Sousetsuka

Chapter 341 Strongest Sage, Encounters New Unit

 

"Who goes there?"

The knight stopped where he was when he heard me.
Then he saluted before giving a reply.

"I am Lucas, a member of the Royal Knights' Special Magic Force! Here under the order of his majesty the king!"

I see.
A knight who goes around as directed by the king huh.
Make sense we've seen him before at the royal capital then.

However... First time I've heard about this Special Magic Force.
We were taught about the organizational structure of the Royal Knights at the Second Academy... But Special Magic Force was never mentioned.

"That unit doesn't sound familiar... Is this Special Magic Force new?"

"Yes. It's a new unit formed thanks to Mathias-san's contributions."

"My contributions...?"

But I never got involved in formation of units at the knights though.
I only got in touch with them whenever I needed manpower.
While I was thinking that... Lucas replied.

"To be more precise, it's thanks to the textbook Mathias-san has written for the Second Academy. Us Royal Knights are currently trying to learn from that textbook as well... And those who are specializing in [Chantless Magic] among them are the Special Magic Force."

"...You gather people from other units who are good at chantless magic and make them focus training in chantless magic... Is that right?"

"Yes, that's exactly it."

Apparently this unit is a collection of elites in chantless magic.
Now that he mentions it... This knight, Lucas's mana flow is quite refined compared to your average knight.
Since the textbook I wrote seems to play a large role in this, guess it was worth writing that.

"I got it about the unit. So Lucas, what did the king order you to do? ...Would be great if you could inform the king the situation here..."

"Yes, that's exactly my mission... Since there was a high possibility of the demon lurking in this town... We had predicted that the entire town itself could face a total destruction. And so I've been dispatched here in order to deal with the aftermath."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
I see.
The king had anticipated the damage already... Or rather, it turned out milder than expected.
He even sent someone to help dealing with the aftermath.

"So I guess we can leave you to handle this?"

"Yes. Originally, the town lord should be responsible for that... But since the lord here seems problematic to say the least, I shall take the responsibility to rebuild this place."

"Got it... Sorry about this. Would have loved to minimize the collateral damage in town if we could."

We've fought many demons so far... But a fight that resulted in a huge destruction of a town was the first, I believe.
Since demons that would lurk in a town were all defeat-able without a help of Iris's power, we could be careful about collateral damage while fighting them.
Had Zaridias hid itself in a town, that whole town would have turned into a wasteland.

"Oh no. I saw Mathias-san's battle from afar... That it ended with only a partial destruction of one town is a miracle in itself."

Knight Lucas murmured seriously.

However, Zadokilgias wasn't a demon with a huge pool of mana, its strength couldn't be made evident with a simple Passive Detection.
And our combat should have looked plain from someone else's perspective... This knight Lucas might have just got the eyes for combat if he could discern Zadokilgias's strength from that.

"...You realized the danger of that demon?"

"I don't believe I'm aware the full extent of it... but I understood its terrifyingly high control of mana. Our unit also studies magic techniques... Hence, I could understand how fearsome that demon was."

"I see. This Special Magic Force has gone through some rigorous training it seems."

"It's all thanks to the textbook Mathias-san has written."

Knight Lucas saluted once again... then he surveyed the surroundings.
Stuff like toppled houses and broken furnitures are scattered around.
Stuff broken during the battle earlier.

"But... It seems a huge reconstruction effort will be needed to rebuild the whole town."

"Well, I mean, we did destroy a lot."

It's not like Iris destroyed things indiscriminately.
But, lots of buildings got destroyed from getting caught in her claws and tail attacks.

The direction where the populace fled was fine since Iris didn't head there... But where she came from got badly devastated.
I estimate around 20% of this town buildings have been damaged.
In number, it should be around 300 buildings.

However... Lucas seemed to be looking from a different angle.

"Yes, there are many broken houses... But I think this town was already at quite a bad state even before this destruction. Take a look at this."

Lucas walked into a destroyed house... And took a saucepan from what was once a kitchen.
The inhabitants seemed to be in the middle of cooking when they fled, the pan had half-cooked food inside.
The inside was... a shabby wheat gruel with barely any garnish.

"...Looks like the story about Bouseil's lord imposing high taxation was true."

"Yes. I would have hoped the capital take care of this sooner..."

Knight Lucas put down a huge bag he was carrying on his back as he said that.
Then he took out a big magic tool from the big bag.

"Is that... a Comm Magic Device?"

Ruli asked when she saw the tool.
She's probably correct. And it's a type that allows quite a long distance communication at that.





Previous Chapter

Chapter 340 Strongest Sage, Identity Seen Through

 

"You cannot be the only man who has ever managed to kill me... Gaias the Mage...?"

"I'm not Gaias... In the same sense the current you not being Zadokilgias."

Gaias was the name of my previous life.
I am now Mathias Hildesheimr, not Gaias.

In a similar sense, the demon in front of me may have inherited Zadokilgias's soul and memories, however it's a different demon in the strictest sense.
This demon probably has its own name... But it doesn't really matter either way.

Zadokilgias will die here regardless.
Utterly and completely for sure this time.

"My defeat comes from your hands yet again... I considered myself triumphant in term of techniques back then... But I have no excuses this time."

Most of Zadokilgias's body has crumbled down into sands.
Zadokilgias turned to face me with a vexed look on its face.

My current mana is less than 30% of Zadokilgias's.
Physical strength wise, I'm far below demons.
Yet I won, thanks to the gap in our skills and support from my comrades.

In our previous fight, I was magically stronger than Zadokilgias but less in term of skills.
The situation is reversed this time. I'm weaker than Zadokilgias in magical prowess, but my skills exceed the demon.
For a demon who prides itself on its skills, it must have been a disgrace.

"...I'll come out victorious next time."

Zadokilgias disappeared into sands, leaving those words behind.
Only a pair of horns that grew out of its heads remained.

However, I know that there will never be [next time].
There is simply no way to reincarnate oneself once their soul has completely fallen apart.
...That's just how it is with souls.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
◇

"Now then... How to proceed from here."

A while later.
All of us have gathered, surveying the area where we fought Zadokilgias.

"I broke so many things... Will it be okay?"

Iris, back in her human form, asked me.

"It's fine. The town might be seriously damaged... But this is the least egregious method. If you hadn't fought, Iris, the entire town would have perished."

What I said is true.
This town would have been lost for sure if we didn't kill Zadokilgias.

With Zadokilgias, the buildings themselves would probably be intact... but not the people.
After all, towns targeted by Zadokilgias in the past had tragic outcomes.

That demon was more efficient than your average demon... For example, after killing its suppression party, it would likely go on to spread poisonous gas where the refugees took shelter at, killing them.
People in the past wouldn't have regarded Zadokiligias as a risk if it was the kind of demon who would only attack back its suppression parties.
Demons are creatures that relish in killing humans no matter the means.

There were structural damages in the aftermath of this fight... and zero casualties.
It's undoubtedly all thanks to Iris.

"That said... Putting these back together would be daunting."

Since Iris had to physically launch her attacks inside the town, the collateral damage was extensive.
At any rate, we probably have to rely on the kingdom's support to help with this town's restoration.
I guess I should first report what happened to the king and then ask him to send goods and manpower here.

I sensed mana reaction of a lone man coming here from afar while I was thinking.

"Someone's coming."

...It's probably not a commoner.
No commoner would come back to this town right after the dragon vanished post a battle with a demon.
I observed the mana reaction while slightly upping my wariness.

Then... The man showed up from a street corner.

"It looks like... Someone from the Knights."

"Ah, I've seen that person somewhere before, I think!"

Ruli and Alma said that when they saw the man.
Looks like it's a knight.

However... I've never seen his uniform and unit badge before.
Knights wear slightly different uniforms and badges depending on the unit they belong to.
Like say, you could tell which unit a knight belongs to by whether or not they're wearing a full plate armor, and their badge.

But Alma is right, the man's face looks familiar.
I can't recall his name, but he's probably someone affiliated with the royal capital's knights.





Previous Chapter

Chapter 339 Strongest Sage, Reminds the Past

 

"I can move no problem. Doesn't seem to be a jamming type magic... Just what'd you do?"

Zadokilgias asked while taking a stance with its restored arms.
However--I just kept swinging my sword wordlessly.

"...No response huh. Fine, I'll have those women responsible for the magic stones spit it out once you're dead."

Zadokilgias blocked my sword while saying that.
I didn't deploy [Resonant Sword].

Zadokilgias didn't use [Reflective Strike] either. Or more like, it couldn't.
I have some spare rooms, magically speaking, due to not using [Resonant Sword].
Using [Reflective Strike] in that situation would only get it blocked by me.

