Water Magician-Chapter 673 : Farewell Darwei

Chapter 0673 Farewell Darwei

Translator: Jay_Forestieri

Editor: Tseirp

The sight of the Phantom King’s head being severed and his heart pierced could be seen even from the Darwei main camp.

It was visible to those fighting too—to Abel and General Yun.

“It looks like my partner did it. Give up and retreat.”

“...I refuse.” 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“What?”

They wouldn’t retreat at a time like this?

Why?

Abel shouted at once.

“Ryo!”

“I know!”

Ryo shouted back.

Yes—in other words, it wasn’t over yet.

Even before Abel called out, Ryo had noticed.

He had felled the Phantom King, but he hadn’t finished him off...

“This is supposed to be the way to kill a Phantomkin, right?”

Duke Helb had said once before.

If he were possessed, cut off his head and pierce the heart, the vessel of the soul.

He had followed that exactly... but Ryo had the uneasy feeling the Phantom King hadn’t truly been finished.

And in Ryo’s mind, connected via Duke Helb, another scene surfaced:

The incident at the Atinjo Grand Duchy embassy in Kwebasa.

There, Abel had cut off Secretary Zlurma’s head and pierced his heart.

But the headless corpse of Zlurma had come at him.

“That one... Duke Helb etched a star-shaped magic circle on his chest.”

Ryo thought as he slit open the Phantom King’s clothing with the tip of Muramasa while the fallen figure lay on his back.

And indeed, on that chest...

“There’s a star-shaped magic circle. What does this mean? This isn’t the real Phantom King?”

“That’s incorrect, Duke Rondo.”

Clang.

Ryo deflected, with Muramasa, the head of the Phantom King that lunged at him, and leapt sharply backwards.

Through the space he’d vacated, the Phantom King sat up, and the head settled back into its proper place.

But... something was different.

“Ah! The hair—it was black, now it’s white.”

Right, the Phantom King’s hair had become long and white.

But with the Phantom King’s face and white hair, that meant...

“Could it be, the special envoy Berke?”

“Yes, well, that’s correct.”

He no longer had the Phantom King’s savagery; instead, he bore the polite but commanding presence of the special envoy Berke.

“Dual personalities?”

“Well, I don’t know that word. This body has always been used by my brother and me... my brother played the role of the Phantom King, but the two of us shared it.”

Ryo’s modern terminology didn’t land, but Berke was clearly speaking of a complicated arrangement between two people.

Berke’s smile widened as he spoke.

“Anyway, that technique earlier was splendid.”

“...”

“You, Duke Rondo, are a water-attribute magician. Yes, that’s right.”

“What are you talking about...?”

“By bathing oneself in one’s own blood to let it invade the opponent’s body, mixing the blood and then manipulating the blood flow... I hadn’t thought of that approach.”

“You must be mistaken?”

Like a magician whose trick had been seen through, Ryo slid his gaze sideways.

Of course, it had no effect.

“In short, this body is contaminated by Duke Rondo’s blood.”

“Uh, could you phrase that a little more gently?”

“So then I will do this.”

When Special Envoy Berke said that, twelve talisman-slips fluttered around him.

“<Scorching Flame>.”

At that instant, Berke’s body burst into flame.

“Huh?”

Even Ryo couldn’t make sense of it.

The clothes remained intact while only the body seemed to burn...

The body turned completely to ash, and the next moment a dazzling light enveloped the area.

When the light faded, Special Envoy Berke stood there again.

“...What?”

“Yes. I revived from the ashes.”

“You’re not senile...”

Ryo replied with a grimace.

The new Berke had clean hands.

In other words, the blood Ryo had splashed earlier was completely gone.

Ryo’s earlier method could no longer be used.

Clang.

Special Envoy Berke lunged with movement too fast even to see clearly.

Ryo had anticipated and braced, so he parried the blow...

“Quite fast and strong.”

“Thank you.”

Berke nodded slightly at Ryo’s involuntary remark.

At that moment, something caught Ryo’s eye:

Figures running from near the castle.

Berke seemed to notice Ryo noticing.

A sly smile crept across his face.

“Those are... ‘vessels’, are they?”

“That’s right, Duke Rondo.”

Berke answered honestly to Ryo’s question.

The running ‘vessels’.

