Chapter 84
The trope that magic doesn’t work on dragons was quite popular in 21st-century modern subculture.
Going even further, there were even settings where they were the progenitors of magic or whatever, so what more needs to be said?
They have wings to fly freely through the sky, and with their massive bodies, hard scales, and sharp teeth, they are also skilled in close combat.
But to handle magic freely on top of that?
What humans wanted from them was clear.
An unapproachable, ultimate creature.
They simply wanted them to show truly overwhelming power.
“It certainly is amazing, but…”
Franz felt that aspect as well.
It took no damage even after being hit by the 6th Circle Magic inferno.
Even though it was 6th circle, its power was beyond that, so it hit home all the more.
No wonder he said it wasn’t a task he could ask of just any riffraff; he was clearly grasping the meaning of those words.
However, far from being overwhelmed by the dragon’s greatness, Franz felt intrigued.
“I wonder if it can block 7th circle too…?”
Since it blocked 6th circle, then 7th circle, and if it blocked that, then 8th circle, and if it even blocked that, then 9th circle.
He was curious just how far its magic could block.
He also wanted to analyze its magic in the process.
Just what kind of magic was it to be able to block 6th Circle Magic? Since it was a magic he was seeing for the first time, his curiosity as a mage was endlessly welling up.
Soon, just as Franz aimed his staff at it and was about to use 7th Circle Magic.
It opened its mouth, and a blue magic circle began to be drawn in front of it.
Mana could be felt gathering toward it, and soon the magic circle was completed, spewing out pure white cold air.
At the rapidly approaching cold air, Franz immediately used magic.
The moment the magic circle was completed, hexagonal protective barriers stacked up in layers in front of Franz.
Soon, the cold breath and the protective barrier collided.
The pure white cold air, blocked by the barrier, split to the left and right, erecting sharp ice pillars.
It seemed that cold air went beyond purely making things cold and actually created ice.
In the meantime, Franz finished analyzing the magic.
“So it was this kind of structure…”
He realized it while analyzing, but it was a structure and text he had seen sometime before in an ancient grimoire.
However, it was quite inefficient, or rather, it didn’t care about mana efficiency at all and focused solely on power, making it impractical.
If he had to compare, wouldn’t it be like a warhorse bred solely for speed, heedless of its rider’s comfort or the cost of its upkeep?
Anyway, since he had figured out all the basics, he would be able to analyze its protective magic without difficulty as well.
Having finished his thoughts, Franz used magic, timing it with the end of his breath.
7th Circle Magic Dark Inferno.
The fire ignited by this magic had the characteristic of not going out until the user wanted it to.
A mass of black flames shot out from the tip of his staff, and the moment it touched the target’s body, it immediately caused an explosion with a loud roar.
A large tremor occurred, but because Franz offset the power affecting the surroundings, there was no damage.
Normally, if there were no anomalies, even if the explosion failed to deal damage, the remaining black flames should have melted its body away.
But this time too, it was perfectly fine.
A magic circle appeared to block the explosion’s damage, and the black flames also disappeared because of it.
It was a truly fascinating thing.
It wasn’t blocking the magic before it activated, as anti-Magic would, nor was it blocking the magic’s damage with a protective barrier. It was as if it excluded only the damage caused by magic completely.
Of course, that was over now too.
“To think this kind of magic existed…”
In that brief instant, Franz finished analyzing the magic.
It was a feat that would have been absolutely impossible without knowledge of ancient magic, and for anyone but Franz.
The dragon’s magic had a structure that not only ignored damage but absorbed it and converted it into its own mana.
Franz was purely in awe at the magic he was seeing for the first time in his life.
It was then.
Dozens of magic circles were drawn around the dragon, followed by massive, sharp chunks of ice shooting out.
Bang-! Bang-!
The chunks of ice struck one after another, and pure white ice crystals spread out in all directions like smoke.
However, Franz just remained standing steadfastly in his spot.
With a nonchalant expression, as if nothing had happened.
In front of such a Franz, the magic circle that had been seen from the dragon appeared and then immediately disappeared.
He had analyzed the dragon’s magic and used it right away.
'So this is what it feels like. It’s incredibly fascinating.'
The feeling of absorbing external mana was quite unique, to say the least.
It felt like someone was tickling him.
