Before Nellin and Presia’s group arrived, Troll turned a sneaky crow into his familiar and waited in a tree, watching for their arrival.
Why did he choose a crow as a familiar?
Well… because it looked cool!
A lich with a crow as a familiar just seed badass! That was the reason.
Fifty years had passed, but the monsters Troll had seen through broadcasts were basically childish and selfish, so having only dealt with such types, he couldn’t help but be sowhat influenced.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have done sothing like this just to show off the cool magic he developed after becoming a lich instead of coming out and explaining himself right away!
And when Nellin imdiately sensed his presence through the familiar, Troll felt delighted.
‘As sharp as ever, Nellin.’
During the black dragon subjugation, Nellin also used her sharp senses to detect presences and alert others of danger.
Reminiscing about those dear mories, Troll revealed himself using warp.
First, he appeared as if he were eting Nellin for the first ti, referring to her as the Starlight Archer.
As everyone began to prepare for battle, Nellin pulled back her bowstring and asked Troll.
What was his na before he beca a lich?
‘Hmm? Could she be suspecting that I’m the lich? Nellin always had sharp instincts. But it seems she doesn’t know for sure that it’s .’
If he revealed his identity here, things would probably proceed peacefully without a fight.
But.
‘I’ve prepared all this magic, and it would be a waste not to show it off!’
Troll wanted to show his aweso magic! Even if it ant acting a bit longer.
So Troll acted.
[I don’t know.]
“You don’t know?”
[Yeah, I’ve been ever since I beca aware of myself! I’m sure I had a past before this body… but unfortunately, I don’t rember it. And at this point, it doesn’t matter at all.]
I’m an amnesiac lich, so there’s no point asking my na! — he stuck to that act.
Snap!
Troll snapped his fingers, creating a barrier around the hill.
[What matters to now is proof! Yes! Proof of power! Whether my magic can truly work against heroes like you, who are called legends! That’s the only thing that matters!]
“An amnesiac lich? That makes no sense!”
[Yet here I am.]
“You’re pissing off! And stop echoing your voice in my head already!”
[I don’t have vocal cords, so how else am I supposed to communicate?]
In truth, he could.
Even without vocal cords, Troll could speak directly.
However, if he did, he wouldn’t be able to use the voice modulation he used during this telepathy.
aning, if he spoke out loud, his real voice — Ventus Frail’s voice — would co out, so Troll kept using telepathy.
‘Talking to Nellin again after so long really brings back mories.’
Part of him wanted to talk more, but he felt if he kept going, he might slip up and lose the chance to show off his magic.
[Enough small talk. Now! Witness my power! And show yours!]
Troll imdiately began the battle.
—Wuuuuuuuuuuuuung!
Massive mana started swirling around Troll’s body.
As everyone tensed up at the overwhelming mana, Nellin was the first to move.
Fwoosh!
An arrow, already nocked and drawn, flew straight at Troll.
An arrow so powerful it could pierce even black dragon hide if its scales were stripped.
But.
Clang!
The arrow bounced off a barrier Troll had deployed at the sa ti he gathered his mana.
[Did you think I wouldn’t prepare for that? Now it’s my turn!]
Crackle crackle crackle!
Dozens of mana-ford arrows appeared around Troll.
[Go.]
The mont Troll swung his arm, dozens of arrows shot toward the group all at once.
Boom!
“Hngh! O holy wall!”
Paulen slamd his shield into the ground, summoned divine power, and activated a sacred technique.
The holy knight’s sacred technique, “Holy Wall.”
A wall made of divine power that protected allies from enemy attacks.
Clang clang clang clang clang!
The arrows fired by Troll rained down on the Holy Wall.
Magic that forms arrows and fires them is common.
However, to fire this many at once, and with such destructive power, was a feat no ordinary mage could perform.
[Hoho, as expected of a paladin. You have that level of defense. Then, how about this?]
‘If you only defend, you won’t get to see all the magic I’ve prepared.’
When Troll swung his skeletal hand upward, a golem about 3 ters tall erged from the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The golem, surprisingly fast for its size, charged toward the Holy Wall, swinging its stone fist.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
Though the Holy Wall wasn’t damaged, the massive physical blow of the real stone golem sent a strong shock through Paulen.
“Paulen!”
Alia called out to Paulen and cast a blessing on him.
A blessing that strengthened his body and restored vitality.
Then, Nellin nocked another arrow and shouted.
“Hey! Drop it!”
With Nellin’s shout, the Holy Wall vanished.
Fwoooosh!
This ti, a mana-infused arrow flew toward Troll.
Clang!
But again, Nellin’s arrow was blocked by a magic barrier.
Still, it wasn’t completely ineffective.
‘Being on the receiving end is really terrifying. If I hadn’t infused more mana beforehand, it would’ve pierced through.’
“Damn, that didn’t work either. Paulen! You can handle that thing on your own, right?!”
“Of course!”
The golem once again swung its heavy stone fist at Paulen.
If he didn’t block it, it was easy to imagine Paulen getting smashed to bits.
But this was Paulen.
The strongest holy knight in the Holy City.
The only knight capable of serving as the saintess’s guard.
“Haaah!”
Thunk!
