The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 181: Ghosts (4)

Oscar's martial arts technique consists of a total of four chapters.

The first chapter focuses on the principle of destroying the opponent's internal body.

The second chapter, however, pursues something entirely different—speed.

‘And not just ordinary speed.’

Faster.

Even faster.

An attack so swift that even the speed-obsessed freaks of the Yellow Tower would be in awe.

That was the essence of the second chapter: Lightning Flash.

Rumble!

The mana concentrated in Oscar's legs roared like thunder.

‘If that hits… it’s going to be dangerous.’

Dirje realized that the amount of mana surging through his opponent’s legs was no joke.

It stung his pride that he had to dodge it, as if he were trying to avoid some mere level-4 attack.

‘Hmph, I’ll endure it just this once. After all, once I dodge this, I’ll have the chance to relentlessly press the attack.’

The fool dared to utter the name of the Bloodveil Clan.

Dirje intended to utterly humiliate him, trample him, and then kill him.

‘For that, I can afford to spend the time dodging this one strike.’

With his mind made up, Dirje slowly ran his fingers over his mask.

‘If I need a face suitable for dodging…’

One came to mind immediately.

About seven years ago, there was a knight rising to fame in the Empire—hailed as the next-generation Master.

The Swift Sprout, Carva.

If nothing else, Carva's legs—the lower body that supported his movements and his footwork—were evaluated to be of Master-level.

The moment Dirje swapped his face beneath the mask to Carva’s, his movements transformed entirely.

Tap, tap-tap!

In the blink of an eye, he tapped the ground twelve times and landed on the rooftop of a nearby abandoned building.

‘That brat won’t be able to keep up with this speed.’

The opponent was clearly preparing a powerful spell.

Unless the difference in their abilities was overwhelming, battles ultimately boiled down to tactical exchanges.

‘In other words, if I slip past this attack once, the initiative becomes mine.’

And once he seized the upper hand, he had no intention of ever letting it go.

‘With the legs of Carva—the man once destined to be the fastest knight on the continent—I will crush your throat.’

He would figure out how this brat knew about the Bloodveil Clan after cutting off his limbs.

And if the brat refused to talk, it hardly mattered.

Dirje would simply bathe in his blood and absorb his memories entirely.

“…The fight is over.”

As Dirje muttered under his breath,

Rumble!

Oscar shot up to the height of the rooftop and locked eyes with him.

“W-What?”

Had he been too careless?

Clenching his teeth, Dirje immediately kicked off the ground and dashed toward the rooftop of the adjacent building.

‘Where is he?’

As he turned to glance behind him,

Oscar was already right at his side—keeping pace with him.

‘…He’s matching my speed?’

Impossible.

He was currently using the full abilities of Carva, the fastest knight of his time.

‘I’m even pouring mana into this without holding back.’

In other words, it should have been impossible for some level-4 mage to keep up with him.

And yet, no matter how sharply he changed directions, Oscar stuck to him like a shadow.

“...You insolent brat!”

Dirje activated six circuits simultaneously, causing his mana to surge explosively and boosting his speed even further.

By now, he had long since broken the sound barrier.

‘With this, I’ll be rid of him for sure.’

Just as he was about to feel certain of his escape,

Rumble!

That same familiar thunderclap roared in his ears.

‘What? No way.’

Even this speed was being matched?

As Dirje instinctively turned his head to look behind him—

“Caught you.”

Kwaaaang!

Oscar’s heel came crashing down on Dirje’s head.

The sheer force of the impact sent him plummeting through multiple building floors, all the way to the ground level.

“Guh! Ugh!”

Coughing up blood, Dirje pushed away the rubble and dust as he barely managed to get back on his feet.

‘W-What kind of mage is this strong in close combat?’

Wiping the blood from his lips, he saw Oscar slowly approaching.

“Power obtained through inhumane methods… amounts to nothing, Bloodveil.”

“…Inhumane methods, you say?”

Dirje chuckled, his shoulders shaking slightly.

“Ridiculous. Who decided our clan’s ways were wrong? The Emperor, a mere human. Meanwhile, the one who gave us this power was nature itself. The brutal, unforgiving law of the wild. The strong take more—the victors claim everything. What the hell is wrong with that?”

“Yeah… You’re right.”

“…What?”

Dirje’s voice wavered in confusion.

He hadn't expected even a hint of sympathy from his opponent.

“You really believe what you just said, huh?”

“No.”

Oscar muttered with a look of mockery.

“One of my subordinates once told me: ‘If you run into a total moron who can’t be reasoned with, just agree with them and move on.’”

“...You dare!”

Realizing he had been treated like an idiot, Dirje seethed with rage and reached for his mask.

“That’s enough. The games end here.”

“Switching to another face won’t help you.”

Oscar muttered indifferently.

For someone like him, who possessed the magic power of a high-level mage, a mere Level 6 mage was no significant obstacle.

‘Unless I’m forced to use my fifth and sixth mana circuits…’

But based on his assessment, Dirje wasn’t that much of a threat.

He was merely an assassin who could be overpowered by a Level 4 mage.

In other words, there would be no need to resort to his unstable mana circuits in this fight.

“...Ever heard of the rumor? That Faceless Dirje once hunted down a Level 7 mage.”

“This is the first time I’ve even heard your name.”

Clatter.

