Chapter 389

Words : 2538 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Ars Goetia is Solomon’s Lesser Key, the first chapter of the Lemegeton. The meaning of the name is “The Art of Spirits.” Fittingly, it was magic that summoned demons. Rudger reinterpreted this in his own way, implementing it to control 72 evil spirits. The magic he uses now is the same. The meaning of Ars Almadel Salomonis is “The Art of the Altar.” The altar mentioned here refers to ‘a sacred altar for offering sacrifices.’ And naturally the beings summoned through this altar were celestial beings with powers opposite to demons. It’s not actually summoning celestial beings. This too is just Rudger using it in his own reinterpreted way. Even so, its power cannot be called fake. -Kugugung. Four pillars rose around Rudger. On top of each white marble pillar situated in the four cardinal directions, there were sculptures of winged angels. “Come forth, beings of the celestial directions.” The sculptures glowed, and soon angels wearing pure white robes appeared. Spring: Raphael of Easter. Summer: Uriel of St. John’s Tide. Autumn: Michael of Michaelmas. Winter: Gabriel of Christmas. Four directions, four elements and angels symbolizing four seasons. With their faces hidden behind pure white hoods, they descended majestically to earth, each bearing a halo of their symbolic element above their heads. Rudger pointed at the giant spirit soldier behind Limrei with his hand covered in black shadows. “Go.” The angels accepted the command. Limrei narrowed his eyes as he watched the angels Rudger had summoned. “Holy magic? No, it’s different.” Although Limrei had lived long and encountered many types of magic and even created several himself, the magic Rudger used was something he had never seen before. Controlling evil spirits, summoning a giant golden statue, and now even angels. However, the aura these angels emanated was different from what the actual priests of the Lumensis Order used. Having met Paladins, Inquisitors, and priests, Limrei could tell that these were not soldiers commanded by Lumensis. To begin with, there was no way a mage could control servants with divine power, yet the holiness emanating from these angels wasn’t fake. Then could they be servants of a heretical god? “Right. Whether you believe in a heretical god or whatever doesn’t matter.” He needed to eliminate those threatening summons first. Limrei aimed his stone staff at the four great angels flying toward him. -Kuooo!! In response, the giant spirit soldier let out a loud roar. The cry alone released massive magical shockwaves and the waves spread like ripples in concentric circles. However, the four great angels easily pierced through those waves and reached the giant spirit soldier. The giant spirit soldier swung its weapon. As it swung the great ice sword in its left hand, countless ice spikes sprouted along its trajectory in the air. The spikes didn’t just appear but exploded toward the angels like projectiles. Wherever these countless ice spikes passed, the air froze, and white powder fell softly. The angel with a halo of flames on their head stepped forward to counter this. It was Michael, the angel of the south who governed fire. When Michael extended the scales held in his left hand, one side tilted and hot flames gushed up like underground water. Unlike the flickering red flames around, Michael’s flames had a sacred golden hue. The surging flames gathered in front of Michael and soon began rotating in a circle. The violently rotating wheel of fire shot forward at high speed but the ice that touched the wheel of fire didn’t just melt but sublimated. -Kuooooo!!! Seeing this, the giant spirit soldier roared in anger and swung its right hand. When it swung the curved blade made of lightning, thunder echoed throughout the mansion as a lightning storm raged. That’s when Raphael, bearing the halo of wind, stepped forward. Raphael, who was both an angel of healing and one who governed the atmosphere, created a counter wind against the approaching lightning storm. When wind met wind, the lightning-laden storm lost its power. But the intense lightning within the storm was still alive with resounding booms. This time Uriel, who governed earth, stepped forward. A magic circle appeared, and from it, vast amounts of soil overflowed to create a huge wave. Uriel didn’t stop there and swung the sword in his hand. -Hwarul! The bright red flames that burst from the sword’s tip seeped between the soil. The soil made of flames, or rather what should now be called lava, pushed back the power of lightning and engulfed the giant spirit soldier, along with Limrei. -Kwaaak! The giant spirit soldier now truly erupted in anger. Going beyond attacking itself, trying to harm its master was a natural reaction as a magical familiar. -Kwadudeuk! Brown wood began to rise and cover the giant spirit soldier’s body. Originally, the giant spirit soldier had a pure white form. It had no eyes or nose, only a mouth in the head section, and its