The point reached after honing, forging, and controlling mana to the extremeーis the attainment of magic. The state that only a handful of true geniuses can reach. The limit of strength for the Kiryu species.
Philip was the true powerhouse who was allowed to bear the name of the Grand Lord.
Standing before the golden giant that wielded the power of destruction, he easily withstood the strike of an axe larger than his height with an ice wall. The counter attack of the ice mass it created had enough power to make the giant stagger.
When Philip swings his arms at the giant who stopped moving, he trapped the giant inside the ice pillar.
「As expected of Philip-sama!」
「The Great lord has won!」
The knights around raised their voice and applauded. They’re filled with excitement and delight seeing how easily he had neutralized the opponent their attacks never landed.
ーHowever.
「It didn’t pass. This is troublesome」
Crack, crack, a sound was heard from the ice pillar and in the next moment, the golden giant was released from it’s ice seal.
「You’ve appeared, Ice Dragon! Don’t think that you can stop a dwarf’s blade with that much ice?!!」
The giant moves and swings the great axe that don’t even let one feel the slightest pain or irritation. Philip kicked the air, slipped past the attack, and launched ice shards in retaliation, but merely shaking the massive form caused no damage.
「Your puppet has no other asset apart from their sturdiness?」
「You know how to jump round, and you bark a lot!」
Philip races across the sky and avoid the attacks using his ice defenses, then the Dwarf king lets his formidable armor atke over and continue to rampage without regards for the attacks. Without the decisive blow from both sides, they attempted to enter a war of attrition.
(Can my mana hold on? How durable is that armor?)
Philip continuously creates ice masses every time he attacks or defends. Even when the attack hits the giant directly, no damage is observed, and it’s unclear whether it has any effect. Continuing to fight without any effective attack and without a clear vision of the future places a heavy burden on the mind. He was fighting with anxiety in his heart while having an expressionless face.
(The armor is still holding…but how much mana is there?)
Inside the golden giant, the Dwarf King, was also forced to endure a painful battle.
In the first place, the Dwarf race had less mana than the Kiryu. The magic metal, which only they can create, compensates for that difference in mana The equipment he wears is not only used in combat, but it also serves as an external Mana battery, allowing him to increase his Mana reserves.
Of course, it wasn’t possible to increase his mana infinitely, and there’s an individual variation in the limits. The tank drivers, other than the Dwarf King, were limited to one piece of divine iron armor.
The golden giant, controlled by the Dwarf King, is covered in thick armor, and is accompanied by a giant great axe made of divine iron. All of that divine iron contained an immense amount of mana, which was enclosed by the Solar Furnace.
But it was a golden giant that held Mana to the limit the Dwarf King could handle, yet the Mana contained within that giant body was being roughly scraped away by Philip’s attacks. If you lose all mana, your defensive power will vanish, and even maintaining this massive body will become difficult. He has to defeat Philip before that happens, but he continues to fight with a calm expression.
The Dwarf King wa salso having a painful battle inside the giant’s body. His allies were wiped out, and the only fighting force remaining is the Dwarf King. The battle continued, it was either their mana runs out their spirit breaks.
□
「Ha, hahaha, what the hell? In the end, it was just my sumo wrestling…」
Adon was crouching in a place far from the battlefield. A dry laugh escaped his mouth, staring at the abttle with dead eyes.
「Even though my magic never reached it, did you already know how to use it long ago?」
These two have continuously competed and pushed each other to be better since school days. They were lifelong rivals and bitter love enemies, and he always believed each other to be equals.
However, it was different in reality. Adon is just a knight, easily shot down by the Dwarve’s new weaponーA loser. Philip is the Grand Lord who protects the northern part of the kingdom, and the chosen one who wields magic to duel the enemy leader.
「I feel like a clown now…hahaha」
A self-deprecating smile. The remains of a man whose heart has been broken countless times by the reality before him lay there.
「ーPapa! Look! Over there!」
「Huh?」
But in despair, a voice calls the man whose heart was about to meet death.
The girl blushed, her eyes shine and points at the spot in the battlefield.
「There! Alec is there!」
■
「Philip-sama! We’re here to help!」
Overwhelming power and techniques honed to the extreme. Watching the battle between the top-class players in the world made my heart pound uncontrollably.
There’s an overwhelming difference compared to the Kiryu from the academy or the monsters from the subjugation requests. I can’t even try to beat them both in my current state, and these two are engaged in such a fierce battle, grinding each other.
ーIt would be a waste to just watch such an interesting fight! Let me join in too!
My body feels light. I feel power surging through my entire body. The excitement and thrill overflow, it almost made me burst out laughing.
「Don’t come, stand back!!」
「W-Whatーー?」
I swing the weapon I was carrying as I rush towards the two of them.
I grabbed the turret of the tank made of Magic metal coated with divine iron and hit it with all my might!!
Gagyaaaa!!!!
The golden giant, having received my tank attack, is blown away. The tank’s armor got a little dented from the fierce collision but it still seems manageable. The golden giant got a little scratch, but it seems alright.
「Ahahaha! Woah! This is amazing! It’s so tough!」
That’s amazing, Dwarves! I can hit it much more without holding back!!!