Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity
Chapter 211
"It's been a while! I've missed you all so damn much!"
The mad magic engineer, Gustav, had made his entrance.
Srrrk.
The door to the dwarf workshop disappeared into thin air, as if melting away, and Gustav appeared on the battlefield, shouting.
Aden grinned.
'Normally, opening the door to the dwarf workshop here would have been impossible.'
The dark energy emanating from the Hell Gate, Tartarus, disrupted the flow of energy, making it impossible to pinpoint coordinates.
However, thanks to Elise's Sacred Fire temporarily purifying the surrounding dark energy, they were able to use the door to the dwarf workshop, allowing Gustav, who had been in Stoneheim, to appear.
Shaura's expression became strange upon seeing him.
"......Mage Gustav?"
"At least you remember my name! Mage Shaura!"
It was only natural, as Gustav was a famous figure among the mages of the Central Magic Tower, including Shaura.
"Why has someone like you shown up here?"
There was a faint trace of disdain on Shaura's face.
"A failure who even lost his mana..."
The mages of the tower all looked down on him.
Instead of advancing his circle, he tinkered with scrap metal like a blacksmith and pursued the heretical path of magic engineering, an outcast.
Despite that, he was an incompetent mage who achieved nothing and only drained the tower's research funds.
In the end, he caused an explosion and was expelled from the tower after having his mana sealed as punishment.
That was Gustav's story.
Gustav looked at Shaura and the mages of the tower.
'Yes, those eyes.'
The eyes of those who had always looked down on him.
The cold, cynical eyes of those consumed by a mage's arrogance!
Those eyes had repeatedly wounded his pride, almost breaking his conviction in magic engineering several times.
It felt as if his heart had been torn apart.
Was he truly on the wrong path?
Did he need to endure this suffering to continue his research?
Those doubts had never left his mind.
He hated those eyes.
But not anymore.
'I didn't fail.'
He had met Aden, gained his recognition, conducted research, and found people who shared his vision.
He had made Remes territory more prosperous with his technology, and now, even the citizens of Remes gave him looks of respect when they encountered him.
Thanks to that, he had been able to let go of his inferiority complex.
Gustav, who had undergone such a change of heart, was no longer afraid of those looks he had once despised.
He now understood the true emotions hidden beneath their disdain.
'To think I was so afraid of those worthless eyes.'
A smirk naturally formed on his lips.
"Hehehehe!"
He burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.
"Hahahaha! You cowards! Were you that afraid of me?"
"...What did you say?"
"Yes! You must have been afraid! It was only natural!"
Gustav spoke as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
"Once magic engineering becomes widespread, even non-mages will be able to use magic!"
Shaura and the other mages' faces twisted in response.
Gustav found their reactions even more amusing.
'Cowards.'
Magic engineering was a useless field of study from the mages' perspective.
Since they could already use magic, they had no need for magic tools that could replicate magic effects.
But the situation would be different if it spread to ordinary people without mana.
"You must have been afraid that even ordinary people without mana would be able to wield magic-like power. The very act of granting the same power to those you consider mere insects, tainting your precious authority, must have been intolerable to you!"
"...Shut up."
"What makes you so superior as mages? What makes you special chosen ones? In reality, you're nothing but cowards hiding in your towers, fearing that your authority will become cheapened!"
"Shut up!"
Kwahhhhh!
Shaura's body erupted with intense mana. The transcendental aura embedded in her mana overwhelmed Gustav.
"A mere human who has even lost his mana dares!"
For the first time, she dropped her usual polite speech and released her fury.
Drip.
Blood flowed from Gustav's eyes, nose, and mouth.
The pressure from Shaura, who had reached the 9th Star, was unbearable for someone without mana like him.
"Kuhuhuhuh!"
But even under the overwhelming pressure, Gustav did not lose consciousness. Instead, he chuckled.
Gustav, with blood tears streaming down his face, had a strange madness gleaming in his eyes.
Gustav pulled out a square metal cube from his pocket.
"Yes! I'll show you that your fears and actions to expel me were justified!"
He tossed the cube into the air.
Fwaaah! A burst of light exploded.
And when the light subsided.
Kuuuuung!
