Chapter 62
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Burst, You Bastard
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Burst, you bastard.
The dragon who had reached the pinnacle of dragonkind—Riftlord Rulpvihil Mirimileria.
The being commonly known to humans as the Latent Abyss Dragon.
That title had been bestowed upon her because, after attaining her peak, she had fully sprawled out in the abyss.
The common knowledge was that the Latent Abyss Dragon simply lay in the abyss, contemplating the world and nothing more.
There were many dragons, but over a long span of time, none had rivaled the Latent Abyss Dragon.
The dragon sprawled in the abyss gradually faded from memory, vanishing into the pages of history.
Of course, the Latent Abyss Dragon still existed, lying there for an incredibly long time, contemplating the world.
To be precise, the world the Latent Abyss Dragon saw was not the one humans imagined.
After reaching the pinnacle of dragonkind, she gained access to the Archmage Gallery.
The Latent Abyss Dragon had become so engrossed in gallery posting that the trivial events of the outside world no longer caught her eye.
When her long life had started to feel boring, the gallery appeared—a supreme source of dopamine.
The world's affairs were dull, but the gallery was pure fun, so there was no need to venture outside.
From the start, those lowly creatures were no different from ants compared to the pinnacle of dragons.
Sometimes it seemed like annoying events were unfolding in the world, but she ignored them.
Whether the ants climbed or not, gallery posting was what made things fun.
But then, the ants actually started crawling toward the Latent Abyss Dragon.
"What the hell. I've been sealed?"
Forbidden mages had been lurking near her lair for some time.
Those guys had crawled into her lair and sealed her.
And it was a particularly vicious seal—one that slowly nibbled away at a portion of her overflowing mana.
She hadn't been unaware that the forbidden mages were plotting something against her.
They'd been coming around for decades, babbling nonsense, but she'd ignored them and focused on the gallery.
Occasionally flicking them away with a finger before resuming her posting.
Who listens to ants, anyway?
But at some point, those bastards had schemed something up and sealed her with an enormous spell.
Of course, she had known they were trying to cast a seal on her.
The reason she'd ignored it and kept posting was that it posed no real threat anyway.
She couldn't miss out on juicy bait for some insignificant seal.
"Ah, what the hell. They've gone and done something annoying."
But when the gallery quieted down for a moment, she noticed the seal was actually quite bothersome.
It didn't matter that it was siphoning her draconic mana bit by bit.
Pathetic forbidden mages like them taking it wouldn't even make a dent.
And if she wanted, she could shatter it and escape anytime.
However, being forbidden magic, breaking the seal would likely cause some backlash.
Of course, it wasn't dangerous at all. Just a slight loss of some of her realm. She'd recover it in a few years anyway.
"Looks like they put a lot of prep into this."
Considering the level of those pathetic forbidden mages, it was a spell that had taken considerable effort.
Shattering it would cost her about as much as a fingernail.
Of course, the pinnacle of dragons wouldn't be fazed by losing a fingernail, so she hadn't cared while posting.
But calculating the exact amount of realm it'd shave off, she realized it was a bit problematic.
"Hmm... If I break this and lose that much realm, my gold nick cutoff gets razor-thin..."
The issue was her gallery gold nick.
In the gallery, a gold nick was only granted to archmages who had ascended to even greater heights.
A rough calculation showed that expending realm to break this forbidden mages' seal would drop her realm below the gold nick threshold.
She'd recover in a few years, sure, but that meant living as a floating nick for that time.
That was the shitty part about forbidden magic. You take damage while sealed, and more when releasing it.
"Can't have that...!"
Anything else was fine, but gallery posting as a floating nick? No way.
She'd rather quit the gallery entirely than abandon her gold nick pride.
"Eh, whatever. Meowr."
After a moment of deliberation, the Latent Abyss Dragon just sprawled out again.
She wasn't the type to go outside even without the seal anyway.
Better to let the mosquito suck a bit of blood and keep enjoying happy gallery time than sacrifice her gold nick for one pest.
And so, a few years passed. Or was it centuries? No, decades?
A fun muggle named 'Kim Muggle' joined the gallery.
A muggle joining the gallery shouldn't have been possible, but it was damn entertaining bait she couldn't ignore.
And after Kim Muggle joined, something wondrous happened in the Latent Abyss Dragon's eyes.
