Chapter 271 – Obsession and Guidance

“…Go! Bring Eberhart before me. Kill anyone who resists! But Stephania and that magician brat are my prey! Don’t lay a hand on them!”

Perhaps his hearing had improved through demonification. Zadias seemed to have heard my voice, as he irritably gave orders to the Black Knights.

“Yes, sir!”

Following Zadias’s command, the Black Knights headed toward the defensive positions. As instructed, they appeared to be ignoring me as I approached Zadias.

The two Golems were Grace and Rosemary. The Black Knights were Ashley and the others. And Elliot was dealing with the Black Knight commander.

I had recalled Caduceus to the throne room to standby as reinforcements. Zadias… wasn’t leaving any guards behind, it seemed.

I took some distance and faced the two. The crystals Zadias had been holding appeared to have all been absorbed by him. His solar plexus glowed with a reddish-black light. Was that the core?

Miasma extended long from Zadias’s right hand, forming into a sword. So he could weaponize miasma too.

Converting magical power to miasma… switching between positive and negative, then manipulating the spell formula to transform… that much was fine. Would he revert if the core was destroyed? Or was he like demons, unable to stop unless killed?

When I fully crouched down, Volheim frowned.

“He’s going to charge. Magic from magical power circulation can’t gain range.”

“…He’s just a moldy relic of the past after all. He appears lightly armored. One solid hit should end the fight.”

So he knew about the properties of magical power circulation. But that was irrelevant. If he thought he could fight from a distance or capture me alive… he could try.

Activating Mirage Body—I stepped forward with full force.

Foot level. Directly ahead. Eye level. Moving along the shortest path toward Zadias with three trajectories alongside two illusions.

“What?!”

“This is—”

Simultaneously controlling Levitation and Air Blast mid-air. Accelerating further in the air. I plunged into his guard in one motion.

Zadias swung down with a Bamboo Splitter from above. He sliced through the eye-level and direct-ahead illusions, but I had already stepped inside the sword’s trajectory. I scooped up the groaning Ouroboros from below. The tip of the rebounding staff smashed into Zadias’s chin.

Just before impact, he leaped backward on his own. His reaction speed was decent.

“Oh…”

Glancing around, I saw Volheim’s eyes wide open. As if regaining his senses after a moment’s delay, he tried to create distance. I pursued. As he deployed a miasma barrier wall, I slammed Ouroboros into it. The magical power enveloping Ouroboros clashed with Volheim’s miasma, scattering sparks.

“Tch!”

Zadias, having regained his posture, rebounded and charged from behind.

“Nemea!”

I deployed a thin Shield on my back. Reading the attack type and angle. Without even turning around, Nemea filled with circulated magical power intercepted Zadias’s miasma sword with her claws. While forcefully pushing back Volheim in front, I controlled Nemea to intercept Zadias behind me. Spark Light flashed, and the sound of clashing blades echoed.

“Th-this guy…?!”

Beyond the miasma barrier wall, Volheim’s Magic Circle deployed.

To crush it at the outset. While pinning him with Ouroboros, I struck with a palm strike imbued with magical shock.

“Gah?!”

The Magic Circle scattered, and Volheim was sent flying backward. Using Nemea’s claws that had blocked the miasma sword, I diverted the force as if parrying, causing Zadias’s body to flounder. Maintaining the momentum, I shifted form and slammed Ouroboros into his flank.

“Guu?!”

It was more than enough power to rupture internal organs in a human, yet he seemed relatively unfazed. Perhaps because he was in dragon form, his surface durability might approach Zevion’s.

Capella’s hind legs shot out in front of me, kicking Zadias in the chest before closing the distance with her back still turned to Volheim.

“You bastard!”

Zadias closed in as if chasing. I knocked down the incoming miasma bullets with Ouroboros. Nemea leaped as if pouncing on Volheim approaching from behind, swinging down her claws. Volheim blocked it with his khakkhara. The fact he could withstand Nemea’s strength suggested Enhancement through miasma. While his appearance hadn’t changed much, his interior clearly had.

Blocking the descending miasma sword with Ouroboros, I unleashed a kick with a compact motion meant only for contact. That was sufficient as an attack origin. The moment my sole touched his abdomen, I struck with magical shock, shifted form, and disengaged. I knew from Capella’s signal that he’d deployed a Magic Circle behind me. The instant I leaped sideways, a Fireball pierced where I’d been, catching Zadias. Ignoring Zadias caught in the blast, I immediately reversed direction and leaped at Volheim.

