Complex Fusion Magic (1)
Kiiiiiiek———————.
A piercing, inhuman shriek rang out from the sky.
When I looked up through the carriage window, a gigantic shadow came into view far off in the distance.
They said its wingspan was fifty meters.
Seeing it in person, it looked even bigger. A massive wyvern, its body covered in blue scales, was circling overhead.
All around it, several flashes of magic kept bursting into light.
The mages of Crown Magic Tower were attacking to draw the monster’s attention.
“Stop!”
I shouted at the driver, and the carriage came to a sudden halt.
As I was about to get out, a voice came from outside.
“Who goes there!”
It was a wary voice. It sounded like one of Crown Magic Tower’s mages.
“I’m the Tower Master of Fusion Magic Tower. We’ve come to assist.”
When I opened the carriage door and stepped outside, a middle-aged mage in robes was standing there with his wand leveled at me.
“Fusion Magic Tower? You came from the Vilheim Magic Tower direction?”
“Yes. Chief Mage Roimdel informed me of Crown Magic Tower’s situation. Where is Chief Mage Valter?”
“Over there.”
Following the direction he pointed, I saw a fierce battle raging about two kilometers from Crown Magic Tower.
“The situation is dire. We’ve been holding out for four hours already, and the mages are starting to run out of mana. Chief Mage Valter too...”
Before the mage could finish, blue flames poured down from the sky.
BOOOOM——!
“Aah!”
A scream came from far away. It looked like one of the mages had been hit by the flames.
“At this rate, we really...”
“Please guide me. To Chief Mage Valter.”
There was no time.
“But it’s too dangerous right now! That monster could come this way any moment...”
“It’s fine. Just show me the way.”
Speaking firmly, I took the fusion magic beads out of the carriage.
They were the Wind Chains I’d prepared on the way here, along with a few backup fusion spells.
“...Understood. Follow me.”
The middle-aged mage hesitated for a moment, then nodded. He started walking ahead, and I followed him toward the battlefield.
The closer we got, the clearer the situation became.
At the center of Crown Magic Tower, mages were spread out and stationed in the east, west, south, and north.
Kiiiiiek——!
The wyvern plunged toward the eastern team.
The mages fired off spells all at once, but the monster folded its wings once and spread them again, dodging every attack.
Its movement was absurdly fast.
Then spells came flying from the opposite side, and the wyvern changed direction.
So they’re buying time by constantly pulling its attention around like that.
The strategy was sound, but the mages’ faces were clearly worn out.
After hurling magic nonstop for four hours, they looked as if their mana was nearly depleted.
“Chief Mage Valter is over there.”
The middle-aged mage pointed, and there stood Chief Mage Valter. Wearing a red robe, he was watching the wyvern’s movements with sharp focus.
I walked over to him.
“Chief Mage Valter.”
Valter turned his head. Surprise flickered across his face.
“Grace? What are you doing here...”
“I came to help.”
Valter’s expression grew complicated.
“Help... Roimdel sent you?”
“No. This was my own judgment.”
Valter stared at me for a moment before turning back to the wyvern.
“Roimdel? What about the other mages?”
“Vilheim Magic Tower’s barrier collapsed during the battle with the crystal golems. We suffered thirty casualties, and there are many more injured. Right now we’re focusing on restoring the tower.”
Valter’s face hardened.
“Thirty already... It was that bad?”
He let out a sigh and continued.
“Then you came alone?”
“Yes.”
Valter gave a helpless laugh.
“Alone, and with what? Look at that monster. Even after four hours, more than fifty mages from Crown Magic Tower are only barely buying time.”
There was self-mockery in his voice.
“Seven of us are already dead. If you take a direct hit from that blue flame... not even defensive magic will do anything. It’ll just melt straight through you.”
Valter clenched his fist and ground his teeth.
“And look at its speed. My attack spells have missed more than twenty times.”
He seemed furious at his own helplessness.
“I even tried restraint magic, but it failed. It’s too fast to even aim properly. So all we can do is keep distracting it and buying time like this...”
Valter’s words cut off. The wyvern was already diving toward the southern team again.
“Damn it!”
He raised his wand. But the wyvern dodged every spell from the southern team and turned toward the west.
“That thing...”
Valter muttered through gritted teeth.
“We already figured out it only reacts to attacks from the nearest side. That’s why we’re taking turns attacking from all directions. But the mages are reaching their limit. At this rate...”
He looked back at me.
“Sorry, but this is too much for you alone. It would be better if you turned back...”
“There’s a way.”
I took out a Wind Chains bead from my robe.
“This...”
“It’s a restraint spell. It can stop that monster’s movement for three seconds.”
Valter’s eyes widened.
“A restraint spell? But like I said, the aim...”
“I’ll try it.”
I could fail too. But... I had to try first.
Valter looked at me skeptically.
“You? I just said the aim was the problem. Even the elite mages of Crown Magic Tower couldn’t land it...”
