Chapter 123-124

Chapter 123 – We were taught the strongest fire magic!

After returning to the surface, all the important members were gathered together so that we could discuss Elto.

I was currently introducing Elto, who had returned to her dragon form.

"So that is the reason I will be staying here for a while."

Elto said as she bowed her head.

Everyone who sat around the table also bowed in reply.

Rienna was then the first person to open her mouth.

"Miss Elto, I heard about what happened to you. It must have been hard to be locked away for…"

"Y-you! Is it true that you tried to challenge the Chief!?"

Erevan suddenly interrupted her.

"General! I don't think she was actually trying to kill him…"

Rienna said. Elto then added,

"I apologize for the insolence! But I really had no intention to kill! I just wanted to fight because I was bored. I would dominate him with my power and force him to become my servant."

"Is that true?"

"It-it is true. Besides, a scary-looking man suddenly appeared wielding a pickaxe!! Isn't it normal to be suspicious!?"

Erevan had a look of realization as he turned to me. Then he nodded understandingly.

"That must be it…"

Fule muttered.

"That's what persuades them…"

…Well, they had all looked at me as if frightened when we first met. Did I really look so scary when digging…?

Then Fule turned to Elto.

"So, I heard that you can do some amazing magic!?"

"Hmm, indeed. I am the Demon King of Hellfire, which makes me the greatest pyromancer in the world. My firepower is on a different level!"

Elto said with a boastful laugh. Fule sounded very excited as she then asked,

"In that case…could you, uh, teach us this magic?"

"Of course. Teaching magic to the residents of this island, that was the condition that Heal…uh, my master insisted on."

Elto answered as she stood up.

"Let's see. As a little warm up, I will burn down this World Tree and…"

"No-no-no!! You can't do that! What are you thinking!"

Fule cried, but Elto just looked puzzled.

"Hmm? I see. Well, it is the only tree in this area."

And then Baris addressed her with a curious expression.

"Do you mean to say, Miss Elto, that such trees were not rare for you when you lived on the surface?"

"Mmm. At least, during that time, my homeland was covered in such trees."

But judging from what Roydon had told me, all of the World Trees were completely gone from those lands.

Rienna then turned to Elto.

"Miss Elto, this tree is very important to us. In fact, it is the only tree of its kind on the continent."

"Hmm, indeed. I just thought that it would be a good showcase of my power. I'm sorry. Besides, now that I look closer, it seems like there are people up there."

Elto bowed sincerely.

And then Fule muttered,

"That being said, what kind of magic could burn down the huge World Tree…"

"I see that you can't wait to see it. In that case, I'll unleash it towards the sea over there."

Elto said as she raised her hand towards the open sea.

"What should I do first… I suppose I'll unleash my strongest spell, Hell Explosion. There doesn't seem to be any boats or people around…"

Elto scanned the waters and then shouted.

"Hell Explosion!!!!"

And then a small red light shot out of Elto's palm.

It left a tail of light behind it as it went straight towards the sea.

It was a lot smaller than I was expecting. But, it was too early to make judgments.

However, the light just kept traveling away until it disappeared into the distance.

Erevan folded his arms.

"Hey, hey. Nothing even happened… What!?"

His words turned into shock before he finished.

There was a great flash of light on the horizon, followed by a massive explosion.

"Wh-what the hell is that!?"

It was an explosion so large that it would have covered not just the World Tree, but even something larger than Sheorl Island itself.

Shortly after, violent winds and the sound of the explosion hit Sheorl.

It was all anyone could do to remain on their feet and avoid being blown away.

Erevan shouted.

"Hey! You went too far!"

"S-sorry! I guess it was a little too much?"

A little too much? While the explosion had not hit the island, giant waves were rushing towards us now.

And so Rienna and the others had to help me and create Shields in order to block the waves.

～～～～～

While Elto was demonstrating Hell Explosion to Heal and the others, a certain warship was floating near the coast of Sheorl.

The crew of the ship all stood on the deck and gazed into the distance. They had been looking in the direction of Sheorl, which would be visible any moment now.

"Hey…hey…what was that…?"

Like the rest of the crew, Balpas was shocked by what he had just seen.

Even Oren was standing next to him with his mouth wide open.

"It-it's impossible… What the hell…"

Out of nowhere, a giant explosion had erupted in front of their eyes. It was on such a scale that it could have blown away the entire Sanfaris palace.

And before they had any time to catch their breath, the ship was assaulted by the sounds and winds of the explosion.

"What!? Everyone, hold on!!"

As Balpas shouted, the captain's voice and the ship's bell echoed around them.

However, the violent blasts of wind started to tear through their sails one after another. But as if that was not enough, one of the masts began to bend with a terrible noise, and then it broke in half and fell into the sea.

"Hey, Oren! What are you doing! Use your magic to stop this wind!"

Balpas said, and Oren suddenly returned to himself.

He and the other sorcerers quickly unleashed wind magic at the powerful winds.

"Wh-what is that… Now there are waves!?"

