Velrose knew exactly who stood before her.
It was the current Master of the Tower of Stars, Edward Fernelad.
Rumor had it that he was not only the founder of the Tower of Stars, but also the scholar with the greatest number of magical abilities in the world.
Over his lifespan of several centuries—perhaps even millennia—he had remained deeply engrossed in his magic, often cutting off all contact with the outside world. It was said that he could create an independent space to hide away and conduct his magical research.
“That was merely a warning,” Edward spoke.
His voice was soft, yet it carried clearly to everyone present.
“Hand over Elcalan, the Sword God.”
“...”
Ice had already begun to frost over Krulu's body, but Velrose quickly held her back.
“Be careful.”
“...Hmm?”
“This human is incredibly strong. Fighting him might cost us more than we gain.”
Velrose had once learned about this dangerous man from Tina's intelligence reports.
Though he rarely showed his face, he stood firmly on the side of humanity, which meant he would become one of the magical beasts' greatest enemies.
And yet, he had not even cast a spell just now.
The highly destructive attack from moments ago had not originated from the elder himself, but rather from some new weapon.
If she wasn't mistaken, it was a weapon newly developed by the Tower of Stars... The Demon King had once told Velrose that if a weapon beyond their current understanding ever appeared, it would surely be of their creation.
But the Tower of Stars would not manufacture such destructive weapons for no reason, and the Church would certainly have been notified—unless certain individuals within the Tower of Stars had already begun preparing for this months ago.
“Let's leave,” Velrose finally decided.
Krulu sighed in disappointment. She had wanted to test just how formidable this so-called Master of the Tower of Stars really was.
Wrapping her arms around the other two, she unfurled a pair of icy wings. Pillars of ice rose beneath their feet, lifting them up before she beat her wings, holding them tightly by the waist as she soared into the distance.
Edward noticed their retreating figures and immediately locked onto them.
“Lord of Stars, answer your most faithful servant...”
He murmured the incantation.
High above in the boundless blue sky, stars that normally only appeared at night suddenly blinked into view.
These stars had been scattered in disarray, but as Edward chanted, brilliant, straight lines of light began to connect them. In just a few seconds, they formed the shape of a massive magic circle.
Drawing a colossal amount of magical power from it, he raised his hand, the gathering magic so intense that it warped the space around him.
He held a multicolored crystal orb, channeling his magic to condense into a single point, transforming it into his own pure energy.
Then, the sky darkened once more.
Velrose looked up slightly, only to discover several meteors hurtling down from the heavens.
Gravel from the wilderness swirled into the air, forming miniature dust devils. Even the withered trees of the distant forest could not withstand the violent pressure; they tilted and crashed to the ground, some even torn out by the roots, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
It was said that every meteor was a star from above, and the Master of the Tower of Stars stood at the pinnacle of astrology, capable of summoning them down from the heavens.
As the meteors drew close to impact, Edward prepared to launch his next assault.
Yet right before his eyes, the two girls carrying Elcalan suddenly vanished!
It was as if the meteors had struck mere illusions; they had never been there to begin with.
“Ice magic, and... light magic utilized to its absolute limit?”
The fiery glow of the meteors illuminated his face. Edward touched the crystal orb with his other hand, and magic circles identical to the one in the sky appeared beneath the meteors, causing them to vanish.
Edward's attack just now had merely borrowed the power of astrology temporarily; those meteors could not actually make landfall.
He had already drawn too much power from the stars.
He had only intended to force the two girls to surrender, but he hadn't expected them to ignore him completely. Only now did he realize that the meteors had merely targeted their afterimages.
But...
Edward felt that something was amiss.
Ever since he began to doubt the Saintess, he had been secretly working to undermine her and her plans.
He had investigated the backgrounds of the Saintess and her apostles, and he had never known any of them to be capable of creating such illusions.
Unless there was magic in this world that he was entirely unaware of.
If so, there was only one possibility.
Those two girls had used chaos energy—which meant they were magical beasts.
Edward cast a deep look in the direction Velrose had fled, stroking his white beard.
He felt he was one step closer to the truth.
...
“Demon King Sister, don't you feel terribly wronged being locked up in here every day?”
Inside the luxurious, spacious living room of the palace where the Dragon Magical Beast was confined, several steaming cups of coffee sat on the table. On the long sofa, a pale young girl sat beside Tina, resting her cheek against Tina's shoulder as she asked in a flat, emotionless voice.
Beside her, three equally strange girls sat on nearby sofas, holding hands and looking at one another in silence, seemingly communicating through some special method.
The current situation left Tina utterly speechless.
She had originally been waiting for Blood Lotus to come find her.
They had agreed to meet once a day, with Tina offering advice to Blood Lotus on how to “save her sister.”
Yet this perfect plan had been completely ruined by Shetiel!
She—or rather, “they”—had actually come to the palace as well, wandering all over this massive residence.
The good news was that she had been granted more freedom of movement before Sathya returned. The bad news was that the moment she stepped out of her room, she would find these magical beast idiots right in front of her... and they followed her everywhere.
“Why are you guys even here?”
“Lady Sathya let us in. She said you would be lonely by yourself, so she told me to keep you company.”
“Little Ya... Ah, did she send you over because you were too much of a hassle?”
“Yeah!” Shetiel looked rather proud of herself. “Lady Sathya said we were too unstable and might get discovered at any moment, so we came here.”
Tina rubbed her temples.
Though, in truth, she had no intention of running away.
At least, not for now.
“Blood Lotus is coming to see me soon. Can you all go hide?”
“Blood Lotus...?” Shetiel suddenly recalled something. Wasn't that the poor little loli whom the Demon King had pinned to the ground with one hand?
At the same time, the girls beside her—who had originally been Saintesses—all giggled. “Demon King, it looks like our ranks are about to grow again~”
“...I never said that, did I?”
“For the Demon King to see through the obsession of every magical beast is such an incredible ability. The fact that we magical beasts haven't fractured internally and remain so united is all thanks to you, Demon King~” Shetiel's thrall—a somewhat voluptuous magical beast girl—said in a soft, yet emotionless voice that mirrored Shetiel's own.
Tina felt utterly helpless at this sight. These girls had promised to help her, yet they did absolutely nothing.
So she immediately grabbed Shetiel by the wrist, dragged her to the dining room, and “stuffed” her and her sisters inside, firmly shutting the door.
Before the door closed, they even stared at Tina with eyes full of anticipation.
Magical beasts truly were strange creatures.
Having dealt with Shetiel, Tina returned to the living room. Just then, a girl timidly poked her head out from the doorway. Smoothing down her dark red hair, she crept cautiously toward the sofa opposite Tina, without making a single sound.
“Dragon Magical Beast...”
Rate on N.U.
