Chapter 152: "Demon" Dragon

(It must be New Year’s Day by the time you all see this chapter, hahaha, Happy 2023!)

“Powerful!” After emptying all six rounds from the cylinder, Char gave the Furnace Fury a flashy spin before sliding the oversized revolver back into its custom-fitted holster—a skill that, surprisingly, seemed to be instinctual regardless of the world.

The half-dozen dummy targets in the alchemy workshop’s range had been reduced to piles of metallic scrap by the bullets from the Furnace Fury. Molten metal pooled and hardened across the stone-tiled floor; these tiles were modular, designed to be removed and tossed into the furnace along with the debris, where they would be perfectly separated.

“This thing is incredibly useful. It shouldn’t be too hard to heavily wound any official knight if you catch them by surprise, though the trajectory is easy enough to dodge if you just draw and fire.”

Char looked on with satisfaction at the destruction he’d wreaked upon the unfortunate metal dummies. Between bouts of pride, he carefully analyzed the strengths and limitations of the Furnace Fury.

Crafted by Avia, it was perhaps the pinnacle of her work thus far. Its strength lay in the absurdly high power it unleashed after the “furnace” had finished charging. Few compact magitech devices could achieve such force.

The problem, however, was the three seconds required to charge the furnace. During that time, there was a distinct magical fluctuation; once detected, any knight with their physical prowess could easily sidestep the linear trajectory during that brief pause before the trigger clicked.

“You can also load standard ammunition into this, using it just like the alchemy firearms in the display case upstairs.”

Wang Yu said this as he quickly drew his own Furnace Fury, rapidly fanning the hammer. “Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!” Six sparks bloomed at the muzzle almost simultaneously, and the bullets, propelled by alchemical propellant, flew out to strike the mangled remains of the fallen dummies.

A knight’s physical constitution meant that once they held a gun, they were natural marksmen; their dynamic vision and other abilities far surpassed anything found on Earth.

The bullets embedded themselves into the metal dummies, but they didn’t achieve the exaggerated destructive effect seen after the Furnace Fury had been charged. It was, at best, decent.

“This level of power should be enough to threaten us. A Steel Sun Shield could probably take five or six hits, and as for a Barrier, it could hold indefinitely as long as you aren’t struck in the same spot repeatedly.”

Walking over to the dummy where the bullets were embedded, Edward pried one out, examined the dent it had left, and offered his assessment.

The Barrier was an internal potential Edward had awakened during his stage as an official knight. Compared to Wang Yu’s struggle to awaken his own, Edward had naturally possessed this ability, which was a hallmark of an official knight’s unique power.

Wang Yu still didn’t know the specific details of Edward’s internal potential, only that it was a defense-oriented ability. Edward, however, had no intention of keeping it a secret, telling Wang Yu and Char quite frankly that the ability would manifest naturally during combat.

“Haha, you’d better be careful from now on. It’ll be simple for me to deal with you if I’m holding this alchemical firearm.” Char pointed the unloaded Furnace Fury at Edward with a strange sense of excitement.

“Don’t forget that I can also buy standard alchemical firearms from the display case upstairs. They might not have the explosive power of yours, but imagine what would happen if a knight used one against you.”

Edward shrugged, not even bothering to refute Char, merely suggesting he consider what would happen if a knight used such a weapon against a mage like him.

“Hiss!” Char gasped, immediately realizing how miserable his life as a mage would be if these hulking brutes—who were already monsters in close quarters—gained ranged capabilities.

“No way, I have to go learn that ‘Mud Pit’ spell that nullifies various strikes and impacts. Otherwise, I’m going to end up dead one day without even knowing why.” Char immediately thought of a solution; spells that provided physical nullification were quite common among third-tier magic and sorcery…

“Clang, clang, clang…” The movement of the elevator behind them drew Edward and Char’s attention. Wang Yu and Avia, however, already knew who would be arriving at this hour.

“Good afternoon, everyone.” Zig walked off the elevator with a smile, greeting the four of them.

“Uh, Professor, why are you here?” Upon seeing Zig, Char instinctively shrank behind Edward. While he wasn’t exactly respectful, he still felt the appropriate amount of fear for these two superiors.

“Confidential.” Zig maintained his smile, made a shushing gesture toward Edward and Char, and nodded at Wang Yu and Avia.

“Understood. We’ll be going then.” Char and Edward immediately grasped Zig’s meaning. Since it was a matter requiring secrecy, there was no need for them to linger. Without hesitation, the two walked away briskly.

“Remember to use fewer special rounds; they’re quite expensive to manufacture. Standard alchemical ammunition is sold upstairs, and for you two, it’s seventy-five percent of the cost, permanently.”

Before Edward and Char left, Wang Yu reminded Char and added the discount for them.

“Many thanks.” Both of them thanked Wang Yu sincerely. The items in the alchemy shop were things that genuinely helped them.

