Book 8: Chapter 15: Breaking the Seal of the Mother Fox

“Ah, Master, that’s —”

Youko was shocked when Halt started to use revival magic.

He chanted the spell of Heal, but the effect was that of Resurrection.

The magic spell that only a handful of the most elite wielders of restoration magic could conjure was activated by Halt, a Sage, as if it was just a natural thing to do.

He could now sense the existence of a soul.

Sage Halt had already witnessed the times when Ryuka, the Dragon Shrine Maiden, and Saintess Seira, so it was just a piece of cake for him to subdivide the magical composition of that spell in order to recreate it using a huge amount of magical combinations.

The revival magic that had been perfectly executed guided Kikyou’s soul back into her body whilst being inside Youko’s seal.

Kikyou’s revival was completed without a hitch.

If her seal was broken as is, then —

“Ah, so she’s sealed. Youko did this, right?”

Halt noticed the ice seal to be Youko’s doing when he configured the magic used in that seal.

“Y-yeah. But, I activated that seal by using the mana given by mother in the sealing technique, so the current me can’t break it…”

“Is that so. Then I’m going to unseal it, okay.”

“Y-you can break that seal?”

“I don’t think there’s any problem with that. Youko did this while you’re still young, right? Sorry for being blunt about this, but there are a lot of flaws so it can be broken easily, I guess.”

Halt touched the ice that confined Youko.

He could acutely sense the magical power of other people thanks to the special characteristic inherent to a sage. Halt used that to find the weak points in Youko’s seal, and he poured a huge amount of mana into it, forcefully breaking it apart to create a path.

It was like imagining entering a maze where you already knew which way was the goal, and destroying the walls as you go while moving in a straight line towards the exit. 

The seal that would take several years for elite mages to solve was easily broken by Halt.

It only took 10 seconds from the moment Halt touched the ice.

The ice cracked.

Kikyou fell towards Halt from inside it.

“Oopsie!”

Halt caught her body.

— At that instant, a colossal amount of mana was sucked out of Halt.

Kikyou was still unconscious at this moment, but because of her nature as a nine-tailed fox, she subconsciously absorbed the mana from her surroundings.

It was fortunate that the first person she touched was Halt.

If she touched anybody else, Kikyou would suck all the mana and life force of that person, ending in death.

She had been sealed for 200 years, so her wounded soul consumed a colossal amount of mana upon revival.

After absorbing an enormous amount of mana, she finally recovered her consciousness somehow.

“…T-this is?”

Kikyou opened her eyes.

She couldn’t put any strength in her body yet, so she still couldn’t stand without Halt’s support, but there seemed to be no problems other than that.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Halt. I revived you upon your daughter’s request.”

“D-daughter?”

“Mother!!”

Youko flew to Kikyou’s arms.

Halt extracted himself and left Kikyou to Youko’s care.

“Youko, no way… t, then, this concubine has been really…”

“Master revived you.”

“You…did that to this concubine?”

“Indeed. I’m glad that you have been successfully revived. You are a nine-tailed fox, aren’t you?”

“—wha!?”

Nervousness was evident on Kikyou’s face.

Kikyou also achieved the perfected body of a nine-tailed fox, but she didn’t go on a rampage and destroyed humans because of a certain reason.

Nevertheless, she already knew that people might attack her, if it was revealed that she was a nine-tailed fox.

People considered nine-tailed foxes to be calamities, and they were enemies that should be taken down whenever possible.

She must take her daughter with her and escape — such thoughts consumed Kikyou, but she couldn’t muster the strength to stand on her own.

She could somehow stand with support, but running was currently an impossible feat in her state.

Nevertheless, she wanted her daughter to escape, even if it’s just her.

“Yes, I am a nine-tailed fox…Please, I will hand over my life in your hands after I have recovered, so I beg you, just let my daughter go, please?”

“What?”

Halt didn’t understand what Kikyou was saying.

“Why should I have to let Youko go?”

“T-that’s…”

Kikyou thought that Halt would never let Youko escape — in short, she thought that he would defeat Youko for sure.

“Ah, are you perhaps thinking that I will attack you?”

“Mother, there is no need to worry about that.”

“W-why?”

“Youko is my wife.”

“That’s right.”

Kikyou found it hard to believe.

So her daughter was married to a human, just like her…

She knew just how hard the path was.

That’s precisely the reason why she found it unbelievable.

“So you’re Youko’s mother. Please let me introduce myself once again. I am Halt Ernol. I heard that absorbing mana can heal most of the injuries and ease the exhaustion of nine-tailed foxes. Please use my mana so that you can recover.”

Halt extended his hand to Kikyou.

“B-but…”

Kikyou was bewildered.

She had regained some of her strength, but she knew she would still absorb a massive amount of mana.

And yet—

“Mother, don’t worry about Master, he’ll be fine.”

“Indeed, I’ll be alright.”

Halt arbitrarily gripped Kikyou hand.

“Ah!”

Mana flowed from Halt.

“P-please stop! Any more than this and you will die!!”

Kikyou estimated that she already sucked the amount of mana that was already near the limit of what a single human could possess.

And yet Halt didn’t show any signs of letting go.

“Hmm, as I thought, holding hands isn’t efficient enough.”

“Ah, t-that’s—“

Halt hugged Kikyou.

It was just a light hug, which he did so that he could pass more mana at a faster rate.

However, for Kikyou, it was the second time that she received such warmth from a human.

Afterward—

“Hmmm!?”

An enormous amount of mana suddenly flowed out from Halt.

Nine-tailed foxes could absorb massive mana, but there was a limit to what they could suck in at a time.

Because she suddenly received a drastic amount of mana, she exhibited the symptoms of magic intoxication.

Kikyou’s body was engulfed in pleasure.

“N-No~, please, stop~”

Kikyou cried out in a sweet voice that even she couldn’t believe she could let out while clinging on to Halt.

“—!!”

Kikyou desperately tried to hold it in so that she wouldn’t scream in such a coquettish voice.

The Sage who was ignorant of her efforts crushed them.

“Nnnn, aaaaahhhhhn~!!!”

Kikyou’s lewd voice that could arouse any man who heard it reverberated through the entire place.

———

T/N: So I guess mature woman number 3 is now onboard Halt’s ship ????