Chapter 124. The Secret of the Hero's Strength
Chapter 124. The Secret of the Hero's Strength
"I'll tear that insolent mouth of yours apart first."
A blue light flickered in the old man's eyes, and mana began to tremble.
But I wasn't someone who would just stand there and wait for that kind of transformation to finish.
'Fair or unfair doesn't matter in a fight. As long as you win, that's all that counts.'
─ Fwoom!
The club shot from my hand with tremendous force.
The heavy impact rumbled across the ground as it flew, carrying enough destructive power to shatter several mountains.
─ CRRRAACK!!
But then a pillar of water shot up beside the attack, slicing through it like a living creature.
Right before my eyes, the water curved at high speed, precisely twisting the club's trajectory.
The attack grazed the old man's shoulder and flew past him.
"Hmph..."
The old man stared at me for a moment, then slowly raised both arms.
His movements were slow, but soon a deafening roar that shook heaven and earth erupted around him.
─ Rumble... CRASH!
A storm raged in all directions.
Dozens of layered water tornadoes erupted over the once-quiet canyon.
The old man's voice echoed beyond the vortex.
"The power you possess is far too insignificant."
And one of the tornadoes hurtled toward Laila.
"???"
At that moment, my body reacted first.
"What do you think you're doing to someone else's woman?"
Dozens of razor-sharp streams of water burst in midair, shattering one after another against my fist.
It was like hitting shards of glass rather than water.
"I usually don't bother old folks, but...!"
I dropped low and charged.
When I clenched my hand in front of him, a weapon appeared.
"Let's have a taste of this first."
In an instant, I closed the distance.
I swung the club with all my might.
─ BAM!
I struck the old man's body square.
But at the moment of impact, a barrier of water surged up at the point of contact.
Though much of the impact was absorbed, it was still a powerful blow, and his body went flying through the air.
─ CRASH!
He slammed straight into the canyon cliff.
Rocks tumbled down in a cascade, filling the air with dust.
Being old meant being tough.
Pushing aside the pile of rubble, the old man slowly walked out.
There wasn't a single major wound on his body.
"You wield a curious weapon."
"Let's see how much you can block."
I quietly lowered my stance and lunged at the old man.
"...!?"
─ WHOOOOSH!
A storm rushed in from the side with impossible ferocity.
A fierce current of water and wind coiled like a tornado and struck me.
─ CRASH-THUMP!
Dust rose as I smashed through several boulders and tumbled across the ground.
"Ptoo, ptoo! Ugh..."
I got up where I'd stopped and dusted myself off.
"What a pathetic move."
It didn't hurt, and there was no damage.
I was just annoyed.
"Hero~"
Laila said softly from behind.
"Shall I help a little?"
"I'm fine."
"Hehe, fighting!"
I slowly stepped forward.
I didn't bother jumping into the air.
─ CRACK!
I burst the incoming water stream with my club.
─ Whap!
I split the water stream with my other hand.
─ BOOM!
I just pushed through the tornado battering my body.
The old man's eyes widened briefly at my bizarre way of breaking through.
"You've reached quite a level, human..."
"If you've trapped someone who came from outside, you should take responsibility, shouldn't you?"
The old man's eyebrows twitched at my words.
The look of someone who had lived a long time.
Soon he spoke, as if grasping the situation.
"Outside? Did you perhaps come through a door connecting this place to the outside?"
"Yeah. Thanks to you, we can't even go home."
The old man twisted his lips into a smirk.
"Yes... I closed it. Because she dared to try to abandon her husband and run away without any gratitude."
"...Husband?"
I roughly grasped the situation.
The queen had tried to lure this old man, but he mistakenly thought she was running away from him.
"Seems you're quite skilled in magic? Closing something like that without a second thought."
The old man slowly spread his hand, as if stating the obvious.
"There's no need to precisely calculate and create it from scratch... If a door already exists, opening and closing it is trivial."
'So this old man didn't create the gate.'
Then...
"That's simpler than I thought."
I had also returned to Earth through dimensional movement, a super-high-level magic.
In the end, for this type of spatial movement magic, creating it was difficult, but operating something already made isn't hard.
'The reason the queen couldn't operate it was because the old man had closed it, so she didn't have the key.'
My eyes narrowed slightly.
A familiar, somewhat mischievous smile tugged at my lips.
Resting the club on my shoulder, I spoke.
"So that means you're the one who can open the door, right?"
"That is correct."
"Then open the door, you bastard."
The old man didn't answer.
Instead, he stretched out his hand and attacked.
─ BOOM!
"...Got my answer."
"...You're a remarkably sturdy human."
The old man narrowed his eyes, glaring at me.
Multiple attacks had failed, and even his magic couldn't pierce me.
I shrugged at his words and sneered.
