ggoming brushed past the Black Wizard.
The flat surface of his Steel Shovel swung towards the Black Wizard’s thigh.
‘Got him!’
There’s no way he can withstand this blow.
He’ll probably clutch his leg and fall.
Then I’ll subdue the man and find out how to nullify the barrier.
That’s when Lloyd was painting a rosy picture.
An enormous repulsive force was felt from the Steel Shovel that struck the Black Wizard’s thigh.
Thud-!
“……!”
The feeling in his right hand disappeared.
He almost dropped the shovel.
If he didn’t have the ‘Tool Proficiency Skill: (Shovel)’, if he wasn’t a mid-level Sword Expert, he might have really dropped it.
“Keueup!”
No, not dropping the shovel turned out to be bad luck.
His back arched sharply from the recoil.
That force was also transmitted to Ggoming.
“Gg, Ggoming!”
Ggoming’s flight balance instantly collapsed.
His upper body twisted violently to the right, and Ggoming’s right wing lifted sharply. An unintended sharp turn to the left. He lost both altitude and balance. Ggoming frantically flapped his wings.
But it was too late.
Too late to regain balance.
Too late to gain altitude.
“Ggomi, ming!”
“……Euk!”
The ground welcomed him.
Too roughly.
Crash!
“……!”
Fall. Collision. Rotation.
The ground and sky spun dozens of times.
No, it felt like he rolled on the ground dozens of times.
He couldn’t regain his senses.
When the rough welcome from the ground finally ended, Lloyd could barely open his eyes.
“Th-that… eugh.”
His whole body ached.
At the same time, his whole body felt warm.
Something soft, warm, and fluffy was enveloping his entire body.
A pair of wings.
“Ggoming?”
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
Ggoming was surrounding him with his wings, his eyes closed.
Could it be that he wrapped himself around me at the moment of the fall?
And absorbed the impact of the fall instead?
“Hey? Ggoming?”
His heart sank.
He shook Ggoming urgently.
Ggoming gently opened his eyes.
“Gg, Ggoming?”
“Hooah. Are you okay?”
“Ggoming!”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ggomi ming! Ggoming!”
I don’t hurt. I’m fine.
But unlike those brave words, Ggoming couldn’t get up right away.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was seriously injured. However, it seemed like he would need some time to recover from the impact of the fall.
‘Hooah. What’s going on, really.’
Only then did Lloyd feel a little relieved and shook his head.
Even while getting up, the muscles all over his body screamed in pain.
He picked up the shovel he had dropped nearby.
He looked towards the Black Wizard.
A hollow laugh came out on its own.
“Hehehe.”
I clearly hit him properly with the shovel earlier.
He saw the Black Wizard standing there, still perfectly fine.
Even the sight of him spreading his arms wide towards the sky was the same.
In other words, he hadn’t taken any damage at all.
‘Could he have some kind of protective magic on him?’
Lloyd’s brow furrowed.
It seemed like that was the case.
The blow he had just unleashed wasn’t just hitting him with a shovel.
He had pushed Ggoming’s flight speed to the limit through the dive.
He had also fully loaded it with the weight of himself and Ggoming.
He even infused it with the mana emanating from the Mana Heart.
It contained a power that overwhelmed even the lance charge of a decent heavy cavalry. It was almost comparable to being hit by a minivan.
‘But all that power was bounced off. Thanks to that, we ended up falling.’
If Ggoming hadn’t wrapped himself around him at the moment of the fall, what would have happened to him?
Maybe he would have won at least a full-body fracture.
Lloyd unconsciously shuddered.
He patted Ggoming, who was recovering from the shock.
“Thank you. Wait here for a moment.”
“Gg, Ggoming!”
He left Ggoming behind.
He approached the Black Wizard.
If hitting him doesn’t work, I’ll knock him down with Detonation.
That’s what he thought as he gripped the Steel Shovel.
“Grrr!”
“Grrr!”
Two figures suddenly blocked his path.
But both of them were headless.
A smell like rotting fish rushed in.
Zombies.
Even headless zombies.
