Volume 4, Intermission - Rulers of the Sky (2/3)

Volume 4, Intermission - Rulers of the Sky (2/3)

In accordance with the old ways of war, Grimoa forged ahead, accompanied by his subjects. In the same vein, Gawain left his subjects, and the two giant creatures met in the air.

Bellows resounded in concert, and the might of heaven swept over the surroundings.

Fire, water, and wind did the Dragon King summon, two of each, they appeared before him. Were they to be released, vast destructions would be reaped upon the world. These were the primal form of magic, the Attack Spheres (Wrath Balls).

To call upon them without delay required vast stores of ether, and to put them together required extensive knowledge. Either of which was a realm unknown to humans. And even the elves that excelled in the manipulation of ether would find such a feat near impossible.

Behind the Wrath Balls were magic formations.

They existed to control the power of the Wrath Balls, they were Grimoa’s will itself.

Grimoa, who had summoned these things with a bellow, wasted no time in releasing them. With the slight opening made, the compressed powers shot out sharper and faster than arrows, the rays of light released by the wrath balls transformed into spears that could penetrate all of creation.

But Gawain too was a god from the Age of the Gods.

Though these spears could penetrate all of creation, there was no reason that they could not be blocked by something of the same make.

Thus, the Ruler of the Heavens called forth tens of thousands of hammers of lighting. These gathered together, transforming into one giant lightning hammer to sweep the six rays of light.

A hammer to extinguish fire, a hammer to vanquish water, a hammer to quell the wind, and in the wake of their clash, they reverberated far and wide. Especially, the water, for the lightning hammer turned it into vapor, and it dispersed into the surroundings, creating a veil of fog that obstructed sight. But either creature has been around since the Age of the Gods. There was no way they would not know the results of the powers they’ve mustered. Immediately, a second and third spell was invoked.

Tens of thousands of spells fashioned into a spear were summoned by the wrath spells one after another, they marched to extinguish their foe. In the sky, there they lined up. With a sea of blades of fire, of water, and of wind summoned, Grimoa faced Gawain. Gawain’s hammer of lightning was indeed powerful, but it was unwieldly precisely because of that.

Grimoa’s attacks shot out like waves, and unless he had another hand, Gawain would not be able to deal with them all.

Numbers for numbers, that was a given. So he undid the fusion of the lightning hammers and fought back against the wave of elements.

As vapors were split, a storm of lightning hammers descended upon the school of blades.

But this was within Grimoa’s predictions, and within his mouth were woven the next spells of destruction. Flames gathered within his Fire Pouch, and in the next moment, he breathed them out through a series of magic formations, unleashing powerful scorching flames.

These flames devoured even his own school of blades, empowering his flame blades to break through the rain of lightning. Though water and wind perished within his flames, the empowered flame blades erupted toward Gawain.

But right before they could reach the Ruler of the Heavens, the world twisted and a black sphere appeared, a Wrath Ball created for the sole purpose of twisting gravity. It devoured the flame blades that approached while continuously expanding and shrinking. This Wrath Ball that pulsated as though it were alive stood before Gawain as the absolute defense.

“What pleasant winds,” Gawain the Ruler of the Heavens laughed.

“Ku ha ha!　Yes, you should at least be that strong!” And Grimoa the Ruler of the Sky too laughed with leisure.

To these two, such magic were no different from a greeting. These two creatures that possessed enough power to wipe out the humans that ruled the world greedily continued their battle.

Just as the gods that birthed them were, they too lived within conflict. A lazy world with no conflicts, they could not even conceive such a thing. To expend their mana like a creature breathed, and to bury their enemies in spells like the unceasing beating of the heart, that was the meaning of life.

Here, the calculations and profits of men were irrelevant. So long as there was someone who could fight, their battle would continue, a different reason for battle was unneeded.

After the powerful rulers gave their greetings, it was time for their subjects to meet. Fire dragons against fire ryuus, water dragons against water ryuus, wind dragons against wind ryuus… For the sake of their masters, they threw themselves into this war with no end.

Water dragons and water ryuus entangled with each other and fell. Wind dragons and wind ryuus fired spells at each other using the mana that was their life. Fire dragons and fire ryuus buried their fangs into each other’s burning flesh.

As dragon and ryuu fought, the Ruler of the Heavens and the Ruler of the Sky resumed their battle. Every attack they made was strong enough to extinguish a city. Indeed this was another reason why their battle has never seen an end despite it continuing from way back the Age of the Gods. While the humans took the land, their battles have always ended in a draw, and they would repeat it again and again.

The six wrath balls ruled by Grimoa pulsed. Gawain and Grimoa had just exchanged spells strong enough to destroy an entire city, and yet he was already chanting the next powerful spell.

The Wrath Balls left Grimoa and gathered around Gawain. The reason the Dragon King could continue controlling these wrath balls despite the distance was because of the deep magical knowledge that he possessed. What’s more was that he was controlling them while casting a spell of his own.

Seeing that the Wrath Balls were in position, Grimoa invoked his spells, and the spells stored within the Wrath Balls exploded from every direction and attacked Gawain.