Chapter 506: Summon: Blazing Lion

Responding to my summons, a twenty meter tall Fallen Angel Golem appeared out of thin air!

The Veil of the Dead immediately rushed to fill its innards, but the golem wasn’t even a living creature so it had no weakening effect whatsoever.

Even so, I could feel a distinct hindrance as I piloted the Devil King Idol from within. While the Veil of the Dead wasn’t able to weaken the Devil King Idol, its sheer thickness meant that even its surroundings were changed. Trying to maneuver through the fog right now was like swimming in a pool of water… poison water, to be exact!

“Zurnalin and the rest of you, fall back for now. Leave the rest to me!”

“Your Holiness?” A little battered, Zurnalin was confused when she heard my voice but did not see me. Thankfully, the Devil King Idol was obviously modelled after a Fallen Angel so she quickly grasped the gist of the situation. “Many thanks, Your Holiness.”

“Now’s not the time for idle chatter. I need all of you to fall back first.” In order to avoid the situation where I accidentally hurt the Dark Elves below I chose not to clash with the Dracolich right away. “The coming battle isn’t one where you all can participate; I do not wish for any of you to be hurt in the crossfire…”

However, before I could even finish my words, the Dracolich came colliding into the Devil King Idol. I hurriedly stuck out my hands to try and hold it back, each hand grabbing onto one horn. Yet the force of its charge was truly terrifying. Even though the Devil King Idol managed to hold up in the end, the landscape beneath had been changed. A ten meter long trench was dug beneath us, finally ending in a giant pile of earth at where both my feet were…

This clash of titans ended up being a tie on the surface. But in actuality, it was the Dracolich who came out short. After all, my Devil King Idol was stationary when it received that blow, while that Dracolich had running momentum behind it. Anyone could tell who was the real winner here.

The resulting collision had caused a massive shockwave to blanket the entire area. The Assassins who were still trying to land a strike in on the Dracolich ended up being blown away, without exception. The sheer size difference between them and the Dracolich had decided their fate long ago.

Even now, the Dracolich was trying to ram its horn at me. In all likelihood, its zombification had left it without much intelligence. Other than ramming and casting its Veil of the Dead, it did not have many tactics left to employ. It was still strong, no doubt. But its lack of variety doomed it to mediocrity.

As of right now, I was like a matador and his bull, except that I had the strength to match said bull. In such a match, there was no way I would lose!

Finally, after much struggling and exertion, the Devil King Idol was able to completely cancel the charge of the Dracolich. No matter how much it struggled, it was no longer able to advance even an inch.

“Hold it steady like that, Your Holiness. We will take care of the rest!” Seeing an opportunity to attack, Zurnalin confidently rushed into battle, Fighter’s Aura in full burst. “Divine… ah…”

She tried to activate her ability once more. It was a powerful ability she had employed before that honestly would have been able to damage the Dracolich, had it not been for the Veil of the Dead. However, the moment she tried to swing her sword, a five-meter tall solid skull, formed entirely out of the Veil of the Dead, charged at Zurnalin, and before she could unleash her attack, exploded in front of her…

“Boom…”

The explosion sent her flying away immediately, halting her ability mid process.

However, that was only the beginning. All around the Devil King Idol, skull after skull began to coalesce out of thin air. Then came the explosions. Powerful explosions. Ones that endlessly rocked the battlefield around us.

Yet such tactics were meaningless to my Devil King Idol. Even if I couldn’t activate its full strength, an Overlord would still find it difficult to leave a dent on my Devil King Idol, let alone this Dracolich.

Paying no heed to the exploding skulls beneath, I commanded the Devil King Idol to reach out and grab one of the Dracolich’s horns with its left hand. With its right, I formed a fist and punched down hard on the monster’s head. To those watching, the scene must have looked like an adventurer bullying a little monster.

The Dracolich’s own defenses weren’t bad as well, but my Devil King Idol’s strength was nothing to scoff at either. After several full-strength punches, its head finally caved in a little, fracturing and spurting out black blood from the wound.

Down below, the skull’s explosion wasn’t strong enough to harm Zurnalin. She was covered in a green layer, but otherwise fine as she climbed to her feet and tried to rejoin the battle once more. Seeing the stubbornness in her eyes, I anxiously tried to stop her. “Zurnalin, I need you to leave this area first. I’ll meet up with you all once it’s dead.”

“But Your Holiness…”

“No buts! You’ve seen it as well. I have no problems beating up this Dracolich. You being here would only serve to distract me.”

The battlefield was definitely in our favour right now. Even the advent of those exploding skulls did nothing to change that fact.

“I… Understood…” Zurnalin was somewhat depressed, but she knew now wasn’t the time for hesitation. She promptly called out to the rest of the Eight-stars, “Sisters, leave the battlefield for now. Do not get in the way of Her Holiness.”

Ever the efficient soldiers, these female Assassins easily broke free from the Dracolich, even with the Veil hindering their movements. After all, so what if it could create exploding skulls? Not like it could conjure up hands as well to bind those Assassins. Especially since they were Eight-stars.

All right. It’s just two of us now. Let’s dance.

