In a dark lair.
At the highest point, a scale that had been kept safe began to wiggle.
A scale that had been endlessly black.
It wriggled this way and that until it eventually transformed into a small black snake.
The snake, with its sparkling azure eyes, swiftly slithered out of the lair with graceful movements.
* * *
Rehilis soared into the sky and exhaled sharply.
No matter how much she was the dragon who mastered magic, using this scale of magic simultaneously was obviously a tall order.
More difficult than unleashing magic at maximum firepower was the task of delicately adjusting and refining magic that had already been cast.
In that regard, fine-tuning one of the strongest spells, Meteor, was as challenging as carving a rock with a single droplet of water.
The properties inscribed in the Meteor were destruction, rock, fire, and gravity.
Each one was the complete antithesis of the forest, making it all the more difficult.
Rehilis gazed calmly at the ground from which black smoke was rising. The crater, deep and vast, gave her an estimate of the power contained in the Meteor.
Slowly, the smoke began to dissipate.
She had decided not to let her guard down until that smoke cleared completely and she confirmed that the being was truly dead.
For some unknown reason, it had an incredibly faint presence, making it difficult to detect if it intended to hide.
Suspended in the air, she replenished the Mana she had consumed.
The essence of nature slowly seeped into Rehilis, rapidly filling the Mana she had lost.
The smoke lifted.
Where the smoke that had covered the area now vanished was…
[……!!]
“I thought I was going to die… you bastard…!”
Despite its skin being flayed, and muscles charred black from severe burns, the creature was still alive and moving.
Its condition was undoubtedly severe.
One of its eyes was completely damaged, appearing blind, and the burned muscles were so ruined they could no longer function.
Yet still.
It was alive and breathing.
[…….]
The once majestic Red Dragon’s brow furrowed.
She felt an instinctive aversion.
Injuries that would have caused any normal creature to die long ago seemed to exemplify the grotesque, as it continued to struggle for survival.
The cursed sword it held was already half destroyed.
Once a vivid red, it now glowed faintly.
Even that seemed on the verge of fading away.
—–Voooom.
Letting it be would ensure death.
But she needed to see it through to the end.
Rehilis didn’t disregard that instinct and gathered her breath once again.
Her Mana, already replenished by the essence of nature, had fully recovered.
With all her might, she drew a breath.
The crimson energy gathered more and more at her mouth, while for some reason, it just stood there watching.
“Hah… Hah…”
A faint sigh escaped her lips.
Rehilis unleashed her final breath.
[Die.]
A crimson beam shot forth with a destructive energy towards Deltian.
Feeling that red energy reaching him, Deltian smiled, revealing his sharp teeth.
“Absorb it, cursed sword.”
The moment he whispered that softly, the approaching destructive energy began to condense inside the cursed sword in an instant.
[How…?]
Rehilis’s eyes widened.
It was a dying man.
Yet, in the moment of death, he instantly absorbed its energy.
It was impossible.
And yet, he achieved it.
“Do you think the cursed sword that scratched you was just sitting idle all this time?”
His cursed sword manipulated blood.
Even a user was no exception.
It altered the essence of blood, completely overturning the energy flowing within.
That’s why it was a cursed sword.
It devoured both friend and foe alike, thirsting solely for blood.
“The moment the cursed sword licked your blood, your defeat was already sealed.”
A very tiny wound.
The moment it inflicted that wound, the cursed sword was already altering its essence.
Very slowly.
And quietly.
“Still, it’s surprising this is all it can do…”
Normally, the moment it swallowed blood, the energy that infiltrated would completely shatter the target. Every user before had met the same fate, reducing them to mummies without a single drop of moisture left.
But dragons were different.
How should it be described?
They felt fundamentally different from ordinary creatures.
Rather than a living being… perhaps similar to the endlessly blue expanse of nature.
Because of that, its essence wasn’t completely transformed.
Nature was always the epitome of magical energy.
However, just a tiny bit.
Changing that much was enough.
His cursed sword had the characteristic of devouring any energy similar to its own, no matter how minuscule.
It was an exceedingly small amount.
The essence that had crept into her breath was tinier than dust.
Yet even if an incredibly small component mixed in, it was no longer pure energy.
Even if it was a broken cursed sword, consuming energy similar to its own was a cinch.
[What the…?]
“If you had just smashed me physically, I wouldn’t have known.”
Slowly,
Deltian’s body began to heal.
As if time were reversing, muscle fibers reconnected, the charred skin regained its color, and the broken cursed sword was restored to its original state.
The energy contained in her breath had been that overwhelming.
Deltian, who had utilized that energy to recover from all his wounds, grinned.
“You let your guard down.”
[…….]
Rehilis clenched her teeth.