Perhaps affected by the shock strike through the miasma barrier wall, Volheim met me with his khakkhara. Did he have Staff Martial Arts training? Ouroboros and the khakkhara clashed, and he tried to entangle and lift it. I deployed a Shield to block the khakkhara’s upward rebound direction. Kicked up at the astonished Volheim’s chin.

“Gwaaah?!”

Zadias charged from behind through the blast. Using Volheim’s reclining body as a stepping stone, I leaped upward as if running up.

“Wh…?!”

Zadias swung his sword, but I wasn’t there. I had already taken position above both of them.

One, two, three. Simultaneously deploying Magic Circles. Sixth-Tier Earth Magic Solid Hammer multiple activation.

“Smash!”

Chunks of rock poured down toward the two at ferocious speed. The first shot hit Volheim directly, who hadn’t recovered his posture from where I’d run up. Though he blocked with his khakkhara, he crashed down toward the floor.

Second shot. Zadias roared and slashed down the rock chunk head-on. Third shot. This time it caught Volheim stuck to the floor. He seemed to try blocking with his khakkhara again, but it shattered along with the khakkhara.

The split second shot still lived on as a Technique.

“O—oooooh?!”

The rock chunk split into two pieces hit the weaponless Volheim directly. Enough power to crush him to pieces.

“Vo-Volheim…!”

As the dust cleared—Volheim didn’t get up again. His eyes were rolled back—was this because his demonification was shallow? Miasma rose from the shattered khakkhara and Volheim’s own body.

So the miasma was draining. He’d revert even if the crystal broke. Seems he had some countermeasures prepared. Ignoring the stunned Zadias, I landed, applied a Sealing Technique, solidified it with Earth Magic, and rolled him aside.

Rotten as he was, he was still the Sages’ Academy director. He probably had High-Tier Magic in reserve… but I couldn’t let him use it here. I had to crush him as a priority.

“You… bastard…”

Zadias’s voice trembled.

“I’ll give you a warning. If you expel the crystals from your body now, release the transformation, and surrender, I’ll guarantee your life.”

I could have restored Volheim by knocking him out with Solid Hammer. But what about Zadias? Judging from the durability I’d glimpsed during our warm-up, any stronger magic would become an issue of excessive force before even considering holding back.

I wouldn’t feel any pain over whatever happened to him, but I did want him to spill information.

“If holding back halfway just gives you a chance to counterattack, I’ll finish you off properly, whether you’re the Crown Prince or not. With Volheim here, I have enough mouths to talk.”

“That’s my line! I thought about capturing you alive, but that’s over now! I’ll behead you and show Stephania!”

“Funny joke. You can’t even see the battle situation.”

One by one, Black Knights fell. Zadias finally noticed and looked around at the situation, but upon seeing the Golems, he shook his head.

“Don’t think you can hold off Levanche and Spaera alone forever! I’ll crush you soon and offer those clever little girls as a blood sacrifice!”

…Is that so.

Without answering, I floated up to Zadias’s eye level.

“There are techniques I can’t use with subordinates nearby…! I’ll show you—show you that! That you—brats like you—can’t possibly be Verdgar’s Demon Slayer! Such nonsense can’t be real!”

He screamed as if convincing himself. As he crouched and concentrated power, his solar plexus flickered reddish-black. Responding, miasma rose from his entire body.

“Goaaaaaaaah!”

A roar. While scattering lightning widely from his entire body, he charged with ferocious momentum. I deployed a Shield diagonally, deflecting Zadias’s trajectory as if firing him backward.

“Useless.”

Deploying a Magic Circle. Lightning Magic Fifth-Tier Lightning Veil. I also wrapped myself in lightning and confronted him. I stood ready to receive close combat unchanged. Catching the uncontrolled lightning strikes, I placed them under my control and mastered them.

Blocking the sword of Zadias, who circled and charged, with Ouroboros. Deflecting and countering with Ouroboros. Blocking, blocking. Both his strength and reaction speed had increased from before. But so what?

The miasma sword wrapped in lightning grazed right past my face. Flowing, parrying, I struck with a shock strike through the Shield. Showing no reaction, Zadias pushed forward.

But it wasn’t nearly enough. Strength, durability, reaction speed—none of it mattered.

Killing intent. Technique. Tactics. Everything was lacking.

Entangling the sword, I used his own strength to flip him upward. Smashed Ouroboros into his wide-open face. The opposite end. Flipped up and cracked his jaw.

Refining magical power while activating Mirage Body. The deception of clones. Using movement and trajectory to confuse, then wielding the staff, his fast reaction speed worked against him as he was sucked into the attacks.

Zadias’s face was battered left and right. Mixing strong and weak attacks, further blending shock strikes among them, accumulating damage internally while ignoring his surface durability.