A sound judgement.
However, this match is my [Checkmate] already.
Doesn't matter what kind of plan Zadokilgias is cooking, its death is certain.

I poured specific mana into my sword the moment our swords clashed.

"...What the heck is this?"

Zadokilgias let that out right as our swords crossed.
And a second later--Zadokilgias's fingertips began to crumble down like they were dissolving.

Seeing that, I pulled back my sword and fell back.
However, Zadokilgias's fingertips won't stop crumbling away.

The crumble even gradually expands to its whole body.
Zadokilgias's limbs are crumbling down into sands that get blown off by wind.

"What have you done?"

Zadokilgias sounded perplexed as it watched its body turning into sands.

"It can't be stopped even if you get the answer to that."

Thus I replied.
In fact, the crumble wouldn't stop even if I wished for it.
No matter what anyone does now, the only fate awaits Zadokilgias is death--no, annihilation.

"...It can't be, my soul?"

Zadokilgias murmured as its decay progressed.
...It realized huh.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Zadokilgias's soul always had a deep wound to begin with.
It's because the magic it used to reincarnate itself wasn't flawless.

I saw through that fact from its mana reaction mixed in Dragon Veins.
Thus, once the altered mana was in, I sent specific mana into Zadokilgias when we crossed swords, stimulating the altered mana in one dash.

The stimulated altered mana wrenched open the damage on Zadokilgias's soul.
And this is the result of that.

"Yea. Told you didn't I? Nothing can stop it."

Magic that can manipulate souls are all complex.
And reincarnation spell is among the hardest even compared to the rest of that type.
Such that even the past me which specialized in production type magic needed several hours to construct a personal-use magic circle.

Perfectly constructing magic of that scale is a daunting task even for a race that excels in magic like demons.
Even Zadokilgias is unlikely capable of such feat.

And that's not all.
In order to perfect my reincarnation, I built the spell formula to off myself and chose death on my own volition.
Dying by my own magic was the reason I could pull the perfect death for reincarnation.

On the other hand, Zadokilgias had set up a reincarnation spell that would activate upon its demise.
And then it eventually got bested by me, and died.

Back then, I defeated Zadokilgias by firing off a high-powered spell that utterly annihilated it without leaving a trace after destroying its arms with [Resonant Sword].
And there's simply no way to reincarnate a complete soul in an environment polluted with so much noise from that high-powered magic I fired.

As a result, Zadokilgias got reincarnated with a damaged soul.
Well, I suppose you could say it was lucky enough to even reincarnate.

"...Looks like it."

Zadokilgias invoked multiple recovery spells in an attempt to heal its body.
But none of the spell showed any effect.

Your body naturally breaks down when your soul suffers a fatal wound.
Especially since demons possess a proportionally larger amount of mana in their body, the breakdown manifests this way.

"Answer me this at least. Just who in the world are you? I know none who possesses such level of magical skills."

"Oh really? It might very well be a familiar name to you."

Zadokilgias knew the past young me.
There's a chance it might have forgotten about me... But I doubt it would forget the human who killed it.

"Familiar? ...I wouldn't have let someone this monstrous alive had I known--."

Zadokilgias's eyes opened wide midway.
Then it threw a question while agape.
Even with lives of hundreds magic combatants and thousands of civilians on its hands, Zadokilgias must have remembered the very enemy who killed it.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 338 Strongest Sage, Let Heal

 

The ray of light accelerated to several hundreds kilometer per hour and caught up to Zadokilgias a moment later, penetrating the demon--and proceeded to evaporate clouds few kilometers in the sky above.
It's a spell cast by absorbing about 10% of the enormous mana the [Dragon Breath] carried. This much power is only to be expected.

"Did that without rehearsal... but that went well huh."

I cut off my connection to Dragon Veins as I murmured.
Short as it might, establishing a connection to Dragon Veins stirred by the vast mana of [Dragon's Breath] took quite a toll on my magic circuits.
The end result was worth it though.

"Down you go."

Zadokilgias who ate a direct hit of the ray fell off the sky.
It's lost both its arms, one of its wing is burning, its side has been greatly gouged out.
It doesn't have the power left to fly--but it survived.

Not dying from an attack that blew even clouds apart, quite something indeed.
It must have changed its posture during the less than 0.01 second it took for the ray to be invoked and avoided direct hit on vital parts.
As I was thinking that--Zadokilgias invoked a spell.

--[Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type]
Amongst all recovery magic there is, it's the spell most suited to heal severe wounds.

Unlike ordinary recovery spells, this magic strengthens the rate of recovery by taking in mana in the surroundings as a component
Since the area around here is filled with a vast amount of mana, vestiges of Iris's [Dragon Breath], the spell's recovery power is also many times more potent.
How it managed to make a split second decision to pick the optimal magic even in its terrible state, this demon is really adept at fighting.

But of course I'm not going to stay silent as Zadokilgias is healing itself.
Since Zadokilgias flew vertically straight above and then fell, its landing spot is right next to me.
I was going to head to that spot as I stepped on barrier magic.

However...
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"...Still got that much power left huh..."

I murmured as I stared at the scene unfolding before me.
Countless magical barrier have been deployed in all possible directions I could take to get close.

It's a ploy to buy time no matter how you look at it.
Those barriers themselves aren't that sturdy--but proceeding through them would take time.
Zadokilgias would have finished restoring its body in the meantime.

Iris's [Dragon Breath] is our trump card.
This fight will get a lot harder if it manages to overcome this situation.
And... Zadokilgias intends to cut its way through this situation.

Zadokilgias is currently deploying multiple barrier magic in addition to [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type]. A difficult feat even in its normal state.
It's obvious why Zadokilgias deployed this degree of magic even after taking that much damage.

It had anticipated this situation the moment I cast my magic and took extra care so the body parts needed to cast magic were left unharmed.
It must have sacrificed its right arm with the intention to restore it back later.

I broke through the magical barriers picking the shortest route toward Zadokilgias while thinking that.
However Zadokilgias would deploy additional barriers every time I destroyed one.

And while I was occupied in that--Zadokilgias's recovery rate saw a sudden rapid increase.
It's reached the spot with a thick concentration of [Dragon Breath]'s mana.

The wound on its side gets restored in the blink of an eye, its lost arms are gradually forming back.
And then--Zadokilgias suddenly stopped the invocation of [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

"...Hum?"

As Zadokilgias blurted in puzzlement, it turned its line of sight at its recovering right arm.
Looks like it had noticed something wrong as the recovery spell worked its magic.

Afterward, Zadokilgias surveyed the surrounding area--its eyes found broken magic stones on top of faraway roofs.
There are broken pieces of magic stones on top of roofs all over the place here.
Broken arrows could be found near those magic stones.

(Figured it would notice.)

The oddness Zadokilgias sensed is no mere imagination.
Zadokilgias has absorbed mana infused with a trick due to [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

『How is it going?』

Ruli contacted me through comm magic.

That's right.
Those broken magic stones on roofs were made by Ruli delivered there on arrows Alma shot.
The magic stones put on those arrows had been augmented with a specific magic that would break the magic stones once the arrows landed and disperse altered mana in the surroundings.

Alma and Ruli hadn't directly participated in this fight not because I didn't count them.
It was done on purpose so Zadokilgias wouldn't notice them, all for the sake of this point.

『Perfect! You did great!』

I proceeded through the barriers as I responded to Alma.

Zadokilgias has indeed realized the girls' trick.
But it's far too late.

The distance between me and Zadokilgias is virtually nil now.
Those barriers would buy at most 10 seconds of time.

Even Zadokilgias can't deal with me with both its arms missing.
Its moves are limited with its arms gone, only death awaits this demon as it can't block my magic and sword.

And--Zadokilgias only has one option left to restore its arms.
[Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type].

Even if there's something wrong with it, even if it knows that it's a trap, Zadokilgias has no other choice but to use that.
The demon itself appears to be fully aware of that.
Zadokilgias invoked [Enforced Restoration - Mana Converging Type] it once suspended at maximum output, and took in a huge amount of mana to fully restore its arms.







Previous Chapter

Chapter 337 Strongest Sage, Be Sacrificial Pawn

 

"Who knows."

After saying that, I continued my assault while being careful not to create an 『Opening』.

What makes this difficult is the fact that this [Opening] Zadokilgias is looking for differs from an [Opening] in ordinary battles.
Zadokilgias isn't looking for a chance to land a risk-free hit on me.
But a situation where it can land a fatal hit on me--while not getting hit by a fatal hit itself.

