Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 15 - Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six: Supernova

Fire

While fighting Canglong, Ignis Idea...or rather, Feuer Lazburn, became certain that he could not win.

His long years of training and fighting as a Lazburn Pyromancer and his staggering defeat at the hands of the Arch Sage had given him enough experience to know that he would almost certainly die here.

It was only obvious. His fire couldn’t hurt Canglong — the Draconic Emperor would instantly regenerate even if the majority of his body was blown away.

In fact, it didn’t seem out of the question that he could come back even if he was reduced to a single scrap of dragon-flesh.

Canglong, on the other hand, had more than enough strength to bring about Feuer’s demise.

...How long will I last, I wonder? Half-giving up, he was buying time by firing spells at the people all around.

This couldn’t continue forever, though. The Altarians who could still walk were slowly helping the immobilized leave the area.

Once everyone Canglong had to protect was gone, he would be able to kill Feuer with little effort.

How did it come to this...? he wondered.

Why was he in a place like this, fighting such a foe?

He had yet to find the Arch Sage, whom he was sure was here in this castle, yet he was now facing an enemy who was likely even worse than him.

And now, he would die without having even encountered his target.

This was a battle he couldn’t win, nor could he retreat from it. The Idea-piece implanted in his body wouldn’t allow him to run. It was part of the contract that had given him his warped body and vast reserves of magic.

He wouldn’t have run even if he was able — retreating with such obscene amounts of magic at his disposal would have been a defeat in and of itself, the ultimate proof that he could not win even after exceeding his limitations.

For one who wanted to prove that Lazburn magic was strongest, retreating was not an option.

For what purpose did I...? Feuer Lazburn looked back at his life — or perhaps it was flashing before his eyes just like many others who were near death had experienced.

The many days of training, his father’s death, the fight against the Arch Sage, the heavy defeat by his hand, the days that followed, the contract with La Crima — it all passed him by in a brief moment that felt like an eternity...

“Hm...?”

...but it stopped when it reached the matter of his life’s goal.

At its core, this goal was simple — to prove that he was the strongest. Specifically, he wanted to show the world that no magic was greater than fire, and prove that the Lazburns, who dedicated their minds and bodies to fire magic alone, were the most powerful casters of all.

To that end, he and his father had made it their goal to defeat the Magical Apex — the Arch Sage.

However, his father expired before he could even challenge him, while Feuer himself had been effortlessly defeated.

Since then, he had been reborn and had once again attempted to seek out the Arch Sage in order to prove that he was the strongest.

Indeed — the Arch Sage’s defeat was nothing but a means to an end, not the end itself.

Feuer didn’t have to defeat him.

“Heh heh...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

“Hm?” Feuer’s sudden laughter made Canglong and the Altarians who were still in the shelter stare at him with confusion in their eyes.

The laughter wasn’t a sign of the man losing his mind.

He was merely laughing at himself for taking this long to realize his error.

“I lived my whole life for the sole purpose of becoming the strongest and proving that fact.” Indeed — he had been misguided, mistaken...just plain wrong.

Perhaps Feuer was this way because his father was mistaken before him. His final words might’ve carried more weight with Feuer than they had deserved.

The Lazburns’ ultimate goal wasn’t to defeat the Arch Sage.

Bringing down the Magical Apex was but a means to prove his own strength.

The Lazburns merely wanted to claim the Arch Sage’s title as evidence of their absolute power.

That meant that he could achieve his goal of proving his power using other means.

This realization cleared his mind, in spite of his rapidly approaching demise.

“...What are you planning?” Canglong asked, confused by Feuer’s change in demeanor.

To some, the Idea was now more fear-inspiring than he had been when he was firing flame spells in all directions, so Canglong couldn’t help but ask this simple question.

In response, Feuer said, “The Parting Sea between Tenchi and Huang He, the great desert of Caldina... The wounds etched onto this very continent are evidence of the existence of those who inflicted them.”

These words barely made sense at first, but it didn’t take long for Canglong to realize their meaning.

