Chapter 218 - The Witch and The Dragon (3)
Jest Word, the Void Dragon.
An ancient dragon who had long belonged to Arcana, comparable to Bahamut, the Dragon Lord of the Purple Dragons.
Being a dragon, he was naturally constrained by the gods in exercising his influence. Moreover, like a long-lived dragon, he was plagued by a deep sense of ennui, so he rarely moved unless it was necessary.
The fact that such a dragon was now descending upon this place meant that Dorothy’s release from the seal was no ordinary matter for Arcana.
Dorothy, seeing Jest Word sticking his head through the warp gate, asked me, “How did you know that lizard would come here?”
Arcana were incredibly persistent fellows.
If they had a goal, they would tenaciously pursue it by any means necessary.
This was evident from the fact that they ultimately achieved their objectives of shaking the seal that closed the hole to the other world in the Bastille Mountains and obtaining the Fallen Angel’ Horns in the Constellation Labyrinth.
Of course, the hole to the other world was completely closed afterward, and the Fallen Angel’ Horns were a fake created by Sophia.
As for my assassination, they simply needed more time to prepare to snatch the key inside my body, so they didn’t send assassins right away.
If I had remained in the palace, assassins would have constantly come after me.
There was a reason why Arcana, whose important plan to dominate Dorothy had gone awry and completely fell apart, retreated without looking back.
“How would I know if the dragon would come? I just figured that if they had put that much effort into sealing it, they would have some insurance in place.”
At my answer, Dorothy, having nothing to say, closed her mouth and nodded.
“Indeed, it would have been troublesome if my friends were connected to me.”
The fact that the source of the familiars’ power was her meant that even without regaining her prime strength, her mana was being used to maintain the familiars.
She had already expended mana to shake the seal, so she couldn’t bear the burden of the mana for the familiar contract on top of that.
“But cleverly, they’ve set up a barrier in the forest to prevent escape. Fleeing won’t be easy.”
The barrier was probably composed from the design stage and activated by Nivel as she retreated.
“The fact that he’s still in the middle of spatial movement means he’s full of openings.”
Jest Word, being a massive dragon, had many difficulties passing through the narrow warp gate.
Simply teleporting would require too much mana, so it couldn’t be helped.
No matter how weakened Dorothy had become from the long seal, she was still a monster among monsters, ranked among the world’s strongest.
“It’s true that he’s full of openings, but recovery is needed to pierce those gaps. Among you, there are some kids who can strike that lizard… The sapling of the winter wood, the red-haired kid who wields a sword, the kid with the staff that even I covet, and…”
Dorothy’s gaze, which had pointed out Jade, Precia, and Abassael, lingered on me for a moment.
What was that look? Does she really think I can deal damage to that monster?
Even if I mastered Lisbeth’s spirit arts to the extreme, I couldn’t guarantee it, so there’s no way it’s possible at my current level.
“…No, it’s meaningless. You may be able to strike him, but you can’t win. At your current level, you’d be annihilated if you charged in. I can’t drive my benefactor to his death.”
I laughed at Dorothy’s words.
“Of course we have no intention of engaging.”
“Oh-ho, then?”
At my words, Dorothy looked at me with interest. She seemed quite at ease, as if she had some preparation of her own.
If she had made preparations, it meant she had done something before being sealed, but could it still be maintained?
I decided to carry out my plan.
“You have to fight, of course.”
When I signaled to Jade and Abassael with my eyes, the two mages nodded and struck the ground with the tips of their magic staves.
At the same time, the magic circle installed to break Dorothy’s seal activated once again, emitting light.
The forest’s mana that maintained the seal had converted the mana extracted from Dorothy into the negative dimension.
If mana could be extracted from her, it was entirely possible to return it to her as well.
Of course, a considerable amount of mana was consumed in the process of breaking the seal and lost in converting it back from the negative dimension to the positive dimension.
But it should be enough to deal with that lizard who hasn’t managed to crawl out yet. Probably.
“Hah! You even prepared for this.”
Dorothy checked her restored mana and smiled.
“And take these too.”
I handed over two mana crystals containing mana extorted from the management unit and the mages under “Arcana 01, Magician”.
“It’s muddled. It seems you extracted mana from many people. But the quality is high, the quantity is large, and it even contains life force, so it will be useful if handled well.”
It couldn’t help but be muddled, as each mage processed and stored mana in different ways according to their own school, habits, tendencies, and nature.
The life force contained in the mana crystals seemed to be extracted from those who died while having their mana drawn out.
Then it would also contain the death energy that is released upon dying.
“Since you’ve done this much, I can’t refuse. It’s a good thing I have a score to settle with that lizard.”
Dorothy took out a magic staff from her subspace and hung the mana crystals I gave her on it.
“You’re not using a broom?”
A witch’s broom was closer to an external mana circuit than a magic staff.
At my question, she answered nonchalantly.
“It’s not that I’m not using it, but that I can’t use it. A broom of a witch of my caliber isn’t something that can be used just because I’ve recovered a bit of mana.”
Dorothy’s somewhat arrogant yet confident words were exactly true.
Her broom was an item befitting her high rank, but for that reason, it was an item that she, weakened by the seal, could not use.
There was a risk that an uncontrollable broom would devour her.
Nevertheless, the reason I asked was that I thought she might be able to recover her mana in an instant by using the broom at the risk of danger, and that she might still be able to control the broom.
“You kids who have learned magic, watch closely. It won’t be a spectacle you can see often.”
With those words, Dorothy lightly soared high into the sky.
