Chapter 133
The world seen through Mana Sight was filled with various colorful hues.
To be precise, it categorized the total amount of mana and the currently held mana by color.
If I had to explain it in modern terms, it was similar to looking through a thermal imaging camera.
Seen through that Mana Sight, she was tinged in orange. It seemed she was about half full.
'If she doesn’t absorb it infinitely, the method is simple.'
I just have to feed her until she’s so full she can’t eat anymore.
Even a ghost is better off with a full belly.
Dying after eating magic of this level could be considered a good death.
…Probably.
“What is that man nodding about all by himself? It’s unpleasant.”
“I agree. He’s a very unpleasant man.”
The two of them leveled harsh criticisms, their expressions full of contempt.
It felt like looking at Arian when she was at her most venomous.
Back then, with a little exaggeration, she would criticize me just for breathing.
“But who are they to call anyone unpleasant?”
If we were just talking about being unpleasant, they were quite formidable themselves.
My head was throbbing because they kept emitting such a terrible magical energy.
I didn’t bother saying it out loud since it would only get annoying.
Anyway.
Now that I had found a countermeasure, it was time to put it into action.
Snap-.
Franz used the 1st Circle Magic, fireball.
A relatively simple magic circle was drawn, followed by the creation of a blazing sphere of flame.
Without stopping there, as he blew mana into it, the sphere, which had been about the size of a watermelon, gradually grew larger.
'There’s no reason to go out of my way to use high-tier magic.'
As the number of magic circles increases, both the calculation process and the Magic formula become more complex.
That is the reason why an ordinary mage requires a long time to use high-tier magic.
However, since she reverts the results of such effort into mana and stores it, it wouldn’t matter even if it wasn’t high-tier magic.
“How much will this fill your stomach?”
Franz fired the fireball with that thought, a fireball so massive that anyone seeing it would mistake it for the sun.
Everything around them had already melted away due to the magic of the woman named Zeni-ah, so there was no chance of the fire spreading.
The fireball that advanced in such a manner finally reached them.
However, just like before, it did not deal any damage.
Because it disappeared into her mouth, as if being sucked into a black hole.
Burp-.
Smoke rose from her mouth along with a burp.
“Is it about 80 percent…”
Seen through Mana Sight, she had grown a bit closer to a red hue.
If I repeated the same action just one more time, she would reach her limit too.
Thus, Franz was about to use magic again.
“What in the world is this…”
Suddenly, the two of them held hands, and the mana of the magic-eating woman began transferring to the mage.
At the same time, an ash-gray magic circle was rapidly being completed.
When one looked at the structure, it didn’t seem to be high-tier magic…
Rather, that made it even more of a problem.
The lower the tier of the magic, the faster its activation.
'There’s no time to dispel it.'
Making a swift judgment, Franz created a protective barrier.
A translucent, regular hexagonal wall blocked Franz’s front like a shield.
Soon after, a single beam of light was fired from her magic circle.
The achromatic beam heading toward Franz was blocked by the invisible wall and changed direction.
KABOOM-!
At the end of its altered path, the beam blew away a large chunk of the mountain peak and disappeared.
Perhaps because it was magic crudely crammed with mana, it possessed tremendous power despite not being high-tier magic.
'I’m going to get an earful again…'
If the surrounding topography changes significantly, wouldn’t they have to redraw the maps?
The emperor was sure to say something about it.
Be that as it may.
“Now I kind of understand their combat style.”
One side eats the magic, and the other side uses that mana.
It was a perfect combination, to the point where it could be called invincible when it came to battles against a mage.
At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to use the method I had originally planned.
Because using magic on this end was no different from supplying mana to that end.
They would definitely just keep firing off magic in return.
“This is bleak…?”
He knew he had to separate the two of them first.
Seeing as they went out of their way to hold hands, it seemed physical contact was required to transfer the mana.
However, there was no way to separate them.
If I used magic, they would just absorb it all.
But using physical force was a problem since I didn’t know their capabilities.
“Still, should I give it a try?”
I couldn’t compare to Yuna flying around with a huge greatsword, or Hera nimbly moving and shooting her bow, but…
I was still at a decent level.
Thus, Franz decided to use the Mage Hand-to-Hand Combat Mode.