Anyway, since there was nothing left to extract from it now, it would be good to slowly wrap things up.
A black magic circle began to be drawn at the tip of Franz’s staff.
Dots became lines, and lines met lines to form circles.
And as shapes and text filled the insides of the circles, the magic circle was completed.
The nine magic circles completed in that way acted in a chain reaction, like interlocking gears turning, and became a single magical force.
It was the most powerful magic Franz could use without risk at the current moment - the 9th circle dark magic, chaos.
The black sphere shot from the magic circle flew toward the Ice Dragon like an arrow.
And the moment it touched its body, an endless darkness grew in size and began to suck in everything around it.
This time too, it seemed to try to block it with magic somehow, but Franz wasn’t one to just let that happen.
Snap-.
As Franz snapped his fingers, his magic circle returned to nothingness, as if it had been rewound.
Now that the magic’s analysis was finished, the magic couldn’t avoid anti-Magic.
Sensing the anomaly, it flapped its wings and tried to escape somehow, but the darkness’s sucking force was beyond that.
First the tail, then the legs and torso. In the end, its entire body was sucked into the darkness.
“Come to think of it, I think he asked me to kill him…?”
Since even Franz didn’t know what kind of space lay beyond that darkness, it was possible that he might not die and instead suffer eternally.
It should be fine, right…?
As Franz thought that and snapped his fingers, the darkness that had been sucking in everything as if to swallow it whole disappeared.
It was then.
Crack-.
An ominous sound, like something cracking, was heard.
Looking around, one could see the ice that made up the castle was cracking.
Since it was made with magic, it seemed to naturally collapse as its user disappeared.
“It feels like a waste…”
You know how there are things like that, things that you don’t really want to keep for yourself, but feel like a waste to throw away.
In the end, Franz decided to preserve the Ice Castle.
As he lightly tapped his staff downward and infused mana, the cracking ice returned to its original state as if time had been reversed.
Well, he could just consider it a substitute for a tomb for the man who had guarded this place for hundreds of years.
It would also become a source of pride for the Duke Phrygia.
Then there was only one thing left to do now.
: retrieving the spearhead the man had been guarding.
He was personally curious about what exactly it was.
Franz immediately took a step forward, and soon faced the spearhead the Demon God had told him to guard.
The spearhead was trapped inside transparent ice, but even though hundreds of years had passed, it was sparkling with a brilliant light.
“I feel an aura similar to when Yusti-ah uses divine power.”
A divine aura could be felt from the spearhead.
It was hard to express exactly what it was, but if he had to put it into words, it was a pure and warm sensation.
Franz placed his hand on the ice trapping the spearhead.
As Franz felt the intense mana, it was definitely not ordinary ice.
“This is going to take some time…”
Undoing a seal is like cracking a password.
, because there’s no other way than to manually substitute every number and find the right one.
However, the seal in front of him was of such a high level that it seemed it would take quite a while.
If it were a password, it would be about 10 digits long, so to speak.
It would include English letters and special characters, of course.
It was only that much because Franz’s calculation speed was at a ridiculous level.
If it had been an ordinary mage, they probably wouldn’t have been able to undo the seal even if they had dedicated their entire life to it.
Heave-.
Franz sat down comfortably and began to undo the seal.
It was a battle against time, so there was no need to stand uncomfortably.
Just how much time passed like that?
One hour, two hours…
Undoing the seal had only one step left.
He had already matched 9 out of the 10 digits, leaving only one remaining.
Franz narrowed his brow and focused all his nerves.
And not long after,
'Done…!'
The seal was completely undone, and the ice trapping the spearhead began to melt away.
Who would have expected that it would take more time than catching the cultist?
Even though the surroundings were clearly filled with ice, it was a tough enough battle that beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
Eventually, the ice completely melted away, and the spearhead dropped to the floor, with a thud…
Ah, it’s really all over now.
Let’s go back and rest.
It was the moment Franz, smiling brightly at those thoughts, touched the spearhead with his hand.
His consciousness drifted away to a distant place, and soon a bizarre landscape unfolded before his eyes.
And there was a person enjoying teatime there.
No, should he call her a person?
Since the divine power he had felt from the spearhead was practically spewing out of her, it was hard to see her as a person.
She looked at Franz and spoke.
“I have been waiting for you to visit.”