Chapter 197

The Back-Alley Mage’s Return – Chapter 197

Chapter 197. We, Brave

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Thwack!

A sharp, echoing ring cut through the air.

Having pulverized the second barrier stone, I skidded to a halt and immediately spun around to face the room.

My vision swept across the entire expanse.

Craaaash!

With a deafening roar, the wall I had just slipped through shattered violently, sending shards of stone flying as scorching, intense heat erupted from the breach. Immediately following that—

Whoosh! Slam!

An Infernal, charging straight through without breaking its stride, plunged its fist heavily into the ground.

Springing off the deck, I launched myself upward while keeping my eyes locked dead on the Infernal.

It seemed equally determined to keep me in its sights; its head swiveled with a grating screech, and just over its shoulder, a second Infernal reared its head.

In the brief window between soaring into the air and dropping back down to earth, I rapidly sorted through my thoughts.

‘Alright… that’s two barrier stones down.’

The progression itself was moving along without a hitch.

Shattering the barrier stones wasn’t proving to be an insurmountable task.

The only challenging aspect was keeping up the modified Collision Style—and by now, I had grown reasonably accustomed to the strain.

It wasn’t as effortless as breathing just yet, but momentum had definitely kicked in.

So things weren’t looking terrible. In fact, it was quite promising.

…Or at least, it should have felt that way.

So why was it lingering? This persistent dread that I couldn’t possibly classify as “promising.”

Thud!

The instant my feet touched the floor, I whirled around and dashed toward the location of the third barrier stone.

A familiar, rending shriek scraped against my ears. As the blistering heat of Scarlet Flame incinerated the pulverized masonry into floating soot, I cast a quick glance over my shoulder.

If one only looked at the goal of “shattering the barrier stones,” the execution couldn’t be more flawless.

And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to view it positively. The reason behind that was glaringly obvious.

‘There are… two Infernals now.’

Not a single one.

A pair.

When I peered backward to assess the pursuit, two nauseating masses of pure fire were jostling and roiling, pursuing me with frantic rage. The sight alone was truly…

‘This is genuinely making me sick to my stomach.’

Whenever I blast through a partition and keep running, it doesn’t take long for the Infernals to tear through the same hole I made and resume the chase.

If my pace falters for even a fraction of a second—

Boom!

A brutal fist swings forward without an ounce of hesitation.

And now, I wasn’t just dealing with one.

Being hunted by two massive entities like this made one thing abundantly clear: the barrier stones weren’t the genuine threat here.

‘Exactly. The barrier stones aren’t the real issue.’

Pulverizing the third and fourth barrier stones would likely be just as straightforward. Therefore, it was safe to assume that the liberation of the spirits was practically halfway done.

The real dilemma was what to do once that was accomplished.

…How on earth was I supposed to handle those fiery monstrosities?

To be completely honest, I had harbored a faint glimmer of hope.

‘If the Infernals cross paths, maybe they’ll tear each other apart?’

There’s that old proverb.

A single mountain can only hold one ogre.

Meaning, when their territories collide, they wage war until only one remains standing—and I had been praying for a similar outcome here.

However.

‘…That doesn’t seem to be happening.’

Watching them charge forward in perfect coordination made my naive expectations feel downright foolish.

This meant that, just as I had initially anticipated, I would eventually find myself being hunted by a total of four Infernals…

“My friend, is there absolutely no countermeasure?”

[Do, don’t know. Infernal, not die.]

I inquired just to be certain, but the spirit, gripped by sheer panic, was utterly incapable of providing assistance.

Of course, the claim that they “do not die” was almost certainly not entirely accurate.

‘…They were described as an anti-spirit military weapon.’

That implied that back in their era, even if Infernals were rare, they weren’t some completely omnipotent, godlike creations.

No—the very act of consuming spirits by fire is quite extraordinary, but it would be more precise to state that their strength didn’t reach the absurd thresholds of true “immortality.”

If that held true, a weakness had to exist.

‘Then what exactly is that weakness?’

I had no clue.

They lacked the central core that a typical golem required, and even shattering their forms failed to halt their operations.

