Chapter 185
Chapter 185
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 185
Chapter Title: The Treacherous Subject Has His Uses
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"As expected! Thanks to that one big incident, the security to the research lab is a complete mess."
"A magical rampage of that scale will do that. By the way, is it okay for just the two of us to slip away?"
"I already spoke to Professor Gemini, so there's nothing to worry about."
Normally, entering the basement of a prestigious magical family like the Dyna House would mean encountering countless magical traps, security devices, spirits, demons, and all sorts of summoned beings from the moment one stepped through the entrance... one would have to face tremendous obstacles. However, due to the explosion caused by the magical artifact, everything had been blown away, allowing them to descend very easily.
As for their sudden departure, since they had left Professor Gemini and Selina behind to explain things to the other department heads, they could infiltrate the underground research lab without any worries.
"Let's see, we need to keep going down here and then go right..."
"Dodge!"
Perhaps because he was focused solely on following the path he'd learned from the magical tome, having let his guard down for a moment?
Beonald was nearly hit by the sudden black flame arrow, but Arjen managed to push him aside just in time to avoid it. A voice tinged with disappointment sounded from the corner of the basement as someone emerged.
A young mage in black robes, holding a staff. His splendid robes were embroidered with a dragon in golden thread, and his hand was wrapped in black chains and bandages—the epitome of a dark mage's style.
"To dodge that... as expected of the head of the Alchemy Department."
"You are from the Department of Darkness..."
"Ah~! Wait! I'd like to introduce myself directly, so let me handle that. There aren't many chances in life to make a stylish self-introduction, you see. My name is 'Black Flame'! As you can see, I am a dark mage of black fire, a demon slumbering in the abyss of the demon realm, one who has made a pact with the 'Dark Flame Dragon'! Today, at last... it seems I have found the opponent to release this seal. Fufufu... Hmhahahahaha! Behold! The dark flames that will even burn me!"
Chrrrk! Chwak!
The mage who called himself Black Flame unfastened the chains binding his right arm and unwrapped the bandages. Inside, a hand made of black flame appeared. The flames gradually grew larger, taking the shape of a dragon that began to coil around his body.
p>Head of Department Arjen watched the spectacle with tension, while Beonald, who was aware of dark mages, thought this one was truly absurd.
'What on earth... why would he make a pact with a demon that possesses flames that can burn even himself...? And why go to the trouble of sealing it in his right arm?'
Beonald wondered if there weren't better methods. He simply couldn't understand the sensibilities of dark mages, who ignored all efficiency for the sake of pure 'style.'
Meanwhile, the dark mage Black Flame, now wreathed in the dark flame dragon, swept back his hair with his left hand and pointed at Head of Department Arjen.
"Hahahahaha! Are you afraid? Even I am afraid. This power! I never thought the day would come to use it. Hahahaha! Go! 'Dark Flame Dragon'! By our pact, burn my enemy!"
"'Dimensional Gate Open'... come forth."
Head of Department Arjen also summoned a steel lion golem to counter, setting it against the magical dark flame dragon flying toward him.
The clash between the black flame dragon and the shining runic steel lion. It was a dazzlingly spectacular sight.
The black flames coiled around the steel lion, trying to melt and burn it, but the runes on its body shone fiercely in resistance. Black Flame grew irritated and drew more mana.
"You can't even burn a hunk of metal like that! What are you doing, Dark Flame Dragon! Draw out more power!"
"Heat-dissipation runes were naturally engraved, and the golem's material is also the highest heat-resistant Dwarf-made alloy steel obtainable here. Try to melt it if you can. And... you go down first. I'll hold this one off."
"Yes, I will."
Beonald, who had been momentarily dazed in admiration of his descendant's imposing figure, followed Arjen's instruction and slipped away to the side, descending first.
After all, the primary objective was to destroy the 'New Magic Research' within the Dyna House. There was nothing to gain from wasting time on the fight happening above or dealing with the subordinates the Dyna House had stationed here.
'Anyway, having to face both Dalkan Dyna and Darion Dyna alone is a bit burdensome.'
Dalkan Dyna's prowess was a headache just to think about, and Darion Dyna, as the current head of the family, was also a mage of considerable skill.
The bigger problem was that while Dalkan Dyna specialized in 'Celestial Magic,' it was unknown what magic Darion Dyna specialized in.
'The Dyna House follows the "Just do whatever seems to suit your aptitude!" method, after all...!'
As was typical of this Dyna Kingdom, the Dyna House was a bizarre place that allowed the study and learning of any and all forms of magic.
Necromancy, dark magic, elemental magic, spirit magic... etc., etc. The method was to learn whatever suited one's aptitude, cultivate it, and somehow reach the 'Truth.' Thus, Beonald had no idea what magic the current head, Darion Dyna, specialized in.
'Of course, I haven't come unprepared either.'
Beonald had been preparing since before coming to this Castle of Truth, assuming at minimum a one-on-one fight with Dalkan Dyna.
Several months ago, Heidi's territory.
Having received support from the Valderian Earldom for his research and creation of magical armor, he had reached his limit with 'swordsmanship' and needed to think of other ways to fight. Realizing he lacked the time and budget to create his own magical armor, Beonald had to come up with other 'weapons' or 'means of combat.'
"Hmm, making bombs with magic stones is good, but... there's nothing that goes 'boom' satisfyingly. I can't use magic and have to rely on magical artifacts, you see."
The next secret technique of the Neumel Family, 'Ouroboros,' was still in a state where he couldn't even grasp the basics. He knew the form, but progress was consistently slow.
In the end, Beonald realized he had to make a magical artifact into a weapon. After considering various options, he recalled the siege mana cannon he had discovered earlier in the 'Molting Tomb.'
'Hmm, a long-range projectile weapon? Very good.'
