The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 755: Is That Their Target? (2)

With a sharp snap, the suspension bridge gave way, the thick ropes tearing with a loud crack that echoed through the canyon.

The people tied up as hostages screamed as they plummeted into the void.

“Aaaaaagh!”

They fell, screaming, into the deep, dark chasm below. Watching the scene, the black mages let out eerie, satisfied chuckles.

There was only one reason they hadn’t killed the people immediately.

They wanted to force Ghislain to waste his power saving them. If he made any move, he’d inevitably drain his strength.

But Ghislain had already seen through their intentions.

“Ereneth!”

“I know!”

As Ereneth raised her hand high, spirits of wind materialized out of the air.

The transparent elementals surged toward the falling people, slicing through the sky.

Fwoooosh!

Their plummet slowed as if they were feathers drifting down. The tangled winds caught and held them aloft.

But beneath them raged a river—deep, turbulent, and fast-moving.

“Breath of water! Embrace them in your calm cradle!”

At Ereneth’s cry, massive waves surged upward from the river below.

Water spirits formed towering columns, gently catching the falling people.

Rather than crashing into the river, they glided safely down the watery pillars and landed softly within the spirits’ embrace.

Watching the scene, the leader of the black mages—Bulag—bit his lip.

“Spirits? We had no intel on a spirit mage.”

But he couldn’t deny what he was seeing with his own eyes.

They’d planned to wear down the mad mage’s power... and now an unexpected enemy had appeared.

“Kill them. Kill them now.”

The black mages who had been observing the scene quickly raised their hands.

Black mana gathered—lightning, fire, and poison converged in one devastating mass.

Ereneth was already simultaneously commanding two types of spirits. She was expending tremendous power and had no room to counter the incoming spell.

That was when Ghislain stepped forward.

“Shield.”

It was a short, simple chant—but the power behind it was anything but.

FWOOOOOSH!

A massive dome-shaped shield formed over the people embraced by the spirits. The black mages’ attacks struck the radiant barrier and shattered.

BOOOMBOOOMBOOOMBOOOMBOOOM!

Fragments of magic blasted chunks off the canyon cliffs. But the people inside were unharmed.

With a sigh of relief, Ereneth began guiding the rescued people toward her.

Julien and Kyle ran up, shouting:

“Ghislain! We did it! We saved everyone!”

“Thank god. Everything went to plan. Let’s fall back now.” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

With the bridge destroyed, they had no way to cross the canyon from this side.

Their mission was only to rescue the hostages. After that, they would circle back—or come up with a new plan to deal with the enemy.

But then Ghislain suddenly grabbed both of them by the arms.

“This is the perfect opportunity.”

“For what?”

“You don’t get training like this every day. When else are you gonna see this many monsters gathered in one place?”

“...Huh?”

Before they could respond, Ghislain hurled them with all his might across the canyon.

“AAAAAH!”

“YOU CRAZY BASTARD!”

Julien and Kyle flew through the air, soaring across the canyon.

The other mercenaries stared in blank shock.

Then Ghislain quickly approached Lionel.

Smiling wickedly at Lionel’s dazed expression, Ghislain said:

“You learned some things. You’ve got mana now. Real combat’s the best way to grow.”

“Oh... Don’t you dare. You maniac.”

“Hold your shield tight. Drop it midair and you’re screwed.”

Then Ghislain grabbed Lionel and flung him too.

Lionel didn’t even scream. He just flew with a completely blank expression.

THUD!

Landing hard on the far side, Lionel immediately raised his shield.

What the hell? If he wanted me dead, why not just kill me? Why go through all this trouble to have monsters do it instead?

No matter how he looked at it, Ghislain probably thought dying in battle with monsters would make for a prettier corpse.

Grinding his teeth, Lionel muttered:

I won’t die! I’ll report everything to the Papacy when I get back!

SKREEEE!

Beyond the canyon was a mass of grotesque monsters.

Chimeras with distorted, mismatched limbs.

Undead dragging their rotting flesh as they shuffled forward.

There were too many.

It looked like every monster in the area had been rounded up into one place.

Julien, seeing it, muttered under his breath.

“...This might be bad.”

Kyle gave a disbelieving laugh as he drew his sword.

“Haha... We’re not supposed to fight all of those, right?”

