Golden Mage - Chapter 35
Volume 2, Episode 5
Emperor Oscar had no idea that Crown Prince Alcaide was having such thoughts, and that meant Crown Prince Alcaide had grown even more than he had expected.
Feeling pleased by Crown Prince Alcaide’s growth, which had surpassed his expectations, Emperor Oscar burst into laughter and said, “Haha! Not bad at all! I like it! Dispatch ten members of the Royal Guard, one hundred members of the Central Knights, and five hundred Guard Knights. Investigate the incident at Count Einhart’s estate thoroughly.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Duke Klain, since the Crown Prince is still lacking, please guide him well.”
Upon hearing the praise from the Emperor, Duke Klain politely bowed his head.
“Your Highness Crown Prince is exceptionally gifted, so I wonder if there is anything I should take special care of.”
There is no parent who wouldn’t feel good after receiving such compliments about their child. There could be no better flattery than the pleasure that Emperor Oscar was experiencing from the Crown Prince’s growth.
“Haha, that’s true. But don’t you have experience, Duke? If you guide the Crown Prince well, experiences like today will be rare.”
He couldn’t flatter the Crown Prince any further than this.
“I understand. Leave it to me.”
“I expect you to handle it well.”
After Emperor Oscar’s encouraging words, the two men bowed their heads again and left the palace’s audience hall.
Shortly after, 110 knights and 500 Guard Knights poured out of the palace.
Their destination was Count Einhart’s estate.
In a battle between mages, it was generally a long-distance confrontation.
The way War Mages fought involved using supporting magic all over their bodies and engaging in long-distance battles, utilizing offensive and defensive spells while maintaining distance.
Of course, this was the case for mages from low class to mid-tier classes.
High-class mages could activate low-class magic with just an incantation, saving time and energy. While casting magic appropriate for their class took time, effectively using lower-class magic could be more advantageous.
However, among mages of the same class, such as two 6th Class mages, cancelling each other’s magic became possible, making it both useful and practically useless at the same time.
El had no intention of engaging in long-distance battles like other mages. But he also didn’t want to limit himself to close combat like War Mages.
He planned to mix both styles.
The most important thing in close combat was speed. What do you need most in close combat? Nothing other than speed!
The difference in combat between a zergling with speed upgrade and without it was significant!
Speed was crucial in combat.
El cast a spell. Spells of 5th Class and below didn’t require chanting.
“Haste! Reiterate!”
Fwoosh!
El’s signature was shot like a flash of lightning. His target was Count Einhart from the beginning.
He aimed to take out the strong ones first! That was an essential tactic in combat.
Even though El suddenly charged at him, Count Einhart remained unfazed. He was a seasoned warrior who had experienced and witnessed countless battles. He had already anticipated such a pattern.
“Huh! An attack aimed to surprise is well within the range of my calculations. Haste!”
When the opponent used Haste and charged at you, all you had to do was cast Haste yourself and avoid the attack. The speeds would be similar, so the original distance would be maintained.
However, Count Einhart made one mistake. He didn’t pay attention to El shouting “Reiterate.” Reiterate meant repetition, which indicated overlapping.
El wasn’t just using overlapping runes on artifacts; he was also using overlapping in combat.
When you forge iron, the strength increases several times. Similarly, overlapping magic would increase its power several-fold.
The Haste that El had just cast wasn’t your ordinary Haste.
El’s mana arrow, shot at an incredible speed, reached Count Einhart in an instant.
“Oops!”
Count Einhart was taken aback. El’s speed was fast, but it was too fast. He had never heard of a magic that could approach this quickly, despite living for over 70 years.
El said to the startled Count Einhart, “I told you earlier. You will taste endless despair. The world is filled with things you don’t know.”
While speaking, El cast another spell. It was a close-range destructive spell that could be cast without chanting.
“Bigvice Interposing Hand!”
El’s mana condensed intensely around his two hands as the magic unfolded.
A huge hand that looked to be easily over 3 meters in size! The dense blue mana condensed into the hand of a giant came crashing down mercilessly toward Count Einhart.
Count Einhart should have blinked if it were a typical magical battle.
However, El’s magic casting was even faster than that. The time required to blink was not even enough to cast Blink.
Count Einhart stretched out his hands. If he were to counter-cast the attack, it would be a clear disadvantage for him. However, he had to evade, even if it meant taking some damage. If he tried to cast Blink now, his body would be torn to pieces.
At that moment, a voice of salvation was heard from Count Einhart. Gleton had cast a spell.
“Flame Storm!”
It was a 6th Class ranged spell, the most powerful in its range. Gleton had used his ability to shorten casting time to quickly unleash a 6th Class spell.
“Tsk! You’re quick.”
El, who had cornered Count Einhart, canceled the Bigvice Interposing Hand and then cast Burning Hand with his left hand toward Count Einhart while simultaneously casting another spell with his opposite hand. It was double casting.
“Wall of Stone!”
El quickly canceled the Bigvice Interposing Hand, creating a gap that gave Count Einhart a chance to blink.
“Blink!”
Paat!
Count Einhart’s body vanished into the space.
And then, his figure reappeared far away.
At that moment, El’s eyes lit up, and he hurled his body toward that spot.
His body, enhanced by the stacked Haste, was faster than anyone else’s.
“Ugh! Such speed!”
Count Einhart was astonished by El’s speed as he approached. He was incredibly fast.
“Fly!”
Count Einhart cast Fly to escape from El. However, El’s speed in considering the rationality of the magic was not something Count Einhart could compete with. Count Einhart had always fought with his overwhelming advantage in short casting speed compared to others.
However, it seemed that he never expected such a day to come.
El and Count Einhart’s compatibility was a disaster. It turned out to be the worst situation possible.
Faced with an unexpected situation, there was no other way. Most mages would cast a defensive spell and Blink away.
That was exactly what Gleton did. He haphazardly cast as many defensive spells as possible.
“Shield! Shield! Shield!”
Three instances of Shield created a translucent barrier around Gleton.
Blocking Flame Storm with Shield was impossible from the start. The Shield could only buy some time. Moreover, it was only a fleeting moment.
Gleton had a moment of time to react as he faced the Flame Storm rushing toward him, and he quickly evaded.
“Blink!”
Paat!
Gleton’s body vanished into the spatial rift.
And then, his figure appeared far away.
At that moment, El cast a spell.
“Web!”
It was a 3rd Class Hold Person spell, which hindered the movements of others. However, the difference was that Hold Person was directly cast on the target, whereas Web was cast around the target.