...Even if Zadokilgias's physical ability is only at the level of an ordinary demon, it's still far sturdier than mine.
For example, this demon would not hesitate to sacrifice one of its arm if it means reaping my neck.

On the other hand, I kept launching fatal strikes at Zadokilgias while being probed for that [Opening].
I can only ever launch attacks that will instantly kill Zadokilgias, otherwise it would have launched a counterattack that ignores any damage incurred, all while maintaining the balance required to dodge.
As such, even if it looks like I'm holding the upper hand right now, I don't actually have that much room to move around.

And yet, having Iris here presents a huge advantage to me.
She hasn't been able to deal a blow yet, however she's got the [Dragon Breath] with her.

On top of boasting unbelievable range, [Dragon Breath] possesses enough firepower to erase Zadokilgias without leaving any trace if it hits.

Meaning, Zadokilgias must be prepared to evade Iris's [Dragon Breath] at all time.
That's why this demon has its wings always at the ready to take the flight at a moment's notice.
In normal times, it wouldn't have even bothered to manage its posture for wings deployment, saving it for emergency instead.

By doing that, Zadokilgias could avoid getting instantly erased by [Dragon Breath] even if that meant creating an opening.
Recovering from a non instant death attack is not at all difficult to those who excel in combat.
While for me, once [Dragon Breath] gets invoked, death is the only fate that awaits me having no means to dodge it and all, thus even if Zadokilgias suffers some damage in the process, it can take all the time needed to heal itself.

Despite knowing all that, I'll be instructing Iris shoot [Dragon Breath] now.

"Go, Iris!"

『I understand!』

Hearing my voice--Iris's claws dig into the ground, stationing her body.
Iris's magic circuits have stabilized. She can afford one shot of [Dragon Breath].
And then--.

『Here I go!』

Iris has started generating her [Dragon Breath].
An enormous amount of mana is converging inside dragon Iris's mouth.
Zadokilgias looked flustered when it saw that.

"--Knew it, you're a sacrificial pawn!"

Zadokilgias released the mana stored in its wings as it shouted that, executing the accelerative force that demon wings possess.
Naturally, doing that in the middle of a close quarter sword fight would create many openings.

I didn't let that chance go and went slashing at Zadokilgias's neck.
The trajectory is such that it can't be parried away or dodged.
The only way for Zadokilgias to escape death here is to--.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Correct."

I swung my sword while muttering.
However, it was Zadokilgias's left arm that got sent flying in the air, not head.
Zadokilgias has sacrificed its left arm to protect its neck.

Even after losing left arm, Zadokilgias accelerated straight above with its wings perfectly calmly.
Zadokilgias had gained enough time to escape out of [Dragon Breath]'s range in exchange of its left arm.

Since [Dragon Breath] is a wide area attack that goes along the ground, there is almost no way to escape it on ground.
However, it's not completely impossible to do so in air.
Even against the flames of high ranking Darkness Dragon Iris, one can cheat death by going about 300 meters above ground.

Iris's [Dragon Breath] is already about to get invoked, its trajectory can't be altered anymore.
Once Zadokilgias had gone away leaving its left arm behind, Iris's [Dragon Breath] was shot toward the spot I was at.

Right in that instance, I invoked a spell.
The very same magic I deployed in my first meeting with Iris after reincarnating--a spell to destroy [Dragon Breath].

"Wha..."

The moment the spell I invoked touched the [Dragon Breath], its spell formula immediately crumbled down.
Zadokilgias sounded surprised when it saw that.

Even Zadokilgias couldn't have predicted there would be a magic capable of breaking down a [Dragon Breath].
After all this magic is completely outside the realm of Zadokilgias's magical skill.

In order to develop this [Dragon Breath]-destroying magic, one needs to have a complete understanding on the extremely complex [Dragon Spell Formula].
After defeating Zadokilgias, the past me took hundreds of years just to finish developing it.

Just as the theory says--the [Dragon Breath]'s magic circle broke into pieces.
The flames also vanished along with a dry sound, and in its place, a vast amount of mana that was forming the [Dragon Breath] remained.
I've been waiting for this.

"...Now then, it's finally this thing's turn."

As I said that, I took [Man-eating Blade] out of Storage magic and established a connection with Dragon Veins.
Once the connection is formed, I begin constructing a magic.

[Man-eating Blade] connects human's magic circuits to Dragon Veins, enabling them to utilize Dragon Veins as if part of their body.
With Dragon Veins being [Part of Body], Disqualified Crest's limitation of not being able to construct magic far away from the bearer's body has now come undone.
As a result, I have successfully constructed a gigantic magic circle not even other Crests could dream of.

That gigantic magic circle absorbs the vast amount of leftover mana from the broken [Dragon Breath].
A moment later--a dazzling ray of light was shot out the center of the magic circle I constructed, heading straight toward the sky.







Previous Chapter

Chapter 336 Strongest Sage, Identity Seen Through

 

I was still young when I fought Zadokilgias in my previous life.
This demon held the upper hand in term of pure combative skills back then.
As such, winning proved difficult in a direct confrontation.

That was why I developed [Resonant Sword].
This demon would dodge every single one of my magic attack and block all my sword slashes.
However, Zadokilgias's body itself wasn't sturdy enough to receive those slashes.

As such, letting it take my sword slashes and break its body with [Resonant Sword] is very effective.
[Resonant Sword] is virtually a technique specialized in killing skill-based demons like Zadokilgias.

"...To think there's someone who deploys that magic in this era."

Zadokilgias took some more distance away from me as it said that.
Gaining distances is the basic method for fighting a Disqualified Crest.
Magical ranged attacks are favorable to Zadokilgias especially for avoiding clashing its sword against my [Resonant Sword].

But that's speaking only if Iris wasn't here.
Getting away from me means getting into Iris's range.

『There it goes! I'm gonna get it!』

Iris swung down her claw the moment she saw Zadokilgias getting away from me.
Moving away from me here naturally got it closer to Iris.
Inviting her for another attempt at the demon.

Zadokilgias deployed a new set of barriers mid-air as a foothold to dodge her attack.
They were farther apart than earlier thus it made it in time.

However--that instance it deployed barriers created an opening if only for a second.
It's not a problem with skill, it's simply due to the latency of outputting magic.
It's not long enough to get a hit in--but more than plentiful for getting in the range.

Making use of this chance, I made us engage in a close quarter combat.

"...What an irksome tactic."

Zadokilgias blocked my sword slash which had got [Resonant Sword] added.
Then--the moment our swords touched each other, mine got repelled back.

--『Reflective Strike』.
A magic that outputs a huge blast of mana all at once to instantaneously flick the opponent's sword away.

This magic will forcefully repel away the opponent's sword no matter what magic enchanted on that sword, it's unparalleled in a close quarter sword combat.
Against someone with an inept sword skill, the opening created by this magic could even be used to deal a finishing blow.
There was even a period of time where sword enchant magic was seen in a bad light due to this [Reflective Strike] magic.

However, such a mighty magic does not come without a price.
This [Reflective Strike] outputs a vast amount of mana through one's sword, it's a basic magic in a sense.
Which is precisely why it's mostly unaffected by other magic--but as a drawback, you're required to release a huge amount of mana all at once.

Even amongst Disqualified Crest bearers, only a few with exceptionally sturdy magic circuits, and high-ranking demons that far outclass Zadokilgias are capable of releasing the required amount of mana in an instant.
In all other cases, one has to build up mana in their sword over time and release it only when the need arises.
Due to the load caused by building up mana, [Reflective Strike] users can't use other magic in parallel.

In contrast, I'm only deploying the much easier to cast [Resonant Sword] over [Reflective Strike].
Meaning I could shoot other attack magic with my spare energy.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"...Dodging even this huh..."

Zadokilgias managed to deal with the combination of my attack magic and [Resonant Sword] somehow.
Defending against an attack while enduring the load from invoking [Reflective Strike] should be quite a task--yet, it dealt with it well.
As that thought crossed my mind, Zadokilgias spoke up while flicking my sword away.

"You bastard... You're even better than the guy who killed the past me in skill alone."

The guy who killed the past Zadokilgias... Me huh.
Indeed, my magic skill has seen much improvement compared to the me back then.

Now that I think about it, the me back then was quite crude for a magic combatant.
...That said, I was already 80 by then, so my magic circuits were far far superior than the current me.

I gave a reply while thinking that.

"I see. So you're saying you're going to meet your maker a second time?"