Beaten down repeatedly by Ouroboros, Zadias was sent flying backward. Coughing, he wiped blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

“Such nonsense…! Why can’t I lay a hand on a mere human?! One strike… one strike should be enough…!”

That’s when it happened. An explosive sound and the noise of something hard shattering echoed. The white and black Golems were almost simultaneously crushed.

Grace grabbed the white Golem’s upper half and, using centrifugal force, slammed it into the airship at cannonball-like speed.

Shattering the airship, a brilliant light exploded inside. The airship slowly sank. Elliot had defeated the Black Knight commander… Ashley and the others had completely wiped out the Black Knights. The last Black Knight fell, frozen in ice.

“You—bastard! You bastard, you bastard!”

Enraged by the sight, Zadias rose up with miasma and came at me.

Another fierce clash. Even now, he hadn’t given up. While crossing blades, miasma converged in his mouth. A scene I’d seen with BFO too. It reminded me of a dragon’s breath.

If so, he’d probably release the accumulated miasma from his mouth. That wouldn’t be a miasma bullet, but rather what should be called a miasma cannon in terms of power.

But—something felt off. That gaze. That killing intent. For a Technique meant to decide the match—.

He took my strike directly in his flank without even avoiding it. The next moment, Zadias opened his mouth wide, showing a stance as if to unleash miasma like a dragon’s breath.

I deployed a Magic Circle. But then Zadias turned completely in the wrong direction. Where his gaze landed—was King Eberhart.

A crimson, massive destruction ray illuminated the throne room, piercing through and shattering the Royal Castle.

“Ha—hahahahah!”

Ignoring me, he probably thought it’d be fine if he pierced through the barrier walls and defensive positions to take King Eberhart’s life. Or perhaps—he calculated that this would shake me.

“Hihahaha! Hahahaha—ha…?”

Zadias’s foolish, roaring laughter stopped. Once the crimson flash was fully released, his vision would recover. Where his gaze fell, only blue sky stretched out.

Short-range Teleportation Magic Compact Leap. While maintaining contact, changing direction and teleporting. In short, I made him waste his shot into the sky.

He couldn’t land such a big move on me. So if he aimed it at someone else, he thought I’d either protect the target or he could achieve his objective… that’s what Zadias had calculated.

Unable to comprehend, Zadias froze. An enormous opening. Point-blank range close enough to spark. Controlling the excess magical power enveloping my body, I took a palm strike stance at my hip.

“You’re done.”

Coordinating the movement of all my joints with the palm strike release. Gathering the circulating magical power running in a spiral pattern to a single point. Releasing a magical shockwave aimed at his solar plexus.

One of the bare-handed Combat Skills. A fusion of Spiral Palm Break, Gardinis’s shock strike method, and external magical power manipulation techniques.

Destructive power unimaginable from such a small motion was born. A visible magical shockwave pierced through from Zadias’s back side. A thin shockwave bundled like thread. Only shock propagation. It didn’t make a hole. Zadias, clutching his solar plexus, writhed in agony.

Fragments of red crystal spilled from between his fingers. Meanwhile—on my withdrawn hand, unused, excess magical power remained.

…Leftover, huh? I’d intended to use it all in one strike, but my control is still immature. Needs practice.

But—could I fire about one more worth of magic immediately?

“Ga, gu, gaaah…”

Miasma leaked from all over Zadias’s body.

When I deployed a Magic Circle, Zadias stretched his trembling hand forward as if to stop me.

“Finishing blow… I’m already… surrender—”

“Can’t trust you. Until the miasma fully drains—you can’t release the transformation, and you can still manipulate miasma, right?”

Saying that, I activated magic. Simultaneously with activation, I flew using Nemea and Capella’s strength.

Sixth-Tier Wind Magic Vortex Drive.

“Gah?!”

Wrapped in a barrier wall of gale force, I held Ouroboros like a spear and thrust into Zadias’s abdomen.

Ouroboros’s voice of delight. Zadias’s scream. Accelerating further.

Left and right, ignoring inertia, making sharp turns, breaking through walls while holding Zadias, piercing through ice pillars, gouging the floor, ascending together to near the ceiling.

“Get crushed.”

Drawing an arc, falling straight down. Smashing through the floor, slamming him into the lower level. Crunching sounds as he embedded into the floor, where I canceled the magic.

Zadias lay with limbs splayed, eyes rolled back, tongue out, twitching and convulsing. Like King Eberhart’s transformation, he seemed to be gradually reverting to human from the extremities, but—

Well… since he had durability on par with Zevion during transformation, he should barely be alive even like this. Though all four limbs were bent in strange directions, I mustn’t forget to apply a Magic Seal.