The separation of Tenchi from the continent at the hands of the Incarnations, the exclusion zones created as a result of the fights between one of Canglong’s predecessors and the King of Kings, the contaminated areas left behind by Huang He’s civil war... Such scars on the land were there because those capable of creating them had actually done that.

They were evidence that those who held immense power had changed the very lay of the land.

So, what Feuer Lazburn intended was...

“I will use this land itself as proof... Proof that the strongest spellcaster of all was once here!”

...to prove his magic was strongest by using it to change the shape of this landscape beyond recognition.

Canglong approached, intent on stopping him — but before he could, Feuer’s warped body began releasing waves of intense heat in all directions.

Hot enough to make people evaporate in an instant, these waves rushed towards the Altarians who had yet to escape.

“Kh...! Please, run...!” Canglong said before spreading out his Dragon King Aura.

This rendered him immobile, but it was the only way for him to prevent the Altarians from dying in an instant. The aura acted as a wall, protecting them as they rushed out of the shelter.

“All restrictions...abolished. Supercritical transformation...all magic into heat. Heat escalation...activate.”

While Canglong was holding him off, Feuer began crafting his spell.

The magic unleashed thus far was only the beginning. The true spell would follow soon.

Or, more precisely, would be created soon.

What he was about to use was a spell he was crafting from scratch at this very moment.

“Exchange loss...cause is bodily structure...incinerating cells to enhance magic flow.” He disregarded control in favor of pure power. Conjuring this spell even started to harm his own body.

This was a self-destructive effort, and it would surely wipe him out with it...but Feuer didn’t care.

He had already realized that to achieve his true goal, his life was a small price to pay.

Did I want the glory and fame that came with proving that I am the Magical Apex? Did I want society to sing my praises after I defeated the Arch Sage? No. That certainly wasn’t the case. His only goal in life was to prove he was the strongest; he didn’t seek to live a life where he was revered for that.

The battle and his own feelings were all distant — all that mattered to him now was the culmination of his obsession.

“Question. Ignis, what are you d—?” Zeta, realizing that something was happening, tried to question him, only to be cut off.

“Be silent,” Ignis said as he tore out the comms device in his ear, ripping out some of his own flesh in the process.

At this moment, he sought nothing but the spell he was crafting. His fixation on the Arch Sage and even the deal with La Crima had lost all meaning to him.

Once complete, this spell he was creating would destroy the castle, scorch the capital, and render the entire area a wasteland of molten ruins.

“Ha ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!” The Lazburns sought nothing more in life than firepower, so his very blood was set ablaze by the mere thought of the magical might he would soon exhibit. He couldn’t help but laugh.

One of his four arms fell to the floor. The brains implanted in his body, which provided his magical power reserves, were boiling. Even the Idea-fragment couldn’t withstand the heat and died.

The very cells of his face began to melt, his vision washed red, his eardrums burst; the collapse of his already barely stable body was fast approaching.

None of that is of any consequence now. All that matters is that I cast this final spell.

He didn’t care what he would lose. His life was already fleeting. Dying a bit sooner meant nothing.

He would construct this spell even if he gave all that he had to give.

“This will be the last spell of my life, and it will incinerate the entire capital.”

This would be King of Blaze’s new final attack, never before seen or heard of.

◇◇◇

About the dragons of the east...

Draconic Emperor, Canglong Renyue, had no recollection of his birth.

Just like anyone else, he had no memories of the time when he was still a baby. Even being the Draconic Emperor didn’t change that.

His earliest memory was a moment where his vision was completely drowned in red.

He didn’t even know what it was he had seen — he didn’t understand the meaning of the color.

When he grew old enough to understand the world around him, he realized that he was being shunned by his siblings and father.

Even in the Imperial Court, the fact that he was the Draconic Emperor was kept secret. The only ones who knew were the emperor, his children, and a few of the closest aides.

The clueless retainers gave Canglong the respect a third prince deserved, while the nursing mother who’d raised him treated him well despite knowing what he truly was.

