Chapter 327.
The two great demons were a tiger and a phoenix, each huge enough to rival a dragon. However, they were still fairly small compared to the Turtle Carrying a Mountain that I had faced before. In the case of the Turtle, it had been about the size of Jirisan Mountain, so it was a little awkward to compare them.
"Everyone, gather up!" I called. Excluding my maternal grandfather’s escorts, nine knights came out of my pocket space.
As soon as Tristan came out of the pocket space, he clapped his hands and remarked admiringly, "Wow! Is that one of the great demons I’ve heard so much about?"
The battle buffs like Gwalchmai and Bors also smiled broadly at the great demon.
"It looks fun to fight.”
"Kuuu! This is thrilling!"
The knights raised their weapons and expressed their fighting spirit.
"All right, I know everyone’s thinking about fighting. Go and fight with all your might!" I commanded.
The knights summoned their horses in unison, mounting them as they shouted, "Order received!" Their horses kicked through the air as they charged toward the tiger.
I also opened my pocket space using the magic amplified by the bracelet, taking my green deer out and mounting it.
The tiger moved quickly on the ground, but it was already desperately fighting my father and the village elders, so I turned my deer toward the phoenix.
"Where are you going in a situation this dangerous?!" As I rode through the sky on the deer, Arietta, who had followed Hestia noona to the quarters, flew over to stop me.
"It’s okay. If I were alone, I would have run away immediately, but there are madosas and sword masters all over the place. What’s so dangerous about that?” I replied, shrugging and smiling lightly.
Arietta sighed and frowned as if she had a headache, saying, "You really resemble your ancestor. Sir Mordred was also so reckless."
"No, this isn’t really reckless compared to the people of my hometown,” I said.
It was an unfair assessment. The people of my hometown would laugh and fight even with holes in their stomachs or broken bones, but I wasn’t like that. I was the one who calculated the odds thoroughly and ran relentlessly if it was dangerous.
"On top of that, the great demons are acting strangely, too. I’ll have to take a look,” I added.
It was strange that the great demons, who had previously been running away with all their might, had suddenly attacked. If it had been an empty house, I would understand, but there were many elders of our village and the Butterfly tribe in the military camp.
Above all, those sensitive great demons had attacked a place where my father, who hadn’t settled for capturing a great demon and had insisted on taming one, was staying. That was unbelievable.
"Then I’ll fight too." Arietta took a greatsword as big as her body out of her pocket space, encasing herself in armor made of divine power. "Didn’t I say I’d protect you? I’m not someone who goes back on her word,” she said, flying over to the phoenix.
"Ah! Don’t damage the skin too much!" I cried.
Despite that, Arietta launched a strong aura blast containing vast divine power toward the phoenix.
"No! My by-products!"
"Hey, lady! Be gentle!"
The elders of the Butterfly tribe, who had been trying to trap it instead of hurting it, freaked out.
Fortunately, the agile phoenix twisted its body and avoided Arietta’s strong aura.
"Let’s go, Rudolph!" I drove the green deer onward and rushed toward the phoenix. "Rudolph, overclock!"
-Command code: Overclock. Excessive overclocking will result in shorter product life. Will you proceed?
"Yes! Maximum output!" I commanded.
-Order given by... the producer. Approval completed.
Mana exploded from my green deer and it accelerated swiftly. As if I had become Speed Racer, the surroundings seemed to be compressed together.
I swooped under the phoenix and aimed for its neck with the Holy Sword. However, the phoenix narrowly avoided my strike and rapidly flew high into the sky.
"Tch! Accelerate!" I commanded.
-Increased g-forces will be applied. If the occupant’s consciousness disappears, the overclock will be automatically released.
I ignored the warning I had programmed into the green deer and accelerated to follow the phoenix. I grabbed the reins as the g-forces suddenly increased all over my body, exclaiming, "Wow, it’s crazy fast!"
There was a reason why the elders had lost the phoenix even though they were being so clingy. It really was insanely fast. It was going a few hundred kilometers per hour, so the most I could do was to try not to lag behind. I could even feel the deer breaking apart in real time.
"I’ll help you, Anti-Magic Specialist-nim!”
The elders of the Butterfly tribe spread out in all directions and magically blocked the path of the phoenix. It slowed down a little to change direction, and I took advantage of the gap to slice its neck open.
Tch!
It was a shallow wound. But fortunately, unlike the mountain turtle, the phoenix had weak defenses despite its agility.
