Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 57: Assault

Chapter 57: Assault

The sea dragon finished its barrage of breath attacks and returned to the shadow of Rofus.

This meant that all the magically infused wild birds within a 10km radius of the airship had been eradicated.

Rofus glanced at the airship, which was moving at maximum speed.

“…By the way, why aren’t you using the invisibility barrier?”

“It’s convenient but has terrible fuel efficiency. If we keep using it, we’ll run out of magical stones in no time. Also, at high speeds, the barrier itself peels off, so we can’t use it then.”

“So it’s impossible to fly while invisible. In that case, it will be tough to approach the Sky City without being noticed.”

“Huh? Didn’t we get rid of the controlled wild birds…?”

Riruka tilted her head, puzzled by Rofus’s concern.

“There are more wild birds than expected, and they’re spread over a wide area. If we kill every bird that enters the range of our magical detection, it will eventually reveal our location.”

When a familiar dies, the practitioner generally senses it.

Even if you kill the birds before they detect you, repeating this will let the practitioner trace the airship’s path from where the birds died.

It’s the same as being caught.

To approach the Sky City unnoticed, we must move without being detected by the wild birds scattered everywhere.

“Riruka, by the way, you used invisibility and magic suppression spells at Gillan’s mansion, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I can use them, but…”

“If I recall, it wasn’t a barrier but a type of spell that enveloped you, right?”

“You’ve only seen me use it once, right? How do you know that much…?”

Riruka’s face twitched at Rofus’s abnormal observational skills and understanding of the spell.

“Can that spell be applied to the entire airship?”

“Huh!? The whole thing… It’s not impossible, but… no, it’s impossible. I simply don’t have enough magic power to do so.”

Riruka thought for a moment but immediately shook her head, indicating it was impossible.

“If you had enough magic power, it could be done, right?”

“…Rofus, you should be aware that your perception is abnormal. My amount of magic is average. I’m not like you, who can effortlessly use advanced magic.”

Riruka spoke in an exasperated tone, trying to reason with him.

Ignoring her, Rofus moved behind Riruka, lifted her shirt, and exposed her back.

“Wha!? Hey, what are you doing, Rofus!? Not here, suddenly!?”

Protesting loudly, Riruka tried to cover her front while Rofus casually cut his thumb with a hidden blade from his ring and drew a magic circle on her back with his blood.

“Wait, what are you doing… It’s ticklish.”

“Don’t move. I’m just preparing to transfer my magic power to you.”

Riruka looked up at Rofus with wide eyes.

“Magic transfer…? Can you really do that, Rofus?”

“I told you not to move. The method itself is ancient. It’s not rare. However, since our attributes are different, it requires some effort.”

“…You should have told me that earlier.”

Riruka glared at Rofus with half-closed eyes, pouting.

Magic transfer is an old technique, but since mana potions, which provide a more straightforward method of magic replenishment, are available, it’s rarely used.

Also, when the donor and recipient have different attributes, directly transferring magic can cause the recipient’s internal magic to mix, making it temporarily difficult to use attribute magic.

Therefore, it’s necessary to use a specific magic circle to convert the attribute magic into non-attribute magic before transferring it into the recipient’s body.

This process requires extremely delicate magic control, and if the amount is even slightly off—

“Ahh! Too much, Rofus! I’m going to explode!”

It can place excessive strain on the recipient’s body, sometimes leading to death.

Thus, performing magic transfer requires excellent magic control skills.

Rofus’s eyes widened slightly as he adjusted the magic supply.

“Sorry.”

“I thought I was going to die…”

As Riruka slumped while receiving the magic transfer, Rofus’s mind flashed back to a familiar-sounding female voice.

—Hey, too much! Are you trying to kill me, Rofus!?

It felt like he’d had a similar exchange during a past magic transfer with someone.

Rofus tried to recall but found no such memory.

Looking at Riruka’s exposed back, Rofus sighed to himself.