However, his family was different. They almost seemed to look at him like he was their enemy.

Canglong didn’t understand why. He had been taught that Draconic Emperor was a Special Superior Job that, to Huang He, matched or perhaps even surpassed the emperor himself in importance.

That was why, one day after he had matured enough to wonder this, Canglong approached his father and asked him directly, “Why do you shun me?”

What he saw next was the emperor’s face twisting into an expression Canglong had never seen him make before throwing his fist at the boy.

Because of the insurmountable gap in stats between the two of them, only the emperor himself was injured.

Despite that, he — Canglong’s own father — had attacked him.

Then, as though to release everything he had been keeping inside until now, he screamed, “Because you took the life of my beloved!”

At first, Canglong almost saw his point, but then became confused.

He knew that his mother died while giving birth to him. However, it wasn’t unheard of for mothers to die during childbirth.

Canglong did understand that the treatment of children born in such circumstances could vary, but it didn’t seem like enough of a reason for the emperor to loathe him as he did. The man had never shown even a hint of love for Canglong.

The emperor’s attitude towards Canglong was far, far different from how anyone might expect a parent to treat their child. Rather than his own son, the emperor treated Canglong like a callous murderer who had brutally slaughtered the person he’d cherished most in the world.

“...Ah.”

And just like that, Canglong found the answer.

His mother had died at the moment of his — or rather, the Draconic Emperor’s — birth.

Draconic Emperors inherited the levels of their predecessors, granting them stats that far exceeded even those of specialized Superior Jobs from the moment of their birth.

That was both the cause of the emperor’s rage and the answer to Canglong’s question.

Canglong’s mother didn’t die from a fever or any other common risk of childbirth — he had actually torn her apart.

While still inside his mother’s womb, the baby Draconic Emperor had struggled and writhed...and in the process, his excessive power had destroyed her.

That was the reason why his father and his siblings shunned him so.

They might have even seen the infant Canglong tear the emperor’s wife — his children’s mother — to shreds. That would have been reason enough to make them loathe the sight of him.

Not even human, Canglong was an Irregularity — a monstrous creature since birth.

But at the same time, he was also a symbol of Huang He and the strongest being in the country, making it impossible to get rid of him even if they wanted to.

They must’ve been bottling up their rage for quite some time, and Canglong’s careless question had set his father off.

For all he knew, the emperor might’ve attacked him fully prepared to die, thinking that this monstrous being who’d taken his wife would now take him too.

However, the emperor was Canglong’s father, whom he didn’t have the slightest intention of killing.

He also hadn’t intended to kill his mother merely by being born, but he had done it regardless.

On that day, however, neither Canglong nor the emperor died.

However, Canglong’s relationship with his family became unsalvageable.

After that moment, Canglong continued life as both a prince and the Draconic Emperor. He participated in festivals and ceremonies in his warped, dragon-like form with his face hidden behind a mask. He also received education befitting a prince and fulfilled his duties as such.

However, he never once spent any time with his family.

Canglong had “siblings” who were raised alongside him and nursed by the same mother, but his blood relatives completely stopped interacting with him the day after his father struck him.

There was no violence between them, but nor were there any words. Their relationship never went beyond the bare minimum conversations required for official purposes.

Canglong also made no effort to interact with them in return. Since his power was so vast, he believed that he could unwittingly kill them just as he’d killed his mother.

If it weren’t for the nursing mother who’d raised him well in spite of knowing what he was, or Meihai who looked out for him while unaware of his secret, he might never have grown to know love and friendship.

However, he was terrified of even touching them.

The only times he allowed himself to touch anyone without reserve were during the duels that were protected by the barriers.

He’d dueled to prove the power of the imperial family and the Draconic Emperor. The arenas, where anyone who was broken would emerge unscathed, were the only places a born monster like him wouldn’t kill anyone.

He had a robust stature and a dragon-like appearance, so when his face was hidden by the mask, no one could tell that he was the young third prince of Huang He.