For the first time since she started posting, her 'Dragon Sight' began faintly glimpsing her own future—occasionally, vaguely.
"I have no intention of going out."
'Dragon Sight' was the ability to faintly glimpse the future.
That future related to the world she was watching.
For a long time, the Latent Abyss Dragon hadn't seen any future. She had no plans to go outside.
But now seeing a future meant it involved her or the gallery.
Examining that future in detail left the Latent Abyss Dragon momentarily stunned, then smirking.
"No way this guy's in the same dimension as me?"
It was her future, but also Kim Muggle's.
A future where Kim Muggle reached the Latent Abyss Dragon's location.
Entwined with some cadet of unknown gender, overcoming various incidents.
Being sealed, she couldn't see everything clearly.
"This could lead to some fun. Kill two birds with one stone."
And so, reading that sequence of futures, the Latent Abyss Dragon conceived one possibility.
Futures were aggregates of possibilities. If things went well, she could meet Kim Muggle, preserve her gold nick, shatter the seal, and escape.
And while at it, punish the arrogant forbidden mages who had sealed her.
To that end, the Latent Abyss Dragon subtly layered possibilities onto Kim Muggle via the gallery.
Making him obtain 'Changelings' Spinal Fluid' to get entangled with the top cadet.
Deepening his ties to the forbidden mages through the top cadet.
Uncovering the academy's conspiracy and reaching a sense of justice to save the cadets.
If Kim Muggle lacked the ability to overcome those crises,
Or if he was a cold-blooded type who didn't care if cadets died,
Then the Latent Abyss Dragon's plan wouldn't have worked.
But Kim Muggle, a mere muggle, had pulled off those difficult feats.
He was a humane person who wouldn't stand by while over a thousand cadets were sacrificed.
Sometimes ridiculously stupid, but Kim Muggle was exactly as the gallery users thought.
"He's a good guy. Makes you want to help him."
The gallery users helping a muggle like him wasn't for any other reason.
Archmages knew not just magic, but what truly mattered in values.
The world rolls in a good direction only if there are many good people—and if good people hold power.
The Latent Abyss Dragon, FlapFlap, looked forward to meeting him while posting as usual.
And eventually, one day.
She felt a small orb drop onto her sleeping lair, atop the encircling seal.
"He's here."
Time to stretch.
"Kim Muggle? You're a bit different from what I imagined."
The world-shattering flash faded, and a voice slipped through the afterimages.
The first time since arriving in this world that someone called my other name aloud.
Being called Kim Muggle by someone in reality made my chest stir for some reason.
"Flap... flap...?"
Through the lingering afterimages in my vision, I saw a woman in a blue dragon robe flapping and billowing.
Natural mana swirled around her like a vortex.
The gold nick who had told me to wake her. FlapFlap—that was her.
"Calling a gold nick by her handle in real life is—oww."
Just as FlapFlap started to say something, black mist surged up from below.
"Those damn forbidden mages... Tsk."
It was the chancellor's attack.
FlapFlap merely flicked one finger toward the black mist.
With a faint zzt crackle, the black mist vanished without a trace.
"That the chancellor hag? Should just kill her."
"As expected, the academy chancellor should be a loli cutie by the rules. Seems like quite a few academy professors are forbidden mages too, not just the chancellor."
"Yeah, from the posts you made, it looked like the academy was already fully compromised. In that situation, it must've been tough for a mere muggle to get this far. Good job."
"Eh, no big deal."
FlapFlap let out a puff of laughter.
Whether from the joy of seeing a gold nick she'd only known from the gallery in person,
Or relief at having an archmage present now that she was safe, some nonsense slipped out.
"Anyway, calling gold nicks by their handles in real life isn't proper etiquette, so use my name. Humans call me the Latent Abyss Dragon, but I have a name too. I don't tell humans, but you're Kim Muggle, so I'll let you in on it specially."
"What's that? By the way, I'm Ian Isaac."
"I am the dragon at the pinnacle of all dragons. The one who contemplates the world from the abyss. Latent Abyss Dragon Riftlord Rulpvihil Mirimileria."
"...What?"
"Riftlord Rulpvihil Mirimileria."
"Rift... what the fuck?"
"Riftlord Rulpvihil Mirimileria."
"Fuck."
What kind of name was that? Like a spell, and in a world where spells weren't even chanted.