“Your total magic power is less than I thought…”

Although it was a muttered comment, Riruka heard it clearly.

“…I can hear you. Is there a problem?”

“No, nothing.”

Receiving her glare, Rofus turned his face away, annoyed.

At that moment, the deck door opened with a bang.

“Hey, are you okay? That noise was loud enough to reach inside…”

Hawk appeared on the deck.

Having come to check after the shockwaves from the sea dragon’s dark breath attacks subsided, Hawk saw Riruka’s exposed white back and Rofus directly touching her skin.

Hawk reflexively covered his eyes with his hand in surprise.

“Whoa, Rofus! What kind of play is this? Riruka too. Save that for the bedroom…”

“No, it’s not what you think! Rofus, explain!”

Riruka panicked, trying to correct Hawk’s misunderstanding, while Rofus sighed, thinking about how pink their minds were.

“Hawk, we’re going to make the airship invisible. But we can’t eliminate the engine noise. Reduce speed if necessary to minimize the engine sound.”

“Invisible? But the concealment barrier…”

Hawk frowned, glancing at Riruka.

The members of the Crimson Wind didn’t know Riruka could use various magic like invisibility and magic suppression.

As Riruka pondered how to explain, Rofus spoke.

“It’s my magic, of course. But it’s a bit of a hassle. I’m borrowing Riruka’s help.”

“Ah, a ritual-like thing. Multiple magic users do that. Oh, right, Riruka has magic too… I thought…”

Hawk nodded in understanding.

Rofus narrowed his eyes.

“If you understand, go reduce the engine noise.”

“Silent flight… That means reducing speed to about 70% of the maximum?”

“That’s enough. Do it.”

“Got it.”

Hawk gave an awkward salute and returned inside.

＊

Alone again on the deck, Riruka felt a slight tickle and warmth as Rofus transferred magic to her, and she glanced at him shyly.

“Uh… thanks. You saved me since I haven’t told everyone about my advanced magic abilities.”

“It’s not something to be thanked for. I just chose words that would convince Hawk.”

“Hmph, you’re good with words. A man who can read the room is popular, you know? Good for you that it’s me. A normal girl would have fallen for you.”

Riruka teased with a mischievous smile, but Rofus snorted.

“Let’s see how long that confidence lasts.”

“Huh?”

“You should have enough magic now. Make the airship invisible and suppress the magic.”

“Okay.”

Despite feeling something off about Rofus’s words, Riruka cast the invisibility and magic suppression spells on the airship.

An invisible barrier enveloped the airship, making it disappear from view.

As her magic decreased, Rofus continuously replenished it like an endless supply.

Despite her initial protests, Riruka managed to cast a spell she wouldn’t normally be able to perform due to Rofus’s abundant magic supply.

However, performing a spell beyond her usual capabilities placed an unexpectedly heavy burden on Riruka.

It was like juggling while walking a tightrope, requiring an extraordinary level of concentration.

“Wait, this is tough to maintain…”

“Don’t worry about running out of magic. Just focus on maintaining the spell.”

“No, I mean, maintaining the spell itself…”

“At this speed, we should reach the Sky City by nightfall. Don’t let the spell break until then.”

“Night!? I can’t maintain invisibility and magic suppression until night! It’s barely holding now. I can’t keep concentrating.”

As Riruka complained, Rofus pinched her cheek with his free left hand.

“Ow!?”

“Stop whining. This is necessary for Iz’s treatment, right?”

“Ugh…”

Rubbing her reddened cheek, Riruka couldn’t argue back and groaned.

Rofus sighed lightly at her reaction.

“During a magic transfer, our magic pathways are connected. I can interfere with the spell you’re casting to some extent. I can help maintain the spell. We’ll switch every thirty minutes. Okay?”

Riruka’s face brightened at his suggestion.

“Thanks, Rofuss. I really love you.”

“You seem to have enough energy. Maybe we should switch every hour.”

“No! Thirty minutes!”