Ascending to the dragon’s eye level in an instant, Jest Word spoke, exuding an ominous aura.
-O Witch of Calamity. You’ve done well to break the seal and emerge.
“Huhuhuh, foolish, empty-headed lizard. You didn’t come swarming like a pack of dogs this time? What did you think you could do, coming alone and sticking out that hideous head of yours?”
-Ha! Your mouth is still alive! Your whole body must have stiffened, and your mana weakened from the long seal, yet you dare to stand before me.
“It’s thanks to having an interesting junior.”
Junior? Among us, there were about two people Dorothy could call juniors.
Jade, the sage of the four seasons who contrasts with the witch of the four calamities, or me, who had the mana circuits of the witch Aquila transplanted.
Judging from her saying it was interesting, is she referring to me?
-Oho, have you recovered your strength? But how much compared to your prime? The seal of the ‘Hanged Man’ is terrible.
Jest Word, still unable to escape from the warp gate, laughed arrogantly. But Dorothy mocked the white dragon.
“Hah, still a dull lizard. Seeing that you can’t even notice the reason you still can’t come out of there, you haven’t changed much since the last time I saw you.”
As she said, Jest Word was unable to escape from the warp gate. No matter how massive a dragon’s body was, it was strange.
Only then did the dragon, noticing the oddity, become flustered.
-What?!
Dorothy’s mana was constricting the warp gate and interfering with the spatial attributes.
That subtle and delicate mana manipulation was simply admirable.
“It was unpleasant to meet you, and if we meet again, I will kill you myself. Empty-headed dragon.”
As Dorothy pretended to strike the ground with her magic staff, ripples began to spread from the tip of the staff.
Following the ripples spreading through the air, mana leaked out from the crystals I gave her, classified by property.
Then dozens of classified mana each drew their own magic circles.
Seeing this, Abassael was shocked.
“My god, using such diverse mana all at once, matched to their attributes?”
As he said, the instantly completed, disparate magic circles spewed out attacks.
From the red magic circle, scorching white flames poured out, and from the black magic circle, a storm of wind blades rode the pouring flames, aiming for Jest Word’s head.
As thick lightning flashed from the yellow magic circle, it engulfed the water arrows fired from the blue magic circle.
The magic Dorothy utilized was not limited to elemental magic.
A dense fog made from the death energy extracted from the mana settled, and she increased her own recovery power with life force.
Mana chains and terrible curses of all kinds, arrows of magic as solid as they were pure, poisonous clouds glowing green, and mind-interfering mental magic.
It was a spectacle as if attending an exhibition of all kinds of magic.
Jest Word, being a dragon, did not simply take it.
The Void Dragon, gathering mana by opening his mouth, exhaled and turned his head.
“Oh no!”
Jade, Abassael, and I hurriedly created protective barriers to block the aftermath created by the dragon’s breath.
Jest Word’s breath blew away the poisonous clouds and fog of death and shattered Dorothy’s magic circles.
The aftermath destroyed and obliterated parts of the forest where we were.
The Void Dragon then created a dozen mana spheres the size of his own head and used them as catalysts to fire mana beams.
Compared to his breath, it was nothing, but it was an attack surpassing any decent high-level magic.
Jest Word filled the gaps between the thick mana beams with mana bullets the size of basketballs.
Dorothy maneuvered in three dimensions, dodging the mana beams and hail of bullets fired by Jest Word, and constructed dozens of magic circles again to attack Jest Word.
Fortunately or unfortunately, the barrier left by the ‘Hanged Man’ before his soul was fragmented prevented Dorothy and Jest Word’s exchange of blows from causing damage elsewhere.
The problem was that we were in the middle of the aftermath.
“Jade! Abassael! Focus and maintain the defensive barrier!”
The burden I had to bear increased as the two people who should have been maintaining the defensive barrier were distracted, their eyes sparkling.
“Ah! I’m sorry.”
“My apologies, Lord.”
At my shout, the two came to their senses and properly infused mana into the defensive barrier.
However, their gazes still wouldn’t leave the battle unfolding in the sky.
The fierce battle turned in Dorothy’s favor.
Compared to Dorothy, who attacked diversely with the mana somewhat restored thanks to me and the crystals, Jest Word was at a disadvantage, fighting mainly with simple magic to avoid interference with spatial magic while half-stuck in the warp gate with his position fixed.
Spatial magic had a complex ritual composition, and if he made a mistake, a disaster of magic interfering with each other could occur.
If interference occurred, in the best case, the gate would close with his body stuck, cutting his body in half, and in the worst case, his body would be decomposed at the molecular level, and he would become a lost child wandering the illusory dimension with his consciousness intact.
Jest Word had to prevent Dorothy from interfering with the magic ritual that formed the warp gate while simultaneously blocking Dorothy’s magic, so he was greatly disadvantaged.
It was astonishing that a battle that seemed to happen only in legends and myths was taking place with both of them unable to display even half of their true abilities.
-Ugh! How were you able to recover to this extent? Impossible!
“Get lost now! Lizard!”
After fighting for dozens of minutes, Jest Word gave up on killing Dorothy and chose to retreat.
-Kaaaargh!
Dorothy launched a single strike at the Void Dragon just before the warp gate closed. A scream was heard from the narrowing space beyond.
“Huhuh, did you see that, kids? This body is none other than Dorothy, the Witch of the Shaking Earth.”
Dorothy, who had defeated Jest Word the Void Dragon and slowly descended to the ground, was drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
TN: Okay. I didn’t recognize your game, Miss Dorothy.