“When I looked from the sky earlier, they were scattered around in a cozy group of three. Could it be a combination of one Black Wizard and two escort zombies?”
It seemed like that was the case.
‘This is a bit much.’
Lloyd shrugged.
It wasn’t that he didn’t feel burdened by facing undead like zombies. First of all, the visuals were like watching a gore movie in real life, which was very bad for his eyes and mental health.
And what about the smell?
‘I really can’t get rid of my nose.’
If reaching the mid-level of Sword Expert was a sin, then it was a sin.
Because of his senses, which had become several times more sensitive than before, his olfactory cells were about to sing a chorus of doom in an endless medley of tour bus tickets.
But he couldn’t back down.
There was no reason to back down.
Because he had an excellent skill option to subdue those zombies.
Lloyd quickly opened the skill window before the two zombies rushed towards him.
And he activated the Mana Heart skill option.
Ding-dong.
[Mana Heart Skill Option ④: Undead Domination is activated.]
“Grrr?”
They were two zombies trying to pounce on him.
In an instant, their entire bodies trembled greatly.
But that was it.
They revealed their ferocious nature again.
At the same time, a disappointing message appeared before his eyes.
[The two zombies designated as targets of Undead Domination do not have heads. The two zombies cannot ‘look at’ you. Therefore, the important condition of Undead Domination, ‘can dominate the undead you are facing,’ is not met.]
[Undead Domination has failed.]
“Grrrrr!”
Kwaang!
A headless zombie rushing in against the backdrop of dense messages.
Lloyd’s brow furrowed.
“Ah, really!”
I don’t want to fight.
But if I have to fight, let’s not drag it out.
He steeled his heart.
He deflected the attacks of the two zombies rushing at him like bulls to the side.
He brushed them off with the shovel and kicked them to the side.
At that, the two of them got tangled up.
Their legs twisted, and the two zombies fell together as one.
“Grrr!”
They burst out with ferocious cries again.
They struggled to get up immediately.
But that was their last gesture.
Because the Detonation that flew in before they could even get up pierced their torsos.
Thwack!
“……Keulk!”
The Detonation unleashed by the Steel Shovel pierced through the torsos of the two zombies. It expanded. Instantly to a diameter of 50 centimeters. It dismantled everything in that range.
Puh-wuh-wong-!
The torsos of the two zombies completely disappeared.
That was the end.
“Tsk.”
Lloyd clicked his tongue.
Fortunately, he had subdued the zombies, but he felt even more uneasy.
In fact, what sin did those zombies have?
No, he actually felt sorry for the zombies.
‘If you want to argue, that guy is the real bad guy.’
His gaze turned towards the Black Wizard some distance away.
That Black Wizard is the one who really deserves to be beaten to death.
Killing innocent people and using them as zombies.
Creating strange barriers and sucking the life out of them.
What else could those social cancer-like guys who cause so much trouble be if not bad guys?
‘So, one shot for you too.’
I will subdue him.
But I won’t kill him.
Instead, I’ll beat him until he confesses how to disable the barrier.
A fierce light appeared in Lloyd’s eyes.
He prepared Detonation again.
He fired it.
Thwack!
A torrent of rough mana poured out from the extended shovel.
It was fired. It charged. It pierced through space. It struck the Black Wizard’s leg.
And it bounced off.
Thud!
“……Huh?”
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
Even if it’s just Detonation.
‘It bounced off?’
He couldn’t believe it even though he saw it with his own eyes.
But there was no way he couldn’t believe it.
‘Is this real?’
Could it be that he has to shoot a Triple Detonation to inflict damage?
No, there’s no guarantee that would work either.
Then what should he do?
Lloyd was lost in thought.
Then suddenly, he realized something strange.
‘Wait a minute. Come to think of it, that Black Wizard. He hasn’t moved since earlier.’
Come to think of it, that was really the case.
Even when he ambushed him with Ggoming and hit him with the shovel.
Even when he was bickering with the two zombies after falling.
Even when he fired Detonation just now.
That Black Wizard had been standing like a stone statue, constantly spreading his arms towards the sky.
That means…….