Riruka’s panicked face was rather genuine at that moment.

＊

By evening, the airship had been flying silently while invisible, avoiding detection by magically infused wild birds.

They were approaching their destination, the mountainous region in the northern part of the Holy Dragon Kingdom.

A colossal sacred peak towered, reaching the sky.

Thin clouds stretched across the sky, and beyond them, high above, a massive dark cloud hovered over the peak of a sacred mountain. This unnatural dark cloud was the thundercloud enveloping the floating city. The airship had approached close enough for the city to be visible from the deck.

“The peak of the sacred mountain, huh… I visited the Holy Dragon Nation six months ago, but I didn’t see a place like this…”

Riruka squinted at the massive cloud, and Rofus shook his head.

“As I mentioned before, the floating city has been moving to evade our airship. Even if you had seen this place back then, the city would have relocated by now.”

“Oh, right. So, since it hasn’t moved, it means… they haven’t detected us. Our plan worked perfectly.”

Riruka smirked.

Currently, Rofus was effectively casting the invisibility magic on the airship. Through the magic path created by the mana transfer, he controlled and supplemented the magic via Riruka, who was the caster. Covering the entire airship with invisibility and magic suppression was too much for Riruka, who had a relatively small amount of mana. Initially, they took turns managing the spell, but as Riruka’s energy dwindled, Rofus ended up maintaining the spell on his own.

“…I’m sorry. I ended up relying on you completely.”

“Well, I expected as much. If only I could replicate invisibility with dark magic…”

Magic suppression was one thing, but the invisibility spell belonged to the wind attribute. Rofus, who possessed dark attribute magic, couldn’t replicate it. Thus, Riruka had to be the one casting the spell, with Rofus merely assisting.

“Now that we’re this close, they won’t be able to escape. Dispel the magic and—”

Just as Rofus was about to suggest boarding the city at maximum speed, he felt an eerie sense of foreboding.

“…Above us.”

Rofus felt as though a voice had whispered in his mind.

“Dark Cliff!”

It was a reflexive activation of a spell. His instincts drove him to act before his mind could question the mysterious whisper.

A wall of darkness enveloped the entire airship like a cocoon. A split second later, a massive shock hit the dark barrier, causing it to crack. Through the cracks, a huge, dark, pointed object became visible.

The object piercing the dark barrier was the terrifyingly huge talon of a giant raptor, attempting to grasp the airship.

“Could it be… Death Piar…!?”

“This is no time to be surprised! Dispel the magic, you fool!”

Riruka, her face pale, muttered while Rofus barked at her. Despite Rofus’s support, Riruka was still the one actively casting invisibility and magic suppression. Her mana was dependent on Rofus, so if he removed his hand from her back and cut off the magic flow before she dispelled the spells, she would suffer immediate mana exhaustion from overextending herself.

“Sorry! I’ve dispelled the magic, we’re good now!”

With the invisibility and magic suppression spells lifted, the airship became visible.

“—”

Rofus chanted a post-activation incantation to bolster the dark barrier that had formed a cocoon around the airship. However, the barrier was already compromised, and the giant talon’s grip was formidable. Completely preventing damage was impossible; he could only buy a bit of time.

But that brief moment made all the difference.

“Sigil!”

‘I know! Don’t fall off!’

Responding to Riruka’s call from the deck, Sigil’s voice boomed from the speakers. The airship Ifrit spewed crimson fire from its engines and accelerated sharply. Escaping just in time, the dark barrier was crushed, but the airship had managed to break free.

As the airship emerged from the shattered cocoon, it faced a monstrous creature. Its massive wings spread wide, emerald eyes locking onto Rofus. The beast had the upper body of an eagle and the lower body of a lion—a griffin. This one was gargantuan, at least ten times the size of a typical griffin, one of the Four Great Beasts, Death Wing Despia.

Despia, enraged at losing its prey, let out a piercing roar that echoed through the mountains.