To become a king and a magician

(This time you absolutely have to kill him, that's right, you absolutely have to kill him. You didn't save anyone, you didn't save any of those who died. You came too late, so you have to kill him, right?)

"Yes."

We must kill him.

Thump————————!

With a light touch of his toes, he instantly soared into the air, rushing from the hole he had smashed into the rooftop opposite the hotel. Looking at Nero Chaos, who was standing on the edge of the rooftop, staring at him with eyes that seemed to be appraising prey, Natsukawa Tora's body once again shone with golden light.

Go to hell.

The moment this idea took root, Natsukawa Torato was already standing in front of Nero Chaos once again.

"Clang—!"

Their arms collided with a loud crash, and although it was a physical collision, the sound was like the clash of swords.

With his eagle-like eyes fixed on Natsukawa Torato's body, Nero Chaos suddenly released the force in his arm, allowing Natsukawa Torato's arm to tear his body apart—

"Hey!"

Passing through the tear in his own body, Natsukawa Torato quickly turned to look at Nero Chaos.

“So that’s how it is. You and I are the same kind.” Nero Chaos said coldly. “It’s really unexpected. I didn’t expect to meet such a young man in the Far East.”

"Pfft—!"

Nero Chaos was met with a merciless, chest-piercing punch from Natsukawa Torato!

"I am not the same kind of person as you"—Nero Chaos could tell that those burning sky-blue eyes seemed to be conveying this idea.

but!

"Snap!"

The darkness beneath him suddenly surged and rolled like a tidal wave! Three enormous black wolves, completely black, burst forth from the shadows without warning, biting Xia Chuanhu's legs and arms at point-blank range! Then, the chest pierced by Xia Chuanhu instantly transformed into the head of a lion, which bit down on the arm that had willingly entered its mouth!

Click!

24. Elemental Armament

The sound of breaking accompanied the snapping of the lion's head, but it was not Natsukawa Tiger's arm that broke off, but the lion's head that had grown out of Nero Chaos's chest, and the black wolf that had bitten Natsukawa Tiger's hands and feet.

what happened?

Nero Chaos tried to understand what was happening, but before he could, Natsukawa Torato had already torn his body open again! A large number of shards of stone flew out from the cut surfaces of Nero Chaos's body!

(Fragments of stone?)

Why would such a thing exist? And why would it be inside one's own body?

In just a moment's thought, Nero Chaos understood everything.

"Snap—!"

Abandoning his limbs and sprouting wings from his back, Nero Chaos instantly soared into the sky: "You... summoned elemental spirits into your body?"

Elemental spirits—or rather, elemental fairies.

This is the method Natsukawa Torama uses to achieve controllability in summoning magic. Instead of setting the summoning range to all fairies, he limits the summoning range to elemental fairies by fixing three key elements, and changes the specific fairy to be summoned by changing the first element. Although he loses most of the variability, he successfully achieves stability in summoning magic.

This is the result that Natsukawa Torato used as a sacrificial altar.

In addition, considering that summoning magic requires drawing a magic circle each time it is used, Natsukawa Torama also did something that magicians usually only do in their later years—creating magic crests.

By inscribing the summoning magic circle inside the magic crest, along with the complete magic formula for the summoning magic, the tedious preparation conditions can be omitted, allowing for the summoning magic and fairy possession at any time.

The initial golden radiance was a fire fairy mutation, while the shards of stone just now were earth fairy mutations. The ability to break the lion's head was entirely due to the petrification magic used by this fairy.

"call------!"

The rock armor covering his entire body dissipated, replaced by a light azure armor. Riding a gust of wind, Natsukawa Torato arrived at the same altitude as Nero Chaos.

"The second round, is that right?"

Reading the murderous intent in Natsukawa Torama's eyes, Nero Chaos's coat billowed without wind, and countless black beasts burst forth from beneath it like a flood! The pitch-black tsunami of beasts seemed poised to completely overwhelm Natsukawa Torama, this stubborn rock in the path!

however--

"Sizzle s ...

Like a cutting machine running at full speed! The black beast horde instantly turned into countless fragments the moment it approached Xia Chuanhu! The invisible storm blades, like satellites orbiting Xia Chuanhu, expanded rapidly after shredding and chopping up the oncoming beast horde!

Pfft!

Nero Chaos was cut in half at the waist! The falling half of his body immediately transformed into a giant vulture, and with a flap of its wings, it stirred up a raging hurricane!

