There was a dragon there.
With its enormous body inflated to the fullest, it stood upright, emanating an immense magical storm and exuding a dignified aura.
It was the very creature that Elric had faced just moments before.
However, the aura it emitted now was completely different from before.
It was arrogant and intense.
Its eyes held a gaze that seemed to dominate everything in sight, a gaze of an absolute ruler.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side stood a human whose stature was utterly insignificant compared to the dragon.
Black hair and black eyes.
In contrast, he had a pale complexion.
Even though it seemed like he could be crushed by the dragon’s swiping claws at any moment, a sneer was strangely evident at the corner of his mouth.
As if he found the charging dragon amusing.
In an instant, Elric recognized the man with black hair.
‘The Demon King!’
The ruler of all monsters, beasts, and non-humans.
Known to be a natural enemy of the dragon species, who pursued order.
It seemed that their current confrontation was because of this enmity.
However, there was a problem.
‘Who exactly is he?’
Elric couldn’t guess the identity of the Demon King.
No one was more knowledgeable about the lineage of demons than Elric.
It was because, since the extinction of dragons, the Melvinger family had been waging war against the demons for over a thousand years, earning their reputation.
30 years ago, their family’s fame peaked during the Grand Demon War, where they played a leading role, but it eventually led to their downfall.
But he couldn’t recognize this one?
A momentary feeling of unease struck him.
‘Could it be?’
Perhaps.
The feeling he had always attributed to the remnants of the dragon might not be the dragon’s remnants at all.
Regardless of Elric’s thoughts, the battle between the dragon and the Demon King had already begun.
With flames bursting from the ground, and clouds descending, followed by icy whirlwinds, a battle like no one had ever seen before unfolded.
Then, the Demon King pierced the dragon’s head with the massive spear.
‘……!’
Without realizing it, Elric gasped.
His earlier fears had become a reality.
The dragon tried to rise but eventually lost all its strength and fell to the ground.
Triumphantly, the Demon King stepped onto the fallen dragon’s head.
Hahaha.
After laughing heartily, he suddenly turned his head in his direction.
His eyes, burning with madness, were fixed on Elric.
“You are the one. The new vessel that will break my tedious seal!”
It was a disaster.
Elric felt his body freeze for a moment.
‘…I was too complacent.’
Why hadn’t he thought of it before?
That it could be a trap.
Perhaps it was due to his blinding desire to obtain the dragon’s fate.
What happened afterward quickly played out.
The power that seeped from the dead dragon transformed momentarily into chains, binding the Demon King’s limbs. From the void, a thick darkness emerged, growling, and aiming to consume the Demon King.
The dragon had sacrificed its soul to place a powerful curse on the Demon King.
It was a seal to the abyss.
It aimed to trap the Demon King in the depths of darkness, from which no one could ever escape.
The Demon King struggled desperately to break free, but the more he struggled, the tighter the chains became, binding him even more fiercely.
Ultimately, when more than half of his body was being dragged into the abyss, he had to make a drastic decision.
He decided he’d rather be buried with the dragon than be trapped in the abyss.
Chuckle.
Thus, the Demon King tore his own body apart. His limbs transformed into dark magic, spreading out like a thick fog.
However, the fog couldn’t free him from his bindings. Instead, it was sucked into the spear that had been piercing the dragon, swirling around it.
By attaching himself to the spear and the dragon’s corpse, he managed to escape the pressure of the abyss.
The chains that lost their target tightly bound the spear and the dragon’s corpse together.
Ensuring they would never separate.
Making sure the Demon King couldn’t unseal it and escape on his own.
And then.
A millennium passed.
“But now, at long last, you have appeared!”
The Demon King waited and waited for a vessel capable of fully containing him.
But among the humans who had discovered this place, none met his standards.
Yet he waited patiently, and finally, he saw a glimmer of hope.
“Moreover, a brand new, untouched vessel! Excellent, very excellent!”
And as if one thing was leading to another, this vessel, while being of exceptional quality, had not trained its mana.
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The satisfied laughter of the Demon King echoed loudly.
“Damn it…!”
Elric wanted desperately to flee from the Demon King, but strangely, his body wouldn’t budge.
It felt like something invisible was tightly binding him.
Suddenly, a group of lights emerged, revealing chains tightly binding both his arms and legs.
And before him, the Demon King appeared with a smirk on his lips.
Sizing up Elric from head to toe, as if evaluating his worth.
“There’s no need for such despair. In fact, you should be elated. From now on, you and this Mephistopheles will merge, and together, we will reign over the world.”
‘Mephistopheles?’
It was a name he’d never heard before.
Elric wanted to shout, but strangely, his mouth wouldn’t open.
The Demon King Mephistopheles reached out towards Elric’s forehead.
“Now, become my vessel, human.”
As soon as those words ended…
Chuckle.
The Demon King’s body shattered, and he seeped entirely into Elric.
Through his eyes, nose, mouth, and even his pores–everywhere there was an opening, the Demon King forced himself in.
Uggggh.
“AAAH! AAAH!”
