Early TBAGM Vol. 1 Chapter 5 Part 4

Full title: The Banished Advisor’s Guild Management

Note: If you found any typos/mistakes, pls write them in the comment. Thanks.

Translator: Canon

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“Huff… huff… huff…”

Nero struck the final enemy square in the neck, knocking him out cold.

Even for him, taking on thirty enemies alone had taken its toll.

Fifteen D-rank adventurers were said to match the strength of a single C-rank.

In essence, Nero had just defeated two opponents of equal standing. He was battered and bruised, breathing heavily with his hands on his knees, his shoulders heaving with every breath.

“Time for a potion.”

Truthfully, Nero had been giving it his all—

But a part of him had also fought hard just to earn the right to drink one of those potions.

Elna and Nick had poured their sweat into crafting them.

Even in the heat of battle, Nero had been looking forward to experiencing the result of their efforts.

He returned to the castle and took several vials from the box.

Tilting his head back, he poured the potion down his throat in one big gulp.

“—!”

His eyes widened immediately. The sensation was unmistakably different.

Normally, a potion would take a few minutes to kick in.

But this… this was nothing like normal. It defied every standard.

(What is this potion?! My wounds and energy healed instantly?! I feel even stronger than before!)

It wasn’t just recovery; he felt something ignite inside him.

—Unbeknownst to Nero, this was the effect of Nick’s 【Mana Infusion】.

Thanks to that skill, the high-grade potion came with an additional buff.

Its effectiveness exceeded even that of standard high-grade potions.

The very fact that it restored his depleted willpower was proof of that.

“As expected of the two people Mr. Lloyd chose. I’ve gotta step it up too.”

With a satisfied grin, Nero straightened his posture.

Now fully recovered, he made his way toward the castle’s window.

From the distance, he saw it: a massive fireball hurtling toward the castle.

It had to be the combined magic attack from the Second Unit.

It moved with such velocity and intensity that it scorched the forest in its path.

(Can I really cut that?)

Nero knew his own limits better than anyone.

His 【Magic Breaker】 was B-rank.

But that fireball—without question—was beyond A-rank.

In his current state, destroying it was impossible.

“But I’m the one who has to do it, right?!”

He laughed bitterly at the part of himself that hesitated.

(Who was it that cleared the path for me? Who accepted me? Who made me who I am?)

Nero pushed open the window and stepped out onto the balcony.

The fireball was closing in. In ten seconds, it would strike.

(It was Mr. Lloyd, and everyone else! So what do I do now?!)

He gripped the twin blades at his hips and drew them with resolve.

Up until now, he’d walked a path laid out for him by Lloyd.

And that wouldn’t change, not now, not ever. But if one thing had to change—

“I’ll surpass Mr. Lloyd’s expectations!”

So that he would never be separated from Lloyd again.

So that this time, he could be the one to protect him.

Nero readied his blades, then leapt from the castle balcony.

The drop was several dozen meters.

Even if he succeeded, he would be injured.

And if he failed, the castle would be destroyed.

But he had already accepted that. If he didn’t take this risk, the fireball could not be stopped.

“Haaaaaaah!”

Nero swung his twin blades vertically at the approaching fireball.

But unlike before, it didn’t slice easily.

“Ggh…!”

His face contorted in pain from the overwhelming pressure.

The fireball carried the weight of thirty mages’ combined mana. The heat was enough to incinerate flesh.

But Nero carried the weight of his own.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Elna and Nick’s potions.

The battlefield Lloyd had built.

The countless training sessions with Ellis.

Nero was no longer alone.

His twin swords now carried a weight they never had before.

He poured every ounce of his strength into his next cry, answering the hopes of his companions.

“Shatter! 【Magic Breaker】!”

And in that moment—

The colossal fireball was cleaved clean in two by Nero’s blades.

Split down the middle, it veered off course and detonated against the mountains far behind the castle.

.

【Magic Breaker】 B → A

.

And with that, another of Nero’s skills transcended its limits.

† 

『Wha—wha—WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ONNNNNNNN!?』

The announcer Uns’s scream echoed across the entire kingdom.

But that voice never reached the ears of the citizens.

Because—

“““OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!!”””

Cheers erupted across the nation. The overwhelming roar of excitement quickly spread, engulfing the land like a wave.

“““…Huh?”””

