The Knight Who Devours Magic - Chapter 72

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 72. Alright, let’s try this.
‘No reaction?’
Inside the protective barrier, Karin’s brow furrowed as she maintained the Veil Technique, Perception Obstruction, and even Invisibility magic all at once.
She’d descended to a height where she could clearly strike, yet the creature still fled without pause.
‘Do I need to go lower?’
In truth, this was rather shallow bait.
Her current altitude was roughly a hundred meters above the ground—a height that the creature could only barely reach by jumping with those cursed Metal Chains and extending them again mid-leap.
To be certain, descending further would be the safer play.
Throb.
Pain flared anew from her severed left ankle, dragging her alertness back to the surface.
‘No… that’s too risky.’
She’d already confirmed that the creature’s Magic Absorption was more than twice what she’d anticipated.
And its speed—it was almost impossible to believe it was only a 3-Star Knight.
The caution born from two consecutive failures… or rather, the fear she wanted to dress up as caution, kept her from taking the gamble.
But thinking it over, there was another way.
‘If I commit to hiding, it won’t find me without using different magic.’
No more pressing the attack. And instead.
‘Wait for the moment it lets its guard down.’
Flash.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom.
After hurling a massive barrage of Lightning down at the ground, Karin gazed coldly at the ‘monstrosity’ that predictably endured it all, then quietly vanished from sight.
“Huh?”
“Mya?”
Pitter-patter-patter-patter-patter.
Mid-sprint through the chaos, Munno’s gaze suddenly flicked backward to the sky.
The relentless catastrophic magic from that damned woman had abruptly stopped.
‘Did she get tired and run off…?’
For a moment, relief flooded through him, and he was about to let himself feel the rush of it—
“Mya?”
When he glanced down at the Baby Dragon cradled against his chest, his mind snapped back into focus.
‘There’s no way that’s true.’
He forced his legs to keep their pace, shaking off the false comfort that had nearly slowed him down.
Pitter-patter-patter-patter.
‘If she means no interference, I’ll just keep running farther.’
This was a child born absorbing magic from the very first breath.
He didn’t know much about the distinction between wyverns and dragons, but he knew how rare this ability was—the same ability he possessed.
An ability his own father had never even heard whispered in myths or legends.
There was no way a child like this could be a mere wyvern, the inferior cousin of the dragon.
Which meant the mother searching for this child right now was almost certainly—
‘A true dragon.’
That brief moment of safety had led to perfect reasoning, and in that instant, ice crawled down his spine.
A dragon thought lost to legend was now in Drasen?
No matter how charitably he tried to frame it, only one conclusion came to mind: ruin.
So then.
“I’ll find your mother for you soon.”
“Mya!”
Pitter-patter-patter-patter.
Freed from the magical interference, Munno threw himself entirely into running.
But.
Inevitably, there had to be a limit.
“Huff… huff…”
How many hours had he been running now?
After detouring several kilometers around Drasen and only recently turning back toward the Northern Mountain Range—
The hurried heart finally demanded its toll from even a superhuman frame.
His pace slackened without his awareness.
“Miya…?”
“I need to rest……”
As he looked down at the Baby Dragon in his arms with a wry smile—
“Mya!”
“Huh!?”
Flash.
With a chilling sensation, a brilliant yellow Lightning descended upon his entire body.
Lightning carrying a force far more intense than anything he’d experienced before.
“Zzzzzzzt—”
Even after absorbing the Demonic Energy, the unbearable current that made his teeth chatter involuntarily was about to paralyze his entire body.
“Mya!”
With a small cry, the Baby Dragon accepted far more Demonic Energy than before.
The result.
“Nnngh—!”
When the creature looked at him with tear-filled eyes, as if it couldn’t take any more, there was only one thing he could say to it.
“…Thank you!”
Crackle-crackle-crack.
