Chapter 97

"Although this is still in the experimental stage... it's an emergency, so there's no choice. Heat ball, manifest in my hand!"

In Jildome's hand, a white-hot heat ball appeared.

Jildome stepped back from the heat ball and pointed the tip of his golden staff at it.

Instantly, purple lightning enveloped the heat ball.

The lightning intertwined and took the shape of a beast.

A white-hot sphere, like a heart, was embedded deep within its chest.

The purple lightning beast opened its mouth to the sky as if roaring.

"That lightning beast... Could it be alive? Are you saying that a mere lump of electricity, created on the spot, is a pseudo-life form? Such absurd magic..."

Behind Lamber, Kreutz stood in shock.

(It was already used in the Eight Nations Unification War... but as Kreutz said, Tesla's achievements have been completely forgotten.)

Lamber had also fought plasma beasts created by thermal ionization magic several times during the war against the Maculas Kingdom in the Eight Nations Unification War.

"Go, my hunting dog Tindalos! Pursue him to the ends of hell until his soul finds no peace!"

Jildome waved his staff.

The purple lightning hunting dog Tindalos ran across the ground toward Lamber, leaving blackened, smoking tracks behind.

Lamber dodged the purple lightning hunting dog and approached Jildome.

But Tindalos quickly turned and pursued Lamber.

"It's futile. The hunting dog will chase you until you die. There's no way to escape from a plasma tracker! Furthermore... another one!"

Jildome generated a second Tindalos.

The second hunting dog also looked around and then lunged at Lamber with its mouth wide open.

"And this is the finishing blow!"

A third hunting dog was created.

The third Tindalos approached Lamber in the shortest route and joined the other two.

The three Tindalos surrounded and pursued Lamber.

One of them lunged at Lamber with its mouth wide open.

Lamber readied his greatsword.

He dodged Tindalos' charge and swung his greatsword at the exposed belly.

For a moment, Tindalos' form wavered, but it quickly returned to normal.

"It's useless. A slash won't affect the ionized gas Tindalos. You're incompatible. No matter how skilled you are with a sword, it's meaningless against thermal ionization magic. Only a magician can counter this. Knight, turn to ashes..."

"Haahaaaaa!"

Lamber, who had been holding his greatsword on the ground, swung it upward with great force.

The ground cracked, and dirt flew up.

After the slash and the gale passed, a small fissure, like a crack in the earth, was carved by the greatsword.

At the end of the fissure, Tindalos stood, split into two halves.

The heat ball in its chest was also split, causing the magic to dissipate and the heat to disperse, losing its form.

Simultaneously, the purple lightning beast ceased to exist.

Jildome's face, which had been serious, widened in shock.

He seemed unable to understand what had happened.

"Indeed, in every era, dealing with this is troublesome."

The second Tindalos lunged at Lamber.

Lamber gripped his greatsword tightly, crouched, and kicked the ground.

Tindalos and Lamber collided head-on.

Tindalos' body collided with Lamber's magic metal armor, causing the purple lightning to scatter and explode.

The ground was gouged out in a circular pattern by the shockwave.

However, Lamber, standing in the center, remained unharmed.

"Hmm, this is easier."

"Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Jildome's wise, mature face twisted in confusion at the incomprehensible scene before him.

Tindalos, which should have been immune to physical impacts due to its energy form, had been obliterated by a simple head-on collision.

Indeed, hitting a flame with a fist is meaningless, but the wind pressure from a punch can affect the intensity of the flame.

However, completely erasing a Tindalos created by high-level magic was beyond Jildome's comprehension.

"First of all, why didn't the armor get damaged from that impact!? Why can you stand calmly in the center of the shockwave!?"

"It's simple. This armor is heavier than the shockwave."

Lamber, having said that, readied his greatsword and charged at Jildome.

The third Tindalos, following Lamber, was meaningless.

Lamber was much faster than the purple lightning beast.

Moreover, if the beast caught up, it would be obliterated by another head-on collision.

"This Jildome... in such a place! I, I will uncover the truths of the world under that person!"

"A mere swordsman like you... if you could do it, the people of the past... like Dormione, would have done it long ago."

"Who are you to talk like you know everything...!"

Jildome raised his golden staff.

A massive heat ball formed at the tip of the staff.

Purple lightning from the heat ball spread out in a hemispherical shape around Jildome.

The highly dense ionized gas formed a wall of purple light.

It was a fearsome defensive barrier that burned anything it touched.

However, for Jildome, this was a regrettable mistake.

In essence, it was an action without a follow-up.

Jildome poured all his remaining mana into this absolute defense.

But this would only buy time; it couldn't last.

Indeed, the barrier was the strongest, but it required a significant amount of mana.

It was extremely inefficient.

(Think, think, Jildome. How can I escape this predicament? If I do nothing, I'll just be killed. Should I beg for my life?)

If he did nothing, he would only waste mana and buy time.

He needed to come up with a plan.

(They must be desperate for our information. I have no intention of revealing it, but I can buy time and look for an opening... I still have one last card in my thermal ionization magic. Whether I survive is a gamble, but this is my only option.)

Jildome gathered his thoughts and raised his face.

At the top of the destructive barrier, the highly dense ionized gas wall had a crack.

"Hm?"

"Haahaaaaa!"

With a roar, the crack widened, and the dome collapsed. Lamber, wielding his greatsword, appeared.

Jildome opened his mouth wide, emitting a silent scream.

Lamber's greatsword, which had shattered Jildome's absolute defense, cut through his body vertically.

Jildome's body was split in two, and his golden staff fell from his hand and pierced the ground.

With the death of the caster, the last Tindalos' heat ball in its chest disappeared, and its body collapsed.

Lamber, still in motion, pulled his greatsword from the ground and looked at Jildome's corpse.

"... I only intended to break the defensive barrier. It seems I'm not in top form today."

Lamber, who had once again killed a valuable source of information, muttered to himself.