Volume 4 - CH 13

Flying in a straight line to its destination, the dragon soon reached the summit.

We both jump down from the dragon, when it lands on the rocky outcrop where it lives and bows its head.

“This is the dragon’s nest …?”

“Oh. The rocky hill over there is the dragon’s bed. The egg is there too.”

“Huh……what, egg?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I have time to explain.”

At that time.

From the forest that spreads beyond the rocky area, a squeaking sound began to echo.

Suddenly, in a straight line toward us, several trees begin to be knocked down from the depths of the forest.

Finally, heaving through the trees facing the rocky terrain, a huge —- red and black tiger appeared.

Behind me, the dragon backs away, as if pressured.

The monster approaches with a vicious killing intent.

Facing it, I activated the jutsu.

《Earth phase —-, the art of blocking and decoys》.

The reddish-black tiger crashed into several quartz pillars that stood in its way.

From there, further pillars protrude diagonally from the perimeter to enclose the tiger’s lava body, completely trapping the monster.

“Guuoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

Lava-tiger barked and bit one of the pillars.

As before, the quartz pillar does not move at all. Gradually, however, its surface slowly melts under the heat.

It won’t keep for long.

Well, but I guess I’ve had enough time to waste talking about it.

I take a breath and raise my voice.

“Hey, Zect!　I know you’re in there. Come on out.”

“You’ve come back at a troublesome time, scholar.”

Emerging from the forest were a sorcerer wearing —- robes, a grimoire open in his hand, and mercenaries with swords in their hands.

Behind his hood, the summoner, head of the Zect Mercenaries, lifts the corners of his mouth.

“I was going to leave with the commission fee after I collected one egg, but …… looks like I’m going to have to eliminate a couple of people now.”

“Hmmm, so you were after eggs from the very beginning after all. His Highness told me that they sometimes appear in the market, and I thought that might be the case.”

“Oh of course. If I sell one dragon egg, all of us can live happily for a year. Hahaha, the prince was a fool.”

Zect chuckles slyly.

“There’s no way we can defeat the Greater Dragon with this many men!　A whole nation would have had to use all of its strength to defeat this monster, but he believed me when I showed him the Lava-tiger. But it’s easy enough to just drive it away.”

I laugh back at the Summoner.

“I was right after all. You’re a fake expert.”

“Ah …? Kid, It seems like you don’t understand the situation.”

Zect’s mouth twists into a smile.

“My lava-tiger is not a monster that …… you can handle with your puny magic.”

The sound of banging.

Lava-tiger had just snapped the quartz pillar that was melting.

The monster slips out of its transparent cage and lets out a murderous roar.

“ You’re going to get eaten alive as burnt flesh!”

Legs in red-black lava bend for jumping.

At that time.

A huge column of water erupted from the feet of the Lava-tiger ・・・・

“What !?”

The lava beast, bounced up by the water column, rolls on the rocky ground in front of the astonished Zect’s eyes.

The large volume of water that erupts falls directly to the ground. The water flowed down the slope and swallowed up Zect and the mercenaries.

I was as surprised as he was.

A great flow of power.

The one who was manipulating it was a blonde-haired girl who pointed her right hand with a ring at the enemy.

“I can’t be silent anymore.”

Ifa muttered with a quiet expression.

Seeing this, I open my mouth involuntarily.

“Ifa …”

“Seika-kun, um…”

“Amazing!　You reacted so well”

“Eh, eh”

At the sound of my excited voice, Eefa’s expression fell.

She says, puzzled.

“Because Seika-kun told me the other day…..”

“Usually it’s not something you can do just by hearing it once. You’re really  courageous.”

“I, I see.”

“I knew I was right to bring you here. I was surprised that you could handle water magic this well. I’m amazed.”

“…… ehehe.”

“Damn, what kind of magic is this, don’t tell me …… you’re one of those woodland elves!”

Caught on a rock, the soaking wet Zect rants.

I tilt my head.

‘”Woodland elves……?　What the hell is he talking about?”

“Um, you see, Seika-kun. ……”

“Well, it’s a continuation, but Ifa. It was good to use a lot of water, because a small amount of water evaporates instantly with the heat of lava which can be dangerous … see, look at it. “

I pointed to the Lava-tiger staggering to its feet.

It’s no wonder that the movement is awkward.

The lava armor was mostly solid black.

“You see how the red part has hardened into a rounded, bumpy shape?　After the surface cools down, the lava inside flows and forms a shape like that. Rocks like that are also formed when volcanoes erupt and lava flows into the sea.”

“I see…”

“Guoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”

At that moment, the Lava-tiger growled.

The surface of the hardened armor cracks and new lava begins to flow.

