Chapter 221

The black mages seemed unable to even imagine that Roan had chosen and blocked their poison.

How could he know which was which among over ten poison bottles in that short moment!

Such was their natural but complacent thought.

The black mages giggled as if they had already won, thinking that being hit by this much poison would definitely neutralize him temporarily.

‘How is it?’

Hum—

Crude.

‘I agree.’

However, there was a reason Roan allowed himself to be hit by the poison on purpose.

When he fought Pan, the acolyte of Jelsroin, in the past, hadn’t he been perfectly fine even after being hit by this kind of confusion holy art?

It was the same this time.

In the first place, Roan’s mana was not something that would be bound by a poison made by mediocre black mages on par with the six thugs.

Though his arms and legs hit by the paralyzing poison were quite numb.

‘I listened to Professor Atoga’s class theory diligently, and it is helping quite a bit.’

Roan was a skilled individual who had even revived Pierbo, who was already on the verge of death, back to normal!

Without even needing to use any special magic, he infused his mana and vibrated it gently, releasing the paralysis in an instant.

— Kuhaha! Guys, let’s finish this now!

— It was an eyesore I couldn’t bear to watch!

— Be careful not to hurt the divine beast!

Unaware of such a thing, the black mages each cast simple magic like Black Arrow or Black Sphere.

They were basic attack spells, but they were spells that could kill a person if hit directly.

Oslo was also smiling leisurely on one side, sensing victory.

Kirrr──!

Charlotte let out a sharp cry at the black mages trying to attack her master, but her hands were caught and she could not move.

Boom—!

Finally, over ten attack spells exploded on Roan.

As a large number of black magic spells exploded simultaneously, black smoke rose around the area.

— Hahaha, no matter how much he shows off, he is no match for Roan Darc!

— The black mages ridiculed Roan, comparing Roan to Roan.

But.

— Of course, they said Roan Darc is also close with Wicronon…… Ugh!

Thwack—!

The jaw of the black mage who had brought up Demona without knowing any better spun with a bizarre shriek.

The tip of a heavy staff protruded from the black smoke.

Under the circumstances, it seemed to be the culprit.

It was Roan, who had blocked even Pierbo’s special black arrows with his defense techniques.

Although it was close due to the numbers, he did not suffer any major injuries anyway.

Thwack—!

— T-Two t-times……

‘Are you calling that words? Who is close with whom?’

Roan thrust his staff once more, completely toppling the black mage with the dislocated jaw.

Taking advantage of the remaining fog, he beat up a few more black mages.

— Ugh!

— Heuk!

“W-What is going on! Who are you being beaten by?”

Oslo shouted in embarrassment.

‘Could he be from a paladin family?’

No sign of holy power moving was felt, yet screams only erupted from all over.

……Oslo had never expected that Roan was using the secret technique of a mean competitor to hit them with a club—no, a staff—while hiding his position as much as possible.

‘It’s been a while since I used Righteous Grass powder, but the effect is decent.’

He had even used a reagent purchased yesterday or today that made the movement of mana more covert.

Indeed, the black mages beaten by Roan’s staff could not collect themselves due to internal injuries.

Just then.

— Over there!

— Everyone, rush in together!

Patter—!

The sound of black mages gathering from other places in the cave echoed.

If the task had been successful, cheers would have erupted, but instead only screams were heard, so everyone was gathering.

[U-Uh, Master! More are coming!]

“I know. Charlotte, follow closely.”

Roan quietly slipped away from the spot while the black mages were letting out bizarre screams.

As numbers were king in a fight, it would be troublesome if more black mages gathered, and:

‘For now, I just need to get the Balance of Light and Dark!’

Roan also had something to rely on.

Meanwhile, at the spot Roan had slipped away from, the black mages were floundering as their vision was obscured by the black mana smoke they had fired.

“You foolish bastards! Are you even black mages acting like that!”

Whoosh—

Oslo generated wind with his mana to blow away the fog.

Naturally, there was only his own gang there.

— It’s you, you wicked young master…… huh?

— Look who’s talking, with your scary face…… huh?

……Several black mages had mistaken each other and were engaged in a brawl.

Oslo let out a furious roar.

“Find him right now!!!”

* * *

Roan was running through the dark cave as if it were his own home.

‘Is it here?’

Whenever a fork appeared, he went in the direction his intuition pointed.

Fortunately, he did not seem to have gone far off track yet.

Also, occasionally, a black mage would pop out.

— W-What? When did you get here?!

Since they were fellows who never imagined Roan had not been caught yet, subduing them was easy.

“Charlotte!”

Kirrr─!

When Roan called her name, Charlotte, who had been running in step with him, sprang forward instantaneously.

Swish—

In her hand, a cloak feather was held before they knew it.

— What is this again……

Before the black mage could even realize what was happening, he was hit on the back of his neck by the flat side of the cloak feather and fainted.

— You rascal!

And a black mage suddenly popped out from a side cave that he hadn’t noticed.

‘Bel…… no, I will handle it.’

Roan was about to call Bel, who was poking his head out of the bag, but stopped.

‘Encounter with the Abyss.’

The confusion magic he had used in his duel with Pan.

Under the magic that flew covertly and swiftly, the black mage collapsed in the exact posture he was running in.

Looking down at the black mage tightly grasping a dagger reinforced with black magic, Roan thought.

‘Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve met a truly bad black mage since coming here.’

The only black mages he had seen until now were Beleck and Taedi.

Of course, Roan did not belong to the ‘truly bad black mages’ either.

By his own standards, that was.

— Heuuu……

In any case, by now, he would be feeling quite a bit of fear in the Bottomless Dark, which even the Goddess Jelsroin acknowledged.

[Why did you stop when you were about to call me?]