head was pointed like a shark. That alone was threatening, but when its entire body donned armor made of wood, its presence became several times more fierce. The giant spirit soldier in wooden armor swung its great ice sword in its left hand forcefully. The cold chill extinguished the flames of the lava torrent but the soil still came rushing like waves. The giant spirit soldier put its body forward and received it head-on. As if to prove it hadn’t donned the wooden armor for nothing, the giant spirit soldier stood firm like it had taken root in the ground. The four great angels targeted the giant spirit soldier’s crouched body. That’s when Limrei, who had been inside the giant spirit soldier’s protection, leaped high and swung his flaming stone staff widely. A ring of flame was drawn in the air, sending the four great angels flying backward. Limrei didn’t stop there and tried to sweep away the angels at once by detonating the ring’s magical power but Gabriel, bearing the halo of water, blocked this. When Gabriel lightly waved the three lilies held in his hand, rain began to fall inside the mansion. -Shwaaa! The pouring rain extinguished Limrei’s flames and even dampened the magical power of Limrei’s flames that was trying to dominate the space. “You’re quite something for mere summons.” Limrei gathered magical power at the tip of his stone staff, aiming at Gabriel who was trying to extinguish his flames. If elemental power doesn’t work, then attack with pure and refined magical power instead. -Whiooo! The magical power gathered at the staff’s tip transformed into a sharp spear tip but the transformation didn’t stop there, the tip of the spear began rotating at tremendous speed, becoming a drill. Limrei shot the magical power, which had been maximized for penetration, like an arrow. It was then that Rudger appeared through the black shadows in front of Gabriel. Rudger enveloped himself and Gabriel in a sphere of shadows before rotating the sphere in mid-air. “Throwing yourself in front of a summon? Have you gone mad?” However, Limrei changed his mind when he saw his penetrating attack curve along the surface of the shadow sphere. “So it’s that magic again.” He knew it had properties that bent space, but to think it would deflect even this level of penetrating attack. Well, when space itself is distorted, what meaning does the total amount of force have? Limrei took out a potion bottle from his waist and put it in his mouth. The flames of magical power flowing from his body blazed fiercely. The blazing flames created hazy steam as they met the raindrops. Rudger charged at Limrei through that steam. Rudger moved both hands deftly, targeting Limrei’s vital points while holding a sword-stick in his right hand and flowing silver in the form of a sword in his left. Limrei responded calmly to this. Instead of defending, he thrust his stone staff like a spear. His body, enhanced by magical power, made this possible. -Chaechaechaechaechang! Attacks collided repeatedly in mid-air, piercing sounds of collision rang and sparks were dazzling the eyes. Beyond that, the giant spirit soldier and four great angels were fighting. Limrei lifted his leg and stomped down hard on the floor. Magical power burst from his toe, causing Rudger’s body to float slightly in the air. “Rise.” -Hwarul! The magical power that burst from the ground turned into hot flames, carrying Limrei’s will. The flames devoured and consumed all the carpets in the mansion hall, blooming into even larger flames. Instead of landing on the ground, Rudger floated in the air using levitation magic. The flames that filled the mansion floor writhed and squirmed according to Limrei’s will. -Puhwaak! Pillars of fire rose up here and there. The pillars of fire had power comparable to the 5th-tier magic [Pillar of the Sun]. Vision turned red, and the air became so hot it was hard to breathe. It was as if the surrounding space had instantly become the surface of the sun. However, it was bearable. He had experienced a situation where flames filled everywhere once before. Rudger spread black wings wide behind his back and avoided the pillars of fire. The inferno didn’t die down but blazed even stronger than before. This wasn’t Limrei’s only attack as the flames began to writhe and take on some form. Among the irregularly burning flames, some flames moved according to some will. Rudger’s excellent eye for detail immediately caught this subtle change. “A spell formula?” Not magical power, but drawing a spell formula with flames. From the time he freely used threads of magical power, Limrei’s level of magical power control was astonishing. However, if he had said that, Limrei would have retorted that he was in no position to talk. The spell formula that had already begun to manifest seemed impossible to stop. It would be too risky to approach that heat right now. ‘At this scale, it’s impossible to avoid.’ If the entire space was burned, hiding in shadows would be useless. It felt like encountering a forest fire in dense woods. No matter where he fled, he would be met by the fire demon. Then the only remaining method was. ‘To fight fire with fire.’ Rudger also concentrated all his mental power to control his mana. Complex solid lines filled the air, creating a beautiful spell formula like constellations in the night sky. Their gazes collided in mid-air and Rudger saw Limrei standing at the center of the inferno. The flames were trying to devour not just the world, but Limrei himself. Despite being flames made of magic, they seemed to embody Limrei’s state of mind. What could have made him so angry that he would even hate himself? Rudger deliberately didn’t ask about that. Although Limrei used the spell formula first, Rudger was faster at implementing spell formulas with pure magical power. Thus, both of their magics were completed simultaneously. -Kwadudeuk. The ceiling above Rudger completely froze. In contrast, the ground where Limrei stood was truly a burning hell. That hot heat melted the ground into mush and even burned the atmosphere and simultaneously both of their magics were completed. 6th-tier flame magic [Scorching Great Flame Realm] The scorching hell that descended to earth surged upward toward the sky with its massive maw undulating. 6th-tier ice magic [Celestial Sea Shattering Ice Warship] -Paaang! A warship made of ice fell from the sky, blowing a massive whistle and countless ice fragments followed behind it. The sight was like massive waves of ice guiding a giant ship. These were the strongest spells that both could unleash right now. The strikes of ice and flame collided with each other. ────!!!! A massive explosion occurred along with a flashing light. Before the collision of ice and fire, it was a collision of massive magical powers. Those equal powers, without either side gaining supremacy, maintained an equal antagonism before exploding as if repelling each other. -Kwagwagwagwang! Ear-splitting explosions rang out continuously as if merciless bombardment had been dropped on a local area. The ceiling cracked and partially collapsed, and the ground was overturned. Even the sturdy mansion’s windows couldn’t withstand the collision of the two great magics and shattered into pieces. Neither Limrei’s magical soldier giant nor the four great angels Rudger summoned could be free from that explosion. The four great angels were the first to be swept away by the explosion and vanish. The giant spirit soldier tried to endure with its wooden armor by crossing its arms, but the power of the explosion crushed the wooden armor and swept away the giant spirit soldier as well. No one could move between the collision of these two powers, except for Rudger. In the light where nothing could be seen, Rudger swung his sword-stick toward where he was certain something existed and soon the pure white light subsided. Standing alone at the center of the ruined blast site was Rudger. “...This is tough.” Limrei was nowhere to be seen. It’s not that no corpse remained. Rudger looked at the blood staining the hilt of his sword-stick. The dripping blood was the result of Rudger’s strike in the flash of light moments ago and the owner of those bloodstains had disappeared as if having fled. He needed to chase and end this right away, but he couldn’t since he had used too much power. However the fleeing Limrei too had used all his remaining strength to escape. “...Whew.” Rudger exhaled and took out medicine to put in his mouth. His head was dizzy from squeezing out too much power. The sturdy mansion’s wide hall was damaged beyond recognition. At this moment, not even a speck of the mysterious phenomenon that had been present throughout the mansion could be felt. This meant their fight had been that fierce and had affected the entire mansion. “Even so, it’s a bit shocking that I couldn’t achieve a proper victory when I was quite serious.” Rudger muttered this while staggering. That’s when there were hands supporting him to prevent him from falling. “...Arpa?” “Leader. Are you alright? Is the fight over?” “As you can see.” Rudger muttered that while looking at the ruined interior. “...What about Grandfather Limrei?” “He escaped.” “Then I should...” “Stop it. Moving separately from here would be more dangerous.” “But still...” “More than anything, if you leave me, who’s going to support me?” “Are you about to collapse right now?” “If possible, right this instant.” “Then I guess I have no choice.” Rudger, temporarily entrusting his body to Arpa, thought of the remaining two people. “What happened to Roina and Sempas?” “They’re both safe. Miss Roina just fainted, and while Mr. Sempas is injured, it’s not serious.” “Is that so?” Rudger let out a sigh of relief. -Kugugung! At that moment, the entire mansion began to shake again. He wondered if they had triggered another mechanism, but this time it wasn’t at that level, the vibration was bigger and lasted longer. Rudger furrowed his brows. What’s happening this time?

Chapter 389

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