Infinite Mage-Chương 258: All Kinds of Variables (Part 5)

Infinite Mage-Chương 258: All Kinds of Variables (Part 5)

Chương 258: All Kinds of Variables (Part 5)
Zion turned to look at Amy and laughed in a mean way.
"Heh, that's a nice sight. You should have picked a fight with someone you could actually beat."
"You coward! Let me go right now!" Amy shouted, struggling against the sticky webs.
"Don't worry, I'll let you go," Zion said. "But first, I want you to watch this."
Zion turned halfway and gave an order to Xenoger.
"Xenoger, bring me Shirone's head."
Hearing this, Xenoger climbed up the spider webs with a creepy, nasty smile. He was so good at moving his body that he could run on the thin, steel-like wires without getting hurt.
"Amy! Amy!" Shirone yelled, worried about his friend even though his own life was in terrible danger.
Seeing how worried Shirone was made Zion even happier. A part of him wanted to hurt Amy right in front of Shirone, but his desire to get the powerful object called Ataraxia was even stronger.
'Wait, but where is Arius?' Zion thought to himself.
Now that his evil plan was working perfectly, it was the right time for his partner, Arius, to show up. Zion felt a little worried, but it didn't make sense that Arius, a super-powerful "Scale Wizard" who controls space and time, would be late. Zion thought Arius would probably flash in dramatically at the very last second.
'Sheesh, he's always making a fuss with useless show-off moves. He's just pretending to be cool.'
Zion knew that was just how Arius was. But Arius was also very proud of his skills, so Zion believed he would do his job correctly.
Zion looked around one last time and made a pretend slashing motion across his own throat, signaling Xenoger to finish the job.
Xenoger, who was holding Shirone down, stuck out his tongue as if he was going to lick Shirone's face. But Shirone didn't even look at him. He kept his eyes on Amy and shouted with all his strength.
"Amy! Run away!"
"Kekeke, how pitiful. But you're the one who is going to die anyway," Xenoger sneered.
Xenoger spread his arms and legs wide, getting ready to crush Shirone. Then, with a sickening thump sound, two new arms sprouted from inside his shirt collar!
Seeing this, Shirone's face turned pale with fear and disgust.
"Cheuk, why? Do I gross you out?" Xenoger said. "But I can make up to six arms!"
Xenoger used his new arms to pull a steel wire out of his own mouth. Then, with a practiced, cruel skill, he looped the wire around Shirone's neck.
"It won't hurt. I'm the best at this in my business," Xenoger promised.
Shirone could feel that he was about to die. He closed his eyes. It seemed like his short life of 18 years was going to end right here. But he couldn't die like this! He shouted with the very last bit of his strength.
"Amy! This is…!"
"Snip!"
Before Shirone could finish his sentence, Xenoger let out a gross laugh and pulled the wire tight with both arms. The wire dug deeply into Shirone's skin, making a deadly loop around his neck.
At that exact moment, a crackling sound of electricity came from behind Xenoger. It was the special sound made by "flicker" magic, the kind of magic that only a Scale Wizard like Arius could use.
'That's right. Finally.'
Zion clicked his tongue, annoyed by Arius's love for dramatic entrances. But since the timing was perfect, he couldn't really be angry.
"Huh?"
But then, a strange look came into Zion's eyes.
The person who appeared wasn't Arius. Well, maybe it was Arius? He couldn't tell because the person's face was completely hidden by a mask.
"What is that? Who is it?" Zion demanded.
The masked person didn't answer. Instead, they rolled across the floor and positioned themselves right between Reina and Amy, blocking them from Zion. Just by where he stood, you could tell this masked man was not on Zion's side.
'That's not Arius? Then where is he? Shirone should already be dead…!'
Worried, Zion quickly turned his head to look at Xenoger. Xenoger was still wearing his bizarre, nasty smile, but it looked strangely twisted and stiff, like a statue. It didn't look like the smile of a living person.
Shirone was also frozen, staring at Amy with his eyes wide open. And the most important thing—the deadly steel wire—was just lightly pressed against Shirone's skin, not moving at all, as if it were frozen in time.
Just then, the crackling sound of flicker magic was heard again!
This time, it was Arius. He appeared in the space, rolled on the floor, and stopped right next to Zion. He was sweating and breathing heavily, looking very, very tired.
"Damn it! I'm late!" Arius said, sounding exhausted.
"What?! What happened? Who is that guy?" Zion shouted, unable to control his anger.
