The Mage Will Master Magic Efficiently In His Second Life - CH 164.1

The Dark Zell was continuously shooting black mucus at Uruk and Milly.

Given the numerous lumps of black mucus on the ground, she had probably avoided quite a few of them.

「Milly!!!」 I yelled out

「… Zeph…?」

After noticing us, Milly slowly descended towards us.

Milly leaped down from Uruk’s back, sweating profusely as she seemed to be out of breath.

「… You did great.」 I said hugging her.

「T-Thank you…」 she replied, closing her eyes and losing consciousness due to her fatigue.

She must have run out of magic power… You really did great Milly.

「Shirushu, could you look after Milly?」

「Of course!」

I handed Milly over to Shirushu and Claude and I made our way towards the massive Dark Zell.

「We’ll take care of it ourselves. Let’s go Claude.」

「Okay!!」

Dark Zell

Level 146

Magic Power 5,125,875 / 21,423,148

Milly sure did whittle it down quite a bit. Even though I told her not to go overboard.

As I was sighing in regret Claude stepped in front of me and dashed towards the Dark Zell with her hand on her sword’s handle.

「HAAAA!!!」

She pulled out her sword and slashed down. Numerous flashes tore through the air, landing on the Dark Zell’s body.

The Dark Zell, on the other hand, recovered quickly, stretching out a portion of its body in the shape of a tentacle trying to grab Claude.

However, I managed to repel it by using Black Sphere.

「Back down Claude.」

「…Urgh!」

Without resisting, Claude pulled back next to me.

Even though it’s movements are dull, its body is still enormous. If we’re not careful we’ll be swallowed whole. Close-range combat is dangerous.

「Damn it. If only I could use Ain!」

I could synthesise more spells and chop off its massive body from afar if I had Divine Greatsword Ainbelle. However, it was difficult to handle the massive sword because my left arm was stuck in its shield form, and my right arm was also wounded.

No, wait…!

It was then that I glanced at Claude standing next to me.

I’m not alone. If I can’t wield the greatsword by myself then I’ll just ask Claude for help.

「Claude, lend me your strength for a bit.」

「Whenever you say, Zeph-kun!」

「… Perfect.」

I grabbed Claude’s hand and cast Summon Servant. A bright light enveloped our hands and Divine Greatsword Ainbelle appeared. With both of our power combined we were able to wield it.

「Sup Claude. It’s been a while.」 Ain said.

「It really has been a while, Ain-chan. You’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t you?」

「That’s right♪ You’ve gotten really pretty as well Claude!!」

They seemed to be quite excited to exchange greetings for such a long time, however now wasn’t the time for that.

I placed my hand on top of Claude’s hands, which were holding onto Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.

「I can’t wield it properly due to injuring my hands. Can I ask you to help me with it?」

「Of course.」 Claude replied with a nod.

As I had my chest stuck to her back I wrapped around my right arm to grab a hold of Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.

Her little back appeared to be a little wider than before, and she felt a lot more reliable.

「Let’s go Claude!」

「Okay!!」

I strongly gripped onto Divine Greatsword Ainbelle and cast Time Square.

The Dark Zell’s remaining magic power was 5,000,000. I would need quite the wide area spell in order to take down its huge body.

This will take a bit of a toll on my body, but I guess I’ll do it either way!

While time was stopped I cast White Crash five times and imbued them into Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.

After which I immediately felt my body beginning to creak.

I guess Fivefold Synthesis really does take a big toll.

But even so I held on as I strongly held onto Claude’s hands.

The bright light was sucked into Divine Greatsword Ainbelle, and alongside it an intense heat spread throughout the sword.

「Z-Zeph-kun, it’s hot…」

「Don’t let go of it now.」

「…O-Okay…」

Penta Fusion: White Crash Circle.

Claude made a face of anguish as she somehow held onto the shining Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.

The sword’s handle had become extremely heated after absorbing the Penta Fusion spell.

Nonetheless, Claude somehow managed to continue holding onto the sword while taking on a stance.

「Whenever you’re ready Zeph-kun…」

「Let’s go then!!」

「…HAAAAAAAA!!」

Hearing my signal, Claude swung down Divine Greatsword Ainbelle.

At the same time, I cast Time Square.

While time was stopped I cast White Crash five more times.

Combined with the spell already absorbed by Divine Greatsword Ainbelle, the spell that we activated was…

Deca Fusion: White Crash Omega.

Divine Greatsword Ainbelle left behind it a streak of white light.

The white light exploded into the sky shortly after, entirely blowing away the black clouds.

Even though we had our eyes closed the light still burned, as it enveloped us.

「WHOAAA?!!!」

I stood there watching as the Dark Zell slowly disintegrated while supporting Claude from behind as she was about to be blown away.

As the Dark Zell slowly disappeared it left behind a huge curtain of smoke.

Good grief. We somehow managed to defeat it.

As I let out a sigh I could feel tremendous pain coursing through my body.

AUCH…! I guess the recoil of casting two Penta Fusion spells one after the other is nothing to sneeze at.

