-Golden Dragon
Magic had no effect on the lizardmen at all, but Gil had spread concentric waves of mana in every direction.
His detection magic was active as well, and his mana had been drawn up to its limit.
Perhaps that was why the cawing of the crow sounded to him like words with a clear meaning.
“Ren is about to do something. He says to wait.”
“Huh, really? You understood that? What is he planning to do?”
Cheon Danbi was burning dried herbs she had taken from her bag, producing smoke. Blue smoke rose and gradually spread in every direction.
The blue smoke mixed into the yellow gas that was wrapped around the two of them like a cloud.
Then, as if the two gases were fighting and settling a winner, they tangled together before the blue smoke vanished without a trace.
In the end, the victor of the fight was the yellow gas.
The lizardmen watching the scene hissed and chattered wildly. They seemed to be savoring the joy of victory as the masters of the yellow gas.
Gil furrowed his brow.
As if that mattered, when the lizardmen themselves couldn’t even make the yellow gas penetrate past the barrier.
“Ha…! It’s no good. This is tougher than I thought.”
Cheon Danbi spoke in disappointment.
Gil grew anxious and began chewing on his lip without realizing it.
For the first time, he realized how bewildering it was for a mage to be unable to use magic.
‘Why on earth doesn’t magic work on them? What are they blocking it with? What am I supposed to do at a time like this?’
All of a sudden, he desperately wished Oudin were beside him.
But the mage was not here right now. This was a situation Gil had to resolve. This was Gil’s challenge to overcome.
Gil took a deep breath, steadied himself, and began analyzing the situation again.
He had to uncover the reason magic did not apply to the lizardmen.
“Danbi-noona, please strengthen the barrier further.”
“Okay. Got it.”
Before they knew it, the number of lizardmen had increased tremendously. They were pressing closer and closer upon Cheon Danbi and Gil.
It seemed they intended to break the barrier by physical force if nothing else.
He could not allow that.
Leaving the reinforcement of the barrier to Cheon Danbi, Gil used detection magic and began examining the surroundings with even greater care.
There was no problem with magic activating on their side. But when it got near the lizardmen, the mana was canceled out and failed to take effect.
Then there had to be a boundary point. He planned to examine that.
Gil paid no attention to the lizardmen closing in on the two of them.
They were surrounded and trapped by them, but in truth, as long as the lizardmen could not pierce the barrier, they were trapped as well.
Inside and outside were only relative concepts, nothing more than illusions.
He had to cast aside the anxiety of being surrounded and examine the situation closely through a mage’s eyes.
The next moment, the hissing of the lizardmen no longer reached Gil’s ears. He felt no pressure at all.
Having reached perfect concentration, he simply sank into the waves, searching for the point where his magic flowed and then became blocked.
And at last, he was able to discover the cause.
‘I understand. It’s because of the unique mana properties the lizardmen possess.’
After closely examining the boundary point, Gil was able to analyze the structure by which the magic circuits were being canceled out.
The reason magic did not apply and was instead canceled was because of the strange mana the lizardmen carried.
Their mana was different even from the ashen energy of the bizarre life-forms summoned by black mages.
This was, how should he put it, mana that ought to be called anti-mana.
It possessed properties like a mirror image of ordinary mana. It was mana with the nature of repelling and canceling ordinary mana waves.
‘Incredible. To think there are creatures like that.’
Gil was inwardly astonished.
They were like creatures born with innate mana prevention.
Had they created such a trait through mutation?
If so, then Vanaheim had truly created creatures with terrifying characteristics.
They had created monsters that mages could not stop with magic.
“Danbi-noona, this is bad. Magic doesn’t work on them.”
“What? No matter what we do?”
“The lizardmen were born with mana prevention.”
“It’s a mutation trait?”
“Yes. I think so. The mana they carry cancels out ordinary mana. So, in a manner of speaking, it’s anti-mana.”
“Anti-mana? Damn it. Then what do we do?”
“I think we have to break out of here somehow…”
“Let’s cast some kind of magic on our side first, confuse their vision, and try to escape.”
“Ah! I’ll try it.”
Somehow, they had to create an opening and get out of here. They had to reverse inside and outside.
Cheon Danbi’s idea of confusing their vision seemed sound.
Gil had a guess as to why the lizardmen had gathered so densely only around the two of them.
To begin with, the amount of mana the lizardmen possessed was not large. Their trait was astonishing, but each individual did not possess tremendous power.
That was why so many lizardmen had gathered and were threatening them, all to stop the two of them.
Even though their original objective was likely to steal the life force of many people.
So once they reversed inside and outside, all they had to do was manifest magic broadly from outside the lizardmen. Even if magic did not work on them directly, they should still be able to imprison them.
Gil drew up his mana. Concentrating his mind, he powerfully extended concentric waves of mana.
