Ch. 298
“So you insist on doing this, intruder! How arrogant!”
As Ador and Grufain flew at the knights, it became clear I had no intention of surrendering, and Theatrazen flared with rage.
Calling my lack of fear in the face of his name “arrogance,” he began chanting a long, long spell—one that demanded my full attention.
All the wind in the area began to churn violently in unison.
That familiar, ferocious flow of Mana was unmistakably calling the Wind High-Level Spirit, Silairon.
Even through all the commotion, I could feel it riding the wind—Theatrazen was summoning a colossal being.
The sight of the wind gathering so fiercely in one spot was enough to make me giddy.
“……How cool!”
‘This is bad.’
Goosebumps prickled across my skin and my reason screamed that this was dangerous, but it felt so good.
What escaped my lips wasn’t a sigh.
I found myself panting with anticipation.
[Master! I am confident that this time, it is my turn!]
“Yes! It’s been a while since—”
[Yay!]
“Endairon!”
[……Damn it! Ack, ptui! Those detestable children of water!]
“O unmerciful water, rise from the end of the raging sea and the vortex where death has formed. Come to me!”
As the wind striving to become Silairon and the massive torrent of water trying to form Endairon tangled and swirled together, the area erupted into chaos, as if a typhoon had struck.
The shock of two High-Level Spirits being summoned at the same time was so great that the Barrier surrounding the area swayed precariously, as if it might collapse from the pressure alone.
The clash had already begun.
Sensing their masters’ will, the two Spirits tried to crush and devour each other even before they fully took form.
“Don’t be sad, Rai! You have a job to do, too!”
[Really? What is it!]
“A very important…… Mana battery!”
[……I don’t want to! Me too! Give me something cool! Make me huge like Endairon!]
“You’re already a cool Mana battery!”
Wrapping Rai tightly around my wrist, I began drawing Mana from the Dragon Heart inside him.
Half of my own Mana was already gone.
[I don’t wanna!]
“Then who told you to eat a Dragon Heart!”
[It was great when I was eating it!]
From the sheer aftershock of Silairon and Endairon’s tangled struggle, the knights were flung into the distance, slamming into walls.
Then, with a deafening roar, the Barrier shattered.
I’d expected it.
In the face of beings that could erase the royal castle without a trace, something like a Barrier was meaningless.
The reason I hadn’t called Endairon sooner was because I’d wanted to end things peacefully.
“Rai, you’re my witness, okay? I was just trying to pass by quietly. But Theatrazen was the one who picked a fight.”
[……Isn’t the problem that you were trying to pass through the royal castle?]
“Anyway, I’m a pacifist.”
[……?]
“Don’t look at me, look over there! It’s Silairon!”
Silairon, now fully revealed, had a gigantic human form.
His height easily surpassed the castle walls, and in one hand he held a long spear that looked like it could reach the sky.
His entire body was made of surging wind, with no part of him not swirling violently.
Unlike his human-like torso, his lower half stretched out like the tail of a typhoon, moving freely to keep Endairon in check.
The coolest part—no matter what anyone said—was those murderous wings.
A pair of wings, each larger than his torso.
The fact that they themselves were infinite weapons thrilled me to no end.
Honestly, it was rapturous.
[Um. Master? Why are you so thrilled? You’re a High-Level Mage too, you know.]
“How can I not be thrilled! That size! That spear! Those wings! A body made of blade-like winds!”
[……? Is it cool?]
“Totally cool!”
My body trembled on its own.
There was a thrill that came from something so terrifyingly beautiful and powerful.
[Uh…… I don’t know about that, but I do know one thing. If you felt even one-tenth of that excitement for a person, Master, you wouldn’t be called hopeless at romance!]
How could anyone born a Spirit Mage see that overwhelming figure and not feel anything?
Poor Rai clearly didn’t know the coolness of Spirits.
He looked bored, even with Silairon right there.
“Shut up! What do you know!”
[I’m a Spirit! Me!]
“Don’t you know how to respect someone’s tastes!”
[I know your tastes are peculiar, Master!]
“Aah, High-Level Spirits are the best……! This breathtaking presence!”
How many chances would you get in a lifetime to see two High-Level Spirits at the same time?
This could be the first and last time in my life.
I even suppressed my breathing, wanting to capture and feel everything about Silairon with my eyes.
I’d heard Master Yael talk about him until my ears bled, but this was the first time I was seeing him in person.
After all, the only human who could summon that being was Theatrazen.
My eyes, fixed on something so precious, sparkled more than ever.
‘If I could, I’d make him mine right now.’
[Hmph, the grass is always greener on the other side.]
The majesty of Endairon—confronting Silairon head-on—wasn’t a sight you got to see often either.
So beautiful I couldn’t take my eyes off it, even knowing the danger.
‘If I died from merely brushing against a being like that… even that would be special.’
“Wh-what is that?!”
“That person must be a High-Level Spirit Mage!”
“How can there be two…… Retreat! Everyone, back!”
Before a materialized part of nature, humans were nothing but small, weak beings.
