Chapter 8.43

Chapter 8.43

Solminati Academy is located in the center of Arcazam.

Dozens of people were gathered in the basement of the martial arts garden. One of the largest facilities it has.

"The third and fourth control groups are ready, and the fifth and sixth control groups are currently in the process of being connected!"

"The elements response team and all connection protocols have been checked and are in perfect condition."

"Oi! There is a discrepancy in the deployment section of the eighth technique of the conversion formation and the fifteenth technique of the amplification formation! Fix it immediately!"

The white-robed researchers moved around with an impatient look on their faces.

The floor of the basement, which had been dug up like a mortar, was decorated with multiple magic circles, and several huge glass panels were stacked on top of each other to cover them.

The glass plates were also covered with magic circles, and numerous researchers were hurriedly working on each glass plates and on the magic circles below them.

A super-sized multi-layered ritual magic circle.

This magic circle, applied in this basement, symbolizes another form of Arcazam. Standing beside it, Tima Lime watched the researchers' struggles unfolding in front of her.

She was standing on an altar set up on the edge of the mortar.

The altar, with four-colored magic circles drawn on it, is connected to the super-sized multi-layered ritual magic circle in front of her, and is used to activate and control the magic circle on a scale that is out of the norm.

She exhaled heavily, shuddering at the tension that was building up in the basement.

"Phew..."

"Are you okay?"

Jihad, who had been watching her, spoke to her from behind.

Beside him was Inda, who was always there to assist him.

"Yes. No problem."

Tima, answering the question from behind her back, replied with calm, crisp words to Jihad.

Jihad was a little surprised by her calm response.

Tima has been in Arcazam for a long time, and Jihad had known her when she was still a young child.

And even her timid temperament.

Contrary to her innate abilities, the girl's heart was weak. Like wet paper, it seemed to shred at the slightest pressure.

However, in her short reply earlier, there was a hint of a solid resolve coming out of her.

Jihad's intuition, which had experienced many battles as a warrior, convinced him. It will be all right.

"What I need you to do is to control this magic circle. I'll assist you, but it's such a large magic circle. It will be a considerable burden..."

"Sorry, we couldn't even activate this magic formation on our own..."

"I understand. What about the evacuation of the residents?"

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"The evacuation from the area of effect has already been completed. No need to worry."

"Good. Then I can muster my full strength."

I can muster my full strength. This girl had never said such words.

She was always afraid of her own power and of others.

"You've ... changed, haven't you?"

"Well, I guess so. I used to hate this power ... But now I'm glad. I can help my friends."

Jihad's mouth relaxed as the girl kept staring at the super-sized magic circle in front of her with her back turned to him.

At that moment, a messenger rushed into the basement.

"We have confirmed a massive elements eruption! The location is in the administrative district, the Francilt mansion!"

It has begun.

A sense of tension ran through everyone in the room.

"How are the preparations!?"

"It's done, just now!"

"Tima-kun, are you ready?”

"Yes!"

"All right! Activating the city isolation barrier. All personnel to your positions!"

Upon hearing Jihad's words, all the researchers present at the site moved at once.

They evacuated from the area where they had been working and moved to the edge of the mortar.

Inda, who had been following Jihad, also joined them, each of them holding out their hands and facing the magic circle.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the rim of the mortar was marked with several thick lines, all of them leading in a straight line to the outer wall of the basement.

Then, the researchers lined up along the rim simultaneously increased their magic power, and began to pour their magic into the magic circle in front of them.

"The activation process is executed. Confirming activation of sub-controls number one through four."

"Next, begin activation of sub-controls number five through twelve.

Some researchers who were not stationed at the edge of the magic circle reported the activation process one after another.

"Opening access routes to the target area, start the connection."

"Connection confirmed. City Isolation Barrier is ready to deploy."

"Start."

The next moment, an enormous amount of magic power erupted from Tima's body.

