Chapter 85 - The Dragonfang Warrior
"After drinking the kiss of the Alraune, I wanted to confirm if wearing the Necklace of Exorcism would be effective."
"It's necessary to taste it in advance so that I can immediately vomit it out even if it's administered when I'm not wearing it."
By presenting these reasons, I managed to convince everyone to let me take Alraune's kiss immediately after obtaining the necklace.
We knew its effects were temporary, and even if it had addictive properties, Ashley's healing magic was available. Plus, I could trust them to handle my temporary loss of free will.
The rest of the plan involved making Caduceus record and replicate my behavior when taking it and activating it, trying to mimic it as closely as possible.
These precautions were necessary. We were aware that it had been administered as soon as I took a sip of tea. Without knowing the taste when it was mixed, we couldn't differentiate it from regular poison.
Anastasia removed the veil covering her face and caressed my cheek with a delighted smile. This woman.
"Now... we finally got our hands on it. Where should we start?"
She walked around the room with a happy expression, her arms crossed. While Anastasia was the Black Viper, I decided to wait for her initial question. Perhaps I could gather some information.
Afterward, without any discussion, I would restrain her with Light Bind until she lost consciousness. I could trust them to handle it until then.
"First... confess secrets and weaknesses that you can never tell anyone. Or perhaps someone like you doesn't have any?"
I see. By keeping secrets, I could have leverage. When the need arose, I could use them as a reason to call her. Even without leaving evidence of enslavement magic, I could control her by secretly administering the elixir when necessary, and we could maintain a good superficial relationship until I played my trump card.
Well, I understood the plan.
"What bothered me was that I couldn't erase the storage data after being stabbed."
"Storage... what?"
Well, that was a story from my previous life. It was a secret, and even if I told her, she wouldn't understand.
"Light Bind."
I pointed at Anastasia, who looked puzzled, and activated the magic.
"What!?"
The ring of light converged and shattered just as it touched her body. Simultaneously, part of Anastasia's sleeve burst from the inside.
Anastasia, with an astonished expression, deployed a magic shield and retreated. Dolls approached from the sides.
"You...! How did you...?"
While listening to Anastasia's curses, I used the Ouroboros I held to sweep away the approaching dolls. I crushed the torso of the doll and sent it flying to the corner of the room.
Anastasia's arms were adorned with bracelets and rings. She wore excessive jewelry beneath her fluttering clothes.
Perhaps they were for defense against magic. They had likely protected her from my Light Bind, but it seemed the magic stones couldn't withstand the overload.
"You!"
In response to Anastasia's infuriated shout, dolls leaped into the room through doors and windows. It wasn't just one or two; there were many.
Each was armed with a cleaver or an axe. They seemed to have been scattered throughout the mansion. While I dealt with the dolls, Anastasia tried to escape from the back door. A magic circle glowed on the door, indicating she intended to lock herself inside using magic.
"Move."
I cleared away the approaching dolls. Their parts scattered, but they suspended in mid-air and reassembled themselves, returning to the front line.
This was just to buy time. While deploying a magic shield, I kicked the floor and knocked down the doll in front of me before punching through the wall, entering the next room. The room was filled with more dolls.
Anastasia, who had tried to leave through the door, opened her eyes wide and briefly turned her gaze toward me. The dolls wouldn't be of any use against me. I proceeded in a straight line, punching through the walls, and entered the next room. There were more dolls there.
Anastasia was trying to escape. Magic circles on the door indicated her intention to lock herself inside.
"Move."
I swept away the approaching dolls. While they scattered in pieces, they stopped in mid-air and reassembled, forming a grotesque, centipede-like shape, creeping toward me. I dodged their attached arms while pulverizing their heads as they passed by.
The dolls were relentless. It seemed that each part was an independent magical creature.
Furthermore, Anastasia herself provided magical cover fire. Using the dolls as a vanguard, she maintained distance while launching shotgun-like ice projectiles. Dodging without using magic, I extended my staff toward the centipede-like doll in front of me.
"Trample Thorn."
"Entangle with wood magic, sealing its movements. Even if you crush it partially, it will just reassemble with intact parts. So, I'll gather and solidify it all together."
Applying levitation to the thorn sphere, I strike it with Ouroboros, sending it flying towards Anastasia.
"Kuh!"
Anastasia widens her eyes. She also performs a high leap using levitation, narrowly avoiding the thorn sphere passing through.
During all this, the doll parts are still increasing. When they assemble into a dragon-like form, it opens its jaw and approaches me.
I rotate Ouroboros before my eyes, creating a massive shield. I catch the dragon's head entirely and behind the shield, I deploy an even larger magic circle.
Seventh-grade lightning magic...
"Lightning Blast!"
As I release the shield, a huge lightning bolt, equivalent to the circle's diameter, pierces the dragon-shaped puppet's mouth. The dragon's head explodes, spreading a shockwave of lightning throughout the assembly.
The dragon's body stops moving. It starts falling apart from the tip.
"Well done!"
Anastasia, once again, turns her back and flees. She escapes into a glass-covered building beyond the courtyard.
Naturally, I follow Anastasia and step inside. It's...
"...A greenhouse."
Overgrown with trees and flowers, it's full of medicinal and poisonous herbs. I remember she cultivated mandrakes here, some even as Alraunes.
She must have lured me in here because the greenhouse itself is like a treasure trove of evidence. If her deception was discovered, she could use it as leverage to prevent me from using large-scale magic.