The knights murmured in panic, then scrambled to save their own skins and take shelter.
Anyone who knew even a little about Theatrazen’s reputation would understand what it meant for there to be not one, but two colossal beings—both on the verge of clashing right in front of their eyes.
This was a natural disaster bordering on a cataclysm.
If you didn’t want to die, you ran.
“Fall back! Quickly!”
Faced with an overwhelming presence, instinct took over, and the knights had already been unfit for combat for a while.
They couldn’t even stand properly in the driving rain and wind, rolling around like fallen leaves before barely managing to cling to buildings—desperate to survive.
Ador and Grufain soon lost their targets and flew back to me.
[Master! The humans can’t even stand! What should we do?]
[They’re all running away…… Can we go back to the Spirit realm……?]
“Both of you, wait.”
The only one standing straight in the typhoon—so violent it was hard to even support your own body—was Theatrazen, exercising his influence over it.
Of course, I was just as stable, seated on Undaine’s back and floating in the air.
The area around Endairon and Silairon—threatening each other while making not just the earth but the sky tremble—emptied out in an instant, leaving only Theatrazen and me.
Ruuuumble.
The sound of the coming storm—like a beast’s cry—rose every time the two Spirits’ bodies so much as brushed against each other.
With the High-Level Spirits between us, my eyes met Theatrazen’s from a distance.
He was just as stunned by Endairon’s appearance.
Just as I couldn’t take my eyes off Silairon, pulled in by that presence, his face—twisted with admiration and bewilderment—was amusing to watch.
Theatrazen, his salt-and-pepper bangs whipping in the gale, shouted at me.
“Endairon……! So it was you—the suspicious person I felt in the plaza!”
Though we were in a storm, his voice was as clear as if he were speaking right next to me.
A Wind Spirit carried his words.
“I remember you clearly! This unusual aura…… What are you scheming! You couldn’t have entered the palace for personal reasons with such power!”
‘Well, I did enter for personal reasons, though?’
“Answer me! For what purpose have you come to this country!”
‘For sightseeing……? To see Toomdra.’
For some reason, it felt like I was going through immigration.
Theatrazen seemed very curious about my identity.
All the more because, until now, he’d been the only known High-Level Mage on the continent.
“Who are you targeting! Whose orders are you under! Reveal your identity at once!”
He kept sending his voice, but I only listened and ignored him.
Unaccustomed to being ignored, Theatrazen flew into a rage.
“You insolent brat! I know you can hear me! I don’t know what your filthy purpose is, but I will uncover it all! Do you think you can get away with pulling such a stunt in my country!”
[He’s noisy. Should I block him, Master?]
“No, leave it. It’s more infuriating when they know you’re listening, but you don’t answer.”
Now that the Barrier was gone, I scanned my escape route again.
But Sillaphe—a mid-level Wind Spirit in the shape of a hawk—was watching me intently from high up in the sky.
It was likely the same Sillaphe delivering Theatrazen’s words now.
It would chase me wherever I went, and shaking it off would be impossible without a faster Spirit.
At times like this, it was a shame I couldn’t ride Ador.
His speed was comparable to a Wind Spirit’s……
“Hmm…… Ador?”
[Oh! Right! Is it my turn!]
“Endairon and Silairon are going to clash again. When they do, you attack Sillaphe immediately. Grufain, use the confusion to hide and get behind that old man.”
I’d wanted to resolve this easily, but no matter how I looked at it, there were only two options—kill Theatrazen, or render him unable to fight.
[Sillaphe? Not Silairon?]
Ador had a frustrating side that made you explain things multiple times.
“Endairon will block Silairon.”
[Block, not defeat?]
“Right. The one to block is over there. The one to defeat is up there.”
I glanced upward, indicating the sky with my eyes.
I didn’t move rashly.
Sillaphe was watching everything.
[Why? Why don’t we all attack Silairon at once?]
“This way is faster.”
[Faster?]
“And more efficient. Even if Sillaphe runs, chase it to the very end and force it to be unsummoned. You’re the only one who can do it, so focus on that.”
Ador still looked like he didn’t understand, but he waited off to the side as instructed.
A fight between water and wind was bound to drag on.
Both Theatrazen and I knew that, so neither of us started rashly.
Just from clashing once, we’d felt the interlocking forces.
We knew it would be difficult to settle things this way.
If the elements were direct counters, deciding a winner would be much easier.
But water and wind had similar properties.
And the fact that neither held superiority meant victory or defeat would depend entirely on the summoner’s capabilities.
It would be a battle of pure power.
The one who reached their limit first would lose.
“Endairon…… you can do it, right?”
[Of course.]
It was partly because he was an intelligent High-Level Spirit, but also because water was the element I handled most.
Endairon understood me far better than Ador did.
Endairon’s job right now wasn’t to defeat Silairon.
It was to draw Theatrazen’s attention, pin him down, and drain his power.
To push him so hard he couldn’t think straight—so he wouldn’t realize the true target was elsewhere.
Sensing the impending clash, the air currents between the two High-Level Spirits shifted rapidly.