Read Novel Full Chapter 660: Can Resolve Burn Brighter Than Fear?
Chapter 660: Can Resolve Burn Brighter Than Fear?
[A few minutes earlier]
After Reph had found his way back to the group, he swiftly explained the situation.
“That thing was sir Albrecht!?” Many nobles shouted in unison.
Shock and terror filled their eyes as they watched the colossal stone giant march east from them. Some sighed in relief, while others trembled in fear.
Reph studied their reactions before surveying the surroundings.
The area was rough with clear signs of battle. It was also littered with bodies of both nobles and cult members.
‘It really is the Cult of Jesters.’ Reph thought before turning to count the surviving nobles. His face shortly turned grim, ‘142 nobles are here, but initially there were around 150. In just one wave, we had already lost over 10 nobles, and also what looks to be more than 20 servants. The situation is growing more horrid by the second…’
Reph’s worrisome expression hardened when he realised that Lillian and Marionette weren’t around.
‘What a horrid situation, indeed…’
While silently cursing their circumstances, a group of nobles quickly gathered to surround him.
Startled, Reph instantly raised his guard—but he later dropped it after hearing:
“Prince Reph, are you alright?”
“Do you need any potions, Prince Reph?”
“I’ll gladly tend to you, Prince Reph!”
Most were women, though a few men stood among them. Apparently, they had come to inquire about his condition after hearing about his fight with the mutated Albrecht. They were also drawn to the tragic burn scars covering this body.
Although the searing pain had long faded, the metal bands that used to wrap around his limbs had melted into his flesh due to his [Greater Brilliance]. Because of this, he looked extremely pitiful in the eyes of noblewomen but inspiring in the eyes of the noblemen.
‘I’ll need surgery to fix this…’ Reph briefly thought, glancing at his body.
After answering their inquiries, Reph waved them away before wandering around to find Silvia, who was currently communicating with Kuro and Mizuki. Besides Kuro, they looked a bit worn out.
Once they caught sight of Reph, their eyes immediately lit up.
“Reph, you’re still alive!” Silvia quickly rushed over and checked his body for wounds. Fortunately, apart from the burn scars, she found nothing—but it didn’t make her feel any less guilty.
“Sorry, I really wanted to come back, but everyone here needed my help!”
Reph shook his head, “It’s fine. Judging by how many we lost, the enemy is quite formidable. You made the right choice.”
Seeing the guilt in Silvia’s eyes clear up a bit, Reph quickly filled them in on what happened.
And as he did, he managed to get a good look at Mizuki, who appeared to have lost a bit of life in his eyes.
Reph lowered his eyelids a bit at this.
‘He must’ve gotten the news from Silvia already…’
Afterwards, Silvia chose to do the same and filled him in on the current situation.
From what Reph gathered, the average Tier the enemy was at was Tier 2—and he had no doubt that the Cult of Jesters had more planned for this invasion.
“If all of our vehicles are destroyed, has anyone tried to escape using spatial magic?”
“Yes… But anything having to do with space is completely shut down.”
Reph grimaced.
“How about technology?”
“It’s still working! I think, unlike the invasion that happened at your academy, they hadn’t deployed any kind of EMP field.”
“But they have a Space Disruptor field?”
‘The field doesn’t appear to be like a dome, so what can it be?’
Looking upwards into the sky, Reph squinted—trying to peer through the dense blanket of clouds over their heads. Within a little bit of time, Reph eventually found what he was looking for.
High above in the sky, a lantern hovered in place inside the clouds with a purple flame inside it.
‘That must be it…’
After swiftly gathering a ball of light, Reph—without hesitation—attacked the floating lantern with a light beam.
His attack pierced through the clouds within a near instant. But when it got around to reaching the lantern, his attack was intercepted with a purple flame barrier.
‘I guess it’s not going to be so simple to destroy, but the item must have a limit on its range and how much its barrier can endure.’
Glancing to the side, Reph settled his gaze on the colossal stone in the distance. An unusual, but complex emotion shone in his eyes as he watched a flying knight battling the stone titan alone.
‘She has a heroic resolve, but you can only do so much to the point it’s just reckless bravery.’
Reph sighed and tore his gaze away.
‘She’s strong, so I’m just gonna trust that she can escape when the situation becomes dire. On the other hand, I should plan out an evacuation for the nobles, while also figuring out a way to destroy that lantern in the sky.’
“Silvia, Mizuki, Kuro, let’s come up with a plan to evacuate—”
“Prince Reph, have you seen my butler anywhere?!”