Their number must be no less than ten thousand.

“Thanks to General Yun and the scout unit’s surprise attack, the Darwei command post is in chaos. This is the best time to strike.”

“And they... have talismans.”

“Of course. The command post is in disarray, so magic bombardment will be difficult, but you are here, Duke Rondo.”

Berke’s smile remained.

But his eyes did not share the same sentiment.

“Your magic attacks are troublesome. Still, with talismans, they can be broken.”

“You flatter me by valuing me so highly.”

“Of course. Duke Rondo, if we cannot restrain you, this battle cannot be won. Therefore...”

Clang, clang, clang.

“I will occupy you.”

A flurry of blows at a speed greater than before.

Even Ryo found the speed difficult to parry.

It was the kind of assault that left him no option but to defend.

No counterattack was possible.

Ryo drew a breath to steady himself.

Berke then pulled his sword back and leapt backward.

The torrent of strikes halted for the moment, but there was nothing to be done.

He felt something significant had occurred.

He sensed, for an instant, that something had changed.

He couldn’t say exactly what had changed.

But... something certainly had.

Across from him, Ryo stood as usual in seigan stance with his blade.

Eyes half-closed.

Even though Berke had drawn back and created distance, he did not pursue.

He made a complete stand-and-wait. “Come at me”, his posture said.

“Very well—that is exactly what I want.”

Berke said this and poured in an attack.

It was a barrage of strikes that blurred to the eye.

Power, speed, technique—everything showed a high grade of mastery.

Ryo devoted himself entirely to defense.

But precisely because of that...

He could not be broken.

“I’ll be damned.”

Berke could not help but murmur, awed.

Unwavering, unbroken, unhurt.

Truly, a perfect defense.

It was a defense so absolute there was not even a probing counter—a total passive reception.

Even a phantomkin who had lived as long as Berke could not recall fighting an opponent so exclusively defensive.

“Interesting.”

Berke muttered, and charged again.

Forceful charges, speed-based feints... but then he realized something.

His techniques could not find purchase.

Against an opponent who gives no opening, technique cannot be leveraged.

Berke realized, with surprise.

The sword arts that relied on the opponent attacking—parrying and redirecting, entwining blades, appearing to receive, then slipping in a counterstrike... all depended on the opponent making an attack.

If the opponent is entirely committed to defending and doesn’t attack, those techniques cannot be executed.

“Remarkable.”

A frank compliment.

Yet Ryo gave no reaction to that praise.

He remained in his stance, eyes half-lidded.

He displayed perfect defense against Berke’s blows, yet...

Berke’s suspicion deepened.

The next moment, he felt a wave.

The sensation of his controlled ‘vessels’ disappearing.

“What?”

There had been roughly twenty thousand of the ‘vessels’ released from the castle.

But they had dwindled to five thousand... then four thousand... then three thousand.

“This is impossible.”

The talismans were functioning.

Forty of them floated three meters above the vessels’ heads.

Front, side, rear... in total three hundred talismans protecting them.

And yet, even now, the vessels kept disappearing.

Berke was tempted to turn and check behind him.

He couldn’t.

Duke Rondo stood before him.

Even if Ryo was entirely defensive, showing any gap would invite an attack.

What to do?

Berke rushed at Ryo again.

Clang.

His sword passed a hand’s breadth past Ryo’s side and swung around to look back.

Beyond Ryo, Berke saw the vessels.

“Are they stumbling?”

Yes—the vessels were falling.

As if running on an icy floor...they slipped and fell; just when their heads were about to strike the ground, a strange icicle pillar stood there and skewered their heads and necks.

And they vanished.

“This can’t be.”

Berke’s voice leaked the words as he burned the image of the last vessel’s disappearance into his mind.

“Anything can happen on a battlefield.”

Ryo said, still in his ready stance.

“Anything can be achieved with magic.”

Ryo’s eyes remained half-lidded.

At those words, anger finally showed on Berke’s face.

“So it is... if I don’t defeat you, everything collapses, does it, Duke Rondo?”

Witnessing that expression and words, Ryo inwardly felt a small, private relief.

Yes—the usual trick.

Depriving the opponent of composure is the most basic of interpersonal combat.

It’s not easy to take calm from a composed adversary.

The most effective method is to exceed their expectations.

