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[Translator - Night]
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Chapter 176
The problem was that this merging ability was quite unruly.
Beep!
[Fusion – Song of Suggestion]
[Awakens the target’s mind without restrictions. Strongly amplifies specific emotions within. Can affect a certain range.]
Wide-area mental awakening?
The terrifying thing about the merging ability was that it could materialize things that were realistically impossible.
With an ability of this level, there should naturally be severe side effects.
Yet, those side effects had completely disappeared.
That made me start wondering what kind of ability I should add to the remaining slot.
Techniques using aura, elemental mana, necromantic mana.
There was also the power derived from the heart of the Machine God, or even divine authority.
The range of possible combinations was so vast that it actually made choosing more difficult.
More than anything, while the merging ability was good, it was hard to determine exactly what effects it would have.
“For now, I’ll put this on hold. There’s nothing I urgently need at the moment, and the fact that I only have one slot left is a bit concerning.”
Only one slot left?
Then I’d better save it.
I leaned back comfortably.
[There is something to report.]
“It’s not the Red Moon, is it?”
[No. However, due to the phenomenon of angelic descent, the dimensional barrier has become significantly weaker. It wouldn’t hurt to prepare for the possibility of a Red Moon event.]
Oh, really?
As long as the Red Moon hadn’t actually appeared, there wasn’t much to worry about.
That was when it happened.
Feeling a gaze directed at me, I turned my head slightly.
A raven was staring at me intently.
“Baril?”
— Ho? You’re quite perceptive.
“So I guessed right.”
As I spoke, the raven casually walked closer and continued staring at me.
— I acknowledge it. It seems I underestimated you too much. Because of you, an experiment I invested a great deal of time in was completely ruined before I could even see the results. My activities in the Holy Kingdom have also become difficult. I had been keeping an eye on you ever since the incident in Berner’s territory, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad…
Despite saying that, the raven showed no real sign of disappointment, which made me feel a bit disconnected from its words.
— So, I’ve decided to give you a gift.
“A gift?”
— Since you’ve ruined my precious experiment, it’s only fair that I disrupt your plans a little as well…
Before I even realized it, my body had already moved.
In an instant, my hand shot out and grabbed the raven.
At the same time, an invisible barrier tried to block my hand.
— It’s meaningless. You cannot break through this barrier…
Crack!
“You talk too much, you bastard.”
Contrary to its words, the barrier shattered in an instant.
— Caw! Caw!
I clenched my hand tighter around the raven.
— Killing a familiar won’t change anything.
The voice, still amused, suggested that the pain of the familiar didn’t concern it at all.
— You’ll understand what I mean soon enough. Well then.
Just as its consciousness tried to escape from the raven, I forcefully grabbed hold of it with my mana.
Its consciousness was still linked to the raven.
I looked into the raven’s eyes and thought.
Letting it go like this would be a huge blow to my pride.
But this guy wasn’t careless—he had prepared countermeasures to prevent tracking.
Considering how meticulous he was, he clearly wasn’t an ordinary mage.
In this situation, finding his exact location wouldn’t be easy.
And even if I did find him, the chances of him still being there were slim.
Still, I wanted to mess with him at least a little…
At that moment, an idea popped into my head.
Would suggestion magic work on him?
[There is a very high possibility.]
Even the Librarian agreed.
His mind was still connected to the raven.
He was watching me through its eyes.
More importantly, [Fusion – Song of Suggestion] was designed to work without discriminating against its target.
“You should have been more careful when using a familiar.”
I activated my newly acquired ability.
[Fusion – Song of Suggestion has been activated.]
The most terrifying thing about Song of Suggestion was that it did not discriminate between targets.
Whether he was human or something pretending to be human, he would still be affected.
Its effect was to amplify specific emotions within the target.
When it was used on Saintess Nadia, her confidence was amplified, which strongly revealed her true nature.
This time, the emotion I stimulated was fear.
I didn’t know what exactly his fear was, but he probably never expected to be counterattacked like this.
— Kuh?! What are you doing?!
“It’s a gift.”
— You damn insect…!
The effect was even stronger than I anticipated.
“Oh?”
A massive surge of energy suddenly erupted from a location quite far from here.
A storm of explosive mana.
It was powerful enough that even the higher-ups in the Holy Kingdom, who were busy dealing with the aftermath of the captured high priests, would have felt it.
However, the sheer quantity, density, and overwhelming presence of that energy were abnormal.
Was this really the energy of a human?
Ridiculous.
One thing was certain.
Baril was definitely not human.
Among all the beings I knew, there was only one race capable of such power…
Dragons.
I turned toward the place where the enormous energy was emanating from.
Found you, bastard.
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* * *
I didn’t know much about his true identity.
But if he was a dragon, then this situation made sense.
