[V12C31] Feasting On Stolen Goods

(Am I fighting properly?)

Monica was casting spell after spell, but she had this worry in the back of her head.

She retained a perfect understanding of magical formulas, and her body remembered how to manipulate mana.

Even so, Monica was not confident in her abilities. Her staff felt foreign to her hands, so she could guess that she hadn’t been particularly experienced at combat before losing her memories.

As she adjusted the grip of her sweaty palms, something brushed against her feet.

Monica looked down to see the tail of a cat poking out of the black mist.

(A cat? Here…?)

No, now was not the time to be distracted.

Monica shook her head to shake off her doubts, then refocused her attention on casting spells.

Meanwhile, the cat at her feet let out a meow.

＊　＊　＊

(…Chant complete)

After finishing a long incantation, Cyril made eye contact with Glenn in the sky. Glenn, in turn, nodded back at Cyril.

(Even if I lack the power to break through those shadows… There’s something only ice magic can do.)

Magic was not the focus of Cyril’s studies, but he had learned how to use shortened incantations and multiple reinforcement formulas. And right now, he was about to perform a doubly reinforced spell.

The application of reinforcement formulas varied greatly depending on if the base spell was meant to hit a single target or cover a wide area. Cyril’s spell was the latter.

(…Fixed area, double reinforcement formula, activate!)

Four pillars of ice emerged from the ground, surrounding the cage protecting Theodore. Lines of blueish-white light ran across the ground to connect these pillars into a magic circle.

Theodore watched this with a hint of surprise. By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late to react.

Gluttonous Zoe’s cage was supposed to protect him, but it came with an unintended consequence. He had sealed off his own escape route.

“Not even a legendary black dragon can endure the cold!”

This was a spell for freezing everything within the space enclosed by the ice pillars.

If Cyril had cast ice arrows instead, Gluttonous Zoe would easily block them with the shadows. However, not even the ancient artifact could strike down an intangible wave of frost.

The moisture in the air froze solid, causing it to sparkle in the morning sun.

“Brr… S-So c-cold…!”

Theodore crouched down and huddled himself. Even a human would have a hard time enduring this intense cold, so it was even more effective against a dragon.

That said, Theodore and Gluttonous Zoe immediately realized the threat posed by Cyril’s spell, and that the four ice pillars were sustaining it.

The shadow cage covering Theodore spread out, sending shadowy limbs to strike at the pillars.

However, this attempt was obstructed by the efforts of Monica, Isaac, and Silas. All three had quickly realized that protecting the ice pillars was the best way to weaken Theodore.

For a brief instant, Theodore and Gluttonous Zoe were entirely focused on the ice pillars.

Thus, they did not notice the person flying directly above the cage.

＊　＊　＊

(No, no, no…! I’ll go into hibernation at this rate…!)

Theodore was huddled on the ground, shivering and chattering his teeth. He had completely underestimated the capabilities of that mage’s ice magic.

The cage of shadows could protect him from most attacks, but it was powerless to stop the freezing air from seeping through the gaps between bars.

——”HUNGRY! HUNGRY! HUNGRY!”

Gluttonous Zoe started clamoring, but Theodore was locked in a struggle against drowsiness, unable to respond.

Suddenly, Theodore felt a weight on his shoulders and whiskers brushing against his cheek. His hazy eyes made out a creature covered in fur as white as snow.

“Did you enjoy the delicious feast?”

A calm and gentle voice whispered into his ear. But at the same time, it sounded terribly cold and inhospitable.

Theodore did not recognize this voice, so he had no clue who it was coming from. And yet, his instincts did.

This was his natural enemy…!

——”HUNGRY! HUNGRY! GIVE! GIVE!”

“Did stealing from others make you happy? Did it satisfy your hunger?”

The voice seemed to be addressing Gluttonous Zoe rather than Theodore this time.

Even so, it still felt like an icy wedge driven into Theodore’s chest.

A cold interrogation from someone who had lived for ages longer than him. They sounded like a condemnation to his young and inexperienced self.

The words of a fellow dragon carried far more weight than any human words ever could.

Theodore attempted to swing his right arm and shake off the white weasel on his shoulder. This failed because the cold had turned his arm stiff and unresponsive.

Then, the white weasel bit into his left hand, which was holding Gluttonous Zoe. Theodore flinched back in pain.

“Ow, ow, ow!”

Theodore lost his grip on Gluttonous Zoe, causing the box to tumble to the ground. This was bad; he needed to retrieve it immediately.

Meanwhile, Gluttonous Zoe began shooting black arrows at the white weasel. However, the weasel simply ignored them and darted out of the cage.

(Oh, thank goodness. That scary guy left. I need to hurry and pick up Gluttonous Zoe again…)

But before Theodore’s stiff fingers reached Gluttonous Zoe, a thunderous explosion rang out overhead.

＊　＊　＊

Glenn began compressing the fireball floating in between the palms of his hands.

Ever since learning the multiple reinforcement formula from Hubert, Glenn had been practicing the incantation, decomposition, and reconstruction of this spell whenever he had free time.

