Chapter 89 – Warrior of the Dragon Fang

…To verify whether the Amulet of Evil Repulsion would still be effective after ingesting Alraune’s Kiss.

And to sample it so I could spit it out immediately if drugged while not wearing the necklace.

I convinced everyone with these reasons, making them accept that I would take Alraune’s Kiss myself immediately after obtaining the necklace.

I knew the effects were temporary, and even if it was addictive, Ashley’s Healing Magic could handle it. As for temporarily losing my free will… well, if it’s them, I can trust them enough to let it happen.

The rest was up to Caduceus memorizing and reproducing my behavior when taking it and when it activated, then mimicking it as closely as possible.

That was part of the countermeasures too. I knew I’d been drupped the moment the tea touched my lips. If I didn’t know the taste when mixed in, I couldn’t distinguish between it and regular poison.

Anastasia removed the veil covering her face and stroked my cheek with a beaming smile. …This bitch.

“Well then… finally obtained, I suppose. Where shall I begin?”

She walked around the room with a pleased expression, arms crossed.

Anastasia was definitely black, but I’d hear her first question. I might gain some information.

After that—I’ll just use Light Bind to restrain her without discussion, then slap her hard enough to knock her unconscious.

“First… tell me your absolute weaknesses and secrets that you can never share with anyone. Or perhaps a child like you has none of those?”

I see. By holding secrets… she could summon me later when needed using that as pretext. Even without leaving evidence of Subjugation Magic, she could drug and control me again when necessary, maintaining superficially good relations until playing that card.

Well… now I understand her methods.

“After being stabbed… I regret not being able to delete the storage data.”

“Sto—what did you say?”

Well, that’s from my previous life. A secret is a secret, but she wouldn’t understand even if I told her.

“Light Bind.”

I pointed at Anastasia, who wore a suspicious expression, and activated the magic.

“What!?”

The rings of light converged, shattering just before touching her body. Simultaneously, the sleeve of Anastasia’s clothing burst from the inside.

Anastasia showed a shocked expression while deploying a Magic Shield and leaping backward. A Doll approached from the side.

“You…! How!?”

While hearing Anastasia’s curses, I swept away the approaching Doll with Ouroboros in hand. I crushed the Doll’s torso and sent it flying to the corner of the room.

Anastasia, glaring at me, wore bracelets and rings on her arms. Beneath her fluttering clothes, she wore excessive ornaments.

Probably for defense against magic. That must have blocked my Light Bind too—but the Magic Stone seemed to have shattered from being unable to withstand the overload.

“Damn you!”

Responding to Anastasia’s furious shout, Dolls flew into the room through the doors and windows. Not just one or two.

Each was armed with hatchets or axes. They must have been all over the mansion. While setting the Dolls on me, Anastasia herself tried to escape through the inner door. A Magic Array glowed on the door. She intended to lock it with a magical key to trap me inside.

“Move aside.”

I swept away the approaching Dolls.

Doll parts scattered everywhere, but when they stopped mid-air, the undamaged parts connected to each other and returned to the battle line.

Stalling for time. While deploying a Magic Shield, I kicked off the floor, mowing down the Dolls in front and advancing. Instead of the door, I smashed through the wall with Ouroboros and burst into the next room. That room too was filled with Dolls.

Beyond them, I could see Anastasia trying to exit through a doorway… her eyes widened as she glanced back for a moment. Dealing with the Dolls would be pointless. I charged straight ahead in a line, smashing through another wall to advance.

Chasing Anastasia, I emerged into an open courtyard.

“In someone’s house—you’re causing quite the mess!”

Anastasia, turning around, held a glowing Magic Circle. The next instant, chunks of rock slammed against my deployed Magic Shield.

She didn’t intend to run away but to fight in an open space. Fine by me.

I raised Ouroboros and turned to face her. From the courtyard-facing windows and doors of the mansion, countless Doll parts flew out. Heads, arms, legs, torsos.

