Chapter 426: Rank

“Oh no, I hate this…! Why do you always appear when I’m around? Are you, maybe, interested in me? Even though you’re so old.”

The Capital of Gallos, Ravely.

Gretel spoke in District 11, just outside the central District 1.

She exuded a dark red aura, smiling outwardly. However, her awkward expression and the sweat on her forehead suggested she wasn’t in good shape.

It didn’t seem to be just because she was interrupted.

Whooosh… Thud.

Merlin, who had been flying using magic, landed on a building some distance from Gretel and responded,

“If I made you uncomfortable, I apologize. But don’t misunderstand. I’m not interested in women.”

“Heh… Is that so?”

“Yes. Even when I was younger, I was always more interested in magic.”

That was indeed true. During Merlin’s youth, when his hair was still thick and his skin firm, despite his strong vitality, he was more fascinated by magic than anything else, dedicating all his time to study, practice, and scholarly exchanges.

At a certain level of mastery, he almost came to take an interest in the opposite sex, but ironically, just as he dreamed, he was chosen by the Archive. And from then on…

“I don’t believe that. The elderly pretend to care nothing for money and life, acting detached and wise, but in reality, they’re the most greedy, aren’t they?”

“I won’t deny it. The idea that people get wiser and more detached with age is just an old man’s delusion. Humans only grow more wretched as they get older. I realized that after I aged myself. However, when I say I have no interest in you, believe it, for it is the truth.”

“Can you prove that?”

“Of course… I’m not interested in women older than me. Especially not by a few hundred years.”

As soon as Merlin answered, the relaxed expression on Gretel’s face twisted. She activated a spell using the dark aura overflowing within her.

The dark power she unleashed diffused only a little into the air before reaching the ground and moving rapidly towards the building where Merlin stood.

The moment the power reached the building, the will of the caster imbued in it activated, sending a black lightning bolt surging upwards from below.

Booom—Craaaash!!

A massive black flare erupted from the lowest level of the building, shooting up into the sky.

The ground shook as if an earthquake had hit, and with the sound of a collapsing mountain, enormous chunks of concrete shot into the air.

Shattered pieces of the building flew skyward from the shockwave, then rained down like debris, while Gretel used the Warlock’s Eye to track down Merlin, who had vanished.

‘Disappeared? Did he escape with spatial magic?’

Using spatial magic without the opponent noticing is extremely difficult, but not impossible.

Especially for the Archive, which has inherited knowledge for over a millennium.

For a moment, Gretel felt a twinge of regret.

If she had been luckier, she might have gained the Archive’s knowledge. All the wealth and legendary knowledge he possessed.

Just a few days ago, she would not have been so sure, but now, it was different.

Although unstable, she had now gained enough power.

Shudder.

Gretel looked at her trembling hand. The overwhelming energy coursing through her veins made her feel both anxiety and newfound resolve.

Clench…

‘I can do this. I know I can.’

Speaking to herself, Gretel clenched her fist tightly.

Then, after scanning the surroundings again with the Warlock’s Eye and confirming Merlin was gone, she decided to go to her brother.

Just as planned, she would first absorb the power of Hell, then devour Dave.

“It’s sad to be underestimated just because I’m old.”

A voice called out from a side where no presence was felt.

Gretel flinched and turned her head, finding Merlin hidden behind massive concrete rubble.

Somehow, he had concealed not only his emotions but also his life force and magical energy, sticking tight behind the debris.

He tossed a torn piece of paper towards Gretel, who then rapidly deployed multiple shields using her black mana mixed with Hell’s energy.

Contrary to its appearance, the paper was heavy like a chunk of metal and sharp like a blade. It pierced through three out of the five layers of Gretel’s shields in one swift motion.

But that was all. Reacting quickly, Gretel channeled her magic in proportion to the paper’s force, adding rotation to the point of impact, altering the shield’s shape and angle to deflect the paper harmlessly.

Swish!

The paper skimmed across the tilted surface of the shield, flying far off before crashing into a building on the ground.

