Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Grasp of the Five Thrones
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The dragon's massive body was smashing through walls and buildings. She charged straight toward the harbor. With every step, the pavement shattered, and the shockwaves toppled structures.
-Thud. Boom.
"A dragon! A dragon's coming!!!"
"Prepare the cannons!"
"Cannons ready!!!"
"Fire!!"
-KABOOM!!
The warships in the harbor opened fire in unison. The gunpowder explosions lit up the dark port. Iron cannonballs streaked through the air, demolishing the harbor district.
[Elves have always been like this. Always acting this way.]
-Shwaaa!
Abelessas spread her wings wide. She ignored the projectiles hurtling toward her. Mere physical impacts couldn't harm her. They only slowed her down for a moment.
-KABOOM!
But humans were different. Every time an elven warship's cannonball slammed into the city center, human buildings crumbled, and flesh tore apart in the chaos.
Elves had always been like this. Acting noble, purer and more innocent than anyone, yet always sacrificing other races to preserve their own. Abelessas had witnessed it countless times.
-KABOOM!!
A cannon shot from an elven warship ricocheted off her wing and fell. She blocked the shells aimed at the city with her body as she barreled toward the harbor. Then, an elven swordsman appeared at her side.
"Dragon! Please calm yourself!"
[Who are you?]
The elven swordsman matched Abelessas's stride as she thundered down the ruined street. Her silver hair whipped in the harsh sea wind. It was Leia.
"Leia Finn Gaimeirn! Wildprince of His Majesty Serpentking Gaimeirn! Please calm down! We are not your enemies!"
[Do you truly believe that?]
-Swish!
Leia rolled aside to dodge a shell flying her way and shouted.
"No matter why you've awakened, this harbor is a city of the Gaimeirn dynasty! This is an unjust invasion!"
[This place is my territory, prepared for me by Dain! Moreover, young elf, your king is calling me. Why do you try to stop me?]
"Then! I shall accompany you!"
Abelessas's eyes gleamed with approval at Leia's gritted-teeth declaration. She shielded Leia's head from an incoming shell with her wing and spoke.
[Your resolve is admirable. It's been ages since I saw an elf with such loyalty. I permit your company.]
"Thank you! I hope this resolves peacefully!"
[I desire the same. But we'll see.]
-KABOOM!
The harbor loomed ahead. Abelessas's scales were cracking from the bombardment, but her momentum and stamina remained unbroken. She kicked off the pier fiercely and took to the air.
"The dragon's flying!!"
"What about the magic? Not ready yet?"
"It's ready!!"
-CRACKLE!
Gaimeirn's flagship. Abelessas soared into the night sky, gazing at the massive fortress afloat on the sea. Multicolored lights began gathering along the ship's hull in unison.
Fernandez, clinging to her back, twisted his waist and climbed onto her head.
[Fernandez, it's dangerous. Hide.]
"I'll borrow your mana!"
[What? Wait. Wait a moment!]
Fernandez yanked the chain of domination wrapped around his right arm. The mana chain connected to Abelessas's nape began greedily sucking in her magic power.
[Hnngh!! What are you doing! You, you wicked little brat! I, I'm...]
-Crackle!
Fernandez balanced atop Abelessas's wildly shaking head with his feet and formed hand seals. Immense mana scorched the bronze throne red as it blazed.
Hell mana. The dragon's flesh was composed of hell mana that wizards had infused into her remains. Though she had focused on refining it, her body was essentially mana incarnate.
With the chain of domination securing control over her flesh! In other words, Fernandez now held ownership of her mana.
-Ah, perfect. This feeling. This sensation. This omnipotence!
Feizashi burst into mad laughter behind Fernandez, who smirked at the sight.
The stigmata embedded in Fernandez's body burned wildly. In defiance of the opposing energy, divinity coursed through his veins and ignited.
Yet the mana's source was Abelessas, manifested through the bronze throne's circuits! Fernandez's role was merely to orchestrate and bind it. Divinity couldn't interfere with his spell now.
Yes. This omnipotence!
A shiver of ecstatic thrill resonated through Fernandez's soul. A black halo ignited behind his head. The spell was complete!
"Markudaine's descent. Jeil'Cardan's bronze shield. And—."
-CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRACKLE!
He batted away incoming fireballs, deflected falling lightning, and laughed gleefully. In magical combat, he had never once lost.
[Fernandez... You...]
A choked groan escaped from beneath his feet—Abelessas. Her mana was vanishing at an alarming rate. Strength drained from her once-firm, powerful muscles.
