Thunderbird Subjugation (3)

「Thunderbolt (Lightning Element, ★4)」

Kwagwang──!!

I tried to chase after Vera the Summoner when suddenly, a lightning bolt struck right in front of me. It made me instinctively jump back.

[Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe.]

Vera looked at me with bloodshot eyes and let out an eerie laugh. Despite the fact that she must have realized that she was much weaker than me.

This was because the true power of Vera the Summoner lied in her ability to control familiars.

Her strength or weakness wasn't determined by her own strength, but by the strength of the familiars she controlled.

Darkness mana rose like thick clouds, spreading out far and wide.

The darkness mana covered the sky like a dense fog, and countless familiars revealed themselves from within it.

Beyond the collapsed ceiling.

An army of various animal-like familars, their own elemental mana imbued with darkness mana, filled the sky.

──────── [Kyahahahahahahahahak──!!!!]

An evil laughter echoed throughout.

A colossal familiar, large enough to even overwhelm the army, revealed itself within the massive pool of spherical darkness mana.

A muscular body covered in red armor. Its three pairs of wings were riddled with bizarre eyeballs, and its face which resembled that of a sea turtle bore a grotesque smile.

It was Hakil, a 7-star familiar that had become a demon.

[Hakil] Lv: 140

Race: Demon

Elements: Lightning

Danger: High

Psychology: [Wants to tear your limbs off.]

[Hehehehehehehehehehe!!! You cute little things, have you come to protect your mommy? Neeeee~]

Vera the Summoner climbed onto a winged pterodactyl familiar, infused with darkness mana and light green wind, and flew upwards.

She asked questions and answered them herself as she posed with exaggerated gestures, as if she was performing in a play.

The winged pterodactyl familiar flapped its wings and spat out blood from its mouth with a squeaky sound.

[Splendid, splendid! Our lovely little ones! Let's subdue that bastard, chew on their entrails, and carefully separate their limbs! You got all that? Neeee~]

Upon Vera's command, the horde of familiars roared at me. It was a sorrowful roar, filled with grief.

The army of familiars, now deeply corrupted by darkness mana, had become magic beasts of darkness that could never revert back to their original state, even if Vera were to die. Their resentment spilled out through their cries.

Hakil laughed wickedly and stretched his arms towards the sky. A huge purple magic circle trailed just out of reach of the Thunderbird's barrier.

At that moment, numerous magic circles of various shapes and colors dazzled in midair. They were only aimed at me with the sole purpose of taking me down. It would have been a breathtakingly beautiful sight if it wasn't a spell meant to kill me.

Kwaang──!

The ground was ripped apart. With a single stomp, cracks appeared on the top floor of Carly Hall.

I channeled ice mana into my hands and took a battle stance.

Amidst the large-scale magic circles that covered my field of vision.

A lone light blue magic circle emitted light from within the half-destroyed building.

────────── [Kyahahahahahahahahaha──!!!!]

Alongside Hakil's hearty laughter.

The magic circles of the army of familiars simultaneously unleashed their spells.

Whirrrrrrrrrr───────!!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaa───────!!!!

Kwagagagagag───────!!!

Drrrrrrrrrr────── !!!!

Dozens of lightning bolts branched out. A storm of fire and ice rushed towards me, ice spears cut through the air, and rocks attempted to crush me.

The oncoming elemental spells rained down on me, with nowhere to hide from it.

Then, all those attacks suddenly stopped, as if time itself had frozen for a moment.

「Frost Wave (Ice Element, ★6)」

Sweeeeeee────!!!!

Chararararararak─────!!!

With a single powerful swing of my arm, the magic circle I created unleashed a fierce wave of cold in an instant.

The pale blue cold gale and thick snow swallowed all the elemental attacks and spread out in all directions, solidly freezing the army of familiars.

After they met their futile end, the familiars began to fall vertically.

Their bodies, frozen to the core, shattered helplessly into pieces as they hit the ground, the sound of glass shattering echoed.

[Ha-haaaaa…?]

Vera, riding her pterodactyl familiar from far away, had a horrified expression on her face.

The 7-star familiar, Hakil, appeared to be unaffected by the [Frost Wave] I had cast from a distance. He seemed to have high elemental resistance.

I bent my knees and gave strength to my legs. Then, I kicked off the ground and leaped towards Hakil with all my might.

Kuuuuuuung───!!

My body fiercely cut through the air with the sound of a cannon firing.

For a brief moment, only the sound of my hood flapping vigorously echoed through my ears.

In an instant, I reached Hakil and grabbed him by the nape of his neck.

───────── [Kyaaaaaack!!!!]

───────── [Choooooooke!!!!]

Hakil's scream intersected with my Berserker's roar.

In order to shake me off, Hakil writhed his body, and engraved purple magic circles all around us.

His magic circles followed his left hand, he then aimed at me.

