Chapter 769 – Lord of Fear

000

The entrance to the magic tower where Aqua and Laila had their duel was filled with the magical power of the magic tower flowing from the ground, just like before.

The torrent of magical power was so strong that objects around them spontaneously floated and were floating in that narrow space.

The fact that a buoyant force that could defy gravity was created just by the outburst of pure magical power meant that the seal of the Magic Tower was becoming weaker.

＂Ugh, what is the concentration of this magical power…＂

As soon as he arrived at the location, Lila frowned and muttered as she felt an unpleasant sensation of elemental magic sticking to her body.

As if floating at the entrance of a magic tower, various elemental powers are intertwined and the unbalanced magical power causes adverse effects on the bodies of almost all living beings, including humans.

If the concentration is severe, it can be eroded by magical power and affect one’s life.

For now, it is still inside the magic tower, but the release of this magic power will become more severe, and if that happens, it was only a matter of time before the magic tower’s magic spreads throughout the village.

＂It would be better for someone to stay behind and prevent the outflow of magical energy. It’s a shame that power is being cut down…”

When Lila said that, neither Ventuna nor Cleon said anything for a moment, and then—

“… I can’t help it. The weakest one here right now is me.”

Ben Tuna says that she has no choice, and that she will stay.

“I didn’t really mean it that way.”

When Lila said that to Ventuna, she responded as if she knew that she was.

However, when Lila looks at Ventuna like that and looks like she is sorry, Ventuna continues her story.

“This body was created by Rex Ignis. If you fight that guy with a body like this, and your body is taken over in the middle, it could actually become an obstacle.”

＂… That is…＂

At this undeniable assumption, Lila fell silent for a moment.

However, she soon nodded her head as if she understood.

“Then… Are we going up to the sky?”

As Cleon said that, he looked up, and underneath Rex Ignis, coiled around the broken middle part of the collapsed magic tower, was a translucent disc of magic covering it like a lid.

Although it was not normally visible, it existed from the beginning and was part of the seal of the Magic Tower.

Naturally, the flight magic was used to prevent fools from entering the inside, but it seemed to be preventing Rex Ignis from completely invading the magic tower.

“On top of that magic disk, we will stop Rex Ignis.”

When Lila answered like that, Cleon agreed and tried to use her flight magic on her own body.

“Oh, wait.”

But Lila stopped Cleon and stretched out her hand toward him.

Then, the magic that flowed from her hand thinly enveloped Cleon’s body, and various auxiliary magics that Lila could use, including fire resistance, took effect on his body.

It was a type of magic that not only strengthened basic physical abilities, but also increased movement speed and strengthened the body’s regenerative power, albeit slowly.

“This is not my specialty, so I usually don’t use it because it consumes a lot of magic power, but now that I don’t know how strong the opponent is, I can’t save it.”

As Lila said this and she herself rose into the air with her flight magic, Cleon spoke to her.

“You don’t have to use it on yourself?”

“I told you, right? It’s not a specialty, but it consumes a lot of mana. … I’m fine, there’s another way. What’s more important than that is you, Cleon.”

＂Me?＂

When Cleon asks back, pointing at her with her finger, Lila nods her head and flips her hair.

“As you know, my magic is fire-attribute magic. Same as Rex Ignis’s properties. It is difficult for magical powers with the same properties to cause great damage to each other.”

＂So… What are Ventuna’s wind properties?＂

When Cleon asks if it would be better for Ventuna to go up, Ventuna shrugs her shoulders and answers.

“I’m sorry, but wind attribute magic doesn’t go well with fire attribute magic. Do you know that opposite attributes and co-existence exist?”

“Ah… Opposites cancel each other out, and coexistence means one amplifies the other… It was a story like this.”

When Cleon vaguely retells what he heard from Sophia, Ventuna also nods her head.

“Flame has an opposite relationship with water, but at the same time, it has a mutually beneficial relationship with wind. Water puts out the fire, but wind spreads the fire and makes it stronger.”

Looking at it this way, considering the fact that Ventuna, Lila, and Ignis are not compatible with each other, and if Aqua had not tried to unseal the Magic Tower, she would have been able to play an active role in the battle against Rex Ignis.

“What. Even if you think about it now, you can’t help it.”

“… Is that also true? Well then, let’s go, Laila.”

When Lila said that even if she thought deeply, she couldn’t come up with an answer, Cleon also nodded and used her flight magic to head up to her magic tower.

Then, of course, Rex Ignis must have noticed this approach, and as he spun around on the disk of the magic tower, the end of his whirling body – the head – was pointed in this direction.

“You’re here, Flamewatch! Yes, of course I had no choice but to come!  But, this place will become a tomb!”

＂Wow, obvious line. He’s no fun at all.”

Lila responded as if she was tired of Ignis’ words, and Cleon sighed as if he agreed with her, but Ignis paid no attention and opened his mouth wide, aiming for where Lila and Cleon were. 〉

＂Here we come again! Breath, avoid it!”

This time Cleon raised his voice.

＂Why is it possible to spray such high pressure magic even though it is not a dragon…!＂

Lila also seemed to move in accordance with Cleon’s words, but she glanced back.

If she escapes from here, the intense heat of the flames will blow towards her village.

Then, she raised her staff and did not move from that spot.

＂Lila!?＂

Cleon realizes that she is not trying to avoid it, but in such momentary judgments, her thoughts cannot follow reality.

