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Sponsored By: Wesley Brown, Black Fiend, Primula Hope, nord_nikon, Wyverius Blackfire, Silva, Yanga, HatefullMango, Andrea Boudas, Alex Rodrigues, Maxamaicus, Emblyon, maou99sama

Compound Magic is magic cast with the help of at least ten mages working together. The defining traits of such magic are their immense mana requirements, and equally immense power. The preparation time required for the casting is only matched by the complexity of the spellcraft itself.

Because these spells are most used for war, they are often referred to as War Magic or Tactical Magic.

The basis for Compound Magic is the very simple principle of, if one person isn’t enough, how about ten? In a lot of ways, this out-of-the-box creativity of humans can be said to be one of the Creator’s finest works. To a certain degree, this creativity is a legacy of the Creator’s own sense of creation.

The application of Compound Magic is one of the most complex tasks a mage could ever attempt. First off, an immense amount of time has to be spent training the coordination between the participating mages. Next, the varying mana reserves and habits have to be smoothed out to ensure an even casting. Finally, at least a Seven-star mage is required to conduct the actual casting. Once all that is settled, there is still the issue of Compound Magic’s inherently high rate of failure. After all, even if preparations have been done, it is still impossible to completely harmonize the mana of so many mages. Mutual rejection is only to be expected.

Yet in spite of all that, the power of Compound Magic cannot be denied. In terms of raw firepower alone, the only magic that could possibly top it is Forbidden Magic. A single successful casting will more than likely decide the outcome of a war!

— From |Compound Magic: The Key to Winning a War|

Escaping into the wilderness wasn’t an option at all. This was the Underdepths, not the Western Human Realms; danger was lurking in every corner of its forest, the only difference was whether it was a plant or an animal.

The stubbornness of the Undermarsh Murlocs had truly placed me in a bind. I couldn’t be sure if they were bluffing or they really had more reinforcements waiting in the river. Either way, it was also an undeniable fact that with just these ten attendants alone, fighting off a thousand Murlocs was close to impossible.

So it’s time for the Devil King Idol? Or perhaps I should let them know that I’m the Holy Son? Sigh… if only these fishes worshipped my godmother as well… like why would I ever risk my own life when I can just pull the parents card?!

However, the fact that these Murlocs were at war with the Dark Elves meant that they clearly had no respect for my godmother. So it’s stomping time then?

But pulling out the Devil King Idol just to bully a bunch of fishes just feels bad. All the opponents I used it against were all high level enemies and deserved that level of treatment. But these fishes… somehow it feels like it’s my loss just for summoning it.

Yet before I could come to a decision about whether or not to employ the Devil King Idol against them, fate had already made the decision for me…

The ground around us began to visibly shake. From across the river, there came the thunderous sounds of an army riding ever closer to our position.

A company of roughly two hundred Blood Drake Riders were galloping at full speed towards us right this instant. Their blurred figures reminded me of a sprinting leopard I once saw on television -that was how fast they were riding right now. Unfortunately, with how much distance they had to cover, it was highly unlikely that they would reach us in time.

However, the moment I thought they would never make it in time, the riders all made their move. They reached for the nearly two meters long spears on their backs and took up a throwing stance akin to an olympic javelineer.

Dragon spears: launch!

The Blood Drake Riders launched a volley of attacks against the Undermarsh Murlocs. With the speed of their mounts and their powerful arms propelling the spear forward, the spears easily crossed the distance between them and the Murlocs in an instant. Across the air, one could see dozens of spears flying towards the Murlocs in a perfect arc, reminiscent of dragons riding the clouds. This first rain of spears alone took out over a hundred Murlocs easily.

The fact that half of these spears were able to hit their targets from such a long distance away was testament to the extraordinary skill of these Blood Drake Riders. No wonder they were considered the trump card of the Shadowhunter clan! Lest one forgot, these Murlocs weren’t just target dummies standing there to be shot. They were living, breathing, and more importantly, moving creatures. Such a success was an unexpected surprise for me, though it probably also had to do with the sheer density of their formation.

“Brggwwllll!”

The Murloc Clanleader gurgled out more orders in response to the sudden attack. Following that, the otherwise unending stream of Murlocs swam back into the river, in all likelihood to stall the incoming reinforcement. Perhaps in his mind, he had the situation here completely in his control.

Unfortunately for him, this was a huge mistake. It wasn’t just the Blood Drake Riders who came to our rescue -the mages were here as well!

Close behind the Blood Drake Riders, the sounds of mages chanting in unison slowly became clearer amidst the din of the rumbling Drakes.

