Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1329: True Myth Mage



Kintar was not someone who particularly cared how she ranked amongst others. She also didn't enjoy revealing how she really felt about certain subjects. She had a mouth, but she usually used it to deceive or taunt, keeping her true nature under wraps.

'Is it because of that skill master gave me?' she thought to herself while ignoring the tense and blood-lusted Arch-Mages around her. 'Well, I have been feeling pretty good after analysing how to best use it. Pfft! Did I just become a Realm Source Mage in the last hour since getting that skill?'

After Skullius had addressed everyone on the directive - what he wanted done in Aigas and how - he had duplicated [Greatest Hegemon of Sorcerous Mana] and given it to Kintar. Skullius knew how terribly powerful he had just made her with that skill, and he truly was hoping she'd use it as terribly as possibly... on enemies.

Kintar heard a spark of lightning as she was drowning in her thoughts. One of the Stern- Mages was getting ready to attack. She grinned menacingly and her eyes turned into wicked crescents.

The Monarch had been just as surprised and displeased by her response just now as the Arch- Mages around him, it seemed. Though he said nothing, it appeared he was well in favour of humbling her.

However...

"Please, good practitioners of a supreme art," Red Rage suddenly flashed before Kintar and appealed with his hands outstretched, "forgive my... ward, in her manner of speech. She means no harm. I beseech each one of you to understand that as much as she is ignorant about certain things pertaining to Magecraft as a foreign practitioner, you too are also ignorant about the trials she has faced in order to reach her current strength."

The Apostle's words did not erase the tension, but they massaged it enough to where it became malleable. The faces of the opposing Arch-Mages softened somewhat. Those around Kintar did not care what she said or did, especially Weyven Irlis. She was already aware that Kintar had strength beyond what any of the others could imagine. She silently urged Kintar to demonstrate it.

"I see," the Monarch said. Somehow, he felt additional reason slip into his mind. It was as though he had willingly allowed himself to be put under a spell. "Perhaps you are right. We both are ignorant, but dark, ugly words have been spoken here. Surely, they must be answered for, or at least given credence. The legacy of Arch-Mage Remos is extremely important to all of us Energy Formers."

The Arch-Mages around the Monarch nodded aggressively.

"Exactly!" one said.

"This insolence must be punished!" shouted another.

Red Rage rose into the air and his glow became brighter.

"Indeed. It is as you say, great Mages," he said and turned to the Stern-Mage who had risen up to chastise Kintar first. "Why don't we take his suggestion? Have the lovely lady Kintar demonstrate her prowess and see for yourselves if it matches the standard you know to belong to the pinnacle of Magecraft."

There were whispers, snorts and grunts. But before a collective response could come, Red Rage added on:

"If Kintar Aladaster falls short, I will personally execute her in the name of my master. It is well within my power and capacity. To ensure that I will do as such if she fails, you may use any binding contract you wish. Even a Tie of Exchange."

The Apostle broad his hands together, as though expecting to be cuffed.

It became so silent in the throne room that you could have heard a pin drop. No one had expected such a severe proposal. Even Kintar was taken aback. She gave Red Rage a piercing look.

She didn't know (fully) the nature of Red Rage's powers. She knew for sure that he was weaker than Araeyn though, and that Apostle WAS capable of killing her. She silently snorted.

'I know what you're doing,' she thought. The Apostle was forcing her to do as their master had bid in the most straightforward way possible - something Kintar had obviously been skirting. If she proved her strength to the Monarch, the deal would be sealed. Her master's intent would be done as he intended. If she failed...

'Master would probably punish him for killing me - if he can - but the damage will already be done,' Kintar thought. She relented. 'Fine, dammit.'

The Arch-Mages wasted no time creating a binding contract with Red Rage. They had feared he might have been bluffing, but he agreed to it with no qualms, even when breaching it guaranteed death.

***

"It is Arch-Mage Remos' legacy," the Monarch said as they walked through a massive corridor within which a seemingly endless series of great doors rose, revealing another stretch of it the group had to cover. "Our nation was always built upon a desire for Energy Forming rather than Arma Using or Form Using. My family lead the nation into the deeper mysteries of Summoning - as well as its nuance. But then Remos came with other ideas, intricacies of a lesser known art - Magecraft."

"Before his disappearance, he had publicly announced how much he was looking forward to the next generations of Mages exposing the secret to transcending the Arch-Mage. He left behind a method that would test and confirm the acquisition of such power. Many have come to test their strengths before it. I decided that placing it in my Royal Dwelling would give each aspirant a sense of honour when they came to challenge it."

The ninety-eighth gate rose and it flashed with arrays that dimmed before it disappeared into the ceiling.

Kintar gave the door a strange look. She wasn't pondering over the door, however. She was just imagining if the reason why this place - the Royal Dwelling - was so vast, was because the Monarch, as she had heard, was a Summoner, and not a Mage.

'How practical.'

Soon, she, the Monarch and all the Arch-Mages who had been in the throne room had reached the final gate - the one hundredth. As soon as it took its leave, a great, dark room was revealed. There was no light source, but everyone could see what was inside it.

It was a thick, massive, square stone frame leaning against the wall opposite the entrance. It was no less than seven hundred and twelve meters tall, and indented in the centre where rings of circles fed into each other. Around the outermost circle, were a thousand triangular spokes with a very, very faint glow. Around them in turn was a series of runes and arrays grooved into the frame in a complex, nigh incomprehensible fashion.