Elric writhed in pain.
An immense amount of energy poured into his body.
Not just the magic that constituted the Demon King, but also the dragon’s power that had been mixed in all this time to seal the Demon King!
Of course, it was impossible for his body to accommodate everything.
Thus, Elric’s body was changing rapidly.
His muscles tore, and his bones twisted.
His blood vessels expanded, and his capillaries opened up.
Through his pores, all the waste that had accumulated in his body over the past twenty years was expelled, and where magic and the dragon’s power passed, a Mana Circuit was formed.
However, even such a Mana Circuit could not accommodate all that vast power at once. It broke several times, rebuilding repeatedly.
It grew thicker each time, and the number increased. They even formed clusters and entwined with each other.
Furthermore, his body, which was frail due to years of being holed up in his room studying, became robust.
However, since all these changes were enforced, it was excruciating.
It might have been better if he could scream, but he couldn’t even let out a cry.
『Hahaha. Shaynak, that guy must have only thought of tormenting me all his life. He probably never dreamed this would help.』
The Demon King was delighted to watch Elric in such a state.
The greater the pain, the smoother things went, after all.
『It’s fascinating that his soul hasn’t shattered even after all this… Well, it probably doesn’t matter..』
Thinking that Elric’s capacity was impressive, the Demon King moved towards Elric’s mind.
He aimed to completely destroy Elric’s mind and replace it with his ego.
But.
『What is this…?』
Initially confident, he soon became quite flustered.
Because he couldn’t intrude as he intended.
A barrier of will protected his mind.
‘Do you think I’ll let you have your way, bastard?’
Elric growled at the Demon King.
『This is impossible…!』
The Demon King was stunned. He never thought a mere human could stop him.
Elric was using the dragon’s power he had absorbed to protect his mind.
This made no sense by any logical standard.
A human controlling the dragon’s power?
Especially one that had been absorbed just a few minutes ago?
It shouldn’t have been possible, but the issue was that Elric already had some understanding of Draconic magic from its nest.
Of course, even if he couldn’t use magic, it was entirely possible for him to merely move the mana.
Moreover, through his insight, he could easily locate the Demon King moving along the Mana Circuit.
『You crazy bastard…!』
However, even if it was theoretically possible, succeeding in reality was a different story.
『It seems you are much more talented than I had initially thought.』
The Demon King spat in a voice suppressed with rage.
But soon, he smirked.
『But. Well, I wonder how long you can hold on?』
No matter how superhuman Elric’s mental strength was, he surely had a limit, unlike the Demon King.
Aware of this fact, Elric gritted his teeth.
‘I must find a way… I have to find a way!’
Even if there wasn’t a way, he planned to hold on somehow.
No matter how long it took. Sean would surely return soon with a rescue team.
At that moment.
『Although we cannot know when, we hope that one day our voice will reach the descendants of the distant future.』
A miracle occurred.
At that moment, in the real world.
“Whoa!”
The pendant around Elric’s neck, which was a magical instrument, once again emitted a bright light.
It was as if one were witnessing the dawn’s first light, a glow that repelled the darkness.
Just as when Elric first opened his Inner Eye, a secret function that had been hidden in the pendant was activated.
“Flash!”
From the magical instrument, numerous incomprehensible patterns burst forth.
These patterns seemed like ancient characters or symbols with significant meaning, or even schematic diagrams.
The patterns swirled upwards above Elric’s head, then shattered into small fragments, descending onto his crown.
And then,
“May our legacy be fully passed on by our descendants in the distant future.”
A calm voice echoed, its origin unknown.
However, within it was an undeniable binding power.
Each word carried the weight of a deep, magical formula.
“Originally, we were merely a group of scholars in pursuit of the pinnacle of magic.”
“But at some point, driven by the desire for greater power, we were tainted by evil magic and caused great harm to the world.”
“Recognizing our errors belatedly, we were formed to correct our wrongs and atone for the past, thus giving birth to our lineage.”
“To eradicate this evil magic is the sole duty left to our lineage.”
“But this evil can sprout anywhere, and can never be fully eradicated.”
“If so, then by consuming this evil continuously, one day, we can hide its tracks. And one day, true magical studies can flourish in this land.”
Just like a candle burning its last flame, the magical instrument emitted its brightest light before dimming.
And then,
“Snap!”
Elric, who had his eyes closed until now, suddenly opened them wide.
Above his eyes, a fierce glint arose, slashing the air.
“Right here, according to the decided order, the first demon will be consumed.”
In an instant,
“Shhh…”
The spot where the Demon King Mephistopheles resided crumbled like a sandcastle.
And the resulting powder moved up Elric’s right hand, deeply inscribing a strange tattoo on his backhand.
The tattoo resembled a fierce wolf, baring its vicious teeth, almost as if hunting for prey.
It was so vivid that one would think a wolf might jump out of his hand at any moment.
On the other hand, the dragon’s body shattered, settling across his entire arm.
Once all of that was over,
“Thud!”
Elric collapsed powerlessly onto the bare ground.
