A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 81

Episode 81. He Makes His Decision (3)

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The forces holding back Dadeunup were already gone from sight.
The moment the Eruption Phase began, more than half of the vanguard became combat-ineffective.
The vanguard had lost all containment capability against Dadeunup. They retreated. Priscilla too was utterly exhausted from expending so much power.
When the situation reached this point, Jord ordered all soldiers to fall back and postponed the engagement for another day.
Dadeunup had turned the Coastline into a sea of fire. Molten lava glowed and flickered. Blackened, cooled scars were plainly evident.
Only Jord and Priscilla remained atop Deltheim’s City Wall, holding their ground against Dadeunup to buy time.
But this standoff would not last long either. Despite Jord’s magic, Dadeunup was steadily advancing toward the city.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Jord unleashed 5th Circle Magic with unprecedented profusion while entering calculations for 6th Circle Magic—a spell he had been unable to deploy until now because of the forces positioned at the vanguard.
The sight of Jord rapid-firing 5th Circle spells while calculating 6th Circle Magic was enough to command the awe of countless mages.
Jord raised his Staff high.
As Dadeunup reached the vicinity of the City Wall, Jord’s 6th Circle Magic unfurled.

[Time When All Things Fall Asleep.]

It was one of the highest-tier ice magics—a spell that arrested all molecular activity within its range by reducing temperature to absolute zero.
White frost began to coat the body of Dadeunup, from which lava had been pouring.
Soon Dadeunup’s movements slowed gradually, then ceased entirely. It had become something like a sculpture in the depths of winter.
For the first time since Dadeunup began its rampage, it had stopped moving.
Priscilla turned to Jord with elation in her eyes.
“Truly extraordinary, sir!”
Jord shook his head.
“I haven’t defeated it. I’ve only suppressed its movement for now.”
Crack-crack-crack.
As if to belie his words, fissures began spreading through the ice. A sinister sound echoed across the wall.
How long could the magic truly hold?
Five minutes? Ten?
Before long, Dadeunup would shatter the ice and resume its advance.
Even 6th Circle Magic served only as a delaying tactic.
“How can it possibly be defeated? No magic I know can overcome it. Perhaps 7th Circle Magic might somehow manage, but…….”
Jord trailed off.
“My remaining Mana is insufficient.”
From the successive battles, the Mana left to Jord was not abundant. And after everyone else had evacuated, they themselves would need to reserve Mana to escape.
‘If we hadn’t had to face that creature in the Raven Mask, the situation would have been better…….’
Moreover, to slow Dadeunup’s advance even slightly and buy time for the people to evacuate, Jord had poured out magic with unprecedented ferocity, and his Mana reserves were now showing their limit.
‘The current situation is…….’
He glanced back. Deltheim was so thoroughly ruined it could hardly be called the capital of a nation anymore.
Just hours ago, it had been a city brimming with vitality and prosperity.
The city that had endured even the incursions of the Outer was now completely destroyed by a single demon.
Jord drew his conclusion calmly.
“This place is finished.”
“That…….”
The heat of lava shimmered in the air.
Just then, a communication spell reached him. It was contact from the Avalon Unit, which had withdrawn earlier. When the communication spell ended, Jord spoke to Priscilla.
“Word is that the rulers of the Western Kingdom Alliance who had sheltered in the Air Raid Shelter have safely escaped to the Harbor. Most of the citizens have also made it out safely. Now it’s our turn.”
Yes.
Now was the time to flee.
Priscilla confirmed that Jord was preparing to deploy Spatial Transfer Magic.
“I understand the sentiment, but now is the time to evacuate.”
There was no way to stop Dadeunup at this moment. They needed to take this experience as a lesson and prepare themselves.
“If all the citizens have evacuated…… then very well. Let us evacuate as well.”
“Well reasoned.”
Rummmble.
Massive cracks spiderwebbed across the ice enveloping Dadeunup’s body. The 6th Circle Magic had reached its limits. But mercifully, it had bought enough time to deploy Spatial Transfer Magic.
“Hm?”
That was when Jord noticed something wrong.
The ice containing Dadeunup was collapsing—not at its previous rate, but at something far more abnormal. The epicenter was his waist.
Jord glanced over and drew a sharp breath.
‘Wings?’
Crack-crack-crack!
New limbs were tearing through Dadeunup’s body. They were wings—dozens of meters across. The colossal appendages pierced through the restraining ice and unfurled completely, sending lava spraying in all directions.
From that moment, fissures began spreading through the ice that bound the demon. Shards scattered everywhere. The ice melted and evaporated in the heat.
Crunch.
Next came his face. As Dadeunup moved his neck, the hardened lava and ice flaked away, and fresh magma surged forth, tracing veins of fire across his skin.
