Unfold, Enoch

"Unfold, Enoch."

Light burst from the dust-covered book, allowing me to open a volume that had always refused to yield. But before I could unleash its power, I needed to secure the others first.

"Lorsch, I'm counting on you to protect the nobles. They're already overweight and physically frail, so please be quick about it."

"Haah... Fine."

Lorsch strode to the center of the prostrated noble crowd and clasped her hands together.

A colossal dome-shaped curtain of water rose, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sealing Lorsch and the nobles inside. In this situation it functioned as a shield, but the point was that Airi was busy guarding the crown prince's side while Lorsch had her hands full maintaining the spell. Which meant I had to handle the Black Round Table scum myself.

Using this magic book—Enoch.

Enoch was the holy relic Werner had wielded in Draginity Fantasy 1. Its effect was straightforward.

"Page sixty-five. Unfold the Chapter of Darkness."

The book flipped open with a crisp rustle, revealing a page that radiated pitch-black energy. At the same moment, the Black Round Table's lackeys charged straight at me.

Countless black circles bloomed across the ceiling and fired volleys of ebony arrows. Those that struck Lorsch's water barrier melted away like ink dissolving in liquid, but the ones that sank into the Black Round Table lackeys behaved differently. They melted across their bodies like liquid darkness and began devouring flesh and bone like a school of piranhas. No matter how desperately they struggled, the arrows refused to be pulled free. Once those roots sank deep, there was no removing them by hand.

Devouring Arrows of Dawn. One of Werner's lethal grand magics—and the very first he ever created. A spell modeled after a swarm of ants, it targeted only living creatures and gnawed away at their bones and flesh. For a grand magic its raw destructive power was somewhat lacking, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and it could be blocked by simple magical defenses, but considering it was his first attempt, the firepower had been exceptional.

"Werner, you... grand magic..."

Does this guy have to announce that I can't use grand magic like he's hanging up a damn banner? What the hell am I supposed to do when he blurts that out in front of this many people?

"Shh. Isn't it weird that I can't use a grand magic I created myself?"

Enoch's true power lay in shortening the incantations of pre-recorded spells and drastically reducing the mana cost. The drawback was that each stored spell was single-use—once cast, it vanished and had to be engraved again. Still, inside this book Werner had stored all sorts of grand magics and other dangerous spells. Not only that, various hazardous entities were sealed within its pages as well.

Of course, engraving magic still required mana and pre-chanting, but the advantage of preparing everything in advance and deploying it instantly on the battlefield was enormous. When you considered how those absurdly long grand magic chants demanded insane amounts of mana, the value was obvious. In essence, it was a holy relic that let you pay the cost upfront and reap the effects later.

"So what spell should I crush you with next? Light? Lightning? Earth? Ice? Take your pick. I'll send you to the afterlife however you desire."

Since they were single-use, I really should conserve the spells recorded here. Honestly though, many of these grand magics were created by Werner as a child and were terribly inefficient. Quite a few had less firepower than the regular spells he developed later. In other words, this was pure bluffing. A bluff that said I could annihilate trash like them whenever I wanted.

Whether they bought the act or not, the enemies began showing clear signs of agitation. They abandoned the idea of attacking me and instead tried to force their way into the water barrier. They had no idea how utterly stupid that decision was.

"I recommend not touching that."

Despite Lorsch's warning, they threw themselves at the barrier. Their bodies were instantly shredded by the violently rotating wall of ultra-high-pressure water.

Wow. Maybe I'll have hamburg steak for dinner tonight. Seeing all that nicely minced meat suddenly made me crave it.

"People always say water-attribute magic has weak attacks... lacks a decisive blow... the area is too large and eats too much mana... completely useless for defense... I've heard that garbage countless times."

Lorsch was the undisputed master of the Water Magic Tower. She wasn't some half-baked amateur slinging sloppy water spells. Water-attribute magic wasn't limited to tsunamis and floods as its only offensive options.

