Chapter 533

Bam! There was a heavy thud as Lyla’s fist landed squarely on Serpina’s cheek. Although she was a mage, Lyla could easily beat down a young adult man with her blows, and Serpina’s face turned the other way while the rest of her body wobbled. However, Serpina’s physical body was also Lyla’s. Likewise, her body was incomparably stronger than most mages. Furthermore, Serpina’s body had been simply materialized by the World Tree, so she didn’t receive much damage. Serpina slowly turned her head and stared at Lyla again.

“You asshole!”

“You realized it just now?”

Lyla raised Windur and moved her mana. She planned to halt Serpina’s summoning at this instance. Yet, she didn’t disappear.

“It’s useless.”

“…You fixed your mana into your body.”

“As the flow of the mana from the World Tree’s clones was disrupted and too much pressure was placed on the crystal, it became possible for me to do so. Of course, if the World Tree’s mana regains order as time passes, things will turn back to normal, but you should give up for now.”

Lyla acted swiftly after hearing what Serpina said. Whoosh! She swung Windur at Serpina. If she couldn’t stop the summoning, she could physically eliminate her opponent. Even though a sword was more efficient at a close distance, it was still very uncommon for a mage to swing a sword before magic, and the fact she did so displayed Lyla’s strong will.

Her swing was so swift and clean that even Zich and Hans would have admired it. Yet, Serpina easily evaded the attack. After biting her lips, Lyla prepared a spell. As Windur amplified her mana, her spell was completed instantly and it shot toward Serpina right away. Yet, Serpina easily nullified Lyla’s attack again.

Lyla’s opponent was Clowon's princess. In comparison to Lyla who didn’t have most of her memories, Serpina surpassed Lyla in most areas, and the difference in knowledge was critical for a mage. Yet, Lyla didn’t give up and quickly prepared for her next spell.

Wiiing! However, a powerful burst of mana began to bloom out of the crystal. Lyla looked at the crystal in surprise. It seemed like the wildly fluctuating mana inside would destroy the crystal at any moment. Lyla gritted her teeth, glared at Serpina, and jumped into the glass container again.

“It’s meaningless. That mana isn’t something you can repress. It’s impossible even for me—I’m sure you know that too.”

Lyla ignored Serpina and tried to restrain the mana by injecting hers. Serpina watched her calmly as she did so and made no attempts to stop Lyla—it was because there was no need for her to do so.

Craack! Lyla’s effort was futile and there was a loud burst. The new line across the crystal’s surface widened and became a large crack. More mana seeped out of it.

“Damn it!” Lyla slammed her fist against the glass container. Then, she got out of it again and approached Serpina.

“Confess!” Lyla demanded.

Even without a proper explanation, Serpina easily understood what Lyla meant. She shrugged. “I don’t like repeating myself, but considering your pitiful position, I will say it again. There’s no method to stop that.”

“There must be a method to control the dragon!”

“Ah, that’s what you meant? Unfortunately, there’s no method like that. This central base was created to maintain the Brushel System. It doesn’t have a function to control a living creature.”

“Then how are you going to kill Zich?”

“Like I said before, I have no plans on controlling the dragon. My plan was to simply awaken it, and everything else will naturally fall according to my wishes.” Serpina sounded aggravatingly carefree. “It’s not as if we raised that dragon. We simply needed one for the Brushel System, so we captured a wild one and forcefully stuffed it inside the crystal.”

Unlike Serpina who was proud to be part of the system and obediently followed her fate, it seemed like the dragon had a more ‘normal’ state of mind.

“I’m sure it will have great loathing for the Clowon Empire, and if it wakes up, it will want to lash the fury it had accumulated for so long. Unfortunately for it, the Clowon Empire has long since fallen. Its anger will not subside from that fact, and it will look for beings related to the empire.”

“…And that’s Zich?”

“Yes. He is the owner of the Clowon emperor’s sword. Wouldn’t that make him a perfect target for the dragon?”

“Windur is with me now though.”

“But he still reeks of Windur, and a dragon will be able to find him easily.”

“There’s Hans’ Estellade and Glen Zenard’s Tornium too.”

“They will also become the dragon’s targets. As long as I can kill Zich, I don’t care what happens to the others.”

“…I thought this place and I were your primary goals. Weren’t you planning to restore the Brushel System using me? How will that work if I also die?”

“Don’t worry about that. We are safe.”

“What sort of nonsense are you saying? If what you say is right, wouldn’t the dragon target this ruin first in its anger against the empire?”

“Even if the crystal breaks, the dragon won’t wake up right away. It won’t have its right sense of mind for a while, and it’ll hazily recall the fact it had been locked up until now. Thus, it will immediately try to move away from this place.”

“If a dragon of this size tries to break through the ground, this ruin will also be buried.”

“Is that all you can think of? I thought the dragon’s expertise in magic is still known to this day.”

Magic—that made Lyla think of another possibility.

“…Teleportation.”

“Yes, as soon as that crystal fully breaks, the dragon will teleport and disappear.”

“You are quite certain. Do you not think your predictions might go wrong?”

“The Brushel System wasn’t made successfully the very first time. It was made with many trials and efforts.”

“Does that mean the dragon escaped many times before?”

“Yes, and there were others besides this one.” The might of Clowon’s power that it could capture several dragons and experiment on them astonished Lyla once more and made her think that the empire was even greater than what she had imagined. However, this wasn’t the time for her to stand there gaping in awe.

