『Maribel!』
As Maribel was falling from Ouroboros, about to be slammed into the floor, Jilnitra caught her just in time.
Maribel was unconscious.
In the next instant, the world shifted. Before we realized it, we were no longer within the subspace—we had returned to the area near the crash site of the Seno Grande Kai. Looks like once Maribel lost consciousness, we were expelled from the subspace.
Come to think of it, that subspace itself had been created by her magic. She must have been consuming an enormous amount of mana to sustain it.
“So a troublesome one really did go and undo Ouroboros’s seal. Well… I suppose without someone like that, the seal wouldn’t have broken in the first place.”
At any rate, the wielder of the staff was now gone. Even if Ouroboros tried to possess someone else present, none of them even came close to Maribel in terms of magical ability.
『Please be careful, Master. That staff is not something that will give up so easily.』
(…Yeah, I know.)
It happened in that instant.
Ouroboros, which had been floating in the air, released its vast and overwhelming magical power. The staff swelled larger and larger before our eyes. And then, what emerged was a dragon—its scales shimmering with iridescent, rainbow hues.
“…Just as I thought…!”
The Infinite Dragon Ouroboros had manifested its true form.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—!!”
Clutching its own tail in its jaws, Ouroboros unleashed a thunderous roar.
Its sheer presence was so overwhelming that even Lill, a Fenrir, trembled and instinctively stepped back.
“Wooooon!!”
Lill immediately reverted to her true form as well. Instinct must have told her that remaining in human form would not even allow her to stand against such a being.
“…Mm.”
“T-that’s… a monster…”
“This is not an opponent meant for humans to face…”
Fana, Anje, and Karen—the three girls—tightened their grips on their weapons, their expressions stiff with tension.
As if mocking them, Ouroboros began unfolding multiple spells around its ring-shaped body. Fire, earth, lightning, wind, water, ice, gravity—seven types of magic, all being prepared for simultaneous release.
In the next moment, a scene like the end of the world spread out before our eyes.
“““————!!?”””
Fana tried to leap into the sky on instinct, but she was caught by a bolt of lightning and shot down. Anje raised an earth wall for protection, only for it to be frozen solid along with her defenses. Karen attempted to cut through the incoming gale with a sword strike—but failed, and was sent tumbling through the air.
Even Lill was crushed by overwhelming gravity. Her massive body forced into the ground until it was half-buried.
In a single attack, everyone was wiped out—except for me, who had managed to escape using teleportation magic.
(Linlin, we’re using that.)
『…I suppose we have no choice. However, our remaining magic power is insufficient. Its usage time will be even more limited than before.』
(Doesn’t matter. I’ll finish this in an instant.)
“Temporary Growth Acceleration Magic”
It was a magic that sacrifices one’s lifespan in exchange for forcibly accelerating the growth of one’s own body. It was the same spell I had once used when I defeated the Demon King Alzazeil in the Magic City. If possible, I never wanted to rely on it again… but I had no choice now.
My body transformed into that of a tall, handsome man—completely naked.
I quickly retrieved my hero’s equipment from subspace and equipped it. The rejection backlash worried me, but there was no time to care about that.
After all—I was naked.
“…Let’s go.”
With the Hero’s Sword and Lindwurm in a dual-wield stance, I charged at Ouroboros.
Ouroboros, in turn, unleashed seven types of magic simultaneously.
“Then I’ll use seven as well.”
To counter it, I also deployed fire, earth, lightning, wind, water, ice, and gravity.
And in the next instant, we fired our spells at the same time.
Seven types of magic collided against seven types of magic. However, what clashed were different elements from each side. My fire magic melted Ouroboros’s ice, my water magic crushed its wind, and my earth magic dispersed its lightning. Only the gravity magic—shared by both—reached a perfect equilibrium and canceled itself out.
“…What?!”
“Did you know? Magic has something called elemental compatibility.”
A portion of my magic, having won through superior compatibility, broke through and struck Ouroboros.
“OOOAAAGHHHHHHH—!!”
The massive dragon twisted in agony, unleashing a pained roar.
Without waiting for the aftermath of the magic to fade, I pressed forward.
I focused all my fighting spirit and magic power into the Hero’s Sword.
Sensing it, Ouroboros hastily tried to create distance—
『I won’t let you.』
A voice cut in. Lindwurm unleashed a blinding breath of light. It was aimed directly at Ouroboros’s eyes—but was narrowly evaded.
In that brief opening, I had already closed the distance.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
I brought down my full-force strike.
SHRANG!!
The orichalcum blade severed Ouroboros’s ring-shaped body.
“————!!?”
With a silent, voiceless roar, the split halves of its body crashed to the ground. And at the same time, its colossal form began to shrink.
“It looks like it can no longer maintain its Infinite Dragon form.”
『For Ouroboros, losing its state as a ‘ring’ must be fatal.』
Before long, it reverted back to its staff form. I immediately moved in to apply a sealing spell.
『S-stop you bastard…! Are you planning to throw us back into that boring slumber again?! Damn you… YOUUUUU BASTAAAAARD!!』
The red dragon fragment desperately sent out a telepathic cry, but I ignored it and layered multiple seals over it. As its scales gradually lost their radiance and turned a dull gray, the telepathic voice cut off completely.
“…Phew. It’s finally quiet now.”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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