Chapter 1114
“?”
Of course, Lee Han found it absurd as well.
How many mages were gathered here right now?
The mages of the Daylily Magic Tower were currently putting on an absurdly large-scale farce in order to bring in one promising mage talent, but they were absolutely not easy opponents.
Even Magic Tower Master Eullangdam, who had been forcibly squeezed into stiff and splendid clothes he normally did not wear, immediately changed clothes as soon as he heard the news. He had been worried that Wardanaz might not come if they welcomed him in filthy research-mage robes.
-A relic tracked by the White Poplar knights and the Guardians of Shadow Valley, you say? It cannot be underestimated. I shall personally command.
-W-wait. Are you not going to hold the next event you prepared?
-What was the next event?
-The Daylily Magic Tower ball...
-Just hearing the name is utterly dreadful. It must have been ten years since everyone last danced.
-Pardon? B-but Lord Eullangdam told us to prepare it exactly as noble houses outside do...
-Enough, enough! This is not the time to hold such an event when there is work the Magic Tower ought to do. And showing our magical ability like this will be more persuasive instead.
The other mages admired the words, saying they sounded plausible, but the few mages who had actually prepared the event cast suspicious looks.
After making them prepare all that and getting angry, acting like that now seemed strange no matter how one looked at it.
...Could it be that Eullangdam too had found it so dull and tedious that it was hard to endure?
Whatever the reason, Eullangdam placed the mages and constructed a perfect encirclement.
Even the Magic Tower mages, who normally would not have stepped forward for something like this, stepped forward excitedly. This was far better than a boring event.
Because of that, Lee Han had not thought much even while the relic’s chains were being undone and it was being opened.
He had already trusted the professors’ military power, and now the mages of the Daylily Magic Tower had been added too, so was this not at the level where it would be resolved even if he stayed still?
Yet the spirit that came out ignored the many strong people and spoke to Lee Han. It was extremely unsettling.
'Besides, it is a bigger figure than I expected.'
Even among wandering exile spirits, there were vast differences in rank.
For one that called itself a king, Saratan’s track record was not very good. Had not even its original body been subdued by other spirits?
Of course, Lee Han did not know how Saratan had lost. It might have been caught in a scheme or betrayed.
But in the end, was it not still a loser? Since it called itself a king, it would have basic power, but unless it proved that through results, the title of king had no meaning.
Compared to that, the spirit called Heavenly Fire General did not seem to have any interest in calling itself a king, yet it felt several times more threatening.
Because it meant that, instead of governing or decorating its own territory as a spirit, it was interested only in other things.
Not only had the Daylily Magic Tower mages immediately found it in the records...
“Saratan. Do you have any guess why that spirit is showing interest?”
-Th-that...
“That?”
-I did not know it would be that spirit...!
Saratan was horrified.
To think that the spirit trapped inside the relic was actually the Heavenly Fire General.
Was it not an ancient spirit from several generations before Saratan, and far more violent besides!
Judging by the aura felt from the relic, Saratan had thought it would be, at most, a spirit on the same level as itself or below...
“Is that important right now?”
Lee Han reproached it as if frustrated.
This spirit was truly no help.
Should it not be telling him what it knew about the Heavenly Fire General and guessing why that spirit was showing interest in Lee Han?
Because it liked mana, or liked mana, or liked mana...
'Mm. Do I not need to ask? Somehow that seems like the correct answer.'
Saratan firmed its resolve.
In truth, if one looked only at a belligerent temperament, Saratan was also not a spirit that would fall behind anywhere.
Now that it thought about it, it was angry at the fact that it had been afraid of an ancient spirit it had never even met.
-...You are right. I too wanted to try crossing blows with it once! Summon me!
“......”
Lee Han seriously wondered whether he should kick the staff once.
It had been talking nonsense from earlier.
“Not summon. Why is that spirit showing interest in me...”
Good, good! If I am going back anyway, it would not be bad to burn a being like you before I go!
“!”
In an instant, the spirit’s body lost its shape and changed into a gigantic pillar of flame.
The space where the mages were currently gathered was the <Sealing Room> on the fifth underground floor of the Magic Tower.
This place, where more than hundreds of magic circles were layered in tiers, was used when sealing powerful beings from other dimensions. Once the magic circles were activated, they applied vicious pressure and made it impossible to escape.
However, Zbagni showed an absurd choice that exceeded everyone’s expectations.
It broke through the magic circles by burning away its entire body.
It was an enormous loss, but Zbagni did not care. The desire to clash once with that absurdly strange mage was all Zbagni felt at the moment.
Mortal loved by spirits and stars, try facing this Heavenly Fire General hated by spirits and stars!
-That lunatic!!
Saratan screamed.
It had realized what Zbagni had just done.
What had been trapped inside the relic was not Zbagni’s main body, but an incarnation.
Such an incarnation was like an alter body, so even if it was defeated once and extinguished, the original body in the spirit world would not be extinguished as well.
Of course, that did not mean there would be no damage. An incarnation was ultimately part of oneself, and since this incarnation would be reverse-summoned, there could not be no blow.
That was why Zbagni had remained trapped inside the relic for a long time.
It could have chosen death over being sealed and been reverse-summoned, but if it was going to suffer such a loss, it was much better to simply wait a little until the seal was undone someday.
In the material world, it was a long time, but in the spirit world, this much time was sufficiently worth waiting.
Yet now Zbagni had made all those choices meaningless.
It had burned away its entire incarnation to break through the magic circles, then drawn insufficient power from its main body.
When beings from other dimensions drew power, just how much loss did they suffer from the world’s rejection?
It had blown away its incarnation, and as if that were not enough, had even drawn on the power of its original body, so even for a spirit on Zbagni’s level, such a loss could not be overlooked.