"Yeah, I'm pretty tough. Unlike some scrawny old geezer."
The old man's brow furrowed deeper.
Then he silently opened his mouth.
"...?"
I frowned immediately.
"What the...?"
The old man shoved his hand into his own mouth.
Up to the wrist, all the way to the elbow.
The grotesque sight almost made me regurgitate my food.
"Ugh... what are you doing?"
Then soon, a blue orb popped out from the old man's fingertips.
─ Vwoom...
I felt the pressure of mana leaking from the orb, an immense density.
Enough mana to envelop the entire kingdom several times over was sealed inside that tiny crystal.
"A very small amount... but I did not expect to have to use even this."
Murmuring softly, the old man cupped the orb in both hands.
And he began to quietly whisper a strange incantation.
─ Vrrrrm...
The ground trembled, and blue waves spread out from the orb.
It was a wave very similar to the barrier that surrounded the kingdom.
But this was not a barrier to stop intruders from outside—it was one to prevent anything from getting out from the inside.
"?"
─ SHWAAAAH!
The space turned blue, and the curtain instantly enveloped me, Laila, and the old man.
"Huh...?"
I felt something strange.
A sense of incongruity, as if something flowing inside my body had suddenly 'shut down'.
Turning my head, I saw Laila also looking at me with a frown.
"...Hero, my mana..."
The old man clicked his tongue as if scoffing.
"Heh heh... What's wrong? Something feel strange?"
I quietly clenched and unclenched my hand.
'My mana stopped?'
"Seems like you actually used your head... What's a feeble old geezer gonna do without mana?"
But the old man spoke slowly, with an almost amused expression.
"Pitiful humans who rely on mana... What can you do with a frail body that has no mana?"
The old man's eyes blazed with a deep blue light.
It was as if some power was awakening from within.
His body began to swell, his clothes tore to shreds, and scales sprouted from within.
─ GRUMBLE-RUMBLE!
With a massive shockwave, his form slowly transformed.
His arms lengthened, his body stretched, and two enormous fin-like shapes rose from his back.
"Mana is merely a tool for a long life, nothing more."
He was a blue dragon that seemed to cover the sky.
His long whiskers fluttered in the air, and his scales shone like the deep sea.
The dragon's eyes were the same as the old man's, but the resonance was completely different.
"You, without a single speck of mana..."
When his mouth opened, a deep bass that reverberated in my skull spread out.
"If I crush you under my claws, what can you do?"
The dragon's lips curled upward slowly, and blue mana billowed out like breath.
─ KABOOOOOM!!!
Enormous claws came down like lightning, gouging the earth deep and shattering rocks to pieces.
At that spot, only the claw was visible, as if it had crushed everything.
The attack was aimed solely at me.
"Pathetic..."
With her blue hair fluttering, Laila looked up at the massive dragon with a puzzled expression.
She gazed at the collapsed ground and spoke cautiously.
"Hero, are you alright?"
Before her words even finished.
─ Grrrrk...
"Hey, old man."
"Hm...?"
I casually lifted the giant dragon's claw with both hands and slipped out.
"How... are you alive?"
"Judging by the sudden attack... are you finally feeling a bit threatened?"
A thin smile spread across the dragon's face.
His huge pupils briefly glanced down at Laila.
"...I can't allow the woman who will become my bride to be defiled."
A moment of silence followed those words.
Then the corners of my mouth slowly rose.
"I've eaten dragon meat before, but I've never tried a full-grown dragon."
I stroked my chin with my hand, grinning mischievously.
"If I bring home dragon meat, will people really like it?"
The Dragon God heard that and burst into hearty laughter.
"Fine! Go whenever you want! The door... I've already opened it!"
His colossal body radiated presence, and clouds began to gather around him.
"Of course... if you survive."
As soon as I slipped out from under the giant claw, I grinned and raised my club.
Then I swung it at his leg.
─ CRUNCH!!!
"Tough one."
Scales shattered, and the bones inside were completely crushed.
In immense pain, the giant dragon opened its mouth and let out a roar.
"Do you know what short ribs are?"
It wasn't a lie that the gate was open.
Because I felt the communication that had been cut off reconnecting.
"There were guys like you before. Guys who think, 'If we just neutralize mana, if we can block mana... or if we just deal with the holy sword...'"
It wasn't as if they were brain-dead morons who couldn't think of that...
"You know how I dealt with people like that?"
Where did my strength as the Hero come from?
Exquisite mana control?
Tremendous swordsmanship?
Outstanding strategy?
All wrong.
My strength comes from my overwhelming physical body.
To me, mana was nothing but a tool.
"You just beat them until they absolutely can't hold on without using mana."
If they don't want to die, they'll naturally lift the mana block.
"Gramps, if you feel like you're gonna die from getting hit, just say so. I'll let you go."