Chapter 954 – The Power Evoked by the Mind

000

Bang! Boom!

Every time an exciting explosion sounds, flames soar and people fly away and fall to the ground.

The person who creates the bursting flames, literally a ‘heat wave’, is not a wizard who specializes in fire attributes like Laila, but a human being.

Kuon was a shrine maiden, a holy swordsman, and a priest at the same time.

In order to protect the water of life in her illusion, she used recovery magic and stopped supporting her from behind and ran directly into the group of enemies holding the holy sword Galatin.

Then, the enemies also began to target Kuon intensively, which ultimately led to fewer attacks on other allies, leading to the ability to indirectly protect them.

“Gallatin, I’ll leave the defense to you!”

As Kuon cried out, she trusted in the power of the armor of the Flame that she wore on her body, and in the will of her Galatin to protect her, as she moved without hesitation through her enemies. It was swinging that great sword.

However, even though Kuon was receiving assistance from the Holy Sword, she was still a beginner when it came to wielding the sword, and there were often gaps in her sword-wielding stance.

If they were the elite soldiers of the empire, it would not be that difficult to sneak in through that gap.

As she swung her sword in a tall stance, forcing the enemies in front of her to retreat, a large gap was immediately visible on her back.

In a way, it is natural for swords and arrows to fly towards that place.

But then, the red cape attached to her armor moved on its own, fluttering upwards and catching the sword and arrows flying at Kuon.

And-

Howling!

Her cloak immediately turns into a fierce flame, melting the sword she holds and burning the arrows.

＂Haaa!＂

The panicked soldiers hesitated for a moment at the situation, and Kuon turned her body and swung Galatin horizontally, cutting her down.

The soldiers who were hit collapsed on the spot and lost consciousness.

＂Phew…＂

Kuon lets out a small sigh of relief.

The armor she wears, and the cloak that only appears as decoration, are all created from the magical power that her Galatin stored in her holy sword to protect her.

Compared to the clothes worn by priests that expose their thighs even when they don’t move too much, the armor will provide much more protection and help with movement.

And, the fact that it is made up of flame magic means that it can be returned to that magic at any time, and that it is also possible to transform or move according to the will of Galatin, the holy sword.

In other words, the gap visible in the back is not a weak point since Galatin can move his cloak to defend it.

Looking at that appearance, Nagi, who had been a little nervous at first about whether Kuon could engage in close combat, was overwhelmed by that appearance.

＇No matter how much it is said to be an illusion… It is truly on par with those imperial troops…! ＇

Considering Nagi’s age, she probably only knows the story of the war against the empire that the Eastern countries went through, really only through oral tradition and a few written records.

Nevertheless, she knew well that the strength and viciousness of the imperial army was like that of the devil.

The cannonballs fired by their weapons rotted the ground, resurrected corpses into undead, and summoned demons to feed people…

Therefore, she was a Nagi who naturally felt the potential fear of the imperial army, and besides, she lived a life far from war, living in a closed space called a temple.

She was too young to accept the human-to-human carnage happening before her eyes.

Nagi’s spirit, which had been slowly falling apart, changed when Kuon personally took hold of her holy sword and stepped in front of her.

From the vivid and bloody aspect of war that seemed to depict human ugliness on a drawing board, thanks to Kuon running around with her holy sword, this fight was instantly transformed into a page from a hero’s story.

Besides, Nagi knew.

Even the fallen imperial soldiers only lost their minds but did not lose their lives.

In this battlefield where there was nothing but despair, I could feel a little light of hope blooming.

However, even though Kuon was focused on dealing with her enemies, her interest in the barrier and the water of life was bound to be relatively low.

That’s why-

Cheolkeong.

When Nagi thought she heard a now familiar sound, she quickly turned her head towards the direction from which it came.

There, Mado Armor was loading another shell, aiming at the water of life beyond the barrier, and was about to fire.

Kuon didn’t notice.

No, even if she noticed, her Imperial forces surrounding her Kuon were preventing her from going to stop her magic armor.

If so – she has no choice but to take it herself.

With that thought in mind, Nagi raised both her hands and poured out her magic power with all her might, transforming her barrier.

In Fairy Village, where there was no connection to the divine tree, it was questionable how far one could use one’s skills.

Nevertheless, his specialty, the barrier technique, was still Nagi’s strength.

As Nagi thought so, he spread his arms wide to the sides.

Then, as the barrier along her arm began to vibrate, Nagi’s barrier, which had been formed in the shape of a hemisphere, began to open from behind her.

If you say that you opened the barrier yourself, it may be a bit misleading.

She knows the most basic principles of her barrier art.