My magical power lines were continually emitting shrieks of pain.

This time, it was Claude who came to my aid as I became dizzy and was on the verge of collapsing.

「Zeph-kun, are you okay?」 she asked.

「…Thank you Claude.」

「Don’t worry about it.」 she said with a smile on her face.

The brightness was still enveloping the surrounding area.

It’s a bit disappointing that I can’t see her smile due to the light…

As I thought that I let my body on top of Claude’s chest.

When the light died down I noticed that an enormous hole had appeared.

It was most likely the ground that had been melted by the Dark Zell.

「Phew, we somehow managed to win huh.」

「You’re right.」 Claude said.

With her help I somehow managed to stand up on my feet.

Auch… I guess my body is still quite wobbly.

With my own efforts, I was able to stretch out my body. I then turned to face Claude, only to notice that her legs were trembling.

「H-Huh…?」

「Claude!!」

Just as she was about to drop down to the ground I somehow managed to rush in and support her.

Her face was pallid, and her eyes were also blank.

As I looked around I noticed that a purple fog was hanging in the area.

Is this poison?

「Ze-ph…」

「Tsch…!」

Upon its death, the Dark Zell had probably released this toxic fog around the surroundings. 　I was fine due to still having the Remira Grass in my mouth, however that wasn’t the case for Claude.

「Claude, get yourself together!」

「Ugh…」

Her eyes closed as she let out an agonizing sigh, and her consciousness faded away with it.

I quickly took out a Remira Grass from my back and tried to feed it to Claude, however she refused to chew on it.

Damn it. The poison must be quite strong. It’s spreading way too fast.

「… Guess I can’t help it.」

I took a sip of water and put the Remira Grass I had just pulled out of my backpack into my mouth. After that, I started chewing.

I softly placed my lips on top of Claude’s and tried to transfer the liquid once the Remira Grass had converted into a liquid.

「Ur…gh…」

Claude quivered for a minute, then with her eyes closed, she gave in without struggle. 　Even though it was slow, the liquid certainly made its way down Claude’s throat.

「Phew…! Well that should do it…」

She had somehow managed to drink it all. All that was left was to wait for it to take effect. 　Due to the effect of the antidote, Claude’s complexion slowly started to get better.

「… Good. Her complexion is going back to normal. She’ll probably be able to move again once a bit of time passes.」

「…T-Thank you…」

「You idiot. Just rest for now.」 I said, pinching her cheek.

Feeling relieved, Claude once again closed her eyes.

After a bit she fell asleep. I placed her on top of my back and headed back to Shirushu.

Shirushu had also fallen to the ground while clutching Milly behind a boulder a little further away.

Good grief. I guess she inhaled the poison as well.

I held onto Shirushu and proceeded to do the same thing that I had done for Claude.

「Urgh… Zeph-san…?」 Shirushu asked with a confused expression.

Her condition didn’t seem to be anything serious.

It’s either because the poison’s effect was weaker because they were farther away, or because of her beastfolk regenerative skills. All that’s left is Milly… But I guess I don’t have to give her any antidote. Her Remira Grass, which she’d been chewing since the battle, must still be functioning. Her fatigue aside, it doesn’t seem like the poison affected her.

「Well then, let’s carry everyone back to the house.」 I said.

I held onto the three of them and just as I was about to cast Teleport to go back I saw someone crawling out of the hole left behind by the Dark Zell.

He appeared to be in his mid-thirties. I didn’t know where he had been up until now, but he looked like he was about to pass out at any minute.

「Hey! You okay?!」

I let go of Milly and the others and stretched my hand out towards the man.

I dragged him out of the pit and cast Healing on him, which improved his appearance.

Moaning, the man slowly opened his eyes.

「Urgh.. Where am I…?」

「The Town of Nanami. Are you a villager? What’s your name?」 I asked.

「Where is… everyone?」 he inquired in a hazy manner.

However, he appeared to have regained his memories and shut up shortly after.

It was the awkward feeling of seeing someone stop mid-sentence.

The way he cautiously looked around the area also gave off the feeling that he wasn’t a normal person.

This guy. He’s a magician. His body is well-built and I can also feel his strong magic power circulating around his body. He’s suspicious…

Thinking that I cast Scout Scope on the guy. After seeing his name, I remembered who he was.

Ilga, a bandit magician I had arrested in my past life.

He was one of Bertram Cabel’s, the Flame of Flame’s, former disciples and a man who would earn himself a wanted sign in the next couple of years.

He specialized in gathering a large number of monsters, which he would then dispatch to attack trading company wagons, destroying the traders’ goods in the ensuing chaos.

The random gathering of the Dark Zells in the area makes perfect sense now. He must have used the black monsters to attack the city.

Given that the gigantic Dark Zell was able to break through the defensive barrier and infiltrate the town using its mucus and black fog, it’s possible that the black monsters have the ability to break through our barriers.

And this bastard here probably caught onto that as well…

「The bandit magician Ilga. That’s your name isn’t it?」 I asked.

「…?!!」