As before, the quartz pillar does not move at all. Gradually, however, its surface slowly melts under the heat.
It wonât keep for long.
Well, but I guess Iâve had enough time to waste talking about it.
I take a breath and raise my voice.
âHey, Zect!ăI know youâre in there. Come on out.â
âYouâve come back at a troublesome time, scholar.â
Emerging from the forest were a sorcerer wearing â- robes, a grimoire open in his hand, and mercenaries with swords in their hands.
Behind his hood, the summoner, head of the Zect Mercenaries, lifts the corners of his mouth.
âI was going to leave with the commission fee after I collected one egg, but âŠâŠ looks like Iâm going to have to eliminate a couple of people now.â
âHmmm, so you were after eggs from the very beginning after all. His Highness told me that they sometimes appear in the market, and I thought that might be the case.â
âOh of course. If I sell one dragon egg, all of us can live happily for a year. Hahaha, the prince was a fool.â
Zect chuckles slyly.
âThereâs no way we can defeat the Greater Dragon with this many men!ăA whole nation would have had to use all of its strength to defeat this monster, but he believed me when I showed him the Lava-tiger. But itâs easy enough to just drive it away.â
I laugh back at the Summoner.
âI was right after all. Youâre a fake expert.â
âAh âŠ? Kid, It seems like you donât understand the situation.â
Zectâs mouth twists into a smile.
âMy lava-tiger is not a monster that âŠâŠ you can handle with your puny magic.â
The sound of banging.
Lava-tiger had just snapped the quartz pillar that was melting.
The monster slips out of its transparent cage and lets out a murderous roar.
â Youâre going to get eaten alive as burnt flesh!â
Legs in red-black lava bend for jumping.
At that time.
A huge column of water erupted from the feet of the Lava-tiger ă»ă»ă»ă»
âWhat !?â
The lava beast, bounced up by the water column, rolls on the rocky ground in front of the astonished Zectâs eyes.
The large volume of water that erupts falls directly to the ground. The water flowed down the slope and swallowed up Zect and the mercenaries.
I was as surprised as he was.
A great flow of power.
The one who was manipulating it was a blonde-haired girl who pointed her right hand with a ring at the enemy.
âI canât be silent anymore.â
Ifa muttered with a quiet expression.
Seeing this, I open my mouth involuntarily.
âIfa âŠâ
âSeika-kun, umâŠâ
âAmazing!ăYou reacted so wellâ
âEh, ehâ
At the sound of my excited voice, Eefaâs expression fell.
She says, puzzled.
âBecause Seika-kun told me the other dayâŠ..â
âUsually itâs not something you can do just by hearing it once. Youâre really  courageous.â
âI, I see.â
âI knew I was right to bring you here. I was surprised that you could handle water magic this well. Iâm amazed.â
ââŠâŠ ehehe.â
âDamn, what kind of magic is this, donât tell me âŠâŠ youâre one of those woodland elves!â
Caught on a rock, the soaking wet Zect rants.
I tilt my head.
ââWoodland elvesâŠâŠ?ăWhat the hell is he talking about?â
âUm, you see, Seika-kun. âŠâŠâ
âWell, itâs a continuation, but Ifa. It was good to use a lot of water, because a small amount of water evaporates instantly with the heat of lava which can be dangerous ⊠see, look at it. â
I pointed to the Lava-tiger staggering to its feet.
Itâs no wonder that the movement is awkward.
The lava armor was mostly solid black.
âYou see how the red part has hardened into a rounded, bumpy shape?ăAfter the surface cools down, the lava inside flows and forms a shape like that. Rocks like that are also formed when volcanoes erupt and lava flows into the sea.â
The surface of the hardened armor cracks and new lava begins to flow.
âDonât think this is the end! That half-hearted magic doesnât work for my lava-tiger !!â
Zect shouts as he stands up.
Ifaâs expression turns grim.
I gently grabbed her right hand as she was about to raise it and made her put it down.
âehâŠâŠ?â
âItâs okay. Iâll do the rest.â
ăSoil phase âââ The art of fire netsă
A white cast net covered the lava-tiger.
The lava beast violently flails about out of resentment at being prevented from moving.
As expected, the asbestos could not withstand the heat of melting quartz, and the rope was beginning to break in places.
Zect laughs, the edges of his mouth hanging open.
