Chapter 2 — 사자(獅子)

Part 2, Chapter 22

Lion

Every time a snow-white ice spear and a bright yellow greatsword crashed, a torrent of sparks burst so wildly it veiled the world.

At a glance, they were neck and neck.

A duel of the century where you couldn’t see an inch ahead.

But—

Tzzzzzt—!

“Hm.”

Look closer, and the Golden Lion was clearly the one with the edge.

Elric drove his spear with ferocity, punctuating with bursts of the Progenitor’s secret magic to catch him off guard.

Kwarung! Kwarung! Kwarururung—

Kukukuku—

Dogged to the point of obsession.

Meanwhile, the Golden Lion, one hand on his greatsword as if out for a stroll, casually flicked, bled off, or batted aside Elric’s attacks.

The way he occasionally smiled, as if to say go on, try harder, only made it worse.

Grinding his teeth at that attitude, Elric poured more weight into the spear. The air began to wail as if it were tearing.

Progenitor’s Secret Art

Heaven-and-Earth Devastation Shot – Applied

Body-Forging Art, Posture Three

Fierce Tiger’s Charge

As when he’d faced a Jasaja, condensed mana pushed to the limit fused with holy power, the Heaven-and-Earth Devastation Shot growing far stronger than what the Progenitor had left behind.

Layer the one-breath surge of Fierce Tiger’s Charge on top of that, and the force carried by the ice spear swelled to something monstrous.

Crack-crack-crack!

But only the spear shaved down in chunks; the Golden Lion hadn’t let his breath hitch once.

'…Unbelievable.'

He could admit the man deserved to be called the summit of the continent, and still think at this rate he’d be nothing but the man’s idle pastime.

Pang—!

Elric knocked aside the Golden Lion’s blade and looped wide behind him at a blistering speed.

Each beat of his wings added another notch of acceleration.

Maybe he was pushing too hard.

Bzzzt!

Mana rampaged every time he moved, his body shuddering ceaselessly.

Even so—

Elric braced his flesh with Damir’s holy power, suppressing the mana’s rampage as much as he could.

'One way or another.'

In that state, Elric moved to use the secret he’d forged himself.

'No idea if it’ll work.'

Under normal circumstances it was still theoretical, and he’d never planned to use it.

But now wasn’t the time to be picky.

“…Hup.”

Elric drew a deep breath.

Vmmmm—

In an instant, the mana stone shuddered violently and a flood of mana burst through his body.

“Oh?”

The Golden Lion’s eyes widened the slightest bit, as if he’d sensed something.

“Planning something amusing, are you.”

The look that said go on, impress me was infuriating, but Elric poured every shred of focus into control, driving his will through the mana.

- First, Damir.

Concentrate all holy power into the body and push regeneration to its peak.

What he was about to use would ravage the flesh whether it succeeded or failed.

To endure even a little longer, he had to raise his body’s durability.

So he propped his flesh with Damir’s spirit. A soft, hazy aureole glimmered across his skin.

What in the world are you trying to do. He thought he heard Damir muttering, but his superhuman focus made the words indistinct.

- Second, Nahatram.

Once the body can take it, what you need next is perception.

Every fingertip. Every cell. Every nerve. Beyond the five senses, throw the sixth sense wide open and pin the Golden Lion ahead.

Can’t you ever do anything normal? This is killing me. He thought he heard Nahatram’s curse, and ignored it.

- Lastly, Mia.

The amount of mana he was forcing out of the mana stone beyond its limit was staggering.

Right now, Elric could say it with confidence:

In sheer quantity of mana under his hand, he wasn’t inferior even to a Jewel Dragon.

Skill in handling it, however, was another matter altogether.

So he poured it entirely into Mia’s spirit.

Measured purely in magic, even Otto had said he owed her several moves; she would make it work somehow.

He’s our descendant, but he’s truly insane. Of course, Mia’s voice didn’t reach him, either.

- But it was enough.

Time.

Sight (field of view).

Consciousness.

He felt the whole world around him change.

As Triple Casting peaked and the sum of three spirits snapped into alignment—

Elric drowned in a soaring exultation, as if he’d stepped into another world.

The world slowed, his thoughts sped, and an ocean of information unfolded and interpreted itself without friction.

This—wasn’t this a stray hair from the realm of the gods men only spoke of?

Elric Original

Launch Control

'Originally, I made it to spike my stats when I meet Azazel later.'

But the opponent before him was the continent’s only Seven Chains swordsman.

This wasn’t the time to hoard trump cards.

'Five minutes.'

Elric weighed, instinctively, the limit he could endure.

'End it within that.'

Even that was a best-case cap.

If he actually hit that ceiling, he might go into deviation and wind up a cripple.

That was how—

Dangerous this secret art was.

Kwoooom—

Elric hurled himself forward. Lightning-qi danced up his frame, chain-exploding dozens of times, while fine ice blades shredded apart and rode the gale straight at the Golden Lion.

Kwakwakwa—

Chaaang!

The Golden Lion knocked Elric’s surge aside and, at the same time, staggered back.