「Thunderclap (Lightning Element, ★5)」

Fzzzzzzzz───!!

Kwakakakag────!!!!!

The magic circles aimed at me simultaneously fired spherical lightning bolts.

With a thunderous roar, dozens of purple currents branched out, which threatened to electrocute my body.

They tried to fry me with the extreme heat they generated.

Despite being struck by the powerful and destructive [Thunderclap].

「Ice Barrier (Ice Element, ★2)」

The basic elemental spell, [Ice Barrier], was enough to protect my body.

Ice created with an ice spell is unable to conduct electricity when struck by a lightning spell. Thus, one must solely rely on brute force to penetrate ice magic with lightning magic.

On top of that, I was wearing the 'Elemental Bracelet'. To prepare for Act 3, Scene 4 of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, I had increased my lightning elemental resistance.

Furthermore, my basic elemental resistance for lightning was especially high. Not to mention, I was 18 levels higher than Hakil.

His attack felt like a slight static shock at most.

"It's my turn now." (Grrrrrrrooooo─!)

I channeled ice mana into my right hand and condensed it. Soon, a light blue magic circle materialized in front of me.

Hakil struggled violently, trying to shake me off, but the more he resisted, the tighter I clenched his throat with the intention to tear it out.

Just like that, I unleashed the condensed ice mana at him.

「Frost Explosion (Ice Element, ★5)」

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa──────────────!!!

────── [Kyaaaaaaack!!!!]

An explosion of ice erupted.

The explosion of mana shredded Hakil's insides, and the ice surged in an instant, freezing his battered body.

I dispersed the ice, and a massive amount of light blue powder scattered into the air.

Alhough Hakil's mangled body leaked purple blood, he still screamed and resisted.

Once more.

I condensed ice mana into my right hand again. The magic circle for [Frost Explosion] appeared before me.

I unleashed the mana towards Hakil.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa──────────────!!!

────────── [Kyaaaaaaack───!!!!]

The light blue ice rampaged and completely obliterated Hakil's body.

A huge ice formation extended from his body, and cut through the air. Hakil struggled to maintain his balance and started falling straight down.

I dispersed the ice and fiercely threw my right fist towards him.

Boom───!!!

My fist, much smaller compared to Hakil, buried itself into his sea turtle-like head, and distorted his face.

The eerie sound of breaking armor and a skull being crushed was heard.

The air pressure spread out, and the sound of the punch resounded loudly. The light blue powder from the ice dissipated, and circular shock waves formed in the air.

By then, Hakil was already falling to the ground at a terrifying rate.

Whooooosh───!!

Kwaaaaang───!!!

Hakil's massive body fell with a violent crash.

Plunged into the ground, he destroyed half of Carly Hall.

Dust swirled like a storm, but it couldn't hide Hakil's enormous body.

He laid there with half his head caved in, covered in blood. He could no longer muster the strength to futilely resist me.

[My children…!! Aaaaaaaaa…, Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!! My babies, my babiesaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!]

Vera cried out in anguish. She was heartbroken at the sight of her familiars dying so gruesomely. Her mental anguish stemmed from her possessiveness.

Now, there was nothing left to protect her.

As my body slowly fell under the influence of gravity.

I wrapped my hands in an icy flame and imbued it with [Black Ice] before I directed it at Vera.

「Frostfire (Ice Element, ★4)」 + 「Black Ice (Ice Element, ★5)」

= 「Winter Hellfire (Ice Element)」

Haaaaaaaaaaaaak──────!!!

The dark blue icy flame spread out, and covered an area large enough to engulf the entire academy grounds.

It dispersed on such a large scale that Vera couldn't avoid it.

Soon, between the gaps of the icy flame, I saw Vera and her pterodactyl familiar fall to the ground while engulfed in flames.

I extinguished the flame and let my body fall to the ground, surrendering myself to gravity.

Thud─────!

I landed on the top floor of Carly Hall, now barely recognizable as a building. In front of me, Vera and her pterodactyl familiar writhed on the ground like trampled earthworms.

Their entire bodies were frozen stiff due to the deep chill that penetrated their very bones. They trembled as if they were victims who wandered through a snowy mountain ravaged by a blizzard, and then collapsed.

Vera the Summoner was vulnerable without her familiars.

[My babies, my babies… Ah, aaaaaaaah…! Dead, deaaaaaaad, sob, deaaaaaad… Dead, dead…]

Vera frantically clawed at the ground and bitterly wept like a parent who had lost her child.

Now it was over. I approached Vera to finish her off.

──At that moment.

A dense shield of lightning enveloped the demon.

─────────────── [Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa───!!]

"...!!!"

The screech of a bird of prey.

My heart sank. I hurriedly deployed a thick[Ice Wall].