"Not a chance. Regardless of your skill, this absolute gap in powers aren't something that can be easily overturned... In fact, the only time you managed to deal damage was from that [Resonant Sword] ambush--even after all you've done thus far."

Zadokilgias is peering for a chance to attack even while chattering away.
This conversation itself is likely an attempt to take me out of my pace.

The act of talking may slightly throw off one's pace if they don't have enough experience in battle, creating an exploitable opening.
That's probably this demon's aim--but unfortunately for it, this tactic is meaningless to me.
It might have worked on the past age 80 me though.

"...How old are you anyway? Those magical skills, that bottomless swordsmanship--cannot be of a mere child. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you were a 『Reincarnated』 one like me."

Zadokilgias murmured when it saw me not relaxing my guard.
Looks like it's made a conjecture of my identity.
Not like that would be of any use in this fight though.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 335 Strongest Sage, Deploys Personal Spell

 

"...Quite a violent one, aren't you. That darkness dragon... a companion of yours huh."

Zadokilgias jumped diagonally backward to dodge the incoming claw while murmuring that.
Iris's claw missed its target, gouged the earth and blew away the surrounding buildings.

『Then how about this!』

Iris used her tail to mow horizontally along the ground.
Stone buildings are getting blown apart like they're made of paper as it's coming closer to Zadokilgias.
With the gigantic tail thoroughly mowing down everything on ground, Zadokilgias has no way to escape there.

"Tch..."

Zadokilgias jumped up into the air to dodge the tail while clicking its tongue.
However--lifting your feet off ground means losing foothold, destabilizing your posture if only a bit.
No way I would miss this chance.

I rushed out at once using magic and slashed at Zadokilgias.
Zadokilgias invoked a barrier below its feet using the momentous opening, stabilizing its posture.
However, I won't let that.

Zadokilgias deployed another barrier to divert my sword like earlier--but I had anticipated that.

I deployed another barrier beyond that barrier to alter my sword's trajectory even further.
After hitting two barriers, my sword is now moving toward Zadokilgias's center of gravity--the hardest spot to dodge.

『Iron Slash『Sharpening』『Mana Strike』--.
I enhanced my sword with magic right before it hit Zadokilgias.
It's got enough power to cut Zadokilgias in two if it hits the target.
However--.

"Way too slow."

Zadokilgias blocked my sword with its own.
This demon fights with both swords and magic, just like me.
I had only deployed one barrier to alter my slash.

However, my action of diverting my sword with barrier isn't entirely pointless.
If I hadn't done that--this demon's sword would have been used to cut me up instead of blocking mine.
By leading its effort into defending, I had destroyed any chance of counterattack.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
--It's going as I've foreseen so far.

I invoked more magic as my sword got flicked away.
『Instant Lightning』, a lightning magic.
It's quick to cast but with little firepower, a simple magic.

However, a clash between techniques is where simple magic shines.
There's no point in super powerful large-scale magic if it doesn't hit its target, even simple magic could be used to make an opening that would lead to enemy's demise.

My aim is Zadokilgias's legs.
Dodging this means destabilizing one's stance, hence it's an extremely effective mean of attack.

"Kuh..."

Zadokilgias cast 『Supercooled Waterdrops』 while blocking my attack using defensive magic.

Supercooling--a phenomenon in which water retains its liquid form when cooled to absolute zero temperature in stable state.
Water in this state changes form on impact.
Just as the name suggests, this magic sprays a huge amount of supercooled waterdrops on enemy.

It's not enough to directly kill your opponent--but since the water changes into ice the moment it hits, it will slow them down.
A fatal spell in this situation.

I dealt with that--by casting 『Impact Blade』 magic.
Shock waves got generated out of my sword and diffused in the air.
All the 『Supercooled Waterdrops』 in air turned into grains of ice, losing their effectiveness.

『Supercooled Waterdrops』 and defensive magic.
I thrust my sword forward at this opening created from it casting two magic at once.
Zadokilgias attempted to block my sword--but the moment our swords met, I invoked a personal spell on mine.

--『Resonant Sword』.
By adding specific vibrations to my sword, it will resonate with the enemy's bones.

If one continues to get hit by this, their bones will vibrate due to resonance, destroying them from the inside.
On top of requiring some time to cause the resonance, it doesn't have the power to demolish bones--but even little cracks on bones will turn the tide to my favor.

However, Zadokilgias seemed to understand that.
Zadokilgias pulled the hand blocking my sword and twisted its body away before the resonance could get more intense.
However, it failed to dodge it all as my sword landed a shallow cut on its shoulder.

I was going to push more--but unfortunately, the flight time is over.
Zadokilgias who regained its foothold on ground immediately ran out of Disqualified Crest's range.

"You bastard, just who are you!? Where in the world did you learn that..."

Zadokilgias opened its eyes wide in shock from a distance.

"Beats me."

It's only natural that Zadokilgias is shocked.
After all, this [Resonant Sword] was the spell that led to Zadokilgias's defeat in the past.

Breaking enemy's bones through their own sword, this [Resonant Sword] may looks like a very handy spell at a glance--but it's actually quite a flawed one.

It has several flaws.
First, it simply lacks firepower.
Its power is barely enough to create cracks on ordinary demons' bones, and completely ineffective against high-ranking demons and monsters. It will transmit irritating vibrations through their arms at most.
And for opponents in which [Resonant Sword] works against, much simpler magic would be enough to kill them, unless they possess extraordinary skills.

In other words, this [Resonant Sword] is only useful against those with [Extraordinary skills, yet are weak against this]--very rare foes, there were only several of them even in the past era.

Nevertheless, this is the spell I developed in order to defeat Zadokilgias.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 334 Strongest Sage, Incites Dragon

 

(...It's about time.)

The town's entrance is the only spot with human's mana reactions left.
There's a congestion of people trying to get out of the town's gate... but it should clear up in time.
During this time... I make my move.

I draw my sword and move into Zadokilgias's blind spot.
Then... I slashed at Zadokilgias's neck while completely hiding my presence.

This slash would instantly kill Zadokilgias that's only as strong as an average demon physically speaking.
--If it hit the target, that is.

"Too slow."

Zadokilgias muttered as it cast a minimum amount of defensive magic to shift my sword away without even looking at my direction.
Even a weak defensive magic is capable of thwarting a sword slash if placed diagonally against the slash.
That may sounds easy in theory... But putting that into practice requires an extremely high magic control capability.

And this demon pulled it off without even looking at the sword...
Looks like Zadokilgias's skill hasn't fallen even after reincarnating.
And here I was expecting it fell a bit.

"...Only one?"

Zadokilgias isn't looking at my direction not because of negligence.
The opposite actually--it's under maximum alert.
Especially against a potential member of suppression unit slipping in among the evacuees.

In reality... Past demon suppression units would hide among these evacuees and launch their attack the moment Zadokilgias turned its attention to my sword.
Its relatively defenseless back would be exposed to attack if I managed to draw its attention away.
That would also mean my early death... However, sacrificial pawns weren't exactly unusual in a fight against demons that couldn't be defeated the frontal ways back then.

"...No reinforcement huh?"

Zadokilgias stood still while muttering that.
But it's not like it's doing nothing.
Maintaining a stance holds the meaning of retaining its highest alert level against ambushes.

On the other hand, I also haven't made a move since I pulled my sword back after it was parried off.
In my past life, the opening of my fight against Zadokilgias could also be summed up as [Motionless Fight].
This quietness is exactly the evidence of a clash of techniques.

Going into the offensive naturally means lowering your defense.
In other word, attacking also means creating an opening.
Small openings created from magic are nothing to worry about in an ordinary battle... But in a fight between those of equal skill sets, one such momentary lapse is a gap between life and death.

Zadokilgias has taken a stance that allows it to counter any attack from any direction at any time.
Anyone that takes the first strike will be countered back.

Against that, I take the aggressive stance.
If Zadokilgias showed a slightest opening, I'd crush its escape path with magic and cut it down right then and there.

Positioned right behind Zadokilgias, I've held the advantage.
However... Zadokilgias just won't show any opening.
Launching a simple attack here would get me countered to death.

A minute passed since this standoff began.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"No reinforcement... huh."

Zadokilgias murmured once it confirmed all the evacuees had left the town's gate.
Now that there's no need to worry about potential ambushes from demon suppression unit mixed among the evacuees, I'm the only one left it needs to worry about.

It slowly turned toward me.
Without showing an opening in the slightest.

"I see. I considered you were but a mere child... What a huge mistake. I can't find an opening."

Zadokilgias stared at me as it said that.
Yet its glances were directed at my limbs, not eyes.
Not just to watch out for my move... But also to look for any slightest opening so it could immediately shift to attacking.