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
As the leftover Demonic Energy from the lightning spell that the Baby Dragon had absorbed converted into a makeshift mana, accumulating in his body and sharpening his mind in an instant.
Munno tore through the cascading lightning and burst straight out.
“Thanks for the charge, you damned thing!!”
Offering gratitude to the heavens in that way.
Thud-thud-thud.
Refreshed and reinvigorated, he launched himself into motion again at a terrifying pace.
He felt the concentration of Demonic Energy gathering in the sky behind him once more, yet for some reason, no further spells came raining down.
And Munno thought he might understand something of his enemy’s thoughts.
‘She must be stunned.’
The smile that formed naturally on his face kept at bay the fatigue that mana alone couldn’t fully wash away.
Thud-thud-thud.
His speed increased as he tore forward, kicking up dust and dirt.
But even that didn’t last for hours.
After a mad sprint, when a different ridge of the Northern Mountain Range rather than the Gorge north of Drasen came into view.
Extreme fatigue struck him again.
‘I have to reach that far.’
Then monsters would appear that could react to the spells being fired in his stead.
If he ran much further, he’d be too exhausted to even face a handful of goblins.
‘I need to rest. Like this, I can’t do anything. But….’
Just how far had the Witch chasing him come?
Would she leave him alone while he recovered his strength?
‘Why isn’t she firing now?’
He glanced back toward where his enemy would be in the sky, but now he sensed nothing.
If it were magic of moderate intensity, he could convert it into energy to use in the short term.
‘That woman has likely figured out almost everything about my ability by now. Including this child’s limits. She’ll either use a spell powerful enough to finish me in one blow, or try something else.’
Still, the current situation couldn’t be helped.
‘If I run further, my stamina will drop to the point where I can’t engage in even minimal combat.’
He had to rest.
It was an unreasonable chase between one who ran on the ground and one who flew through the sky, but all he could do was hope that the mage’s frail body had accumulated even more fatigue than his own.
“Mya?”
“Shh.”
Thud-thud-thud.
Squeezing out what strength remained, Munno dove into the shadow of a nearby forest.
And.
Into that forest, fireballs began raining down as if they’d been waiting for him.
Bang!
Boom-boom-boom.
“Myaaa…!”
Feeling the frightened Baby Dragon burrow deeper into his chest, Munno’s expression hardened.
‘She’s not targeting me. She means to burn the forest.’
Not a single spell landed directly where he stood; flames were already spreading from the far reaches of the forest toward him.
The meaning was clear.
‘She won’t let me hide.’
Already the oppressive heat was closing in.
The price for even a brief moment of rest was being engulfed by a suffocating wall of flames all around him.
“Damn it!”
“Myaaa….”
“No, never mind. Not you.”
She’d sensed it briefly before—this Baby Dragon seemed unnaturally sensitive to fire.
“Mya…….”
Damn it. What do I do?
She soothed the trembling creature with gentle strokes while her mind raced, but no clever solution surfaced.
Before her carefully controlled breathing could spiral into ragged gasps again amid the flames and smoke.
‘I have to get out of this forest first…….’
But after pushing herself to the limit moments ago, her legs had already begun to fail her during this brief respite.
As she forced her reluctant body upright once more.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!
Suddenly, a massive boulder hurtled through the air and embedded itself directly in front of her face.
‘Damn……!’
Even as she recoiled from the house-sized rock’s appearance, a faint question nagged at her—the stone’s color was far too brownish.
Bang!
Crack-crash!
More brownish “rocks” and entire trees torn up by the roots came flying at her in rapid succession, slamming into the ground all around.
‘This…….’
Munno could only marvel at it.
Granted, the dirt compressed into boulder-sized chunks and the force of the falling trees paled beside the witch’s magical output.
Yet not a trace of demonic energy emanated from them.
‘Indirect attack? Damn…….’
The witch had found an alternative method to engage him without direct magic.
The burning forest around them, the incoming rocks.
