Chapter 242
The woman ranked 7th in the Hero Ranking, Magician Trisena.
In the northwestern battlefield where she fought, there were not only Archbishop Bifrons but also a whopping 13 bishops and 30,000 priests roaming about.
Also the younger sister of Ferangis, she was engaged in a fierce battle against Archbishop Bifrons as a reinforcement.
Kugugwaang—!
A storm sharper than the tip of a sword raged, merging with an unfathomably thick flame to create hell itself.
The firestorm rampaged wildly, as if it wanted to devour anything, be it wood or flesh.
Each time, Trisena had to use magic to suppress it.
A massive volume of water that felt like it was drawn from the sea.
Her magic, specialized in extinguishing (鎭火) with high-density mana, evolved into a giant dragon and clashed against the storm in the opposite direction.
—Tsshuwaaaak!
Steam burst forth, making it no surprise if she received burns all over her body from the collision that showed no signs of relenting.
“C-Cough…!”
Trisena unfurled her shield to withstand the shock.
Without the shield, she’d have been blasted away with severe burns long ago.
‘This guy’s attacks are heavy…! Archbishop Bifrons. It’s clearly different from typical elemental magic as per the information!’
If that flame storm were based on a spell, she could have dispelled it easily, especially since she excelled in elemental and supportive magic.
However, that was Bifrons’ divine power.
It was the power of a bishop who had even unleashed their liberation.
『You’re holding up quite well.』
The voice of Bifrons echoed.
It wasn’t something she heard with her ears. It was transmitted directly to her brain.
『You don’t seem specialized in attacking… but this isn’t bad. As expected… heroes within the top 10 are fun to play with.』
In fact, despite Trisena casting buff magic on over 1,000 heroes, she displayed tremendous power.
Yet, Bifrons wasn’t praising her for that.
He fundamentally looked down on people.
Seeing them as insignificant, inferior beings in need of evolution.
“Ugh…!”
Trisena poured more of her mana, increasing the concentration and volume of the water that contained the magic.
At that moment, the water dragon succeeded in engulfing the flames just barely.
Completing its mission, it exploded into millions of water droplets.
With the obstacles to her sight cleared, Trisena could now capture the scene before her properly.
There stood Archbishop Bifrons, with four long arms.
A monster with purple skin and towering over 2 meters tall.
Having eyes that regarded everything in the world as trivial and tedious.
The monster with eyes that found everything amusing and boring.
“Get off, huh…!”
A man engaged in close combat with Bifrons.
The hero wielding twin swords was hanging helplessly, his neck gripped by Bifrons’ “second hand.”
“Fabian!”
Trisena shouted her teammate’s name.
[Strength Increase]
[Mana Supply]
[Physical and Magic Resistance Up]
[Ultra High Speed Recovery]
Hastily stacking buff spells on Fabian while simultaneously launching a spear of wind.
However, Bifrons effortlessly blocked it with his “first hand.”
Instead, he lifted Fabian higher as if he were a puppet.
Even with multiple buff spells stacked, Fabian couldn’t resist much and was left in agony.
Bifrons, with two cartilaginous arms, enjoyed the suffering expression on Fabian’s face, grimacing in delight.
“Don’t….”
Upon hearing Trisena’s desperate voice, he enhanced his power once more.
As Bifrons used the strength of his second hand, Fabian’s body withered away, as if drained of nutrients, quickly turning into a mummy.
All the moisture in his body had been sucked out.
『Why that expression? Are you upset about your teammate’s death?』
Bifrons carelessly tossed the deceased hero aside.
With eyes that appeared annoyed by the trivialities of the world, he displayed the pleasure of murder.
『Then you shouldn’t have been so weak.』
“Gaaaah!!”
An enraged Trisena.
Buffs for herself and debuffs for Bifrons.
Then, she expended most of her accumulated mana to cast her most destructive unique spell.
Trisena’s Second Unique Spell
Complex Elemental Mana Condensation.
It was a spell that required a specified location.
The calculations for its manifestation were already complete in Trisena’s mind.
—Swoosh!
A powerful condensation reaction occurred near Bifrons’ heart as if a small black hole had appeared.
Regardless of his extremely sturdy body, that substance had the force to compress everything.
Sensing danger, Bifrons tried to dodge with his overwhelming physical abilities, but he couldn’t escape unscathed.
『…….』
A distance away, Bifrons looked down at his torso.
A hollow cavity had formed where his heart should be, as if hit by a cannonball.
Even with the liberation of his powers, Trisena’s unique spell had taken effect.
“Haa… haa….”
Trisena exhaled wearily, witnessing the scene.
The unique spell she had used this time was immensely destructive, yet it came with a hefty price.
The cost in magical power and stamina was tremendous.
‘Still, I destroyed the heart… now soon….’
No matter how monstrous Altife was said to be, if the heart and the core embedded in it were destroyed, he would die.
In all of humanity’s history, no Altife had survived the destruction of their heart.
She had brought down one of the archbishops…!
『Looks like this was what he was aiming for.』
Bifrons reached into the hole in his body and pulled out a bright red heart.
The heart was definitely pulsating vigorously, yet it didn’t make a sound.
“Impossible…!”
As Trisena made an expression of disbelief, Bifrons shoved it back into his body.
With that, the gaping hole in his torso quickly healed, returning to its original state.
The hole quickly healed and returned to its original state.
“Could it be that I can change the position of the heart…?”