Red, blue, yellow, and azure magic power of the four colors blasted through the basement, pouring into the enormous multilayered ritual magic circle in the center of the room.

The altar on which Tima stood began to glow with the four colors, and in response, the paints depicting each magic circle began to glow.

"Central control unit is activated, link to control medium is complete!"

"Activation of the control medium confirmed. Connection of the extraction core to the dragon vein has been confirmed."

While ignoring the difficult words that kept coming one after the other, Tima simply focused her attention on the magic circle in front of her.

The magic circle in front of her eyes is a magic circle created with the best of Arcazam's technology. And this magic circle is one of the reasons for Arcazam's existence.

Alkazam is now well known as an academic city, but in fact, it has another name.

It is called [Experimental City of Ritual Magic, Arcazam].

It is a preparation for the great invasion that may happen again. This is a city plan that aims to demonstrate amazing defensive capabilities against foreign enemies by using the entire structure of the city as a magic circle. It is the pioneer of this concept.

It is a city for the technological establishment, aiming to utilize the dragon vein, which is the flow of the elements existing in the vast continent.

It was part of this plan that the city was built in such a forest overrun with demon beasts in the first place.

However, the function of this city as a city of ritual magic has never been fully demonstrated until now.

That is because the core of this city could not be activated.

To be precise, there was one person who had the predisposition to activate it.

Tima Lime. In the long history of the city, she is a person who possesses extremely rare qualities and enormous magical power.

She is the one and only person who is capable of drawing the elements for activating the enormous ritual magic circle from the dragon's veins.

Until now, she has had difficulty controlling her magic compared to the amount of magic power she possesses. Therefore, the activation of this magic circle had been postponed for a long time.

"The sensor formation has started to respond to the elements. Control and amplifier are stable. Output has reached rated value."

However, the current her is in full control of her magic power.

Magic power is the power to materialize the mind. Hence, the four-colored magic power is flowing into the central ritual magic circle in a beautiful whirlpool, drawing out a vast amount of colorless elements, as if in response to her growth.

"Activating the City Isolation Barrier!"

The magic circle, which had been repeatedly flickering as if pulsating, began to shine strongly.

The activation of ritual magic on an unprecedented scale. While everyone gasped at the sight, only the girl standing at the altar stared straight ahead.

==============================

Two shadows leaping into the garden collide, destroying the walls of the luxurious Francilt mansion.

With a roaring sound, the ground was blasted apart, and a blizzard shattered the marble pillars and the beautiful white exterior walls.

The crushed earth was blown away by the shockwave and turned into a storm of murderous intent, and a flash of shimmering silver shattered the approaching storm.

A shadow slipped into the gap between the shattered earth. Vitora smiled with glee at the sight of Nozomu approaching with his lethal blade in hand.

"Ha, haha, hahahahaha!"

Vitora, with a wicked grin on her face, instantly regenerates her right arm, which was slashed off, and strikes Nozomu with lightning speed.

"Good, so good! I haven't felt pain in 150 years!"

A powerful blow was delivered as she twirled her glittering crimson dress.

It was a simple blow containing magic power, but the amount of magic power contained in it easily exceeded that of a hundred first-rate mages.

The aftershock was enough to pulverize the scattered stones into grains of sand. The storm, which could easily mince any living creature without exception, pounced on a single human being.

*Slash*

The storm was easily slashed down by a blade of extreme color. A serene blade, the exact opposite of the roaring storm.

The blade, imbued with the power of the Dragon King, slashed through the natural disaster that no human being could contend with with a single sword stroke.

Nozomu slipped soundlessly into the gap.

Even Vitora's eyes could barely follow his speed. With an acceleration that seemed to leave even the sound behind, a counterattack was launched.

"Fuhah~!"

Vitora intercepted the slashing blade that approached her flank by swinging her fist down.

The slash and strike collided.

The vampire princess's fist caused the ground to cave in with just the lingering waves, and Nozomu's blade slashed away the blast at point-blank range, splitting Vitora's white left fist open vertically.

