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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Final Push
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The team battle was well underway.
Boom!
We had defeated the Seventh Apostle.
This was the result of Seron and I holding the front line, with Card and Grantony providing support from the rear.
After a hard-fought struggle, we had finally brought down the Seventh Apostle.
"Haaah, haaah."
Seron, beside me, was breathing heavily.
From the fierce battle with the Apostle, Seron was already battered and bruised.
If Grantony hadn't patched up her wounds with necromancy, she would have been out of the fight long ago.
But considering Seron's original skill level, she had performed beyond expectations.
Seron's skill was in the upper-middle tier.
For someone like her to have fought up to the Seventh Apostle was purely a testament to her will.
Even I, with my good stamina, was short of breath.
Seron, needless to say, was worse.
Tick-tock-
At that moment, the sound of time passing echoed.
The clock on the ceiling now read 25 minutes.
It had taken us over 25 minutes to defeat the Seventh Apostle.
Iris's team had finished in just 31 minutes and 21 seconds.
This meant that if we couldn't defeat the remaining three Apostles within six minutes, we wouldn't take first place.
"Seron, can you still hold on?"
"Hmph, hmph, who do you take me for? A weakling?"
Seron breathed roughly, gripping her twin axes tightly.
It was a clear declaration that she could still go on.
"Six minutes left until we can take first place."
Seron bit her lip.
She had fought tooth and nail for first place.
But the gap between us and Iris's team was simply too wide.
It had taken us 25 minutes just to defeat the Seventh Apostle.
The next Apostle would be stronger, and the one after that even stronger.
The final Apostle had taken even Iris's team ten minutes to defeat.
Even so, Seron didn't loosen her grip on her axes.
"Hmph, that's plenty!"
Instead, she snorted, showing her fervent resolve.
Seeing this, I curled the corner of my mouth into a smile.
"Good, well said."
I had defeated the Apostles as quickly as possible for this very reason.
Now was the time to see the fruits of that effort.
"It's enough."
Thump!
No sooner had I finished speaking than a massive coffin plummeted from the sky.
Creeeak-
Immediately, the coffin lid creaked open, revealing an Apostle in a suit, hands clasped over its chest.
The Apostle's face was obscured.
Instead, long fangs gleamed from its only visible feature: a mouth.
The Eighth Apostle.
A Vampire.
A fierce aura emanating from the Apostle swept roughly over Seron and me.
It was a murderous intent so dark it made the hairs on our skin stand on end.
And for me, there was no more welcome murderous intent than this.
The battles before this had been fought for this very moment.
The Vampire opened its maw wide, preparing to spread its wings.
If it took flight, nothing would be more troublesome.
"Sharin."
So.
"Mmm, finally."
Sharin was preparing her ultimate spell.
The staff held at Sharin's fingertips rotated in a circle.
The accumulated magic, which she hadn't released even once until now, began to stir visibly.
"Wow."
Card, also a mage, gasped in astonishment.
The sheer amount of magic flowing from Sharin was an absurd output.
"Cleanly."
The surroundings began to be dyed white.
The earrings dangling from Sharin's ears swayed wildly with the surge of magic.
And then.
"I'll erase it."
Sharin's staff swept downward.
―――――――!
All sound in the vicinity was swallowed.
A blinding white light pierced through the Vampire, which had been about to take flight.
It was a light so fierce that not only we, but even those watching from outside, had to close their eyes.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GANG!
The delayed shockwave swept through the space, shaking it violently.
I barely managed to brace myself, grabbing Seron by the scruff of her neck to prevent her from being thrown by the impact.
There, the ground was dyed pure white.
Naturally, not only the Vampire but even the coffin was completely gone.
It was a striking reminder.
I was reminded anew of just how monstrously powerful the magic of Sharin Sazaris, the genius top student of magical studies, truly was.
Even I, if I had taken that head-on, would have undoubtedly ended up in the next world.
"Phew."
Sharin lightly blew on the tip of her staff.
The Eighth Apostle, the Vampire.
It had, unfortunately, perished the moment it appeared.
The Vampire had taken merely 50 seconds to defeat, including its appearance time.
"I-If this was possible, why didn't we do it from the start!"
Seron, who had been dumbfounded, huffed and exclaimed.
"No, we couldn't have gotten first place that way."
I helped Seron stand upright and then looked back at Sharin.
Sharin's magic had been greatly depleted by the previous attack.
Even for Sharin, it took that much power to instantly wipe out an Apostle.
'Besides.'
Sizzle-
Sharin's staff crumbled into dust.
Sharin brushed off the dust from the broken staff with a regretful look, then pulled out a new one from her waist.
Modern staves couldn't withstand Sharin's immense full output.
As a result, due to the staves, Sharin always had to wield less power than her true ability.
'For a mage, a staff is like a launcher.'
Just as it's impossible to fire a bullet without a gun, no matter how many bullets you have.
Mages also face many restrictions when casting spells, the power of magic, without a staff.
Sharin possessed the world's best 'bullets'.
Yet, modern staves couldn't fully launch Sharin's 'bullets'.
'And even these staves are all top-grade, mind you.'
Despite that, they couldn't handle Sharin's magical output and shattered.
