Ah!!!
A sharp, agonized scream rang through the air.
A flame-like burst of damage exploded from the black wind, but it only lasted a few seconds before extinguishing. Then, a charred humanoid figure fell to the ground—being gravely wounded by one's own proud magic was no joke.
This opponent was indeed a wizard highly skilled at controlling gas, capable of completely transforming himself... In Sean's view, this had entirely transcended the boundaries of species, as if magic had directly turned a living being into a natural element.
With such strong control, the damage was also immense. Even the brief push from Lucille earlier still hurt like hell.
Unable to see his own face, Sean guessed it must be as red as a burn, with a large patch of intense pain.
And that kind of power, fully concentrated on one person, had directly taken out over 6000 of the enemy's HP!
Looking at Bachler lying on the ground, his health now only at [1500/8000]...
"Ah!!"
He writhed in pain, rolling in the snow.
Since it was a compressed gas explosion, the burning effect extinguished as soon as he hit the snow, but the searing agony that followed couldn't be alleviated.
His clothes were scorched, and the flesh on his face was instantly roasted a deep red!
"Lord Vigo?!"
Gwen beside him stared at him in disbelief.
So did Chris, Manus, Lucille, and Guda, who had just recovered from the fight.
Four people... no, five—all looking at him with indescribably strange expressions!
One spell had nearly killed the opponent, a wizard even Chris felt he could barely match. For a moment, Chris couldn't find the words, simply uttering the other's surname.
Lucille was even more incredulous.
She had taught him magic herself, and had personally witnessed this lord cast his first spell.
Back then, she'd felt a sense of accomplishment... having taught a talented 'student.'
But she never expected his talent to be this monstrous.
He'd only learned magic yesterday, hadn't he? How could he now directly defeat a wizard as powerful as herself?!
Had this baron been hiding his true strength all along?!
Everyone took a deep breath...
That was the only explanation that fit the situation.
If you were this strong, why did we have to fight so hard?
Was this some kind of training ground? Did you have to watch us get beaten down before stepping in?!
[Shock!] [Doubt!] [Amazement!] [Pondering!]... [Anger!]
A series of emotions appeared above the five heads. Seeing this, Sean didn't need to guess what they were thinking.
"He has a fatal weakness. It only came to light because you kept fighting him—I should thank you," Sean said, looking at Chris and the others. He truly was grateful; without them, he didn't know what would have happened.
"So Lord Vigo noticed his weakness?" Chris was still skeptical. The other was far younger, and after years of battling countless people and beasts, how could he have missed a weakness if it existed?
"Is the weakness fire?"
Lucille asked from the other side.
"Exactly... I know what you're thinking. Using fire against wind magic seems foolish, but sometimes the most unlikely thing in common sense is the key. Everything has a weakness."
Earlier, during the fight with the snow giant, Lucille had used fire, probably thinking it could melt the cold. But she'd hesitated to use it against Bachler, likely intimidated by the wind element.
His violent whirlwinds were nearly invisible, could explode, and more.
Fire seemed useless...
And yet.
"Everything has a weakness." Lucille pondered those words.
"My mentor taught me that years ago, but how did you figure it out?"
"Yeah, and is Lord Vigo a wizard too?"
Another barrage of questions came. Sean didn't answer them one by one but walked toward where Bachler had fallen.
"We'll talk about this later. The priority is how to handle this guy." He looked down at the burned man.
He was still moving!
Rubbing his face against the snow, probably trying to ease the pain.
Being numb from cold was far better than waves of agony...
"Tell me, what was your purpose here? Or were those words you said earlier lies? You weren't just teaching the snow giant a lesson and accidentally triggering an avalanche—you planned it all along."
From the hydrogen bomb, Sean deduced something was off in the other's words, but he couldn't figure out the specific reason.
Why me?
Why the town of Talemian?
Everything in this world must have a reason—even slaughtering a cow or sheep has one, let alone triggering an avalanche.
When had his little town become so popular, attracting two great wizards at once and so many outsiders with ulterior motives?
"He can't speak anymore!" Manus said from the side.
Chris crouched down to examine Bachler's body.
"He's on his last legs. He probably won't make it through the day..."
Watching the health drop to just 1000, the heavy snow might dull the pain, but it would bring freezing cold. A severely injured person had little chance of surviving in this weather.
"So what do we do now, Captain?" The archaeology team members looked to Chris for an answer.
Chris turned to Sean.
"What do you think, my lord?"
"Finish him off. Burn the body and leave no evidence. From now on, none of us know about this." Sean hadn't expected to say such things so calmly.
The strong smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils...
Maybe the fight had left him a bit excited.
After giving that order, Sean even felt a sense of relief!
"Right. He's from the Wizards' Association... You all know their capabilities. Let this end here. Never mention it again—not if we're no longer in the same team, not if you're drunk, not even when you're being honest with your loved ones." Chris agreed with Sean's proposal.
"Understood!"
"I swear!"
The others made their promises simultaneously.
But Sean still had to give a final assurance.
"Since I asked you all to do this, I'll bear the responsibility alone. Don't worry."
Seeing the grateful looks in their eyes.
Sean noticed that the five people's favorability toward him had suddenly shifted from friendly to amiable.
Just like his own townsfolk!
Later, they found a cave in the nearby woods, burned Bachler's body on the spot, and left it inside. Lucille sealed the cave with rocks... And with that, no one mentioned it again.
On the way back, Sean sidled up to Lucille.
"Come to my room tonight."