The next moment Cleon returned to her side and tried to avoid her, Ignis’ powerful flame radiation hit Lyla’s body.

Even though Lila was a mage specializing in fire magic, it seemed unlikely that she would be able to withstand the heat of magical flames from the front.

The reason is simply because she was also a living creature.

However, it was unfounded.

She is a living creature, so if she can’t withstand the flames, all she has to do is throw away the living thing for a moment.

I felt like the jet of flame that Lila was blocking was gradually weakening.

No, rather than weakening, I would say Lila was clearly shrinking from her standing position.

＂Hmm…!?＂

Ignis also closes his mouth and looks at that place as if an unexpected phenomenon has occurred-

In the place where Lila had been standing just moments ago, she had thrown away her human form and stood as an incarnation of a living flame like her spirit.

Then, upon seeing that, Ignis narrowed his eyes, showing an emotion other than anger for the first time.

＂Hoo… Is this incarnation magic? ＂

“Okay. To fight against a huge flame like you, we have to fight back as well.”

She transformed her body into her own flame, absorbing the flames of Rex Ignis pouring down upon her.

Perhaps because of that, she seems to have grown slightly taller than usual, and her hair has gotten longer…

＂If this absorbs all your flames, won’t you become nothing?＂

When Lila spoke like that to provoke Ignis, Ignis looked at Lila and opened his mouth with a sneer.

＂Flame Watch, what a foolish and trivial idea. Did you think that you, a mere human, could contain all the magic of this body of the Spirit King?”

“Of course, I can’t do it alone, but if you only care about me, you’ll get in trouble too, right?”

＂Hmm!?＂

The moment after Lila finished speaking, Cleon was already approaching Ignis holding Galatea.

Perhaps thanks to the acceleration magic that Lila cast, it felt like her movement in the air was faster than usual.

And the enhanced speed literally made Cleon’s strike more powerful and threatening.

Galatea was imbued with magic, and a single sword swung in front of his head split the exact center of Ignis’ head.

Since it was a body made of flame, blood did not splash out, but instead, a magic extracts that was like lava flowed out from between the split heads.

＂Cleon!＂

＂Ah, I know!＂

However, neither Lila nor Cleon let down their guard, and Cleon falls from Ignis’ body before Lila can speak.

The next moment, an intense hot air erupted from Ignis’ entire body.

If Cleon had continued to stay by Ignis’ side, he would have suffered severe burns all over his body from the heat.

Even with Lila’s fire resistance magic, the heat is too much for her to bear.

Then, Ignis’ split hair began to reattach, and a voice came out of his mouth once again.

＂Kkeuk… Is he really a magic swordsman? In the end, wizards of this era can’t do anything alone. Weak, foolish, and lacking in skills and talent. The use of incarnation magic was a bit unexpected, though.”

However, even after the body has finished regenerating, the heat does not disappear and Ignis begins to transform his coiled body.

“So, I’ll teach you. That you can’t stop me. And why am I called Rex (Emperor)!”

“What are you trying to do again!?”

Unable to reach him due to the heat, Lyla tries to summon her chains to bind herself in an attempt to somehow stop him from transforming, but as she herself says, the chains of flame are not that effective against Rex.

Rather, the heat made her have to cancel her use of magic midway to prevent her from wasting her magic as she watched the chain fly away and disappear.

And, after completing the transformation, the appearance of Rex Ignis was more bizarre than any creature that existed in this world that Cleon and Lila knew.

The magnificent body, which had the shape of a snake, was thicker and more gigantic than before, as if the area of ​​the body had been compressed.

In addition, arms and legs that did not exist before were created, but the arms are abnormally small compared to the size of the body, and the body is supported only by the legs at the back, and the body is supported horizontally by the straight tail.

The most characteristic feature of its body, which is closer to a lizard than a snake, could be said to be its head.

The head, which was enlarged to match the enlarged body, seemed to have tremendous jaw strength even from the outside.

A large object several times the size of a human being, approximately 18 meters in size.

And the moment the transformation was completed, it opened its mouth wide and roared towards the front. The loud roar, like a dragon roar, made Lila and Cleon stop on the spot and cover their ears.

After the roar that shook all around her ended, Lila removed her hands from her ears and muttered in embarrassment.

＂… What is this ugly monster…!＂

Looking at that guy, Lila commented that he was an ugly monster, but Cleon was angry that he thought she was a little cool inside.

“This is my true form. It is Ignis, the Lord of Terror (T. rex)!”

When such a large body swung its tail on top of the disc, the tail, which was thicker than before, lunged towards the two people menacingly, and its speed was too fast to avoid by seeing with the naked eye, so I had to predict it by looking at the previous movements to some extent. 〈 Br〉

“For a moment…! What are these ridiculous body specifications…!”

Lila was also confused when she saw Ignis’ movements, but Cleon spoke while wiping the sweat from his forehead even after barely avoiding her tail.

“… It certainly seems like it can fight better in close combat than in snake form. But…”

Rather, she spoke while looking at her Ignis with her Galatea draped over her shoulder, raising the corners of her mouth as if she had become amused.

“Whether it was a snake or a strange lizard. If it gets cut off, just cut it off.”

“… Cleon, aren’t you enjoying yourself somewhere?”

Lila looks like she’s a little tired of Cleon’s battle-madness, but lets out a sigh.

But she soon realized that he was right and that what they had to do had not changed, so she aimed the staff in her hand at Ignis.