Thus, Sharin's maximum output magic had limitations, as it consumed staves.
She could, of course, cast magic without consuming a staff.
But then she wouldn't be able to defeat all the remaining Apostles within the time limit.
"Grantony."
That's why I formed this party.
At my call, Grantony's skull eyes gleamed.
"It's your turn."
Immediately, the sky opened up.
What appeared from the open sky was an Apostle, draped in translucent cloth.
Dozens of long arms, revealed through the cloth, were lined with merciless weapons.
Soon, multiple eyes also became visible from within the cloth.
The Ninth Apostle.
The Underworld Jailer.
An Apostle that appeared to reap the lives of the living.
The Underworld Jailer existed across both the real world and the ethereal plane.
Because of this, it was virtually immune to physical attacks and highly resistant to magical attacks.
Therefore, to defeat the Underworld Jailer, someone trained in divine arts was essential.
Only divine blessings could harm the Underworld Jailer.
Iris's team had successfully defeated the Underworld Jailer with the help of their divine arts sub-ranker.
Of course, even then, it had taken them quite some time to defeat it.
So then.
What about us?
"Ah."
Seron belatedly realized why I had recruited Grantony.
Just as she realized, it was for this very moment.
Little Ossuary.
The Soul Weaver, Grantony.
For him, who could traverse the ethereal plane.
An Apostle that existed halfway between the real and ethereal worlds was the easiest opponent in the world.
Click-clack!
Grantony's teeth clacked together, revealing his delight.
Simultaneously, a world of grey instantly spread outwards from beneath Grantony's feet.
Everything around began to lose its vitality and its light.
The grey world extended further, engulfing even the manifested Underworld Jailer.
The Ethereal Plane.
Grantony, having pulled the Underworld Jailer into his own domain, clapped his hands together.
KA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GANG!
At that instant, dozens of chains materialized from thin air, coiling around the Underworld Jailer.
The Underworld Jailer was certainly immune to physical attacks.
Yet, it couldn't evade the chains and was bound completely.
Thump! Thud!
The Underworld Jailer, which had never imagined it could be bound by chains, showed clear signs of bewilderment.
However, it was too early to be bewildered.
Wooosh!
At that moment, the chains began to glow with a blue light.
Then, the translucent body of the Underworld Jailer began to materialize.
"Heh heh heh heh."
Grantony's teeth clacked together as he began to let out a laugh.
"This is my world."
His authority in the ethereal plane.
Grantony's authority was far greater than that of the Underworld Jailer.
Belatedly, the Underworld Jailer began to struggle.
But the chains only tightened their grip, squeezing it ever more tightly.
The Underworld Jailer couldn't escape the chains.
The chains had already firmly shackled the Underworld Jailer's very soul.
Grantony flicked his finger, which protruded from his sleeve.
"Begone."
Shatter!
Grey fragments shattered off the Underworld Jailer's body.
The Underworld Jailer, which had been straddling the ethereal plane, was being expelled.
As a result, the Underworld Jailer fully materialized in the real world, no longer in the ethereal plane.
And what greeted the materialized Underworld Jailer.
Was Sharin's magic.
A white light once again burst across the sky.
The Underworld Jailer had possessed high magic resistance due to its ghostly form.
For that entity to have its ghostly form dispelled meant.
Its magic resistance had also returned to its normal, ordinary level.
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GA-GAK!
Sharin's magic, unleashed by sacrificing a top-grade staff, once again swept through the space.
The Underworld Jailer, caught in the magic, shattered into pieces and dispersed.
But this time, it wasn't just once.
Sharin's magic didn't stop there; she picked up a new staff and unleashed a continuous barrage, sweeping away the Underworld Jailer with this combo attack.
CRACK, SHATTER!
Amidst the shattering fragments of cloth, a tiny child that had remained was engulfed by the blinding light and vanished.
The Underworld Jailer's inherent second life had been definitively eliminated.
"Hoo."
Sharin lightly exhaled, letting the dust of the shattered staff scatter from her hand.
Beads of sweat formed on her face.
She had used the maximum firepower possible from a top-grade staff three times in quick succession.
Even for Sharin, such a massive expenditure of magic was exhausting.
"A-Already, the Tenth."
Seron, who had been dazed, hastily checked the time.
It had taken two minutes to defeat the Underworld Jailer.
The clock now read 28 minutes and 10 seconds.
Only 3 minutes and 2 seconds remained.
If we couldn't defeat the Tenth Apostle within this time, we wouldn't take first place.
"Plenty of time! We still have Sharin's magic!"
Seron wore a triumphant expression, as if we had already won.
Unfortunately, I couldn't agree with her.
CRACK!
At that moment, the ground shook violently and split open.
Card used shadow magic to lift us, preventing us from falling into the gaping chasm.
At that moment, a being emerged from within the cracked earth.
It had a long body, with several feathers where its head should be.
An Apostle with a small, palm-sized body that glowed with a fluorescent light.
Even Iris, considered the strongest in martial arts, had received a blessing from the divine arts sub-ranker.
This was the Apostle that had taken them ten minutes to defeat.
The Tenth Apostle.
The Thunder Bird.
It had appeared.