Episode 1115
by CristaeHydor…! No, not yet! But it’s similar in shape!
The General of Fire Heaven saw the small droplet of water and recalled a legendary spell he’d heard of in the spirit realm.
For mortals, life might be an instant, but their accomplishments left a much greater impact than expected. Exceptional magic was one such example.
In a way, a drop of water was the least fitting tool for destruction.
Of all the elements, water was the least destructive, just condensed into a round shape.
But the essence of Hydor was to stuff the most destructive and wild concept into it.
It was just a small droplet, but the power within surpassed a great mountain range—an ironic magic!
What the spirit-loving mage cast now wasn’t a perfect Hydor, but he couldn’t deny that it was a very credible imitation.
If he kept honing and compressing that unique conception, he might one day reach the original spell.
The newly modified Water Orb Projectile traced an elegant arc.
Its trajectory was clear and graceful, but the outcome was savage. The warriors conjured by the General of Fire Heaven were swept away.
‘To tear through space itself!’
The General of Fire Heaven smiled bitterly in regret.
A powerful spirit never looked down on even an ordinary pebble; driven to the limit, a pebble could kill a great dragon.
All the more so with a whirling globe of water. A conceptual, rather than merely physical, rotation could shred and rip up space itself.
And his enemy wasn’t just using space for offense. That one was annoyingly skilled in defense, too.
Look at that cloak.
The warriors of fire had mysteriously dissipated with no warning; looking closely, that was also due to space magic.
The cloak, split and engraved over countless parallel dimensions, endlessly divided space to keep enemies at bay.
A master of space magic on a turtle would still outpace any fine steed.
That cloak was a step above even that. It trapped approaching enemies in an eternally receding spatial labyrinth.
From outside, it had looked instantaneous, but the fire-forged warriors faded away pointlessly, unable to outlast time.
Truly powerful artifacts like that weren’t something an individual mage could possess just with ability alone.
It must have taken the love and favor of countless beings.
So fitting for a mortal loved by spirits. But this General of Fire Heaven never gives up easily! Taste now the blow of one hated by spirits and stars…
The General of Fire Heaven was tenacious and stubborn as his reputation said.
Other spirits, even quite violent ones, would have given up by now out of pure loss—but he refused to back down.
Whenever he saw a fate-favored mortal, it was the General of Fire Heaven’s nature to want to test them.
But he was so absorbed in the spell being played before him, he’d forgotten the enemies gathering all around.
This was a den of mages!
I’ll kill you all!!!!
Surprisingly, the first to counterattack wasn’t the Tower Master, nor Professor Voladi, but Joulin.
The veteran mages sensed from the flow of the fight that Lee Han was not in immediate danger.
But not Joulin.
Seeing a crazy spirit attacking her contractor, Joulin lost all self-control and charged straight in, uncaring whether a wall of burning fire blocked her.
A normal being would have been incinerated, but the dragon lineage, the mightiest race, protected Joulin.
Other than a few burnt scales that came off, Joulin was unharmed. Hard to believe she’d forced her way through a king-level spirit’s flames.
The General of Fire Heaven wondered aloud at the sight.
Have I grown that much weaker, or have the dragons grown that much stronger…?
Joulin didn’t try to talk; she gave it everything she had.
The General of Fire Heaven burned hotter than any fire she’d ever faced, but Joulin battered him with her front paws and tore at him with her fangs—hungry beast savage.
Even as her real body, fueled by power from her true self, was ripped apart, the General of Fire Heaven’s spirit did not break.
He was actually overjoyed to find an enraged dragon.
An enraged dragon! How long had he waited to see one of those?
Dragons were among the most emotionally stable of races, and rarely interfered in the world.
Unless it was the distant past, when devils swarmed everywhere, it was almost unheard of to see an enraged dragon now.
Yet here was one.
He even wondered if this rage might spawn an evil or demon dragon.
There was no worthier foe than a rampaging dragon freed from all limits by a deep wound.
“Your Highness!”
Lee Han shouted for Joulin.
It was a simple call, but also not a simple call. The voice carried urgency, earnestness, and strong mana and intent.
Thanks to that, Joulin’s eyes, burning red in fury, quickly returned to normal. The General of Fire Heaven reproached Lee Han as if in regret.
Why? Why such weakness?
Not just out of personal selfishness; even from a mortal’s standpoint, it was a poor move.
Why reduce a dragon’s fighting power in a situation like this?
A great strategist would have poured fuel on that fire.
“…Ha. Do you want me to be unyielding?”
Lee Han almost never let himself get angry at otherworldly beings.
Not because he didn’t feel anger, but because he found it pointless. Just look at the Yaksha King. He’d learned shouting changed nothing.
But the General of Fire Heaven broke through Lee Han’s reason and made him angry.
Seeing the mortal snap back so icily, the General of Fire Heaven was overjoyed.
Yes!
“Good!”
Lee Han glared with sharp coldness, pulling out the Bracelet of Ten Thousand Demons.
As immense mana surged from the bracelet and spread to the abyss below, demons muttered in eager expectation.
Which demon would seize the chance to escape?
But their luck ran out right there.
