Chapter 66 : Promise

Chapter 66: Promise

10-Refim.

A Mana Cannon of that output was originally a monstrous weapon, the kind only nations would use as a tactical armament.

For a mere civilian research institute to have such a weapon mounted was exceedingly rare.

It was the product of a political compromise—born out of the special circumstances of the Scottbean family, to which Lorraine belonged, their claim of conducting research only in the continent’s remote regions, and the intertwined investments and interests of various nations.

Because of that weapon, Lorraine felt a measure of confidence.

Even if that thing truly was a monster from myth…!

‘There’s no way it could take this and remain unscathed!’

Five magicians, and Lorraine herself—the one hailed as a genius—directly converged law to empower the Mana Shell, which was then unleashed with the output of the 10-Refim.

Kwaaaang!

It felt as if a blue horizon had opened before my eyes.

At the instant the Mana Cannon struck its target, a deep-blue flash blazed forth and dyed the world.

“Hit! A direct hit!”

The researchers of the firing crew cheered.

Lorraine wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a sigh. With a tone a little softer than before, she roused the researchers once more.

“There’s no way a monster of that size would fall to the first shot! Loading crew! Prepare the next Shell with converged law!”

“Yes! Preparing the convergence!”

They immediately began preparing the next strike without pause, but even so, everyone felt a bit of relief.

‘That’s right! No matter how fearsome a monster it is…!’

‘This is 10-Refim! If we pour everything into it, we could evaporate an entire small city in a single day!’

Having witnessed with their own eyes the destructive might of the Mana Cannon tearing heaven and earth asunder, they were reminded anew of the power they wielded.

Even a monster of the Mythic Era—if it faced this crystallization of magical engineering we had built…!

Fsshh—

The blue light that had filled their vision dispersed, and slowly, the scene beyond came into view.

But then—

“This… this can’t be!”

“It endured that?!”

The central head, which had been their intended target, bore not a scratch. Instead, the one that suffered was the head immediately to its right.

That head had received the Mana Cannon’s blast in full. Its long ash-colored body was hideously torn open in places, and from the wounds welled up billows of ashen smoke.

Yet—

『Kiiieeeeek!』

‘That thing’ still moved vigorously.

As if such wounds were nothing more than scratches.

“Sp-spatial distortion confirmed! That one is the source of the distortion!”

The researcher in charge of observation shouted.

“That bastard!”

Lorraine bit down hard on her lip.

Her calculations had been flawless. She had even traced the curvatures of warped space to chart the perfect path that would strike the central head.

But the head responsible for the distortion had ruined it all.

It wasn’t simply blocking with its body. In an instant, it had scrambled the surrounding space as if shuffling a puzzle, refracting the Mana Cannon’s blast in every direction.

Of course, it hadn’t been able to deflect everything, so it suffered wounds—but nothing fatal.

The moment the attack they had placed their faith in failed, everyone felt as if they had been struck on the back of the head with an iron hammer. The soaring morale was seized by a dark weight and hurled to the ground.

Lorraine stomped the floor with a heavy thud and shouted.

They must not falter. They must not suffocate under the pressure of the moment.

“From this moment, that head is designated <Distortion>! Our priority is to eliminate it! Hurry with the loading!”

“Yes! Forty percent of convergence complete! Reheating the Mana Heart!”

“Don’t panic! If one shot doesn’t work, then three or five! We’ll smash it as many times as it takes!”

But the monster known as an ‘Apostle’ was not about to sit still and take the punishment.

This time, the one that moved was the head on the far left.

It stretched its long neck toward the research facility and opened its maw wide.

Within its gaping mouth, an ashen radiance began to gather—

———!!

The sunlight itself dimmed into ash, and a colossal beam erupted forth.

It was an ashen beam even greater than the 10-Refim-class Mana Cannon.

Without a sound, it engulfed the research institute.

Was it devouring even sound itself?

As the ashen tidal wave swept silently toward them, Lorraine let out a furious cry.

“Shield to maximum output!”

“Sh-shield at maximum!”

