Chapter 261
Chapter 261
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 261
Chapter Title: Cleanup (1)
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"The last one. That should do it, right?"
The dawn air was frigid. In the receding sky, starlight flickered like scattered crumbs. Having returned to her original form, Naransonia hurled a broken stone pillar far into the distance.
Boom! The pillar arced through the air and crashed onto the mountain of debris. All the fragments that once made up Adren had been cleared away by her.
"Yes. That should work. Thank you."
Asel bowed his head. He scurried around the disk, rubbing away characters and symbols from the magic circle with a stone shard to make corrections.
Now, all the obstacles covering the disk were gone. The magic circle used in Nebulus Klazie's ritual revealed itself in its complete form.
Moments ago, upon discovering the magic circle, Asel had asked Naransonia to clear all the debris from atop the disk. She had stared at him like he'd lost his mind—what nonsense was this?—but eventually complied with his request.
Adren was still plummeting. She couldn't even understand herself why she was investing what little precious time remained not in rescue efforts, but in this tiny human mage.
'Did I lose too much blood?'
Was it a desperate grasp at straws, even knowing it was impossible? If someone asked why she did it, she'd have no better answer than that it just felt like something she had to do.
"...Done."
Asel straightened up after scraping away one final rune from the ground. His body felt utterly drained, his mana not yet fully recovered.
He set down the stone shard and sat cross-legged at the center of the magic circle. Naransonia spoke up.
"So, what exactly are you planning to do? Stop the fall with this circle?"
"If luck's on our side. It's a format I've never seen before, but at its core, it's a convergence/dispersion circuit. It gathers external mana into the target while emitting a portion as a signal. It's powerful, but the structure is simple, so with a few tweaks, I think I can repurpose it."
Asel explained without a single stutter. He had modified the circle to retain only its mana-gathering effect, removing the signal emission entirely.
"Convergence and dispersion... what?"
Naransonia furrowed her brow. She didn't understand most of the technical terms spilling from his mouth. But she got the gist of what he was attempting. She asked,
"So... you're trying to recreate what His Majesty did?"
"Yes. We have to start before the stars fully fade. Um... one more favor?"
Asel's eyes gleamed beneath his long lashes, heavy with resolve. Naransonia tilted her head.
"A favor? What?"
"No matter what happens, don't try to stop me."
His young voice rang with determination. Naransonia flinched for a moment. His aura had changed completely, like he was an entirely different person. Without thinking, she nodded.
"...Got it."
"Ehehe... Thank you."
Asel smiled. His pure, unclouded grin carried an inexplicable transcendence, the kind only someone who had let go of everything could muster. For a split second, Naransonia's brow creased.
"Wait, you don't mean..."
Before she could finish, Asel closed his eyes. The young genius sank back into a trance where only he and his magic existed.
A chant like a song began to flow from his tiny lips. The fading starlight overhead brightened noticeably. The surrounding air and mana swirled, converging on a single point.
"This is...!"
Naransonia's eyes widened. An amount of mana far exceeding what she could contain was pouring into that small human body.
A halo of light spread from Asel, illuminating the magic circle like molten metal poured into a mold. Slowly, he opened his mouth.
"Here we go."
A thin trickle of blood ran from beneath his nostril.
****
"Come get some if you wanna die."
Duaru's head separated from his body. Blue blood painted the sky. Orse's eyes bulged.
【You bastard...!】
Orse could hardly believe his eyes. He'd hoped, but Ronan had actually done it. The headless body began to plummet. Ronan wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve as he caught his breath.
"...Hoo."
The feel of blue blood after so long was just as disgusting as in his past life. Duaru's spinning head, which had shot upward, now began to fall. For a brief instant, its gaze met Ronan's.
『How... did... you...』
Duaru's eyes still gleamed with malice. Instead of answering, Ronan flipped him off. There was no reason to explain it.
『...Ahh.』
Duaru's head plummeted alongside his body toward the ground. The light giants locked in fierce combat froze. The startled dragons' eyes turned to a single point.
【It's falling! The human did it!】
【What? Really? What about His Majesty and the demon dragon?】
【My god...!】
Not a single one wasn't stunned. The monster that every dragon in Adren couldn't even scratch was tumbling down headless. Ronan and Orse hovering in the sky looked like statues carved by a great master.
【Kraaaah!!】
【Kuhuuuung-!】
Pure elation surged in their chests. The dragons spread their wings and roared in applause. The freshly risen dawn painted the ruined Adren in golden light.
"...Hmph."
Schlieffen chuckled. Even he, ever the cool-headed one, couldn't fully suppress the swelling emotion. Arms crossed atop the Dragon King's head, he squeezed his eyes shut toward the sky, then opened them.
But the one who should have been happiest showed no reaction. Suddenly, the Dragon King's voice boomed.