Before Balpas could catch his breath, a great wave that looked like it could swallow the ship up was right in front of them.

"All of you, prepare for impact! We can repair the mast later!"

The captain's voice echoed. In the meantime, Oren shouted at the waves.

"Tsk! Elstorm!!"

Oren's magic opened up a hole through the wave, and the battleship passed right through.

However, it was not perfect, and a great amount of water still filled the ship.

"But…what was that…"

Balpas looked up and saw that smoke was rising in the air.

Oren had now returned to his usual calm self.

"It is not that shocking, brother. I assume that some underwater volcano must have erupted."

But Balpas did not nod.

A volcano would not have erupted so suddenly without any signs. Besides, there was a flash of red light. It was clearly the work of magic.

It was as if someone were warning them to stay away… Balpas could not help but think this.

Just then, the captain rushed towards Balpas with a look of panic.

"Prince Balpas! It's a disaster! Many have been wounded! Furthermore, one of the masts was broken, and there is a hole near the bow of the ship!"

"What? Can't you fix it?"

"We can take some emergency measures, but the hole is very big, and the ship will be uneven… And the mast has sunken into the water and will be difficult to retrieve."

"Well, I'm not an expert on ships, so there is not much I can say. Regardless, how much longer can we sail?"

"I think we should last until we reach Sheorl… But we will not make it if we turn around now. Besides, the men need to be treated."

"I see. Damn it… Now it will look like we are going to Heal to ask for help."

Then Oren opened his mouth.

"No, brother. If anything, isn't this a favorable situation?"

Balpas was confused by these surprising words.

"What are you talking about? Don't you see that we might have to bow our heads and ask Heal to help repair and restock the ship? And what if he were to refuse us… Ah."

"Yes. You know Heal well enough to know what he will do."

Oren said. And then Balpas muttered quietly.

"Heal would not reject us like this… So now our entry into the island is all but assured."

"Exactly. We can just make up some excuse about getting lost at sea. Besides, you have 'Twilight,' which allows you to conceal yourself."

"You. You knew about my real crest…"

"Yes. In any case, now we are guaranteed entry into the island. We don't have to worry about being turned away."

"That's true… Captain, set sail for Sheorl as soon as we're finished with repairs."

And so the battleship set out for Sheorl once the emergency repairs were completed.

However, at that time, none of the ship's crew noticed the rocking of the barrels in the ship's hull.

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Chapter 124 – We saw fireworks!

And so Elto taught us fire magic.

Her methods were quite simple. First, she would demonstrate it for us.

"See, bang! That's how it's like! Now you try!"

This vague way of teaching caused Fule to mutter,

"…You keep saying 'bang' and 'boom.' Are we really going to learn anything?"

"What are you talking about! With magic, it's all about practice! Now, stop complaining!"

Elto said sternly to Fule.

Fule looked puzzled, but continued to unleash light towards the air and sea as she was told. However, it was not going very well.

I didn't think that Elto was just interested in showing off her power. I thought she was trying to emphasize that with using magic, the important part was being able to visualize and then chant.

It had been much the same when I was learning magic at Sanfaris.

Though, they cared about the chant more than visualizing it.

And so I decided to follow Elto's advice and practice as much as possible.

But as I was afraid of great explosions, I would keep them at a small scale and target the sky.

"…Hell Explosion!"

I shouted as my hand stretched out over the sea.

And then a ball of fire shot out of the palm of my hand.

Huh? When Elto did it, it had been a red light. But this was already fire?

Elto burst into laughter.

"Ha. It looks like even the Cave King cannot copy my magic within a day. Now listen to me, you have lots of magic energy, you just need to calm yourself and… Huh?"

Elto suddenly raised her face to the sky.

It was where I had unleashed the magic.

"Y-you…everyone, get down!"

Elto shouted as she created a Shield around us.

We all felt something too, and raised Shields of our own.

In the next instant, the sky turned pitch black.

It wasn't so much an explosion, but like someone pouring ink over a sheet of paper.

As we gazed in awe at this surreal sight, the black particles and explosive winds began to dissipate.

At the same time, I could sense immense magic energy coming towards us.

"AHHHHHH!!"

The goblins fell to the ground and waited for it to hit us.

But thanks to the Shields that we cast, no damage was done.

"Wh-what was that…"

Rienna looked dumbfounded.

The monsters were all blinking with stunned expressions.

Then Elto said to me,

"I think you should avoid using any advanced magic. It's almost too good a match for you. Who knows, you might accidentally destroy this whole planet…"

"Uh, okay…"

"First, try imagining a normal spell while chanting an advanced one. Maybe then you can adjust it… No, wait!"

Just like me, someone else was unleashing magic that they couldn't control.

It was Baris, who had the Magic King crest.

"So-sorry… But I just really wanted to test it…"

Baris's magic was on a smaller scale, but it also made the sky turn black, just like mine had.

We had to block the tidal waves again. And as Elto caught her breath, she said,

"Why do I get the feeling that I've started something terrible… Perhaps I shouldn't be teaching you after all. You better promise not to misuse this magic."