By fighting in the duels again and again, he effortlessly became the duel champion of Huang He, showing everyone the glory of the imperial family and the power of the empire’s great symbol.

However, his family never once praised him for any of that.

Through his duels, he even learned to control his power, but he still made no attempt to touch anyone.

One day, he read the letter left for him by Honglong Renchao — the Draconic Emperor that had come before him.

The text gave Canglong the impression that his predecessor had known what would become of him. He even guessed that Honglong had perhaps gone through something similar himself.

The letter said, “Do not be bound by your sins,” but Canglong felt that that would be difficult.

The sin of matricide bound his life like a chain.

However, his life changed somewhat when many more Masters began appearing in the world.

Masters were immortal beings bearing unique powers — the kin of The Lynx that one of his predecessors had faced.

For the first time, he began to meet abnormal entities besides himself, and in great numbers.

Eventually, he dueled one such abnormality — Xunyu.

Canglong won, of course, but it was the first time he’d ever met anyone who could compete with him — someone he could treat as an equal.

Because of that, he quickly became attached to this particular Master, for he had always wanted an adult who would coddle him like the little boy he was.

That only made it all the more shocking, though, when he learned that Xunyu was actually a girl about his age.

In this year, Canglong’s father, the emperor, gave him an official order to travel to Altar and meet the girl he would most likely have to marry.

Canglong didn’t understand why he picked the shunned son instead of one of his brothers for the marriage, but he had no intention of refusing either.

To hide his true form and power while in foreign territory, he picked an appropriate Treasurebeast Orb left behind by one of his predecessors, defeated the UBM inside, and assumed the form of a powerless child.

Then, with Xunyu as a bodyguard, he went to the kingdom.

He then caught the local epidemic, but things had gone smoothly otherwise.

And not too long ago, he had met his fiancée, Elizabeth, for the first time.

She was a naive, simple girl who smiled and laughed a lot. He was a prince, and she a princess, yet he couldn’t help but feel that despite their similar positions, they were vastly different.

Her smile, however, had vanished — and he was the cause.

Elizabeth’s sister had told her that she would have to marry Canglong and move to Huang He.

Part of the reason why the sister had resolved to do this was to protect Elizabeth from the flames of war that could soon engulf the kingdom.

But Elizabeth stood against it. She didn’t want to flee Altar and leave her sisters behind.

The sisters argued, but any onlookers would know that they did so because they all wanted what was best for each other.

Canglong quickly understood that this was the difference between them — the existence of a loving family.

He had no family he loved or family that loved him. The relationship the princesses had was dazzling to him, and it hurt his heart that he’d caused them to argue...and because he would ultimately take Elizabeth away to the loveless court of Huang He.

That was why, on the morning that followed, he visited Elizabeth and apologized.

The very same day, thanks to Xunyu’s planning, the two went on a Love-Duel Festival date. This came as a surprise to him, but it was true that he wanted to learn more about Elizabeth, so he didn’t refuse it.

The two walked through the lively city of Gideon until they found a festival stall selling various masks.

One of those masks was made to look like the Zifu Longmian he usually wore.

His masks were created by forcing magic into metal to change its shape, so the crafted mask in the stall actually looked more presentable than the ones he crafted for himself.

“Did you find something, Canglong? Hm... That one is a bit scary.” Upon hearing that, Canglong didn’t know what to say. If even the mask meant to hide his warped face was scary to her, what would she think of his actual face? Would she be able to accept him?

He also wondered if it was right for him to take her as a wife and bring her back to Huang He without revealing how monstrous he truly was.

But at the same time, he couldn’t deny that he was more and more drawn to this incredible girl.

During the date, he became exhausted and had to rest.

Normally, the very idea of him running out of stamina would be absurd, but the Self-Sealing Wraps he was wearing had given him the attributes of an ordinary child.

During this break, however, Elizabeth had noticed the Self-Sealing Wraps underneath his clothes.

“Are you hurt or sick?”