The impact was loud, like a bombardment, and caused the building to collapse. Even though it was a simple attack with no special enchantment, its power was overwhelming.

‘This is the pinnacle of sorcery. The Archive, which bears the secrets of the world…!’

Realizing the Archive’s strength anew, Gretel felt shocked yet also driven by a competitive spirit.

She was eager to test the power she had just gained—power forged with not only her effort but her brother’s as well.

Gretel made up her mind and immediately gathered and compressed a large amount of black mana into the shape of an arrow, then coated its tip with various disease-related curses.

So powerful it could infect even stone. Gretel aimed the arrow at Merlin, who was hiding behind the concrete rubble, and launched it.

“Isn’t it embarrassing for someone from the Archive to hide like a rat?!”

As she questioned, the arrow pierced Merlin, creating a massive hole dividing his upper and lower body.

She had expected him to deploy a shield in defense… But then, the image of Merlin, split in two, began to blur.

As the mist lifted, the illusion of Merlin faded, revealing a mass of rocks shaped like a human underneath.

It was a disguise using transmutational magic.

The moment Gretel realized this, she heard Merlin’s voice again from above.

“If I can fool someone like you completely, it’s hardly embarrassing.”

Merlin was standing on a falling piece of concrete debris, looking down at Gretel from above—a perspective that she despised.

Gretel tried to manipulate the arrow she had shot earlier to target Merlin once more, but this time, Merlin was faster.

[Stone Shower]

At some point, Merlin had exercised control over the stone debris infused with his mana, sending dozens and hundreds of them, large and small, flying at Gretel.

The massive chunks of concrete, infused with magic to amplify their hardness and weight, flew toward her from all directions.

But Gretel remained unfazed, condensing her mana and unleashing an explosive burst of emotion to send out large magical blades in all directions.

The concrete debris, charged with the magic power of the Archive, shattered into pieces, creating a cloud of dust.

“Go.”

The black magical blades destroyed all the stone fragments threatening their master. Then, obeying her command, they turned in the air and flew towards Merlin.

Naturally, Merlin intended to defend against them, and to do so, would require a significant spell.

‘And with such a big spell, an opening should appear.’

Gretel was preparing to counterattack while waiting to see how Merlin would respond, and finally, Merlin cast his spell.

A spell completely unexpected.

[Volt]

Merlin cast one of the most basic lightning spells from Thor’s minor school of magic.

A simple spell that converts mana into electrical energy.

It was nothing more than a basic trick, only useful as a minor shock… However, Merlin extended one hand and used the spell.

The gathered mana at his fingertips crackled with light, emitting electricity that extended like branches, striking each of Gretel’s magical blades.

‘Does he intend to destroy them?’

Gretel was puzzled. No matter how great a mage he was, even as an Archive, magic had a ‘rank’ (格).

It made no sense for a low-level spell like that to block her magic.

The amount of mana, the construction of the spell, the will behind it—in every aspect, it was unreasonable.

Fortunately, the world wasn’t that unreasonable. The lightning Merlin fired neither blocked nor even slowed down Gretel’s magical blades.

Just as the blades were about to strike Merlin, they suddenly turned and collided with each other, vanishing in midair.

“Did…you give the blades a lightning property to make them clash?”

Gretel realized it belatedly and asked, to which Merlin answered.

“Yes. Despite it being a basic spell with limited power, it can be used this way. That’s the beauty of magic. Power isn’t everything. Though it seems many have forgotten this.”

“Ha!”

Gretel unconsciously let out a sound of admiration, but tried to laugh it off, refusing to acknowledge it.

No matter how storied the Archive might be, she could not accept being this pressured, despite obtaining the power of Hell.

Otherwise, what purpose would have been served by her life, filled with struggles and her brother’s sacrifices?!

She couldn’t accept it. She wouldn’t accept it.

[Rain of Disaster]

[Earth Teeth]

With an explosion of anger and resolve, Gretel released the vast amount of mana stored within her body.

The dense mana accumulated over centuries of consuming humans formed a translucent barrier, taking on a spherical shape as it spread out, seizing control of the land and sky.