A single light step.

Yet to the Golden Lion, it was oddly delightful.

“You finally managed to make me take a step back.”

Ha-ha-ha.

The Golden Lion laughed.

“Praise is due. Take pride in it. There are precious few among the Lions who can make me move.”

Another lunge at his throat. Elric’s shadow stretched long, and from it a shadow beast sprang.

Hyul.

The Fiend-God’s Mark smoldered dark on his skin.

Kraaa!

Fierce and savage, without mercy.

Elric and Hyul’s thought-form striking in tandem was beyond words.

“Which makes me like you even more. Good. You’ve put me in a good mood—so in return, I’ll show you what a true ‘Lion’ is.”

* * *

Screee—

A sonic boom cracked behind Elric.

In an eyeblink, he was in the Golden Lion’s face—then he snapped his line and went for the man’s back.

Crk-crk-crk.

He tightened his grip and drove the spear for the Golden Lion’s spine.

Clang!

The Golden Lion didn’t even blink as he caught the strike.

His counter-swing drove Elric back.

Elric’s expression hardly changed.

He’d expected it. This was the Golden Lion.

Whoosh—!

The instant his strike was stopped, Elric shot into the air.

Then he wove left and right, unreadable, dropping on the Golden Lion.

He moved so fast the afterimages stacked until it looked like a clone technique.

Dozens of Elrics thrust their spears at the Golden Lion.

Kwoooooom!

A massive report rolled out with a heavy shockwave.

Centered on Elric and the Golden Lion, a swath of the hill and the nearby Jasaja troops blew away like chaff.

“Gyaaah!”

“S-spare me!”

Soldiers hurled high into the sky and dashed to their deaths, soldiers rolling down the slope and dying on impact.

It had been a single clash.

Dozens of soldiers died, yet neither Elric nor the Golden Lion so much as twitched an eyebrow.

They saw only the opponent in front of them.

The Golden Lion, once again, blocked Elric’s assault without trouble.

Among the dozens of afterimages, he picked the true Elric and swung.

They collided over and over.

Bang! Bang! Kwaang!

Each time, ripples spread through the air and the backblast rolled in.

Afraid of being swept up, the soldiers began to withdraw.

Lightning-qi shot up as pillars of fire; darkness struck down from the sky like bolts.

In a blink, there was nothing left around Elric and the Golden Lion.

The hill, before long, was gouged so deep it hardly deserved to be called a hill.

But neither noticed—too absorbed in the fight.

“Hrrap!”

Elric swept for the Golden Lion’s legs with a shout.

Kang!

Again, the Golden Lion flicked his blade and made Elric’s attack glance off.

'Damn…!'

Elric cursed inwardly.

He’d stacked Triple Casting with three possessions, and even brought out his original magic, Launch Control.

Even so, from the spot where he’d taken Jasaja Bel’s head up to now, he had made the Golden Lion move just one step.

Worse than that—

'Those eyes.'

Those green eyes watching him like an animal at the zoo.

The Golden Lion studied him minutely, as if taking his measure.

『Now you know how I feel?』

[You’re distracting me to death. If you’re not going to help, kindly shut up.]

On top of that, the time left to maintain Launch Control was almost gone.

It’s a wonder there’s a human since Augustine who can make me work this hard.

Hyul’s thought-form appeared at Elric’s side, grumbling with irritation.

He’d been cut to pieces by the Golden Lion’s blade more than once, his pride clearly smarting.

“Your skill is indeed considerable. And entertaining. So I’ll ask again. Will you still not take the seat of a Jasaja?”

The Golden Lion grinned at Elric.

Curiosity still lit his gaze.

Naturally—

Elric found it nothing but offensive.

“Why.”

“Mm?”

“Why would someone like you take part in this absurd slaughter?”

About a minute left on Launch Control.

And yet the gap he couldn’t close made him feel suffocated.

Was the wall of Seven Chains—the first ever achieved by mankind—just too high?

Meanwhile, his mana was nearly dry, and fatigue was building in his body.

Considering the evacuation of Huilan wasn’t complete—

If he let the man go like this, he wouldn’t be able to avert the massacre entirely.

The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.

With this much power—

Why come here, when he held even the Imperial family beneath his heel?

What wind had blown through him?

“Hmm… I can see why you’d think that. It’s not something I meant to hide.”

The Golden Lion looked as if he hadn’t expected the question, gathered his thoughts for a beat, then shrugged.

“I can’t help it. I’m a hopeless girl-dad.”

For the first time, a genuine smile touched the Golden Lion’s face.

'A… daughter?'

It was startling enough that the Golden Lion had a child—but what did that have to do with a massacre at Huilan?

'Ah.'

Only then did Elric drag it up.

'Chromhel!'

Chromhel’s wedding was scheduled soon.

- I don’t know where you’re off to, but don’t go too far. If nothing else, you should grace my wedding a month from now with your presence, friend.

He remembered Chromhel pressing an invitation into his hand as he set off for the southern region….

That was it.

This ghastly massacre—

Was the wedding trousseau.

The Mage Who Devoured Talent