I Picked up the Demon King - Chapter 85

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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 85

 

Immediately after the Hero disappeared.

 

The Imperial Knights received their deployment orders. Those who had already prepared and were waiting quickly gathered together. There were none who hesitated at the pressure of having to fight against a legendary dragon.

 

Only for the honor of the Empire and the Imperial Palace. These were people who had trained for decades.

 

“Are we going alone?”

“Protecting the royal family and maintaining public order are also important duties. Especially during chaotic times like this. Why, are you not confident?”

 

Though they were called one of the Imperial Palace’s strongest military units, there was no way they could be confident when facing the monster before their eyes.

 

However, the questioned Knight showed a spirited smile instead.

 

“That’s good. If we die fighting that thing, wouldn’t that also be glorious? At least we’d get a line in the history books.”

“Well. You could become the greatest knight who slayed a dragon, or you could become a fool who died alone without accomplishing anything.”

 

A situation equivalent to being ordered to die. The Knight Commander made jokes in a calm tone to ease the tension.

 

“Open the city gate!”

 

The tightly closed gate opened. The moment they passed through the defensive barrier, a chilling sensation struck them.

 

It was a terrible killing intent they had never felt on any battlefield.

 

They were newly grateful for their decision not to ride horses. Even consistently trained warhorses often became frightened in battles against large monsters. Moreover, with their opponent being a dragon, there was no way they could withstand such killing intent.

 

“Don’t dawdle!”

 

The Knight Order was fast, but the Red Tower Master moved before them. And.

 

“The Red Tower Master just got hit. Teams 1 and 2, keep the dragon in check, Team 3, confirm the Tower Master’s life or death!”

 

Though his life or death was still unknown, it was clear he had suffered considerable damage. He was one of only three Archmages in the Empire. The value of his life was enormous. If he was alive, they had to save him somehow.

 

“He’s alive!”

 

Fortunately, not long after, the Tower Master’s survival was confirmed. Perhaps it was because the artifacts he wore were worth more than an entire castle.

 

“Stupid fool.”

 

Or perhaps it was thanks to another Archmage’s intervention.

 

“Didn’t I tell you to do something about that hasty temperament of yours?”

 

The Blue Tower Master approached the Red Tower Master with his hand in his robe pocket, speaking mockingly. However, the Red Tower Master couldn’t respond at all. Though various spells had protected him, his mind was still in a daze.

 

When the Blue Tower Master signaled, the priests waiting on the castle walls used divine magic. Sacred light settled on the Red Tower Master’s body, and his pale complexion improved somewhat.

 

The Blue Tower Master clicked his tongue, turned his head, and spoke.

 

“According to the agreement made with His Great Majesty the Emperor, I will now take command of the scene. Any objections?”

 

There could be no objections.

 

Though the Knight Commander’s position wasn’t low, there were more than ten Knight Orders of the same level in the capital alone. It was incomparable to the position of a Tower Master, of which there were only three.

 

Moreover, what he had mentioned was the Emperor. Even having doubts could be taken as insulting the Emperor.

 

Hoping that the judgment of the Blue Tower Master, who had lived at least twice as long as himself, would please be better than the Red Tower Master’s. The Knight Commander shouted.

 

“Everyone follow the Blue Tower Master’s commands.”

 

Fortunately, the Blue Tower Master skillfully commanded the scene.

 

Even while simultaneously controlling the dozens of mages he had brought and the personnel from the Red Magic Tower who didn’t know what to do, there was not a moment’s hesitation.

 

The movements of the knights and the barrage of spells meshed together like gears in a wheel.

 

Thinking of the dragon’s initial majesty when it first appeared, everyone expected to be swept away in an instant. Perhaps it had consumed considerable power from the shock it received from the Hero. Even with its heart-rending cries, it didn’t show the same majesty as before.

 

Moreover, the Knight Commander was one who had reached the realm of Sword Master, called the pinnacle of knighthood. With the addition of various magic and divine magic support, quite an intense battle continued.