Dragons were born as apex predators, standing at the very top of the food chain.
Who in the world would dare to threaten such an existence?
Such a being rarely, if ever, feels fear.
If a creature incapable of fear is suddenly engulfed by terror, it is only natural for confusion to follow.
It wouldn’t have much of an effect.
However, even a brief moment was enough to locate its position, making it no longer useful.
“Who would have thought that dragons still existed on the Lazarus continent?”
History books describe how dragons once flourished but ultimately perished, leaving none behind.
That may not have been a lie.
Its presence engulfed the entire capital city of Laphel in the Holy Kingdom.
This is no ordinary dragon.
As I gazed into the dark night sky, a massive black shadow soared above.
I enhanced my vision.
A colossal dragon had taken to the skies.
No, to be precise, it was something massive that only resembled a dragon.
Its body was like black flames, its eyes burned with intensity, and it had a pair of immense wings and four legs.
Its shape closely resembled the dragons depicted in ancient tomes, yet its body was engulfed in dark fire, even over its scales.
Indeed, this was no ordinary dragon.
I had seen such a form before, deep within the Labyrinth.
[Demon Dragon detected.]
A demon dragon, or a mutated dragon.
A dragon that had been twisted under certain conditions, often referred to as a "warped" or "corrupted" dragon.
I had once heard that the once-glorious dragon race had fallen into ruin because of these demon dragons.
The enormous demon dragon, soaring high in the sky, scattered unstable elemental mana in all directions while gathering a massive amount of energy in its maw.
This was the dragon’s inherent ability, a phenomenon more magical than any spell—something that was nature itself.
A breath attack.
Tsssshh...
A demon dragon of this magnitude could turn the entire capital city of Laphel into ashes with a single breath attack.
And yet, I did not move.
No—more precisely, there was no need for me to step forward.
BOOOOM!!!
The beast that had ascended into the sky unleashed its breath upon Laphel.
At the same time, however, a massive energy barrier of divine power unfolded across the city, intercepting the attack.
Still, the outskirts of Laphel, unprotected by the barrier, were instantly reduced to a hellscape by the aftermath of the breath attack.
The sturdy barrier held firm thanks to both the city's pre-existing divine shield and the consecration effects left by Luna's descent.
Had Luna not descended, the barrier would have been shattered in an instant.
Awakened by the demon dragon’s attack in the dead of night, some who had been asleep and others who had yet to rest rushed outside, looking up at the sky in shock.
“What… What is that?!”
“A m-monster!!”
An angel descends, and now a demon dragon attacks.
“This damn city of Laphel sure is noisy,”
I muttered.
A voice responded from behind me.
“And whose fault is that, Leon?”
“You’re awake?”
“The stench of a twisted lizard was too strong to sleep.”
She rubbed her eyes as she stepped onto the terrace, gazing up at the sky.
Staring at the sturdy barrier withstanding the immense breath attack, she spoke.
“The world has changed a lot. Even warped dragons now roam freely.”
“Wasn’t it always like this?”
“To the dragon race, demon dragons are like an exposed nerve.”
Ah, a disgrace to their kind?
But most dragons were believed to have disappeared.
“It’s a foolish act to reveal oneself like this.”
The beast must know that as well.
Yet, something unexpected must have occurred, forcing it into this situation—leading it to the decision to erase Laphel from the map.
At first, its main goal had been to cause trouble, but things had escalated to this point.
“How long will that barrier hold?”
“That depends, but given that the original divine barrier was strengthened by consecration, it’s quite sturdy.”
“How long will it last?”
“It can withstand continuous breath attacks for about a day. But…”
If other factors interfere, the duration will decrease?
Even the demon dragon, Baril, likely understood that.
Yet, out of sheer pride, it continued its rampage.
Of course, the Holy Kingdom would not sit idly by.
BANG! CRASH! BOOM!
“A-Are you inside?! This is urgent!”
A desperate voice called out from outside our lodging.
It was the voice of Saintess Nadia.
When I opened the door, I saw Saintess Nadia and Diablo, both dressed in simple robes.
“Come in.”
“Thank you…”
Her face was pale as she stepped into the room, immediately getting to the point.
“Did you see that entity in the sky?”
“You mean the demon dragon? Yes, I saw it.”
“A demon dragon, something only recorded in ancient texts, suddenly appears… What is happening…?”
She trembled.
“Could it be… that I have deceived people without being truly qualified, and this is divine punishment…?”
Saintess Nadia was unaware of the true reality.
On the other hand, all of us, except for her, knew the truth.
“Saintess.”
“I… I’m sorry. A saintess must stand firm, right?”
At Diablo’s stern voice, she straightened her posture, forcing herself to stay composed.
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[Translator - Night]
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