“Don’t think this is the end! That half-hearted magic doesn’t work for my lava-tiger !!”

Zect shouts as he stands up.

Ifa’s expression turns grim.

I gently grabbed her right hand as she was about to raise it and made her put it down.

“eh……?”

“It’s okay. I’ll do the rest.”

《Soil phase ――― The art of fire nets》

A white cast net covered the lava-tiger.

The lava beast violently flails about out of resentment at being prevented from moving.

As expected, the asbestos could not withstand the heat of melting quartz, and the rope was beginning to break in places.

Zect laughs, the edges of his mouth hanging open.

“Ha, you idiot!　You can’t catch a lava-tiger in a net!”

“No, I’m not trying to catch it.”

I muttered quietly.

A single Shikigami appeared out of thin air and I pointed it at the rampaging lava beast.

“I just wanted it to be a little quieter.”

《Phase of the sun ―――― The art of flames》

What was spat out from the Shikigami was a dazzling white flame.

It swallows the Lava-tiger trapped in its net in one gulp.

Soon after it disappeared, there was nothing left of —-.

“Huh …………?”

Zect sounds stunned.

The only thing that could be called a remnant of the Lava-tiger was a stone block of a high-melting-point mineral that was attached to the armor.

There was no trace of the main body, the lava, or the asbestos mesh. On the contrary, even the ground had melted and boiled, and the cooled areas were vitrified.

I snicker and mutter.

“I told you I was going to extinguish it, but there isn’t even any charcoal left……. ”

It is a true-white flame that can melt even ash-heavy stone (*tungsten ore), forcing the combustion temperature up to the heat of the sun.

It’s no big deal to vaporize a lava monster.

“What the hell are you ……?”

I laugh and reply to Zect, who opens his eyes and mutters in horror.

“I’m the most powerful magician in the world.”

“Screw you, ……!　Hey, you guys!　Be the vanguard, be the wall!　Work for your wages!”

The mercenaries who had been swept away by the water and caught on rocks and trees staggered to their feet.

At that time—-,

“Gurururuoooooo — !!”

Behind me, the dragon growled.

In an instant, the panic propagates and the mercenaries begin to foam and flee.

“Fuck you!”

“I can’t deal with that thing!”

Zect peels his eyes out and shouts at the mercenaries who turn their backs on him, swearing.

“Wait!　Don’t run away!”

“Oh yeah, it’s cowardly to run away.”

With that said, I restrain the scattered mercenaries with “vine binding”.

Then I laughed at the standing Zect.

“So now all that’s left is you.”

“You didn’t catch me ………… like them…..are you  toying with m!?”

“Yes, it’s tiresome, so why don’t you put on the shackles yourself?　It’s too much trouble.”

“Ha, then I’m going to make you ………… regret it!”

The grimoire held by Zect glowed strongly.

Behind that hood, a vicious smile appears.

“I’ll show you!　I can’t even control this thing, it’s my trump card!　I don’t know what will happen to you and that town, but it’s hot!”

With a stupid voice, Zect suddenly let go of the grimoire.

“What?　My grimoire?”

Zect’s grimoire was burning.

It should have been wet with water, but it was enveloped in orange flames and turned to ash.

“That’s a substitute for a cane, isn’t it?”

Ifa looked at Zect with fixed eyes and said.

“Is that it?”

Around Zect, orange flames begin to appear in a spiral.

It is the familiar flame of a hitodama that I have seen since my previous life. (TN: In Japanese folklore, Hitodama (Japanese 人魂; meaning “human soul“) are balls of fire that mainly float in the middle of the night. They are said to be “souls of the dead that have separated from their bodies,” which is where their name comes from.)

“I hope it’s over. Because it’s going to be …… a little bit hard to burn even you.”

Zect slumped down into the insect like cage of the hitodamas.

He was completely broken.

“…Um Seika-kun, was that fine?”

Ifa looks at me with expectant eyes.

“Oh, yeah. You’ve done a good job, Ifa. He almost summoned some unknown monster.”

When I patted her head, Ifa’s eyes squinted happily.

I am a little disappointed, however.

…… I wanted to see it for a moment, the trump card.

A technique to shoot a flame of 5,000 ° C that raises the combustion temperature to that of the sun. Tungsten is the element with the highest melting point, but it still melts above 3,400 ° C. Even tantalum carbide produced by modern technology has a limit of 4,200 ° C. The temperature of 5,000 ° C is enough to melt all the substances in this world and evaporate most of them. Due to the color temperature, the flame light shines white (about 5,000 Kelvin = the color of a neutral white fluorescent lamp). Originally, radiant heat poses a danger to the caster himself and those around him, so this time the main character placed a Shikigami with the technique of the shadow phase around him to absorb the excess heat.