＇The magic power consumed when an impact is applied to the barrier is inversely proportional to the thinness of the barrier. ＇

In order to instantaneously compensate for damage to the barrier, magical energy must be released in a hurry, making it difficult to control magical energy, so more magical energy is consumed than is originally needed to construct the barrier.

However, even making the barrier thick ultimately consumes a lot of magical energy.

Therefore, when building a barrier, should you spread a thick barrier from the beginning and keep it short and strong?

Or, should you spread a thin barrier and protect it by continuing it for a long time? A certain amount of planned consumption of magical power is required.

The ability to understand space required to build an efficient barrier is a story for another time.

In the end, the important thing about the barrier was how to distribute and maintain a certain amount of magic power to each part of the barrier.

＇Removing the all-round defense takes only a moment… The barrier spread across the entire area is layered to instantly strengthen its thickness… With that, the magic power consumed by the barrier is minimized… However, if the timing of the launch is not right, -＇

Just as the enemies are tying Kuon’s feet, Kuon is also tying the feet of his enemies.

However, at the same time, they were eagerly targeting the barrier guarded by Nagi in order to destroy the Water of Life, which was their original goal.

If the barrier is wide open, it will break through in an instant.

So, opening and closing the barrier must be a very brief moment.

The very moment the shell fired by the Magic Armor touches the barrier.

Geek-

Magical power condensed inside the muzzle of the imperial army’s magic armor and glowed.

And, when you think that something has created pressure as the metals collide, the next moment-

Kwaang!

A shell flying in a straight line with a heavy sound hitting the eardrums.

＂Concentrated barrier technique! ＇Good Buddha Tathagata’!”

At the same time as the starting word for the spell, “Chrrrr!” And, like folding a folding screen, Nagi’s barriers overlap while concentrating on one place.

After overlapping, it becomes thick like a castle wall, and the moment it collides with a cannonball flying towards it.

A huge shock also flows into Nagi’s body, which is connected to the barrier.

＂Keuak…!＂

Wow! And, on the inside of Nagi’s arm, there was a shock as if someone had personally swung a club.

I could see that the skin was torn and some of the muscles were injured.

But-

The black smoke generated by the explosion disappears.

And within it, the barrier that Nagi had spread remained in place, unharmed.

The consumption of magical power could also be kept to a minimum.

After Nagi confirmed this, he immediately swung his arm and tried to unfold the closed barrier in all directions again.

At that time.

A clattering sound was heard.

Hiding in the smoke of the explosion, there was an imperial soldier – a magic sword knight, holding a sword and coming right next to Nagi.

And if he swung the sword downward, the distance was close enough to cut down Nagi right away.

＂──＂

Nagi’s thoughts stopped for a moment.

If you keep going like this – you will get cut.

If it had been a real war, he would have lost his life, and even if not, if there was no one who could maintain the barrier, this challenge would ultimately fail.

And… Kuon’s efforts to throw his body will be meaningless.

‘Because of my carelessness… If I were strong enough to protect myself…!’

While Nagi was thinking that, right before the sword dug into him – right before he closed his eyes.

I felt magic flowing out of my hand that was clenched in anger.

Quad deuk.

And, if you think you hear a sound like something breaking.

Nagi slowly opened his eyes and looked at the magic sword in front of him that could no longer be wielded.

There was something like a green fox tail wrapped around that sword.

The demon sword was caught by its tail, and the sword could no longer be swung.

The tail was sticking out from Nagi’s hand.

‘No, this isn’t a tail… This is… A barrier?’

Thinking like that, Nagi moved his hand as if manipulating a barrier like before, and as a result, the tail-shaped barrier that held his opponent’s sword moved and snatched the sword from his opponent’s hand.

‘I can control it with my will…’

The most important thing in forming a barrier is the will to protect something.

Just as Amelia realized the true nature of her magic and grew to a new level.

As for Nagi, as a result of her magical energy fluctuating in response to her own strong will, her barrier technique has evolved to the next level.

The fox tail… Is it a reverberation of the magic power from when it was transformed into a demonic beast?

Unlike its soft and fluffy appearance, it is hard on the outside, but moves freely and expands and contracts.

Considering the thickness of the tail, it was obvious that it was an unusual technique.

While Nagi was thinking about her own technique, her magic sword knight tried to attack her with her secret memorization.

However, Nagi did not miss even that and extended the same tail-shaped barrier from her other arm to block the attack, and this time grabbed her knight’s waist.

＂Haaaaa!＂

And, at the same time as he raised his spirits, the tentacle that grabbed his waist swung his extended arm wide, and the Demon Sword Knight was swung around like a poor victim caught by a Kraken and flew away into the distance.