He reached into the small bag at his waist and pulled out two items.
One was a gauntlet, and the other was a greave.
'It’s really been a long time.'
Both were magic tools that Franz had developed himself.
In the past, he had also been interested in fighting by moving his body directly.
He also hadn’t liked the combat style of hiding in the back and shooting magic, as it felt cowardly.
Of course, he had given up on it after facing the massive wall known as Yuna.
Clack, clack-.
When Franz tossed the greave and gauntlet into the air, they naturally attached themselves to his body.
He had made them with the movie Iron Man, which he had seen once upon a time, in mind.
Perhaps because of that, their shape was similar to it.
Even though it was only for an arm and a leg.
Still, he liked it. For a man, there was a certain romance to robots, after all.
However, it seemed this world was still lacking in its understanding of romance.
“Seri-ah, what in the world is that ugly thing?”
“Zeni-ah, it seems he wants to become a golem himself.”
What kind of absurd remark was that?
Harsh words rose to the tip of Franz’s throat, but he somehow managed to hold them back.
There was no reason to go out of his way to explain this romance.
If they didn’t know, it was their own loss.
After Franz organized his thoughts like that, a magic circle was drawn beneath his feet.
It was Spatial Movement Magic.
The destination was right in front of the magic-eating woman.
Arriving with a flash of light in front of the woman, Franz immediately swung his fist.
Light entered the mana stone embedded in the gauntlet, accelerating his fist.
WHAM-!
The fist struck her face directly.
She was launched into the air, fell to the ground, and only stopped after rolling a couple of times.
“Seri…a?”
The mage’s face was dyed in astonishment, and her mana began to swirl.
At the same time, quite a large number of magic circles were drawn in the air.
“Multiple casting, huh…”
He had thought this when she used magic earlier, but judging purely by her skill, she was at a level where an average mage couldn’t even present their calling card.
If there had been such a talent in the Magic Tower, he would have truly cherished her for a long time.
The fact that she was an enemy was incredibly regrettable.
Anyway, he couldn’t just stand by and watch the magic be completed.
Snap-.
When Franz snapped his fingers, the magic circles floating in the air vanished all at once.
It was thanks to the shortened response time, which occurred as the distance between them had closed.
Following that, Franz’s fist headed toward the mage, but…
CLANG-!
It was blocked by something and couldn’t advance any further.
The woman he had blown away with his fist earlier returned at some point and blocked it with a dagger.
He was a little surprised, but that was strictly because of how fast this woman’s recovery was.
“I did expect this to some extent.”
If both of them were weak in close combat, they would be far too vulnerable against an opponent using physical force.
Even in a game, if the party size is two, wouldn’t you include one rear damage dealer and one melee character?
It was truly a matter of course.
Of course, it was a rather meaningless statement for the current Franz, who was capable of fulfilling both roles by himself.
THUD-!
At Franz’s kick, the magic-eating woman was pushed far back.
She had somehow managed to block it by crossing her arms, but her arm drooped down limply, as if something had gone wrong with it.
It was because Franz’s gauntlet and greave had their power enhanced in proportion to the mana infused into them.
They were truly pieces of melee equipment exclusively for a mage.
A crazy mage who engaged in close combat probably didn’t exist in the world, but anyway, that was how it was.
“Yuna was completely fine even after getting hit by this.”
When I look at it now, it didn’t feel entirely bad.
“Unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable, unforgivable-!”
From the side, the mage used magic.
Given how chaotic her mana was, it seemed her emotions had become highly agitated.
'Well, what are you going to do if it’s unforgivable?'
Franz dispelled the magic lightly by snapping his fingers.
It would be a different story if the two were stuck together, but now that they were separated, she wasn’t that threatening an opponent.
The battle flowed similarly after that.
He engaged in close combat with the mana-eating woman, and whenever the mage tried to use magic, he responded by dispelling it immediately.
By this point, it would be normal for her to be exhausted and collapse, but whatever kind of stamina she had, she kept lunging at him as if she were perfectly fine despite her body being battered and bruised.
How much time had passed like that?
Franz realized how the woman was able to keep lunging at him to such an extent.
“Why is that coming out of there…?”
Inside the body of the mana-eating woman, there was an unexpected object.