“It should be impossible to teleport inside Clowon’s ruin.”

“When the crystal breaks, the seal will be temporarily broken. Ah, don’t think you can restrain it with the system. This is a phenomenon that happens because of the gap caused by the momentary distortion of the ruin’s mana. It’s a completely physically induced event, so you won’t be able to stop it even if you gain control of the entire ruin. However, this will all happen in an instant. The mana flow will calm down soon and teleportation will be blocked again—all thanks to Clowon’s excellent design.”

“…Did they perhaps establish that function to prevent the ruin from collapsing in case they accidentally awakened the dragon?”

“You’re exactly right.”

“If the dragon has such high detection capabilities that are strong enough to detect Windur’s energy, wouldn’t this ruin be the first target of its attack?”

“This site even nullifies teleportation. Of course, it has a function that blocks mana from flowing outside this ruin, and it goes without saying how powerful this function is.” All possibilities were perfectly blocked.

Lyla turned her head toward the crystal. She quickly began incanting spells, and a huge fireball appeared on top of her head. Lyla threw the fireball at the crystal.

“How pointless.” Serpina clicked her tongue as she watched Lyla, but Lyla deliberately ignored her.

Bammmm! The flames that hit the crystal caused a huge explosion, and hot wind swept past Lyla and Serpina. The force was so strong that it seemed as if it would easily melt the crystal into a puddle. However, Lyla saw the result of her spell and bit her lips. On the contrary, Serpina didn’t show much emotion as if she completely expected this result. Lyla’s spell was able to make a dent in the crystal, but considering how powerful her magic was, the damage was minuscule. Moreover, considering the size of the crystal, it was no different from an elephant getting bitten by a mosquito.

However, Lyla didn’t give up. She continuously dished out spells as if she was trying to fight with quantity over quality. Her magic steadily damaged the crystal, but the speed at which she damaged it was very slow.

“The surface of the crystal is very strong. It’s only natural since it was used to seal the dragon despite also supporting mana for the World Tree’s clones. Of course, with your magic, you’ll be able to break it eventually, but you won’t be able to break it in time. If you do manage to break it in time, what are you going to do? The dragon will just wake up in this ruin. Are you going to face the dragon by yourself?”

Even while Serpina mocked her, Lyla didn’t stop. She agreed with Serpina’s line of reasoning, but Lyla couldn’t just sit still. She wasn’t making a last-ditch effort. Even if her actions were futile, Lyla couldn’t give up and do nothing.

Serpina no longer spoke either. She realized that no words would reach Lyla right now, so Serpina folded her arms and watched Lyla’s desperate and useless struggle with a leisurely attitude.

Rummble! The vibration grew even worse. This vibration could also be probably felt by those on top of the ruin, and judging by the size of the shaking, it may have transmitted quite far outside the ruin’s surroundings. There was now a crack on the surface of the crystal. However, that crack was only a fraction of the entire crystal, and it was extremely small in proportion to the entire crystal.

Halt! The shaking stopped. It stopped so suddenly and quickly that the shaking almost felt like a dream. However, it was slightly difficult for Lyla to find her balance as her body couldn’t immediately get used to the sudden change.

Cracck! A louder sound than all the previous sounds combined together rang out of the crystal. A huge crack formed on the surface of the crystal like a spider’s web.

Blink! Lyla felt a shudder run through her body. Serpina must have also felt the pressure as her relaxed attitude also disappeared. Something bright yellow was shining inside the crystal. The long red eyes that soon appeared into view looked like the embodiment of destruction itself. The dragon’s eyes moved all around as if it was trying to grasp the current situation. However, it also was unable to focus. Lyla recalled that Serpina had told her that the dragon wouldn’t be able to come to its senses for a while after it woke up.

Flasssh! Mana gushed out of the dragon’s body. As mages, Lyla and Serpina could feel the dragon’s powerful mana better than anyone else. The mana flowed out haphazardly but then soon settled down and began to move in a specific pattern and order. The movement of the mana was so precise and beautiful that Lyla momentarily forgot about her situation and was amazed. She completely understood why despite their disappearance long ago, dragons were still known for their mastery in magic.

‘Is it trying to teleport?!’ Considering the huge amount of mana, it seemed as if the dragon was trying to move to a very far place.

“…Do you know where the dragon is going?” Even though Lyla really didn’t want to talk to Serpina, the only person who knew a lot about the dragon was Serpina. For Zich, Lyla lowered her pride and asked Serpina for help again. Lyla added, “It’s using too much mana for it to merely move right above the ruins.”

Serpina replied, “It’s probably going to where its lair used to be. Dragons tend to go to their lair in situations like this. It seems like they feel the safest in their lairs.”

Of course, there was no way that the dragon’s lair would still exist during this time. Lyla asked, “Where is that?”

“It’s probably around the boundary between the Steelwall and Pinne Estates.”

“…You. Did you think that far and…!”

“No, that part was really a coincidence. Of course, I won’t deny that it’s a coincidence in my favor.”

The boundary between the Steelwall and Pinne Estates was the area where the war was currently in full swing. It was also the place where the dragon’s targets—Zich, Hans, and Glen–were all gathered together. At that moment, the dragon’s mana reached its limit, and the mana moved vigorously around the dragon. Then the dragon disappeared. All that was left was a huge, empty crystal with cracks and dents here and there.