Impossible to memorize that monstrosity, so I decided to call her whatever I wanted.
"I'll just call you Ria."
"Do whatever. First time being called that. I like it. Ria."
Wonder how the others managed that ridiculous name.
There were a ton of things I wanted to point out, but it wasn't the time, so I shut my mouth.
"Anyway, so we need to save Mamma Tong, right?"
"Yes. No time. If Mamma Tong becomes the vessel, we're all done."
"Plenty of time. First, let's deal with that annoying hag. I have a personal grudge against those guys too."
Mosquitoes are best swatted.
Ria muttered that and grinned.
For some reason, enormous mana began swirling in her hand.
"C-Could it be you've awakened the Latent Abyss Dragon, Ian Isaac?! How on earth...!"
The chancellor's sagging jowls quivered violently.
The chancellor glared with her wrinkled eyes in utter disbelief.
"Filthy stench. Looks like you've been steeped in taboos for quite a while. One of the ones who sealed me?"
"How did you break that seal...! It was made over ages with countless sacrifices..."
"Thinking that level could hold me? That's why forbidden mages are no good. Building power through impure means means you don't know your own limits."
"Y-You...!"
The chancellor's jaw trembled before she whipped around and fled.
The situation had reversed. Ria casually pursued the frantically flying chancellor, and I followed on my broom.
"Think you can escape?"
"H-Hiiik-!"
Ria shot forward and grabbed the chancellor's white hair with a crunch.
At the same time, she shattered the chancellor's flight magic, sending the carpet-like vehicle plummeting.
The chancellor dangled pathetically in the endless sky, screaming unbecomingly.
"If you mess with taboos, you should've been prepared to pay the price."
Ria gathered blue mana in her hand and slammed it into the chancellor's face.
"G-Gwaaaaaah—!"
A sizzling sound rang out, accompanied by the disgusting smell of burning flesh.
The fishy reek of roasting rotten squid.
The chancellor writhed in agony, but Ria gripped her tighter.
"Hold on a sec, Flap... I mean, Ria."
It wasn't guilt seeing the old lady suffer.
If anything, it was cathartic watching the punishment of the heinous criminal who planned to slaughter the entire academy.
Since she'd wronged us, I wanted to give her a proper send-off.
"What?"
"Mind if I get one hit in too?"
"Oh, sure."
Ria held her by the hair and offered the chancellor to me.
The forbidden mage's repulsive aura was being torn to shreds.
Ria seemed about to rip the soul itself apart.
I didn't have Ria's power, but I had something prepared for final revenge.
[Duality of the Fishbowl]
3rd Rank Magic: Simple spatial separation creating a fishbowl-sized isolated space.
I compute a simple 3rd rank magic.
A basic spatial division magic that isolates a space the size of a small fishbowl.
I flip a fishbowl over the chancellor's head, trapping it inside.
"Gonna suffocate her to death?"
"Not enough for her."
It's not just about blocking her breath.
I plan to make her wish she couldn't breathe.
I'd wondered why CantDoThisEither recommended this as essential 3rd rank magic, but stench turned out useful in many ways.
Inside the fishbowl engulfing the chancellor's head, I compute a trivial magic.
A disruption magic that generates a truly horrific stench.
[Skunk's Defensive Mechanism]
Injects ultra-toxic, foul gas. Perfectly sealed—no escape.
Sizzle—
Gas with an insanely poisonous smell floods the fishbowl.
The inside and outside of the fishbowl are completely isolated.
Within the stench that doesn't leak even a bit, the chancellor's face twisted in horror.
Her arrogant features contorted, mouth gaping, but already battered by Ria, she couldn't resist.
Only her head and the stench filled the fishbowl, her eyes rolling back more and more.
"Burst, you bastard."
"...To think you'd use those two spells like this. You've got a talent for torture."
"Been thinking about revenge ever since that day."
-Gwooooh...! Ggok-
The chancellor writhed in torment inside the fishbowl,
And soon after, Ria finished her off completely.
According to Ria, this forbidden mage's true body wasn't the chancellor hag.
She'd kept her real body separate and possessed the chancellor's.
That explained how the forbidden mages had taken over the academy.
I worried her spirit might return to the true body,
But luckily, Ria had completely destroyed both the connection and the soul itself.
Well, she's an archmage, after all.
But there was still much left to do.
The dragon and I descended to the ground.