Absorb

Finally, the time has come for the last battle.

The group of humans stood several steps away from the Queen's chamber, tensely listening to Finn's last warning.

"Remember. As soon as you step inside, the first thing that you have to do is to fight against the dragon's leaking mana." Finn held up his forefinger to like a tour guide explaining the exhibit to kindergarteners.

"This is the last raid. Keep your wits with you so we can all go home alive." Kaede interjected to remind them not to underestimate the Queen and her soldiers.

The members grimly nodded.

"Well then, shall we start? Are you ready?" Finn asked Kaede.

"Whenever you are, Sir," Kaede replied.

Finn turned to the entrance and drew a white mana circle but with missing symbols.

'Uh-oh… this guy… he wants to use an unorthodox spell again?' Mikael thought as they all watched Finn load another vial of blood ink.

Then, just like he did in the past, Finn filled out the empty spaces in the mana circle with symbols for another element. But this time, he did a fire-on-wind spell instead of a wind-on-fire.

After which, Sir Finn brought out his new toy while acting like a giddy three-year-old kid, "Mwehehehehehe…"

In the Almagi's hand was a green bomb that they'd never seen before. It was also the largest bomb he created.

"Sir?" Kaede nervously asked.

It hasn't been that long since their group suffered from the red bomb that Finn mistakenly put in their pouch, but now, he planned to use another dubious ball?

Pretending not to hear Kaede, Finn didn't even hesitate to throw the ball inside the queen's chamber—right in the middle of a soldier ant group.

The ball drew an arc in the air and when it was at its peak, Finn majestically shouted.

"Wind Slash!"

His prepared mana circle shone white and released a blade of fire similar to the fire-wind combo attack!

Yes, Finn can do that same combo without partnering with another Almagi to cast a double wall.

It was precisely because of this genius quality that none of the members even thought to question what the green ball was.

Oh, how they came to regret it…

As soon as the blade of fire hit the bomb, a deafening explosion shook the entire cavern.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The fire blast was so big that it was practically a gas tank explosion!

Debris fell from the ceiling as chunks of monster flesh flew in different directions.

A thick cloud of dirt might have impaired their vision, but the distinct smell of burning flesh and the stench of monster blood were enough to paint a vividly horrendous picture in the member's minds

Disoriented, the people put their hands to cover their ears, but it had done nothing about the intense ringing that they heard after the explosion.

Kaede glared at Finn.

"SIR! WHAT WAS THAT?!" he demanded.

But Finn merely looked at him in confusion, "What? We need to start a fight with a bang if we want to attract enemies. Didn't I already teach you that?"

The people could only stare at him, speechless.

"Look. I already killed about a hundred of them with just one move." He proudly gestured to the scene of carnage.

True to his words, Finn had obliterated a hundred monsters to smithereens.

Unable to rebuke him further, Kaede was left with nothing to say but: "Then, at least warn us if you're going to do something like that!"

"Ah… my bad." Finn unapologetically replied, "How was it though? Wasn't my new bomb amazing? It's made from more ant juice! Ahh… I really want to live in the Midden for three more years…"

Finn shivered in delight as if the Midden was the best place to live in the whole world and not a stinky ant graveyard.

"Ant juice?" Kaede asked as the other members shook their heads out of disorientation.

"YES! do you know? There's more to harvest from them aside from death juice and pheromones…" Finn's eyes lit up maniacally, "Can you believe it? They also have formic acid!"

He bit his beautiful thin lips out of sheer excitement, waiting for the prince to react.

"Uhuh?" Kaede weakly replied, unsure of why that was supposed to be amazing.

"Tsk. It's formic acid, your highness! The one that can be reduced to methane!" Finn's icy blue eyes widened as he stared at Kaede, willing him to realize something.

But Deon was not an expert in chemicals and royal education only included etiquette, spearmanship, and history… but none of Almageia.

However, as a person who came from Earth, Mikael knew exactly what methane was.

'Aha! So that's why the explosion was so strong!'

How Finn managed to extract all those and turn them into explosive substances, will forever remain a mystery to normal people.

Kaede eyed the aftermath of the explosion and murmured, "Can't we just use that to annihilate all of them?"

But Sir Finn immediately rejected the idea, "No. just once is enough. if we use more, who knows when the dirt ceiling will collapse on top of us? Then, we'll all be buried alive."

A few moments later.

The members who finally regained their composure held their weapons tightly.

But as soon as they stepped into the chamber, all of them fell to their knees as if some invisible giant hand slapped them to the ground.

The dead dragon's mana was indeed too strong!

They thought they were well prepared since the prince gave them a detailed description of what it felt like.

But hearing about it was different from actually experiencing it.

'Ugh… It's too heavy! And so cold!' was what the members thought.

Only one man managed to overcome the pressure—the prince.

In fact, Kaede could not even feel the crushing weight of mana at all!

Ping!

<System Notification: Dense corrupted mana detected in the atmosphere!>

<System Notification: The host's limiter is switched off due to the Perfect Assimilation state.>

<System Notification: The Host may now absorb highest purity mana without limit.>

<Would you like to absorb the dragon's mana?>

<Yes/No>

--Chapter end--

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**Methane is a highly flammable gas commonly used as rocket fuel and in gas tanks (for home cooking)