Just look at what occurred yesterday.

I had thoroughly pulverized one into tiny fragments, yet it continued to function without a single issue.

‘…And it’s not like there’s an active summoner piecing it back together, either.’

The Infernal was an enigmatic anomaly in countless ways, and my perplexity only grew.

‘The spirits mentioned they witnessed a vision of me delivering them from this place…’

If that was the case, how did the future version of myself manage to handle the Infernals?

Even the spirits couldn’t answer that. The glimpse of tomorrow they witnessed only captured the exact instant of their liberation.

Ah—just to clarify, I didn’t believe the timeline the spirits envisioned was unchangeable.

I am simply… brainstorming a strategy against the Infernal under the premise that the statement “I saved the spirits” is a factual certainty.

Either way…

Craaaash!

I threw my entire weight into a wall, bursting forward into a completely new chamber. Without dropping my speed, I drove my fist straight ahead.

Clang!

Just like the previous instances, a sharp ring resonated out. Shards of the barrier stone rained down through the air.

‘With that… three are down.’

Rumble—

As the third Infernal—waking up a moment too late—swiveled its massive frame in my direction, I bolted forward without a second thought.

Only one barrier stone remained.

…And three Infernals were hot on my heels.

This was an absolute disaster.

I couldn’t exactly rendezvous with Demian while pulling a train of four Infernals right behind me.

‘Damn it.’

I desperately needed to uncover a solution.

Hummmmm—

The protective field wrapping around the outer perimeter of Baharmut thinned by yet another layer.

Atop the altar within the grand chamber, the spirits enclosed inside the crystal globes shuddered, vibrating as the bindings holding them grew noticeably weaker.

[Now only one….]

Even when two stones were broken, the ward had rigidly sealed the interior away from the outside world, but now its power was fading fast.

Was it because of this? The primal energy of the natural world, locked away for millennia, began to slowly filter into the heart of Baharmut.

Granted, that energy was incredibly faint.

If the external world’s raw power was comparable to a boundless sea, what filtered inside now was a mere droplet.

It was such an infinitesimal amount that the spirits of Maisellne—who existed perpetually drenched in overflowing natural mana—would never even register the shift.

Perhaps to the spirits of Maisellne, being inside the ruins or out in the open would feel exactly identical, but to these captive entities, it represented a monumental shift.

And so, as the spirits of Baharmut trembled while experiencing the sensation of raw nature for the first time in thousands of years—

an individual raised their voice.

[Need, find method.]

No one needed to ask what strategy they were referring to.

Because at this juncture, there was only a single riddle left to solve.

The Infernal—those horrific entities menacing their savior and his allies. They needed to be stopped.

Immediately following that, the spirits chimed in one after another.

[Method… none.]

[Kept thinking. But none.]

[Infernal, not die.]

[No. Die. But, now method none.]

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t tried to conceive a plan.

From the very moment Aster pulverized the initial barrier stone, the terrified spirits had been desperately racking their brains to discover a way to eliminate the Infernal.

Yet, no answer presented itself.

Or rather, it was more accurate to state that there was no “answer available to them at this precise second.”

The Infernal was a monstrous abomination forged by liquefying thousands of individual spirits.

Unlike standard spirit golems, it possessed no central core, regenerating endlessly to slaughter its targets. A tool created exclusively for carnage and ruin.

The spirits who had arrived late in the sequence—such as the one accompanying Aster—were ignorant of this, but the ancient spirits possessed knowledge of how mankind used to combat the Infernal.

However.

[Now, cannot.]

[Method, none.]

[Item, none.]

To dismantle an Infernal, a highly specific artifact was required—and within Baharmut at this current moment, that artifact was completely absent.

In a sense, it was practically immortal.

[Then, what do?]

[Just watch? Die?]

[That sad. Very sad.]

The spirits’ hearts clenched tightly at the grim truth.

More than the looming ecstasy of their impending liberation, the knowledge that their benefactors were in mortal peril weighed far heavier on their souls.

But then.

[Future, see.]

A spirit voiced the idea.