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck, and something fell.
It was no longer a cube.
A magical power cannon.
A magical power cannon over tens of meters in size had appeared.
"This is the magic engineering that you feared and despised! You wretched bastards!"
Gustav aimed the enormous cannon's muzzle at the sky.
Several layers of circular, colorful magic formulas appeared around the muzzle, gathering mana.
Kugugugugugugu!
The meteor that was about to crash onto the allied forces.
With less than 30 seconds remaining until impact, Gustav shouted the name of his masterpiece, which he had created with Hermit's help.
"Tower Breaker! Fire!"
The Tower Breaker, the breaker of towers.
Gustav's masterpiece, which had once actually destroyed the Magic Tower in his past life, unleashed its destructive power.
Kwahhhhh!
A beam of magic power, reminiscent of a dragon's breath, shot straight into the sky.
The magic beam collided with the meteor.
Kwahhhhhhh!
The magic beam pierced through the meteor, shattering it into pieces.
"Rocks are falling!"
"Everyone, be careful!"
The shattered fragments rained down on the allied forces.
"Deploy shields!"
The mages of the allied forces quickly deployed shields to protect the assault troops.
Though the meteor fragments pounded on the shields, they were thankfully able to block them.
Despite this, the mages trembled in shock.
'To destroy a meteor!'
They had just witnessed the nullification of a spell cast by a 9th Star mage.
In their eyes, Gustav's feat made him seem almost inhuman.
Aden let out a wry laugh.
"Haha, this is insane... What kind of monster did this lizard create?"
The Tower Breaker was dozens of times more powerful than the one Aden had known.
Wasn't this even stronger than a dragon's breath?
'The Tower Breaker is a weapon that mimics the principles of dragon breath.'
Gustav had created his masterpiece, the Tower Breaker, by imitating dragon breath that had only existed in legends and documents.
Even that was powerful enough to half-destroy the Magic Tower.
'But this time, a dragon helped him directly.'
With the original right in front of him and even helping in its creation, it was no wonder the performance was superior.
Moreover, the destructive power was doubled because the magic cannon was concentrated in a straight line rather than dispersed.
"What is this...!"
"This is... impossible!"
The mages of the Central Magic Tower, who had sided with Chaos, were also in shock.
Shaura's face turned pale.
She couldn't believe the situation before her.
- The gods are left speechless, their mouths agape.
Even the gods were astonished by the absurd power on display.
'This weapon must be dismantled after the battle is over.'
This was a weapon that humanity should not yet possess.
It would undoubtedly cause massive repercussions.
But all of this was only if Aden won.
"Fenrir, charge."
- Yes!
Fenrir dashed towards the Thorn Fortress.
"Ugh, where do you think you're going!"
Shaura was about to attack Aden to stop him.
Shiver!
The heightened senses that had developed as she ascended to transcendence alerted her to danger.
She quickly deployed dozens of shields.
Kwahhhhh!
A beam of light struck Shaura's shields.
Crack, crack, crack!
One by one, the twelve layers of shields shattered.
"Ugh!"
Snap!
In the end, she barely managed to defend herself, leaving only the last shield with cracks.
Ssss.
A small magical power cannon with steam rising from its muzzle and Gustav controlling it.
"Your opponent is me, Gustav Hyde! Hahahaha!"
"...You, of all people!"
Shaura glared at Gustav with genuine murderous intent.
With every shield he broke, it felt like her pride was being shattered.
She gritted her teeth.
Then she looked up at the absurdly large Tower Breaker.
'That cannon is dangerous.'
A magical cannon capable of destroying even a 9th Star magic spell like Meteor.
She had never seen such a powerful wave of magic before.
It was a sight that inspired awe, as if she were witnessing a dragon's breath, the origin of magic itself.
Fortunately, the drawback seemed to be that it couldn't be used continuously due to output issues...
'Wait, what am I thinking...?'
Feeling awe?
Towards such a toy-like weapon, and from a lowly non-mage like him?
As she realized this thought, she...
"Aaaaaah!"
Kwahhhh!
Unable to control her emotions, she screamed and unleashed her magic.
A storm-like wave of magic spread from her.
It carried her fury.