“...I suppose you may call it an illness. These bandages are a measure to hold back a certain handicap I was born with.”

It wasn’t exactly a lie.

The bandages were there to seal away the power of the Draconic Emperor — the handicap preventing him from living as a human.

Canglong had never once been glad to be born as he was — the revered and blessed job was a burden to him.

“...I’m sorry,” Canglong apologized. “I didn’t mean to let you see something so unsightly.”

“Don’t apologize! What’s so unsightly about that?! So what if you were born with an illness?! If you think that bothers me, you’re sorely mistaken!” Hearing that made Canglong’s heart ache, for he realized that Elizabeth wouldn’t find him unsightly even if he had suffered from some kind of sickness.

It made him hope that he could reveal himself and she would accept him as he was.

However, he still hesitated enough to stop himself from telling the truth.

Elizabeth then told him how she felt about her sisters and that if it meant protecting them, she would readily leave for Huang He.

But before she could promise that, Canglong asked for a postponement. He felt that he also needed to gather the resolve to tell her the truth.

The truth that he was the monstrous being known as the Draconic Emperor.

◇

And now, tongues of flame had engulfed the both of them, forcing Canglong to reveal his true nature before he could properly tell her.

He was still frightened of Elizabeth finding out what kind of abomination he was. However, he hadn’t hesitated to reveal himself, nor did he regret doing it — for it was the only way to protect her.

“Protect what you wish to protect.”

“Accomplish what you believe you must.”

“Do not be afraid to do as you will.”

The words left behind by his predecessor came back to him as he resolved to protect and fight for the girl that had captured his heart.

◇◇◇

Royal Castle, Underground Shelter

As Feuer crafted his spell, the flames grew ever stronger.

Their heat began to overcome even Canglong’s Dragon King Aura and reach his scales.

Such magic and heat... There will be an explosion even if he dies now...! Canglong thought. The spell’s activation and the explosion caused by the caster’s death were the exact same thing.

If that volume of heat was released, the entire shelter would melt in a split second. Not even those who fled would survive. The heat waves were so intense that they would instantly kill even someone equipped with a Brooch.

The castle, as well as Altea as a whole, would be absolutely devastated by this heat.

To prevent that, Canglong had only two options — either he could take Feuer somewhere else or somehow dampen the heat that was being released.

The former wasn’t possible because they were deep underground, but the latter also held its own problems.

Will my Dragon King Aura be enough...? Canglong wondered. The legendary Draconic Emperor that had come before his predecessor had possessed countless techniques he could use to counter this situation, but the techniques had died with him. Neither Honglong that came after him, nor Canglong, the title’s current holder, could use them.

The most he could do with his latent Dragon King Aura was to stop the preliminary heat waves.

Because of his Gulong Cells skill, the Draconic Emperor himself could focus on defense and survive even if he was at the heart of the explosion, but everyone else would die.

If I do not prevent this, then the city...and Elizabeth would...!

There were limits, but he had to surpass them.

...I will transform my life force into magic to enhance my Dragon King Aura.

He resolved to do this, even if it cost him his life.

Ready and prepared, he faced the burning Idea — when suddenly...

“Ah...!”

...he felt a presence behind him. Most of the people had already left the shelter, but there was still one person behind him.

“Cang...”

It was the very girl he wanted to protect more than anyone else.

“Elizabeth! Why are you still here?!” Despite his Dragon King Aura, the heat in the surroundings was growing ever higher. It wouldn’t take long for it to become powerful enough to incinerate someone — even before the explosion actually occurred.

Despite that, Elizabeth was standing behind him.

“Cang...run away with us!” Those words were enough for him to understand that she’d returned because she was worried about him, left alone in the flames.

She was concerned about Canglong, even after seeing him exposed as the monstrous entity that he was.

That fact almost made his heart waver, but he kept it steady by clenching his teeth.

He then took off his mask and looked at her.

Neither human nor dragon — his was a face as distorted as that of the Idea he was fighting.

And he was now baring it to her.