We all said 'yes,' and nodded.

Just then, Fal, the fire dragon, came up to Elto.

Although just a newborn baby…Fal was already the size of a large dog.

Perhaps Fal had felt a sense of kinship, as Elto looked quite similar. And it was currently rubbing against Elto's leg.

"Wh-what is this all of a sudden… I'm not your mother."

Elto protested, but she didn't look like she really minded.

"…Oh, alright then. Come over here."

Elto held Fal to her chest and then turned to me.

"What a healthy child. What is its name?"

"Fal. That merchant that I told you about, he brought us some eggs from your homeland."

"I see…"

I didn't call them products.

But Elto must have sensed it.

She looked a little sad as she patted Fal on the head.

"There, there. What a good baby… Oh, I know. I can do this!"

Elto said as she raised her hand to the sky. Then a small red light shot out of her palm.

It rose high up into the sky and then exploded loudly.

Fal looked surprised at first, but then Elto told it to look up, and its eyes began to shine.

It had exploded into sparks of seven different colors.

In Sanfaris, they had something similar called fireworks.

Powerful lords would often launch them for the people during a celebration.

Fule's eyes glimmered as she asked Elto.

"It's so pretty… What is it!?"

"Fire Bomb. It's usually used to attack or scare away enemies. But I can change the colors with my imagination. And then it becomes a Fire Flower."

"Ohh, I want to learn it too! It looks so fun!"

"Well, you will just have to practice then. Hmm, it seems like this one is more popular than the advanced magic… Very well!"

Elto saw that the other residents were shouting with excitement, and she launched more and more Fire Bombs into the air.

And like that, fireworks with all kinds of colors appeared in the sky.

The rest of us tried to copy them, and it was the beginning of a little fireworks festival.

～～～～～

"Captain! We discovered three spots where water is leaking in!!"

"You have to keep the ship floating no matter what!! This is His Majesty's ship!!"

Due to the two black explosions, a scene similar to hell was now before the crew of the ship.

Three of their masts were now broken, leaving only one remaining.

With only one sail left, they could not have enough wind power to propel the great battleship forward.

The blasts had also rocked the ship, and the waves caused the boards to creak.

Three large holes had opened up, and there were nearly a dozen smaller ones.

Balpas could no longer hide his abilities, he quickly moved around the ship and went about repairing the damage.

Once the clanging of his hammer stopped, Balpas looked up to the crew on the deck and shouted.

"Hey! This one is fine now!"

"Th-thank you, Your Highness! The other one is on the other side! But it's not an emergency!"

"I see! Then I'll drink some water first! Phew… Why I am the one doing this…"

They hadn't even reached Sheorl yet, but he was exhausted in both body and mind.

In the first place, if it was Heal who had unleashed those explosions, he did not have a chance of defeating him.

Balpas was greatly regretting that he accepted the mission.

"Ahh…I should have rejected it. I suppose my luck has run dry."

He sighed as he climbed up a rope to the deck.

"But where is Oren, anyway? …Hmm?"

Oren was at the bow and muttering something to himself.

"Is he using magic to make the ship go forward…? No, that's…"

They could see small scale magic in the air above the water.

"Fireworks…"

Balpas and the rest of the crew looked at them in awe.

While the first explosion could have been a coincidence, it was starting to look like a warning against them.

However, Balpas realized that this wasn't the case.

There must be some kind of celebration going on.

It was too much for an attempt to scare them away. But not enough to be a hostile attack.

It was likely that Heal still had no idea that they were coming.

Balpas then went over to the ship's captain.

"These people are mad… Captain, are you sure that we can't return?"

The captain shook his head.

"It wasn't possible after the first explosion. And now in our current state, we might not even reach Sheorl…"

"Tsk… Oren! We have no choice! You must use magic to take us closer to the shore! …Oren?"

Balpas noticed that Oren's body was shaking.

He thought it strange, and walked up to him.

"He-hey. Oren? What is it?"

"…That magic. It's impossible… That's not magic. It should not be magic."

Oren had felt the immense energy coming towards them during the second explosion.

It had made him feel something he had never felt before—fear.

He had never been afraid when in front of his father.

There shouldn't be anything in this world that could make him feel that.

Oren bit his lip hard and shouted.

"…How can there be magic that I do not know!!"

The ship was surrounded by strong winds then.

"O-Oren! The ship won't last like this!"

Balpas put a hand on Oren's shoulder to try and stop him, but Oren's wind magic nearly knocked him off of his feet.

However, Balpas had been an assassin for many years. And he quickly moved away.

Oren's face twisted and he shouted at Balpas.

"Don't you dare give me orders!! You're just scum whose filthy hands murder people in their sleep!!"

"Y-you…"

Balpas felt the blood rising to his head.

But if they fought here, they would only sink the ship.

"Tsk… You, take me to the next spot."

Balpas held his anger in and continued his round of the ship in order to repair the holes.

Just then, something that wasn't Oren's magic began to push the ship towards Sheorl.

Without anyone knowing, something was splashing loudly behind the ship.