"I am the greatest mage! The human closest to the truth! And yet, by an insect like you!"
Gustav's very existence was a mockery of magic and a personal insult to her.
An insect like him should not exist in this world.
She cast a new 9th Star spell.
- Inferno that burned nine kingdoms to ashes in seven days! Summon that giant to this place!
Fwoosh!
Her magic gathered into a massive ball of fire. The fireball grew larger and larger, taking on a distinct shape.
- Who dares to summon me!
The tyrant of the spirit realm, Surtr, the Fire Giant.
A colossal giant of fire, standing over 30 meters tall, appeared with a roar.
A presence that instilled both fear and awe in those who beheld it.
"Huff, huff..."
It was a catastrophic being summoned by exhausting almost all of her magic power.
As a result, she was sweating profusely and on the verge of collapse from magic exhaustion, but her eyes still gleamed brightly.
"Behold! This is the power of magic!"
Regaining her confidence and sense of superiority, she forced a smile of a victor.
Now that the Fire Giant was summoned, nothing could stop it.
"An insect should die quietly underfoot!"
But then, it happened.
Click!
Suddenly, a door appeared.
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Starting with that door, doors began to appear in a row. Simultaneously, the doors creaked open.
Then, from beyond those doors, colossal silhouettes appeared with thunderous footsteps.
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!
- Kuooooot!
- Kuoooooo!
Hundreds of golems emerged from hundreds of doors.
But the golems looked strange.
No, they were grotesque.
"Gustav, brother! We've come to help!"
"Hahaha! Looking down from above instead of looking up feels fantastic!"
The heads of the golems were laughing.
No, those weren't golem heads; they were dwarves.
The dwarves of Stoneheim had decapitated the golems and wore them like armor.
It was as if gigantic, muscular dwarves made of steel were bursting out of the doors.
"...What is that?"
Even Shaura, dumbfounded, gaped at the bizarre sight.
Gustav boarded his own custom armored golem and shouted.
"Perfect timing! Brothers in magic engineering! Let's begin! Hahaha!"
"Ooooh!"
"Finally, the moment of fusion has arrived!"
'Fusion...?'
Shaura and the mages had bewildered expressions, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Meanwhile, the dwarves, looking unusually excited, shouted in unison.
"Armored golem unit! Fusion!"
Clank, clunk, clank!
Hundreds of armored golems began to transform in an instant.
Fwaah!
Brilliant lights of magic circuit formulas burst forth from the golems.
The light was so intense that neither the allied forces nor the mages could see anything.
"Ugh! What's going on!"
"Hahaha! I'll skip the detailed fusion process!"
When the excessively blinding radiance finally subsided, a colossal figure emerged.
"That's...?"
Someone in the allied forces murmured in a daze.
"...A dwarf?"
Before their eyes stood a gigantic dwarf that blocked out the entire sky.
A steel dwarf clad in gray armor from head to toe!
Ssshhh!
The steel dwarf emitted hot steam from each joint.
Zap!
A blue spark of lightning flashed in the dwarf's eyes. Then the mouth of the supermassive armored golem shaped like a dwarf opened.
The steel dwarf spoke in Gustav's voice.
- This is the culmination of our sweat and passion...!
- Maximum Gigante Dwarf!
Kuuuuuuoooooo...!
The 100-meter-tall magic circuit armored golem roared.
- ...Huh?
The Fire Giant's mouth hung open in disbelief.
Surtr, the Fire Giant, a legendary being that burned nine ancient kingdoms in another world.
He was now experiencing something bizarre.
A steel dwarf, nearly three times larger than himself, was looking down at him.
Shaura felt the same way.
The steel dwarf was looking down at her as if she were nothing more than an insect.
There was no longer any room for anger or thoughts of insects. The existence before her was too overwhelming, both psychologically and physically.
Instead, she spoke purely out of despair.
"Madmen..."
Kuuuoooonnn!
The steel dwarf delivered a solid punch to the comparatively childlike Fire Giant, Surtr.
Kwahhhh!
That was the last memory the Fire Giant had before being forcefully unsummoned.
The outcome that followed was obvious.
The 9th Star mage Shaura and the 500 mages of the Central Magic Tower.
Easily defeated.