Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Return
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Ian sat on a bench outside City Hall, staring at the main building now blanketed in flowers. The structure, covered in pure white stones, exuded a mystical aura while simultaneously radiating an intensely eerie vibe.
Sprouts spider lilies accompanied by hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, affecting only a specific race. The spell's range is limited to one building. Targets entering the area will end their own lives, becoming nutrients for new spider lilies. If targeting a building, only up to the 4th floor falls within range. Duration: 10 minutes. Required Materials: Body organ from the target race, blood, 5 pure white flowers, 15 chunks of grotesque flesh, small amount of sugar, small amount of caster's blood.
Warning: Upon activation, the caster cannot leave the magic circle for 10 minutes. Stepping out will include the caster in the spell's range.
The spider lilies blanketing the outer walls played a beautiful music box melody. A bizarre lunar song that induced temptation and mental disorientation only in Reptilians. This was an applied form of magic Ian had gained after the Recomposer of All Things—the Outer God that devoured the moon—had been dealt with.
Far less efficient and with a narrower range than reproducing the song through alchemically crafted items, but its effect was unparalleled.
Ian leaned back deeply into the bench, gazing down at the Reptilian corpse sprawled at his feet and the magic circle drawn in its blood.
Chirrrk.
He opened the Grimoire and stared quietly at the page describing the spell he had used.
Flower's Tomb.
Unlike other spells, which typically had straightforward names like "Magic to Make Learning Foreign Languages Easier" or "Magic to Reveal the Location of Lost Items," spells created from absorbing Outer Gods had rather vague titles. Guessing the effect of "Flower's Tomb" from its name alone was no easy task.
The casting process wasn't particularly intuitive either.
First, select the target race and extract one of their organs, placing it nearby. For humans, use a human organ; for Reptilians, a Reptilian one. Naturally, Ian had chosen the latter.
Place the harvested organ in the center of the blood-drawn magic circle. Gently lay a single flower atop it, and place flowers to the north, south, east, and west as well. The flowers must be white.
Next, dye the white flowers red with the caster's blood.
Pour blood until the petals turn fully red. No need to worry about excess flow—the flowers will absorb it themselves. Once red, sprinkle sugar on top.
Finally, place 15 chunks of grotesque flesh in the circle's empty spaces, and preparation is complete.
Recite the incantation, and the spell activates, causing a single white spider lily to bloom within the desired enclosed space.
The spider lily lures and devours members of the target race one by one, slowly multiplying. The lured "prey" succumb to the flower's beauty without realizing they've been marked as sacrifices, turning themselves into nutrients—in other words, committing suicide.
Once all targets within the space are dead, a sound like heavenly singing emanates, and massive spider lilies bloom one by one across the building's exterior walls.
Just like now.
[Laaaa-]
A sweet melody echoed from inside City Hall, and the flowers covering the exterior walls merged into a single massive spider lily.
Vast pure white petals blanketed the entire exterior in an instant.
Ian watched the sight impassively, then pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a long plume of smoke.
"It's over."
As the words left his mouth, the building housing the garrisoned soldiers split in half and crumbled with a roar. The Circulator bounded atop it on all fours, letting out a savage roar. The deafening sound made the air tremble, though to Ian's ears, it registered only as a brief echo, as always.
Kwarrr rumble!
As soon as the building fully collapsed, a gust of dust-laden air billowed outward. Ian squinted, fanning it away with his Grimoire like a makeshift fan, while the Circulator rummaged through the concrete debris, crunching and swallowing the remaining Reptilian corpses.
He considered stopping it but decided against it—its belly would soon be full enough to head home anyway.
The situation was resolved, and his assistance was no longer needed. It could vanish without issue.
He hadn't even considered the possibility of surviving Reptilian stragglers. He had absolute faith in his magic; without that, one couldn't call themselves a mage.
Of course, he wasn't completely off guard.
Even if all Reptilians were dead, the surviving humans might charge him. Maintaining minimal defenses against their attacks was prudent.
He had used magic instead of unleashing the Circulator to avoid harming the humans incidentally, but he had no intention of sparing those who resisted. He wasn't about to attempt persuasion and risk a kitchen knife in his gut.
Anyway, he had no plans to enter City Hall, so no real danger seemed likely.
"Hoo..."
Ian exhaled smoke, gazing steadily toward City Hall.
Just then, the sated Circulator returned, dragging a few mangled Reptilian corpses. They were damaged but still usable as materials. Ian chuckled softly and patted the head of the beast, which had flopped down beside him.
"Thanks. I'll put them to good use."
[Krroong!]
The Circulator gave a short roar and gaped its maw wide. Black seawater gushed from its throat.
The outer sea's water, corrosive to all it touched. As if preparing to depart, it nodded to Ian and plunged its head into the pooled seawater on the ground. The shallow puddle greedily devoured its massive form—truly a fitting unsummoning for a Circulator.