The phoenix’s blood fell from the wound I had cut open, and the elders of the Butterfly tribe quickly collected it. However, it healed quickly as if it had never been cut in the first place.
The phoenix changed its trajectory, firing a huge flame at me.
"Glacial wall!"
"Glacial wall!"
Huge chunks of ice appeared in front of me, blocking the phoenix’s flames. Judging from the flow of mana, Bendis and William were protecting me simultaneously.
"Don’t worry about it and charge ahead, my nephew’s friend!"
"William, he’s a great madosa-nim. Speak more formally."
I smiled when I heard Bendis scolding William. Meanwhile, I quickly steered the deer toward the phoenix’s back.
"Die!" I exclaimed. By amplifying my basically-depleted mana with the bracelet, I increased the length of the Holy Sword.
The phoenix quickly lowered its head, but its crest was cut off by the Holy Sword.[1]
I swooped in to retrieve the phoenix’s crest, thinking, Good, I’ll strengthen my magic wand with this.
-Ppeeeeaaaaak!
The phoenix, which had become bald after its crest was severed, angrily cried out using mana.
"Ugh!"
The sound of the phoenix’s cry alone had tremendous destructive power, but apart from that, its entire body burned up as it shot flames in all directions.
"Everyone dodge!" I cried, moving away quickly to avoid the flames. The elders of the Butterfly tribe, who were there to restrict the phoenix’s movement, also created ice barriers to avoid its attacks.
"Where do you think you’re shooting flames?!" While everyone else dodged, only Arietta broke through the flames emitted by the phoenix and fired off another divine power-imbued aura blast.
-Ppeeeeaaaak!
Arietta’s strong aura blast cut through the phoenix’s wing and spewed flaming blood everywhere. As expected, she was so strong she could disregard practical experience. In order for me to fire an aura blast of that level, I would have to use the Firefly’s Bright Annihilation, but Arietta had unleashed one casually.
"Magic materials are falling from the sky!"
"Don’t miss a drop!"
"Oh, it’s hot! Ah, it’s hot!"
The elders of the Butterfly tribe eagerly collected the phoenix’s blood before it fell to the ground.
As it struggled in pain and emitted flames, the phoenix turned the surrounding area into a sea of fire.
On the ground, the barracks built by the hard work of the imperial army had been set on fire. The soldiers were frantically moving to extinguish them, but the fire of a great demon wouldn’t go out easily.
As the area beneath his feet went wild, William shouted as he extinguished the fires with ice magic, "Give up on the military camp! It’ll just be a hindrance, so bring all the essential items and retreat! Hyung-nim! I have to lead the military!”
"Okay! Go ahead!" came the response, and William flew down.
"Rudolph, megaphone mode,” I commanded. Light shone from the deer’s antlers and amplified the sound of my voice.
"Ah-ah, mic test,” I said. It was my first time using this function, but it worked well. "We’ll deal with the phoenix from now on. Elders of the Butterfly tribe, please follow my instructions from now on. If you have any complaints, those at the great madosa level should speak up."
None of the elders of the Butterfly tribe spoke out against my confident declaration. I continued, "All right. I take it that you agree. From now on, I’ll call out numbers by order of rank. If I call out a number and you think it’s your rank, please move!”
I gave instructions as I saw the phoenix healing from the wound. “Number 1, get up in the sky! Number 2 and 3, move symmetrically to either side with the phoenix at the center!”
In response, Bendis flew high into the sky with a puzzled expression. Only then did the elders whose names I didn’t know start to move quickly according to my instructions.
I began to deploy the elders of the Butterfly tribe as if I were coordinating my chirps. "Number 32! Shoot a beam at number 43 with 320 mana power! Number 43, reflect it at 30 degrees! Number 12, reflect it at 40 degrees!”
The phoenix began to run away, as if it felt anxious watching the elders of the Butterfly tribe moving in all directions.
"Everyone move together! Arietta, attack!" I commanded, and Arietta fired off another strong aura blast.
-Ppeeeaaak!
Following the rapidly fleeing phoenix, I continued to give instructions. Eventually, a magic circle formed around the phoenix. I yelled, "Everyone, pour mana into the magic circle at max output!"
I activated the magic by amplifying my mana to the maximum using the bracelet and Holy Sword. "Chain of Seven Stars! Wind around my enemy!" I poured out the mana I had barely recovered, and completely bound the phoenix.
