“Extinguish the merciless balefires.”
“All life is born from the sea, and to the sea all things return.”
The two conjurers chanted their spells. In an instant, Zen manifested a wall of water to ward off the wave of flames that Shiltz had hurled toward him. For now, Shiltz seemed to be throwing out offensive spells one after another to avoid engaging in close combat with Zen, who could also use his sword.
He said he was rank five? Zen thought to himself. As expected. The speed of Shiltz’s successive sorcery, which Zen could barely keep up with, along with the techniques and the concentration he used to maintain that pace, were the real deal, making him a sorcerer monk whose skills did not besmirch the Vajra Temple name. He had a dignified air about him.
I’m no specialist compared to him. Using magic along with swords was one thing considering Zen was adept at that, but when it came to fighting purely with sorcery, he didn’t know how long he could continue to get by with his comparatively surface-level grasp of it.
I don’t have the time to complain, though!
That was because he couldn’t ask for Keel’s help.
After Zen had rescued Keel from the illegal slave trade organization twelve years ago, Heinri had naturally been going to send Keel back to his birthplace upon discovering he was a young vanargand.
However, Keel felt a debt of gratitude toward Zen for saving him, so he chose not to go home. He was youthful and earnest and wanted to repay him. Before Zen knew it, Keel had already made a contract with him to give him mana.
Emperor Heinri had been at a loss. He was certain the adult vanargands who were Keel’s parents would fly into a rage over their child being kidnapped. The only reason they still hadn’t come to take him back was likely because they were asleep.
It was said that these divine beasts, who held immortal bodies, grew tired of the eternity of time they had. The longer they lived for, the longer they slept. That was why, once they fell asleep, they would slumber for a long time, even fifty or one hundred years.
So it was scary to think how Keel’s parents might react the next time they woke. It was fine if they only came to retrieve their son, but it’d be a problem if their hatred for the Catalanians who’d stolen their child made them aim that hatred toward the empire and demand to know why they hadn’t brought him back to them.
When that happened, even if Keel himself explained the situation and defended Zen and Heinri to his parents, the two humans mustn’t do anything that could be seen as ill-intentioned. Keel had only stayed behind of his own volition because of his feelings of friendship, but it’d be bad if his parents interpreted it as Zen and Heinri tricking Keel into staying behind to take advantage of his divine beast’s mana.
That was why Heinri gave Zen some conditions:
Do not misuse sorcery.
Keep it under control and use it within reason.
Rely on Keel’s power as little as possible.
Specifically, Keel could provide backup when Zen was up against other nonhuman opponents, such as the twintail fox not too long ago, or lend mana for Zen to fight back against hostile sorcery, like now. Keel’s involvement had to be limited to those two things. Heinri would approve of Keel’s stay in the empire if Zen strictly adhered to those conditions.
That promise Zen had made with his best friend still lived on inside him!
“How peaceful the earth goddess’s arms are.” Zen created a wall of earth to counter Shiltz’s terrifying lightning spell.
“How long and quick are the thunder sovereign’s arms.” Shiltz upped the pressure of his attacks.
Lightning strike, impact strike, freezing strike, cursed strike, fire strike—he threw out fierce attack after fierce attack. Zen focused entirely on his defensive sorcery to endure them all. If any of these spells got past him, Keel would be all right, but Elysia wouldn’t be able to put up any resistance. He absolutely couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
Under the onslaught of Shiltz’s offensive sorcery and the mental toll it was taking on him, sweat ran down Zen’s forehead as if he were being slowly broiled.
That was when Elysia, who’d been behind him, interjected briefly. “Excuse me, father.” She extended her hand and dabbed his sweat with a handkerchief. She was thoughtful and, above all else, calm.
She has real bravery. It’s amazing that she can do this in this situation. If things took a turn for the worse, she’d be killed by those sorcery skills, helpless. It would be only natural for her to be frozen in fear or start crying like a baby, and yet here she was—even though as a member of the imperial family, she probably had at least some idea of the Vajra Temple’s fearsome power.
That’s just how much she trusts me.
He couldn’t lose to this pressure. She’s the child Aness and Heinri left behind. She’s my daughter right now. If I don’t protect her, then who will?!
Summoning even more mana from inside his soul, he gathered it at his brow. “Let the wind blow and the storm roar.”
“What?!”
Zen used wind sorcery to blow away the ten thousand arrows that Shiltz had thrown his way, the excess momentum then slamming into the other sorcerer like a gale.
While Shiltz staggered back, buffeted by the wind, Zen took advantage of the opportunity. He charged in with a blade.
He ran with such determination, it showed his willingness to cut off an arm or two. This sorcerer monk had planned the assassination of a fourteen-year-old girl. As if Zen would show him mercy!
“Is the emperor not ashamed of himself for targeting the life of his niece, who’s so young? Can he really be proud of the fact that he called upon your powers?”
“Quit your drivel,” Shiltz snapped. “How dare a mere government official like you slander our gracious emperor!” He tracked the movement of Zen’s sword and just barely evaded it. He was probably the type of sorcerer monk who was also trained in fighting. While Shiltz might not be good at handling weapons, he clearly knew some martial arts, like how to dodge and evade attacks.