He imagined a pure white light in his mind.
Gil did not know how to use spatial magic, so he could not open a portal and escape from here, but he could unleash a massive burst of light and blind the lizardmen for a moment.
Soon, a brilliant light filled Gil from within.
Gil was just about to activate the light magic when he suddenly remembered what Ren had said earlier and looked up at the sky.
‘That’s right! Ren told us to wait.’
It was right then.
A sharp whoosh rang out, as though the air above had been split apart.
Then, just like what Gil had been about to do, a pure white light flashed, and something enormous appeared in the sky.
Shining with golden light, it was a dragon.
‘A dragon?’
Gil’s mouth fell open despite himself.
“Oh! That’s a dragon, isn’t it?”
Behind him, Cheon Danbi cried out in a small voice.
Cheon Danbi and Gil briefly looked at each other’s faces, then hurriedly turned their heads back toward the sky.
The two of them realized it at once. That enormous dragon shining with golden light was none other than Ren.
The next moment, a terrifying pressure suddenly poured down from the sky. It was the majesty of a dragon.
The majesty of a dragon, which could make everything around it kneel in an instant through the sheer force of its manifest presence alone.
Sure enough, the lizardmen who had surrounded Cheon Danbi and Gil all lifted their heads and began trembling all over.
Staring at the dragon, they chattered in incomprehensible words.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss, hiss!
Even though he could not understand their language, it was clear that the lizardmen were deeply flustered and afraid.
In the sky, the air surged once more with a sharp whoosh.
A pure white light flashed.
Everyone shut their eyes against the dazzling light that seemed as though it would blind them, and when they opened them again, the enormous dragon had flown down to hover directly above their heads.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss, hiss!
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss, hiss!
The lizardmen’s screams grew even louder.
The enormous dragon circled once through the air. Its long tail scattered the atmosphere.
Then the yellow gas the lizardmen had spread around them vanished without a trace.
The frightened faces of the lizardmen became even clearer.
Cheon Danbi and Gil merely watched the dragon’s movements while holding their breath.
Even they were seized by an intense aura that made them unable to dare attempt anything.
[Lizardmen, you have forgotten your duty.]
A voice transmission echoed in their minds.
It was a voice transmission heard unfailingly not only by Cheon Danbi and Gil, but by the lizardmen as well.
[You were permitted to live on Earth together with humans and other races. And yet why do you seek to harm people? Preserving peace is the duty of every citizen.]
The dragon’s tone was completely different from Ren’s usual way of speaking.
Did even his manner of speech change when he transformed? It seemed so. Perhaps even the dignity of his very existence changed.
In any case, merely listening to the dragon’s words naturally inspired awe.
Hiss! Hiss!
The lizardmen said something. Were they protesting?
But soon the voice transmission echoed again, scattering the lizardmen’s chatter.
[I shall collect all of the strange mana you carry. From this moment on, obey my will!]
The dragon’s words were absolute. An absolute command that no one could ignore or defy.
A higher being above all races in the world. A magical existence possessing absolute power. That was what a dragon was.
The moment the dragon’s words fell, the lizardmen began dropping to their knees one by one.
Before long, all the lizardmen were kneeling, their heads deeply bowed. They had submitted.
Gil sensed mana flowing out of the lizardmen like smoke and moving toward the dragon.
How was that possible?
Until now, Gil had tried this and that magic, only to be blocked by the anti-mana each time and frustrated, but once Ren transformed into a dragon and issued a command, the anti-mana was being collected as easily as that?
It was only natural. A dragon was not only a magical existence possessing absolute power, but also the ancestral figure and supreme being of reptiles, the group to which lizards and lizardmen belonged.
‘Amazing! How can he even transform into a dragon? Ren really is an incredible person!’
Gil did not say it aloud and only thought it in his heart.
When he glanced back, Cheon Danbi was also gazing at the dragon with eyes full of awe and admiration.
However, in Cheon Danbi’s sparkling eyes was a warm affection. She was not only awed and admiring, but immensely proud as well.
Like an older sister. Like family.
“Well done!”
Cheon Danbi cried in a low voice.
As if in answer, the enormous dragon circled through the air once more. Then brilliant golden particles poured down like falling snow.
It was like a waterfall of light.
The golden particles settled layer by layer upon the lizardmen’s heads.
[I accept your submission. Now you have returned to your original forms. Open your mouths and speak.]
Soon, the lizardmen opened their mouths and spoke. It was human language that Cheon Danbi and Gil could understand.
“O Dragon, we obey you!”
“We obey!”
“Thank you for returning us to our original forms.”
“Thank you!”
As the strange anti-mana the lizardmen had carried drained away, it seemed the barrier that had stood between them and humans had collapsed.
Now they were no longer mutated test subjects, but had returned to ordinary members of another race.