Bel asked in a slightly sulky voice.

While Charlotte was active, he seemed frustrated to be locked inside the bag.

Contemplated for a moment, Roan replied:

‘Because you are…… my secret weapon.’

[Gasp!]

Indeed, perhaps because he was still a child, Bel could not collect himself at the combination of the words ‘secret’ and ‘weapon’.

For some reason, Roan recalled one more child who could not collect herself at the combination of ‘secret’ and ‘information network’.

[Indeed, a secret weapon must be saved, of course!]

In truth, it was because he feared someone would die if Bel stepped forward, unlike Charlotte, but:

‘Sometimes it’s better not to know.’

And now was precisely that time.

[By the way, is it still far?]

‘Almost there.’

Roan felt that the Balance of Light and Dark was not far now.

As expected of a trade secret, it seemed they had hidden it almost at the very end of the quite large cave.

— Where is he?

— A guy is collapsed here! This way!

— How on earth does this bastard know the way and go?

Behind the path Roan had traversed, the angry shouts of the black mages echoed messily.

Since the black mages, who claimed to have made quite a few children cry, could not handle a young boy at all, they seemed extremely irritated.

Slam—!

“You pathetic bastards! Run faster!”

Among them, Oslo’s voice was also mixed in.

‘He’s up in years, yet he’s still healthy.’

Roan clicked his tongue and kept moving forward.

How long did he run?

‘Over there.’

Roan finally reached right in front of the Balance of Light and Dark.

However, as the black mages were not completely foolish, a sturdy wooden door was installed in between.

And:

— Brat, I don’t know how you got all the way here, but!

— You won’t be able to pass through us, the Pickaxe Brothers of the Oslo gang!

Two black mages who looked exactly alike stood on both sides, trying to block Roan.

Roan was slightly dumbfounded looking at the confident black mages.

‘Why are the black mages called the Pickaxe Brothers?’

He was quite curious about the reason.

[Could it be because they look like pickaxes?]

Thinking of their excessively high hawk noses and long faces that even the term ‘horse face’ was insufficient to describe, it seemed likely.

In any case, he could not afford to waste time on the Pickaxe Brothers or Plow Brothers or whatever.

“Are you really going to block me?”

Roan stopped for a moment to catch his breath and asked.

The brothers answered confidently, as if they had received a question like ‘What is 1 plus 1?’.

— Of course!

— It seems you fled here through a cowardly surprise attack, but luck won’t work anymore!

Since they seemed to have no intention of moving, Roan decided to respect their thoughts.

Rumble, rumble───!!!

— ???

— !!!

Roan raised his black mana quite strongly.

An unusual vibration was transmitted even to the Pickaxe Brothers.

— W-What?

— This bastard is using petty tricks?!

Indeed, as if their nickname was not for nothing, the Pickaxe Brothers also prepared their magic quickly.

From the shape, it seemed to be around the level of Black Spear, a beginner attack magic.

Flash—!

One for each person, two pitch-black spears flew toward Roan.

Roan also began to run against the spears.

The Pickaxe Brothers mocked Roan.

— Foolish fellow!

— If you get hit by our brothers’ Black Spear, your body will be pierced, you know?

Boom──!!!

— ???

— !!!

But no such thing happened.

Roan created a Shield of the Dead and blocked one spear.

Due to the incomparable quality of mana, the Black Spear turned to dust and vanished the moment it touched the shield.

And as for the remaining one:

‘Professor Kaina, I will use this well!’

Utilizing the weakness he learned from Kaina, an upward strike from below!

Slash—

The Black Spear that the Pickaxe Brothers had believed in without a doubt turned into nothingness in an instant.

“Is it my turn now?”

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh───

Roan slightly opened his canteen and cast a large number of blood shards that shone in brilliant gold.

The blood shards wrapping around Roan orbited so fiercely that they would draw out the souls of the black mages in the cave.

On the cave wall touched by the shards, a deep scar was engraved as if a beast’s claws had swept past.

The Pickaxe Brothers gulped looking at the scene.

Glide—

And after exchanging a glance:

— Haha, please pass through.

— Actually, we are not the Pickaxe Brothers but the Chopstick Brothers.

— No, actually, today is the first time I’ve met this guy, hahaha.

Stepping aside politely to both sides, they cleared the way for Roan.

“Why? Weren’t you going to block me?”

— Oh, what are you talking about! Who would dare oppose the Young Master.

— Oops, my hand seems to have made a mistake. Bad hand! Bad hand!

Slap— slap—

The Pickaxe Brothers made a big fuss, even slapping their own hands for no reason.

Their perfect coordination showed they were indeed brothers.

“Then I will pass through.”

— Go safely!

— May the glory of Lord Hiloa be with you!

Hum—

Those guys are bringing shame to all black mages.

Thump—

(Do you think all black mages are like our master, brother?)

How subservient they were, to the point that the False Divinity clicked its tongue.

In any case, Roan safely(?) passed the Pickaxe Brothers and arrived in front of the door.

Naturally, the door was locked, and:

Glare—

Roan naturally glared at the brothers.

— Ehehe…… we only guard the door and don’t have the key.

— The key is only with Lord Oslo…… no, only that bastard has it.

The brothers spoke while scratching the back of their necks, feeling awkward even to themselves.

It did not matter either way.

“Bel, Desperate Judgment.”

[The Strike of Deeper Darkness?]

Isn’t it about time you just understand?

As Roan was about to say a word, Bel flatly launched a strike.

‘You did recognize it indeed.’

Boom—!

In any case, along with an enormous roar and dust, the door lost its original purpose and cleared the way.

— A d-divine beast? No, what the…… anyway, m-may Lord Hiloa’s grace be doubled!

— I-I will pray for a triple one!