This included during mealtime, breaks, and before going to bed.

In fact, he was so absorbed in his practice that he accidentally started chanting when he was trying to say hello to Louis. His master promptly gave him an iron claw with the remark of, “You damn brat, is that a declaration of war?”

Glenn stared at the formula all day, and it even showed up in his dreams. The composition of the spell was so fresh in his mind that he could remember it with little effort.

(Focus, focus…)

The power of multiple reinforcement formulas was highly dependent on the caster’s mana.

In Glenn’s case, his exceptionally high mana allowed him to reach the power of an advanced mage’s triple reinforcement, even with a double reinforcement.

However, this increase in power also came with higher repercussions for failure. One misstep could lead to a disaster.

(No more messing up…)

With the doubly-reinforced fireball in hand, Glenn employed flight magic for a rapid descent. His spell needed to be released immediately upon completion, and its range was fixed.

But he had practiced this maneuver countless times, so he knew the exact distance and timing required.

“Compress and…”

Once the fireball was compressed to the limit, all he had to do was release it.

“Boom!”

The fireball left Glenn’s hands and fell right on top of the cage.

Silas and Isaac quickly jumped backwards and distanced themselves.

The moment the fireball connected with the cage, there was a heavy thud followed by a resounding explosion. The harbor was illuminated in a red glow as the sparks danced in the air like flower petals.

The ice pillars created by Cyril also shattered, releasing clouds of steam and dust into the air.

(My next job starts now…!)

Glenn thrust a hand into his pocket and dove straight into the fire.

＊　＊　＊

Theodore was panicking.

The hibernation-inducing cold and the white weasel had caused him to drop Gluttonous Zoe. Then, he suddenly found himself engulfed in flames.

The shadows had been spread thin, focused on destroying the ice pillars. This left Theodore nearly defenseless to the explosion, and he was overcome by a wave of heat.

The remaining shadows had covered Theodore to protect him, but they quickly melted away into the flames. The cage protecting him was no more.

(Zoe, Zoe, where are you…!?)

The combination of black mist and steam made visibility incredibly poor. However, Theodore felt something bump against his foot. He quickly picked it up to find the box he was looking for, without a single scratch.

“Oh, thank goodness. You didn’t go too far.”

But there was no response from Gluttonous Zoe. The artifact’s lid remained closed, making it seem lifeless and silent.

Perhaps getting caught in the explosion had damaged it internally? Or maybe the box had exhausted its supply of shadows?

“Zoe, Zoe, what’s wrong? Come on, answer me…!”

Theodore reached for the lid to open it. But the next instant, he felt a powerful shock running through his fingertips.

This was an attack via lightning magic.

“Agh…!?”

Theodore grunted in immense pain. The electrical shock was so powerful that he nearly lost consciousness.

He ended up falling to his knees and dropping Gluttonous Zoe on the ground again. In the process, the lid of the box swung open.

“…Eh?”

The inside of the box was black, not because it was brimming with darkness, but because it was covered in black fabric.

This box was not Gluttonous Zoe. It certainly looked similar, but upon closer inspection, some of the gems were a subtly different color.

Theodore knew nothing about the “Makeshift Gembox”, an imitation created by the genius craftswoman of the Empire, Karina Barr the Divine Eye.

He could not possibly know that Glenn had flown into the cloud of smoke, wrapped up the real Gluttonous Zoe with the Fairy Handkerchief, then dropped the Makeshift Gembox at his feet.

…And he was defenseless as Silas Page and Isaac Walker crept up right behind him, their weapons at the ready.

＊　＊　＊

The explosion of Glenn’s spell had enveloped everything in steam and dust, but Isaac and Silas easily pinpointed Theodore’s location using the dragon detector.

They found Theodore slumped down in the remnants of the cage, staring blankly at the imitation artifact.

Isaac looked down at Theodore’s exposed back and closed his eyes for a moment.

He thought back to the words of the dragon knight he spoke to at Lugaroa.

The man who witnessed countless dragon disasters self-deprecatingly said…

——I wanted dragons to be like natural disasters, calamities that can’t be reasoned with. So when that dragon showed me that they could speak in such a human-like manner… I started wanting to hate them.

Isaac had to disagree.

(…Not being able to hate them is just as tough.)

Surely, the victims of Gluttonous Zoe and the families affected by the Evangeline Incident hated this dragon. Isaac could understand their anger painfully well.

This was why he intended to confront the dragon with pity instead of hatred.

Even if the dragon himself said he had no need for their pity.

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t understand each other…” Isaac murmured.

Silas was right there at his side. He, too, harbored no hatred towards Theodore.

The Dragon Slayer Mage simply readied his spear with a determined expression and declared, “It ends here, Black Dragon of Minerva.”

Isaac’s water-cloaked dagger sliced through Theodore’s neck, and Silas’s spear of lightning impaled Theodore’s heart.

The resulting blood splatter had the same color as any human, and Theodore’s lifeless body collapsed into the black mist.

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io