Rest screamed as the flames engulfed him.
"Uoooooooooooooooh!"
A colossal explosion ripped through the Elder Worm's internal organs.
The blast painted the wetlands a vivid crimson, scorching red heat saturating his vision. Rest threw everything he had into his defensive Barrier Arts, coating his entire body to shield himself from the inferno.
(Crap, crap, crap! That was way too much power!)
Rest panicked as the intensity of the heat far exceeded his expectations. The barrier clinging to his skin hungrily devoured his mana. If he hadn't been able to provide a constant, massive stream of energy, the shield would have shattered instantly, leaving him as nothing more than a charred husk.
The hellish fire born from within the Elder Worm swallowed everything in sight—but eventually, it flickered and died.
"............"
Seconds passed, or perhaps minutes. His very sense of time had been incinerated, but he had somehow endured. When Rest finally regained his bearings, he found himself rolling across the ground, still encased in the shimmering shell of his barrier.
"Whoa..."
He looked around, but the term "wetlands" no longer applied. The fire had been so intense that the moisture in the muddy earth had evaporated instantly, leaving behind nothing but a vast, parched wasteland.
"Where is it... Where’s the Worm?"
His face twitched at the sheer scale of the devastation he had caused. He reactivated his Flight Magic and ascended into the air. He scanned the scorched earth from above for the Elder Worm, and it didn't take long to find it.
The beast lay there, a silent monument of flesh.
Half of its mountain-like body had been completely vaporized. The remaining half was embedded in the dry earth, a grotesque, smoldering meat mass. No matter how legendary the vitality of a Worm might be, there was no coming back from this.
"............"
He had won. It was a total victory.
And yet, the only thing Rest felt was a hollow sense of dread.
(I really overdid it. Seriously.)
Now that his head was clear, he wondered why he had been so caught up in the heat of the moment. Even if his rationality had been compromised by the vitality-boosting meal, this was extreme. The thought of using this on a human opponent made his skin crawl.
With a single strike of that caliber, he could wipe a small town off the map.
(No... there's no doubt about it. I've created something terrifying.)
If this magic were ever to be leaked to the public—if it were turned against other humans—the very nature of war would be rewritten. Just as the invention of firearms had changed the battlefield, and just as nuclear weapons had shifted the foundations of international society, this magic would surely leave oceans of blood in its wake.
"This is bad... This is really, really bad. I don't know how I'm going to handle this, but it's bad..."
"What, exactly, is so bad?"
"I mean, the—"
He started to answer the question before he even realized someone had asked it. His heart nearly stopped. He spun around in mid-air, putting distance between himself and the voice.
"I am asking you what is so bad, boy."
A man was standing there. He was suspended in the air, using Flight Magic just as Rest was.
"Who are you...!"
Rest dropped into a defensive stance, every nerve on edge. Flight Magic was an advanced technique, but there were a few people in the world capable of it. What truly terrified him was the fact that he hadn't sensed the man's presence until the moment he spoke.
(He's using magic... so how did I not notice him?!)
Rest always kept his Life Search active. It was a spell designed to sense the mana signature of any living thing. Humans, animals, monsters—they all had mana. Unless someone was using a specific method to mask their presence, they should have appeared on his radar.
(But it should be impossible to mask your mana while you're actively using magic! How is he doing this?)
Concealing one's mana while hiding in the shadows was one thing; Rest could do that himself. But using magic while remaining undetectable was a feat he couldn't replicate—and he doubted even Albert Rosemary, the Chief of the Court Mages, could manage it.
(Maybe he's using Barrier Arts to dampen the signal? No, can you even maintain flight while your mana is suppressed? Or is it a specific spell that only targets detection-type magic...?)
" 'Who am I,' is it? Honestly, I was about to ask you the same thing."
The man spoke calmly, ignoring Rest’s hostile gaze. He wore a long gray robe and had flowing white hair. He looked young enough to be a man in his prime, yet old enough to possess an air of ancient authority. His age was impossible to discern from his features alone.
"I am Leonardo Gascoigne. Head of the Council of Sages."
"The Council of Sages...?" Rest’s eyes went wide.
Under Rest’s shocked gaze, the man continued in a dry, analytical tone.
"Now, it is your turn to identify yourself. Tell me... whose side are you on, reincarnated boy?"
"............!"
Rest’s eyes rounded further, his blood running cold for a completely different reason.