(...Glad Ruli and Alma aren't here.)

Zadokilgias's mana really is on the same level of an ordinary demon.
However... it's clear from this distance. This demon is simply on a whole other dimension.

Ruli and Alma would be instantly killed had they got close.
Even I would have lost my head the instance I relaxed my guard.

This situation will only wear down my nerves if it keeps going.
The townspeople have finished taking shelter.
Let's get right to the plan.

Zadokilgias had been waiting for the end of evacuation to dispel the possibility of an ambush.
However--Zadokilgias isn't the only one waiting for that moment.

So did I.
In order to allow Iris go wild without minding the surroundings.

"Iris, do it."

『I got you!』

Receiving my instruction, Iris soared up in the air.
Then she swooped down from the sky--and swung down her claw toward Zadokilgias with all her might.







Previous Chapter

Chapter 333 Strongest Sage, Raises Vigilance

 

"...She's as big as ever."

Iris's dragon form looks quite awe-inspiring from this distance.
It's still Iris on the inside regardless of her form though.

"A... A dragon outside town!"

"Wha? It's really... A dragon..."

"Any experienced adventurer here?! ...You're a rank B, aren't you? Do something about that!"

"Are you crazy?! Like hell anyone could beat that! ...let's hurry up and run!"

The sight of Iris caused a stir inside the town.
There are even people who fainted while frothing on their mouth due to excessive fear.

Dragons are feared as unstoppable calamities in this present era.
Though dragons themselves are barely around anymore... Their gigantic size and overwhelming powers are truly a symbol of fear.

And the townspeople are correct for fearing Iris.
After all, she's quite a high ranking darkness dragons amongst her dragon peers.
Were Iris shot her [Dragon Breath], this town would have vanished without a trace with Zadokilgias as the sole survivor.

"Oy, you there! You better run too!"

"It's a dragon! A giant dragon unlike anything showed up! Everyone, run!"

"Over here! Hurry! Adventurers, help carry children the elderly!"

Just as planned, they've promptly starting evacuation.
I'm a bit worried if the elderly and children would get away in time... But the guild and adventurers seem to be lending their hands.

This town's populace appears to have a strong bond between them.
Judging from Mana Reactions... I don't see anyone lagging behind.

While I was thinking that... Iris shouted out loud in dragon language.

『Oooh! My body feels so light! Mathia's treatment really works a miracle!』

I see that she's delighted at the state of her body.
Iris's body--especially her wings and magic circuits were all tattered after she got rolled up in Magic Fusion Reactor's meltdowns.
I had been treating her damaged magic circuits during our journey together all this time... Glad to see it's working.

『I can shoot [Dragon's Breath] just fine now! Thank you so much!』

Iris said her thanks to me even though we're on the eve of a battle.
Her voice--caused a panic in the town.

"T...the dragon's mad!"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"What's a dragon doing here!"

"HIIIIIIIIIII! I-it's all over!"

Apparently Iris's jolly voice sounded like enraged roars to the townspeople.
They rushed out of town in a fluster.
Half of the town on Iris's side has been completely deserted already.

I talk to Alma and Ruli while watching that.

"You two, go wait at the planned spot... We're going with that plan we discussed on our way here."

"Yes!"

"Gotcha!　...Man, it's a huge responsibility!"

Afterward, Ruli and Alma ran out of town.
After confirming that, I headed to the guild.

(Figured.)

I murmured in my mind when I saw Zadokilgias.

Zadokilgias is walking slowly among the fleeing adventurers slightly behind other evacuees.
Its movement is unlike the townspeople who's seized with fear.
It's full of calculations and alertness of its surroundings.

This evacuation isn't necessary to Zadokilgias.
Even a [Dragon Breath] doesn't warrant that much vigilance since it's easily dodgeable so long you pay attention.
Iris by herself is no menace to this demon.

Zadokilgias is on the lookout for possible demon suppression units lurking among the populace.
Zadokilgias would easily perceive people trying to besiege it when it was staying still in the guild.... But that's not the case at the congestion of people trying to get out of town's entrance.

Encircling Zadokilgias in a crowd is a simple matter.
In previous era, a suppression unit that excelled in stealth were capable of disguising themselves as common populace beyond recognition.
If Zadokilgias focused only in pretending to escape and mixed itself in the crowd of evacuees, such a suppression unit would easily encircle it.

To Zadokilgias who boasts an overwhelming advantage in skill set yet falls behind in pure power, getting besieged is a huge disadvantage.
It would surely try to avoid getting driven into a situation where it gets squashed in a barrage of brute force where skill means nothing.
In reality, that kind of suppression unit doesn't exist in this current era... But Zadokilgias isn't aware of that right now.

And yet, not taking shelter here would mean disclosing itself to the suppression unit, rendering its human disguise pointless.
As such Zadokilgias purposely lag slightly behind the other evacuees to avoid congestion.
Yup, it's all going as planned.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 332 Urges Evacuation

 

"Found our target. Inside the guild."

I went back to the girls and informed them.

"It's really... In there then."

"It didn't engage you?"

"Yea. Our opponent didn't seem to notice me... It made no move."

Zadokilgias could have attacked me at any point.
We were only 10 meters apart, which is practically nothing to magic combatants with crests other than Disqualified Crest.
And even though that's beyond Disqualified Crest's range, it's actually within range for all intents and purposes with how instantaneous you can close that distance.

"Is that... Because the demon's going to launch a surprise attack when we let our guard down...?"

"Nah, Zadokilgias likely doesn't think there's any point in that. It's got its schemes instead though."

Zadokilgias isn't the only one disguising mana.
I purposely loosened up my mana control to make me look like an amateur mage when I approached the guild.
From Zadokilgias's perspective, it was probably, "Better than other adventurers here, but I could easily kill him anytime I want."

"...So like, is the demon buying time by ignoring anyone who's not immediately dangerous?"

"In short, yeah. It got nothing to do with buying time though."

I checked Dragon Veins running nearby.
Fortunately, quite a lot of the veins are running around these lands.
Connecting to Dragon Veins won't be a problem with the 『Man-eating Blade』 in our possession.

"I've told you girls our strategy on our way here. First off, we need to evacuate this town."

Our strategy is pretty large scale this time around.
Running rampage with 『Man-eating Blade』 means huge collateral damage.

Surely the damage is within tolerance, especially with the 『Nomination of Plenipotentiary Commander in States of Emergency』 I've got.... But of course that doesn't extend to lives.
First, we need to get the populace away from the town.

"...Okay then, Iris, you need to transform back into your dragon form outside town... Can you manage?"

"I should be fine now! ...I might end up stepping on a house or two if I get into town though, is that alright?"

"I'll notify you once the town has been cleared off the populace, stay put until then. You can break things all you want afterward."

Our strategy this time will likely cause a great deal of destruction in the town.
We can't make use of Iris's power otherwise since Zadokilgias is lurking in the middle of the town.

"There's no need to feel guilty... If we don't beat Zadokilgias here, forget losing their houses, people would have to part with their lives. The kingdom will compensate for their houses, but that can't be done for lives lost."

"I got it! Okay then... Don't mind if I do!"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
Iris ran off out of town afterward.
We've already decided on the spot she's going to turn back into her dragon form.

The populace will most likely run straight to the opposite of Iris once they see her.
Humans instinctively run away to the opposite direction of frightening things even if it leads to a dead end.
And dragons should be the very symbol of fear to ordinary people.

As such, Iris would show off her dragon self at the opposite side of the town's entrance.
Thus, the populace will effectively scramble out of town once they see her.

We simply don't have the leeway to lead this fight to an uninhabited location.
There's no choice but to let people take shelter on their own.

"Err... Can't you ask the town guard for help with that 『States of Emergency Thingy』 you got from the king? Would be far safer than creating a stir with Iris..."

"That would be nice... But do you really think this town's guards will be any use...?"

"Ah... Good point. Asking a random passerby for help would be more productive for sure..."

True, we could safely and reliably evacuate the town if only the town guards could be depended on to take charge.
However... That's only if we can depend those guards.

We had taken a look at the guard stations while we were scouting the area earlier, and state of affairs was just pitiful.
Forget working, those thug-like bunches were drinking in the middle of the day inside their stations.

The town lord probably fired all the upright guards and hired those ruffians to work as his underlings.
I don't believe for a second we could rely on them to help with evacuation. It would end up giving clues to Zadokilgias instead.

Meaning, we'd better off showing off Iris's dragon form to accomplish the evacuation.
Zadokilgias would likely slip among the crowd and pretend to flee, but I could just attack and stop him then.