 

Even so, a dragon was still a dragon.

 

Its enormous size and weight became violence in itself. With infinite mana added to that, there was no way they could hold out for long.

 

One knight who couldn’t avoid the light footwork was crushed as he was. Though more than five protection spells wrapped around him in a brief moment, they couldn’t create enough time for him to dodge. The divine magic that poured out immediately after couldn’t revive one who was already dead.

 

The brief scream was buried in the noise of battle.

 

While continuously commanding the situation and frantically chanting spells, the Blue Tower Master’s expression gradually contorted.

 

Though the knights’ skills were better than he had known, the situation wasn’t good. The dragon’s scales possessed a higher level of magic resistance than any material the Tower Master had seen. Even magic that hit consecutively couldn’t deal any significant damage.

 

“Focus the divine magic on the dragon.”

 

It was a gamble.

 

The instructed priests hesitated.

 

If that thing was undead as its appearance suggested, divine magic could deal effective damage. But if it wasn’t undead…

 

The holy power with healing properties could end up restoring that terrible monster’s health. No, even if it was indeed undead, it was a creature that had withstood even a holy sword’s attack. What could they accomplish with holy power that couldn’t even reach its toes?

 

But an order was an order.

 

The priests chanted their spells. Light descended upon the blackened dragon’s body.

 

“Stop…!”

 

The Knight Commander urgently waved his hand and shouted. Taking advantage of his distracted gaze, the dragon’s front paw struck him down. That movement contained power much stronger than before.

 

The priests remained silent and redirected their holy magic toward the Knight Commander.

 

A meaningless war of attrition continued.

 

Their goal from the beginning wasn’t to achieve victory against the dragon. It was to divert attention from the capital as much as possible and hold out until the Hero returned.

 

But the dragon with infinite mana was gradually recovering its strength as time passed. Could they hold out until the Hero returned? Or what if the Hero never came back no matter how long they endured?

 

Increasingly ominous assumptions began to surface in the knights’ minds.

 

Just as another knight was about to lose his life to the dragon’s tail.

 

The Tower Master witnessed it.

 

“What is that?”

 

Sprouts unsuited for the cold winter rapidly grew and coiled around the dragon’s tail. Even those that grew into thousands of vines couldn’t hold for long. The taut vines soon snapped. But ice pillars that had suddenly emerged blocked the weakened tail.

 

Had those rare elves appeared? If it was their independently developed spirit magic, perhaps they could do something similar.

 

But no matter how powerful spirit magic was, it wouldn’t have the strength to block that monstrous dragon’s tail. If that were possible, the elves would have dominated the world long ago.

 

‘Besides, those ice pillars…’

 

At least intermediate magic level. Dozens of such things rose up in succession.

 

Together with newly grown tree trunks, they bound the dragon. Though they shattered to pieces each time the dragon roared and struggled, they soon grew even larger to cover its body.

 

And toward the bound dragon.

 

Someone was running.

 

* * *

 

Appearing before people wasn’t a good idea.

 

Well, I was a Dark Mage after all.

 

But that didn’t mean I could just wait and watch until they all died.

 

Though it was a creature that had nearly died and come back, the dragon was rapidly recovering its body. In a few more minutes, it seemed it would completely regain the majesty it had when it first appeared.

 

Time was running short.

 

Before the dragon regained its strength, before the Hero returned, or before Kaella achieved victory. I had to defeat the dragon and retrieve its heart.

 

For that, I had no choice but to immediately join the battle.

 

Should I have moved a bit faster? If the Red Tower Master had been in good condition, he would have been quite helpful.

 

Kicking off the violently shaking ground as if an earthquake had struck, I passed by the knights each fighting against the dragon and reached before the beast.

 

This was a creature that had restored its body even after being split in half by the Hero’s attack. No matter how much I attacked its tail or legs, it would be meaningless.