A blazing blue magical barrier wrapped around the entire research facility.

Swoooosh—!

The ashen beam struck the shield like a raging torrent, splitting to either side.

Strangely, not the slightest vibration was felt… but the researchers who gazed upon it were all gripped by fear.

“This can’t be… the shield….”

“It’s… breaking apart? A shield powered by a Dragon-class Mana Heart?”

The arsenal of Lorraine’s research institute wasn’t limited to just the 10-Refim Mana Cannon.

If they possessed such an outrageous cannon, then of course they also had the power source to sustain it, and the systems to absorb its recoil.

That was the Mana Heart.

The core of strength that supplied energy to the entire facility and absorbed even magical backlash.

A Dragon-class Mana Heart was of the scale used in military mobile fortresses, massive airships, or even to sustain small cities.

And the Mana Heart here was a respectable C-type model among those.

Yet, before their very eyes, a shield powered by such a Mana Heart crumbled.

Fssshh—

Through the scattering blue particles of the broken shield, the ashen beam split into branches and pierced inward.

Most were deflected and dissipated at a distance, but a few grazed the outer walls of the institute.

Fssshh—

Wherever the ashen light grazed, the outer structures of the research facility melted away, crumbling into nothing.

Even those sturdy armored walls, which would only dent slightly even if a colossal monster rammed into them!

“So… so… annihilation!”

“Con… confirmation of annihilation of existence! That wasn’t disintegration—it was truly deletion! Completely erased from this world!”

The researchers of the observation crew screamed.

Since everyone else was also a researcher, they understood immediately.

“Annihilation? That’s… that’s possible…?”

“That’s a violation of the laws themselves! Observation crew, are you absolutely sure?!”

Confusion erupted again.

This time, even Lorraine herself lost her composure for a moment.

‘The shield? In a single strike…? Annihilation…?’

It was something she had never even imagined.

This was the shield said to withstand even the dreaded Dragon Breath at least three or four times.

What in the world was that thing?

‘No. I have to focus. If I lose myself now…!’

Creak—!

Just as she gathered her resolve to snap the researchers back into order—

The sound of the door opening made Lorraine instinctively turn around.

It was an act closer to reflex than reason.

Not only her—every researcher turned their gaze toward the door.

Gulp.

Their throats bobbed with tension.

A massive, ferocious presence filled the command center like a shadow.

Step.

Step.

In that suffocating silence, a man walked in, one heavy step at a time.

Ransen Banroa.

Wearing Magical Armor adorned in shifting shades of black, he approached with a suffocating aura that felt ready to explode at any moment. He opened his mouth.

[ Lorraine ]

The moment Lorraine sensed the strange resonance in his voice, her body stiffened like a block of wood.

As though an unseen hand had gripped her entire body.

*         *         *

My mind was in chaos, overrun by the raging thoughts of a dragon.

[ Let go! Let me go! I hate this! I hate it! Die! Please! Dieeee! ]

Suddenly, I wondered.

Just how had this dragon died…

…to leave behind such thoughts?

What raged now was nothing more than the abandoned remnant of a dragon’s mind.

Quite literally, a cast-off fragment of thought.

There was no conversing with it. Only the anger, despair, and fear that the dragon once felt reverberated like echoes.

[ Please! Dieeeee! ]

“Just… shut up…!”

At last, I succeeded in seizing the leash of the raging thought in my mind and pinning it down.

[ Nooo! I hate this! I hate it! ]

Only then did I regain control of my body.

Crack!

It was a sorry sight.

The Aura of Iron Heart clashed violently with the Aura of the Magical Armor both inside and out. My insides were swelling with congestion, while my skin bulged, split, and bled on the surface.

It was close to the worst case, but at least I had come to my senses before it was too late.

“Haaah—”

I forced my thoughts into order.

I had donned the Dragon’s Magical Armor to gain strength, but at this rate, I risked becoming a cripple before the battle even began.

Even in this very moment, the two Auras clashed and exploded inside me as though they meant to tear my body apart.

How was I supposed to control the collision of these two Auras?