The frame looked a little old and worn, but that was misleading. It had thrived for thousands of years while receiving the practised determination and spells of countless Mages. Traces of char and chinks evidenced this.

"This is it," the Monarch said proudly. "Many a Mage has aimed their most powerful attacks while exercising their greatest efficiency with energy. Remos claimed with his rough judgements and calculations that a Realm Source Mage would have enough output to light up all thousand spokes on this frame with a SINGLE attack. The duration of the attack's effect is a non-factor, but unless that attack has the potency equal to Absolute Magic, not even a third of the spokes will be lit." The Monarch gave Red Rage a look.

The Arch-Mages opposed to Kintar snorted and scoffed and jeered. Many of them grinned, anticipating Kintar's loss.

She would soon learn why they all revered Remos, they thought.

They would soon have her head, they thought, and mount it on a wall.

Everyone drew back and Kintar alone entered the massive room. The reason why it was dark

was to perfectly accentuate the lighting of the spokes.

Kintar went and stood at the centre of the room.

Weyven Irlis stood next to Red Rage. There was no doubt in her mind about the outcome, but she did wonder what kind of magic Kintar would use. The kind she had used in Bane was unsuitable for the frame - something Remos had documented as a flaw of the frame's design. The frame required attacks that weren't too abstract in nature.

When Kintar spent a whole minute without showing any signs of preparing an attack for the frame, one of the Arch-Mages cried:

"Go on then! You won't prove us wrong if you stand like a fro-" But he didn't get to finish.

Kintar shushed him while raising a finger. And then, suddenly, it was as though her voice belonged to another entity, something colossal in both stature and power. She spoke. "My master has always fussed over how my creativity when matched against my Advanced Class is a little...poor. 'A True Myth Mage must have the ability to perfectly envision myths and bring them to life, or perhaps... prove myths to be true by demonstrating what they look like,' he said to me," she said. "He's always had a way with words. To remedy my lack of inspiration, he allowed me to peer into his mind and see different kinds of 'myths'." ...And then a staggering volume of mana blasted out of Kintar. It was so powerful and so bountiful that it filled the entire Royal Dwelling in an instant.

When it had poured from her with such dangerous ferocity, a few Arch-Mages who had failed to respond in time were blown away, and three were killed instantly, burned raw! Everyone except Red Rage turned ashen. The Monarch might have died too if one of the Stern- Mages hadn't defended him from the freakish mana. He and all the Arch-Mages gawked at the darkness beyond, wondering, pondering...

'That mana... How could she have so much...' and 'Where is it coming from?'

But this was only the prelude.

For in the time it took everyone to respond to Kintar's mana gushing out, she had shed her

appearance as a human.

In a blink, she had filled the great room, and was growing bigger, better, stronger. The ceiling broke and the walls shattered.

The Monarch and the Arch-Mages were pushed back, all while they continued to look like

corpses.

A great dragon had appeared in the Royal Dwelling.

It continued to grow.

It had eight eyes and eight limbs and eight wings.

It continued to grow.

Its body was thick darkness littered with moving, bright stars.

It continued to grow.

Its maw opened, and three wheels of stacked runes materialised before it all the way to the

magical frame - which the dragon had made sure to avoid disturbing, lest they call her a

cheat.

A berserk conflagration surged within the maw of the dragon. It was so hot and so bright, a genuine star might have been birthed within it.

Everyone was blinded.

Everything was melting.

Everything was warping.

The spokes on Remos' frame were lighting up one after the other, its integrity dwindling.

Cracks formed on its edges and in its centre.

--

...

...And then the dragon released its scorching breath.

[Author's Note]

An updated screen of Kintar's stats - that is, post the gifts that Skullius gave all members of

the Order, the Pseudo Immortal Physique and enhancement to mana core quality.

[ Name: Kintar Aladaster]

[Level: 55]

[ EXP: --- ; <Task Pending>]

[ Core(s): Gold]

[Class: True Myth Mage ]

[Race: Human]

[Inv. Status: Feeling inspired and showy ]

[ Stats]

[ EXPANDED VISION-BASED TORSION (III): 112,908]

Host can exercise all forms of physical interaction - especially physical impacts - with their

sight|

[COLLAPSING ALACRITY (III): 155,934]

When the host chooses, every movement collapses the integrity of their surroundings

temporarily to bring them to their destination at once

[ TRANSCENDENT SKIP (III): x365,987]

A second aspect of the host's transformed "Agility" where - should they desire it - if they

backpedal a step, they traverse the entire span of the surrounding location up to 365,897 times in all directions within in an instant]

[ MEDITATIVE FOCAL INSTANCING (III): 30,000]

The host can isolate instances they have experienced, within their mind and then dissect,

enhance, expand and speculate on them with extreme, Diviner-like quality, in a speck of time incalculable by most third parties. Up to 30,000 instances can be processed at a timel

[ FLUCTUATING THROTTLE]

The host's endurance is impossible to consistently trace and constantly fluctuates for better

or for worse

[ LUCK: 76]

[ EXAGGERATED HEALTH: 1,223,003,899/1,123,003,899]

Unusually inflated "Health" |

[ ASCETIC MANA (III) (x15): 127,466,980/127,466,980]

The host's mana prefers to exist separately from them. It carves itself into the shape of the

host's abilities and when needed, it can detonate with the effects of these abilities (taken

after from the host's body). There is no need for conscious activation of an ability by the host

themselves

[ SUPER-CHARGED MANA (III) (x6): 56,000,866/56,000,566] Mana entangled violently with different concepts and essences