"Haha, that hurts!"

Despite having her fist and upper arm sliced in half, Vitora showed no sign of flinching. Rather, she showed a ghastly smile that contained even more glee, and her magic power became even more ferocious.

"Hawwa~a~aaa!"

A brute force attack was unleashed while spattering blood. Vitora regenerated her torn left arm and swung it like a whip.

"~ !"

A counterattack that completely disregarded her own wound. Nozomu reflexively caught the blow with his left arm that seemed to shred not only the atmosphere, but even the space.

The next moment, intense pressure pressed down on his entire body.

Vitora's physical strength was unparalleled among all the beings he had ever faced. Nozomu reflexively twisted his body and leaped backward. He killed the momentum of Vitora's blow with his whole body.

(Her speed of regeneration is abnormal, but above all, her mentality is abnormal. She doesn't seem to be slowing down due to the pain...)

Even though she was drenched in her own blood, Vitora's crazed laughter did not cease.

Drunk on her own blood, she became even more ecstatic.

"Since it's not nice for me to be the only one to receive it, I'll give it to you as well!"

While letting out a sultry sigh, Vitora erupted magic power from her entire body.

The excess of magic power caused the magic to be activated one after the other.

Body strengthening, gaining propulsive force by magic injection, and building a magic wall. All were completed in a single breath.

Vitora had neither formed a magic formation nor chanted.

It was a magic that was spontaneously invoked as a result of the too dense magic power reacting to Vitora's thoughts, which were the main source of the magic.

It was the most primitive form of magic, completely different from the formation and chanting methods that are currently the norm on the Arkmill continent.

Deploying multiple magic spells simultaneously, Vitora began rushing forward in time with Nozomu's landing. *Boom!* and the ground exploded as she pounced on him with a speed reminiscent of a flash of light.

"Phew~!"

Nozomu was able to perfectly time his landing, and he remained calm against the oncoming Vitora.

He landed with his half body. He then extended his arms and slid his [Mumei] between himself and Vitora.

Nozomu's Mumei broke through the wall of magic rushing toward him, and his body naturally slipped into its gap.

Nozomu also positioned his blade at her approaching right shoulder joint, cutting it off by utilizing the thrust of his fierce opponent.

The two then crossed.

As they look back at each other after swapping positions, the sound of Vitora's right arm falling in silence could be heard.

"What, you won't accept me? Isn't it awful to refuse a modest embrace from a lady?"

Vitora uttered a frustrated line as she restored her severed right arm. However, despite her words, her face showed an unconcealed pleasure.

She has the inhuman beauty of a vampire. Combined with the dense magic power that could spontaneously activate her magic, her smiling face, drenched in her own blood, is spine-chillingly terrifying, and her beauty is so seductive that one cannot take one's eyes off of her.

"You call an embrace that could not only snap my spine but also shred my body, modest? What's wrong with vampires' common sense?"

On the other hand, even in the face of such a Vitora, Nozomu only expressed his dismay toward her and his expression was nonchalant.

Until now, Nozomu could only release the Soul-Sealing Chains]. However, now that he has this unique ability completely under his control, the precision and density of his techniques are incomparable to anything he has ever done.

Past, present, and future. He has answered his own questions regarding the past, the present, and the future, and has truly awakened as a Dragon Slayer, and now all of his mind, technique, and body are in a state of perfect unity.

This is the figure that his teacher, Shino Mikagura, had foreseen. He is the embodiment of the possibility of overthrowing even those with disaster-level power that cannot be defeated by a single person.

Vitora let out a tinged sigh as she gazed at Nozomu.

(Wonderful. It's as if I am peering into an abyss under a moonlit night...)

Nozomu's eyes remain as clear and cool as if he has a bird's eye view of all things, yet they are also as hot as magma. His figure is as calm and natural as silver grass in the wind, yet at the same time reminds one of a large tree rooted in the earth.