Of course, if I were to cast off the Magical Armor right now, nothing would happen. But that option had been excluded from the very beginning.

Without this, I could never defeat the Apostle. Whether it ruined me or not, I had no choice but to borrow the power of this Armor.

But how?

Through the tangled chaos of my mind, a memory from childhood suddenly carved itself into clarity—something I had once learned from Uncle Burson.

‘Ransen. When you don’t know what to do, use elimination. Think first of what you must not do. Cross them off one by one. Eventually, the path of what you should do will come to you.’

It must have been part of my imperial studies.

Uncle Burson, though unsure himself, had always tried to teach me just one more thing, striving to leave me with knowledge.

That heart of his became my key in this moment.

‘First—what must I not do.’

My thoughts grew clear.

‘Suppress the Aura of the Magical Armor that is raging inside me?’

Elimination.

Impossible. The Armor’s Aura far outstripped mine in both force and volume.

If I tried to suppress it with the Aura of Iron Heart, it would only be me who shattered.

‘What if I endure it while leaving it as it is, and just push forward?’

Also eliminated.

Pain could be endured, but this was too dangerous. More than that—what would I be able to accomplish at the end of it? With Auras raging out of control, how was I supposed to fight?

Worse, if I kept letting Aura gush out in torrents as it was now, the Apostle would sense me long before I drew close and crush me.

By eliminating each impossible path in turn, only one remained in the end.

Madness, but the only way.

‘Replace it.’

The Aura flowing through my body—the very source of my power—I would temporarily replace Iron Heart with the Armor’s Aura.

‘I’ll withdraw the Aura of Iron Heart, pulling it back to guard only the Aura Core and vital points like my heart. In its place, I’ll take the Aura of the Magical Armor inside and circulate it within my body.’

It was insane—using that alien, ferocious Aura to circulate through my body. I’d likely be torn apart.

But this was the only way.

The only method by which I could gather up and control the rampaging mana.

‘I’ll have to trust in the durability and regeneration of my transcended body… and my mastery over mana.’

Once I set my resolve, I acted without hesitation.

Rumble—

My entire body trembled as though struck by an earthquake.

I forced the immense Aura that the Magical Armor spewed forth into my body, thread by thread. I pressed it in, circulated it, and circulated it again, adapting the techniques of Iron Heart to keep it under my control no matter what.

Crack! Crackle!

Inside me, something broke apart and then mended, over and over again.

But it worked. I could do this.

[ Kill! Kill them! Please! Slaughter them!!! ]

The dragon’s cast-off thought raged in a frenzy.

But it was fine. It was only thought—not a soul. The Aura of the Magical Armor obeyed above all the will of my soul.

Of course, drawing it into my body to circulate was one thing. Releasing it back out again would be another.

When that dam burst, the Aura would flood out in an uncontrollable torrent.

But if it was only for a short time—just a very short time—I believed I could control it.

That was enough.

That was all I needed.

Step.

I walked.

Very carefully, if I misplaced even a single step, the Aura might erupt outward at once.

Step by heavy step, I made my way to the central seminar hall where Lorraine was.

And at last, I faced her.

Before going to cut down the Apostle, there were words I had to leave with her.

[ Lorraine ]

For some reason, my voice carried a strange resonance, but that no longer mattered.

To Lorraine, frozen stiff before me, I made my plea.

“Endure. Hold on until the very end. Then I’ll cut down the Apostle.”

Lorraine’s eyes widened slightly.

[ This is a promise. ]

No—a vow.

The moment I thought it, that strange resonance laced my voice once more.

In her eyes, which had seemed dazed until now, a sharp resolve ignited.

She spoke.

“Understood. I’ll endure… until the very end. Believing you’ll cut it down, I’ll hold on to the very last.”

For the first time, she and I spoke to each other in plain speech.

The will and trust contained in those words were firm enough to steady me as well.

“I believe you.”

I turned my back to her.

There would be no more looking back.

Step.

One step.

Step.

Another step.

All that remained was to move forward—to cut down the Apostle.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.