The destruction of the vessels had done exactly that.

“<Ice Wall: 50-Layer Multi-Layered Ice—Dome>”

An opaque hemisphere of the hardest ice, twenty meters in radius, enclosed the two of them.

“Hm?”

“You have to defeat me anyway; I have to defeat you. This will be the final battle inside here.”

“I see. Very well.”

<<Abel, take care of things outside.>>

<<Understood.>>

Everything outside was in Abel’s hands.

The utmost trust.

So Ryo concentrated on the inside.

He had succeeded in taking away Berke’s composure.

But the real fight began now.

When you rob an opponent of calm and make them angry...

Clang.

Strength increases. Because they’re furious.

(That’s expected.)

Ryo thought.

Clang, clang...

But Berke’s...

(His speed had increased as well.)

Normally, extra tension in the body reduces speed.

But this phantomkin before him did not seem ordinary.

Sometimes it happens.

Some people become terrifyingly strong when they rage...

(Berke is that type...)

Ryo sighed inwardly.

(There’s nothing I can do but return to the basics. Always return to fundamentals.)

To defend.

That was Ryo’s basic.

When in trouble, revert to fundamentals.

That rule applies everywhere.

That’s why steady daily training matters.

Because of that foundation, no matter how dire the situation, you don’t fall into despair.

Special Berke Envoy was a sorcerer.

His attacks came not only from the sword but also from talismans and magic.

No matter where or what kind of attack, for Ryo it all came to one point: himself.

Therefore, what he had to do was only one thing.

Protect himself.

What Ryo did did not change.

The situation was simple.

His thoughts were organized.

Ryo’s concentration reached its limit.

At that moment, Ryo’s mind was calm.

No, beyond calm: it sank, sank, sank.

He sank into a place utterly without wavering.

It was a world of absolute, unbroken silence.

‘Outside’, Berke’s barrage struck toward Ryo... far from silent.

But within Ryo’s mind, there was not a trace of disturbance: silence reigned.

An endless, eternal silence.

Ryo thought of nothing.

Ryo perceived nothing.

Ryo simply... continued to exist there.

How much time passed?

Suddenly, Ryo’s silence ended.

When he opened his eyes, Berke was propping himself up on the holy sword Tatien, barely standing.

Berke’s attacks had stopped entirely.

And thus Ryo’s silence had come to an end.

“Why... won’t you collapse?”

“It’s the fruit of effort.”

Ryo answered Berke’s question not with triumph but with a wry smile.

This endurance was not talent alone.

Calling it luck would be insulting.

So he could only call it the result of effort.

Hence the wry smile.

Faced with an opponent superior in strength, speed, and technique.

The reason for victory was stamina—the ability to outlast.

Wearing them down with defense.

“This brings back memories.”

Ryo muttered, recalling past battles.

Against those who outclassed him in every way, he had overcome them with stamina earned by effort.

Perhaps this was a return to the fundamentals.

“I see. When I’m reborn, I’ll continue to train.”

Berke sprang with a movement that belied the fact he’d barely been propped up on his sword.

Ryo understood this was the last move and sprang in as well.

Berke’s head was cut off.

In the same instant, Murasame pierced Berke’s heart from behind.

“<Ice Wall: 50-Layer Multi-Layered Ice—Dome: Release>”

Outside the dome, many people had gathered.

“Huh?”

Ryo couldn’t help the word slipping from his mouth.

“Ryo, you’re safe... right?”

Abel said, looking at Ryo and at Special Envoy Berke, whose head had been severed.

“As you can see, it ended safely.”

“Yeah, this side is finished too. Cutting Berke off completely proved effective. We recovered the castle, and most of the ‘vessels’ are destroyed.”

“And the opposing emperor?”

“Commander Tin and Captain Lu Yao captured him. No problem.”

“That’s good.”

Ryo finally smiled.

Sheathing Murasame, he said,

“Abel, well done.”

“You too, Ryo.”

This was the northwest of Darwei.

An area forbidden even to ordinary people and where—even the Shitaifu class of Darwei—was not granted permission to approach.

Naturally, there were no towns or villages around.

The nearest settlement must have been over a hundred kilometers away.

In that remote place, a woman stood alone.

She held a fist-sized red lump in her hand and appeared to be searching for something.