The phoenix struggled, but it was impossible to break the chain that dozens of madosas had poured mana into at max output. This much mana was even strong enough to tie up my father for twenty minutes.
"Arietta!" I cried.
Arietta climbed up onto the phoenix’s back. The phoenix desperately resisted by exhaling flames, but Arietta’s aura-infused sword pierced the phoenix’s spine and it died on the spot.
-Ppeeeeaaak!
Everyone cheered when the phoenix’s head drooped as it gave out its last cry.
"Waah-!"
"Wow, there’s such powerful magic!?"
"Magic comes later! First secure the byproducts! Don’t spill a drop of blood!"
The elders of the Butterfly tribe were delighted that they had finally caught the phoenix, and ran to its corpse to dismantle it before the byproducts became ruined.
Arietta jumped down from the corpse of the phoenix, approached me, and asked tiredly, "But it’s a phoenix. Didn’t it die too easily?”
I grinned and replied, "To be exact, it’s not completely dead."
"What do you mean?" Arietta asked.
"If it could be killed like this, it wouldn’t be called a phoenix,” I continued.
Arietta seemed embarrassed as she asked, "It’s not dead?"
"The phoenix lays about ten eggs. When a phoenix dies or expires due to external factors, it transfers its soul to one of its eggs,” I explained.
To really kill a phoenix, one had to break all the eggs it had left in the world in addition to catching it. As soon as an egg was broken, it would lay more eggs, so one had to break all the eggs and kill the phoenix simultaneously.
"Doesn’t that mean you can never really kill one?" Arietta asked.
"That’s right. That’s why it’s said that the fire of the phoenix never goes out. But once caught, it takes 50 years to become an adult, so there won’t be any trouble from the phoenix for the time being."
Arietta was astonished by my explanation and said, "I don’t know how people could have figured out something like that.”
"We know it because someone managed to defeat a phoenix. My grandfather did it once when he was young,” I said.
From what I’d heard, it was an open secret of the village that he had caught it as a gift to court his first love, but he had gotten rejected right after she received it. As I recalled, he had been dumped because he was too young.
Come to think of it, the fact that Elder Mirpa could have become my grandmother was terrible. It was fortunate that my grandfather had been dumped.
On the other hand, I’d gotten too far away from my father. It was good that I had defeated the phoenix in my excitement, but I’d gotten tired too easily because I had no mana. Still, considering my condition, it seemed I would be able to recover my mana by tomorrow morning.
"Everyone, let’s go back. I don’t have a good feeling...” I began, but as soon as I finished speaking, black mana exploded from the phoenix’s body.
"Gasp!"
"Ugh!"
The black mana, which resembled some kind of ghost or spirit, passed through the bodies of the Butterfly tribe elders and knocked them down.
"This is dangerous!" Arietta exclaimed, raising the sword and putting up her guard toward the corpse of the phoenix.
The phoenix’s belly split open and a woman wearing a red mask walked out.
"Huhut! It was so stuffy I almost died. Hello? Long time no see. I heard you were Lupin?” Selina, the Witch of Greed, greeted me playfully. The mana that coursed through her body was unusual.
"Who are you?!" Arietta shouted, infusing a strong aura into her greatsword.
At that moment, the Witch of Greed disappeared and appeared next to Arietta. Arietta reacted quickly, but the Witch of Greed threw a fist charged with mana at Arietta’s side.
"Cough! Uwack!" As she got hit, Arietta collapsed, vomiting blood.
"Arietta!" I exclaimed.
"Oh my. It was obvious that you had a wound inflicted by a witch, so I just wanted to open it again,” the Witch of Greed remarked.
The wound that Arietta had suffered before being sealed had broken open. If she wasn’t treated right away, her life would be in danger.
"Where do you think you’re going?" the Witch of Greed asked as she grabbed my arm.
I tried to cut her arm with the Holy Sword, but the world froze as if time had stopped.
"Oh my. You have Unni’s bracelet, too. You shouldn’t carry a witch’s things so recklessly in front of another witch. That’s why you got done in so easily.” The Witch of Greed’s voice came through muffled, as if I were hearing it through water. "Sleep well... forever."
Slowly, the darkness...
...encroached ...
...around me...
Then, eventually, I found myself standing blankly on an asphalt road surrounded by smoggy air.
1. The crest is the prominent tuft of feathers on top of a bird’s head.
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