I watch over Iris's position with detection magic.
Then she arrived at the planned spot a few minutes later.

"Well then, time to do this."

After confirming Iris's mana reaction had stopped moving, I shot up a kind of explosion magic at the sky.
An explosive sound reverberated in the vicinity.
A few seconds later--the Darkness Dragon emerged where Iris was.





Previous Chapter

Chapter 331 Strongest Sage, Disregarded

 

Boseil isn't that big of a town.
Its inhabitants would immediately notice a stranger among them.

Zadokilgias might have chosen to kill and take someone's place, but mingling among adventurers is a better way to stay unnoticed.
After all, it's normal for adventurers to travel between towns, so they're outsiders by nature.

It's also not unusual for adventurers to wait around idly until they find a good quest, so even those who don't take on any quest won't raise suspicion.
Which means anyone can slip in.

On top of that... Guilds are a good place to gather information with their heavy foot traffic.
They will be the first to know about a large-scale demon suppression unit.
Heck, members of the suppression unit might even come to the guild to report.

There's no better place to lurk around.
Adventurers didn't exist during the era Zadokilgias thrived, thus it might have no idea about adventurer guilds.... but finding out that much should be a simple matter even shortly after its revival.

With that in mind, I decided to investigate the guild last.
Since we're up against Zadokilgias here, it wouldn't surprise me if the demon had anticipated us thinking 『The demon is lurking in the guild』.
So we're going to check it last after exhausting all other possibilities.

"I'll go see things inside the guild. You girls wait here."

"You're going alone?"

"Yea. There could be an ambush waiting for us... I'll get back right away unless our opponent makes its move."

Then I went to the guild.
Our biggest problem is Ruli and Alma getting hit by a surprise attack if all four of us go inside together.

Against Zadokilgias, protecting Ruli and Alma would be tough.
Hence, we need to choose when and where to fight proper.

I'm confident I could handle it if I'm the only one ambushed.
Since it's so much easier to protect myself than others.
Disqualified Crest has a very good compatibility against ambushes due to its speedy casting time with evasion and defense magic.

(Quest board... Over there.)

I went straight for the quest board once inside.
I'm not actually taking a quest, it's just that adventurers usually come to a guild to take a quest.
I'm trying to avoid raising suspicion by acting like your average adventurer.

And while pretending to scan over the quest board--I probe for nearby adventurers' mana reactions.
Then... I found Zadokilgias right away.

(That's the guy.)

I zeroed in on a tall man reading a strategy book in the corner of the guild.
His mana reaction is undoubtedly that of a human.
Absolutely nothing demonic about it at all.

As a demon, his disguise is perfect.
There would be zero chance of the suppression unit uncovering him through detecting mana.
However... It's final. That's Zadokilgias.

The tall man's mana is clean, with no hint of anything demonic.
However... It's clean, way too clean.
Mana of a human who hasn't trained enough should have had much more noise on it.

Mana noise gets lower the more one trains.
Because it's directly proportionate to one's ability to control mana.
As such, you can hazard a guess of a mage's capability by looking at their mana.

This is more to do with the fact that Zadokilgias didn't realize the average level of this era's magic... Than its failure at disguising itself.
Zadokilgias's mana noise is adjusted to the average level of previous era's magic combatants.
Which is a monstrous level in this era.

...I know full well Zadokilgias's feel on this though.
You wouldn't normally believe the world's level of magic could fall this low after being reincarnated from death.

I have fully mastered this world's common sense thanks to Second Academy... However Zadokilgias had only been revived recently.
No surprise it made a mistake at disguising its mana level.

As I looked at the quest board while thinking that... Zadokilgias turned its line of sight at me.
Looks like he's observing my mana.

However, he seemed to have lost interest in me after a few seconds.
He's back to reading a book.

(Well, figured...)

My current mana is weak compared to an average mage in previous era.
Which is normal considering my age. There's a limit to how much you can temper your mana and physical strength in a short amount of time no matter how efficient the training.

From Zadokilgias's point of view which is based on previous era standard, I'm just like a kid aiming to be a magic combatant.
At the very least, I must look nothing like a member of suppression unit dispatched to subdue a powerful demon.

With that in mind, I returned the quest tag I took back on the board and left the guild.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 330 Strongest Sage, Infers

 

"Maybe it's like the typical scenario where the demon has killed and replaced the town lord here?"

"That sounds plausible... But this territory..."

Replacing a town lord is indeed a typical scenario.
It would afford the demon a degree of authority, easier time to create situations that benefit it, and there's little worry of getting found out as long as the demon erases the victim's body well.
It's especially effective for demons that are good at concealing their mana.

However... I don't believe there's much to gain for Zadokilgias to pose as a lord of this small town.
To begin with, the kingdom is keeping an eye on this lord for unjust taxing.
What's even the point of impersonating the guy.

Zadokilgias is most likely setting up a scheme that will certainly turn the table on its subjugation party.
With the amount of mana Zadokilgias sent through Dragon Veins, it must have anticipated the first subjugation party sent after it would be also the most elite unit, thus as long as it managed to beat them, it could take it easy afterward.
The problem is how...

"...Water huh?"

I drew water from a nearby well.
Then I drink a little bit of it.
And then I felt mana in my body getting ever so slightly weakened.

"I knew it."

The well water has been tampered with.
I'm guessing... some sort of specialized magic must have been cast in underground water.

"Is there something wrong with the water?"

"Yeah. You'll see yourself if you drink even a little... Careful not to take in too much now."

The three girls timidly drank the water after I told them that.
Alma and Ruli frowned.

"Uun, it kinda feels gross..."

"The difference is so subtle that I wouldn't have noticed had Mathi-kun not told me... But it feels really cold somehow. And not a pleasant one, more like it gives me the chill from deep inside..."

"This water is so good! ...I don't think there's anything wrong with it!"

Ruli and Alma understood.
As for Iris... I suppose this water won't affect her. To her, it's nothing but tasty water.
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"Is this a poison?"

"No. It's most likely... Normal water with its mana absorption property enhanced. The way you handle mana will be slightly altered if you drink a lot of this water."

Water has a property of absorbing much more mana than air.
Hence why mana from detection magic doesn't pass through water easily.
This well water has its mana absorption property deliberately enhanced.

Drinking this water won't affect anything initially.
Thus, even those sufficiently proficient at controlling mana likely won't notice the trick in this water if they're not already on alert.
The issue will surface... once you've drunk a large quantity of this water.

Human drinks about 1.5 liter of water a day.
The water then circulates throughout the whole body through blood vessels.

Having water with this property circulating inside your body... will result in an increased amount of bodily mana, but in exchange, your magic cast time will become slightly longer than usual.
It's not a total loss since it does increase your mana pool, but it also alters how your magic work.

The more experienced a magic combatant is, the better their understanding of their own mana control.
Conversely, that also means they won't be able to unleash their power as well if there is a sudden change in their mana characteristic.

Zadokilgias must have anticipated that the subjugation party would visit this town first.
And then... The party would likely end up staying in this town after failing to find the well hidden Zadokilgias.
Afterward, they would definitely make a contact with this town's water then.

"Slightly alter mana handle... You mean it won't kill us or get us an upset stomach?"

"Yeah. And it's not like you can't cast magic anymore either, everything will go back to normal a few days after you've stopped drinking this water."

"This scheme is kind of lame..."

"...Which precisely makes it hard to detect..."

"You got it."

Ruli is indeed correct, the trick put in this water is emphasized on [being undetectable].
Hence it's not really a potent poison... or rather, it can't even be called poison.

It simply hampers one's fighting ability a bit for a time.
That's it.
In other word...

"The goal of this water is to defeat the persons who drink it. As such, it stands to reason the demon must be here in this town."

It'd let the subjugation party drink the water, and once the group has been weakened, the demon will launch an attack on its own term, fighting with the advantage on its side... That must be Zadokilgias's objective.
Which naturally means... The subjugation party (meaning us) needs to be at a place where the attack will occur.
This scheme can only work if the schemer has complete confidence in their hiding skill... and Zadokilgias definitely would.

"Does that mean, it's hiding inside this town..."

"Yeah. And I've got a good guess where it is."

"Good guess...?"

"There's no better place to hide than... Adventurer Guild."








Previous Chapter

Chapter 329 Strongest Sage, Appointed as Commander

 

"We're off."

As I'm about to open the door leading outside.
The knight commander called out to me.

"Please take this."

He handed over a piece of paper.

"And this is?"

"His majesty the king ordered me to pass that to Mathias... Make use of it well, he said."