"squeak--------------"

A piercing friction sound suddenly rang out in the sky. The two gusts of wind rubbed and collided violently. One could imagine that if any foreign object dared to be in it, it would be instantly pulverized and torn apart until there was no trace of its remains!

Even in the gaps between their collisions—

"Crackling—!"

A few streaks of lightning briefly tore through the night!

(This will never end! We need to replace him!)

The wind fairy dissipated from his body, and the magic crest engraved on his chest quietly lit up. The fire fairy mutated form possessed him again. Taking advantage of the still-lingering gale, he pushed off with all his might and escaped just before the vulture's wind tore him apart. At a higher position, Natsukawa Tiger slammed his raging fire fist down with all his might!

Foolish—that's all Nero Chaos could say about Natsukawa Torato.

"Pfft————————!"

Hundreds of sharp spikes suddenly burst forth from under Nero Chaos's coat under the cover of night! They riddled the falling Natsukawa Torato's body with holes—

(Wait! This is...)

"Bang--------!"

The burst of flames rising from below suddenly propelled Nero Chaos even higher into the sky, followed by a burst of light like fireworks—

boom------!!

Dazzling flames burst forth against the night sky over Misaki City!

(Phantom of the Sun...)

An illusion created by temperature changes. Because Merry happened to be nearby when he was testing the power of the Fire Fairy mutant, Natsukawa Torato was half-forced to learn this trick.

In the instant it moved upwards, Natsukawa Tora had already become an illusion, while its true form landed below, preparing for the final blow.

"Haa—! Haa—!"

As if he had been holding his breath for several minutes and finally couldn't hold back any longer, he burst out of the water and knelt down abruptly, panting heavily!

The magic circuit is twitching.

(So... it's not that my body or magic is lacking, but rather that my magic circuits won't let me do this?)

Although it was only for less than a minute, Natsukawa Torato didn't consider the feelings of his magic circuits at all during that minute. He only cared about outputting magic power to the extreme, so it's normal that his magic circuits couldn't take it.

"But...it's not over yet, he's probably not completely dead."

Nero Chaos is a Dead Apostle who has incorporated the Reality Marble: Beast King's Nest into his body. It contains 666 Beast Factors. If he is not killed at the same time, he will be resurrected countless times!

Just like now.

"I roughly understand your situation now. Although the usage is different, you remind me of a friend."

Nero Chaos, flapping his wings and descending from the sky, his body covered in red scales, looked down at Natsukawa Torato: "Summoning magic—Aleister Crowley's masterpiece. I participated in the research for a period of time. Logically speaking, only he should know it."

"Were you the one who killed him in Paris three years ago?"

Aleister.

That's really a name that makes people feel disgusted.

Natsukawa Tora stood up.

"So what? Are you going to avenge your friend?"

“No, he was outmatched, so he deserved to die. I was just a little surprised that you had studied his magic to such an extent.” Nero Chaos said expressionlessly, while the shadows beneath his feet churned. “That’s enough. I still have the mission of killing the princess to do; I don’t have time to waste on playing around.”

The dark, ferocious beast reappeared, but this time it was not a pack of wolves, but a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a python.

—Chimera.

Not a wild beast, but a monster! A combination of multiple beast-like elements!

"Farewell, man who will carry on Crowley's mantle."

"【Cast (projection)——!"

Before Nero's voice had even finished, a delicate shout suddenly came from the side, followed by several beams of azure light that rushed over and knocked the chimera back several meters!

It's Aozaki Aoko!

Aozaki Aoko came down from the other rooftop to Natsukawa Tora's side and picked him up in her arms: "You've worked hard, Tora. We're ready to leave!"

"Huh? Retreat? For—"

He hasn't been killed yet! This bastard who treats human life like dirt hasn't even been killed by me! How could he be here—

Snapped!

The pain emanating from the back of his neck abruptly interrupted Xia Chuanhu's train of thought.

Glancing at Nero Chaos, Aozaki Aoko waved her arm, and a dozen magic bullets shot out like machine gun fire! The dense barrage immediately obscured Nero Chaos's vision.

After the barrage of comments subsided, Nero Chaos stared at the empty space ahead—

"The Fifth Magician, Aozaki Aoko, has returned to her hometown at this time? There have been quite a few unexpected events tonight."

"We retreated because we knew that continuing the fight would expose the mysterious entity. The rules for magicians are as restrictive as ever."

Nero Chaos looked at the hotel across the street.

"I can't sense the princess's presence anymore. Did she leave with me? Oh well, tonight's hunt will end here, as long as the princess remains in this city—"

She was doomed to die.

25. Sajō Aika's thoughts