Shield in hand, Lionel’s eyes darted around.

But there was no time to hesitate.

The monsters’ hooves pounded against the earth, their reeking stench of decay sweeping toward them.

“AAAAAH! Damn it! Why is training always like this?!”

Kyle’s shout echoed across the canyon.

Julien said nothing more—just slashed cleanly through the neck of an oncoming monster.

Lionel, apparently not eager to die, slammed his shield repeatedly to push them back.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The three of them fought desperately, putting everything they had into fending off the monsters.

Ghislain watched for a moment.

With their skills, they’d be able to hold out against the monsters’ assault.

The black mages’ attacks were no concern—every one of them had their attention fixed squarely on him.

All fifth-circle.

He had confirmed their rank from the last attack.

They were conserving strength to take him on, knowing he was a transcendent.

Ghislain turned his head.

Deneb and a few mercenaries still remained behind him.

Deneb extended her pale hands forward, voice trembling.

“Ghislain, not me. I’m not ready yet.”

“If Osvald goes over there, he’s a dead man!”

Ghislain hesitated for a moment—then nodded.

It didn’t look like the others would last long over there anyway.

“HEY! HEY! HELP US ALREADY!”

Kyle’s scream rang out again.

It seemed the number of monsters was truly overwhelming.

BOOOOOM!

Ghislain shot forward like an explosion.

Tearing through the pressure bearing down on him, he launched himself into the center of the horde.

BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!

Mana exploded from Ghislain in all directions.

A brilliant blue flash pierced and shredded the monsters’ bodies.

Blood and flesh scattered in the air as Ghislain’s surging mana danced outward, slicing through everything left standing.

Julien instinctively retreated.

Kyle could only mumble, mouth hanging open.

“He could do all this by himself, yet still...”

Lionel flinched every time an explosion erupted nearby.

‘I really am just dead weight.’

His self-esteem had hit rock bottom.

Ghislain didn’t wipe out all the monsters.

He needed to leave some so the three could continue their training.

He only cleared the ones directly in his way and began pushing forward.

That’s when four black mages finally revealed themselves from afar.

“Target only him,” Bulag ordered.

Magical circles rose around them, and a flood of crimson-black mana erupted.

BOOOOOM!

Magic spells blasted forward like lightning, tearing through the ground and slamming into Ghislain.

In an instant, the battlefield was blanketed in smoke.

But Ghislain marched forward, shield still intact.

Breaking through the continuous barrage of spells, he swatted away monsters that lunged at him, tearing apart everything before him.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

As Ghislain joined the fray, the number of monsters attacking the three dropped.

There were still plenty, but if they gave it their all, they could manage.

Behind them, Ereneth was still helping evacuate the civilians.

“Slowly! It’s okay! The spirits are holding you, so don’t be scared!”

The mercenaries rushed in to escort the rescued people to safety in the rear.

Once everyone had been secured, Ereneth lifted herself into the air using her wind spirits.

“You stay here and protect the civilians. That side’s too dangerous.”

She gave the order to the mercenaries and crossed to the other side.

Watching her soar through the air, the mercenaries muttered:

“Sis, we can’t fly, you know.”

“Not like we’d be any help if we went anyway.”

“Damn it... Sir Osvald will stay behind with bitter pride!”

All they could do was guide the civilians further back and reassure them.

BOOOOOM!

Flames scorched the sky, and the wind howled.

The moment Ereneth touched the battlefield, the spirits surrounding her erupted like a storm.

Blue vortexes sliced off chimera heads, and roaring fireballs consumed hordes of undead.

The monsters were numerous but completely disorganized—and utterly helpless before the overwhelming might she unleashed.

The black mages paled at the sight.

There weren’t many enemies... but every single one was absurdly powerful.

Especially the one at the front, blasting away monsters with unrelenting force—he was far beyond any rumor they’d heard.

Bulag’s face was stiff, beads of cold sweat dripping down his brow.

“Astion... You really are something else.”

They’d heard the man was a transcendent.

They knew they weren’t likely to win... but seeing it in person was another matter.

Watching Ghislain butcher waves of monsters as he advanced, the black mages felt real fear for the first time.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Each time Ghislain swung his staff, monsters were blown away. Each spell cast exploded the surrounding terrain.

Bulag clenched his teeth.