After walking a little, the red lump in her hand glowed strongly.

A straight beam of light shot forth from the lump.

“Ah—so I put this here.”

The woman, Marie Cloche, Seven-Star General of the Choouchi Empire, murmured as she walked to the place the beam indicated and pressed the red lump into it.

Crack.

A thin, glass-like sound echoed.

In the next instant, the spot that had been a tall chain of rocks became a complete void.

“When I touched it earlier, it was rock... oh well,”

Marie said, and passed through the opened ‘wall’.

At that moment, the ‘wall’ that for nearly a thousand years had separated the Eastern Countries from the Central Countries was opened—anyone could now pass through the ‘Corridor’ at will.

“Boss, I kept my promise. Goodbye.”

Marie said, then set off westward.

A month after the Battle of the Pyurai Plain ended, a grand ceremony was held at the Imperial Palace in the capital Hanlin.

It was a ceremony marking the departure of Duke Rondo, the premier duke of the Knightley Kingdom, who had become a ‘friendly nation’.

“Duke Rondo’s cooperation and the friendship of the Knightley Kingdom will remain in Darwei’s memory forever.”

“We will take those words deeply to heart and bring them back to our country.”

Ryo, the Duke of Rondo, replied to Emperor Tsuin’s words.

Escorted by civil and military officials, Ryo and Abel departed the Imperial Palace.

“Man, I’ve got a ton of memories of the capital.”

“Yeah.”

Ryo and Abel stood on the deck of the public ship Tenth Vessel, which was docked at the capital’s port.

Beside them were their two beloved horses.

“Andalusia, it’s a long way to the Knightley Kingdom, but let’s go together.”

Ryo said, and the flaxen-gray horse nuzzled him happily.

Naturally, they decided to bring both horses back to the kingdom.

It was a long trip, and having horses would be convenient even for a slow return.

“Well, my Feiwan and your Andalusia both look sturdy, so it should be fine.”

Abel said, and the black horse Feiwan licked Abel’s face.

An expression of affection.

“First, we’ll head to the Atinjo Grand Duchy and return this sword.”

Ryo said, tapping the Holy Sword Tatien.

It had originally belonged to the Grand Duke of Atinjo... so they intended to return it after reclaiming it on the battlefield.

He planned to greet Duke Helb, who might well be thawed out by then.

“After that, we’ll pass through the Corridor from Darwei’s northwest into the Central Countries, and head back to the Knightley Kingdom.”

“That’ll take a while.”

“Can’t be helped. Let’s take it easy.”

Neither Abel nor Ryo was in a hurry.

They had two more traveling companions now: the two horses.

“Then, Duke Rondo and Abel-dono, we set sail.”

Said, as always, Captain Captain La Wu of the Tenth Vessel.

“All right, sure.”

“Farewell, Darwei!”

Thus, Abel and Ryo set off on their journey home to the kingdom.

Author’s note:

This concludes ‘Volume Three: The Eastern Nations’.

Thank you very much.

In the meantime, I recommend reading the Light Novel version.

I wrote it with the intention that even those who have read the Web Novel version would enjoy it.

Light Novel version Volumes 1-5 include the serialized side story ‘The Fire-Attribute Wizard’.

(Totaling over 120,000 characters; completed in 5 volumes)

I highly recommend the books even to those who dislike Oscar. It might change your impression of him a little.

In addition, the Light Novel version includes tens of thousands of additional words in the main text.

Volumes 3, 5, 6 and 7 have had over 100,000 words added to them.

There are new chapters exclusive to the Light Novel version, as well as chapters that barely resemble the original Web Novel version...

(The seventh volume I'm writing now, the original text is less than 50,000 words... 200,000 words is new text...)

If you enjoyed the Web Novel version of Water Attribute Magician, then you will definitely find the Light Novel version of Water Attribute Magician interesting!

Now, regarding the Web Novel version of ‘Volume 4: The Dark Continent Arc’... I will definitely post it eventually.

That's why people have been gathering at the Dark Continent and the Western Nations just before it.

Some Djinn-like people were also sent flying there... and Marie is heading there too... and Room No. 10 and Oscar are in the Western countries, right?

Oh yes, there was also a new war between the Western Church and the vampires in the Western Nations.

All that's left is for Ryo and Abel to go... mumble mumble.