Despair hung heavy over the battlefield.
Their enemies were eight Wyverns.
The resolve for death was written plainly across the knights' faces. It was only natural that Galfried would urge a retreat. To those facing certain defeat, protecting my life had become their final mission.
There was no room for argument.
"...I understand. I’m sorry, Galfried."
"No. It is our duty to protect you, Bocchan. Please, survive."
Galfried gave my shoulder a firm push. I vaulted onto my horse and galloped off toward the family mansion.
Run, run! Life is the most precious thing of all! I was lucky enough to escape! My dear, sacrificed vassals, I shall never forget your bravery!
—Of course, I didn't have the slightest intention of actually fleeing.
Something burned white-hot deep in my chest. I had a trump card—a way to snatch victory from the jaws of certain death.
Ancient Magic.
I could have sniped them one by one with Thunder Emperor's Flash, but I already had my finger on a much more powerful secret technique. I might as well put it into practice.
Heh. I was actually looking forward to it. The time had come to unleash that overwhelming power with my own hands—the same power I’d once only watched through a game screen in my previous life.
Once I was certain I’d vanished from the knights' sight, I banked my horse and changed course. I galloped up a nearby hill. When I reached the summit, I found the vantage point was perfect; I had a bird's-eye view of the entire battlefield.
Yes, this would do.
The Wyverns gliding through the sky continued to spit blasts of wind. Attacked from all directions by eight beasts simultaneously, the knights were at the mercy of the gale, helpless to do anything but endure.
Are you lot having the time of your lives?
Savor the pleasure while you can—it will be the final joy of your existence.
I took a deep breath. Within my mind, the complex formulas of Ancient Magic began to stir. A passage from the Imperial Book of Weather Control that I had studied countless times surfaced with vivid clarity.
I circulated the mana dwelling within my body in the specified amounts and along precise paths. Every circuit and vessel used for magic began to operate at a staggering 120% capacity. My consciousness narrowed and condensed until my sense of self began to fade. I was the gear, the engine—no longer a human with a will, but a mere "mechanism" designed to manifest the force of magic.
Responding to my mana, clouds began to swallow the clear sky.
Ah, I was actually controlling the weather. I had reached a realm deemed impossible by the standards of Modern Magic.
"O Thunder Emperor seated in the heavens, my enemy is your enemy; I seek your judgment—"
All that remained was to utter the trigger.
In that instant, my vision warped.
—!?
However, I wasn't surprised. It wasn't my first time. This was my second encounter with this phenomenon, and I had expected it. After all, I had stepped into the Forbidden Realm once again.
When I came to, I was standing in a room floored with tatami and partitioned on all sides by sliding paper doors. At the far end sat a woman within an elegant, curtained dais. She was clad in a layered robe reminiscent of a twelve-layered ceremonial kimono, embroidered with patterns of clouds and lightning. Her hair was as black as lacquer and hung gracefully to the floor.
Eyes the color of lightning stared me down, and a folding fan was gripped in her pale hand. This was the woman who called herself the Will of Ancient Magic.
"Defiling my garden was offensive enough, but to think you would intrude even here," she spat, her expression one of pure, unadulterated disgust. The sheer weight of her presence was as stifling as ever, enough to make every hair on my body stand on end.
Calm down! I can't afford to be intimidated now!
"I've come to take your power this time for sure."
The woman let out a long, weary sigh. "I believe I told you to know your place, you fool. Is that the attitude of one who comes to beg?"
In that heartbeat, an invisible force slammed into me. I couldn't even remain standing; my knees buckled and hit the tatami.
The woman’s lips curled with amusement. "Oho. I intended to make you kowtow—but it seems you’ve improved enough to at least talk big."
"I've worked hard to get this far! I'm taking your strength!"
I wouldn't back down. If I retreated here, I couldn't save Galfried or his men. No matter what, I had to persuade this woman and draw out her power.
"...An amateur, getting ahead of himself." The woman opened her fan and flicked it downward. "Did I not tell you? There is a proper attitude for a petitioner."
The pressure weighing on my body intensified. I couldn't endure it; my head was forced down until it pressed against the tatami.
"Say it: 'Please, I beg of you, lend me your strength.'"
If that’s all it takes, then fine.
"Please... I beg of you... lend me... your strength."
A small price to pay.
"Hmph. Yes, that's it. There is nothing more pleasant than the plea of one who thinks they hold power. Very well, I shall grant your wish."
I felt as if the floor beneath me had vanished. I was falling toward the bottom of the world. The scenery of the Heian-style mansion crumbled into nothingness.
As I fell, the woman’s voice, tinged with a hint of laughter, reached my ears.
"My name is Shiunin. I will not permit you to speak it, but remember it well."
—!
I snapped back to reality as if waking from a fever dream. Before my eyes was the same scene from the moment before I began the chant. The sky was black with clouds, and my body was overflowing with brilliant, crackling mana.
I spoke the trigger words.
"O Heavenly Emperor, let your judgment descend upon the earth—Thunder Emperor Summon: Chain Lightning of Divine Punishment!"
I released the colossal energy I had been bottling up inside.
For a heartbeat, the world was swallowed by white light. Then, the sky split into eight.
With a deafening roar, eight pillars of lightning descended from the heavens. The flashes of light struck with unerring precision, piercing through the Wyverns.
The thunderous roar shook the earth, and the very air trembled. The Wyverns didn't even have time to shriek. Their massive bodies plummeted to the ground one after another—nothing but charred scales and convulsing wings remained of the beasts.