By the time the Murloc Clanleader discovered what was going on, it was too late!

It turned out that not only were the Blood Drakes carrying their usual riders, they were carrying a mage on each of their backs as well…

The uniform chanting only meant one single thing: Compound Magic! Magic like that required a prerequisite number of mages chanting at the same time, along with a well-honed coordination. Not only did it require a long time to cast, there had to be at least a Seven-star mage leading the whole ritual.

By now, the chanting sound had already begun to overwhelm the rumbling of the Blood Drakes. It almost seemed like the whole world was silent except for that strange, arcane chanting. Soon, the air itself began to turn cold like a blizzard was raging in the middle of summer. Or maybe we were teleported to the North Pole…

In just the blink of an eye, the surface of the Brackishwaters River turned to ice. And I meant ICE. Rather than the onset of winter slowly freezing the river, it was more like the Ice Age itself had arrived and caught everyone by surprise. Any lifeform who wasn’t able to jump out in time was now encased in ice. Even the odd limb or two that somehow made it to the surface had frozen over like an ice sculpture.

If I had to describe the current scene, it was like looking into a popsicle. The entire river had frozen into a transparent popsicle and those Murlocs trapped within were the fruit chunks…

The Blood Drake Riders took this opportunity to charge across the newly created surface and scatter the Murlocs. Thanks to the chaos created by the Compound Magic, it barely took any effort at all before the Murlocs were routed and their formation broken. Zurnalin was the one leading the charge of these fearsome riders. Her mighty dragon spear went straight for the Murloc Clanleader, hoisting him up high while her Blood Drake bit down on the dangling lower half and began thrashing about.

Their leader was captured, and this battle had been decided.

Try as they might, whether by spear or by claw, no amount of struggling was going to overturn this battle now. The Murlocs had completely lost their advantage, and even if they had the numerical advantage still, that wasn’t enough to salvage this situation.

Without any leader to direct their army, the Murlocs weren’t able to mount an effective defense at all. They were the very definition of a headless snake, struggling in vain during its last few seconds.

“Your holiness, please forgive Paliseth for her lateness.” Paliseth practically leapt off Zurnalin’s mount at that point, hugging me tightly the moment she landed. “ Nothing fills Paliseth with greater joy than to see your holiness safe and sound. Paliseth honestly thought that she had to commit ritual suicide as penitence to the goddess…”

That’s fine and all, but you can not point those things in my chest… I’m suffocating here…

“Cough… we can talk about all that later… First, I need you to let me go…”

Although it took a bit of struggling, I finally managed to escape from her diabolical clutches. However, I was immediately buried in darkness once more as I bumped into a new pair of bouncy mountains…

“Your holiness, you’re alright! Thank the goddess. Once this battle is over, how about we get married…”

Zurnalin… sister… I really need some oxygen right now…

Just as I was about to pass out from oxygen deprivation, my ears picked up the anxious but still timid voice of Jezsere. “Master… he looks like he can’t breathe…”

“Ah! Your holiness, what’s the matter? Don’t frighten me like that…”

“So Paliseth really has to commit ritual suicide?”

“Master… master…”

A minute later…

BREATH… I’m alive again…

The next time you two want to use those weapons of mass destruction, how about giving me a warning first?! Breath… also, Zurnalin’s aren’t half bad, they can give Paliseth a run for her money.

Well… bouncy bouncies are nice and all, but I still have some matters to attend to. Like that half-bitten Murloc Clanleader…

“So… how do we deal with this fella?” I pointed at Murloc Clanleader who had finally been freed from the jaws of that Blood Drake but was still breathing out more than he was breathing in. At his side was the Murloc Shaman who was frantically casting healing spells on him.

“Finish the job?”

“Ahh… I beg of you, don’t kill us…” The moment that I wanted to kill them, the Murloc Shaman immediately dragged himself to my feet and began grovelling, his healing spells clearly thrown to the wind at this point.

“Hey… I think your big brother is not going to make it at this rate…”

Ordinarily, the Murloc Clanleader should have been at his death throes by now. But thanks to the healing spells, he was beginning to recover somewhat, at least until his little brother completely forgot about them…

“Ahhh… big brother… don’t die… if you die, what am I to do…” Having been reminded by me, the Murloc Shaman abandoned his grovelling entirely and went back to casting his healing spells. As he did so, drop after drop of regret-filled tears rolled from his eyes. “Please wake up, big brother. As long as you wake up, I… I… I promise to never fight with you over Lily ever again…”

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.