Ep 72. Who Are You? (2)
Magic was a science: its formulations and equations, combined with necessary affinities and aptitudes, made it more difficult than most other academic disciplines known to man. One small calculation mistake, and some spells could take the caster’s life in a heartbeat.
Teleport was one such spell; hence, its usage necessitated obsessive levels of preparation to guarantee safety…for a normal mage, that is.
Dragons never learned magic quite the same. In fact, to state magic as a science was ridiculous for the demon tribe. There were no formulas or equations; to them, instinct overruled their mana’s flow.
Serenis was no exception. Even though her memories as Zion and her days at the institute had allowed her to become quite versed with human ways of casting spells, she still largely depended on her instinct and intuition rather than calculation – especially when she had so little time to think and prepare.
The dragonlord mused at the situation at hand.
It might’ve been foolish to risk her life in saving a city of humans. Some may frown at the sight of a demonlord going such lengths to save meager human lives; others may simply laugh at her stupidity.
But even if everyone else mocked this decision, her daughter would be smiling back at her. Eden would, without a doubt, nod their head in approval.
She wouldn’t have hesitated to risk her life in saving those she could.
‘…And neither will I.’
✧ ✧ ✧
The blinding light shrunk into a trail of mana fragments before Gio’s eyes. When he followed the fading trail, a white-haired woman had appeared at its end.
‘…A teleport spell? But her arm-‘
“Hff….”
Serenis immediately opened her eyes as soon as she felt her body whole again; the surrounding scenery of the marketplace indicated that the teleport had carried her to the approximate area she’d wanted. However, she could also see that her lack of preparation and practice, combined with her haste and extreme distance, had taken their toll on the spell.
The dragonlord bit her lips, holding back a pained groan within. Her right arm had overlapped into the rubbles of a fallen building up to her shoulder, crushed amidst its broken pieces.
But even now, the meteor above was fast approaching.
‘…There’s no time.’
Serenis’ left hand held a firm grip over her right shoulder. After a deep breath, she jerked her body outwards, tearing it away from the fallen rubbles.
A hideous squelching noise accompanied the jerk. After tearing off her own limb by force, Serenis quickly mended the wound with a thin crystal surface to at least stop the bleeding. The throbbing pain, she could ignore.
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She raised her gaze upwards, and her remaining arm followed suit. Serenis could feel the rising heat through her skin now; if she were to destroy the meteor whole, no doubt that its pieces would fall and wreak havoc just the same.
Destroying the spell was not enough; it had to be erased. Completely.
And in the heat of the moment, Serenis fell back on her most intuitive form of magic.
‘…I know this is selfish.’
The blue of the skies dimmed away, fading into the dark. Only scattered stars remained glowing above, beaming their brilliance towards the city below.
‘But with this, I hope…at the very least…’
As if in response, the ground beneath Serenis’ feet began to burn in a soft, prismatic brilliance.
‘…That you’ll look at me.’
A circular pit soundlessly crumbled open before the dragonlord. A pillar of light burst forth from within to meet the approaching disaster, spreading itself thin to encase the burning mass of stone in its comforting glow.
‘Just like before…’
It wasn’t long until the meteor completely stopped its descent, held just above the city by a layer of dim starlight.
When Serenis gripped her raised hand into a fist, the shrouding light burned into a blinding radiance. A low rumbling noise echoed from within, as if the entire mass would burst any moment.
However, the rumbling instead began to die down, the light gradually dimming away. The massive sphere of starlight grew smaller and smaller.
And soon, it would vanish altogether – as if the approaching disaster had only been a dream.
Serenis lowered her arm. The dragonlord stood alone, her figure alit by the starlight shining down from the unnatural night sky.
‘…And allow me to apologize.’
✧ ✧ ✧
“…What the hell…was that?”
“…”
Both Felicir and Clyus uncomfortably shifted their gazes away from Gio. A lone woman was standing some distance away from the archmage, her figure brightly lit by the stars above.
The death deity’s expression contorted in distaste.
It wasn’t Felicis – of that, he had no doubt. Of all the things his sister would disguise herself as, a dragon was not one of them. Nor would she ever rid herself of an arm from a miscalculation in using a spell.
But then, who was that?
A white-haired dragon had seemingly appeared out of nowhere – which was already against their tendency to seclude. Furthermore, this dragon had all too easily destroyed the archmage’s meteor in a matter of seconds using the strangest spell Felicir had ever seen.
‘…No, she didn’t just destroy it. She erased it.’
With an affinity that clearly didn’t belong to basic elements. What transpired just now was nothing alike magic, even in the Reaper’s eyes.
No. If he were to describe it with a single word, it was more like…
✧ ✧ ✧
A small boy sloppily wiped the tears off his mother’s face.
After witnessing the numerous victims that were slaughtered by those influenced by Felicir, the woman had ran away with her son as far as she could. She’d ignored the deathly screams constantly ringing from behind, desperate to save her son and herself.
And soon after, she’d despaired at the shadow of the falling meteor cast over her city. Her legs had given away, hope lost in the darkness of the coming doom.
Even now, her shaking eyes still remained fixed on where the burning meteor had been. But despair wasn’t what filled her heart anymore.
Nothing was there anymore. Nothing at all.
Silence filled the numerous crowds that had been frantically fleeting from the approaching disaster. Some had struggled in vain to leave the city; some had given up hope. Some had fled as much as they could, while some, like the boy’s mother, had fallen to her knees to pray. She’d pleaded for someone – anyone – to save their city from the descending disaster.
And, as if in response, the sky had fallen dark. A pillar of light had swallowed the oncoming meteor, and when the light disappeared from sight, so had the spell within it.
The world still remained dim, but it wasn’t the meteor’s shadow that was cast over them anymore. In its place was a comforting night sky, alit by hundreds of glimmering stars.
It couldn’t have been the work of a mage.
It couldn’t have been magic.
No. It was more like…
“…A miracle.”
A lone voice echoed from somewhere amongst the crowds. The speaker’s feelings spread like disease amongst the people, their voices gradually rising to a unified opinion.
The woman, too, softly muttered the same word under her breath.
That was it. That’s what it was like.
What she’d witnessed was nothing short of a miracle.