Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Lydon couldn’t be dealt with in a rational and reasonable way. Even if they managed to secure Van in a fierce fight, there would be countless obstacles on their way out of the forest.

So they would have to match Lydon's level of thinking.

“Yah, Lydon.”

Cadel recalled the electric current he'd gathered to draw attention to himself and moved the imprisoned Aiden in front of him.

As Lydon's gaze settled on the imprisoned Aiden, Cadel stroked the wind that held him captive and smiled meaningfully.

“Let’s play a game.”

“Game?”

“I'm going to let your friend go now.”

Lydon tilted his head. There was no need or reason to do so.

“In exchange, your friend must fly hard on one severed wing and seek help from your kind. A strong intruder has harmed me, so kill him, please.”

“......Um?”

‘It's not a game, it's just giving up your life, isn't it?’, Lydon's quizzical face seemed to ask.

Of course, he didn't.

Cadel turned to face Lydon, his head jerked upright.

“That's the game's time limit. Until the time your friend safely asks for help and the reinforcements arrive. When the time limit is over...... Well, the odds are high, I'll die.”

“What will you do during that time?”

“I’ll run away. Taking my two cute little subordinates with me back there.”

Interest flickered in Lydon's eyes, and he turned fully toward Cadel.

“Hoo. Who's chasing you? Me, of course?”

“Of course it’s you. Instead, there are rules. You mustn't kill us while chasing us. Neither do we. I will never touch Aiden who is running away.”

“I can't kill you?”

“We're all going to die when the time limit is up and the reinforcements come anyway, and you can either hold us until it's over, or keep us from getting out of the forest. And for us, we just need to avoid you and get out of the forest until the time limit is up. Ah, and no illusion magic, either. Let's be honest and only use attack magic, shall we? Should be fun, right?”

Minimal damage, maximum survival chance.

To wring that kind of efficiency out of this crazy fairy, Cadel had to take a crazy gamble. An offer that capitalized on his maniacal obsession with fun and his innate whims. If Lydon didn't accept, there would be no avoiding a head-on collision.

Cadel stared at Lydon, his nervousness evident. Lydon rolled his eyes for a moment as if thinking about the rules of the game, and then grinned broadly.

“Sounds like fun!”

“Right? Then―”

“Instead, I'll add a rule of my own.”

“......What?”

Lydon's long finger pointed to Van, who was still bound to the tree.

“That human will remain asleep while you run away. Wouldn't that make you more desperate?”

Perverted bastard. Cadel gritted his teeth and subtly reduced the range of [Wind Prison], then lifted Aiden, who screamed under the pressure, into the air.

‘He’s here!’

Cadel fired a fireball straight at the wall. Despite the powerful attack, the ice wall only dented and showed no signs of collapsing. Their bodies tilted as they slowed to a halt. Cadel clicked his tongue at the blocked path and quickly turned around.

And there.

“Found ya!”

Flapping two pairs of wings as long and colorful as his massive body, Lydon flew toward them at terrifying speed. His red eyes glowed, leaving a red afterimage following the movement. Cadel shuddered slightly as he spotted him.

“Creepy *sshole.”

They were found quicker than expected. With both hands outstretched toward Lydon, Cadel cast a new attribute, Lightning Magic.

Dozens of strands of electric currents flowed from his fingertips, spreading forward. The thin currents quickly became entangled, turning into a net. An annoying skill that restricted an enemy's movement and inflicted debuffs such as paralysis and burns. [Electric Shock Net].

Lydon rose to avoid the attack, and Cadel followed him, increasing the area of the net, calling out.

“There's no time for the side road. Break the wall!”

It was impenetrable, even by fireballs. He couldn't afford to waste his last bit of mana trying to break down the wall.

At Cadel's command, Lumen threw Van away and put his hand on the handle of the sword. What he was preparing was [Moonlight Swift Sword]. He hadn't reached a high enough level yet, so he couldn't even kill the presence perfectly. However.

‘You don't have to hide your presence to break down walls.’

Power alone was enough. With his back to Cadel, Lumen began to perform his sword drawing technique.

“The fact that you're a multi-attribute magician, it's really fun!”

Cadel added the power of the wind to the [Electric Shock Net] to chase Lydon's movements. Impressed by the speed of the air, which matched his own flight speed, Lydon laughed merrily and sent a huge ice sphere flying toward the net.

It was just a huge and heavy block of ice with no explosive or destructive power. However, it was perfect for crashing a net woven with electricity.

Unable to withstand the weight of the ice sphere, the net dropped to the floor. With a grimace, Cadel dismissed the spell.

“It's grossly annoying, S grade!”

Of all things, it was more troublesome because he was a magician.

‘I need to buy time, at least until Lumen breaks the wall.’

He didn't think that Lumen couldn’t break it. Cadel trusted Lumen and prepared a second spell, this one aimed at Lydon as he descended toward them again.

‘I’ll go with my most confident attack. I'm most confident...... with my original skill.’

This skill was the most significant harvest of his lessons with Mamil in 15 days. He was so pleased when he learned it that he spent days and days thinking of a new name for it. Mamil, of course, criticized the name as pretentious and unnecessary, but what could he expect from a mercenary corps whose name was also Scarlet Scales.

“This is the first time I use it aside from practice....... So nervous.”

The corner of Cadel's mouth twitched upward as he swallowed dryly, and in response to his coy smile, Lydon with a maniacal grin flew into close range.

And just when his big grip was violently reaching out as if to devour Cadel's face.

“......Um? What the hell is this?”

Dozens of fireballs in the shape of butterflies surrounded Lydon. A tiny butterfly, less than half a centimeter across. After a moment of confusion, Lydon absentmindedly touched one of the fluttering butterflies, and Cadel laughed at him, the happiest he'd been since entering the forest.

“Let's blow off some steam!”

The name of the skill was [Fire Butterfly Dream].

That was the name to be called in public, and in private, Cadel called the skill ‘a chain explosive device that had been made pretty for now’.