They assembled into a monstrous centipede-like form and crawled toward me. Dodging the connected Doll arms swung from below, I crushed the head as we passed each other. The Dolls didn’t stop. Each part must be an independent Magical Creature.

Additionally, Anastasia herself provided magical support fire. Using the Dolls as Vanguard, she maintained distance while firing Ice Shotgun. Evading without using magic, I raised my staff toward the centipede Doll before me.

“Tramplethorn.”

Using Wood Magic to entangle and immobilize it. Partially crushing it would just let the intact parts reassemble. Then I’d bind it all together solidly.

I cast Levitation on the thorny sphere and smashed it with Ouroboros, firing it toward Anastasia.

“Tch!”

Anastasia’s eyes widened. She too used Levitation on herself, performing a great leap. The thorny sphere passed by at the last moment.

Meanwhile, the Doll parts kept increasing. Assembling into a dragon-like form, it opened its jaws and closed in on me.

I spun Ouroboros before my eyes, creating a giant Shield. Catching the dragon’s head entirely, behind the Shield, I deployed an even larger Magic Circle.

Lightning Magic seventh tier—.

“Lightning Blast!”

Simultaneously with releasing the Shield, a massive Lightning Strike matching the circle’s diameter pierced into the dragon Doll’s mouth. It blasted the dragon’s occiput apart, propagating the lightning shock through the entire assembly.

The dragon’s body stopped moving. From the tip, it melted away, crumbling and falling apart.

“You dare!”

Anastasia turned her back to me again and fled. She escaped into the glass-walled building beyond the courtyard.

Naturally, I pursued Anastasia, stepping inside. This was—.

“…A greenhouse, huh.”

A greenhouse overgrown with trees and plants.

What grew here were medicinal herbs, poisonous plants, and such. She cultivated Mandragora here too, right? And grew some as Alraune?

The reason she lured me here—must be because this greenhouse itself is like a mass of evidence. Since her methods were exposed, she intended to use that to her advantage.

Probably to prevent me from using large-scale magic by using evidence preservation as a shield.

Anastasia was deep inside the greenhouse. She pulled something white—blade-like—from her bosom and glared at me. That must be a dragon’s fang.

“Come!”

Saying this, she threw it to the ground. From where the fang landed, the ground swelled up, revealing a Skeleton soldier.

Not some crude Skeleton… or such.

A Dragon Fang Soldier. Or a Magical Creature called Spartoi. Summoned using a dragon’s fang as catalyst—it’s quite a powerful Warrior.

Really… with such abundant funds. She probably intends to finish me in Close Combat in a situation where I can’t use Great Magic.

“Annoying.”

I charged without hesitation. I struck Ouroboros against the two scimitars held by the Dragon Fang Soldier.

He crossed his scimitars to block it. Holding Ouroboros with one blade, he thrust with the other. The white blade grazing right by my cheek glittered.

Then, as if pressing the blade, he pulled back, delivering a Slash Attack unique to scimitars. I created a Shield in mid-air, kicked off it, and performed a Cartwheel to Dodge the slash.

I tried to counterattack as he finished swinging his blade—but caught Anastasia in the corner of my vision, about to cast magic with a Magic Circle.

The disguise is poor. Reading the magic she intended to cast from the circle’s pattern, I used the Dragon Staff like a pole vault to leap upward.

A moment later, Heat Fog appeared below me. The Dragon Fang Soldier leaped out from the high-temperature mist, trying to strike me down mid-air. We clashed in the air and I repelled him, but he used a tree trunk as footing, performed a Form Shift, and closed in again without pause, determined not to let me reach his master.

Matching the Dragon Fang Soldier’s movements, Anastasia deployed a Magic Shield remotely, creating footholds for aerial combat.

I ended up exchanging blows with the Dragon Fang Soldier remaining in the air.

Though an imitation… if this is improvised, it’s quite impressive.