It was her blunder.
Of course, she couldn’t grasp the full extent of the cursed sword’s abilities from their first encounter, but the result was her defeat.
Only then could she feel it.
The alien energy writhing beneath her skin.
That energy was slowly gnawing at her, attempting to turn her essence upside down.
[…Meteor.]
It wasn’t cast.
The blue magic circle floating in the air gradually completed, but the black energy mixed in twisted and shattered the magic circle.
“You can’t, you can’t.”
Deltian grinned.
Yes, this was his aim.
With just one mistake.
A very trivial mistake had led him to victory once more.
“Then, I’ll return it as it is.”
Deltian raised his sword into the air.
From the tip of the massive sword, a deep crimson energy slowly gathered.
Though it was fundamentally different from Rehilis’s breath, the destructive energy it carried remained unchanged.
In fact, it was stronger than her breath.
The energy he was compressing was filled solely with the will to bring about someone’s death.
Rehilis’s complexion turned pale.
It was a fatal mistake.
She could wield neither magic nor breath.
Even if she switched to hand-to-hand combat, nothing would change.
Her specialties lay in magic and breath, not in physical combat.
Should I run?
Rehilis glanced back.
An endlessly extending forest.
How many animals were there?
If she fled, an uncountable number of beasts would be slaughtered.
[…….]
Determination filled her eyes.
There was a method she had never tried before. The language that a fully-grown dragon instinctively awakens.
[Be created.]
Spiritual Language.
The power to change the world by speaking.
The world would transform according to her will. It was impossible to disrupt the breath he was gathering. Although her proficiency in the language was low, making specific alterations was difficult.
However, altering herself was possible.
According to her intention.
The magic circle adorned the air once again.
One, two, three…
No, it wasn’t just one or two.
Countless magic circles adorned the sky.
And every single one of those spells was infused with a killing intent aimed solely at destroying one life.
“Hah.”
Deltian let out a wry smile.
What on earth was that?
He stared blankly at the intricate magic circles filling the air.
Each one was fundamentally different from the spells he had used before.
A new energy.
A new formation.
Time was insufficient for the cursed sword to analyze it.
“Are you giving up on protecting the forest?”
If such powerful magic were to fall, it would undoubtedly cause immense casualties.
Yet, Rehilis shook her head.
[I will kill you by any means necessary. I believe that is the path for everyone’s benefit.]
“Well, aren’t you the wise sage,” he quipped.
Facing her meant death.
Just as he recognized this and prepared to bolt into the forest,
———Shaaak!
A small snake emerged from the forest and bit his foot.
Deltian, ignoring it, charged into the woods.
——Uptight.
“What…?!”
His body wouldn’t move.
It felt as if every drop of blood and all the cells in his body had turned to stone.
“Damn it!! Cursed sword!!”
He attempted once again to alter the components of his blood using the cursed sword, but it refused to respond.
When he looked down at the cursed sword, his eyes widened in shock at the emotion it exuded.
‘It’s afraid…?’
As if it were saying it shouldn’t be defied.
The cursed sword, which had relentlessly pursued blood, was trembling in fear.
In the moment he stood still, confused about what was happening,
[Die.]
The spell was already complete.
The countless magic circles in the sky, all aimed at one person, were unleashed.
‘Ah.’
He instinctively realized.
This moment was his last.
* * *
[Hah… Hah…]
Rehilis exhaled heavily.
Using the Spiritual Language for the first time had placed a great burden on her.
As she looked at the completely annihilated Deltian, a question arose.
[Why did he stop?]
He surely had aimed to flee into the forest.
Yet at some point, he suddenly froze, unable to resist as he met his end.
Of course, it was her good fortune, but she couldn’t help but wonder why he had frozen.
The moment Rehilis landed on the ground,
a little snake appeared from somewhere and began to crawl up her body.
[Jörmungandr…?]
With striking blue eyes, the dark-scaled snake was small but unmistakably a resemblance of Jörmungandr.
How could it be here?
As she pondered this, she sensed that this little snake was different from the legendary serpent.
In fact, it was far less impressive.
Just as Rehilis bent down to pick up the little snake,
a sudden snap!
[Ugh?!]
The little snake bit Rehilis.
And in that instant.
Woosh!
She felt all the magic and energy that had altered her vanishing from her body, and her vision dipped down sharply.
“Ouch… um?”
Rehilis, who had been in pain, realized that the alien energy coursing through her had vanished.
That wasn’t all.
A voice that sounded different.
Instinctively, Rehilis reached up to touch her face.
The delicate skin—unlike that of a dragon.
A somehow unfamiliar voice.
She instinctively recognized what she had transformed into.
“I’ve… become human?”
She blinked in surprise.
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