 

Kicking off the scales from which black filth flowed, I ran toward its head. The body that was hundreds of meters long made just running up it an ordeal.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Each time it struggled and shook its body, I felt like I would be thrown off. I barely held on by grasping the vines wrapped around the dragon, but even that was precarious.

 

It felt like climbing a mercilessly shaking cliff face.

 

The moment I glanced down slightly, goosebumps rose all over my body.

 

No matter how much I possessed knight-level physical abilities, falling from this height would mean death.

 

I could only hope that the Ice Spirit and World Tree would provide the best support possible.

 

“Everyone, support that person!”

 

I heard the Blue Tower Master shouting from afar. Belatedly, several support spells unfolded around my body.

 

The knights’ movements changed. Instead of trying to damage the dragon, they began focusing thoroughly on blocking its movements.

 

The presence of the knights and mages was quite helpful. Thanks to them continuously drawing the dragon’s attention from below, I was able to climb quite high.

 

Naturally, a bug biting at one’s feet would be more bothersome than a bug just crawling around doing nothing.

 

‘For now.’

 

I tried to cast Explosion, which I had become quite familiar with. Of course, the moment I released one hand to form hand seals, my intuition that I would fall straight down vertically forced me to stop.

 

-A dragon’s magic resistance is at a considerable level. To deal meaningful damage, you must imbue at least minimal divinity.

 

The Demon Lord’s unhelpful advice was a bonus.

 

The World Tree was no longer satisfied with just binding the dragon. It burrowed through gaps in scales damaged by the knights’ and mages’ attacks, forcibly reached the hide, and drove in roots. This was to absorb life force.

 

The Ice Spirit was the same. Massive hail began falling from the sky. Each time hail larger than a fist struck directly, the dragon let out screams. This was because their ends were sharper and more pointed than awls.

 

However.

 

The dragon was alive, yet it was as if it wasn’t alive. There was almost no life force that could be absorbed, and even that seemed to have no particular effect when lost.

 

Though the scales cracked and fell away when struck by hail, they regenerated quickly. The screams it let out gradually began gaining strength. My eardrums had already burst long ago. Even with elven senses, avoiding the occasional hail that came toward me was no easy task.

 

-What will you do?

 

The Demon Lord continued to force a choice upon me.

 

To take the Ice Spirit and World Tree, and obtain divinity. As if that was the only path to victory.

 

But thinking carefully, that wasn’t the only way to harbor divinity within this body.

 

I quickly made my choice.

 

Even at this moment, the damage to the Knights and Mages was accumulating. Some fell into critical condition after failing to dodge the falling hail.

 

What I deployed was Soul Magic. Specifically, Spirit Summoning. While the soul used would suffer considerable damage, it was still better than adding divinity to the Demon Lord.

 

The soul to be used for Spirit Summoning was the Ice Spirit.

 

The World Tree already existed as an independent life form, not just a soul. I couldn’t kill the World Tree that was growing well in the Great Forest just to use Spirit Summoning once. There was no way to do so, and even if there were, it would be difficult to expect the same effect as in the Great Forest.

 

The Demon Lord’s soul would be the most certain method to resolve this situation, but that was equally—no, even more dangerous.

 

When I gave my body to the Demon Lord completely free from the contract, there was no telling what it might do. I must not forget that when I first used it for Spirit Summoning, I lost consciousness for several hours.

 

The Magic Circle I drew emitted a grayish-white light.

 

The Ice Spirit, which had been blocking the dragon’s movements with ice walls, stopped what it was doing and came to stand across from me.

 

Seeing the Ice Spirit looking up at me with its empty face made me let out a small laugh.

 

I walked toward the Ice Spirit.

 

The Ice Spirit also walked toward me.

 

Our forms overlapped within the Magic Circle.

 

The violently falling hail stopped.

 

The ice pillars disappeared.

 

In the quiet, a single small snowflake fell from somewhere. The fluttering snowflake landed on the dragon’s wing.

 

The dragon’s wing froze solid.

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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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