While My Mage Wife Grinds, I Power Up Idly

Under the power of Meteorfire Rain, the ground was soon riddled with gaping wounds and scorched pits.

For the first time, Ashu experienced what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a large-scale spell cast by someone else.

After summoning the Holy Shield Knight, he immediately switched back into Reaper’s Resolve mode.

Unfortunately, in that state, he couldn’t use Thundering Surge.

Otherwise, he really did want to see what it would look like when a Grand Archmage-level spellcaster unleashed that storm.

The land ahead was nothing but ruin and fire—but he had no choice but to push forward.

The two remaining Bounty Hunters were both long-range types.

If he didn’t close the distance and assassinate them in melee combat,

he stood no chance of winning a direct magical slugfest.

Using the Holy Shield Knight’s shield, he temporarily guarded Anna,

then stepped forward without hesitation.

The Grand Archmage’s position had already been locked in with precision by Anna’s Twelfth Stage of Spiritual Perception.

Even with the densely packed Meteorfire Rain spells sealing off the path, they couldn’t stop Ashu’s advance—

He moved like Death incarnate.

In just a few blink-steps, he had gotten close enough to visually spot the figure of the enemy—

An old man in a red robe, hidden on a distant hilltop.

His hair was snow-white, his crimson robe stitched with golden flame runes.

As he chanted and cast, those runes pulsed like they were breathing.

Clearly, that robe was an Arcane Device.

Arcane Devices were magical tools that enhanced spellcasting.

They could be robes, gloves, boots, weapons—anything.

"What... how can this be?"

The old man looked up toward the sky and saw Ashu floating there like a reaper from the underworld.

His face instantly twisted into an expression of terror.

Wrapped within Anna’s Twelfth Stage of Spiritual Perception,

he hadn’t sensed Ashu’s approach at all—

It all felt like a dream.

Just after the Dawnbreak Archer loosed her first arrow,

Ashu had already appeared above him, silent as death.

As a Mage, choosing the right position to cast spells was critical.

A poor position could get you interrupted mid-cast—or worse, killed.

He’d spent a lifetime mastering the art of positioning.

And yet now...

He’d been found this easily?

Unbelievable.

And on top of that...

"We were supposed to be hunting a Cidi Devotee!

How the hell did we end up facing a Death Devotee?!" the old man cried out in horror.

The older one gets, the more he fears Death.

In everyday life, he had already lived in dread of the Reaper taking his soul—

And now, on the battlefield, he was face to face with Death’s personal envoy.

"Heh."

Ashu let out a cold snort, didn’t waste a single word, and hurled the ten-meter-long scythe through the air.

The old man saw this and quickly cast a shielding spell to block.

For Mages, shields were a compulsory course—

As a class with such a frail body, if you didn’t have a few survival techniques, you’d have no business stepping into the field.

However—

While the old man’s shield was indeed powerful,

the moment Death’s Scythe made contact, a black mist began to corrode it.

Although the rate of corrosion and the speed of regeneration were more or less evenly matched,

the old man still watched in horror—

He feared the possibility of an unexpected surge, like Ashu suddenly releasing an even more intense wave of black mist, leaving him no time to react.

Having lived this long, he had heard many things—

Even about the obscure Heretical Path known as the Death Devotee.

Rumor had it that even the slightest touch from a Death Devotee could send someone into a slow decline toward death.

If you were seriously wounded by one? Then survival was absolutely out of the question.

He was afraid.

Or rather—he was cautious enough.

After holding the shield up for less than ten seconds,

he suddenly switched tactics—Teleportation.

He didn’t want to keep deadlocking with Ashu.

Instead, he opted to use his spell Meteorfire Rain to initiate a position swap.

As Anna had said, this spell had many functions.

As the caster, the old man could instantly switch places with any of the meteors within the spell’s boundary.

His body flashed—Ashu’s scythe shattered the shield,

but it failed to strike the target within it.

"What an annoying spell," Ashu muttered as he snapped the scythe back with its chain.

He slowly turned to glance at Anna’s next set of Magical Essence-guided targeting points.

"If only I had that spell too..."

"Hey, friend,"

The old man’s voice rang out helplessly as Ashu’s death-god gaze locked onto him once again.

"I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding between us. We were only looking for a Cidi Devotee. My companion detected their presence in this area."

"I can only say I’m truly sorry. This spell must have accidentally dragged you into it.

I sincerely apologize. I can send you and your companion out right now.

There’s no need for us to keep fighting—how about it?"

The old man was advanced in age.

There was no longer any youthful pride or impulsive bloodlust in him.

If a younger person attacked the wrong target, they might get caught up in pride and stubbornness, insisting on seeing it through to the bitter end.

But not him.

He had long since outgrown that.

Now, he was all about reason and rationality.

Unfortunately—

He believed he had mistaken Ashu for someone else.

But Ashu did not believe he had mistaken the old man for a Bounty Hunter.

Anyone who interfered with the expansion and dominance of the Black Glove—was an enemy.

To that end, Ashu simply raised his ten-meter-long scythe and pointed it directly at the old man.

In a voice as cold as death itself, he declared:

"Atone—with your life."

As the words left his mouth,

two streams of black mist lashed out like sword beams, cleaving toward the old man.

The old man immediately manipulated two of the meteors hovering in the air to intercept and neutralize the incoming attack.

"Boom! Boom!"

