~Skill Details~
Colorless Royal Authority: Timeless Brilliance
・The great authority of a hollow monarch. A pure destructive magical light that returns everything to nothingness.
・Releases extremely condensed 〖Mana〗 in all directions. The deficient 〖Mana〗 unravels all defenses and can be converted into destructive power.
・To wield this power, one must demonstrate royal authority.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Well, that’s the explanation…”
After relaying the description on my 〖Status〗, the scholars began discussing their individual speculations.
There seemed to be quite a few 〖Mana〗 experts among them, and theories I didn’t understand were flying around, but in the end, we decided to try it out in practice.
However, testing it in the Great Hollow would undoubtedly lead to a catastrophe.
So, I made a quick trip back to the Great Demon Territory. Paula opened a hole for me, and I stepped onto the icy ground once more.
“Is this the Great Demon Territory?”
“What a concentration of 〖Mana〗! With this, we could finally carry out that plan we had to abandon last year—”
“This ice is also a top-tier demonic material.”
Following them, the scholars arrived with several pieces of equipment.
They were also protected by Paula’s magic, allowing them to visit the Great Demon Territory in their research attire. It made me feel a bit cold just looking at them.
“(Well, I don’t feel the cold anymore, though.)”
I thought as I ran through the valleys of ice mountains, trying to get a sufficient distance for the experiment.
My 〖Evolved〗 body constantly emitted high heat. My body temperature must be higher than any Demon Beast I’ve encountered so far.
“(And I guess I can turn off 〖Mana Eclipse〗 now.)”
I deactivated the 〖Skill〗 that had been preventing the glare and heat.
My body, which had been dyed completely black, began to shine brightly.
It was hard to tell due to the sheer amount of light, but the color was probably white or orange.
Also, besides the color, there were some minor changes due to the 〖Evolution〗.
My main body was still spherical, but I had gained new Drones.
There were eight Drones.
They were shaped like triangular pyramids made of combined equilateral triangles and constantly orbited around me.
From the side, this appearance probably looked like the sun symbol displayed on weather forecasts.
“(Alright, let’s see… yeah. These seem useful.)”
I hadn’t been able to move them safely in the Great Hollow, so I tested their controls while moving.
They moved as if they were part of my body. Which, in fact, they were.
“(Controlling all eight at once is no problem. It seems like the 〖Innovation of the Day〗’s correction is working.)”
Even though they were part of my body, they were newly acquired organs.
The difficulty of controlling eight at once was higher than moving eight fingers separately, but I was able to achieve it with a decent level of precision. Thanks to my 〖Skill〗.
“(〖Compact Thrust〗, Lightning Strike… alright, I can activate their abilities without any problems.)”
Pew, a Drone pierced a distant ice mountain, and a bolt of lightning shot out from inside.
Like this, it was also possible to use them as a medium for my 〖Skills〗.
The Drones couldn’t be transformed, and they would die if they strayed too far, but they were perfectly fine up to about a kilometer away.
They were very useful physical characteristics, and I needed to learn how to use them as much as possible in the time I had left.
“(Alright, this should be good enough.)”
I stopped at a distance where the scholars looked like grains of sand.
It was about time to try out 〖Colorless Royal Authority: Timeless Brilliance〗.
“(First, let’s activate 〖Solar Lord〗.)”
A halo made of crystal appeared above my head.
This halo, resembling a crown, was the sign of 〖Solar Lord〗’s activation.
By continuously consuming a large amount of 〖Mana〗, I could enhance the effects of 〖Skills〗 related to Mana Crystals and Artifacts.
The description of 〖Colorless Royal Authority: Timeless Brilliance〗 ended with “To wield this power, one must demonstrate royal authority,” which apparently meant that I had to activate 〖Solar Lord〗.
“(And on top of that, it takes time to charge from here.)”
With the crystal crown floating above me, I immediately moved on to the next step.
That is, the convergence of immense 〖Mana〗.
Just like the “Polar King’s” trump card, activating this 〖Skill〗 also required an abnormal amount of 〖Mana〗.
I condensed the overflowing 〖Mana〗 to a single point, just like when expanding my 〖Zone Control〗.
“(Phew, I should be able to manage this.)”
My 〖Mana〗 had decreased considerably during the fight with the “Polar King,” but it was rapidly recovering since I came to the Great Demon Territory.
It seemed that 〖Colorless Royal Authority: Timeless Brilliance〗 could be fired with a minimum of 10,000 〖Mana〗, so I had gathered more than enough.
Now, let’s show them what it can do.
“(〖〖Colorless Royal Authority: Timeless Brilliance〗〗!)”
—My heart pulsed.
Of course, it was just an image. Slimes don’t have hearts.
Even so, I felt a sensation as if the source of my life was trembling.
And after a moment of silence as if before a storm, a roar of countless things being shattered resounded.
It was the sound of the light waves spreading in all directions, shattering the ice of the Great Demon Territory.
The destruction left behind looked like a crater.
A large hole was punched into the ice field, centered around me. The hard ice mountains of the Great Demon Territory were gone without a trace.
“(I-Is this the minimum power… ?)”
I couldn’t believe the extent of the devastation.
But this was undoubtedly the normal power.
It was probably on the same level as the Clione’s 〖Skill〗 that had shaved off all of my 〖Life〗 in one shot.
After that, I collected some nearby ice and returned to hear the scholars’ opinions.
From this, two things became clear.
One was that this 〖Skill〗, like artillery Artifacts, directly released 〖Mana〗.
Therefore, the 〖Mana Leak〗 effect of 〖Mana Eclipse〗 could also be applied.
The other was that it could nullify 〖Skills〗 derived from 〖Mana〗.
It seemed that the 〖Mana〗 was given special properties during the compression process, and the 〖Mana〗 that touched these light waves could not maintain its original function.
That was the part about “unraveling all defenses.”
There were also voices suggesting that the power might increase by the amount nullified, based on the phrase “can be converted into destructive power,” but there didn’t seem to be enough time to verify that, so we decided to try it out in practice.
After that, we returned to the Great Hollow and repeated inspections and experiments on my 【Unique Skill】 and tried out Artifacts.
Finally, I made a weapon from the Clione and ate the remaining parts before setting off on my journey again. This was about half a day after the subjugation of the “Polar King.”
“This is the closest spot. It’s still far from the Great Demon Territory, though.”
“No, getting somewhat close is enough. Thanks, I’m going.”
“Okay, be careful.”
Seeing me off, Paula watched as I flew into the pre-dawn sky.
My next destination. It was the Southern Great Demon Territory where the world’s oldest 〖King Beast〗, the “Ancient King,” awaited.