Chapter 449 449 Dragons?
Wolfe carefully created all of the layered inscriptions that he needed to expand the spells and then double-checked them before he started to pour mana into them.
There didn't seem to be anything wrong with them or anything nefarious about them, though the Elf's intentions still concerned him, and Wolfe just knew that there was something he was missing about this whole situation.
It wasn't a big enough concern to make him stop, though. He had checked personally that the spells were good, and he had a trusted Familiar beside him checking everything as well.
So Wolfe sent out a mental message that something big was about to happen.
[Attention all mana users in Forest Grove: we are about to work a spell to expand the borders and break the curses over more of the region. Please inform anyone who can't hear this mind link. You have ten seconds before I start to channel mana through everyone with a link to me.
Please inform those without a link to pour their own mana into the spell. The more, the better. The more powerful the casting, the more effective the growth of the effect will be.]
Wolfe dampened the sensation of mana flow through all the Witches with Servant Bonds so that he could pull to their capacity without harming them and began to work.
The sudden influx of mana made the air around him shudder, and even Khalifa fell to her knees in shock as Wolfe began to power the spell. n-/o(-v)-E(.l)-b-(I()n
She recovered quickly from the effect, and a flood of Fae Magic began to pour into her from the residents of the Fae Forest who had gathered in response to her summons.
The two powers began to balance each other out as the spell took effect, and Wolfe had to add a slow trickle from his mana cores to equal what the Elf was gathering from the Fae residents of the Forest.
Whichever side was slower would be the limiter for the spell's total power, but the flow of power was beginning to make Wolfe's bones ache.
It was a foreign feeling to him at first, and then he realized that it was the early stages of mana overload. Even though most of the mana was only passing over him to go to the spell, the strain of channelling that much was more than his body could take for an extended period.
The effect wasn't easy on either of them, and Khalifa was still seated on the ground, focusing as hard as she could to keep the mana flowing. Wolfe joined her, taking a cross-legged position before he was forced to the ground anyhow, and focused on getting the spell's new modifications to activate.
Then he got a great idea. He had multiple Mana Gathering spells all over the village, and with them cranked to the maximum and all of the excess mana directed straight to the spell, they could complete it more efficiently without either of them needing to channel the mana.
The influx of mana formed a vortex over their heads, a metaphysical swirling into the spells that were drawing in all the mana that they could get, and the spell inscription that they had created was now visible and floating in the sky over the village.
"That's not normal." Wolfe heard a Fae mutter from somewhere nearby, but he couldn't spare the focus to do anything but keep the spell growing.
Then the Mana suddenly backlashed into his body, and his fourth Mana Core solidified while a nascent fifth one formed.
The effect caused a ripple effect through his body, and the density of mana in his cores increased again. When that happened, the effects of the Demonic curse separated even more from his body, becoming a completely separate entity, with the tattoo being the inscription that held the curse intact.
No longer was he a Rank Four Demon. He was a Rank Five Magi but with all the powers of a Demon available at his fingertips.
Then, the effect of the spell increased due to his improved Mana transfer capacity, and he had to throttle it to keep from making Khalifa pass out.
The spell in the air above them was becoming a solid thing, a glowing silver inscription giving off soft green light. The inscription was ten metres across, and Wolfe briefly wondered where they were going to put something so massive and so valuable, but the spell had a mind of its own.
The spell started to form a protective orb around itself, and the air trembled with ripples of excess magic. The residents of Forest Grove had just managed to stabilize themselves, mostly sitting on the ground instead of trying to face the unstable area around the massively overpowered spell.
Things had just begun to calm down when the displacement of massive wings pounding the air shook the last of the standing villagers from their feet, and two massive scaled creatures landed on the walkways surrounding the spire.
Dragons. They had attracted the attention of a pair of massive golden dragons.
The creatures didn't speak or even make any noise at all now that they were settled, but the primal power of their magic flowed into the spell, duplicating all of the layers that Wolfe and Khalifa had created.
The spell took on a golden hue, streaking the silver with golden runes. Then the orb around the inscription solidified, and the spell took up a seemingly permanent place fifty metres above the point of the spire as the improved spell activated and the flow of mana ceased, other than a trickle from the mana-gathering inscriptions.
[Congratulations, Magi. Even if you needed help, that is the first successful casting of a Grand Magic in many years.] Something spoke in Wolfe's mind right before the two massive golden beasts flew away.
Khalifa collapsed against Wolfe's side, and he carefully arranged her head on his thigh before leaning back against the wall of the tower.
Every magic user in town was completely spent, and most of them were unconscious already, some snoring, others doing their best to remain awake.
Wolfe opened his eyes a bit and caught the attention of one of the cafeteria staff.
"Get everyone settled either in their rooms or somewhere comfortable. They won't wake up for a while. That spell took much more than we had expected." He instructed.
The man gave him a salute and started issuing quiet orders around the room, sending all of the nonmagical residents scurrying to help those who had collapsed.
They were quick about it, and it didn't really matter what room everyone went into. There were still plenty of vacant housing units, and very few of the Witches would complain that they were sharing their bed with someone else in this situation.
Even the Fae who had come to visit were getting the ordered relaxation treatment. They were placed in the spare rooms and magical tents of the guest areas that had just been created for festivals.
Across the room, Kira and Dali were cuddled together on the floor, with Kira already asleep and her father smiling at Wolfe in awe of the magic that he had just managed.
"Perhaps there is hope for the Wastes after all." He mumbled, then wrapped his arms around his daughter before joining her in slumber.