"Come on, friend—we don’t have to escalate this!"

The old man shouted over the explosions.

"I already said it was a misunderstanding! I can apologize and compensate you afterward—can’t we just stop fighting now?"

"Why bully an old man like me, huh?"

Now he was playing the age card.

If this were a Devotee of the Divine Mother Goddess,

they might actually soften at heart and let the old man go.

Good thing Ashu wasn’t that kind of person.

He was a Luminous Saint.

A Luminous Saint was someone who walked the path of righteousness to the point of extremity—

righteous to the point of ruthlessness,

and merciless in killing.

Any who stood as his enemy were, by default, considered evil.

Ashu let out a cold laugh.

"Casting a spell of that scale must’ve drained you quite a bit.

I’ve killed a Grand Archmage before.

You don’t feel much different from him."

Although Ashu didn’t possess the gift of spiritual perception,

he still had a fair amount of battle instinct.

He could sense it—

After casting Meteorfire Rain, the old man felt no different from Kakarim after being corroded by demonic energy.

If he could kill Kakarim,

then naturally, he could kill this old man as well.

The only slightly troublesome part was—

this old man could teleport.

He could switch positions with any of the meteors inside Meteorfire Rain.

That made it harder for Ashu to land a solid hit,

especially since he lacked enough spell abilities himself.

Just then—

Ashu felt several Magical Essence points brush against his body.

He could clearly tell—

they were from Anna’s Magical Essence.

One of Anna’s Magical Essence points had been locked onto the old man the whole time,

used to guide Ashu’s attacks.

But now, why were there multiple Magical Essence points?

Could she be in danger?

Ashu narrowed his eyes and looked toward the distance.

Under the protection of the Holy Shield Knight’s shield,

she was not in danger.

Suddenly—

those Magical Essence points scattered and leapt outward in every direction.

Ashu instantly understood Anna’s intent.

She was planning to use her Twelfth Stage of Spiritual Perception

to predict the old man’s teleportation.

Every time the old man teleported, he needed a meteor to do it.

This spell wasn’t without flaws.

At the moment of teleportation,

there would always be a Magical Essence fluctuation between the old man and the meteor he wanted to switch with.

As long as Anna detected that fluctuation ahead of time

and relayed it to Ashu,

he could target that meteor at the exact moment of the switch

and skewer the old man with his scythe before he could react.

So—

Ashu gave a small nod.

He lifted the ten-meter-long scythe once again

and charged toward the old man.

He had to force the old man into a second teleport.

As expected—

The old man was confident in his teleportation and immediately began the second switch.

And then—

Ashu felt Anna’s Magical Essence point leap behind him.

Without even turning to look,

he flung the scythe backward.

Whoosh—

CRACK—

When he turned around to look—

the ten-meter scythe had already cleaved the old man clean in half at the waist.

As the old man stared in disbelief,

Ashu gave a satisfied, wicked smile.

Immediately, the entire Meteorfire Rain spell began to collapse.

Countless meteors that had yet to fall from the sky

burned out mid-air like extinguished matches.

"Impossible... How could you have known where I’d be..."

"Even in death, you talk too damn much."

Ashu didn’t bother with the bisected old man.

He might still have a few dozen seconds of life left,

but the power of Death would devour him completely soon enough.

Without pause,

Ashu turned and charged toward Ymir’s direction.

The Dawn Archer’s suppression over Ymir was intense—

Ymir couldn’t get close at all.

But it was precisely because of Ymir’s relentless assault

that the Dawn Archer remained distracted.

If the Archer had gotten even a few more seconds to aim freely,

both Ashu and Anna would’ve been in serious danger.

"Ymir, I’m taking over!"

The Dawn Archer’s position was much farther away than that of the old man earlier.

He specialized in ultra-long-range shooting and assassination.

Ashu pushed himself to the limit to close the distance,

and only after five minutes of sprinting did he finally catch sight of the Dawn Archer’s silhouette.

The man had short brown hair.

His jacket was slung over one shoulder, leaving his right arm exposed.

He had quite a strong build—

it was said that there wasn’t a single Archer who lacked muscle.

"Reinforcements, huh?

What a pity—you’re too late.

My web of arrows is already in place.

She—

she’s about to depart this world."

The Dawn Archer gave a cruel smile.

Suddenly, he didn’t aim at anyone.

Instead, he simply fired a shot into the sky.

With that single arrow,

those Magical Essence Arrows that had previously scattered harmlessly through the air

suddenly came alive—

In an instant,

they transformed into a dense barrage of radiant beams,

cutting off every path of retreat and approach around Ymir.

She had nowhere to dodge,

nowhere to escape.

Caught in such a deadly trap,

only one fate awaited her—

to be pierced through the heart by a thousand arrows.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—

Countless beams of light skewered Ymir,

turning her into a human pincushion.

Ashu gritted his teeth.

He wasn’t sure whether Ymir had used her "Farewell of Death" yet,

or if she still had another deathless chance left.

But right now, no matter what—

there was nothing he could do.

In this state,

there were no life-saving abilities that could help.

All he could do was charge at the Dawn Archer.

But at that very moment—

a voice echoed through his mind.

[Ymir has obtained: Eye of Death!]

[Critical Return! Vessel has obtained: Reaper’s Eye!] ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

And in that instant,

Ashu’s vision shifted—

becoming strangely unfamiliar.