As if they had rehearsed it together, the guildmasters all let out a collective, dazed exclamation.

They knew full well—

That combined magic of that scale should never have been destroyed.

That shattering a spell physically was, by all conventional understanding, utterly impossible.

“Wait, wait, wait! Did he just slice through a spell?!”

“Isn’t magic supposed to be immune to physical attacks?!”

“Wh-what the hell just happened?!”

Stunned yet visibly animated, the guildmasters began murmuring among themselves in disbelief.

“Hey! Kyros—you said they didn’t have any potions! What the hell was that?!”

“Yeah! Nero’s completely healed!”

“And the way those injuries healed… That’s no ordinary potion!”

Now the accusations were turning on Kyros, who had confidently claimed earlier that Lloyd’s team had no potions.

“D-Don’t look at me like that… I didn’t know either…”

Kyros couldn’t hide his confusion.

Everything had been going perfectly according to plan.

But this scene… was far from what he expected.

“Heh heh heh… Now I get why Lloyd was so confident. I can’t believe he had that kind of monster on his team.”

Amidst the shocked guildmasters, Mint alone smiled with satisfaction.

She had always had faith in Ellis’s potential as a mage.

Nero, however, she had never cared much for.

But now, Nero’s value in her eyes had skyrocketed.

“Wha—! Check the side monitors! The Second Unit’s been wiped out!”

“What?! Who did it?! Nero?!”

“No, Nero should be down after that fall! Then it must’ve been—”

And thus began Lloyd and his team’s unstoppable surge.

†

“““…Huh?”””

The mages of the Second Unit, who had been watching the fate of their spell, were stunned beyond words.

“Why is Nero still standing like nothing happened?!”

“H-He sliced through the spell?! Since when is that even possible?!”

“This has to be a dream…”

Faced with an unimaginable reality, all they could do was gape.

“N-No one’s ever cut through magic… that’s just not…”

Every mage present had their attention completely fixed on Nero.

Which is why none of them realized—

That another enemy was already upon them.

“Take this!”

“““—!”””

A sweet, cheerful voice rang out—

And a massive orb of water came crashing down from above.

It was far more powerful than any water spell they had ever seen.

After all, this was a spell she had spent three years perfecting.

None of them had time to scream. Their consciousness was instantly extinguished.

And the only one left standing—Ellis—looked utterly dissatisfied.

“Well, that was anticlimactic.”

With a bored sigh, Ellis began walking toward Oni’s Fang’s fortress.

She had expected some resistance.

But the mages’ lack of durability had left her stunned.

At this point, she had already surpassed the realm of normal mages.

After undergoing the same brutal training regimen as Nero, her strength had shifted to a standard rivaling that of A-rank adventurers.

“Well, I guess that’s what you get from a twenty-second-ranked guild.”

No one was around to tell her: No, you’re just absurd.

And so, step by step, Ellis climbed the path to monstrosity.

“This must be the enemy’s castle…”

The area before the fortress was eerily empty. Not a single guard in sight.

The First Unit had been far too arrogant to imagine that Ellis would make it this far.

Owen and Nike, like the rest of them, were still chatting leisurely in the top-floor chamber where the flag awaited.

“Hmmm… What should I do?”

Ellis stood at the enemy’s doorstep, genuinely conflicted.

Normally, siege battles involved fighting your way through waves of defenders.

That had been Lloyd’s original plan as well.

Ellis fully understood that Owen—C-rank—and Nike—B-rank—were waiting inside.

To capture the fortress without ever facing them… felt wrong.

She still had enough common sense to question whether that was the right call.

But there was one huge reason why she couldn’t make up her mind.

“Grrr… I refuse to let Nero steal the spotlight!”

Yes, he might show up at any moment.

That was the true source of Ellis’s anxiety.

Her greatest fear was letting Nero swoop in and take all the glory.

She had tasted one of the potions earlier and knew full well—

Even if he were completely spent, with that potion, Nero could recover and arrive at full strength in moments.

To do nothing while Lloyd was watching…

To have no feats worth praise—

That was the one outcome she couldn’t allow.

“Well… they did start this whole fight. If I take the fortress without a fight, it’s their fault, right?”

Ellis convinced herself with that excuse, then began chanting—

For the strongest, largest 【Water Ball】 she had ever cast.

† 

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