While crossing blades with the Dragon Fang Soldier, Fireballs and Lightning Strikes were fired from below. I defended with Shields and evaded, then blocked a strike from the Dragon Fang Soldier who slashed with his two blades crossed.

Probably because I’m fighting a Dragon Fang Soldier. Things like involving allies—she doesn’t care about that. Must be quite easy to provide magical support.

But.

Dragon Fang Soldiers are brave Warriors. They fight on without Fear of death. That is—their downfall.

I deployed a Shield under my feet to create footing. This also served as Defense against magical attacks from Anastasia. Simultaneously, I cast magic toward the Dragon Fang Soldier approaching from the side.

“Magnetic Wave!”

Earth Magic sixth tier. Using magnetism to entangle the scimitars he holds.

Even then, the Dragon Fang Soldier didn’t release his weapons. This part must be the fearless fighting spirit unique to Dragon Fang Soldiers—.

I pulled forcefully with magnetism, swung him around, and hurled him high into the sky. The Skeleton danced in the air, having shattered the greenhouse ceiling. I too leaped higher, pursuing him.

“Wh, what!?”

Anastasia’s astonishment. The falling Dragon Fang Soldier. Even if she wanted to support, Anastasia’s magic range couldn’t reach. The moment the Dragon Fang Soldier chased me into the air, master and servant were practically separated.

“Disappear.”

Using Magnetic Wave again to entangle the blades held by the Dragon Fang Soldier. Ouroboros, as if anticipating the outcome, let out a pleased growl.

Like throwing it away overhand.

I hurled it with all my strength toward the roof of Anastasia’s mansion. The Dragon Fang Soldier, given tremendous acceleration by magnetism and gravity, crashed into the mansion’s roof. It broke through and disappeared from view. Probably shattered to pieces.

“Monster…?”

Witnessing that scene, Anastasia cursed with a dumbfounded expression.

Landing back in the greenhouse and turning around, she shook her head and spoke to me.

“…Wait. With that much power, it would be wiser to cooperate with the one I serve. You would surely be valued highly.”

Seeing she can’t win, now she tries to win me over.

No, I doubt she’s even serious. Since she’s pretending not to be herself, if she just gets through this situation, she can later claim ignorance.

“…Serve? You say that, when you’re the person herself.”

At my words, Anastasia’s eyebrow twitched slightly. As expected of someone accustomed to noble society. Not naive enough to fall for a bluff.

Still, I’m almost certain. Prince Albert seemed suspicious too, and I confirmed it when she stroked my cheek earlier.

That ring is a secret Magic Tool of the royal court’s Magic Engineers. There are multiple, but they don’t circulate outside. Only those deeply connected to the royal palace, especially the royal family, can use them.

The Princess absent from the castle during the lords’ visit. The fortune teller appearing in high society during the same period. And—the uncaught culprit of the attempted assassination of Princess Marlene.

Even something as dangerously potent as Alraune’s Kiss probably couldn’t be entrusted to others.

Possessing such secret medicines while engaging in roundabout Power Struggle was… to feign as natural a succession as possible, or to solidify her foundation after becoming queen, part of the preparation for that. The reason she drew in factions like Greg’s faction that dislike Magicians was probably because it was more convenient to have those ignorant of magic.

“What ever do you mean? Just listen. My master is—”

Anastasia smiled thinly, but my next words made her face twitch.

“Well, I’ll skip the answer check. Let’s just say I’m only slapping around a scoundrel who drugged me.”

No sooner had I spoken than I poured Magical Power into Ouroboros and kicked off the ground.

“Wai, wait! I am—!”

Closing in. Ouroboros about to be swung down. Anastasia trying to block it with a Magic Shield. Shield and staff clashed, scattering bluish-white sparks.

“The king! I can make you king!”

She screamed that. I already refused that offer before.

Perhaps her concentration broke, the stalemate didn’t last long. A shattering sound. A Shockwave from the broken equilibrium. Anastasia’s body was flung backward, crashing into a tree trunk and tumbling into the garden.