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"Hmph, things are finally starting to get interesting."
The mana capacity and density of the transformed Glatony were far higher than they had been just moments ago.
For a second, I felt a wave of weariness, assuming it was a simple power-up triggered by heightened emotions, but those feelings seemed to run far deeper than I had initially thought.
Judging by his words and behavior, he had taken the form of his former master...
"Hey Beal, do you know anything about this?"
"Indeed. Glatony was originally nothing more than a small beast, but he rose to his current heights after being taken in by the Demon King of that era. His master was the Progenitor Demon King, Beelzevuit—the one said to be the Founder of Ancient Magic."
"Oho... that is fascinating."
Ancient Magic was a "muscle-brained" style that specialized in offense by prioritizing raw power and efficiency. However, in this attack—the very origin of that style—I sensed a level of diversity close to modern magic, even if it contained much waste.
"It’s just a shame you’re the one using it. Can you actually replicate your master’s attacks properly?"
"...Hmph, do not get cocky just because you endured a single blow! My master is the absolute strongest!"
Glatony raised both hands toward the heavens, and the sky turned pitch black in an instant.
Countless streaks of light were born from that darkness, raining down toward me.
"Meteor Rain!"
I couldn't quite make out the incantation, but judging by the spell formula, it was some sort of star-dropping magic.
I think I’ll help myself to this one too. I used high-speed deployment to activate a spell designed for use against mages: Magic Absorption.
A black Magic Orb formed at my fingertips, sucking in every single one of the falling stars.
This was a spell formula I had previously inscribed onto my Magic Sword; it allowed me to absorb and store any magic it came into contact with.
"His deployment speed is as preposterous as ever. To think he can instantaneously activate the Magic Absorption formula, which is normally damnably slow."
"Master Lloyd’s magic body is inscribed with countless formulas, allowing him to activate any spell to its maximum potential at a moment's notice. He was absorbing all of that magic from before as well."
Just as Grimo and Jiriel said, because my magic body was etched with a massive number of spell formulas, I could immediately fire off spells like Magic Absorption that normally required a long time to cast.
Well, it was primarily for analysis, so it wasn't the most convenient tool for a fight. I still had to block whatever I couldn't completely absorb with a Magic Barrier.
"Impossible...! That was my master’s greatest magic! To think he nullified it so easily...!"
Glatony was muttering something under his breath, but I was too busy analyzing the spell formula to listen.
"...I see, I see. This is quite a peculiar formula. I can see the marks of trial and error all over it. Your master really was a magnificent mage."
"Gaaah! Lava Flow!"
The earth split open, and bright red lava geysered out, surging toward me.
Oops—if it scattered over such a wide area, it would be a nightmare to catch with Magic Absorption.
In that case, I expanded the effective range of the absorption and activated Spatial Transfer in a continuous loop, drawing in every drop of the lava flow. After all, you can never have too many samples.
I see. He was directly interfering with the earth and hurling the lava he drew up. It seemed he was causing natural disasters by using mana to stimulate the environment.
"Great Tornado!"
I allowed myself to be swept up in the rising funnel while continuing to absorb it. Once the spell formula itself was sucked in, the raging winds turned into nothing more than a gentle breeze.
"Blistering Blizzard!"
I absorbed the heavy, driving snow without a second thought. Since I couldn't catch every flake, I deployed a wide-range Magic Barrier to funnel the magic into the absorption point.
"Scorching Heatwave!"
Even a blistering heat that seemed to warp the very ground didn't matter. My Magic Absorption could swallow and nullify any magical phenomenon.
"To think he can handle such wide-range attacks with Magic Absorption while simultaneously using Spatial Transfer, a spell notoriously difficult to control... Is a Full-body Spell Formula truly this terrifying?"
"It’s not exactly easy, you know."
Difficult spells like Spatial Transfer and Magic Absorption required me to activate a significant number of the formulas inside me; I couldn't use too many of them at once.
I figured ten was probably my limit.
...For some reason, Grimo and Jiriel were looking at me with dead eyes, but I decided it was just my imagination.
"More importantly, now that I’ve gone to the trouble of analyzing it, I think I’ll try using it myself."
When I held out my hand, a single book appeared.
Inside, musical notes were densely packed onto a staff. This was my Score—a mass of mana in the shape of a book that I had created as an extension of my magic body.