The top of the paper was written with 『Nomination of Plenipotentiary Commander in States of Emergency』.
...The document states that collateral damage caused during a state of emergency shall not be condemned, and the country will cover for the damage... or so written on it.
It also gives one full authority over local knights.

We had done similar actions before... but having a document that clears it up helps.
Frankly, there is no way to avoid collateral damage if we fight inside a town, and there are ways to utilize the knights in such cases.

For example, it was the knights who helped evacuation during the fight between Second Academy and demons in the capital back then.
If they didn't fully blockade the districts where the battle occurred, it could have gone in a completely different direction.

"Give my thanks to the king."

"I shall."

We left the capital afterward.
Our destination is the town where Zadokilgias was revived--Boseil.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
◇


Two hours later.
We arrived at Boseil after as we came up with a plan along the way.
I don't sense demonic mana anywhere as of yet.

"For the time being... Doesn't look like there's that kind of mana here."

"Yeah. Just as expected."

We went inside town of Boseil while talking.

We had already anticipated that there would be no trace of demonic mana here.
Zadokilgias isn't a type of demon who would resort to a direct confrontation right away.

Plan it out carefully and meticulously... then go fight once all of winning conditions have been met, that's how Zadokilgias fights.
In a way, it's the exact opposite of our strategy against demons.
Zadokilgias will hide itself until everything is set.

Were... Zadokilgias to readily show itself up, you should consider it a trap or a part of scheme.
Since this demon hasn't done so... it must be not finished yet with preparations.
Conveniently for us.

"Have you girls memorized the plan yet?"

"Of course!"

"Perfectly!"

"Yes! ...Even though it's been so long since I used that... I'll give it my all!"

We were having a conversation under the effect of soundproof magic while walking in the town.

The town is rather lifeless.
It's like... Everyone seems to be starving.
Food lined up on stalls are mostly those that are cheap but filling, like raw monster meat and grain.

"...This town was famous for its good food, wasn't it?"

"That's what I heard, but... Uun..."

I see a lot of restaurants in the town indeed.
But most of them are closed.

"The yield rate must really have been padded to levy heavy tax."

There were many stores that didn't have a guest or downright closed.
Stores oriented for adventurers and cheap things seem to be flourishing... But stores that offer intricate food have mostly gone out of business.

They must be expensive... Or rather, none of the populace could afford stores that sell things at normal prices.
Business being bad is one thing... But this is just a whole other level of bad.
To the point that the town ruled by someone under demon's control was doing better than this.

We kept walking in town while thinking that.
But we couldn't find any trace of demonic mana.

It's not like someone has died in the town either.
Business may be doing bad... but the town itself looks to be free of incident.

...We couldn't find anything suspicious in the lord's mansion either.
We didn't catch a sight of the lord himself... but there were no suspicious spaces or anything in the mansion like it was at Gravy Woods.

"Uun... I can't find it anywhere..."

"Yes, absolutely nothing came up... Maybe the demon's gone to another town already?"

"Nope, this fits just right. The fact that there is no trace of its mana or any kind of hint toward it actions is all but expected."

Indeed, the possibility of Zadokilgias leaving for another town is not nil.
Doing so by flying would make it obvious... but we wouldn't have any way to detect it if the demon just walked away while pretending to be a human.
If a demon as skilled as Zadokilgias was serious in trying to hide its mana, there's almost no way to discern it.

Zadokilgias must have foreseen a subjugation unit that excels at killing demons being sent here after it scattered its mana all over the place right after it was awakened.
Zadokilgias would most likely win against such a unit... But its tendency to not pick the easy way to engage in combat is a bothersome quality of this demon.





Previous Chapter

Chapter 328 Strongest Sage, Treated as Symbol of Fear

 

Grevil replied to the knight commander.
Seeing them... Ruli and Alma looked dumbfounded.

"...Now that you mention it... It didn't sound like we're going to fight a strong demon... Yet that just came off naturally to me..."

"Are you saying we've gotten used to these critical situations...?"

"Well, I mean it's rarer for us to fight enemies that aren't way over the top instead..."

Now that I think about it... It's true.
I feel like we keep getting ourselves involved in extraordinary situations with barely any time to rest ever since I was enrolled to Second Academy.
No, rather than getting involved, it's more like we've been dealing with them a lot... But this frequency is not normal.

"When you put it that way, there's some truth in it..."

The past me often got dragged into these similar situations.
Before I realized, what was abnormal became normal to me to the point that I couldn't distinguish what was ordinary and what was not anymore.
That doesn't apply to me now since I have acquired common sense though.

However... Ruli and Alma were ordinary students originally.
I might have dragged them into this stuff way too many times regardless if they're party members.
Though it's probably not a big problem to Alma who had always wanted to earn money as an adventurer...

"Now I'm feeling bad for dragging into this stuff even though you wanted to get into a production role..."

Ruli is a production type mage who loves to create things.
Tempering her mana through battle in order to better her production type skills is an effective way to go about it... but I feel kinda bad when it's so excessive like this.
I do teach her production type magic since she's got the talent for it... But she's also been participating in all my fight somehow.

While I was thinking that... Ruli spoke out.

"Sure, there were a lot of combats... But, I'm glad I could get in your party Mathi-kun, you know?"
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
"...You are?"

"I'd rather fight together than just watching you fight from the side line, Mathi-kun! ...And most importantly, I can be together with Mathi-kun when I'm in your party..."

I see.
Indeed, in order to study production type magic, close to me would be the optimum location.
The past me was a bearer of Glory Crest (known as First Crest in the past) that specializes in production type, a mage who stood at the supreme height of production type magic.
In that sense, being my party member would present the most ideal environment for that purpose.

"Umm... Did you get what I was trying to say?"

Ruli asked me with a worried look on her face.
I nodded firmly.

"Yeah, I did."

"...Yeah I don't think so..."

Alma murmured when she heard me.
...I got what Ruli wanted to say loud and clear though...

While thinking that, Iris muttered in earnest.

"I'm truly glad that I'm in this party..."

Her words were full of emotions.
To be frank, I think Iris is the biggest victim in this party though.

After all, we dragged her out of her mountain while she was resting to recover her wounds just because we needed a transportation.
As I look at Iris while thinking that...

"...I mean, as long as I'm in this party, I won't antagonize the symbol of fear to all dragons!"

"Mathi-kun you were known as that...?"

"First I've heard of that... But I won't be surprised if you tell me dragons fear Mathi-kun... He erased that [Dragon Breath] and all when we met Iris-san back then..."

She's talking about the past huh...
That was a story from thousands of years ago though.

"No, I'm only a symbol of fear to Iris, I think..."

I recall all the extraordinary situations we faced up until now.
Such situations weren't unusual in my past life either.
However... Those were in the span of once every few years or decades.

Compared to that, there's way too many irregularities in this world.
My past life would even look peaceful if you directly compare to the rush of extraordinary situations we've been dealing here.

It's more like there are just way too many abnormalities in this world than just us getting dragged into one.
Almost like a complication would arise every month.
Demons aren't supposed to get revived one after another like this to begin with.

There might be a [True Cause] to this all behind the scenes.
I've got a few candidates on mind already... But we've got to resolve the situation we have at hand first thing first.

"Tell me though, since you're heading straight to the site... You've got a chance, don't you?"

The principal asked me.
I nodded without any hesitation.

"Yeah... There is no chance but winning here."

Honestly speaking, it's doubtful if I can defeat Zadokilgias by myself.
But it's not an opponent us four cannot win against.






Previous Chapter

Chapter 327 Strongest Sage, Infects the Lack of Common Sense

 

◇

"...The principal's room's gotten really extravagant in the past few days huh..."

Principal Edward together with Grevil were already waiting for us at his room when we arrived at Second Academy.
The room has been furnished full of anti-bug equipment that weren't present before.
To the point of being excessive for an educational institution.

"Second Academy is not just your average school anymore... We have made the improvements with the help of students."

Grevil touches a soundproofing magic tool installed near the entrance.

"Extra care have been given to Principal Room due to the hotline connecting to the royal castle. Up until now I had to go to the castle myself whenever something cropped up... But now I simply need to activate a magic tool."

A magic comm tool has been put on top of Principal Edward's desk.
It's a wired type comm tool with countermeasures against wiretapping put in place.

This place feels more and more like a military installation of the utmost importance than a school now...
Well, Second Academy don't fall behind the kingdom knights in term of strength, so that may not be necessarily wrong.

"So today we're here to gather intel about the place where the new demon showed up..."

"Yeah. We've already pinpointed the location... It should be around here, no?"