The mask Dirje was wearing slipped from his face and fell to the ground.

“......”

Oscar’s eyebrow twitched slightly as he stared at Dirje’s exposed face.

“Hey, you do realize your face is a mess, right?”

“Ah, from an ordinary perspective, it might look a little grotesque.”

Dirje replied nonchalantly, shaking his head.

“But it can’t be helped. Everything comes with a price.”

A price, huh…

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Oscar pressed his lips together.

If everything came with a price, what in the world could that man have paid that kind of cost for?

‘Most people with a weak stomach wouldn’t even be able to look at him.’

Dirje’s face was nothing short of grotesque.

It looked as though the features of multiple faces had been stitched together, with mismatched eyes, noses, and mouths fighting for dominance.

As if they were competing for territory, they writhed and pushed against each other in an eerie battle for the center of his face.

“This is the secret art of the Bloodveil Clan. In exchange for permanently consuming the many faces and abilities I’ve gathered, I can briefly wield the combined power of all of them.”

“......”

“For reference, the last time I used this technique was six years ago. Back then, I killed a Level 7 archmage.”

“Hmph. You’re saying you took down a archmage with just that level of power?”

Oscar’s face showed obvious disbelief.

And rightly so.

After all, the gap between Level 6 and Level 7 was as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

“Heh, you look like you can’t believe it. But it’s true.”

Dirje spread his arms wide, revealing the 13 faces now fused onto his own.

A tingling sensation pricked Oscar’s skin—he could feel the surge of overwhelming power emanating from Dirje.

It was clear that his strength and speed had now reached an entirely different tier.

“You’re aware of it too, aren’t you? Once you reach a higher existence, you can manifest your own world.”

The greatest difference between a Level 6 and a Level 7 mage was the existence of their personal realm.

A Level 7 could drag their own world into reality and, within that domain, wield power akin to that of a god.

A sinister grin spread across all 13 of Dirje’s mouths simultaneously.

“In this form, I can also manifest my world.”

“...What?”

Oscar’s brow furrowed at the implausible claim.

Seeing his expression, Dirje nodded confidently.

“Ah, I understand what you’re thinking. You can’t believe it, can you? There’s never been anyone like me before, after all. But…”

Fwoooom!

A torrent of overwhelming mana erupted from Dirje’s body.

The mana rapidly materialized, coating the surrounding floor, walls, and ceiling.

“......”

In the blink of an eye, everything was engulfed in darkness.

A pitch-black void where not even a speck of light could be seen.

Dirje’s voice rang out faintly.

“Welcome… to my world—The Darkroom.”

“......”

Oscar slowly scanned his surroundings.

No matter which direction he turned, all he could see was pitch-black darkness.

‘I can’t see a thing.’

It was as though an entire building had been swallowed whole by this dimension.

There was no way this was ordinary magic.

It was far too massive in scale for an assassin.

‘...So that’s why I was confused.’

To cut to the chase—this was no true domain manifestation.

And it was laughably lacking compared to a real mage’s world.

‘Damn, he scared me for a second there.’

Hearing him talk about manifesting his world had genuinely startled Oscar.

If it had been true, his death would have been all but guaranteed tonight.

Oscar slowly closed his eyes and asked calmly,

“Where is Neil Brion?”

“That coward? He’s outside.”

“......So that means… it’s just the two of us in here, huh?”

“Heh, that’s right. Frightening, isn’t it? Just you and me, alone in this darkness.”

Dirje’s voice echoed from every direction.

Oscar couldn’t even pinpoint where it was coming from.

“Hmm. It’s about time you died. I’ll personally bathe in your blood and discover how you learned about my clan.”

Dirje’s words grew more rapid.

Oscar guessed that maintaining this space must have been draining a massive amount of mana.

‘If I just buy enough time, this space will collapse.’

And once it did, Dirje would be left weakened and exhausted—ripe for the taking.

The problem was, although this was nothing more than a poor imitation of a world, it wasn’t entirely useless.

‘At the very least, the materialized mana itself is real.’

Oscar’s feet were already submerged ankle-deep in a sludgy pool of mana.

In other words, fighting in this terrain would definitely put him at a disadvantage.

“Die!”

Whoosh!

The floor, walls, and ceiling were suddenly bristling with mana spikes, all converging on Oscar in a deadly barrage.

With his feet bogged down by the viscous mana, even moving was a struggle.

Oscar muttered under his breath.

“...I was hoping I wouldn’t have to use this.”

His fifth and sixth mana circuits, that is.

The reason was simple.

First, they put an immense strain on his body.

Second, Sasha would definitely scold him for it later.

‘But… better to get scolded than to die here.’

The four mana circuits running through Oscar’s body rapidly heated up.

Then, for the first time, the newly installed fifth and sixth circuits flared to life.

“...Wait, six mana circuits?!”

Dirje immediately realized that the situation was spiraling out of control.

In desperation, he poured every ounce of his remaining mana into the onslaught.

“It’s too late! There’s nothing you can do now!”

Just as dozens of needle-like mana spikes were about to pierce through his body,

Oscar slowly opened his half-lidded eyes and muttered,

“...When you get to hell, feel free to brag all you want.”

At least, before he died, he got to witness someone’s ‘world.’

The combined force of Oscar’s six mana circuits erupted, unleashing a cataclysmic surge of power.

“World Liberation.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]