"I don't know," Arius admitted. "But he's definitely a master of time magic. I tried to get away from him, but he kept messing with my magic coordinates…!"
While they were both traveling through space, the masked man and Arius had tried to use their flicker magic over 700 times to beat each other. The masked man had fought hard, and because of that, Arius was the one who ended up being late.
'Crap. That guy's magic is the worst kind for me to fight,' Arius thought.
For magic experts who control space, experts who control time are like their worst enemies. It's like fire and water—they just don't mix well. The fact that the masked man arrived before Arius meant he was one of the very best time wizards.
'Who in the world is he? With that level of skill, he must be a famous wizard.'
That was also why he was wearing a mask. He was hiding his identity completely.
Arius had a few guesses about who it could be. But he couldn't think of anyone who would want to get in their way right now.
Zion couldn't stand it anymore. He walked toward the frozen Shirone, waving the sharp blade on his gauntlet.
"Sheesh! It's fine! I'll take care of this myself!"
"Do not approach him!" Arius yelled urgently.
Zion flinched and stopped walking. He was a proud and arrogant person, and being yelled at made him more angry than worried about danger.
"What's the matter? He can't even move anyway."
"That area is a time field," Arius explained. "It's the special magic of a time wizard. To put it simply, he has cast a super-powerful 'slow' spell on that spot."
"A 'slow' spell? Explain it so I can understand what you're talking about!" Zion demanded.
Arius felt annoyed by Zion, but he knew he had to explain. If a fight was going to happen, he needed Zion to understand the danger. He didn't think Zion was a great fighter, but his other helper, Armand, could be useful.
"If you step into that area, you will end up just like them," Arius said, pointing at the frozen Shirone and Xenoger.
Zion looked at them, frozen in time with an enemy right in front of them. It was a terrifying thing to see.
"Don't get too close," Arius warned. "The moment you touch that field, you will be frozen in time, too."
"Then what if that masked guy makes the first move?" Zion asked.
"That's impossible," Arius replied. "If the person who cast the spell steps into the frozen area, the spell will break and time will return to normal. So, that masked man has no choice but to stay right where he is."
Arius kept his eyes on the masked man and carefully studied the frozen time field. It wasn't very big, but since the masked man was a time specialist, the power to stop time in that area must be incredibly strong.
'What?'
Suddenly, Arius felt something strange. He stared hard at the frozen time field. To be precise, he was staring at Xenoger and Shirone, who were trapped inside it.
'It's moving…? Is something moving?'
He thought he could sense Xenoger's arm moving. He couldn't actually see it with his eyes, but his super-sensitive magical senses told him that something was changing inside the frozen time.
'What in the world is happening?'
If the masked man's magic was as powerful as Arius had felt during their chase, then time in that field should be almost completely stopped. But at the rate time was passing inside the bubble, it seemed like you would be able to see them move after about an hour.
'If I calculate how long it takes for a person's mind to reach the first stage of consciousness after a near-death shock…'
Arius swallowed, his mouth feeling dry.
The fight for Shirone's mind wasn't over yet!
Because Shirone's brain was still connected to his body, his unconscious mind was probably fighting back. But Shirone had received a terrible, near-fatal shock. By the time his mind reached that first stage of consciousness, his condition would be even worse. If Arius acted fast, he could still win the battle for Shirone's power.
"Prince Zion, I am going to open the Door," Arius announced.
"What? Right now?"
"There is still a chance to succeed. Unfortunately, I need to borrow some of Shirone's power. Follow me through the Door as soon as I enter."
Arius used his magic to create a "Door" right next to the frozen time field. As his magic took shape, a glowing, egg-shaped sphere, about two meters tall, appeared in the air.
Arius jumped into the glowing Door.
Zion gritted his teeth, feeling embarrassed and unsure. But this was not the time to hesitate. He really didn't want to have to fight the mysterious masked man here anyway.
"Damn it! What a pain!" Zion yelled.
He swung his tentacles and threw himself into the magical Door after Arius.
Seeing this, the masked man finally stood up from his crouching position. He thought for a moment, then ran toward the glowing Door.
"Wait!" he called out.
The masked man stopped in front of the Door and looked back at Amy.
"Take me with you!" Amy pleaded. "That's a Door to the inner world, right? I've been there too. I can help you save Shirone."
For the first time, the masked man spoke. His voice was calm.
"How are you going to get there in that state?" he asked, pointing at the webs holding her.