“I am the Draconic Emperor...an abomination,” he said. “This is what I am — nothing like you. So please, run...”

His words were those of rejection...

“You are not an abomination!”

...but they were rejected in turn.

She raised her voice as though to blow away his self-loathing and low opinion of himself.

“You are my friend...” she said. Draconic Emperor or not, they were still friends. “You are also my fiancé... And you will be my family!”

Shock overcame Canglong. She just said that, in spite of it all, she still saw him as one she would spend her life with.

“So, please...! There are still so many things...I want to talk to you about...and ask! So...please...! Let us...” Whether it was due to the feelings in her heart or the fear of the oncoming flames, she was crying too much to finish her sentence properly.

However, he clearly heard her say, “Let us live together.”

It didn’t need to be voiced to reach him.

In silence, Canglong looked away from her and put on the mask again.

As he did, a tear running down his cheek disappeared in the coming heat. However, in his heart, there was now something that could never vanish.

“Your Highness! Your Highness Elizabeth!” Marquis Findle cried as he rushed into the shelter. Upon seeing the princess, he rushed to her and took her in his remaining arm.

“Marquis Findle, take care of Elizabeth.”

“...Of course!” Canglong entrusted Elizabeth to the man and faced the flame once more.

“Cang...!” Elizabeth called.

“...I will come back to you. So please, leave this to me.”

“...Very well!” With that promise made, he listened to them leave behind him.

As the sound of them going up the steps faded, he began to speak.

“...King of Blaze.” He was talking to Feuer Lazburn — the Idea slowly turning into a roiling mass of flame. “Up until moments ago, I intended to stop you even if it cost me my life.”

Canglong had planned to subdue the explosion using all his magic as well as his own life force.

“I would never do that now. I cannot give you my life. It belongs to her. I will stop your flames and keep myself alive. I apologize if that seems greedy, but I cannot give up on anything!”

He was now resolved to protect his life...for the sake of the promise he’d made to the one he loved and their future together.

“That...is what I have decided!”

With that, he faced the all-consuming flame of destruction.

The fire said nothing in response. With his eyes and ears gone, he probably hadn’t even heard what Canglong had said.

However, he felt something, and it was enough for him to warp his nearly destroyed mouth into a grin and...

“Supernova.”

...speak the name of the completed final attack.

Supernova was the pinnacle of fire magic — a school focused on turning magic into pure heat.

It was in many ways the direct opposite of the ultimate job skill of King of Blaze, Fixed Star.

While Fixed Star was focused on concentrating and controlling immense amounts of magic to create an all-melting orb of fire, Supernova had no such concentration or control.

None of the magic used was directed towards managing the power involved, and since the MP needed to manage spells was proportional to the MP used by the spell itself, this allowed him to release all of his magic at once.

Since there was no control, the vast amount of magic that would normally be used for that purpose would all become heat instead.

Indeed — Supernova was nothing but a skill that merely put layer upon layer of heat escalation and then released it all. It was omnidirectional and indiscriminate, harming even the user.

It was a self-destruct skill, and that was exactly what made it impossible to deal with.

Feuer now had absurd amounts of magic even compared to Superior Jobs, and since he was converting it all into heat...stopping him was impossible.

Canglong himself knew that well.

Despite that, he hadn’t given up. To do so would be to give up on his own life and that of his beloved. Even if it took him past his limits, he would protect everything he could.

After Canglong gathered his resolve, Feuer activated his final attack, turning him into what looked like a human-sized sun.

A moment later, heat that turned everything into ash before evaporating even that began to push in all directions.

If it was released, it would not only scorch the passage Elizabeth was in, but also turn the entire city into a burning hell.

“OOAAAGHH!”

Thus, Canglong gave his all to spread out his Dragon King Aura and enhance its mitigating effect. The effort was such that it affected even his gulong body.

He released vast amounts of Dragon King Aura in order to envelop Feuer and his exploding flames.