No professor would sit by while their student used something like the Bracelet of Ten Thousand Demons in front of them.
Thwack!
An inaudible rupture echoed out. It was a spatial rupture, striking directly at the true essence of the General of Fire Heaven in the spirit world.
Professor Voladi, expressionless, rained blows down. The General of Fire Heaven would have liked to praise his foe’s attacks, but couldn’t.
The enemy mage had first severed his telepathy.
‘Why?’
The General of Fire Heaven couldn’t understand why the foe went for such a useless point first.
Meanwhile, Tower Master Urangdam moved as well. He swept his staff in a spell, and a humble lily flower blossomed above the General of Fire Heaven.
For a spirit so violent and warlike, his presence suddenly faded and he quieted, like a patient forgetting everything.
Urangdam gnashed his teeth.
“If we can’t seal that damn spirit forever today, then this old man’s a fool deserving to be tricked by the headmaster again and again!”
Strictly speaking, the mages here had suffered no real loss.
The Tower facilities were unharmed, and Lee Han was intact.
But there had been one great casualty: the pride of the Ascension Lily Magic Tower.
To have chaos break out at their banquet?
Impre… ssive…
The General of Fire Heaven was heartbroken to go.
How could he hope to meet so many worthy rivals again, anywhere, anytime?
That mortal hadn’t even unleashed his other spirits or the power of the stars.
He wanted to pull out and reveal the pounding heart hidden within—to experience the true core up close.
It was honestly dangerous for him, but even so, the General of Fire Heaven tried to draw up yet more strength from his true body.
Despite every mortal wound, his stubbornness was unbelievable.
Professor Voladi’s eyebrow rose slightly. From the sensation on his fingertips, he realized his target was getting desperate.
So too with Urangdam. The spirit’s efforts to throw off the lily and stay lucid seemed even greater than the records had claimed.
Both mages quietly ramped up their attacks. Rather than risk letting the spirit go berserk, they would strike decisively and banish it.
“Insolent!”
With a short shout, Professor Garcia suddenly appeared behind the General of Fire Heaven.
Unlike the other two, Professor Garcia was less versed in magical combat, so loading a useful attack spell took time.
And picking a spell to fit this situation was even tougher. She didn’t have a lot of combat magic, and finding one appropriate wasn’t easy.
But Professor Garcia held her ground. How could she retreat when her own student was there?
With a sound like the air tearing, her fist slammed into the spirit’s vital point. The various attack magics loaded onto her punch exploded.
Already battered by Joulin, Professor Voladi, and Urangdam, the General of Fire Heaven couldn’t take any more and was banished immediately.
The watching mages were abuzz in shock.
From the outside, it looked like a spirit who had weathered every assault had finally been felled by a punch.
Professor Garcia cried out in embarrassment.
“He was already almost gone before I hit him!!”
But that didn’t stop the mages’ murmuring.
After the battle, as the mages worked to restore the damage, Lee Han and Professor Garcia tended Joulin’s wounds.
Even losing only a few scales was enough to worry him.
Through it all, Joulin was oddly silent, just rolling her eyes.
The young basilisk worried and asked:
-Are you sure there aren’t any injuries?
I am not hurt…
-People who try to hide their injuries usually say that, though…
The young basilisk was about to say more, but Joulin sighed glumly.
If I go back… my outings will probably be forbidden…
-……
It was so absurd that the young basilisk almost drooled venom from her fangs.
What the hell??
But Joulin was utterly sincere.
She’d begged her contractor to take her out, only to forget the warning against transforming and cause a huge incident.
Maybe her sibling was right after all.
‘Maybe Joulin should have just stayed home.’
“What are you talking about, Your Highness! You saved Lee Han!”
“That’s right, Your Highness. How could I possibly forbid outings when you risked yourself to save me? Do I look that cold?”
A little… No, no. I trust my contractor!
Joulin had recently gotten very quick on the uptake.
It didn’t feel at all like she was really being disciplined here.
Could it be?
Then Joulin was innocent?!
“Of course, I’m only grateful.”
Hurray!
Joulin gave a wing-flapping full of joy.
Just as in the old stories, a good deed had been repaid with kindness.
Lee Han, seeing it, felt a vague unease.
…He hoped today’s experience wouldn’t have any bad side effects.
“Your Highness, but do please refrain from transforming and fighting in the future.”
Even if you’re in danger, Lee Han?
“Yes.”
Even if Lee Han is really in danger?
“…Your Highness, please write one hundred times, ‘I will not transform and fight as I please from now on.’ No magic allowed.”
Why, why?! You said I was innocent…!
While Joulin panicked, Lee Han was suddenly aware of a burning sensation on the back of his hand.
A feeling he had experienced a few times before.
The sensation of forming a contract with a spirit.
But precisely speaking, this time it wasn’t the feeling after a contract, but the sense of a spirit requesting a contract.
It was a very unfamiliar feeling for Lee Han.
‘What is this?’
Maybe the word had gotten out in the spirit world after his fight with the evil spirit, and his popularity had exploded.
Oooooh… Were they finally waiting for me?
“……”
When he realized whose voice it was, Lee Han immediately closed his mind and blocked the incoming message from the spirit world.