Chapter 298

Faced with a laser attack that ignored all common sense and conventional tactics, the elf Eduar could only laugh.

“Haha… What is this…? Is that guy really human…? He’s a monster…”

Maintaining high output while simultaneously generating and controlling twenty-six beams with precise manipulation—Eduar knew of people who could manage two or three beams at once, but twenty-six? He couldn’t even fathom how it was possible.

Of course, Tatsuro couldn’t pull off such a feat without assistance. Even at his best, four or five beams would be his limit. But with the Magic Brain, Amaterasu, and the staff’s inherent enhancement, this extraordinary feat became achievable.

Not knowing this, Eduar’s reaction was understandable. The difference between their staffs was like comparing a bicycle that requires pedaling to a car that easily exceeds a hundred kilometers per hour with a single press of the accelerator.

{Ai, you okay handling things alone over there?}

{Yeah. Things are getting interesting, so let me handle it solo a bit longer!}

{Interesting? Not sure what you mean, but got it.}

Even in the midst of battle, Tatsuro was keeping an eye on Ai. He knew she was fine but checked just to be sure.

Apparently, her opponent was doing something intriguing in combat, and she wanted to observe it further.

With that in mind, Tatsuro decided to quickly defeat the man in front of him to ensure Ai could focus without interference.

“You seem distracted, but if you stay like that, this ends now.”

“—!”

Tatsuro called on Tsukuyomi to unleash nine massive tentacles to crush Eduar. But as a long-lived elf, Eduar’s battle-honed instincts kicked in, and he instantly summoned a wall of tough-skinned plants, successfully blocking the attack.

“Not bad for a weakling.”

“Was that Water Magic? And the earlier magic was Light and Fire? I can sense Dispel Magic around you too? Just how many types of magic do you have…—Hah!!”

Fully recognizing his opponent’s abnormality, Eduar grew curious about how far he could push back. His pride as an elf wouldn’t allow him to simply be defeated by a kid.

Scattering seeds from his Item Box and sprouting them, thousands of thorny plant vines surged toward Tatsuro from all directions, encircling him in a 360-degree assault.

“Those look like they’d hurt to touch—Hmph.”

Each vine was as strong as a steel wire, resistant to magic and fire—a plant designed specifically to counter Fire Magic users.

But before they could reach him, Tatsuro used Dragon Telekinesis to detach the ribs of Amaterasu’s core-embedded section, extending them via wires to form a giant umbrella-like structure.

A high-heat light membrane enveloped him, and the fire-resistant vines turned to ash upon contact, their charred remains spreading a burnt odor as the fire traveled along them.

Witnessing his large-scale magic vanish so effortlessly, combined with the emotional toll, Eduar’s legs nearly gave out.

“Then it’s my turn. The ceiling’s in the way.”

Tatsuro didn’t wait. Retracting the wired ribs, he aimed Amaterasu at the ceiling. Eduar, drawn to look up as Tatsuro targeted the empty ceiling, was blinded by a dazzling light that filled the entire space.

It was an immense Dragon’s Breath, fueled by Tatsuro’s abundant Dragon Force, blending Fire, Lightning, and Light.

The breath incinerated the vast ceiling of the Audience Chamber, spreading down the walls, reducing them to a mere one-meter height and transforming the room into an open, roofless space.

Everyone except those familiar with Tatsuro gaped at the darkened night sky above. Then, Tatsuro had Tsukuyomi spread her wings, leaping into the air.

“Here I go!”

Aiming his staff at Eduar below, Tatsuro caused Eduar’s face to pale, expecting the same breath to target him.

In desperation, Eduar scattered and sprouted every defensive plant seed he had, creating a barrier that would take an ordinary person a lifetime to breach.

In response, Tatsuro dropped small red stones from his staff onto the plant shield. The sound of them striking the hard bark echoed, and Eduar, puzzled by the lack of a fierce attack, quickly realized what they were.

“These are—parasitic plants!? You dare challenge me with Tree Magic!?”

The red stones were special seeds from a level-10 dungeon. Once their shells broke, green, worm-like stems emerged, attaching suction-cup-laden leaves to other plants to siphon nutrients and grow.

Tatsuro, aiming to crush Eduar’s spirit, chose to defeat him in his strongest domain—Tree Magic. Given Eduar’s evident pride, this would be devastating. Using Dark Magic, Tatsuro warped the parasitic plants to endlessly drain nutrients until their hosts withered completely.

The effect was spectacular. Eduar, confident he was among the top five Tree Magic users in the world, watched his magic—his pride—being devoured by a variant of the same type of magic.

“No way… This—impossible… Using all those other attributes and Tree Magic too!? Don’t mess with me!!”