“I found something.”
Watching the wyvern closely, I said, “That monster has a pattern.”
“A pattern?”
“Yes. Every time it dives, it always folds its wings. And when it changes direction, it spreads them. In that instant, its movement stops for about half a second.”
Valter’s eyes changed.
“Half a second... and you think you can hit it in that tiny window?”
“Yes. I’m going to try using that opening.”
I slotted the Wind Chains bead into the wand Roimdel had given me, then fixed my eyes on the wyvern.
Kiiiiiiek——!
The moment it came toward our side would be my chance.
The wyvern dodged an attack from the western team, and the mages on our side struck as well.
The monster immediately turned, then began flying straight toward us.
Kiiiiiiek——!
“Grace! Get back!”
Valter shouted, but I didn’t move.
Focus.
I tracked the wyvern’s motion with my eyes.
The blue scales flashing in the sunlight as it beat its wings and closed in at terrifying speed.
Two hundred meters.
One hundred fifty.
One hundred.
The wyvern opened its mouth. It was about to unleash blue flame.
“Now!”
Valter shouted and fired his attack spell. A spear of red flame shot toward the wyvern.
But—
Whoosh——!
The wyvern folded its wings and dove. Valter’s spell sliced through empty air and missed.
Right now!
The instant its wings folded. That half-second gap.
I raised the wand and activated Wind Chains.
“Activate!”
Whoooosh——!
Blue chains burst from the bead, and chains formed of wind shot toward the wyvern at invisible speed.
For one fleeting moment, just as the wyvern began to spread its wings again—
Whoosh——!
The chains passed by the wyvern.
“...!”
Missed.
Half a second was far shorter than I’d imagined. Between the moment I aimed and the moment the chains reached it, the wyvern had already changed direction.
Kiiiiiek——!
At that instant, an attack came from the other side, and the wyvern turned again.
“Damn it...!”
I clenched my teeth.
“See?”
Valter said with a bitter smile.
“We figured out the half-second opening, but hitting it in that span is impossible. Once you factor in the activation speed of the spell and the time it takes to reach the target...”
He shook his head.
“...”
I said nothing and kept watching the wyvern’s movements.
One more time. This time, I need to time it even earlier...
No, that was a problem too. If I activated too early, the wyvern would still be moving and I’d miss. Too late, and it would slip away like before.
The half-second stop... the spell’s travel time...
I ran the numbers in my head at high speed.
Then another thought suddenly struck me.
“Chief Mage Valter.”
I called to him quickly.
Wait. What if it wasn’t just one spell at once...
I took out the rest of the Wind Chains beads from my robe. Five in total.
“Chief Mage Valter.”
I turned to him and said, “What if we fire restraint spells from several directions at once? Then wouldn’t at least one of them land?”
“...”
Valter had nothing to say.
“What is it?”
“You think we didn’t try that?” he said. “We already did. Even if you fire restraint spells from multiple directions, that thing can sense the flow of mana. The moment the spell flies out, it changes direction immediately. If you could fire all of them at the exact instant of that half-second opening you mentioned, then maybe there’d be a chance... but how are you going to match the timing?”
“...”
Listening to him, I watched the wyvern again.
Is there really no way?
Kiiiiiiek——!
The wyvern dove toward the southern team again, then sensed the attack and veered away.
It senses the flow of mana...
Then the problem wasn’t accuracy. It was the detection itself.
No matter how precisely I aimed, if the monster noticed in advance and dodged, it was useless.
Come to think of it, the crystal golems sensed mana flow too...
Ah.
Something flashed through my mind.
Mana Block.
If I hide the mana flow with Mana Block...
The crystal golems had also found their targets by sensing mana.
That was why, when I used the Mana Block formation to cut off the tower’s mana signal, the golem had simply passed by the tower.
“Chief Mage Valter.”
I called him again.
“What now?”
Valter answered in an irritated voice. He was plainly exhausted from fighting that monster for four straight hours.
“What if we could block the mana signal of the restraint spell?”
“Block the mana signal?”
Valter’s expression shifted.
“What do you mean? Mana block? Is there such a spell?”
“Yes. It’s a fourth-circle fusion spell I used against the crystal golem.”
I explained it briefly.
“It’s a spell that fuses fire, water, light, and dark to block the mana signal. The crystal golem also searched for targets by sensing mana, but once we blocked the signal, it just walked right past our tower.”
“A fourth-circle fusion? And you turned that into a formation too?”
“Yes.”
Valter’s eyes widened.
“You really are... no, that’s not the important part right now.”
He looked back at the wyvern and continued.
“Are you saying you can apply that spell to a restraint spell?”
“Yes. If we block the mana signal, that monster won’t be able to detect it. Then it won’t be able to dodge.”
Valter thought for a moment, then nodded.
The plan was set.
Use Mana Block and Wind Chains in the half-second opening when the wyvern folded its wings.
Immediately after that, Valter would finish it off.