As Trisena muttered, Bifrons gave a sarcastic smile and nodded.
『Human girl. Do not attempt to understand ‘God’ with your limited concepts.』
Bifrons referred to himself as a God.
This was a statement far too blasphemous for one who served the one true Goddess.
“Cough…!”
Trisena bit down hard on this revelation.
She could use her second Unique Spell a few more times.
However, the maximum diameter she could achieve was 1m.
Considering Bifrons’ massive frame, she must consecutively cast the spell three times to fully ‘remove’ him.
Otherwise, she would have to use another spell or directly target the heart with a Unique Spell.
The problem was that other elemental spells wouldn’t cause significant damage.
And she couldn’t pinpoint the moving position of the heart.
‘Using it three times in a row is impossible.’
Trisena understood her own capabilities and the current situation perfectly.
Unless there was a gap in between, even if she succeeded in another attack, Bifrons would regenerate before her next strike.
‘And it’s not like I can get help from the other heroes around me.’
To the northwest, there were just too many Altifes around.
Despite bringing the most heroes, the 13 Bishops and 30,000 Priests were making it nearly impossible to catch a break.
Of course, just because help was arriving didn’t mean they could assist her against the Archbishop who had completed the Liberation.
‘Think… think…!’
Trisena frantically tried to come up with a plan.
The information she knew about Archbishop Bifrons up until now.
The analyses she continued as she faced him directly.
From that point, the optimal method she could employ was…
“……!”
As Trisena drew up her mana and took her stance, a chill ran down her entire body.
And Bifrons showed the same surprise.
『Is Gulemashia coming?』
From a distance that was quite far from here.
A being with a mana quantity that was impossible to attribute to a human appeared.
‘This… the amount of mana is clearly transcendent!’
Though it exuded a sinister aura, it wasn’t an Altife.
So, could it really be the Chancellor of Academia here…?
‘No, that’s impossible. Gulemashia can’t step outside Academia right now, can he?’
That was highly confidential information known only to a select few within the Central Church.
Excluding Gulemashia from her considerations, Trisena confirmed that the mana presence was different from his.
‘…Then, could it be? The rumored student… ?’
She had heard rumors.
There was a student whose mana quantity had reached transcendent levels despite being just a student.
The male student who took the rare Life Essence that Trisena had coveted.
She had heard he was a direct descendant of the Schugenhartz Family… Was that actually true?
“……”
Trisena quickly snapped out of her daze.
Bifrons too seemed to be focusing in that direction.
If there was an opportunity, it was now.
It might be a bit of a stretch, but after using her Unique Spell twice in a row, she would directly engage and trigger a mana explosion.
It awakens.
No matter how tough Bifrons’ body is, when the regeneration power is dispersed, other spells will surely take effect.
However.
“Ugh…!”
Trisena couldn’t move.
To be precise, it wasn’t the time to attack because she couldn’t breathe.
‘It’s as if… the air has stopped…! I can’t breathe!’
Even trying to fill her lungs with air was impossible.
Desperately moving her mana to forcibly supply oxygen didn’t come close to normal breathing.
‘Is this… Bifrons’ hidden power?’
Before she knew it, Bifrons turned to face Trisena.
His mouth curled into a slight smile. The excitement glimmered in his eyes, which had been dull with boredom.
“It seems like not Gulemashia. But something similar…”
Bifrons muttered to himself, mentioning Gulemashia’s name.
Since the flow of air had stopped, sounds could only be vaguely guessed through the vibrations of his body and the ground.
“It seems this won’t be boring. It won’t be boring at all.”
Bifrons was not trembling at the name of Gulemashia, which struck fear into countless Altifes.
Instead, he was engulfed with the desire to clash with the being observing the battlefield from afar.
It’s easy to understand why he belonged to the warring faction of Cardinal Gamigin, a war fanatic.
“This isn’t the time to dawdle. I have to move before the others make their move… quickly… quickly….”
To hunt down that human with immense mana, he had to get out of here first.
Bifrons rolled his eyes to survey the battlefield, recalling the mission given to him.
“But… the northwest… I have to handle the northwest…”
His superior being.
The orders of Gamigin.
Bifrons was engulfed in confusion.
The desire to escape and run away from here right now.
The absolute commands he heard from Cardinal Gamigin.
The two concepts collided, leaving Bifrons in a dizzying state.
“Go? Stay? Go? Stay? Go? Stay?”
Bifrons scratched his skin with his four hands.
His nails dug deep, scraping at his skin tougher than steel.
Meanwhile, Trisena was forcibly breathing by converting mana into oxygen, waiting for her chance.
Then.
“How do you think? ”
The overexcited Bifrons suddenly approached Trisena and asked.
His eyes were already asking her a predetermined question.
“Isn’t it strange that a ‘God’ like me follows the words of a cardinal? Right?”
Bifrons was thinking of killing Trisena quickly before moving on.
Trisena, not backing down, summoned her mana and prepared to face Bifrons with all her strength.
Just then.
Szzz—
The space behind them opened up.
Trisena, knowledgeable in magic, immediately recognized it as Warp Magic.
A male student emerged from it, stretching his legs.
That student, wearing a black suit, carried the immense pressure of the colossal mana she had felt earlier from a distance.
‘That guy… Vargan…?’
It wasn’t Trisena, who was now flustered and overwhelmed with joy at Vargan’s arrival.
“It seems you came directly.”
The archbishop, Bifrons, grinned with an eerie, long smile.