"That… so… If you let me go…" Amy stammered.
"Ignite," the masked man said simply.
"Huh?" Amy looked at him, surprised.
"Don't you know the Ignite spell? You're a fire mage, aren't you? These sticky cobwebs are weak against fire. If you had burned them with your fire magic, you could have escaped already."
"Ah…" Amy's face went blank.
She felt so stupid. Why hadn't she thought of that? Was it because she was too panicked? That was part of it. But the real reason was that a deep, hidden fear had stopped her. Her own magical flames wouldn't burn her, but a real fire burning the webs could. The fear of getting burned had paralyzed her thoughts, even while her friend Shirone was dying.
'Why am I… so useless?'
Tears filled Amy's eyes as she lowered her head in shame.
"There is no need to blame yourself," the masked man said, his voice kinder now. "This kind of situation is hard to deal with if you are not trained. You have too little experience. It's dangerous to follow me. It won't take long. Please wait here."
"No, I don't want to! I will go with you!" Amy shouted, her eyes wide with determination.
She had a feeling that if she just let the masked man go, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
'I'm not just scared! It's not just because I was afraid of the fire!'
She truly hadn't thought of the spell. But if it were Shirone in her place, he would have figured it out. Maybe "Ignite" was the very word Shirone was trying to say at the end? Even while he was dying, was he trying to tell her how to save herself?
'Shirone! I will definitely save you!'
Amy decided to act. She cast her Fire Mist spell, and flames shot up, setting the spider webs around her on fire. Just as the masked man had said, the webs burned very easily. Amy squeezed her eyes shut, ready to be burned, not caring if her face was scarred.
But suddenly, the intense heat disappeared.
When she opened her eyes, she saw that the masked man had grabbed the burning webs and thrown them high into the air. Like a magician's trick, the webs burned up quickly and vanished.
"Uh, why… did you do that?" Amy asked, confused.
The masked man sighed and knelt down in front of her.
"That was a foolish thing to do," he said. "Even if you had gotten out, it wouldn't have changed the outcome. Unless your enemy was an idiot, your actions would only have made Shirone die faster."
Amy stood up right away. She knew this man was really strong. And he was still trying to save Shirone without giving up.
"Please, let me go. No, I will go alone right now," Amy insisted.
"Amy! Me too, I'll go too! Let me go!" Reina shouted from where she was stuck high up on the wall. She struggled, kicking her legs.
Amy looked at Reina worriedly. "Are you okay? It must be hot."
"My stomach is burning with worry even more now!" Reina replied. "Do it faster! That Door might close!"
Amy smiled a little and raised her hand, preparing to make a flame between her thumb and index finger to burn Reina free.
But before she could cast the spell, the spider web holding Reina split perfectly down the middle with a swish, and Reina dropped down, landing smoothly on her feet.
Amy looked at the masked man in bewilderment. Who was he? He had used a simple wind cutter spell to cut only the web without hurting Reina at all. He was so powerful, and he wasn't anyone she knew.
Reina landed and ran over to Amy. She also looked at the masked man with curiosity. He didn't seem like a bad person, but since they didn't know who he was, she was still cautious.
The masked man turned to check on the glowing Door. A strong, wild energy was pulsing from its edges. It was a sign that the magical doorway was becoming unstable and about to collapse. Time was running out.
The person wearing the mask spoke quickly to the others. "Now that things have gotten this bad, I won't try to stop you. But I think you should wait. If you go through that door, I can't promise you will be safe. Let me take care of Shirone."
After he said that, the masked man quickly jumped through the mysterious door and disappeared.
Amy rushed over to her friend, Shirone, who was lying on the ground. It was a scary sight. Thick, white threads, like a spider's web, were wrapped tightly around his neck, squeezing hard. Shirone was completely still, not moving at all. He was frozen in place.
However, he wasn't completely gone. If they did nothing, the webs would keep squeezing, and he would die.
Amy and her friend Reina looked at each other. Their eyes met, and they knew what they had to do without even speaking. They did not hesitate. Together, they bravely ran forward and leaped through the magical door.
Just five seconds later, with a soft woosh, the door vanished completely.
Now, only Xenoger and Shirone were left. They were both still frozen, trapped between life and death. Then, something changed. The ice holding them began to melt, very, very slowly.
A low, painful groan escaped from between Shirone's lips. He was trying hard to speak, to say one word. He was trying to shout, "Ignite!"

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Chương 258: All Kinds of Variables (Part 5)