…

“The alchemy shop is quite nice.” Zig followed Avia and Wang Yu toward the deeper, larger area of the alchemy workshop, offering a sincere compliment to the general store upstairs.

These items weren’t of much use to a powerhouse of his level, but the members of the Night’s Edge would certainly find them useful.

“I hope more people are willing to put their goods up for sale here. I might be able to buy some very useful things myself.”

Wang Yu’s selfish motive was simple: if more people—not just members of the Nightfall Church—were willing to sell their wares here, Avia, as the shopkeeper, would have access to first-hand information. That would allow them to convert their remaining gold coins into effective strength.

The short walk ended quickly, and the three arrived at the underground space specifically excavated for their needs—a vast, rectangular cavity carved into the mountain.

“This place must already be under the protection of the Lady of Night, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to reveal my true form.” Zig looked at the pitch-black, cavernous space and asked. Within the Nightfall Church, under the shroud of the Lady of Night’s power, darkness did not actually impede vision.

“The Lady of Night has already enveloped the entire Nightfall Church encampment with her power. You can rest assured, Mr. Zig. However, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask how you manage the transformation between your dragon form and human form. If you cannot use magic, is it sorcery?”

Avia confirmed that the Lady of Night’s power had already masked Zig’s presence, so there was no need to worry that the manifestation of his draconic bloodline would draw the gaze of that terrifying entity. At the same time, the girl asked a question she had been curious about for a long time.

Because of his innate disability, Zig could not use magic, yet he could transform between human and dragon forms. What kind of power was this? Could it be the power of the Void?

“It is not. I don’t know what this power is, but it is certainly not the power of the Void. I was born with this ability. When my dragon form is not manifested, it resides in a space only I can perceive. When I wish to reveal this draconic body, it overlaps with my own until… it is fully manifested.”

As Zig spoke, he denied any connection between his ability and the Void. He rolled up his sleeves, and hard, draconic scales began to spread from the back of his hand, his fingernails gradually replaced by tough, sharp claws. The draconic body he spoke of was overlapping with his human form in space, and the characteristics of the dragon began to manifest upon him.

“Noelle’s traits, which resemble those of a half-dragon, are actually partly due to her lack of mastery over this innate ability. She lives very happily here at the Nightfall Church; there is no discrimination, and the school Mr. Holo started has a lot of knowledge that can’t be learned outside. I am truly grateful for that.”

When Zig mentioned this, he spoke of his sister again. Knowing that Noelle was happy made the guilt in the heart of this incompetent older brother feel a little lighter.

“I had guesses and conducted research on the source of this transformation ability back at the academy, but I dared not reveal my draconic form in the outside world. The Cult of the Dragon and the gaze of ‘Him’ are both very troublesome matters. I never managed to research this power, which is similar to innate spell-like abilities.”

Zig looked at his right hand, where the draconic features were spreading. As a scholar, how could he give up on investigating this innate power?

“Internal potential. I think the closest thing to this power now is the one knights awaken during their official knight stage. It’s also not magic, and it doesn’t come from the Void. But my power certainly doesn’t come from battle aura, either.”

After thinking for a moment, Zig mentioned the power he felt was closest to his own: internal potential.

“Internal potential, is it? I suppose so. The essence of internal potential is the matrixing of battle aura; the existence of knight secret arts has already proven this. But the power of internal potential itself is also very unreasonable. It is a power born from the flesh, yet it can distort reality just like the Void and influence others. It is truly marvelous.”

Wang Yu highly agreed with Zig’s speculation. The internal potential “Lethal Tempo” of Orca, which he had faced once, was already outrageous, and there seemed to be many other internal potentials with even more powerful effects.

“I see. Then, Mr. Zig, you may reveal your draconic form. My preparations here are complete.” Although Avia hadn’t received a definitive answer, she was satisfied in her thirst for knowledge regarding the innate abilities of dragons and began to prepare for the most important experiment to come.

“No problem.” Zig nodded. The draconic body, which had been in a space only he could perceive, suddenly overlapped with his human form. A massive red dragon appeared in the underground space. Its wings were tattered, yet they could not hide the majesty unique to the dragon race.

“Ugh…” Feeling the dragon’s pressure at close range, Avia’s body instinctively felt fear, forcing the girl to rub her temples hard. Fortunately, she managed to adjust quickly.

As for Wang Yu, he remained unaffected as always, though he did not hide the shock and slight excitement in his eyes when feeling the power of a body belonging to the peak species of another world at such close range.

The massive red dragon body occupied a large portion of the cavernous underground space. Observing those tattered, skeletal wings at close range, paired with the intimidating red dragon body, gave it a sense of ruined yet still shocking beauty.

“Miss Avia, please feel free to try. The recovery ability of this draconic body should be fine.” The professor’s gentle, refined voice was conveyed to the two present via mental energy.

