I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 84

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 84

 

The Hero’s appearance was completely unexpected. However, thinking about it, it was so natural that I wondered why I hadn’t anticipated it.

 

This is the Empire, after all.

 

It was inevitable that the Empire’s strongest would step forward against a threat that ordinary knights or mages couldn’t handle. I didn’t know how the capital’s defense system worked, but there was a high possibility that powerful forces, including the Tower Masters of each Magic Tower, would soon be deployed.

 

That would be the case if they could withstand that attack.

 

The Hero collided with the dragon.

 

The sword strike swung with its sheath twisted space and split the dragon’s breath in half. Neither the wingbeats that summoned storms nor the calamitous breath said to destroy cities in an instant could bring down the Hero.

 

The breath split in half lost direction and shot up into the void. A hole was pierced through the dark clouds that had been pouring snow. From the hole in the sky, a single ray of light descended and enveloped the Hero.

 

As if receiving God’s love in one body, it was a beautiful sight that naturally drew gasps of admiration.

 

But the mage commanding the dragon wasn’t just watching that spectacle.

 

A magic bombardment too numerous to count continued. Each one had power stronger than Explosion, a mid-tier magic, yet spells poured out faster than my Master who used Six Arms.

 

No matter how strong a knight might be, what forms the body is bone and flesh. If even one hit properly, it would be a fatal wound, but.

 

To the Hero who could even cut through dragon’s breath, it didn’t seem to pose much of a threat.

 

At speeds invisible to the eye, spells were deflected and split in half. The absurd notion of cutting through magic was silently made reality.

 

From a mage’s perspective, a monster that could only be seen as a nightmare.

 

However, Kaela Rowan showed no intimidation, no hesitation, and didn’t even look around.

 

Bursting into wild laughter, pouring out endless spells, she completed a single magic circle. The dragon’s heart with infinite mana resonated with the magic circle. Unable to approach due to the continuous shockwaves and only able to watch the battle, alarm bells rang in my head.

 

The largest-scale magic circle I had seen so far was undoubtedly the Elf King’s, which used the entire Great Forest as a magic circle.

 

But that one seemed like it would demonstrate even greater power despite being much smaller in scale.

 

The magic circle drawn in the void wasn’t a simple diagram. Naturally, Kaella’s words when she evaluated me at the Exchange Meeting came to mind.

 

Though relatively small, it easily exceeded dozens of meters in diameter. She had said my skill in creating magic circles was decent, hadn’t she? Yes. She had said decent.

 

Each element of the magic circle writhed as if breathing with life.

 

In the eyes of someone who draws such things, no matter what one might create, it would be hard to receive a higher evaluation.

 

I quickly scanned with my eyes and interpreted the magic circle. Even if I didn’t know the details, I was confident I could predict the approximate result by understanding the composition.

 

It started with Search. Finding the desired object, the smallest and simplest. But one of the basic elements included in many magic circles precisely because of that.

 

Next was Tracking. Updating the position of rapidly moving objects and predicting their movement paths. It was magic mainly used for valuables or hunting, but what effect would it show when linked with Search?

 

And Synchronization. Synchronizing and stabilizing environments like mana density with distant locations. Though it’s an element included when using summoning magic, it’s a rarely used element because spatial magic itself is known to be nearly impossible due to its complexity.

 

Following that, Connection. Creating a door at the desired location to connect spaces. The place where the door appeared was sky higher than clouds. Though it was a tremendous height, it was large enough to be clearly visible even so.

 

A combination I had never thought of, magic I had never heard of was completed. A smile rose to my lips. I simply couldn’t stop laughing.

 

-That’s dangerous.

 

The door opened. A space hundreds of meters in diameter disappeared and was replaced with a completely different space. The blue sky cleared of clouds was swallowed by pitch-black darkness.

 

Where exactly was beyond that? From where, what was she trying to summon?

 

I felt regretful that my consciousness was flickering as my body collapsed and regenerated due to the aftermath of battle. Just watching gave the illusion that my consciousness was being elevated to another level. Surely that was one of the pinnacles reachable through magic.

 

However, I couldn’t witness the result.

 

The Hero, who had been taking the magic pouring down on him with his body and briefly looking up at the sky, let out a deep sigh.

 

“Do I really have to go this far?”

 

He raised his left hand that had been hanging defensively and grasped his sheath.

 

Instantly, the surroundings became quiet. The coldly howling wind, the continuous magic bombardment, even the screams erupting from the distant capital seemed to have stopped.

 

Dangerous.

 

The Demon Lord had said.

 

The current Hero was merely an empty shell that had completed his purpose and been stripped of his divinity.

 

“That’s…?”

 

The sword was drawn.

 

In time that seemed to have stopped, the Hero drew his holy sword.

 

I felt nothing.

 

Just the next moment.

 

Along with the dragon, the magic circle Kaella had completed, and the blackened sky were all split apart.

 

Strength left my legs. At such an overwhelming sight, I had no choice but to collapse right onto the floor.

 

* * *

 

Though the Hero was a legendary hero, those in power seemed to focus on something else instead.

 

A weapon and deterrent force of immense power.

 

If one could artificially create and control a Hero, wouldn’t it be possible to maintain eternal and immortal power?

 

While interpreting my Master’s thesis, I actually used to think such thoughts.