âHa, you idiot!ăYou canât catch a lava-tiger in a net!â
âNo, Iâm not trying to catch it.â
I muttered quietly.
A single Shikigami appeared out of thin air and I pointed it at the rampaging lava beast.
âI just wanted it to be a little quieter.â
ăPhase of the sun ââââ The art of flamesă
What was spat out from the Shikigami was a dazzling white flame.
It swallows the Lava-tiger trapped in its net in one gulp.
Soon after it disappeared, there was nothing left of â-.
âHuh âŠâŠâŠâŠ?â
Zect sounds stunned.
The only thing that could be called a remnant of the Lava-tiger was a stone block of a high-melting-point mineral that was attached to the armor.
There was no trace of the main body, the lava, or the asbestos mesh. On the contrary, even the ground had melted and boiled, and the cooled areas were vitrified.
I snicker and mutter.
âI told you I was going to extinguish it, but there isnât even any charcoal leftâŠâŠ. â
It is a true-white flame that can melt even ash-heavy stone (*tungsten ore), forcing the combustion temperature up to the heat of the sun.
Itâs no big deal to vaporize a lava monster.
âWhat the hell are you âŠâŠ?â
I laugh and reply to Zect, who opens his eyes and mutters in horror.
âIâm the most powerful magician in the world.â
âScrew you, âŠâŠ!ăHey, you guys!ăBe the vanguard, be the wall!ăWork for your wages!â
The mercenaries who had been swept away by the water and caught on rocks and trees staggered to their feet.
At that timeâ-,
âGurururuoooooo â !!â
Behind me, the dragon growled.
In an instant, the panic propagates and the mercenaries begin to foam and flee.
âFuck you!â
âI canât deal with that thing!â
Zect peels his eyes out and shouts at the mercenaries who turn their backs on him, swearing.
âWait!ăDonât run away!â
âOh yeah, itâs cowardly to run away.â
With that said, I restrain the scattered mercenaries with âvine bindingâ.
Then I laughed at the standing Zect.
âSo now all thatâs left is you.â
âYou didnât catch me âŠâŠâŠâŠ like themâŠ..are you  toying with m!?â
âYes, itâs tiresome, so why donât you put on the shackles yourself?ăItâs too much trouble.â
âHa, then Iâm going to make you âŠâŠâŠâŠ regret it!â
The grimoire held by Zect glowed strongly.
Behind that hood, a vicious smile appears.
âIâll show you!ăI canât even control this thing, itâs my trump card!ăI donât know what will happen to you and that town, but itâs hot!â
With a stupid voice, Zect suddenly let go of the grimoire.
âWhat?ăMy grimoire?â
Zectâs grimoire was burning.
It should have been wet with water, but it was enveloped in orange flames and turned to ash.
âThatâs a substitute for a cane, isnât it?â
Ifa looked at Zect with fixed eyes and said.
âIs that it?â
Around Zect, orange flames begin to appear in a spiral.
It is the familiar flame of a hitodama that I have seen since my previous life. (TN: In Japanese folklore, Hitodama (Japanese äșșé; meaning â human soul â) are balls of fire that mainly float in the middle of the night. They are said to be âsouls of the dead that have separated from their bodies,â which is where their name comes from.)
âI hope itâs over. Because itâs going to be âŠâŠ a little bit hard to burn even you.â
Zect slumped down into the insect like cage of the hitodamas.
He was completely broken.
ââŠUm Seika-kun, was that fine?â
Ifa looks at me with expectant eyes.
âOh, yeah. Youâve done a good job, Ifa. He almost summoned some unknown monster.â
When I patted her head, Ifaâs eyes squinted happily.
I am a little disappointed, however.
âŠâŠ I wanted to see it for a moment, the trump card.
The art of flame
A technique to shoot a flame of 5,000 ° C that raises the combustion temperature to that of the sun. Tungsten is the element with the highest melting point, but it still melts above 3,400 ° C. Even tantalum carbide produced by modern technology has a limit of 4,200 ° C. The temperature of 5,000 ° C is enough to melt all the substances in this world and evaporate most of them. Due to the color temperature, the flame light shines white (about 5,000 Kelvin = the color of a neutral white fluorescent lamp). Originally, radiant heat poses a danger to the caster himself and those around him, so this time the main character placed a Shikigami with the technique of the shadow phase around him to absorb the excess heat.