“Alright.” Avia, already holding the tools for engraving magic circuits, walked to the side of the massive red dragon body. The experiment she was about to conduct was what she had mentioned to Wang Yu: by engraving magic circuits onto Zig’s dragon scales, she would “fill in” his innate deficiency.

…

The metal magic-inscribed stylus scraped against the hard dragon scales. The stylus, which could easily leave marks on ordinary metal surfaces, moved with extreme difficulty across the surface of the dragon scales. Sparks flew, yet it could only leave shallow marks.

“As expected of dragon scales. Truly exaggerated.” Wang Yu sighed. The work of engraving the magic circuits on the scales was completed under Avia’s direction. A knight’s physical constitution allowed Wang Yu to act like a human-powered machine—precise and forceful. As long as Avia provided the diagram of the magic array, he could complete the engraving with high precision.

The hardness of the dragon scales was truly terrifying. Wang Yu had to activate his Blood-Burning Drive to complete the engraving with relative ease; otherwise, he would have to scrape with great force.

“It is indeed difficult to engrave, but the affinity of dragon scales for magic is truly excellent. Ordinary magic-affinity metals cannot compare to the conductivity of dragon scales.” Avia, who was guiding Wang Yu through the engraving of the magic circuits, exclaimed in wonder after testing the properties of the dragon scales with an instrument.

Dragons were indeed a powerful race naturally favored by magic. Every part of their body had excellent magic affinity. Zig’s innate deficiency in magic circuits did not mean that the material of his dragon body had changed; its magic affinity remained extremely outstanding.

“Haha, sorry, I’ve caused you trouble. I rarely have the chance to reveal this complete draconic form. The feeling now is actually quite good.” There was a strange sense of relaxation in Zig’s slightly apologetic words.

“Click…” The magic stylus finished the last groove with great difficulty amidst a shower of sparks. This experimental magic array was completely engraved onto one of Zig’s dragon scales.

“Here.” Wang Yu looked at the magic stylus in his hand, its blade now full of nicks and chips, and handed it to Avia with a helpless expression for her to inspect.

“Throw it away. It’s useless.” Avia took one look and knew the thing was scrapped. She told Wang Yu to toss it; next time, they would need a special stylus to engrave more magic circuits for Zig.

“Hmm… let’s test the effect of the array.” Avia injected a trace of magic into the array, which had been completed by overlapping two layers of magic circuits. Thanks to Wang Yu’s high precision, it would have been much more difficult for the girl to complete this complex three-dimensional array alone.

The first layer of magic circuits was activated by this trace of magic and began to operate. The purpose of this array was to gather magic from the environment and deliver it to the next layer of magic circuits, allowing the second layer to operate normally without needing a supply of magic from Zig.

The second layer of magic circuits began to emit a faint purple glow after the first layer injected the magic, and it brought forth tiny, tangible electric arcs on the surface of Zig’s dragon scales. This was the gravity magic Avia had engraved on Zig’s body.

“How is it? Do you feel anything?” After confirming that the array was operating normally, Avia asked about Zig’s sensations.

“A very… marvelous feeling. I can feel magic flowing through my body, but I cannot control it. And although the force is not great, I can feel this magic providing a force to lift me upward. If about one-third of my body were engraved with the same array, I should be able to fly.”

Sieg sensed his own form, the tangible flow of mana within a novel and curious sensation; though he could not yet command it, it was the first time such a current had coursed through his draconic body.

The gravity array provided a lift that seemed negligible compared to his massive frame, yet he knew that with enough of them, they could truly bear him aloft.

"Nice! Once we etch the runes to bridge your mental focus with the arrays on your hide, you should be able to control the entire system, much like a mage—though limited to the specific spells we’ve inscribed."

Using a term she had picked up from Wang Yu to express her delight, the girl clenched her fist; the dragonkin were indeed unlike any other race, for it would be impossible for a human to gain spellcasting prowess through such surface-level runic inscriptions.

"It should... it truly is possible." Sieg’s knowledge was profound, and once the first array was etched and functioning, he had judged from his own expertise that Avia’s vision was entirely sound.

His previous doubts had stemmed solely from his inability to manifest his dragon form to conduct such research.

Now, under the protection of the Lady of Night, he confirmed that his body, composed entirely of mana-receptive material, could indeed reclaim his fractured spellcasting through this method; he, the "Wing-Clipped Dragon," might yet become a "Magic" Dragon.

"Truly remarkable." The red dragon’s eyes swept over Avia as she conceived the next array, once again witnessing the staggering talent of the girl he had met through Wang Yu.

The dragon’s form gradually shrank, receding into the space only Sieg could perceive, and as it detached from his human shell, he noticed a tiny, fading scale on his right hand—a mirror to the one etched on his dragon form—where faint purple arcs of electricity still danced.

His eyes widened; in some profound sense, his human form and that draconic vessel were one and the same.