Chapter 11 Part 6
It would be a chance to see how far human magic had advanced. He had never believed that in just a few hundred years, they could reach even this level. Magic belonged to dragons—something even the gods had not surpassed.
As he unleashed his power in all directions, several mages below coughed up blood and collapsed, but others immediately stepped in to replace them.
Blue mana flowed along the engraved pillars, desperately absorbing and distorting the dragon’s power. Kirthalros’s eyes widened as the red magic circle forming around him shattered and reversed.
Humans were holding out better than he expected.
Just then, the presence of several imperial knights disappeared—and the walls burst open. Blades of sword energy shot in from all directions.
As he moved to evade them, his magic faltered, and the counter-magic surged upward, wrapping around him and trying to bind him.
“How dare you!!!”
Golden light burst from his back, forming wings that deflected the counter-magic.
There were four attacks. He thought he could avoid them all.
He was wrong.
“Ghk—!”
One strike twisted midair and pierced straight through his abdomen. As it tried to split him apart, Kirthalros grabbed the blade.
“Wretched insects!”
A massive surge of magic exploded outward, sending three of the charging knights flying.
Only Rodrigo endured. He barely managed to wrench his sword free, then tightened his grip and charged again. Damian also rose at once, rushing in to support him.
The waiting room had already begun to collapse—walls shattered, the ceiling falling apart—yet the pillars holding up the upper floors still stood firm.
Realizing the situation had turned against him, Kirthalros tried to escape—
Only to freeze.
A massive barrier had formed around them. It felt… like dragon magic.
“You damned insects!”
Just as humans had looted dragon ruins and stolen the ring gifted by the Lord, they had now stolen dragon magic as well. Kirthalros had mocked them, believing that no matter how much they studied, they would never be able to decipher dragon magic—
And yet, they had succeeded.
‘The gods must have taught them!!’
The gods, who had long stood in opposition to dragons—dragons who looked down on humans like insects, even after granting them grace and teaching them to offer praise.
The dragons’ path toward destruction had not been caused solely by their defeat in the war against humans, but because those gods had taken humanity’s side—
Kirthalros hated them.
“I curse you all!!”
He roared, but the imperial knights did not respond. They only attacked.
Sensing that his end was near, Kirthalros tried to return to his original form, even though the space was far too cramped for him to transform.
If he wanted to shake them off in an instant and escape this place, he had to cast aside the weak human form. As Kirthalros’s body was swallowed in white light and rapidly grew enormous, the knights threw themselves away so they would not be crushed beneath him.
The moment he transformed into a dragon, a massive torrent of fire burst from him and swept over the knights. But they had long since been warned by Emilio, who had studied dragons for a long time, and because of that, they were each wearing several layers of magical tools with fireproof properties.
As two of the knights were engulfed in flames, cracks spread through their fireproof artifacts, and two of them shattered and disappeared at once. Rodrigo, bracing himself to be swallowed by the fire, charged straight toward him.
A terrifying blade of sword energy flew straight into the mouth of the wing-beating dragon. The sword energy poured into the mouth that had been spewing flames, slicing through his tongue, and Kirthalros spat out blood and fire together.
As he staggered back, Rodrigo gave him no time to recover. Although. he was slower than Rahil, his attacks were heavier and far more devastating.
Even on his own body, one of the fire-resistant artifacts—a bracelet and one earring—cracked and fell to the floor.
Still, he had six more artifacts left, so he judged that he could endure at least two more exchanges.
Kirthalros coughed violently, blood spilling from his mouth.
Not all dragon spells relied on vocal incantation, but even now, down below, dozens of human mages were chanting counter-magic.
“Cursed… insects…! Ghk—!”
Rodrigo pressed the attack as if he had no intention of stopping until the dragon’s breath was completely cut off.
His strikes rained down—on its wings, on its legs, and on its already fatally wounded abdomen.
***
Kirthalros clenched his teeth and glared up into the empty air.
The ceiling of the imperial palace still hadn’t collapsed, and he was meeting his end without even seeing the stars. Among all dragons, this would be the most absurd, the most miserable death—he thought as he struggled to breathe.
He wanted to gather his last strength and curse that Emperor bastard who was playing the role of Radiel’s reincarnation’s husband—
But the man wasn’t even here.
“Is it over now?”
As the surging magic settled, Arken revealed himself. He had been assisting Emilio while also directing the mages, staying by Emilio’s side in case he needed to take over maintaining the magic circle.
“It seems like it’s almost over, but….”
Before the uncertain voice could finish, Rodrigo’s blade pierced straight through Kirthalros’s heart.
He let out a scream of agony and glared at the owner of that magic.
It was him.
Emil.
The reincarnation of that mage who had once been loved by Radiel.
The one who had hated him so deeply—and now, even after reincarnation, had finally succeeded in his revenge.
Kirthalros sneered inwardly at the Emperor, assuming Emil was merely one of his subordinates.
You might think you’re the victor, that you possess everything—
But in the end, you’ll meet the same fate as me.
With trembling fingers, he raised his hand and pointed at Emil. One of the imperial knights seemed to shout for the mages—
But it was already too late.
“Tell that Emperor bastard this. You will lose in the end. Radiel… will never become yours.”
Dragon magic shot forward and pierced through Emilio’s forehead.
***
“Why is there nothing wrong?”
“Why does there need to be something wrong, you old man?! It’s a good thing nothing happened!!”
Emilio answered like that, but even he found it strange.
He clearly remembered the light that had burst from the dragon’s claw piercing straight through his forehead.
Everyone had thought a hole would be blown straight through his head and that he would die.
But there wasn’t a single wound on his forehead—nor was there anything wrong with his head.
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