The principal pointed at a map unfolded on his desk.
There's an X-mark... on the spot where I detected Zadokilgias's mana coming from.

That's probably the place where Zadokilgias had been reincarnated.
The demon must have not gone far since there was no obvious movement afterward.

"How's the area around it are like?"

"We're currently gathering information while being careful as to not get detected by the demon. Some people had suggested we should go defeat the demon with the combined effort of knights and Second Academy considering its mana pool... But Grevil was opposed to the idea. We're strictly intel gathering right now."

A wise judgment.
From what I've seen in their training, even Second Academy students themselves would manage dealing with an ordinary demon no problem.
But against Zadokilgias... They're only gonna get utterly destroyed.

"Well done, Grevil... The demon this time is an extremely dangerous one. It's probably stronger than even Zaridias in a 1-on-1 confrontation."

"Thank you. I feel bad for always relying on Mathias-kun though..."

As we were talking... A knight opened the door behind me and entered the room.
It's the kingdom's knight commander Gayle.

"I've got all the information we have on it in the castle here with me."

The knight commander put a bundle of documents on an empty desk.

There's about 10 documents.
It's neither too much or too little, just about right to get proper info.
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
"So how is it?"

"The town closest to the source of that mana... is Boseil, information pertaining the town has been sparse ever since a change in lord a year ago. Reports delivered to the kingdom have some suspicious parts as well."

"Suspicious parts... What do you mean?"

"There were sudden bumps in harvest yield figures... The lord there may be trying to increase profit by overvaluing the numbers."

"...An attempt to game tax huh."

The lord of a territory decides on their own tax in this country.
Hence, the act of changing tax itself is not illegal.

That said, tax rates have their own market price as well.
If it's too high, the populace will emigrate en masse, yet if it's too low, people will congregate from other territories, causing problems in those territories.
As such, in practice, taxations are governed by the country in the form of [Correction Counsel] guidance, continuously ignoring that will eventually incite punishment.
Hence, these tax rates don't tend to change.

However... There's a way to get around it, like falsifying yield rates.
Say you impose a fixed percentage of tax to the populace.

Here's an extreme example, by reporting a field that only produces 100KG of product as producing [200KG], you get twice the tax.
Of course, the populace will ultimately be the one shouldering those burdens.

Normally, a change in lord doesn't normally bring improved yield numbers.
It's not impossible if the new lord has ideas to improve productions... But a drastic increase in yields would have created rumors in the neighboring areas.
Yet there isn't any... Which means there is no change in yield in reality.

"...Has anything been done to it?"

"We have sent out a Correction Counsel. It was brought by someone capable of Passive Detection and we confirmed that there was no demon in the area. Neither was there a demon that died from the [Lights of Heavens]."

I see.
The [Eyes of Heavens] magic is known as [Lights of Heavens] to the people, referring to lights pouring down the sky.
If no demon fell victim to that magic there... It means that either there's no demon in Boseil, or there are only mid and higher class demons there.

But had such demons were making their preparations to awaken Zadokilgias there, there would have been traces of that in the Sand Graph documents.
Yet there was nothing about demons in the vicinity of Boseil in those documents.
Not even anything about lesser demons, so there's no way a mid-class demon would be there.

Which means... There's probably only Zadokilgias in Boseil right now.
The fight would be much harder if there were other demons.
I'm thankful that's not happening.

The lord is probably a lowlife who unjustly levied heavy taxations on his populace, but he's just that, a lowlife.
We can probably regard him unrelated to demons.

"Doesn't seem like there'll be an obstacle in our subjugation effort... What about the neighboring cities?"

"We haven't detected anything suspicious as of now. There were demons lurking in Borsan, an adjacent town, but they had been eliminated by the [Lights of Heavens] already...  Those [Lights of Heavens] are really something huh."

The truth is lost in the dark now, but those demons might have been there to prepare for Zadokilgias's awakening.
Perhaps I could have prevented the awakening had I used that magic earlier.

"I understand the situation now... OK then, time to go beat up some demon."

"Un, let's go!"

Alma promptly responded to me.
She seems more enthusiastic than usual somewhat.

"...Alma, you look like you're having fun... Did something good happen?"

Ruli seemed to find it weird as well and asked her a question.
Then... Alma replied.

"You know, Boseil's famous for their food right? I've always wanted to give it a taste at least once ever since I heard about it when I arrived here!"

"Ooh! That's a very good news! Let's hurry up and go!"

Iris is eager to leave the principal's room as she makes a beeline for the exit.
Watching them... Principal Edward muttered with an incredulous look on his face.

"...You're talking about food huh. This isn't what a conversation before fighting a demon I imagined would sound like..."

"And their opponent is a demon stronger than Zaridias... I wouldn't blame a common soldier trying to turn away from reality in such a situation, but this is..."

"That's probably not it, more like this is turning into just another day to them."





Previous Chapter

Chapter 326 Strongest Sage, Heads to the Capital

 

"Let's hurry. This period where the demon has just been resurrected is our best chance at defeating it."

"Got it!"

"Yes!　...We're heading in that direction, right?"

Ruli pointed at the direction where the mana flowed in.
Identifying directions from within roughened up Dragon Veins is supposed to be quite a task... But she handled that nicely.

"Yeah. You've got the general direction covered... and now I'll go check its exact location."

I probe Zadokilgias's location from Dragon Veins' flow.
Then... I managed to pinpoint it.

"Zadokilgias is over there. In the direction of the capital."

The demon's mana reaction is located further ahead of the capital.
Might as well contact the king and the principal since it's along the way anyway.
Still quite far, but it shouldn't take too long with our legs.

"Err... Would you like to ride on my back since we're in a hurry and all?"

Iris flaps her arms around while still in her human form.
That's the fastest method for sure, but....

"Nah, we'll walk there. The period after its resurrection may be the best time to defeat this demon, but one or two days won't make a difference... Iris, preserve your power."

"I got it!"

Iris will be our trump card for this fight.
Since her [Dragon Breath] boasts firepower that can be dealt just with a difference in skill.
How to make best use of that is the point of the upcoming fight.

Thanks to the continued treatment, Iris's magic circuits have stabilized considerably.
One shot of [Dragon Breath] should be no problem to her.

However... Flying in her dragon form would put unnecessary burdens on her recovering magic circuits.
We should just walk the walk if it would lessen that load.

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka .com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>
◇


Evening of that day.
We arrived at the Second Academy without issues.
There were no abnormal mana movements caused by demons or anything either.

"Are we gonna go straight toward the demon?"

Alma asked as we reached the capital.
Passing through the capital to head straight to Zadokilgias's location is faster indeed.
However...

"No. Let's gather some info first."

Zadokilgias's body gets stronger over time.
However, mere one or two days won't make that much difference.

We'd be better off gathering more information within that time frame.
Information about geographical features and neighboring towns near where the demon is could influence the fight.

The royal castle will prioritize matters concerning demons after all, might as well ask away.
And we've got Grevil at the Second Academy.

"Let's head back to the Second Academy for now."

Contacting royal castle is faster through Second Academy.
The principal will get us through back passage instead of the normal annoying procedures.

I got connected to comm magic while walking.
The caller was not me.
This mana... it's Grevil.

『What's the matter, Grevil?』

『I felt demonic mana mixed in the Dragon Veins while I was making an observation at Second Academy. Is that also why Mathias-san has come back?』

Looks like he's already noticed the problem this time.
Perhaps he has information I don't have considering how close the capital is to the demon's location.

『Yeah... How's the situation? Any incident taking place?』

『I don't see anything amiss since the time I detected the demonic mana. However... This demon is most likely quite strong despite its mana. Please be careful.』

『Oh right, are you not aware of Zadokilgias then, Grevil.』

I probably took care of Zadokilgias long before Grevil was born.
Yet the demon's mana is abnormal enough for him to be wary of its strength.

『Zadokilgias... Do you mean the [Demon of Destruction]?』

『Yeah. It's quite an old demon specializing in skillset.』

『I know the name at least... I've been keeping my observation for any suspicious trends after that one time... But there has been absolutely nothing in the Dragon Veins since.』

I see.
At least it doesn't seem like there's a large-scale magic that makes use of Dragon Veins.
Zadokilgias isn't the type that heavily relies on the scale of magic to begin with though.

『Can you inform the principal that we'll be arriving at Second Academy?』

『Yes. I shall ask the royal castle to gather information pertaining known spots of demons.』

On the move already huh. Nice footwork.
Instating Grevil as Second Academy's instructor was really a correct choice.

I made my way to the Second Academy's principal room while thinking that.






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