Munno gritted his teeth and burst toward a clearing in the woods to evade the barrage.
“So we finally see each other face-to-face?”
The witch hovered massive clumps of earth and timber above her head, her Staff—crowned with three dog skulls—blooming with blue flame at its tip.
The closest distance since combat began.
Now he could clearly see the woman’s expression—her pale complexion, the cold sweat beading her brow, the Prosthetic Leg strapped to the left ankle he’d severed in their earlier clash.
‘She’s exhausted too.’
Whatever she’d accomplished.
‘All she’s done is rain attacks from above.’
Yet Munno couldn’t afford to rush her recklessly.
He still remembered all too well that blue flame—nearly melting him where he stood.
“Mya…….”
The terrified Baby Dragon trembling against him seemed incapable of absorbing that particular magic.
‘That spell has limited range. I dodge once, find an opening.’
Whoosh.
As Munno’s limbs tensed, Metal Chains began preparing to erupt from his body.
“Let’s talk about something, Experimental Subject.”
An unexpected voice cut through the moment.
“What?”
“You know as well as I do—you can’t absorb my Gehenna’s Flame. And unlike before, you don’t have another Mage here to heal you. You know that, don’t you?”
Of course.
He was reminded once more that this woman had nearly mapped out all of his capabilities.
“Yeah, I know. Dodge it and it’s over.”
The woman’s face twisted—then she let out a derisive snort.
“Don’t twist my words, Experimental Subject. Or rather—Munno of Drasen. I’m not about to give you time to stall and recover your strength.”
……Though you look pretty worn down yourself, don’t you?
“Then come at me.”
“I intend to. Unless you accept my final offer.”
“An offer?”
He had no intention of accepting whatever it was, but right now he desperately needed breathing room to restore his stamina.
Then, at that moment.
“You stubborn bastard……!”
The witch’s lips twisted as she snarled, her expression darkening with frustration.
“Hand over that Beast’s spawn and disappear. I’ll let it go at that—just that much!”
And the proposal that followed was something he never anticipated.
“What?”
What kind of nonsense was this.
‘I’m not the target? No, this one is important too, I suppose…….’
Was she exhausted too, then?
The thought tangled his mind for a fraction of a second.
“Hand over the beast’s spawn now! I won’t wait any longer!”
A low rumble sounded.
Crack. Crackle.
The threat was unmistakable—surrender the Baby Dragon this instant, or they’d all die together.
The woman’s magical aura began to vibrate violently.
‘Why…?’
Around her, heaps of earth trembled and rose; tree trunks splintered to razor points.
And when the blue flames before her staff flared brighter still, Munno had no time left to think—only to act.
So he moved on instinct alone.
“Then catch!”
Bang!
Munno hurled the Baby Dragon straight at the woman.
“Squeak!?”
The creature’s eyes widened in shock, piercing his chest with silent reproach.
Whoosh.
But in that same moment, Munno burst forward and plunged after her.
And—
“A trick…!”
The instant her shout tore free and he felt the demonic energy shift—
Crash.
Dust scattered.
—he vaulted, landing directly behind the Baby Dragon.
“Damn…”
The creature now stood between them, and bewilderment flickered across her face. But the blue flames did not rain down.
‘Okay.’
The gamble had worked.
‘She won’t kill the child. I’m certain of it.’
Then shield it is.
Thinking like a villain, Munno set his Metal Chains in motion on all sides.
With his left hand, he wove the chain around the Baby Dragon in a gentle arc, pulling it close as he’d always intended.
The other three chains he aimed at the woman’s body and her staff.
“Where do you think you’re going!!”
Blue flames erupted at once, melting through his right-hand chain in a heartbeat.
‘Urgh—!’
Boom.
Earth and splinters hammered the remaining chains aside, cascading down upon his body—
Thrust.
A sharp hiss; a small hole tore open in the ground, and a Hidden Blade shot skyward like lightning toward the woman above.

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