章 176: Purification vs Grond
Colle infancy was not easy.
When he was 7, he was diagnosed with the inability to cultivate martial arts. His mana circuits were completely unsuited for martial arts, and forcing it could kill him.
For the child of a family of martial generals, that was a huge blow.
His status in the family dropped overnight. Even his father, the family's patriarch, looked at him with disappointed eyes.
But Colle did not give up.
When his family gave him the back, he turned towards the only thing he could rely on, magic.
Using magic in his family was considered a dishonor, a taboo. As a family of valiant generals, they disdained the thought of fighting from the backlines like cowards.
But Colle was already being discriminated against by his inability to use martial arts. How could he care about it?
So, he started to study magic.
He wanted to show his family that even without martial arts, he was not trash. He wanted to show them that he was not worthless.
Fortunately, Colle's talent for magic was above average. He quickly advanced through the first and second cultivation layers and became one of the strongest in his family's younger generation.
However, the fact that he used magic continued being his shame.
Until he created [Grond].
Seventeen different spells joined together to create a runic armor with offensive and defensive characteristics. [Grond] was Colle's pride. He started to create it when he was just a third-layer practitioner, and now that he was in the sixth layer, it had undergone many modifications.
But the complexity of [Grond] was too great. Even using another spell could cause the entire armor to fail. So, Colle stopped learning more spells. He dedicated all his time to strengthen and improve [Grond]. To make it stronger, faster, and more resilient.
In fact, Colle could be considered a failure as a mage, but a genius combatant. He took the term 'close-combat magic' to the extreme. Since the day he created [Grond], nobody in the same level had been able to break through his defenses.
Even Alan only won against him after a long battle of attrition where Colle expended all his mana.
But today, [Grond] was broken for the first time.
Facing Rose's sword, [Grond]'s defenses were as weak as butter.
Colle's eyes opened wide. After [Grond] was sliced apart, his entire body paralyzed.
He could only look while Rose's sword sliced through his defenses and pierced his shoulder.
Where her sword passed, [Grond] seemed to vanish. It was as though it feared being touched by the sword.
Only when he felt the pain on his shoulder, Colle reacted again.
"Arrrrrgggggg!" He shouted in rage and bewilderment and threw a punch. Rose was forced to avoid the attack and retreat back.
However, the damage had been done. Colle stood there, looking at the ground with his eyes vacant.
Strangely, though, Rose did not take advantage of his state to attack. Instead, she stood across him with a leisure expression.
"… How did you do it?" Colle finally asked after a long time.
Rose smiled. "I told you, magic is useless against me."
"That is impossible." Colle scoffed.
But Rose shook her head. "I comprehend a technique a few years ago. Prince Claus called it [Purification] after he saw it. He told me it's the bane of magic. When I use it, magic becomes useless."
"… I see." Colle thought for a moment and believed Rose's words. He also saw it, after Rose slashed, his magic armor had become useless.
Rose's [Purification] was a very strange concept. It carried the power to return everything to its normal condition.
Actually, this concept was pretty useless as a means of attack, but it was very good countering magic and laws. Magic worked by twisting the word's laws to create the desired effect, while [Purification] returned the laws to its original state. The result was obvious.
Colle took a deep breath. For an instant, a desolate expression appeared on his face.
But in the next second, he recovered his confident look.
"No, my path is not wrong. I'm the one that is not good enough yet."
He then stared straight to Rose's eyes with a powerful gaze. "Miss Rose, even if you managed to break through my defenses today, I will not lose so easily!"
Instantly, all the mana in his body surged out.
His presence turned many times stronger. A heavy aura pressured the stage, pressing Rose's clothes against her skin.
But rather than being intimidated, Rose curved her lips up.
"Come then, let's end it!"
She then raised his sword and charged forward.
Her body accelerated while leaning forward, and her sword stabbed towards Colle's neck.
Colle replied with a punch.
The punch and the sword clashed creating a powerful explosion, but as expected, Rose's sword broke through Colle's defenses.
However, Colle did not care about the sword cutting his hand and instead, used his other hand to punch.
Rose opened her eyes wide and hurriedly created a magic shield while jumping back.
"Hahaha, as I thought." Colle grinned savagely. "You need a brief interval before using [Purification] again. It looks like you have not mastered it!"
Rose snorted. She created a rain of magic arrows and thrust her sword towards Colle's chest.
Colle grunted. He crossed his arms and stopped the sword.
But the sword did not carry the purification effect.
"Crap!"
The next second, one of the light arrows broke his defenses and pierced his right leg.
"Ugh!" Colle scowled and lost his balance. He then kneeled on the floor and looked at Rose with a complicate look.
"Sigh… how unexpected."
Rose put on a serious look. "You are very strong, senior. The only reason I was able to win was thanks to [Purification]."
Colle shook his head. "It's not just that. I can see you are still in top condition. I, on the other hand, have expended most of my mana."
He then closed his eyes...
"Unfortunately, I can't allow you to win."
… And activated the last card of his armor.
"Explode."
Instantly, Rose's expression changed.
Before she could react, Colle's [Grond] turned into light and mana and exploded.
"BOOM!!!"
Rose panicked. She hurriedly lifted her sword and slashed forward. At the same time, she activated [Purification] to calm the berserk mana coming towards her.
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Rose's sword lit up. A blinding light filled the sword and cut through the wave of berserk mana coming towards her.
Under the intense pressure, Rose felt her [Purification] became stronger. The concept that had become stagnant long ago started to grow again.
She felt that she could vanish everything using her sword.
When the explosion finished, Colle looked at Rose with a wry smile.
"You are a monster."
Then, he collapsed on the ground.
However, Rose was not happy.
Looking down, she realized that her feet had left the stage.
...
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