At that moment, Gretel activated her magic.

As soon as the spell was cast, thousands of high-density mana arrows, imbued with weakening curses, began to rain down from the sky like a storm.

The earth swelled like a massive wave, toppling the buildings on the surface as it jutted upward into rectangle-shaped columns that shot into the sky like giant teeth.

Like jaws about to close, the massive teeth of the earth targeted Merlin from above and below, leaving no escape.

The entire District 11 was one gigantic jaw.

The only way to escape this overwhelming attack was via spatial magic transfer. However, instead of doing so, Merlin simply stood there and opened a book.

[空操捻作 (Kū Sōnen Saku)]

As Merlin quietly chanted, the infinite mana held within the book spread out, reclaiming the space Gretel had seized.

But that wasn’t all.

Merlin went beyond simply reclaiming the space—he twisted it. No matter how vast or creative the spell structure was, there were, of course, laws and limits. Yet Merlin transcended those laws and limits, exerting impossible control over the space, twisting it, compressing it, and bringing it into his grasp.

A power that governs space itself.

At that moment, Gretel realized the gap between herself and the Archive, feeling an ominous chill run down her spine.

[Summons-Hecatoncheires]

Rumble…

As she chanted, the vast amount of life force within Gretel’s body evaporated, simultaneously causing a foreign tearing of the void through which a colossal human head emerged.

The head alone surpassed ordinary giants in size—an enormous god’s head.

“Ugh…! I didn’t want to summon this one! ”

With the terrible visage of the god—its enormous eyes, sunken nose, rocky skin, lips torn away revealing its teeth—Gretel coughed up blood.

This was the price she paid for enhancing the effect and efficiency of her spatial magic with human sacrifices, but she had no regrets.

Especially after seeing the next magic Merlin used.

Merlin, utilizing a power that could truly be called a godlike authority rather than mere magic, reconstructed both Gretel’s magic and space within his grasp, then threw them back.

The thousands of poisoned arrows, the earth’s massive teeth, and the space containing that magic.

The scene was nothing short of a bad joke—a cruel one.

To take hold of the massive spell Gretel cast by spending the mana she had accumulated over centuries, as well as the space removed from human authority, and throw it back…

Yet now, it was happening right before Gretel’s eyes as the thousands of arrows, the massive teeth, and the space itself became a battering ram that flew towards her, ready to destroy everything.

“Block it—!!”

Gretel screamed.

At her command, the massive godly being that had ripped through the void and dimensions let out a roar that shook the city as it released eight giant arms that wrapped around her to shield her from Merlin’s attack.

The terrifying battering ram struck the massive arms.

With a wet, unpleasant splattering sound, the arms were severed and infected with disease, causing them to rot while still alive.

The monstrous being, with only its head and arms sticking out from the void, screamed as if in immense pain. But Gretel, deeming it a waste, flew up to the giant’s head and drove her hands deep into it without hesitation.

Squelch!

Her goal was to control its brain directly.

The enormous being, with its brain seized by the summoner who called it forth, let out a momentary scream of agony, then began to move according to the summoner’s will, pulling out new arms from the void around Merlin.

Arms so massive that just moving them would create a storm.

These enormous arms covered the sky, casting a shadow over the earth as they tried to crush Merlin.

But rather than avoiding them, Merlin used spatial magic again, twisting both the surrounding space and the giant’s arms.

Astonishingly, the arms of the enormous god, larger than the giant itself, twisted as if following Merlin’s will, bending along with the space.

Given their overwhelming size and mass, magic should not have worked on them, and yet…

‘Is this truly…a godlike authority?’

Even Gretel, who had absorbed the power of Hell, watched in awe at the scene that seemed far removed from reality. Meanwhile, the space Merlin manipulated twisted, first this way and that, like a child’s scribble, finally arriving above Gretel and the giant’s head.

At that moment, the giant hand, summoned to crush Merlin like a mosquito, fiercely descended, aiming directly atop Gretel and the giant’s head.