"A dome that violently rotates high-pressure water like this—a perfect fusion of offense and defense—is what water magic truly means! Those denture-wearing fossils in the mage community need to see this!"

She clearly had a lot of resentment built up over the years. The long era of humiliation and oppression against water-attribute magic was over. It was time for Lorsch to cast it all aside and reclaim her title as the Aqua Master.

"If you think you can break through my defense, come try it. Your bodies will end up minced like ground meat, though."

I was the strongest spear—Werner, now armed with Enoch. Lorsch was the strongest shield. With both the ultimate spear and shield on our side, what was there to fear?

The nobles were under Lorsch's protection, and Airi was guarding the crown prince's group. The only worrying factor was... wait. There might be traitors among the nobles too—

"Lorsch! Be careful—there are traitors among the nobles—!"

Several noble bastards rose from their positions. Looking at those ugly mugs, I realized they had simply changed clothes. They drew daggers from their robes and rushed at Lorsch.

Damn it. I couldn't charge inside, and Lorsch had no way to handle them while maintaining the barrier...

Transparent projectiles fired from Lorsch's fingertips and pierced straight through one man's skull.

"Did you think my attacks were worthless? Too bad. Ultra-high-pressure water jets are fast, and they have zero trouble punching through a human head. You don't need flashy techniques to kill someone."

I completely agreed. You didn't need a massive steel greatsword to kill a person—a single lead bullet the right size was enough. The only thing that mattered was how you used it.

"...It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doesn't matter! If we attack from every direction, you can't kill all of us!"

"How barbaric, assaulting a lady. I'll have to punish you."

The savage Black Round Table bastards charged at Lorsch with their knives. She definitely couldn't rapid-fire the previous spell, so how was she planning to—

Lorsch swung her fingers in a graceful arc. The bodies of the barbaric Black Round Table lackeys split cleanly in two. What the hell? Some kind of instant-death cheat skill?

The cuts were far too clean to have been made by any ordinary blade. Could this be...

"If you shoot ultra-high-pressure water while swinging your hand like that, it becomes a pretty useful sword. It can cut through steel, you know?"

Fuck, it was a water-jet cutter. A water pressure cutter capable of processing diamonds would slice through human bodies like they were tofu. I'd have to watch Lorsch's fingers from now on. Using water magic of that caliber in a place with no visible water... I'd need to keep an eye on her later so she didn't turn twisted and start researching corpse revival.

But a problem had arisen. While I was focused on Lorsch's side, I'd allowed one of the Black Round Table bastards to get dangerously close. It was too near to cast proper magic.

Still, there was no need to panic. The magic book Enoch had uses even in situations like this.

"You insolent fool!!!"

I brought Enoch down hard on the bastard's head. I must have struck the crown perfectly, because he collapsed, blood spraying from his nose and mouth.

Do you know why a magic book makes a good weapon? Because when you hit someone with it, it can kill them. That's why it's a weapon.

Besides, this thing called Enoch was surprisingly sturdy yet light, making it easy to swing. Especially when you smashed the corners into vital points—it was child's play to send a man straight to meet the King of Hell.

"Now, where's the next insolent fool?"

The faithless shall be punished by me—Werner, the fourteenth disciple of Jesus. This magic book Enoch is my bible, the proof that God stands with me.

"Page one hundred twenty-one. Unfold the Chapter of Freezing."

Enoch flipped its own pages obediently. A page covered in frost appeared. This one might actually be useful.

Grateful that it had condensed a chant of over twenty verses into a single line, I recited the spell while staring directly at the Black Round Table trash.

Everything reflected in my vision began to freeze. Not just the Black Round Table bastards, but the walls and floor as well.

Winter Within the Eyes. One of the grand magics Werner developed. Its range covered the caster's entire field of vision. It combined light-attribute magic that layered mana onto whatever the pupils reflected with ice-attribute magic that froze everything the mana touched. Thanks to that, it could turn dozens of people into frozen chickens in a single cast. Yet something felt off.

The Black Round Table would definitely have brought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at least one executive with them... but that executive bastard hadn't shown his face at all.