And the most absurd point of this choice was that what Zbagni gained after taking all these massive losses was nothing more than a very brief chance to fight.
What meaning would there be in piercing and breaking through the magic circles?
There were more than hundreds of perfectly fresh mages and knights around here right now!
To bear all these losses for just one opportunity like that...
'That bastard Saratan!'
While Saratan was shocked, Lee Han was similarly shocked.
And at the same time, he cursed Saratan as well. This spirit truly had not a single useful aspect.
Of course, it was not Saratan’s fault that a spirit like Heavenly Fire General had come out of that relic. Even without Saratan, the knight order would have brought the relic, and the spirit inside would have been taken out.
But even so, a person’s heart could not help it.
For some reason, he felt as if his luck became bad whenever Saratan was involved!
'I just have to hold out for a moment!'
-Bring me out! I will fight with you!
-How am I supposed to bring you out! I am not Master!
Lee Han shouted and pulled up magic.
The young prince, as a master of magic, had been able to create Saratan’s insufficient body with a single finger and summon it, but Lee Han had neither such ability nor, even more so, the time for it right now.
If he had that power, he had to use it to endure.
Fortunately, seeing reinforcements immediately step forward from all around, it seemed he only needed to hold out for a little while.
The moment Zbagni broke through, strong people everywhere moved immediately.
Professor Voladi and Professor Garcia, Magic Tower Master Eullangdam, Bamandam of the White Poplar Knights...
...Jute of the Guardians of Shadow Valley, and even Jowrin, who was transforming into a dragon in anger!!
'No!!'
Lee Han screamed inwardly.
Not because of the former, but because of the latter.
It was a little burdensome and flustering that Jute was trying to cherish and take care of Lee Han as a junior dark mage of the same school, but it was not that big a problem.
They could choose a day sometime, hold a dark mages’ gathering, and all give Jute psychological counseling together. If Senior Diret was there, persuasion would probably be fully possible.
However, Jowrin transforming into a dragon here and now was a different story.
Even if the other Magic Tower mages did not know, would not a mage on the level of Magic Tower Master Eullangdam naturally realize the situation?
There were countless members of the Imperial Family in the Empire, as if stamped from a mold, but among them, only nine were dragons.
And the fact that one of those dragons was following someone around...
Good, good! It is even more joyful to burn one who is loved!
Lee Han stopped thinking and returned to reality. The vicious malice emitted by the opposing spirit made it impossible to think of anything else.
'Water Orb!'
The water-orb spell stored in <Intermediate Magic Storage> immediately activated and shot out.
It did not simply end with a dazzling trajectory. Lee Han cast intermediate spatial movement in order to strike this evil spirit directly with it.
His brain felt as if it were burning from the concentration being exerted to an extreme, regardless of mana, but the magical experience he had built up until now produced a result close to a miracle. He had cast the magic perfectly.
At the same time, Lee Han drew Saratan’s power from the staff. He could not create Saratan’s original body, but authority was possible.
Authority of Tenacity!
-Trust me, mage!
For the first time since they had contracted with each other, Saratan did not betray Lee Han’s expectations.
Having drunk the mage’s mana like spring water, Saratan roared and burst forth with the Authority of Tenacity.
It did not merely make the durability of the staff firmer; an undefeated barrier was formed in front.
The front was blocked and it had been struck from behind by the water orb, but the Heavenly Fire General laughed and cut off its own body.
Since it wanted to fight as much as possible before being reverse-summoned anyway, it did not matter.
You are truly strong, as befits one loved by spirits! I want to burn you even more!
“...You son of a bitch. Who says I am loved by spirits!”
Lee Han usually did not waste emotion when fighting an opponent, but this time, he flared up.
The hardships he had gone through until now when contracting with spirits flashed rapidly through his head.
At Lee Han’s words, filled with heartfelt emotion, the Heavenly Fire General stopped short.
That mortal mage certainly appeared like one loved by all.
Yet how could he show such heartfelt unfairness?
To the point it almost seemed as if the other party was a being like itself.
'Was there perhaps something I misunderstood?'
But separate from its thoughts, the Heavenly Fire General did not stop and moved. Considering the surrounding situation, one or two more times would be the end of the opportunities.
The Heavenly Fire General’s body dwindled as if an ember were going out.
However, that was a trick. As if trying to gain time to fight, a gigantic wall of flame appeared around them. At the same time, the Heavenly Fire General revealed its body in the air again.
It had drawn power from its main body once more!
Saratan spat out curses.
-That insane old bastard!! It should have aged gracefully!!!!
Hahahahaha! Hahahahahahaha! Try blocking this once!
Inside the wall of flame, countless warriors made of fire began to appear.
Lee Han did not even have time to curse like Saratan.
First, he activated the black-magnetite of the staff as much as possible to interfere with any further casting through counter-magic, then called forth as many water-orbs as possible to eliminate the warriors that were already there.
However, the spinning water beads were nothing more than morning dew before the fierce heat the warriors emitted. Their size shrank and faded in an instant.
Just as Lee Han gritted his teeth and tried to cast again, the approaching warriors suddenly faded away without form.
No!
Even Zbagni was flustered.
To nullify its army just like that without any preparation or omen?
'Euangelion!'
Even though nothing could be seen, Lee Han could tell by instinct. The outer garment, engraved across countless parallel dimensions, was protecting its master.
When he thought that the master’s power was protecting him, composure returned. Lee Han called forth water-orbs once more.
They were not the water-orbs he had cast just now. He had already felt that ordinary water-orbs could not break the enemy.
A water-orb that, like <Wardanaz’s Lightning Fire>, contained an additional thought, rather than simply being physically rotated to create destructive power.
Its size was smaller than before, and its rotation was not that fierce, but Zbagni sensed defeat.