Not yet. Fernandez calculated her remaining mana reserves and formed seals meticulously. She still had plenty. Carefully, without harming her soul.
Like a surgeon's scalpel. Like a jeweler's fine saw. Precise. Delicate.
Soon.
Fernandez formed the final seal and bit his hand. Sharp pain transmuted into pleasure as blood flowed.
The blood of a saint, a Demonica, infused with divinity. A single drop fell onto the magic circle spewing black flames beneath his feet.
Incantation, ritual, and sacrifice.
The three pillars of magic complete, Feizashi's stifled laughter rang in his ears.
Yes. This omnipotence. When the world seemed like a mere toy.
The black halo floating behind his head devoured the starlight and blazed.
"Feizashi's, the Grasp of the Five Thrones."
Veins bulged like writhing serpents on Fernandez's right hand. He slowly extended it forward and clenched the empty air.
-CRUNCH!!
-Crackle!
The myriad protective spells on Gaimeirn's flagship shattered in an instant and scattered. Silence briefly fell over the harbor—
-Shwaaaa!!
A black hand emerged from the depths, seized the Gaimeirn king's flagship, and crushed it.
*
"What the hell is that...?"
Richter's fleet had halted off Infermer's coast, awaiting the dragon's assault. They planned to launch their attack the moment she destroyed Gaimeirn's flagship.
Standing on the deck, Richter sensed the massive mana coalescing in the sky. He first assumed it was the dragon's. Dragons often unleashed unimaginable magic.
But instincts honed over centuries warned him otherwise. He watched the spells launching from Gaimeirn's flagship.
A natural fortress indeed. A frontal assault from the sea would never have breached it. Intricate spell linkages and tight fleet escorts were holding off the dragon even amid the earthquake's chaos.
-CRACKLE!
But when a man appeared atop the dragon's head and swung his hand, the spells began crumbling. Delicate counterspells and dispels that not even Richter's master could have achieved, even resurrected from hell.
"A human...?"
A human overwhelming the elven royal mages! And soon, the sky warped, the sea churned—
-Shwaa!
-CRACKLE!!!
The elven king's ship began to break apart!
"What!!!"
Was that how it broke? What the hell? Richter panicked and gripped the railing. Gaimeirn's fortress, built with countless wards and blessings, was disintegrating!
"Ah, Father. Should we retreat?"
"What?"
That surreal sight jolted Richter's frozen mind back to life. He whipped around to stare at Zigismund standing behind him.
In the past two centuries, he'd never seen Zigismund show 'fear.' Magic that terrified even an ambitious, mighty vampire lord!
Richter quickly touched his own face. It was twisted in terror too. He bit his lip and bellowed.
"The king's fortress has fallen! Whatever happens, we can't miss this chance!"
"B-But..."
"Shut up! Don't disappoint me further! Tell the whole fleet! You trash! Attack!!"
-Toooooot!!
Attack horns blared from Richter's flagship. He forced himself to lead the charge, thinking.
Whatever that was, everything was still proceeding according to plan.
Amid primal unease, Richter sailed into the night sea.
*
-CRACKLE!!!
[What is this!!]
Abelessas hurriedly spread her wings to brake her dive and hover. A massive hand from the parted sea clutched Gaimeirn's flagship. She felt her mana no longer draining.
"Cough!"
[A-Are you alright? Fernandez, answer me!]
Hot blood poured onto her nape. She panicked and tried to look back. Fernandez wiped the blood from his mouth and patted her head.
"Calm yourself. It's manageable backlash."
"What have you done! How in the world..."
"Didn't we say we'd show them the era of man?"
[The era of man! Yes, the era of man. Can one person really do this?]
Gaimeirn's flagship was half-destroyed. The king's ship slowly sank beneath the waves. The aftershocks of Fernandez's spell left the elven warships tangled in chaos.
Impossible magic. Damage on this scale would require dozens of mages pooling efforts for days.
Mana? Even consuming vast amounts, it was still within limits to sustain her body.
Yet to devour that much mana, weave it in moments, and single-handedly destroy Gaimeirn's flagship, protected by every blessing!
"No time. We must go now to capture the elven king."
[...We have much to discuss, you and I. Heh, truly a wicked little brat.]
-Flutter.
Abelessas painfully spread her wings and landed on the crumbling flagship. Elven Sea Guards and Wildprinces lunged at her in unison.
-Thud!
She whipped her tail to swat them away and roared.
[Go. Capture Gaimeirn. I'll hold here.]
At her words, Fernandez leaped from her back. Fortunately, he had already memorized the palace layout.