“Where’s that earlier confidence? Better focus, or your shield will be gone soon.”

“—!”

So focused on pouring Tree Magic into preventing the plants from wilting, Eduar failed to notice Tatsuro landing behind him, having burrowed through the ground with a massive water arm coiled around his right hand, raised to strike.

“You’re the one who took Leah, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you serve a Lord like that?”

With such skill, Eduar could have been in demand anywhere. Tatsuro couldn’t understand why someone of his caliber would serve a foolish Lord. If he was coerced, perhaps by a hostage, Tatsuro thought it might be too harsh to crush him.

But Eduar’s reason was simple.

“…Money. This place paid me the most.”

“That’s it? Really?”

“Yes. That’s what mattered most to me.”

“I see. Then I don’t need to hold back.”

“Gah—!”

Whether true or not, Tatsuro took his words at face value. Casting aside hesitation and mercy, he thrust the water arm forward. Made of Secom-kun’s slime with ice bones inside, it struck Eduar like a giant’s blow, sending him flying past Ai and Andoni, crashing through the entrance, and rolling outside, unconscious.

Using Dispel Magic to check, Tatsuro confirmed Eduar was alive, with multiple broken bones but stable breathing.

{Done here!}

{Almost done here too!}

{Got it.}

Clearing away the withered plants by burning them, Tatsuro soared back into the sky to observe.

Meanwhile, as Tatsuro fought Eduar, Ai was locked in a clash of Swordsmanship and Beast Spirit Technique with Andoni.

“Go, Red-chan Kick!”

“Legs too!?—Then take this!”

Two red lion hindlegs burst from Ai’s sword, aiming a kick at Andoni. He countered with an identical move, their attacks mirroring and colliding.

“You can’t do this, can you!?”

“Nope, I can!”

Desperate, Andoni formed an entire lion from the Ki overflowing from his sword, charging at Ai. But Ai matched it, her lion attack not only canceling his but overpowering it, forcing her to add a slash.

“What!? How—Are you… like me…?”

“Like you? What’s that mean?”

“No way someone your age could use all parts! There’s only one answer—you have the same skill as me, Lion of Swordsmanship, don’t you!?”

“Lion of Swordsmanship? What’s that? Some medical thing?”

“You’re playing dumb after showing that much? Fine, can you do this?”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Thanks to her Magic Brain, Ai was thrilled to instantly construct all lion parts. As Andoni attempted something beyond manifesting the full lion, Ai watched eagerly.

Sensing her ignorance gave him some relief, Andoni summoned red Ki from his sword, forming the lion’s full shape again. Just as Ai’s interest waned, thinking it was the same, Andoni gripped the hilt with both hands, focusing in a centered stance.

“HAAAAAAAAAA!”

“Oh?”

The lion’s holographic form shrank, settling into a state like normal Ki-cloaked attacks. But two differences stood out: the red Ki was visible even without Spirit Vision, and a darker red lion’s face was etched into the blade’s center.

“…Is that Beast Spirit Technique?”

“In a way. This is the ultimate form of Beast Spirit Technique, ‘’. Normal techniques might be called secret arts, but this is an ultimate technique. The minimum requirement is being permitted to use all parts of the beast spirit, so most don’t even know it exists.”

“Huh. So how’s this ‘Ten’ different from normal Ki-cloaking? I can tell it’s packed with a ton of Ki.”

It looked less impressive than when it formed claws or fangs, a question any Beast Spirit Technique user might have.

“This completely masters the act of cutting. This sword can cut anything I want, even without the blade, or pass through without cutting if I choose. Its power ranges from matching all parts combined to a simple strike, and—it can’t be broken by ordinary Beast Spirit Techniques.”

With that, Andoni swung the red Ki-cloaked blade horizontally, then pointed it at Ai. Far from intimidated, Ai’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“That sounds like a cool technique! If the minimum requirement is using all parts, I can do it too, right?”

“You meet the condition, sure. But it’s not just about cloaking the sword with Ki or compressing it. You need to fix the concept to the weapon. It sounds simple, but it’s incredibly difficult. Even I, praised as a prodigy, trained relentlessly without arrogance and only mastered it past thirty. A little girl like you can’t just pull it off.”

“Hmm, sounds tough. But if I watch a bit more, I feel like I could do it.”

Andoni, thinking Ai didn’t grasp the difficulty, snorted and tensed his legs.

“I won’t kill you, but you might get hurt. Sorry in advance.”

“Pretty confident, huh?”

Deciding to observe more, Ai readied her Gem Sword, equipped with Magic Brain, forming a thick blade of eighteen bundled claws, staring Andoni down.