The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 70: The Magic Stone Arrow

Episode 70: The Magic Stone Arrow

The scholars began to examine the obelisk. It looked like they were searching for more clues. There might be something else written. The more ancient script they find, the more they’ll understand what this is.

We waited while staying alert to our surroundings. Lilia’s trembling finally started to calm down. Now that I think about it, the Fire Spirit seemed to be calling its kin by giving them power. But how was it planning to let them cross that sea of lava?

Could it be that the Fire Turtles can swim through the lava sea? Maybe that’s the case. After all, the only monster that grew giant was the Fire Turtle.

“What do you think that inscription means?”

“Right, if you take it literally, it probably means that if nature is polluted, the Spirit will awaken.”

I think Ardan’s opinion makes sense. And the fact that two Big Fire Turtles appeared probably means the Spirit is starting to wake up.

Wasn’t that forest withered not just because of the Big Fire Turtles, but also due to the involvement of the Fire Spirit?

The forest had started withering long before we began our investigation. Otherwise, there’s no way such a large forest could have died out. Maybe it had been warning us for a long time, and no one noticed.

“Doesn’t look like there are any more clues.”

“The writing only appears on that one side. But it seems certain that the Fire Spirit is sleeping in this land.”

The scholars returned after finishing the surrounding investigation. It didn’t look like there were any standout findings. But even so, their eyes were shining.

“We’ve learned that there is some kind of connection between the ancient people and this obelisk. That alone is a major breakthrough.”

The scholars nodded. Maybe, if the relationship between the ancient people and the Spirit becomes clear, we’ll finally understand what this obelisk really is.

Just then, *rumble rumble*, there was a small tremor. Since we’re inside the crater of a volcano, it’s not strange for the ground to shake. Just in case, we all ran back toward the airship.

“It’s unlikely, but we might have an eruption. We’re taking off immediately!”

“Hey, look at that! The obelisk!”

A crew member was pointing at something. When we turned around, the obelisk was falling with a loud noise. I couldn’t help but stop and watch. I wasn’t the only one who stopped. The others had also frozen in place, their mouths wide open.

The obelisk fell before our eyes. It hit the ground and toppled sideways. And with a cloud of dust, it shattered into several chunks of stone. Right after that, flames burst out, as if wrapping around the broken obelisk.

Those flames seemed to be coming from within the shattered stone chunks. They gradually came together, forming a humanoid shape the size of a Guardian.

Analyze clearly picked up a magical reaction that wasn’t there before. And it was quite strong. That must be the Fire Spirit.

“Hey, did someone touch something?”

“Of course not! Most likely, this was set to happen when someone reached this place. The Fire Spirit seeks a body, after all.”

One of the scholars said that. Everyone had already started moving. They were heading back to the airship. The airship was probably already ready to take off. But is it really okay for us to just leave?

“Fel, we have to calm the Fire Spirit! If we act now, we can still do something!”

“Lilia?”

“It’s still small. Once it grows, no one will be able to stop it! There won’t be anyone left who can defeat it!”

Lilia’s desperate cry made me stop in my tracks. If it’s still not too late, then we have no choice but to act.

“If no one can defeat it anymore, that means someone did before, right?”

“Yes. But…”

Tears began streaming down Lilia’s face. My chest ached like my heart was being crushed—this was the first time I saw Lilia cry. Did that person die when they defeated the Fire Spirit? Maybe the “our friend” written on the obelisk referred to that person.

“Ardan, I’m going.”

“That thing’s probably a Fire Guardian, huh? Looks like we’re going to be dealing with a lot of Guardians. I’ll need Freeze Armor. That thing won’t leave you with just burns.”

“Fel, as planned, enchant my sword with ice-element magic! I’m gonna slice it up. My arms are itching for it!”

“Leave the healing to me. Go all out!”

That’s right. I have comrades now. Not just the two of us anymore.

Lilia used Freeze Barrier. With this, it should be safe to get close. I used Freeze Armor and Freeze Weapon on Ardan and Jill. For now, we’ll observe the situation with this.

To get distance from the airship, we approached the Fire Spirit. The Fire Spirit, having spotted us, fired flames from its head. Lilia used Freeze Shield to deflect the flames upward. The intense flames passed above us. The shield melted with a gooey sound. If it had hit directly, it would’ve turned us to ash without a trace.

While that happened, the Fire Spirit slammed a flaming fist at Ardan who had approached. But it was blocked by Ardan’s shield. There was no change in the Freeze Armor. It seemed that the body’s heat wasn’t that intense.

After its punch was blocked, the Fire Spirit stopped moving. Jill severed that arm.

“It can be cut!”

With a returning swing of the blade, the other arm that had been raised was cut off. As its arms were gone and it lost balance, several Freeze Arrows I fired pierced into it. Just like that, the Fire Spirit fell backward. Since it’s a mass of magic power, it had no weight. So there was no sound.

We took some distance once.

“Did we get it?”

Just as Jill said that, the Fire Spirit rose back up in the same form as before. As far as we could see, there was no sign of damage.

“Hey, hey, could it be immortal?”

“It’s like slicing through air. Not entirely wrong, I’d say.”

“If the Fire Spirit is a mass of magic power, wouldn’t it fall once that magic runs out?”

From what Analyze showed, the Fire Spirit’s magic power hadn’t changed. But if we keep piling on attacks, surely there will be some change. It must be using magic power to restore its lost arms.

“Did its magic power change at all?”

I quietly shook my head side to side. Ardan’s mouth relaxed slightly. His eyes were completely serious.

“Looks like this’ll be a long fight.”

If it keeps going like this, we’ll run out of strength first. Even so, we should be able to wear down the Fire Spirit’s magic power. If its strength weakens, someone else should be able to handle it.

“Fel, look at that child’s knee! There’s something like an arrow stuck in it!”

“An arrow?”

At Lilia’s words, I looked closely and saw something like a small black arrow stuck in the Fire Spirit’s left knee. It sometimes sparkled in seven colors, like a magic stone.

“Could it be a magic stone? What monster has a magic stone in that shape?”

“There’s no such slender-shaped magic stone. Did someone make it?”

“Can magic stones even be made?”

While we were having that conversation, the Fire Spirit was already closing in. Just like before, Ardan blocked and parried the attacks with his shield. It created openings for Jill to strike.

He also attacked the magic stone arrow Lilia mentioned earlier. But with a *clang!*, it was deflected with a sharp, high-pitched sound.

“Could that arrow be hiding something?”

“I don’t know. But it really bothers me.”

While continuing magical follow-up attacks, I kept watching the magic stone arrow. Then I noticed it.

Magic power was flowing from the magic stone into the Fire Spirit.

In other words, unless we do something about this magic stone, we won’t be able to reduce the Fire Spirit’s magic power.

Its severed limbs were starting to regenerate immediately now. Seems like the Fire Spirit is getting used to our movements. This is really starting to wear us down. We might need to think about escaping while we still have energy left.

[Help me, help me…]

“Lilia, did you just say ‘help me’?”

“It wasn’t me. It’s that child!”

As she said that, Lilia pointed toward the Fire Spirit.