「Ice Wall (Ice Element, ★4)」 「Chain Lightning (Lightning Element, ★5)」

Fzzzzzzzzt────!!!

Kwaaaaaaang─────!!!!

"Ugh!" (Gereuk!)

A flash of light.

Thick lightning struck me like a chain, it twisted and turned in order to ambush me.

The [Chain Lightning] destroyed the [Ice Wall] with sheer destructive power and completely engulfed my body.

The intense current coursed through my entire body.

I lost consciousness for a moment as my insides burned with pain.

One second. That was how long it took for me to regain consciousness.

I smelled burnt flesh. It was my own. Smoke billowed like mist from my scorched skin.

"Ah, crazy."

My hood and part of my mask had been burnt off by the lightning. As soon as I realized that my Berserker disguise had been compromised, I took off the suffocating hood.

I should have been in unbearable pain, but thanks to the effect of [Hunter], my body had transcended humanity and I only felt as if I had entered a sauna.

Thanks to the [Ice Wall] that served as a barrier, it broke the momentum of the lightning.

「Cold Divergence (Ice Element, ★1)」

I released a faint cold air to cool my body.

I caught a glimpse of the black Thunderbird, Galia, draped in darkness mana and purple lightning mana, flying toward me.

Chararara, chararara────!!!

─────Urrrrrrr─────Bang! Bang! Bang!─────!!!!!!

A cluster of colorful stars emitted light and protected the subjugation party from the dozens of lightning bolts that struck down from under the purple [Thunder God's Barrier]. The Thunderbird's lightning spell was meant to prevent Dorothy from finding the opportunity to perform such an attack.

In the distance, I could see the subjugation party being protected by a shining barrier. The Thunderbird's magic could attack the subjugation party from anywhere. Dorothy couldn't recklessly chase the Thunderbird.

Her best option was to protect the subjugation party with a barrier while she chased the Thunderbird down the hill.

But now, the Thunderbird was spreading its massive wings at me, blocking the sky.

[ Thunderbird-Galia ] Lv: 175

Race: Demon

Elements: Lightning

Danger: Highest

Psychology: [ I will kill you. Kill you. You.

I don't want to hurt anyone else. ] 

[Ahhhh, my cute… cute baby bird… Have you come to protect mommy…?]

Vera twisted her neck grotesquely as she looked at Thunderbird Galia. The flesh of her throat was torn and blood oozed from it.

The Thunderbird's condition wasn't great either. Its body was battered and torn, and purple blood leaked from its entire body.

If I were to estimate its HP… around 20%? Its health was more depleted than I expected. It must be due to the excellent support from the honor students who joined the subjugation party, which helped Dorothy and Ian.

From Dorothy's perspective, it must have been more convenient to reduce the Thunderbird's HP compared to the original scenario.

I didn't know how well Ian performed, but I could see traces of light mana here and there. It seemed that he managed to land some attacks. Then, he must have passed out.

─────────────[Kiaaaaaaaaaaa───!!]

The Thunderbird screeched at me, it opened its beak full of neatly arranged sharp teeth.

A giant purple magic circle was engraved around the Thunderbird. The moment I saw it, I sensed my impending doom.

An insta-kill pattern that was used once the Thunderbird was cornered, the 7-star lightning spell [Thunderstorm Annihilation]. The reason it was an instant-kill was purely due to its immense 'power.'

To block that spell, one must use a light elemental sword attack to strike down all the purple magic stones that would protrude from the Thunderbird's body as soon as the magic circle manifested.

In other words… I couldn't stop that spell.

I could feel the high-density mana that Hakil couldn't even begin to compare to.

It was the worst-case scenario. Truly, truly… the worst.

"...."

Plan B, Plan C, Plan D… All the plans I had prepared to counter various variables that would prevent a bad ending had been thrown out the window.

In my focus to ensure Ian would survive the Thunderbird's instant-kill pattern, I had failed to consider the possibility of the Thunderbird actually coming after me.

Failure. I failed.

An overwhelming amount of mana, unlike any demon I had ever faced before, weighed down on me.

The magic circle's majesty overwhelmed me.

────Uuuuuu.

Despite the situation being seemingly hopeless, my fiercely pounding heart began to gradually calm down. Even as the Thunderbird screeched and its earthshaking thunder roared, I carefully assessed the situation despite [Thunderstorm Annihilation] trying to engulf me in terror.

Then I suddenly remembered a setting I had forgotten about.

The secondary effect of the passive [Ice Sovereign]. It was a setting that had nothing to do with the story of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, so I had forgotten about it.

It was an effect that gave me a heart as cold as ice in the face of an utterly hopeless situation.

It was the [Frozen Soul] effect contained within [Ice Sovereign].

I tried not to become used to failure.

During the days when I studied in a 3-pyeong one-room apartment in Sillim-dong for 5 years, I piled up law books like a mountain in preparation for the bar exam.