“Don’t get overconfident now, little brother. You should summon your flames while you can.” Ferti’nier helpfully came out to knock some sense into me. “Lion’s Majesty will heed your calls even in the Devil King Idol, we just have to alter the incantation somewhat. After all, we are trying to summon the Blazing Lion this time. Now, repeat after me…”

“By my name… bestow life upon the flames… heed my summons… burn down those who stand before me… Lion’s Majesty!”

As I yelled a string of words that only the finest of middle schoolers could have come up with, I couldn’t help but get a little red in the ears, even inside the pocket dimension. Yet the moment I was done chanting, I felt an overwhelming surge of energy gush forth from my bracelet.

What’s going? Why is my mana rushing out of my body? No. Not just my mana. The Devil King Idol’s mana reserves are depleting as well, flowing in the direction of Lion’s Majesty… Don’t tell me that was the chant for summoning that Overlord-class creature in Lion’s Majesty?

“That’s right, little brother. That incantation just now was to summon that same lion. Don’t forget, Lion’s Majesty was made from the core of an Overlord-class fire lion. It should definitely be able to summon an Eight-star Peak Blazing Lion. However, our little brother’s mana is too little for so your big sis over here decided to tap into the Devil King Idol as well…”

Hah. Never knew that it could do that as well.

As more and more mana was siphoned out of the Devil King Idol, a fire vortex began forming between me and the Dracolich. At the start, this vortex was merely the size of a person’s fist, something us giants could easily snuff out with a blow. Yet a second later, that fiery vortex began to rapidly expand, all the way till it was ten meters wide.

This sudden emergence led to the Dracolich seemingly regaining some of its wits as well. It gave up on its pointless wrestling match with my Devil King Idol. It broke free and took a few steps back, all the while eyeing that fiery vortex cautiously.

As the vortex continued coalescing, it inadvertently sucked in a huge amount of the Veil of the Dead. The moment its sickly green mist came into contact with the inferno that was that vortex, it was instantly purified by the heat. Since time immemorial, Fire and Light had always been the bane of Undead, because of their innate purifying qualities. Fire as an element was more explosive with its purification, while Light was more gradual. Either way, both were powerful purifying elements.

“Roar!!!”

The fiery vortex opened up like a dimensional door to space. From within rushed out an eight meter tall lion, composed entirely out of scorching flames. Yet its features were so defined, you wouldn’t be faulted for mistaking it for a real lion.

Every bit as bold as its name, it fearlessly charged right at the Dracolich despite being several times smaller than it was.

At the same time that the two of them collided, a giant shockwave was sent out that also destabilised the both of them. It was only after tumbling about a few times that they finally got back up to their feet. The Blazing Lion was more nimble in that aspect, managing to recover with only a couple of tumbles. It immediately launched another attack at the Dracolich that was still trying to regain its balance. What was worth mentioning at this point was that wherever that lion touched, flames would be left behind. That Dracolich’s body was no exception as well!

Now that the Blazing Lion had been summoned, the fiery vortex began to shrink, finally disappearing into the void a while later. Yet when I finally got a good look at the lion I summoned, I realised something earth shattering…

Why? Why does that lion not have a mane?! I’m not blind, am I?! There’s no mane on that lion! No mane!

Some things were important enough that it warranted three repetitions. So why did it not have a mane?

Ferti’nier… what’s going on here? That’s clearly a lioness!

“Ahahaha… don’t sweat the small stuff, little brother.”

You aren’t getting away that easily! You clearly said Blazing LION. So why is it now a lioness… don’t you have any shame at all?

“But your big sis remembered it was a male as well, why is it a female now? Wait…” While I might not have been able to see the expression on her face, I could tell that she was looking at me strangely right now. “Maybe the problem has to do with our little brother?”

…

My problem? What am I? The king of scapegoats? Don’t try and dump this on me! Let’s be clear here: we are two souls in one. If it’s my problem, it’s yours as well!

“Oh. That’s true.” I could feel her snap her fingers at that point. Then, as if she had just come to a realization, she said, “Your big sis almost forgot but… we really are in the same body, aren’t we?”

Bah… now’s not the time to talk about its gender. Lion or not, as long as it can get the job done, it’s a good lion in my books.

“Hehe, that’s that then.”

So it was on purpose! If there was a table in my head right now, I would flip it. I would flip an unending domino chain of tea-laden tables if I could.

“All right. All right. Simmer down. As compensation, how about your big sis teach you a couple of new tricks?”

Hmph!

“Don’t be like that. Come on, give us a little shake.”

I’ll shake your stinking bottom…

I meant every word of that. I really wanted to give her a good spanking right now, but the Dracolich took precedence.

“Anyway, your mana has stabilised, hasn’t it? It’s time for fighting then! Like a cruel angel, go forth, young girl, become a legend!”

Hey! That’s copyright material right there! Also, it’s young boy, not young girl! Curse you!

The Blazing Lion and the Dracolich were both creatures at the peak of Eight-star. However, my Blazing Lion was more akin to a bug. It was a purely elemental creature, meaning it wouldn’t die until all its energies had been expanded. Furthermore, it was leagues above the Dracolich, in terms of speed. By the time I had recovered from the enormous mana usage of summoning it, the Blazing Lion had already dominated the battle.