＂Haa… Haa…!＂

And while looking at the knight pinned to the ground outside the barrier, Nagi took a breath and looked towards Kuon.

Kuon had also finished clearing out most of the soldiers who surrounded him.

The only thing that remains as a threat is the magic armor that was fired at him a little while ago.

Cu too knew that, so she held Galatin high.

I have learned how to use the flying slash that I used when fighting the gigantic Careclaw, to some extent.

In that case, this battle will end by swinging the sword in a straight line here and cutting the magic armor in two with a flaming flash.

Seeing the magical power of her Kuon Sword being concentrated on her imperial forces rushed to stop her.

And, to protect Kuon, the illusions of the kingdom army block the imperial army with their bodies.

In fact, we don’t know if it would have been like this when Esca went through this hardship, but-

They moved according to the situation as if they were really here and now.

And the magic armor was trying to escape from Kuon by moving on the spot while the imperial soldiers were buying time.

You can hear the sound of kikkikkik, and check that your legs are not moving.

It’s like there’s something like shackles hanging under your feet.

When Magic Armor’s head is facing downward, she looks down at her feet.

There, a green barrier was extending from the ground and wrapped around the legs of the magic armor.

＂Special barrier – Samramang…!＂

Nagi, who gave the name to the new technique, dug his own barrier into the ground and tied the legs of the magic armor.

＂Galatin! Lend me your strength!”

And then, the next moment Kuon’s voice rang high.

Her great sword cuts down in a straight path.

The moment a fiery slash splits the ground, cuts through the air, and flies forward, hitting the magic armor.

As a huge impact occurred, the magic armor was cut in half, and it collapsed to the ground without even exploding.

＂It’s done…!＂

Kuon raised her voice happily.

The imperial troops who saw this must have realized that their defeat was already confirmed, although they did not let go of their weapons.

Did he accept the will of those illusions as a trigger?

The illusions of the imperial army began to disappear one by one.

“… Is this the end?”

Kuon calmed her pounding heart and looked around her, but as if they were her answer, none of her imperial soldiers were left behind.

Once the magic armor disappeared, it was the kingdom’s army’s turn.

They turned towards Kuon and Nagi, saluted in the style of a kingdom army, and then scattered like sand and disappeared.

Lastly, the surrounding scenery.

After everyone disappeared as if it was all a lie, only Nagi and Kuon remained.

＂…＂

[The trial was accomplished. You are successful.]

And, a voice comes from somewhere.

Upon hearing that voice, Kuon and Nagi both relaxed and sat down on the spot.

＂Thank goodness…＂

＂At last, it’s over.＂

The next moment the two people were talking in tired voices, as if mental guidance was inevitable.

A magic circle appeared at the feet of the two people, instantly transporting them.

Right in the waiting room where other people who cleared the ordeal were gathered.

＂Wow, wow! Everyone was safe!”

When Kuon tried to get up from her seat, the armor covering her body disappeared, and she returned to her normal clothes.

“Good job Kuon! As expected, flame suits Kuon well.”

And when Lila greeted Kuon and praised her, Kuon scratched her head as if she was embarrassed.

“Ehehe, but if Nagi hadn’t stopped the magic armor at the end, I wouldn’t have been able to finish. Thank you Nagi.”

As Kuon said that, she turned her head towards Nagi-

With a loud thumping sound, Nagi fell to the ground on the spot.

＂Me, Nagi!?＂

Naturally embarrassed, Kuon approaches her, tries to lift her body, and takes her pulse.

Lila, and the others too, look at her a little with worried eyes – Kuon lets out her sigh.

“… I just fell asleep because I was tired.”

＂… I was surprised.＂

When Lila responded that way, Kuon carefully picked Nagi up and laid her down on one of the sofas in her room.

“With this, all that remains is Cleon.”

And Lila would turn her head again and see the vision before her eyes.

＂Cleon… Are you okay?＂

When Cuon asks Lila and the others as if she is worried about Cleon, Lila answers with a smile and a ‘ha’.

“… Look at that. It’s beyond okay, it’s ridiculous.”

＂Huh…?＂

[I also find this special sheath a bit heavy. With this, the movement becomes a little lighter.]

Cleon was seen saying excitedly and putting down her sheath.

＂Is that so!?＂

Sasha raised her voice as if she was surprised, and Amelia looked at her with the same expression, ‘As expected of Cleon…’

Lila and Kuon sigh.

＂Cleon… You’re older than us, right?＂

＂Yeah… Maybe…＂

Even Cuon reacted in the same way to his words and actions that made one wonder how old Cleon was.