Anastasia is at the back of the greenhouse. She takes something white from her pocket—a blade-like object—and gazes at me. It's a dragon's fang.
"Come!"
While saying that, she throws it on the ground. What emerges from where the fang landed is a skeletal soldier.
Not just a simple skeleton. It's a Dragon Fang Soldier or perhaps a magical creature known as Spartoi, summoned using a dragon's fang. A formidable warrior.
Truly, she has abundant resources. Maybe her intention is to prevent me from using powerful magic and engage in close combat.
"Get out of my way."
I charge in without hesitation. I thrust Ouroboros into the two curved blades the Dragon Fang Soldier wields.
She defends against it by crossing the two blades. With one, she holds Ouroboros down, and with the other, she thrusts it towards me. The white blade grazes my cheek, glinting dangerously.
I evade the slashing attack by creating a shield in mid-air and kicking off it with a somersault.
As I prepare to counterattack after swinging my sword, I catch Anastasia in the corner of my eye, trying to cast magic with a magic circle.
Her disguise is flawed. I read the magic she's trying to activate from the circle's pattern and jump upward using the dragon staff like a pole vault.
Slightly delayed, a heat fog forms below me. As the Dragon Fang Soldier jumps out of the scorching mist to knock me down, I use a tree trunk as a foothold to somersault and avoid it.
In sync with the Dragon Fang Soldier's movements, Anastasia creates a magical shield from a distance, establishing a battleground in mid-air.
Now, I'm locked in aerial combat with the Dragon Fang Soldier.
It may be an imitation on my part, but if she's improvising this, it's quite impressive.
As I engage the Dragon Fang Soldier in combat, fireballs and lightning bolts are also unleashed from below. I block and dodge Anastasia's magical attacks with the shield while striking back with the two blades.
Perhaps because it's the Dragon Fang Soldier I'm fighting, she doesn't care about involving her allies. Or maybe she believes her magic can easily compensate for it.
However...
The Dragon Fang Soldier is a fearless warrior, unafraid of death. That's her downfall.
I deploy a shield underfoot to create a foothold. It serves as both defense against Anastasia's magical attacks and a means to attack the approaching Dragon Fang Soldier from the side.
"Magnetic Wave!"
Sixth-grade earth magic. It entwines the Dragon Fang Soldier's curved blades with magnetism.
Despite that, the Dragon Fang Soldier doesn't let go of her weapons. It's likely her fearless spirit unique to these soldiers.
I pull forcefully with magnetism, hurling her high into the sky. She smashes through the greenhouse ceiling, and the skeleton dances in the sky. I follow her, leaping even higher into the sky.
"What...?"
Anastasia is astonished. The Dragon Fang Soldier falls from the sky. There's no way Anastasia's magic range can reach her. When the Dragon Fang Soldier chased me into the air, our connection was essentially severed.
"Disappear."
Using Magnetic Wave again, I entangle the sword the Dragon Fang Soldier is holding. Ouroboros seems to have anticipated the outcome, as it lets out an excited growl.
I throw it overhead with an overhand motion.
I put all my magical power into it and aim for the roof of Anastasia's mansion. Due to the combination of magnetism and gravity, the Dragon Fang Soldier accelerates dramatically. She crashes into the mansion's roof and disappears from sight. She's probably in pieces now.
"A monster...?"
Anastasia mutters, looking at the scene in disbelief.
After landing in the greenhouse and turning to face me again, she speaks.
"...Wait. If you have that much power, it would be wise to cooperate with the person I serve. You'll surely be rewarded."
If she can't beat me, she'll try to manipulate me, huh?
No, she might not be serious. Given that it's not the actual person, once I get through this situation, I can likely brush it off as if it never happened.
"...Serve? That's quite audacious for someone who's supposedly the person herself."
My words make Anastasia's eyebrows twitch slightly. She's definitely accustomed to noble society. Not easy to fool with such flattery.
Still, I'm almost certain. Prince Albert had his doubts, and when she touched my face earlier, I confirmed it.
That ring is a secret magical tool from the royal palace's master magician. There may be multiple copies, but they aren't found elsewhere. Only those closely related to the royal family, especially those in the palace, can use them.
The princess left the castle when the lords visited. At the same time, a fortune teller appeared in high society. And she's the suspect in the attempted assassination of Princess Marlene.
Even if she has potent elixirs like the one with the Alraune's kiss, she wouldn't entrust this to someone else.
Possessing elixirs while engaging in power struggles might not be too unnatural. It could be for the sake of appearing more suitable for the throne, laying the groundwork for her reign as queen, and preparing for her rule after becoming queen.
Perhaps she attracted factions like the Greg faction, who dislike sorcerers, because it was convenient for her to have those unfamiliar with magic.
"What are you talking about?"
Anastasia's smile fades as my next words come out.
"Well, let's skip the explanations. I just sent a miscreant with poison flying, that's all."
Without further ado, I infuse Ouroboros with magic and kick the ground.
"Wait! Please!"
The two forces clash. Ouroboros attempts to be released while Anastasia tries to stop it with a magic shield. When the shield and staff collide, sparks of blue-white light fly.
"King! I can make you a king!"
She screams desperately. I've already turned down that offer before.
Whether due to losing focus or the equilibrium not lasting long, there's a sound like shattering glass. The balance shatters, creating a shockwave. Anastasia's body is thrown backward and slams into a tree trunk, rolling into the garden.
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