A fist wrapped in deep crimson magic roared like a crimson dragon, directly slamming into the descending beam of magic. The ground beneath Rayn's giant form instantly caved in from the aftershock, but his crimson fist held the beam at bay. Not only did it stop it, but it shattered it!
The dark green pillar of light began to crack with the sound of breaking glass. Deep crimson light shone out from the cracks, spreading upwards in a crushing wave until it reached the top of the beam! The final attack, fueled by the burning souls of every last Toymaker's Workshop mage, could no longer withstand the blow that seemed capable of splitting mountains. The rampaging energy lost control and violently shattered.
A world-shaking roar echoed through the heavens, and the force of the two clashing powers sent a gale outwards, pulverizing the frozen earth. The air was instantly filled with the thick smell of soil, which was then swept away by the fierce wind. The snow within a hundred-meter radius was blown away completely.
From a distance, Kanna and the others could clearly see a circular area of black earth on the snow-covered ground. Amidst the pulverized ground stood a giant, his right hand encased in a fierce-looking armguard.
After a moment, confirming that the Weeping Doll's magic had completely vanished, Rayn dispelled his Giant Magic and the Boosted Gear, reappearing in the crater created by the recoil. At his normal size, he looked like a small item in a giant dish.
"Phew."
Rayn let out a long breath, and a puff of white smoke appeared again. Even with his continuous enhancements making his body inhuman, using Giant Magic and Boost at the same time had still consumed a lot of stamina. Fortunately, it was still within an acceptable range.
"If I go all out with Giant Magic and multiple boosts, I should have a fighting chance against an S-class mage," he mused. "But the pressure on my body would be immense, and I couldn't last long."
"At my normal size with a high number of boosts, dealing with an A-class mage shouldn't be a problem."
Turning to walk towards Kanna's location, Rayn silently made his calculations based on the recent battle.
"Rayn, Rayn," before he reached Kanna, her youthful call interrupted his thoughts. Rayn looked up and saw Kanna shouting with an expressionless face, running towards him with the greatsword held high in her hands.
A small child, holding a sword larger than herself. The scene was strange no matter how you looked at it. At least, the children behind Kanna now had subtle expressions on their faces.
"Good job," Rayn said, taking the greatsword from Kanna's hands and patting her head with a smile.
"This sword needs to be replaced."
Feeling the weight of the greatsword in his hand, Rayn frowned. This sword was handy at first; its weight combined with his strength could handle many things. But now that his physical fitness was getting stronger, the handy feeling was starting to disappear. Plus, without any special abilities, it could no longer provide much help.
"The strength of my soul is about there. I hope I can summon a good weapon in a while."
With the feedback from Dragon's Origin, not only his physical fitness but also the strength of Rayn's soul was steadily increasing. He was gradually reaching the level where he could accommodate a second item. As for summoning a dragon, that was still a long way off.
"Rayn was so big just now." As she spoke, Kanna made a large gesture with her hands, then put them on her hips and tilted her head up. "But still not as big as me!"
Although size didn't necessarily mean strength, for a dragon, being able to grow to an exaggerated size was a sign of great power.
"You can be proud when you're bigger than Lucoa." Although his constitution was gradually approaching that of a dragon, Rayn didn't share her obsession with size, so he just smiled.
Lucoa was an ancient dragon god from Kanna's world, also known as Quetzalcoatl. Her size was as vast as a mountain range. His own size just now was already considered large in the human world, but compared to Lucoa, it couldn't even compare to her pupil. A true divine dragon, seen only in glimpses.
After Kanna learned Giant Magic, Rayn had once let her return to her world and use it at full power. Her size could become as large as a city. With a raise of her hand and a stomp of her foot, she had the power to overturn seas and rivers, a walking natural disaster.
In fact, Rayn and Kanna had only recently discovered that his magic, 'Dragon's Origin,' was not one-way. When their bond or intimacy was strong enough, 'Dragon's Origin' would also feed back power, nourishing the other's bloodline, making it purer and stronger. And the improvement of bloodline and power meant an increase in status. For dragons, who worshipped strength, this was completely irresistible.
Actually, this feedback had appeared long ago. It was just because of Kanna's childlike mentality that she was so happy in this world that she only discovered this after returning to her original world. And a certain unknown empress, after learning about this, even showed an envious emotion that should not have appeared on her.
So, in terms of size, it was not impossible to catch up with Lucoa.
"I will definitely be bigger than Lady Lucoa. When I go back, I must give Lady Tohru a big surprise!"
As if thinking of something, a slight upward curve appeared on Kanna's usually expressionless lips, revealing a mischievous smile. Rayn raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. This child looked obedient and cute, but she was actually quite fond of pranks. That was also why she was kicked out of her home by her own father.
"Let's talk as we walk. Are you guys from North Peak Town?" Rayn asked, turning his head to look at the few children who were shivering slightly from the weather but didn't dare to speak as they waited for arrangements. He took Kanna's hand and walked towards North Peak Town. He didn't have any extra clothes, so he could only take them back as soon as possible.
"She and I are," a slightly more mature-looking little girl said in a gentle voice, at the same time raising the hand that was holding another little girl's. Through Kanna, they knew that Rayn was a mage who had accepted a mission. Plus, now that Rayn had returned to his normal size, he didn't look much older than them, so they weren't too scared.
"Do you know what happened to the others?"
Glancing around, Rayn found that there were only five children here, which didn't match what the mayor had said at all. According to the mayor, it was the children from several surrounding villages, plus the ones from the town. These people were definitely not enough.
"I know. I heard them say that someone came and took them away just two days ago," a little boy quickly answered, a look of relief flashing in his eyes. If he had been a little later, he probably would have been taken away too. Although he didn't know where he would be taken, he thought it wouldn't be a good place.
"Did you hear anything else? Anything at all, tell me everything," Rayn's eyes lit up, and he gestured to the little boy.
According to Ddraig's account, the leader of the toymakers was a guy whose will had been twisted. There must be a deeper mastermind behind him. However, since his will had been twisted, it was impossible to get information from him. As for the other mages, they had rushed too fast, and Rayn was not good at holding back, so he had no choice but to deal with them all.
He had originally thought he wouldn't get any information. He didn't expect to get some news from these children now. It made sense. In their eyes, the future of these children was already set in stone, so they naturally wouldn't care if they leaked anything.
"I think they said something about being from a 'bureau'."
"It's the Bureau of Magical Development! I remember a pervert said he was going to throw me there to be used as a material or something!"
"And something about a book's location being confirmed, and activating a backup plan in two days to snatch it."
"And exchanging with something called the Tower of Heaven?"
The children immediately recounted the things they had heard or been warned about one after another, but then they suddenly fell silent.
"Did something ominous just get mixed in?" one of the boys said suddenly in a low voice.
"What did you say about two days ago?" Rayn's gaze fell directly on another little girl from North Peak Town.
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