Momentarily freezing in place, Reph slowly turned his head back like a rusty cog and met the eyes of a beautiful blonde woman.
The woman in front of him, though pretty, had a childlike air to her. It was Crystal.
‘This woman, isn’t this the person Millis introduced me to?’ Reph asked himself before taking a step back.
With a desperate, worried look in her eyes, Crystal neared herself closer to Reph, who became startled by this.
“Prince Reph, you were the last to come out of that mansion. Have you seen Millis anywhere?! Please, just anything would be fine!”
Reph’s face hardened when he heard this.
Crystal, seeing the prince become silent at her question, gasped a little—fearing the worst. But when she noticed his eyes slowly sliding towards the colossal golem afar, her imagination ran wild.
“N-no, she couldn’t have…”
“She’s fine. I saw her manage to escape north from here.” Reph smiled, putting on his best effort to comfort the woman, “Rest assured, she’ll be fine.”
He then paused for a split second before adding:
“I promise you that she will be fine.”
“I-I see… T-thank you, Prince Reph. I suppose I should trust her…” Crystal fidgeted before bowing and walking away.
When she had gotten far enough away, Reph let out a deep sigh as he rested his hand against his forehead. Then, he muttered with pauses in between, “Millis… You’re always putting me in such tight spots… When will you stop messing around?”
Later, he remembered what Millis said to him, which made him clench a fist tightly.
With another sigh, he called for the three behind him.
“You guys… Change of plans for a bit. Could you help me round up everyone?”
“Why? Do you have a plan?” Kuro asked, leaving Silvia to comfort Mizuki.
“I do. A foolish and reckless one, but it’ll keep a good friend of mine from dying.”
Turning back, Reph asked:
“Could you have everyone hand over their most valued items to me?”
⚬──────────✧──────────⚬
Hovering in the air, Reph gazed down at Albrecht’s humongous stone form. Despite the colossal golem’s overwhelming presence, Reph’s expression remained cold and indifferent.
But if one looked closer, they would find his hands to be trembling.
After a point, Albrecht had begun to release a potent Predatory Aura—enough to where Tier 2 mages and below would be severely affected by it, leading them to cower and collapse in fear.
And right now, Reph was pooling every bit of willpower he had to endure.
‘This idea really was foolish and reckless…’
Reph clenched his fists before slowly relaxing them.
Glancing back at the bombarded area—specifically where Millis was—Reph lowered his gaze for a moment before turning his head back to face Albrecht.
With his body now decorated with another array of jewellery, but also sheathed weapons, Reph radiated a threatening light.
Staring directly at Albrecht, Reph spoke:
“We have unfinished business.”
Then the prince retrieved a crystalline crown that sparkled like a sky full of stars. And when he did, a stiff hesitation permeated through his mind.
The gap between a Tier 2 mage and a Rank B monster was massive. With pure strength and ability alone, a Tier 2 mage could only ever achieve leaving a minor wound on a Rank B monster. But what if there was some way to narrow the gap between the two? In most cases, mages would band together to face stronger enemies; that was the most common and effective way.
An example of this was when Lillian fought the Two-headed Sea Serpent alongside Captain Nearlo Farland. Or when the two fought the Drowned King. By relying on their abilities and experience, the two were able to cover each other’s backs and claim victory.
But that wasn’t the same for Reph, unfortunately; he was alone.
And the only way for a mage of his level to face such an opponent…
He required a crutch that would put him on a similar footing.
As he placed the crown upon his head, Reph whispered:
“Take five years…”
The crystalline crown flashed with an intense light in response to his words, as if it had sentience.
Next, that intense light grew rapidly until it had spread across Reph’s entire body, giving him the appearance of some kind of holy entity descended to face the colossal evil.
Reph felt an invigorating power spread throughout his body, but also a nauseating sensation that made him feel as though something had been taken from him.
And that thing would be his lifespan.
His crown had a special ability to grant its wearer a significant boost in their abilities, but at the cost of their lifespan.
Reph gritted his teeth and endured it. He raised his fists and took a stance in the air; light of both determination and resolve burned inside glowing eyes—he was going to give it his all now.
“I’ll put you down properly this time.”
Sensing Reph’s murderous intent directed at him, Albrecht roared from within the heart of the stone colossus:
“STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!”
Light blazed within Reph’s eyes.
Armed with the intent to eradicate one another, the two rushed forward and clashed.
[16:50 PM]