Normally, absorbing magic through Magic Absorption required a sophisticated and lengthy formula, but by applying the concept of the Magical Song I had learned at the concert—the infinite chain of magic—I had increased the capacity of the absorption many times over.
Thanks to that, whereas I used to need layers upon layers of formulas just to manage a single High Magic spell, I could now store even the absurd attacks from earlier entirely within this book.
"Uooooooh!"
While blocking the ongoing barrage with a Magic Barrier, I began flipping through the pages.
I hadn't been interested in music before, but thanks to my composing, I had unlocked new possibilities like this. Truly, everything was connected to magic.
And... hmm. So this was the Ancient Magic created by the Progenitor Demon King.
The fact that it affected such a vast area made it similar to Large-scale Magic, but this felt cruder and more violent.
For example, while Heavenly Star Impact dropped a specific, targeted star, the spell from earlier used a massive amount of mana to forcibly drag down whatever stars happened to be above us.
Because of that, it couldn't be aimed precisely, and the sizes of the projectiles varied wildly. However, the power and effective range were on a completely different scale.
This was because, whereas normal magic created physical phenomena through mana, this was a spell formula that acted upon the world itself.
It was a bold, arrogant style—perfectly suited for a Demon King.
Well, let's see if I can do it. Let's see... like this, maybe?
The moment I flicked my finger upward, the surrounding scenery spun violently.
Immediately after, a series of thunderous booms echoed through the air, and Glatony’s body vanished.
In the spot where he had been standing, a towering mountain now loomed, with a massive cloud of dust billowing from its side.
"That there is Mount Moriranma, the tallest peak in the world."
"But we should be on a continent far removed from Saloom. Why have we suddenly arrived at such a place...?"
"I felt a tremendous ringing in my ears just now... Lloyd, what on earth did you do?"
While Grimo and the others voiced their confusion, Glatony came crawling unsteadily out of a crater in the mountainside.
"Y-You... just now, what was that?!"
"Heheh. If I'm going to move something, it might as well be something big, right? Come on, let's keep going."
I swirled my finger, and the scenery shifted drastically once again.
This time, we were in the middle of the ocean. I was fine behind my pre-deployed Magic Barrier, but Glatony, who had been plunged into the depths without warning, could only bulge his eyes in shock.
"Next."
I swirled my finger again, and an erupting volcano appeared. When Glatony was slammed into the boiling lava, the impact triggered a spectacular explosion.
"Next."
I swirled my finger, and we arrived in an ordinary-looking jungle. As Glatony lay there gasping for breath, the ground began to shake. A herd of giant beasts appeared, trampling over him with thundering footsteps.
"Next, next, next, next—"
With every rotation of my finger, the scenery continued to change.
"I-I’ve figured it out! Lloyd, what are you doing?! This is preposterous... absolutely preposterous!"
Beal looked on in disbelief, but Grimo and Jiriel were still tilting their heads.
"...Hey, Shitty Angel, do you have any idea what's happening?"
"...How could I possibly know? Master Lloyd, would you be so kind as to explain?"
Hmm. Well, this magic was a "little" larger in scale than most. It was probably hard to notice from the ground.
"Let's go up a bit so you can see."
I lifted my finger toward the sky, and our field of vision was dyed dark as we ascended. Below us, a giant, blue, glowing sphere floated in the void.
"Is that... could it be... the earth itself...?"
"I see! Master Lloyd is... the planet...!"
"Yeah. I was moving it."
Specifically, I was using the Demon King’s formula for environmental manipulation to move the planet itself. By rotating the globe, I could physically shift us to different locations, and by pulling away, I could look down on it like this.
I decided to call it "Star Movement."
"Wait, wait, wait! I know Star System Magic exists, and that it can affect the stars... but do you have any idea how big this planet is?!"
"Even the Progenitor Demon King who was his master could only influence the earth enough to cause a tornado or an eruption. To freely move the entire planet... calling it 'as expected' doesn't even begin to cover it."
"It's a bit late for that, isn't it? At this point, even I’m starting to be put off. Just... please don't break the world, Lloyd. Though I suppose you’d probably just fix it immediately if you did..."
Grimo and the others were muttering, but more importantly, it was starting to get a bit uncomfortable. I had come up to this height once before, and I knew that if you got too far away from the earth, it became hard to breathe.
William Bordeaux, the ancestor of magic, had written that humans cannot live apart from the earth. Treating it too recklessly probably wasn't a good idea.
"I'll put it back now."
I swirled my finger one last time and returned the planet to its original position.