‘More than half of the monsters are already gone.’

At this rate, they would all be wiped out.

They had no choice but to use their # Nоvеlight # trump card.

He began drawing up an immense amount of mana and muttered,

“...Begin.”

They had never expected to defeat a transcendent head-on.

But they had made extensive preparations to bring one down.

“Pour everything into it.”

At his command, the black mages simultaneously overloaded their mana.

Hummmmmm...

Their combined energy soaked into the earth.

The ground began to tremble.

Ghislain, still cutting through monsters as he moved forward, narrowed his eyes.

He could feel an unnatural energy roiling beneath the surface.

‘What is this...?’

An overwhelming force was building underground—far beyond what four fifth-circle mages should be capable of producing.

A thought flashed through his mind.

‘Wait... could this be the same thing I used back then...?’

Before he could finish the thought, a catastrophic surge of mana erupted from below.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The entire canyon shook.

A pillar of fire engulfed Ghislain, shooting into the sky.

The air ignited. The ground melted.

At the heart of the explosion, everything vanished, leaving a gaping crater.

The resulting magical storm swept through the entire area, vaporizing monsters in an instant. Only smoldering flames of annihilation remained.

Watching this from afar, Bulag’s face twisted into pure ecstasy.

“Kh... Khahahaha! Incredible! Truly incredible!”

They had embedded dozens of runestones throughout the battlefield.

The trap's power far exceeded expectations. Even a transcendent couldn’t survive that.

And if he somehow did, he’d have used up all his mana and be left completely incapacitated.

“Kuhahaha! Even a transcendent isn’t invincible! Did you think we were just sitting here twiddling our thumbs?!”

The hostages.

The monster horde.

It had all been bait.

The real trap was hidden beneath, waiting for the moment he’d step in.

To eliminate a transcendent in one strike.

“Hehehe... That kind of power... Those runestones were worth every coin.”

The runestones had been provided by a priest of the Salvation Order.

It was a waste to use them all—but catching this transcendent was a massive prize.

Especially that transcendent—infamous across the continent for his madness.

The other black mages sighed in relief.

All that was left now was to kill the survivors on the other side.

They stepped forward in confidence—when suddenly:

FWWOOOOOM!

Ghislain burst out from the flames.

He didn’t look good.

One knee hit the ground as he gasped for breath.

Blood streamed from his nose and mouth.

The black mages froze.

“No... no way...”

“He’s... still alive after all that?”

“Is that guy even human?!”

Bulag shouted in a panic.

“Kill him now! He doesn’t have any strength left!”

The black mages scraped together the last bits of their mana.

They were nearly drained—but Ghislain had to be worse off.

Ghislain staggered to his feet. But his legs trembled and he collapsed again.

Cough!

He vomited more blood—and then let out a raspy, amused laugh.

“This... hurts a hell of a lot more when you take it head-on.”

Four fifth-circle black mages had dumped everything they had into those runestones.

It was far stronger than what Vanessa had used during the Ferdium siege.

He could finally understand what Victor must have felt back when he got caught in a trap like this.

“Haah... Can’t believe I fell for this. Should’ve been more cautious.”

They’d gone all out to take down a transcendent. They’d even built a trap like this.

But really, it wasn’t his fault.

“This body’s just too damn weak.”

If it had been his original body, it wouldn’t have gone this far. The problem was the body he was using now.

Astion’s voice rang out in disbelief.

― Just how monstrous was your original body...?

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Once Astion reached the level where he had to face off against the Apostles or Prophets.

In any case, he’d taken a massive hit. He needed more time to recover before moving again.

Seeing Ghislain barely able to stand, the black mages finally relaxed again.

Bulag shouted:

“Kill him now! This is our chance!”

They were exhausted too—but they had enough left to finish off one man.

He wasn’t far away.

The closest black mage raised his hand.

If he released his mana now, that arrogant bastard would die instantly.

Just as he prepared to unleash the finishing blow—

Ghislain, still kneeling, muttered under his breath.

“But the thing is... I’m not alone right now.”

FWOOSH!

Julien burst through the flames from behind Ghislain.

“Huh?”

The black mage’s eyes went wide.

He froze—completely unprepared for this turn of events.

In that single, fatal instant—

Slash!

Julien’s sword sliced clean through his neck.