Remembering the failed siege mana cannon prototype from the Molting Tomb, Beonald decided to adapt it.
After all, he had hit a wall with swordsmanship, and not knowing when he would break through it, he felt the need for a good means to confront mages, which ultimately meant creating a long-range projectile weapon.
'Then, if I make it smaller, like a miniature version that can be fired...?'
Thus, Beonald began creating a new weapon.
He engraved runes, installed a magic stone, and tried to create something that fired mana, but it failed.
The reasons for failure were varied.
First, while he succeeded in making it small, it required too much mana to use, ultimately forcing him to carry magic stones around, which was a failure.
'Then, instead of firing a clump of mana, what if I change the runes to fire a spell? That would consume less mana...'
He began a second attempt, focusing on improvement and portability.
To put it simply, this attempt also ended in failure.
In the end, it was no more effective than carrying around and tearing a bunch of scrolls.
Engraving lower-level magic was pointless when simply tearing and using a scroll was better, and engraving higher-level magic was essentially the same as focusing and using mana.
'But in the end, no matter how many spells I store in scrolls and carry, there's no way I can stand against a genius mage like Dalkan Dyna, who uses magic as easily as breathing. I'd just be laughed at as a fool. Sigh~ Damn it! Isn't there some method? Something that uses fewer magic stones, is portable enough, and fires something powerful... a physical thing... yes, like an arrow... firing an arrow... with magic?'
A method that emerged while thinking of better improvements amidst failure. The idea of firing an arrow using mana.
Beonald's mind lit up at this.
If done this way, he would only need the mana to fire the arrow, so he could just embed a magic stone and change it in a replaceable manner, and all he'd need to carry were arrows.
'No, what if I make the arrow even smaller? I could carry more. Wait! Let's just make arrowheads and load them! Even a crossbow has enough power if the arrowhead is sufficient; you don't need fletching or vanes!'
The ideas kept coming, and Beonald immediately set his goal on creating something that could fire modified arrowheads loaded into it.
He engraved simple runes like 'Mana Explosion,' focused that explosive force entirely on propelling the arrowhead, and made it into a small cylinder.
He then made crossbow bolt heads even smaller to fit into that cylinder. For activating the runes, he applied the trigger and firing mechanism of a crossbow.
"Let's see, the shape is a bit strange, but anyway... Magical Artifact Firearm Test Shot, 102nd attempt. Beginning."
Click! Thwaang!
With the trigger pull, an explosive sound rang out. The crossbow bolt head inside flew out, pierced a wooden board, dented the iron plate behind it, and stopped. He found the bolt head, its tip bent, fallen to the ground.
There were still many shortcomings, but the experiment had finally succeeded.
"Excellent! This is it."
Though it was disappointing that it couldn't pierce the iron plate, Beonald was satisfied that his ideal weapon had been completed. He immediately began modifications to improve the convenience and power of this prototype.
Increasing power, enhancing production efficiency, making the crossbow bolt heads—the ammunition—easier to reload after firing, etc. There was so much he could do.
'Hmm... since the runes are for very simple magic, even a very small magic stone should last a long time. Then, to make it easy to fire these bolt heads again using another method... I'll need a separate container to hold them, and if I can load them quickly, they'll go right in and be ready to fire...'
After months of squeezing out time, struggling, and experiencing trial and error, Beonald finally obtained a 'firearm' that had never existed before.
Now all he had to do was worry about what to call it, but he didn't really need to ponder that, as he discovered the original name for such small firearms while searching through records in his 'Egg's Nest' in the Valderian territory, for the sake of improvement research.
"...The dwarves had already made something similar."
The principle was different—using gunpowder to fire iron balls—but the object itself was similar.
And the names they called them varied based on shape, appearance, or the creator's name: 'Boomstick,' 'Dragon's Roar,' 'Thunder Rifle,' 'Shotgun,' etc. Looking at these names, Beonald decided on a suitable name for his creation.
"Hmm, the name... let's see. Arrow Launcher? Mana Gun? Hmm... something too uncool wouldn't do, so 'Bolt Shooter Mark I' sounds just right."
The word choice combined 'Bolt' (crossbow arrow) and 'Shooter' (one that shoots). Having settled on a perfectly accurate and clean name, Beonald smiled contentedly, spun it around, and stuffed it into his unfinished subspace bag.
Then, along with past records, he began drawing new blueprints, thinking of creating Mark II, Mark III... various variations, and started drafting new designs.
Dyna House, underground research lab.
'...Anyway, it was hard to make, but the time has finally come to use my trump card.'
The reason he hadn't used or revealed this new weapon until now was because Beonald intended to use it as a literal 'trump card,' so he had kept it thoroughly hidden, pondering and creating it alone.
Moreover, until now, there hadn't been a suitable opportunity or chance to use it.
The closest he came to using it was during his fight with Head of the Department of Darkness, Lirikel, but at that time, close-quarters combat indoors made swordsmanship far more advantageous.
'And now, thanks to being alone here, I finally seem to have a chance to use it. By the way... what's that?'
Carefully descending deeper underground, Beonald spotted something in the distance, toward the center of the underground research facility.
It was a very small yellow flame. Perhaps the other party had noticed him too, as the flame was slowly approaching Beonald's direction.
Startled, Beonald took out the Bolt Shooter, finally ready to fire. He held his breath, trying to ascertain what the target was.
'A lich? Is it Dalkan Dyna? ...I can't tell. I don't know how to distinguish lich appearances. Anyway, I'll take the first move.'
Click!
He loaded a pre-prepared silver crossbow bolt head into the Bolt Shooter and immediately pulled the trigger.
With the sound of the 'Explosion' rune detonating, the silver crossbow bolt head tore through the darkness and flew toward the lich spreading yellow flames, striking it directly.