The contradictory yet perfectly unified appearance sent a shiver down her spine, and she felt irresistibly aroused.

She suddenly raised her right arm, which had just been regenerated.

The arm was covered in her own blood, and a slight residue of Nozomu's power was stuck to it.

"Hmm, *smooch*..."

Vitora couldn't resist taking a mouthful of its residue, which was tangled around her fingertips.

The slight remaining Tiamat's elements scorched Vitora's tongue. The taste that spread over her tongue while scorching her own flesh was more nectar than anything else in the world.

While wetting her white, thin fingers with sticky saliva, she tasted and swallowed every last bit of the residue over and over again.

"Huff~... The residue of your power. How stimulating and sweet ... even the lingering scent burns my tongue ... Phew!"

Vitora's eyes, which had been ecstatic, glittered and took on an even more dangerous color.

In the next instant, she had closed the gap between her and Nozomu in a single leap.

Following that, the sound of air popping resounded. With a forceful yet soundless motion, she swung a thunderous blow at Nozomu, even faster than the wind.

"Fuh~..."

However, Nozomu managed to sever even the blow that left even such a sound behind.

[Mumei], clad in five-colored elements and white chains, was swung finely to intercept the storm that was unleashed. In less than a second, he smashed both fists into tiny pieces, with the aftershocks alone being enough to blow away the ground.

Furthermore, with a returning strike, he slashed off Vitora's right leg.

"Ugh~!"

Vitora lost her leg and became off-balance. Nozomu grabbed Vitora's right arm with his left hand and rotated his body with a gliding motion.

He then launched Vitora's body into the air, and with the momentum of his charge, slammed her down to the ground.

"Gah!"

*Bam!* A heavy thud sounded as if a large rock had fallen. Vitora, who had suffered a blow to the back of the head, recoiled and flew up into the air, caving in on the ground.

Furthermore, Nozomu's left fist thrust into her flank, where she was writhing in agony from the impact.

His legs, hips, shoulders, and arms all synchronized in precision to deliver a perfect blow. It pierced through magic and muscle that was out of the norm even for a vampire, rupturing her internal organs and crushing her spine as it blew Vitora to pieces.

A roaring, thunderous sound followed.

Vitora's body bounced off the ground repeatedly, slamming into the wall of the Francilt mansion. She was instantly engulfed in shards of shattered marble and smoke.

A few seconds of silence fell over the Francilt mansion.

"Amazing..."

Irisdina and the others, who had come out to the garden at some point, unintentionally uttered such words.

"... As I thought, you are still in good health."

As if to confirm Nozomu's words, Vitora emerged from the smoke looking as if nothing had happened to her.

The severed right arm, the mangled internal organs, and the broken spine had already regenerated.

"Nozomu Bountis. As a gentleman, isn't this an awful thing to do to a lady?"

And then, despite having just been slashed off, she glamorously showed off her right leg, which was already covered in beautiful white skin.

"If you don't like it, go back to your home. I don't really enjoy fighting you.

"Fufu, I like your blunt attitude, too. I've never been treated like this in my entire life, so it's a real breath of fresh air."

"Sorry, but you're not my type. Find someone else."

"Oh, no, I can't stand it. It makes me want to take you home with me no matter what!"

Arrogantly, the vampire princess kept drawing out more magic power.

The amount of magic power was so great that even the expression "bottomless" was an understatement. The dust that had been dancing turned into snowflakes, and the ground began to freeze under her feet.

Wielding a sense of intimidation that surpassed even Azel, the white dragon that once attacked to seal Nozomu up, Vitora raised her right hand high in the air.

Instantly, a huge white column rose high into the sky as if to envelop her.

The thin curtain wall swayed like a silk cloth. However, the amount of magic power contained in it was more than enough to blow away the Francilt mansion from its base.

A strong chill ran down Nozomu's spine.

And as Vitora swung her arm as if to sweep away the dust in her way, a huge cylinder began to gradually spread out, shattering the frozen ground.

