Episode 22: This Means I’m Going to Die
A massive beam of light magic filled my vision.
The moment I realized it was the brat (shithead) who had unleashed it, I instantly understood that all my assumptions had been wrong.
“…! ‘Magical Barrier’!”
Squeezing out the last of my Magical Power, I took every defensive measure I could.
Just in the nick of time, I managed to create a thick magical barrier between me and the brat’s (shithead) Meteor Ray.
(Whoa, that was close!)
Behind the Magical Barrier, I collapsed on my butt, breaking out in a cold sweat.
I was overwhelmed by the unbelievably high-density Magical Power output.
“Haa, haa? Hah, hah, hah hah… I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die! This means I’m going to die!”
I get it now! That brat (shithead) was harboring an absurd amount of Magical Power.
That explains his ridiculous strength, well, not really, but the amount of Magical Power is just…
At first, for some reason, that brat (shithead) was holding back.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it! What the hell is that monster?! I never heard there was anyone like that in Ortenos!”
In the first place, that brat (shithead) is beyond the Stella-Class range.
As far as I know, the only beings who clearly exceed the Stella-Class are Great-Grandmother, the War God Ulgool, and the Hero of Tsetia.
Rather, I’m now wondering if those three even possess as much Magical Power as that brat (shithead).
(Someone like that wouldn’t even be challenged by a single Stella-Class!)
I have quite a bit of combat experience, especially within the Naia Royal Family.
That’s why I was assigned to fight Ulgool in this operation.
According to the estimates of the Hoshilos family, four Stella-Class individuals would be enough to take down Ulgool.
But if I were to make the same calculation for the monster in front of me, I shudder to think how many Stella-Class would be needed.
“Damn it, what should I do? I have to escape. But can I even escape? Damn it! …Ouch!”
As I was considering how to survive, a sharp pain ran through my left arm.
“What…?”
I looked down at my left arm.
—My left arm was charred black.
“Huh? Haaaaaa?!”
I was confused, not understanding what had happened.
Suddenly, I looked at the Magical Barrier behind me.
To my disbelief, the Magical Barrier was gradually beginning to crumble.
“Why…? Absolute defense against magic, that’s what a Magical Barrier is supposed to be…”
I realized that the light leaking from the crumbling Magical Barrier had burned my arm.
A voice of despair, as if my trust had been shattered, escaped my lips.
At this rate, I’ll just be burned to death along with the Magical Barrier by the Meteor Ray.
(It’s now or never, I have to jump to the side! Go! Go! Go! Go! Now!)
I took the plunge.
But it was just as the Magical Barrier was about to be completely swallowed by the beam.
My left foot was caught in the light, unable to escape in time.
“Gnyaaaaaaaah!”
I screamed like I never had before.
My left foot was burned and carbonized by the light, crumbling to pieces.
It hurts, it hurts like hell.
“Healing Magic…”
I tried to squeeze out the last of my Magical Power to cast Healing Magic, but at that moment.
A powerful “Magical Power Wave” passed through my abdomen.
I felt the “door” of my Magical Power being sealed.
My body went numb, and I couldn’t properly manipulate my Magical Power.
“Wh-Why…? Why?! I can’t use magic!”
—I can’t release Magical Power.
That had never happened to me before.
I’ve experienced Magical Power depletion, but this is different.
It felt as if all Magical Power had been completely drained from my body.
“Hah, hah, hah, aaaaaaaah!”
I started hyperventilating from the sheer abnormality of the situation.
It is Magical Power that makes the Stella-Class body so strong.
If that Magical Power were to be lost, we would fall to the same fragile existence as the Dust that we despise.
For me, a Stella-Class and a member of the Royal Family, that was the most unbearable thing of all.
“Is it hard not being able to use Magical Power, Barbat?”
The brat’s (boy) feet came into my view.
Unable to even use Magical Power Detection, I hadn’t even noticed him getting so close.
“You… what did you do to me?!”
“I hit your Magical Power ‘door’ directly with an ‘Intimidation Orb’; you won’t be able to move for a while.”
“Huh?! It’s impossible to target the ‘door’ directly! Besides, I’m Stella-Class! There’s no way!”
“Oh, I see, you can’t tell yourself, huh?… I need to be careful about that too.”
“Huh?!”
The “door” is a tiny organ that creates Magical Power, only about the size of a little fingertip.
There’s no way to intentionally target it, unless emotions are exploding and the flow of Magical Power is completely visible.
The brat (boy) was saying something as if he knew something, which irritated me.
“Your Highness Barbat!”
“Don’t move, if you make any strange moves, I’ll crush his medulla oblongata.”
“Damn it!”
Nephthys tried to rush to my side, but she was threatened by the brat (boy) and stopped in her tracks.
I realized that the brat (boy) now held the power of life and death over me.
My left arm and left foot were burned, my magic was taken away, and I couldn’t even move my body.
(Damn it! Damn it all! Am I really going to die here?)
I absolutely refuse.
There’s no way I’m going to be killed so easily by some unknown punk.
However, in the golden eyes looking down at me, there was no sign of mercy—