“Hey. Are you perhaps unable to move?”
He wondered if that was the case.
He approached him slightly.
He spoke when he got within five steps.
But somehow, there was no answer from the Black Wizard.
There was no reaction either.
No, there was a very slight reaction.
With his whole body stiff, only his eyeballs rolled around, looking at him.
“Ha. It’s real. It seems like he can’t move.”
Lloyd couldn’t help but laugh.
Now he seemed to understand a little.
‘That Black Wizard can’t move because he’s creating and maintaining the Namaran Barrier. Instead, he’s protected himself with an incredibly high level of defensive magic.’
A defensive magic that repels even the blow of the Steel Shovel with tremendous power.
Even Detonation.
Realizing that, he felt even more troubled.
‘Then what should I do.’
Lloyd was lost in thought.
Should I finish him off with a Triple Detonation?
Or should I use the Rapid Charge option?
But it was while he was worrying about that.
Lloyd suddenly felt a familiar flow of mana from the Black Wizard.
‘Huh?’
He raised his head.
He moved his gaze.
The place where he felt the flow of mana.
Around the Black Wizard’s chest.
He cast his eyes there.
Thanks to that, he was able to discover it.
“A jewel?”
A dark jewel with a purple tint was embedded in the Black Wizard’s necklace.
Lloyd moved closer to the Black Wizard.
He openly observed the jewel in the necklace.
Thanks to that, he was able to realize it.
‘It’s the same thing.’
The skull he dug up from the ground.
The jewel contained within it.
It was exactly the same as that.
The flow of mana felt from the jewel was almost the same.
The bizarre and gloomy condensed mana was writhing as if it were running wild.
And it was resonating with the Namaran Barrier.
In other words, this jewel is the magical medium that creates the Namaran Barrier.
If so, the story changes.
It was from that moment.
‘Bingo.’
The corners of Lloyd’s lips slowly rose.
An idea flashed through his mind.
The jewel that he had dismantled mana countless times and obtained.
So now he was familiar with the mana structure of the jewel.
But he’s using it right in front of me?
‘This is like setting up a table for me to eat.’
There’s no need to struggle to break the barrier.
The magical medium that creates the barrier.
All I have to do is deal with that.
No, in this case, there’s a better way than simply dealing with it.
“Hey, you?”
With a sly look in his eyes, Lloyd looked at the Black Wizard, having regained his composure.
Of course, the Black Wizard didn’t answer.
Lloyd’s question continued.
“Are you feeling relaxed now? Feeling secure? Because you have defensive magic. You’re enjoying the conviction and reassurance that you’ll be safe no matter how I hit, punch, pinch, or freak out, right?”
“…….”
What kind of obvious nonsense is that?
The Black Wizard sent him such a mocking gaze.
But Lloyd didn’t get unnecessarily excited.
The one who gets excited loses in these situations.
He responded with an even thicker smile.
“Don’t worry. Why would I hit you? It’s a waste of energy. Instead of just taking out the center.”
“…….”
“What do I mean? Listen carefully. This jewel you have, you see it? From now on, I’m going to change the use of this jewel a little.”
“……!”
“You say it’s impossible? But I can do it?”
“…….”
“It’s real. Wanna see?”
Lloyd raised his hand.
The jewel embedded in the Black Wizard’s necklace.
He fearlessly grabbed the Noctanium.
“I don’t know magic very well, but I know how to absorb and rearrange mana a little. Besides, I’ve been fiddling with blueprints so much that I’m sick and tired of modifying complex and detailed things. Do you know what this means?”
“…….”
“This jewel that you trust. I’m going to change the mana alignment condensed in it. So I’m going to change the target that the barrier sacrifices and absorbs mana from. Not the people inside the barrier, but the person who created the barrier, that is, you.”
“……!”
A light of disbelief flickered in the Black Wizard’s eyes.
It was at that moment.
Kiiiiing-!
Lloyd’s three Mana Circles, which were holding the jewel, rotated violently.
The Asrahan Heart Technique, specialized in mana absorption and rearrangement.
The true value of that Heart Technique began to be activated to the extreme.