【Hey, you swordsman with manners—】
【Is the monster dead?】
Schlieffen looked down. The Dragon King wobbled like he was drunk, slowly descending. Fresh blood still welled from his left hind leg and underbelly, dripping repeatedly.
His four eyes were clouded like they were filmed over. His already wilted scales had faded even further. Schlieffen's face hardened.
"You..."
【Hahaha... from your reaction—】
【I guess so...】
The Dragon King murmured lowly. In his hazy vision, the sky's blue, dawn's gold, and forest's dark green blurred abstractly. After a moment's silence, Schlieffen spoke.
"...How did it get this bad?"
His condition was deteriorating too fast. Schlieffen had expected strain, but not to this degree.
"Your Majesty?"
He asked again, but the Dragon King didn't respond. Not out of dignity— he simply couldn't hear. Sounds were muffled. The air he breathed in and out tasted of blood. He didn't even know how he was flapping his wings. Only his sense of duty as king moved his body to its limits.
He couldn't stop until he saw all his subjects, citizens, and allies safe. The floatstone wasn't completely destroyed yet— there was still hope.
【Let's head back... there's still—】
【Time to save them...】
As the Dragon King descended, Duaru's plummeting mouth slowly opened. A murmur too faint for any to hear escaped.
『As... that one... wills...』
No one heard it. But change occurred. Duaru's body, nearly at the ground, creaked as it extended an arm. Photons gathered, forming a spear of light in his grasp.
It was ridiculously small compared to before. Where the previous one could level a mountain, this might barely demolish a farmhouse.
It seemed meaningless. But he still had one thing left to destroy. Slowly aiming at his target, Duaru swung his arm.
Swish... The spear of light flew feebly. Finally, his body and head slammed into the ground.
Splat! Bone and flesh burst like an explosion, blue blood erupting. The light in Duaru's mangled corpse's eyes fully extinguished. Thud! Simultaneously, the spear pierced the crack in the floatstone. Ronan, noticing the anomaly too late, whipped his head around.
"What the—!"
As he shouted, Kaboooom!!! A earth-shaking explosion erupted, and a massive pillar of light shot skyward.
The nearly shattered floatstone was utterly destroyed. The mana pulsing within it unleashed a massive shockwave in all directions.
【Wh-what is that?!】
【Everyone, be careful!】
The dragons panicked. Rumble! Adren's surface rippled like waves. Acceleration built as it plummeted faster. Seeing it, Ronan cursed.
"That bastard to the very end...!"
It was a blunder. He hadn't expected a severed head to still move. Ahayute had died too, the tenacious prick.
The light giants didn't vanish even with their master's death. If anything, they grew more savage, like a final spasm. They swarmed like angry hornets, attacking the dragons anew.
"Groooar!!"
"Grrraaaawrk!"
But the battle didn't resume. With the giants no longer a threat to fight, the Dragon King bellowed upon grasping the situation.
【Grh... The floatstone's broken—】
【Retreat! All winged ones, begin rescue operations!】
Blood gushed from both heads. The frozen dragons regained their senses one by one. Over a hundred took off toward Adren, ignoring the giants.
With the floatstone gone, nothing could be done. As the king said, they had to save as many lives as possible before total destruction. Hearing "rescue," a face flashed in Ronan's mind.
"Asel."
Asel was the only one from their group assigned to cleanup. And as far as Ronan knew, he didn't have enough mana left to protect himself. Murmuring his friend's name, Ronan yelled urgently.
"Damn it, Orse!"
【I know!】
Orse dove sharply. He blinked repeatedly, piercing the swarming light giants. Pop! Pop! Pop! Their forms dissolved into shadows and reformed.
"Get out of the way, you fucks!"
"Graaack!"
Ronan swung his sword relentlessly against the blinding wind. Dismembered giants dissolved into light.
In the blink of an eye, Orse reached the district where Asel should be. As Ronan scanned the ground like a hawk, a familiar voice rang in his ears.
"Stop! Can't you hear me? I said stop!"
"...Naransonia?"
Ronan turned toward the voice. In the city center, Naransonia in her true form was screaming bloody murder.
"Human, do you really want to die?!"
Before her sat Asel cross-legged. At their feet, the magic circle from the sky tower's summit glowed pure white.
"That's...!"
Ronan's eyebrows shot up. Not just because Asel's rear hovered a meter off the ground. Seven streams of blood poured from his paper-white face—from nose, mouth, ears, and eyes.
His frail body trembled on the verge of bursting. Nebulus Klazie's signature sparkling mana blanketed the area.
He had no idea what madness this was, but it had to be stopped. Gritting his teeth, Ronan bellowed.
"Asel!!"
【Mage!】
Orse dove. As he prepared another blink, a massive magic circle unfurled across the brightening dawn sky.
Scraaaape! With the sound of hooks raking the earth, Adren's fall halted.