The heat and the aura clashed, sending the temperature around them roaring up to three thousand degrees Celsius. The shelter now looked like the inside of a furnace, but thanks to the Dragon King Aura, the effect was mostly confined to the immediate area.

“Gh...!” Smoke began to rise from Canglong’s scales and flesh, but he didn’t weaken his aura one bit.

His fight against the heat was like sealing away a small star. Even the Draconic Emperor’s absurd power was pushed to the limits with this task.

He threw his hands, along with the Dragon King Aura, right towards the heat, suppressing it.

The knowledge that weakening his aura could mean his beloved’s death stopped him from even thinking of doing so.

He was immovable, but the coming heat was unstoppable. It was still anyone’s battle.

“Ah...!” At the core of the heat he was suppressing, the sun-like orb was growing more luminous...and larger.

Despite the immense heat, the sight sent a chill down his spine.

Even this immense heat was only the beginning...? Like an earthquake, there were fast, weaker advance waves, followed by intense, slower waves.

The weak waves so far already carried more heat than the Fixed Star Rain that had melted Golem Bellcross. The heat of the true Supernova was far above what Canglong had expected.

“Even so...!”

Even so, he wouldn’t run or move, for he had to push this heat back.

He was the Draconic Emperor — perhaps the strongest tian of these times — as well as a boy who had found a girl he loved.

Thus, he resolved to stay here and continue subduing the heat.

Would Canglong burn first, or would the overflowing heat consume the castle and the city while he still stood?

Or perhaps there would be some miracle that would let him claim victory?

It was as though his fate depended on a dice roll by some heavenly observers far greater than even him...

“Need a hand?”

...but then someone else came, taking the dice in their own hand.

A person was standing in this furnace-like space, talking to Canglong.

He had no idea how long they had been there, but someone was right behind him.

The presence of a person in this room that he’d thought contained only him and the flame filled Canglong with shock.

The person asking that question seemed to have appeared from thin air.

“Oh wait. ‘Need a hand?’ isn’t the right thing to say in this case. I don’t want this castle blown away, so I won’t accept your refusal. ‘Please let me help’ is more apt. Neither you alone nor I alone are capable of dealing with this magic anyway.”

The unfamiliar voice belonged to a young woman, but Canglong didn’t even have the capacity to ask her who she was.

This space would instantly burn any normal person to death. Yet she appeared here as though she’d planned it — which she had — and talked to Canglong with an unfittingly casual tone.

“Oh, if you don’t mind me saying, the Dragon King Aura you’re using now isn’t suited to phenomena like this. The standard Dragon King Aura is a defensive function that mitigates both physical and magic attacks. If you’re using it against a single phenomenon, the magic-mitigation effectiveness isn’t that great. With something like this, it would be more effective to use an aura focused solely on heat mitigation. I would like you to shift to that, please.”

“Huh?” Not only was she speaking casually — she sounded like a laid-back professor.

“Ohh. Well, one of your predecessors was...apparently very good at such fine-tuning of the aura, but you aren’t at that level, I assume? Sorry for demanding something you can’t deliver. Oh, and sorry for giving you a lecture before even introducing myself. You are the current Draconic Emperor... ‘Prince Canglong,’ was it? Sorry if I seem rude. Unfortunately, back when I was a girl, I swore that I wouldn’t use polite language with anyone but my late teacher. I do keep my letters formal sometimes, but I’m actually quite stubborn about this.”

Canglong was on the verge of just directly asking what she was, and the woman could sense that.

In response, smiling in spite of the situation, she said, “Ha ha hah! You must wonder who I am. Well, I’m basically the one King of Blaze was looking for.”

“Ah...!” Shock overcame Canglong. He could scarcely believe it.

“Though, with his eyes and ears melted, I don’t think he even has the ability to acknowledge me. Still, here’s an introduction.”

The person faced the Draconic Emperor — as well as Feuer behind him.

“I am the one who inherited everything from my teacher.” She then folded her arms, put a finger over the rim of her monocle, and said...

“Arch Sage, Integra.”