“Then what would happen if we destroyed its main body?”
Leo’s expression froze.
He stared at Chen Mian for a good while before saying, “It can’t be destroyed. Its main body has peak Mythic Rank strength. Moreover, unless it’s obliterated in a single strike, it will rapidly regenerate. But even a Mythic Rank expert won’t survive if they’re injured by it.”
“Looking at your expression, destroying the main body is feasible, isn’t it?”
“Theoretically speaking...” he finally spoke, his tone slow and cautious. “The Child of the Rot is a single collective consciousness. If the main body is destroyed, its scattered divided parts should lose the support of the core will, turning into masterless remnants of energy.”
“Theoretically?”
“Because no one has ever done it.” A trace of complex emotion entered Leo’s voice. “During the war in ancient times, even the top powerhouses of several races working together could only seal these things; they couldn't kill them. Do you understand what that means?”
“It means the powerhouses of the past weren't strong enough,” Chen Mian said flatly.
Leo was momentarily at a loss for words.
Chen Mian raised his hand and pointed to the five-colored light barrier above the rift valley. “How long does it last when you reinforce this magic circle?”
“Two hundred years.”
“And after two hundred years?”
“Reinforce it again.”
“It must be quite a hassle to keep reinforcing it and sending people to guard it, right?”
“...It is quite a hassle.”
“I'll get rid of this thing for you. In exchange, keep an eye on the Forest of Death for me when I'm not around.”
Leo stared at Chen Mian, unable to say a word for a long time.
He felt he might have misheard. “...What did you say?”
Chen Mian didn't say anything more. Even if the dragon race weren't here, he would still have disposed of this thing.
He had no habit of leaving a time bomb so close to his home.
He raised his right hand, and the mana in his palm began to condense. Suddenly, a massive white magic circle emerged in the sky, its scope perfectly covering the entire rift valley.
The surrounding air began to tremble as mana from all directions converged into the white magic circle, compressing again and again.
Leo snapped his head up. “What are you doing?!”
“It's the forest I live in. I don't want to constantly watch out for leaks every day,” Chen Mian said calmly. The magic circle above the rift continued to compress mana, and the surrounding mana pressure grew increasingly intense.
“If you break the magic circle, the Child of the Rot will escape!” Leo shouted anxiously. He was about to rush over to stop Chen Mian, only to find that he couldn't move either.
He could only watch helplessly as the power of the magic circle above the rift continued to build, until its intensity surpassed his comprehension.
Beneath the magic circle, the Child of the Rot grew frantic, repeatedly slamming against the damaged seal and unleashing shrill, piercing shrieks.
Leo watched this scene with a somewhat complex expression... This was the first time he had ever seen this creature become so frantic. Meanwhile, the mere aura radiating from the magic circle atop the rift made his scalp tingle.
In the next instant, a torrent of pure white mana cascaded from the heavens. Before the pure white mana, the five-colored seal was like paper, offering no buffer whatsoever. The pure white light pierced straight through the rift, leaving nothing but a vast expanse of blinding white.
The earth shook violently, with cracks spreading outward for thousands of meters, and then everything fell silent.
The runes on the five stone pillars had been completely obliterated. Leo looked down into the depths of the rift; there was nothing left but a bottomless white crater, devoid of any signs of life.
Leo looked at Chen Mian, the shock in his eyes yet to fade. “...Who on earth are you?”
Chen Mian brushed the dust off his hem and turned to leave. “Don't forget my condition. Also, hurry up and get the Forest of Death back to normal.”
Once the white light dissipated, a scorching heat lingered in the air around the rift.
The rotting stench that had persisted for who knew how many years was completely gone.
Leo stood atop the red stone pillar, staring blankly down at the scene below.
The rift's original form had been completely altered. The blackened rock walls, once corroded, had been washed smooth by the white mana, taking on a glass-like texture.
Right in the center was a bottomless circular crater nearly a thousand meters in diameter.
He leaped down. There was nothing at the bottom of the crater.
He swept his perception a total of three times. “...Is it really gone?”
Leo felt an incredibly complex sense of daze. “Something that the ancient races could only seal together was blasted away without even a speck of dust remaining?!”
And even more absurdly, it seemed that the magic circle he had just used was the most basic, attribute-less attack magic circle... The only thing that had attacked the Child of the Rot was mana itself.
After some time, several more dragons flew in from the horizon.
The first to arrive were two red dragons.
One of them was exceptionally massive, causing the ground to shake upon landing. It quickly transformed into a burly, red-haired, middle-aged man, his brow carrying the oppressive aura customary of the Red Dragon Clan.
He was the patriarch of the Red Dragon Clan, Ignis.
Ignis carefully sensed the surrounding environment. “...The Child of the Rot is gone?”
Leo nodded. “Gone.”
“What happened? We felt intense mana fluctuations from far away.”
“It was that Mythic Rank human who broke into our clan sixteen years ago.” Leo fell silent for a moment, then pointed above the rift. “He used the most basic mana compression magic circle... and blasted the Child of the Rot to death.”
Ignis and the other red dragon beside him exchanged a glance, their expressions filled with disbelief.
“The most basic...”
“Mana compression magic circle,” Leo repeated. “He also made a condition: we are to watch over the Forest of Death for him.”
“That's it?”
“That's it.”
Ignis fell silent for a moment, then said something that caught Leo by surprise: “Bring over the duty roster from the dragon nest. From now on, the Forest of Death will be included in the dragon race's regular patrol route.”
“...Patriarch, isn't that a bit of a big deal?”
“He solved a trouble that has plagued the five races for tens of thousands of years.” Ignis's voice was flat. “This small request is nothing. Furthermore, we don't know if we'll encounter other troubles in the future. Maintaining friendly relations with him is more important than anything.”
...
Chen Mian looked at the sky; the sun had not yet reached its peak.
He estimated the time it took to walk back to the apartment from the rift. The round trip, combined with the process of dealing with the Child of the Rot... at most, it took a bit over two hours.
It was much faster than expected.
Originally, he had thought it would be some time-consuming hassle.
The way back was almost a completely different world from the way there.
The withered, grayish-brown trees were now slowly regaining their vitality, and even the weeds on the ground showed more green...
It seemed that once the main body of the Child of the Rot died, everything associated with it would dissipate.
To think he and Louise had spent so much time every day helping Velyan purge the black energy; if he had just used a basic magic spell earlier, there wouldn't have been so much trouble.
“In a few days, it'll be time to go to the Royal Capital to settle a certain someone's engagement issue.”
Rate on N.U.