[Thin Garment of the Ice Demon]

A magic that deploys a super-dense magic curtain of ice storms and shatters enemies by freezing them in place and grinding them down.

The thin curtain wall, which had begun to expand, advanced toward Nozomu, shattering the Francilt mansion as if it were a sheet of paper.

"With your current strength, you could easily slice through this storm and escape. But those who remain behind will not survive. For mere humans, even the lingering impact can be fatal. They will be annihilated for sure ... -oh?"

Before Vitora could finish her sentence, Nozomu was moving to intercept.

His left arm, with a white chain wrapped around it, was raised. The moment his fist clenched, the chain broke apart, and the five-colored elements overflowed.

The vast amount of elements that gushed out were guided by the chain that surrounded them, and converged on Nozomu's left arm. The moment all the elements gathered in his left arm, Nozomu slammed his fist on the ground.

[Light of Extiction]

The five-colored elements erupted from under Vitora's feet, swallowing her [Thin Garment of the Ice Demon] and pressing down on her.

"Ha-ha-ha! A contest of strength, huh! Fair enough!"

Despite being swallowed by the Dragon King's elements, Vitora kept drawing more magic power and resisted Nozomu's [Light of Extinction].

"Ooooooooo!"

"Ha, hahaha, hahahahaha!"

Nozomu's cry and Vitora's crazed laughter filled the air.

The [Light of Extinction] that tried to hold her down, and the [Thin Garment of the Ice Demon] that tried to destroy everything. The clash of power was so great that even sound was contained by the two extreme forces, and only the flashes of light continued to flash brightly.

And then, the clash of power reached a critical point.

At the same time, [Light of Extinction] and [Thin Garment of the Ice Demon] collapsed.

The remaining extreme power turned into a shockwave and was unleashed inside and out.

The outward shockwave completely destroyed the already half-destroyed Francilt mansion, sending the rubble flying into the air, and the inward force crushed Vitora's body as it was.

"Kyaa~!"

The impact was so great that Irisdina and the others screamed.

Nozomu looked up and saw the debris of the Francilt mansion falling toward them.

"Fuh~!"

Nozomu swung his katana at the countless falling debris.

A barrage of more than ten slashes per second. The countless storms of [One Billion Severance] slice through the debris falling toward Irisdina and the others.

"Nozomu, above-!"

"Tch~!"

However, while Nozomu's attention momentarily turned to Irisdina and the others, a rain of debris rained down on him.

Nozomu noticed the debris approaching due to Irisdina's voice and tried to counter-slash with his blade.

"Oraaaa!"

But before he could do so, a spiral whirlwind swooped in from the side and swept away the debris that was pouring down.

The storm, a combination of two opposing forces, magic and Qi, turned even the bits of rock that were supposed to rain down on Nozomu back into dust.

Following that, a large shadow dashed into the yard of the Francilt mansion.

It was Mars, carrying a great sword on his back, who appeared.

The tattoo on his right arm shone brightly as he stood next to Nozomu, cloaked in magical energy, and let out a heavy sigh.

"Mars..."

"Idiot, what are you doing forgetting your own defense?"

"Sorry, thanks for your help."

"Well, no problem..."

Mars, who had repositioned the great sword he had wielded on his shoulder, looked toward the vampire who was the source of the problem with a smile on his mouth.

There stood Vitora, who had already finished regenerating her wounds.

She was stained red with her own blood, and Mars couldn't help but frown.

"Oi Nozomu, that vampire is covered in blood..."

"Yeah, she regenerates instantly, whether slashed, punched, or crushed." Cockroaches are still cuter..."

Mars' face involuntarily twitched when he noticed Nozomu's gaze and comment, as if he truly despised the vampire.

Even Rugato, when he was cut in two by Nozomu, took a reasonable amount of time to regenerate, but once again, this vampire's regenerative ability is extraordinary.

Even if she had suffered a seemingly fatal wound, she would regenerate almost instantaneously.