Swinging his massive shield upward with his left hand, Paulen did sothing unbelievable.
He deflected the giant fist of the 3-ter-tall golem.
It didn’t end there.
"Do not underestimate my muscles! Lichhhh!"
Fully armored, Paulen pushed off the ground and leapt high into the air.
Raising the sword in his right hand, he brought it down hard toward the golem.
Kagagagagak!
Rather than slicing it cleanly like a master swordsman, he smashed the golem in two with brute force.
Seeing that, Nellin and Troll both overlapped the image with comrades they once fought beside.
‘He uses a shield just like Aldor did.’
Nellin thought of Aldor yer, the Iron Wall Shield.
‘Even from the broadcasts, he reminded of Katshal Demft with that ridiculous strength.’
Troll thought of Katshal Demft, the mighty warrior.
"Nice job! You got rid of that annoying thing!"
[Do you think that was the end, just one golem?]
When Troll swung his hand again, two more large golems rose, followed by six human-sized ones coming up from the ground.
"You call yourself a lich, and all you can do is overwhelm us with numbers?"
[Of course not! I still have plenty I want to show you!]
Troll lifted his bony hand high into the air.
—Wuuuuuuuuung!
A huge magic circle ford in the sky, and a massive orb of dark red flas started to burn.
That ominous, dark-red hue gave the impression of flas straight from hell, and Troll nad this giant hellfire attack.
[Inferno Fall!]
"Wh-what is that…"
"Just like the na… it's literally hellfire."
"What kind of insane magic is that!"
"D-dangerous!"
Godrick’s group stared in disbelief, frozen at the sight unfolding before them.
"Damn it! Presia!"
"Leave it to . Paladin Paulen, if I block that, please prioritize taking out the golems. Alia, keep blessing Paladin Paulen!"
"Yes!"
Presia gathered holy power and began to create a hemispherical barrier to protect everyone, different from a directional Holy Wall.
But as she was about to fully channel her divine power, Gracie stopped her.
"No! Please, leave this to !"
"Miss Gracie?"
"I am a proud celestial mage! A descendant of Ventus Frail! I am not here just to stand by and watch! That magic… I will take care of it!"
[Hoho, you say you’ll stop it?]
Gracie suddenly stepping forward caught Troll’s interest.
Although Inferno Fall contained enormous mana, Troll had calculated that Presia’s barrier would be enough to block it.
But Gracie stepping in unexpectedly.
At first, he didn’t want to acknowledge Gracie as a “natural” mage since she was known as an artifact-doping mage, but watching the broadcasts over ti, he’d grown fond of her.
Even if she relied on artifacts, seeing her struggling over her thesis was sothing any mage could relate to!
More than anything, after hearing how things turned out after he disappeared, he even started to want to cheer her on.
Thinking back, he had never actually seen Gracie using artifacts in full combat before.
So Troll wanted to see for himself.
How strong was his descendant Gracie?
[Fwahahaha! Fine, then try stopping it!]
Gracie reached out her hand toward the falling Inferno Fall.
She wore artifacts dangling from her fingers, arms, ears, neck, and legs.
But they weren’t there just for show.
To overco her own shortcomings, Gracie researched and figured out how to maximize the efficiency of every artifact she wore.
Even if Gracie herself only had average natural talent.
'Activate artifacts 4 and 5! Start calculation assistance! Activate 12 and 15! Start mana support!'
With artifacts, Gracie never doubted she could reach the realm of the great archmages.
'Activate 7 and 8! Begin elent enhancent!'
Multiple magic circles overlapped in front of Gracie’s eyes.
She couldn’t form a huge magic circle in one go.
Instead, she used artifacts to deploy several magic circles at once, combining their effects to maximize power.
'Activate 21! Start spell concentration!'
Crackle crackle crackle!
The layered circles resonated and sparked.
She had never before tried concentrating so many magic circles at once.
But.
'I have to do it now! I can’t just stand around like last ti!'
The chosen elent: water.
What she wanted wasn’t a giant attack as big as Inferno Fall but power strong enough to destroy it.
She compressed water to its limit, gathered it in one place, and fired it all at once.
"Pierce… it—!!!"
A single water jet, no thicker than an arrow, shot toward Inferno Fall.
At first glance, it looked like it would evaporate instantly upon contact.
But.
—Boom!
Almost unbelievably, Gracie’s magic pierced straight through the giant hellfire orb and burst it apart.
“Ha! That’s badass!”
The legendary hero couldn't help but shout in admiration at Gracie’s achievent.
Nellin wasn’t the only one amazed.
Paulen, Alia, Presia, and Godrick’s group all looked at Gracie in shock.
The mage who had always seed nervous and covered in dangling artifacts had just shattered the lich’s magic head-on.
‘Ah… how splendid.’
Troll was moved.
Even if she used artifacts, Gracie’s magic was nothing to belittle.
Combining multiple artifacts to coordinate several spells and fuse them into a single magic attack.
Troll knew exactly how incredible that was.
[You, mage over there. What is your na?]
At Troll’s question, Gracie answered.
"I am… Gracie. Gracie Frail! A proud celestial mage! Descendant of Ventus Frail!"
More proudly than ever before.
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