What scared me the most was getting used to this lifestyle.

Even though I failed the bar exam every year, I tried not to get used to failure. I tried to think of that cramped space that confined me as just a temporary accommodation.

So, while I studied under heavy pressure every day, I played ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ as a reward for finishing my daily studies.

I tried to distract myself from the repeated failures and despair I faced each and every year.

They say that if a person wore a psychological mask, that mask would become their face.

Maybe the influence of those days played a part in my ability to resist despair, even in the face of such a hopeless situation.

Well… it was a boring story.

「Ice Sovereign (Ice Element, ★9)」

"Cough…!"

Blood regurgitated and poured out of my mouth. It was because I had unleashed the full power of [Ice Sovereign].

I felt as if every single cell in my body was being pricked by needles, but it was more than bearable compared to when [Hunter] was deactivated.

The saturation of my skin increased. My silver hair bristled, and a gentle pale blue cold air gently flowed from my body.

Instinctively, I judged that I could only endure for up to 10 seconds.

If it's 10 seconds…

'It's not just enough, it's more than enough…!'

I judged that I had a chance of winning.

No, I wanted to believe in that sliver of hope. Otherwise, my feet wouldn't be able to move.

I kicked off the ground and leapt towards the Thunderbird like a spring. Eight light blue magic circles followed me from behind, and in front of the dark blue mana condensed in my right hand, the magic circle of [Black Ice Explosion] was engraved.

───────────────[Kiaaaaaaaaa─!!]

In the blink of an eye.

My magic circle and the Thunderbird's emitted a brilliant light, unleashing their respective spells.

「Thunderstorm Annihilation (Lightning Element, ★7)」 「Abyssal Glacier (Ice Element, ★7)」

Tsupapapapapat─────────!!!!!

Kwagagagagagang─────────!!!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa─────────!!!!!

A bright light engulfed everything in my sight.

As colossal bolts of lightning roared, they engraved their presence in all directions without any gaps.

The eerie blue light of the [Abyssal Glacier] materialized, it caught up with the speed of lightning and even froze the lightning bolts that should have disappeared in an instant.

A cold gale accompanied by snow mercilessly lashed my skin with Carly Hall at its focal point.

The pale blue chill flowed from my body due to the effect of [Ice Sovereign]. It broke the momentum of the lightning strike. However, I couldn't block the sensation of currents coursing through my body.

And amidst the unstoppable collision, I slammed the dark blue ice mana I had condensed in my right hand into the Thunderbird.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Again, and again, and again.

Without rest, I condensed the dark blue mana in both hands and wildly swung my arms. I relentlessly fired [Black Ice Explosion] at the Thunderbird.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa───────!!!

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa────…

My ears rang. I couldn't hear properly.

Even so, I couldn't think of anything other than casting spells until the Thunderbird fell.

I ignored the pain that engulfed my entire body, I roared out like a beast as if my throat was about to burst.

I condensed ice mana in both my hands and exploded it again and again.

I blasted [Black Ice Explosion] towards the Thunderbird.

Every time I unleashed [Black Ice Explosion], dark blue ice crystals spread through the area and crumpled into dust, only to repeat this cycle over and over again.

The subsequent explosions shattered a huge tree of frozen lightning that had grown to encompass the area.

Dark blue masses of ice erupted. The ice of the afterlife scattered in all directions.

I couldn't think of anything else. I instinctively used defrost to eliminate the ice created by [Abyssal Glacier].

A cold wind rushed in. The eerie blue mana ran rampant as the ice of the afterlife disappeared.

At that moment,

What caught my eyes was the black Thunderbird, twisted and trapped within the enormous piece of ice.

Vera the Summoner, who had been lying beside the ice, had half her body blown off. The rest of her body was no different from a severely injured person that was frozen and frostbitten.

It seemed to have happened when my ice mana exploded, condensed, and exploded again.

She looked at me with a distorted face before turning into ash-like dust and scattering.

When I finally regained my senses, I was amidst a snowstorm and cold gale.

I just stood there.

Standing.

[Congratulations! You've defeated the demon [Vera the Summoner (Lv 125)] and gained EXP!] [Level Up!! Your level has increased to 60!] You have gained 4 stat points!] [You have unlocked the achievement ❰Unfazed by 7-star magic❱! All elemental resistance has increased by 10 points!] [You have unlocked the achievement ❰Defeating the Thunderbird❱! You have gained an additional 15 stat points!] You have bravely defeated the nation-destroying magic beast [Thunderbird Galia (Lv 175)] and [Vera the Summoner (Lv 125)]! The Great Witch of Heaven's Wrath, who has been overseeing the world as a mediator between this world and the next, expresses her gratitude to you! [You have unlocked the achievement ❰To Gretel❱! You have received a gift from the Great Witch of Heaven's Wrath!]