The amount of magic power that gushed out showed no sign of abating, and one had no idea just how much magic power she was capable of producing.

On the other hand, Vitora took a glance at Mars, who had interrupted the situation, with a slightly interested gaze.

"Hmm, there are still people in this town who can fight Rugato, huh? Humans are a race to be reckoned with more than I thought."

"Well, thanks."

Mars shrugged his shoulders at Vitora's gaze, but there was a slight cold sweat on his forehead.

Even though he had mastered the technique of using magic and Qi together and had grown to the point where he could fight even against Rugato, Vitora's current magic power was so astounding that he could not help but gasp.

"Mars, sorry, but..."

"Yeah, I know. Leave Irisdina and the others to me."

"Please. Now we just have to see how well we can keep that crazy vampire in check..."

As Nozomu and Mars quietly exchanged words, ice crystals began to dance around Vitora's body again as she began to draw even more magic power.

"Is her magic power still going to increase? ... That's not good. If she exerts any more power, the city will suffer damage..."

"Don't worry about that. It's about time..."

Mars looked out over the cityscape surrounding the Francilt mansion.

At that time, a huge, dazzling wall of light was deployed to envelop the Francilt mansion.

Furthermore, as if surrounding the Francilte mansion, a one-layered, two-layered, and more layers of barriers were deployed to enclose the entire area where the Francilt mansion is located.

It was the barriers deployed by those at the Solminati Academy.

The barriers, which were constructed not with magic power, but with elements, were large enough to cover about one-third of the administrative district, and each of the layers of the barriers was so huge and strong that it had never been heard of or seen before.

"This is…"

"This is a massive ritual magic isolation barrier that was installed in this city. Looks like that Tima made it in time."

With a smile on his mouth, Mars gazed in the direction where Solminati Academy is located.

"But I don't think we're going to be able to get out..."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just take a look."

After saying so, Mars rushed over to Irisdina and the others, raised his greatsword, and unleashed a magic and Qi combination technique, [Storm Vortex], into the sky.

In the next instant, the same type of barrier that surrounded the Francilt mansion was deployed around Irisdina and the others.

"As I had expected, this barrier seems to be quite responsive."

It seemed that this isolation barrier was able to change its deployment point to some extent at will.

To begin with, this magic was designed to be used when powerful demon beasts invaded the city. Therefore, it was essential to be able to deploy it at will to some extent.

"Though, it looks like there's only one layer that can be deployed instantly. So I'll take care of the lingering aftermath when it breaks through."

But even so, it is not perfect. Evidently, if the ability to respond quickly is increased, other functions will be reduced. The barrier that protects Irisdina and the others now is a bit weaker and less strong than the one that surrounds the Francilt mansion.

"I leave them to you then..."

Nevertheless, the current Mars would manage to do something about it.

Nozomu trusted his friend and left Irisdina and the others in his charge, and once again faced Vitora.

"I see, it's a good move. Since this is our dance, it's not a pleasant experience for me to have my partner's attention distracted. Well, then, Nozomu Bountis, let's continue our dance. This time we're going to pick up the tempo and dance faster, sharper, and bolder."

The next moment, a storm of magic power flowed out like a blast, and Nozomu involuntarily held out his left hand.

After the storm subsided for a few seconds, he looked up and gasped.

"... No way."

There she was, the vampire princess, releasing so much magic power that even astonishment was no longer able to describe it.

Her super-dense magic power had almost materialized and enveloped Vitora's body like an aura.

Reacting to her magic power, she raised her hand to the sky, fluttering her silver hair that shone like an aurora.

Once again, a [Thin Garment of the Ice Demon] was cast. But this time, there was more than a single layer.

Two or three of these curtains, each as powerful as Nozomu's [Light of Extinction], were produced one after another, and then piled on top of each other.

And at the same time that Vitora swung her arm, the [Thin Garment of the Ice Demon]s, lined up like a cavalry line, rushed toward Nozomu all at once.