Ian stared at the spot where it had vanished, then turned to Marion, who had just plummeted from midair, and lit another cigarette. She had been clinging to the Circulator's back until then. Fortunately, she hadn't been dragged into the outer sea.
"Ugh...! It hurts..."
"Quit whining when nothing's broken."
Ian spoke coldly, inhaling and exhaling smoke. A sweet lemon scent filled his mouth.
"How's the recovery going?"
"I still can't move much. But I've restored some of the magic on my dress."
Kiiing kiiing.
Marion crawled laboriously across the ground and collapsed at Ian's feet. Her blue eyes reflected his face.
"I should be fine if I move now."
"You just said it hurt from the fall."
"That was whining."
"..."
Ian leaned back against the bench, seriously contemplating putting a bullet hole in Marion's abdomen.
Just then, the firmly shut doors of City Hall creaked open, and a group of humans emerged from within.
A motley crew of various races, ages, and genders. Some had swollen bellies like they were pregnant; others were missing limbs. Their only weapon was a crude spear made by taping a kitchen knife to a mop handle.
Weapons so shoddy one wondered if they could even hunt beasts, let alone Reptilians. But it was probably the best they could manage.
"Sssip... Hoo..."
Ian took a final drag and flicked the spent cigarette aside. Marion eyed the group of survivors scanning their surroundings and asked Ian,
"Shall I kill them, Master?"
"Kill what? Stay put. If anyone's dying, I'll handle it."
"Kek!"
Ian lightly kicked Marion's side and drew his revolver. At that moment, the group's leader spotted him, confirmed the gun, and went wide-eyed. It was only natural—armed with a mop-knife spear against a gun.
No matter how heroic, no one could deflect bullets with a plastic spear. And humans subjugated by Reptilians charging a gun-wielding human? Unlikely.
Fortunately, the leader seemed to reach the same conclusion. Instead of charging blindly, he swallowed hard and spoke to his group before approaching Ian alone.
"..."
Ian waited silently as the distance closed, letting the man speak first.
The man sensed no immediate hostility and opened his mouth from a cautious distance.
"Did you save us?"
"You could say that."
"...Are you some kind of psychic? Awakener? Hunter? Something like that?"
Awakener.
A common trope in fiction. Utterly unrelated to Ian, who chuckled and twirled his revolver.
"No. Mage."
"...Mage?"
"Yeah."
"...Hah. Well, with aliens out there, no reason mages can't exist."
The man scratched his shaggy head and bowed at a perfect right angle to Ian.
"Thank you for saving us. We owe you our freedom."
"Got a place to go?"
"We'll find one starting now. Care to join us...?"
"Pass. I've got business."
"Understood. We'll be off then. Good luck with everything, Mage."
The man responded without lingering, as if expecting the refusal, and turned away. Ian watched the back of his head and pulled the Primate Slayer Knife from his bag.
"Hold up."
Ian called out. The man, heading back to his group, turned.
"Yes?"
"A gift. Take it."
Ian tossed the bandage-wrapped knife to the man, who flinched in panic.
"Wh-what?! Agh! D-don't just throw a knife like that!"
"Blade's wrapped, so it's fine. Anyway, that thing can instant-kill any human with a light stab. Keep it—humans are scarier than Reptilians sometimes."
Ian smiled faintly and stood. In the corner of his vision, far off, he spotted a black steed galloping toward them, with Yu-na and Eun-ha mounted atop.
They had arrived quickly despite not much time passing, so it must not have been summoned from afar. Ian waved back at Yu-na, who was waving enthusiastically, and spoke.
"How you use it is up to you. Do as you please."
"...Is that okay?"
"Just watch out for accidental stabs."
With that, Ian turned toward the approaching pair. The man stood frozen, staring at the knife hilt, then bowed to Ian before rejoining his group.
Moments later, the survivors began moving off somewhere. Yu-na and Eun-ha rode up the road, dismounted promptly, and checked Ian over.
"Ian, are you okay? Hurt anywhere? The Reptilians didn't rough you up?"
"I-Ian! You good?! Ah, wait. Getting down... motion sickness... U-urgh...!"
The two women, reacting differently, stared at Ian's face before their gazes naturally dropped to his feet.
Thus, three pairs of eyes met.
"..."
"..."
"U-urgh!"
Mint eyes, blue eyes, and black eyes tangled in the air. In an instant, Eun-ha grasped the situation, yanked Ian back while opening the Grimoire, and Yu-na staggered forward, stomping on Marion's face as she lay on the ground.
Kwachik!
A vicious crunch echoed as the partially restored dress magic shattered, and Marion took the full impact.
Blood burst from her nose, streaming down her cheeks.