 

No matter how great a Hero might be, they are still a person of flesh and blood. The obsession to resurrect a racial god like the World Tree could be interpreted as a form of fanaticism, but was it really worth pouring hundreds of years of enormous capital into creating a Hero?

 

And now, I vehemently agreed with their thinking.

 

That was definitely worth it.

 

As much as Heroes, dragons are beings that mages have devoted hundreds of years trying to recreate.

 

Possessing infinite mana, wielding all magic, stirring up storms with their wingbeats, sometimes destroying cities. At the same time, a fantastical being that would open paths with their wisdom when the continent faced danger.

 

That thing, even though it was in an incomplete undead state, the Hero cut down in a single moment.

 

Even though he himself was equally in an incomplete state.

 

The Hero looked quite exhausted.

 

If he could indiscriminately unleash that previous strike repeatedly, it would literally be nothing but a disaster itself. Of course, even now it looked like nothing but a disaster to my eyes.

 

Moreover, since he appeared, the surrounding damage had considerably decreased. Enough that our lives weren’t instantly cut short even though we had approached right nearby. Whatever method he used, he must have consumed much power to offset the impact.

 

“You drew it? I thought you couldn’t draw it anymore.”

“….”

“As expected, that’s our Hero.”

 

On the other hand, Kaella seemed to be in better condition than expected. Even though she must have been shocked by her magic being canceled midway, all she had was a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.

 

“But you know.”

 

The fallen dragon was the same. Tentacles burst out from the severed cross-section and intertwined with each other. The massive body slowly pulled itself together and stuck back together.

 

“If you were going to do it anyway, you should have cut me instead. How soft, our Hero is.”

 

With elegant hand gestures, the sleeves of her pure white robe were stained red.

 

The dragon still showed no signs of getting up, but how long would that last? Since the heart that spewed infinite mana wasn’t destroyed, it was obvious it would recover soon.

 

In a war of attrition, the Hero would be at a disadvantage. At least that’s how it appeared from what was visible on the surface.

 

“Actually.”

 

The Hero slowly sheathed his sword again as he spoke.

 

“I was just thinking of doing that.”

 

The Hero disappeared. Right in front of Kaella’s nose, dozens of layers of defensive magic that had appeared from who knows when shattered.

 

With a belated air-rending sound, Kaella’s body was sent flying. The Hero who lightly landed on the ground kicked off. In an instant, continuous explosive sounds began echoing from far away, at an unidentifiable distance.

 

I stared blankly in that direction for a while.

 

Actually, I had been quite confident until now.

 

After picking up the Demon Lord’s soul. Being praised as a Hero by someone, learning my Master’s secret magic, and achieving victory in fierce battle against the Elf King.

 

Though there were some lacking aspects to call it entirely my own ability, considering that it had only been a little over three years since I started learning magic… it was reasonable to have the delusion that I might have considerable talent.

 

But the battle just now was…

 

A prepared mage is strong. Conversely, an unprepared mage is weak.

 

If given sufficient time, a mage can do many things, but there isn’t much they can do in urgent situations. That was common sense. And that common sense had just crumbled.

 

It was natural. The Hero’s companions grow together by overcoming trials.

 

-Are you planning to keep doing that? The situation isn’t over yet.

 

The Demon Lord’s voice awakened my mind.

 

That’s right. The situation wasn’t over yet.

 

My purpose wasn’t to defeat Kaella or cheer for the Hero. One of the treasures the Demon Lord had lost. Recovering the dragon’s bones and heart was what I needed to do immediately.

 

-Kyeee?

 

I grabbed the Ice Spirit’s outstretched hand and got up from my position.

 

There was no time. Since the Hero and Kaella had disappeared, someone would definitely approach the dragon soon.

 

Whether it would be the Imperial Knight Order or the Magic Tower’s Archmage was unknown. But they were all just competitors for now.

 

Little by little.

 

The dragon’s body that had finished regenerating writhed. As expected, it was still alive.

 

Swallowing dry saliva, I approached that massive body. If I was going to take it down, now was the only chance. If that thing got back up, it would be impossible to face unless that Hero from before returned.

 

“Valuable materials have come looking.”

 

But, before I could even lay a hand on the dragon.

 

Someone’s voice was heard from above my head.

 

“A dragon, is it? There are many contaminated parts, but it’s definitely worth researching.”

 

Levitation Magic.

 

According to Master’s assessment, it was the epitome of inefficiency that only old fools with mana to burn would use. The number of mages capable of using it who could appear in this situation could be counted on one hand.

 

I praised myself for maintaining my deception even as my body collapsed and consciousness faded, while observing my opponent.

 

Red hair that reminded me of Kaella.

 

It was a face I had seen before. One of the three Archmages I had encountered at the Exchange Meeting. The master of the Red Magic Tower that made combat their profession.

 

Vaidel Al Mahib.

 

The Archmage made no attempt to hide his greedy gaze as he slowly approached the dragon.

 

“The heart seems intact. I don’t see any traces of magical subjugation, so how did you control it? If I could just succeed in taking time to form a contract…”

 

As he muttered as if entranced, he placed his hand on the dragon’s scales. In that instant, the dragon opened its eyes.

 

Its swinging tail struck the Red Tower Master.

 

The Red Tower Master’s body was sent flying far away.

 

It all happened in an instant.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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