The Demon of Ruin, Dadeunup, revealed his true form.
He spread his newly birthed wings wide and let out a howl toward the sky.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Kgh!?”
“Screee!”
Even though considerable distance still separated Dadeunup from the City Wall, a wave of heat came rushing forward.
Jord shielded his face instinctively against the oppressive warmth. His skin flushed crimson.
When he touched his face, it stung sharply from the burns.
He had certainly deployed magic across his entire body to ward off the heat. And up until now, while it had been sweltering, there had been no actual damage.
But now, Dadeunup’s mere roar had superheated the air with heat that eclipsed even his ice magic.
“Hah… so he’s grown stronger?”
Struck speechless, Jord let out a hollow laugh.
“This is… truly beyond imagination.”
The creature flapped his wings, but had not yet taken flight—his lower body remained frozen solid.
Yet watching the ice crumble around him, Jord could see that liberation was not far away.
And when that moment came, Dadeunup would take to the air for destruction.
And his target would be—
‘The refugees…’
No longer did Dadeunup’s murderous intent focus on the ruined city. His gaze was fixed instead on a series of ships departing through the Harbor on the opposite shore.
Dadeunup’s true goal was not destruction—it was slaughter.
That such an abomination could exist.
“If he takes flight, all those fleeing ships will fall within Dadeunup’s strike range.”
Jord and Priscilla turned at the voice that suddenly came from behind them.
It was Dezir Armang. His hair was matted with ash, taking on a grey hue, and his body bore countless wounds from his clash with the Raven Mask.
Priscilla spoke with disbelief as she mended his wounds.
“What are you doing here?”
Dezir Armang replied.
“Now that Dadeunup has revealed his true form, there’s no point in fleeing anyway. If we don’t stop him here, countless people will die.”
If Dadeunup broke through and turned toward the refugees, not only would numerous civilians perish—the leaders of the Western Kingdom Alliance could not escape death either.
If all the kings who held dominion over half the continent were slain, the existing world order would crumble, and chaos would reign.
And that chaos was precisely what the Outer sought.
“I won’t allow it. Dezir Armang, you and Priscilla must leave at once. I’ll keep that creature here, no matter what.”
“Sir!”
Priscilla cried out at the sight of Jord’s resolute expression.
“No. I have a way.”
At Dezir Armang’s words, Jord’s face showed utter confusion.
“What could you possibly do to bring down that thing?”
He pointed at Dadeunup.
A demon that even Jord, a 7th Circle mage, had struggled against without managing final victory.
It possessed exceptional defenses—its innate Demon Resistance alone rendered 5th Circle Magic meaningless.
Jord had never faced a creature of such caliber before. The demon was that strong.
Given that, there was no conceivable way a mere 3rd Circle mage like Dezir Armang could succeed.
Dezir Armang spoke.
“Transfer all your remaining Mana to me.”
“… Do you understand what that means?”
“I do.”
To transfer all remaining Mana meant Jord could cast no more magic, and that he could not leave this place.
What Dezir Armang intended to do was unclear, but if it failed, his death was assured.
“……There’s no guarantee you’ll succeed, is there?”
“I’m attempting this for the first time myself, so I cannot promise anything.”
Crack.
Time was a luxury Jord didn’t possess. His window for deliberation was narrow.
“Even if I entrust you with my Mana, how do you intend to withstand it? Your Mana Circle won’t hold. Your body will collapse.”
“The Saint is here.”
With her Recovery Magic——
“I should be able to endure it, one way or another.”
“……You’re certain?”
“Of course.”
Dezir Armang spoke with absolute conviction.
Jord turned his gaze toward Priscilla.
“What is your assessment, Priscilla?”
Priscilla, too, would be among those sacrificed if Dezir Armang failed.
She spoke with remarkable composure.
“I’ve only just met this boy today. It’s madness to stake my life on something so uncertain. But rather than lose you, I’ll wager on this slim thread of possibility.”
“I see.”
With those sparse words, Jord grasped his Staff.
The Staff of the greatest mage on the continent.
With a first-grade Mana Stone embedded within it, the artifact itself held a considerable reserve of Mana.
The succession of battles had completely drained its internal reserves, leaving the stone dark and dim, but as Jord poured every last measure of his own Mana into it, the Staff regained its original radiance.
“Anyone who saw this would surely call me a madman.”
He extended the Staff toward Dezir Armang.
“Let them. It’s hardly a new accusation.”
It was proof of trust——a surrender of all remaining possibility.
“I’m counting on you.”
Jord had chosen to believe in Dezir Armang.
Now came the moment to answer that faith.
“Thank you.”
The instant Dezir Armang took hold of the Staff, an enormous surge of Mana began to roil.
He raised it high, directing it toward Dadeunup.

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