[…]

[…]

Total silence fell over the gathered spirits.

[We must. Future.]

The spirit who had initiated the concept pressed onward.

To protect them, they had to gaze into the timeline.

Yet, doing so was no simple feat.

The spiritual essence required to peer into the future was immensely draining. Because of that, even spirits could only catch glimpses once in a very long while—if ever.

Once they expended that energy inside Baharmut—where the flow of natural mana was severed—restoring that strength was an arduous task.

Naturally, with the destruction of the third barrier stone, their reserves had been somewhat replenished, but…

The true obstacle lay elsewhere.

[…Scared.]

[Don’t want see sad future.]

[If no method… then?]

Fear gripped the spirits.

What if they looked into tomorrow and still found absolutely no path to save them? What if they forced themselves into a reality where they were relegated to merely watching an unavoidable tragedy unfold?

How could they possibly bear such a horrific truth?

But.

Yet, the entity who brought up the idea spoke once more.

[Still. Must see.]

It was a declaration carrying a brief but fierce determination.

That raw will communicated far more profoundly than mere language ever could—and the underlying sentiment within it was… a gentle scolding.

They are putting their very existences on the line for our sake, and we refuse to even make an attempt simply because we are frightened?

Moved by that powerful emotion, one by one, they began to yield.

[…Scared. But….]

[Me, brave.]

[Me too, brave.]

Spirits began to voice their resolve one after another.

A resolution that sparked as a tiny ember quickly erupted into a raging wildfire, tearing through the collective consciousness of the spirits.

From the entities who had known no fear from the start, to the ones who had been paralyzed by terror, they were stirred by that burning resolve and steeled their minds one by one.

And so…

[We, brave.]

[Agree.]

When the determination of every single spirit merged into a singular entity—

[We, see.]

The fractured spirits coalesced their forms once more with a single, unified purpose.

And…

Wuuuung—!

With a deep, reverberating drone resembling thousands of bees beating their wings in unison, a brilliant sphere of radiant light erupted within the expansive grand chamber.

…Naturally, there was no guarantee of success.

What they were capable of witnessing was merely the future with the absolute highest statistical probability.

If, within that timeline, Aster and Demian’s companions discovered nothing and perished, the spirits would be entirely powerless.

In that scenario, they would have no choice but to watch an immutable fate unravel.

However.

[Only one. Very small thing. Even clue.]

If they could catch a glimpse of even the most minor detail, a single hint, they could forge a new path of potential.

That was the conviction they held.

…And the future that manifested before the spirits’ vision left them utterly speechless.

[…]

The setting of this upcoming reality was the wide grand chamber—the exact area where the spirits’ altar was anchored.

They had achieved their freedom, and standing before them was the savior—the “saviors”—totaling three individuals.

The youth standing at the very forefront gazed at the spirits swirling around in their newfound liberty. His countenance was strangely frigid, and the veteran spiritist placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

Demian, do not harbor hatred toward the spirits.

…I am simply furious. I understand it too. That these spirits bear no blame. It is just….

Just… incredibly bitter.

They are entities that cannot perish regardless.

To rescue them.

We pushed ourselves this far, and my comrade went that far….

The young man closed his eyes heavily.

And positioned in front of the three of them, a lone boy lay down neatly—and the spirits recognized him the very instant they looked upon his form.

[The savior… died.]

The future the spirits had glimpsed.

Aster had drawn his final breath.

[…Ah.]

A collective, mournful sigh escaped from the spirits.

How had this outcome come to pass? Was the original future they had foreseen completely inaccurate? Why had the savior perished, leaving only those three behind…?

As the spirits’ thoughts tangled into a chaotic mess—

[Must, focus.]

Control the heart.

[Must, see we.]

…And so, the spirits pushed the timeline a little further backward. What series of events had steered things toward this tragic conclusion?

The visions began to rewind in reverse. The figures present in the grand chamber stepped backward and retreated, as every scenario and incident inverted from conclusion to inception.

As they did so, the spirits offered up desperate, silent prayers.

Please, let there be a path forward.