Chapter 16: Dark Domain!
At the same time, standing behind the Grand Masters, Shirou also glanced at the golden-haired girl, thinking to himself:
'As one of the heroines, even if she seems a bit naive due to her lack of experience at this age, her mind is sharp, and her talent for magic is excellent... It is almost certain that this extraordinarily gifted girl will succeed to the position of Grand Master of [Copper Black Cross] in the future.'
Meanwhile, the Grand Master of [Whelp] looked at the massive pythons with fangs protruding from their mouths, his expression one of horror.
"But... if these are 'poisonous snakes,' why do they look like this...?"
Although they were called snakes, their massive bodies differed greatly from common serpents. They had bodies covered in armored scales, long-jawed maws, and two horny protrusions on top of their heads. Their sharp, conical fangs sent shivers down one's spine, and their large, round eyes were as pitch-black as the abyss—simply staring into them was enough to make one's mental state unstable. Their powerful limbs and five-fingered claws completely distinguished them from the snake family.
Of course, they would not understand that these snakes had undergone a metamorphosis because they had gnawed on the World Tree, attaining the form of Flood Dragons. One day, they would evolve into true dragons capable of roaming the heavens and the earth.
However, before completing their evolution, they were still just Divine Beasts; their own power naturally could not reach the level of a "Heretic God." But for these magi, they were already overwhelmingly powerful existences.
Under Shirou's control, a massive snake opened its jagged fangs and lunged toward the Grand Masters of the magic associations!
"Watch out, get away!"
Trinid, the Grand Master of [Old Lady], was the first to cry out. The group instantly scattered in all directions. However, the snake was relentless, giving them no room to catch their breath. Faced with this pressing and unceasing crisis, Paolo Blandelli, the Grand Master of [Copper Black Cross], decided to stop his futile evasion.
"The purest of things, the toughest of things, my pure white heart shall never yield, never be frustrated, never retreat—please manifest the essence that thwarts all in my hand!"
He immediately chanted an incantation and summoned his weapon: a silver-white longsword. Holding the exquisitely crafted blade, the straight-backed and robust Paolo Blandelli felt like the purest of knights at that moment.
Then, he took a step forward, his form blurring like a gale as he lunged toward the snake's head. A white light flickered over Paolo's body. As he neared the snake, his body suddenly erupted with powerful magical energy, causing the surrounding air to vibrate.
As Paolo swung his sword downward with a fierce strike, the sharp blade collided with the snake's scales, instantly igniting a flurry of sparks. A clear, ringing metallic sound echoed out.
Clang!
Seemingly shocked that his strike couldn't even break the snake's scales, he let out a cry of surprise.
"What—!?"
Before Paolo could withdraw, the snake's tail swept toward him at a speed he could not possibly dodge.
Boom!
Struck by the heavy sweep of the snake's tail, Paolo felt as if he had been slammed by a steamroller. Not only was his body damaged by the shock of the impact, but his head felt dizzy, and the entire world began to spin. Paolo's body fell from mid-air like a kite with a severed string.
"Uncle!"
Erica stepped forward anxiously, wanting to check on Paolo's condition.
"I... I'm fine!"
Paolo struggled to sit up, his bones emitting a tooth-grinding creak with every movement. He didn't care, forcing himself to stand as he looked up at the now-still snake.
Under Shirou's control, the snake did not follow up with another attack while Paolo was injured; otherwise, he would be dead by now.
Shirou remembered that Paolo Blandelli had once protected a sleeping Princess Alice for an entire day against six divine beasts released by the Heretic Triple Goddess Erinyes. This feat eventually became a legend among magi—the tale of a knight protecting a princess.
However, in that story, Paolo had merely protected Princess Alice from the six divine beasts; he had not slain them. Furthermore, the so-called six divine beasts released by the Erinyes had no source in mythology, likely being mere creatures of the underworld. It seemed the story had been constantly exaggerated by magi until it became a beautiful legend of a knight saving a princess in the hearts of some.
Having cleared his thoughts, Shirou returned his gaze to Paolo, who was still fighting the snake.
As Paolo continued to swing his sword, the Grand Masters of [Old Lady] and [Whelp] used their respective magics to assist from the sidelines. Blazing flames and cold ice spears struck the snake's body in succession. However, these spells failed to even leave a mark on its scales.
In truth, the magical level of those two Grand Masters was very high, but they could not exercise authority as casually as a "Godslayer" or a "Heretic God." To perform powerful magic, they required long incantations, and even the spells they managed to cast were inferior to a casual strike from a Godslayer.
Paolo was now unable to fight the snake head-on and could only engage in a war of maneuver, while the two Grand Masters did their best to cast short-chant magic to help relieve the pressure on him.
However, this state of affairs did not last long.
As the snake's tail swept out again—so fast it was nearly impossible to dodge—Paolo could only quickly raise his sword in a horizontal block, trying his best to minimize the damage to his body. If he were hit directly like the first time, it was doubtful whether he could stand up again.
Boom!
Even so, being hit by the massive tail, the heavy force caused Paolo's body to plummet once more. Watching Paolo being swept into a state of semi-consciousness by a single tail strike from one of his summoned snakes, Shirou frowned.
"Can't even handle one snake... I didn't even let them use their poisonous fire breath."
However, after a moment's thought, Shirou realized the reason. The strength of the summoned snakes scaled with the power of their master.
While Shirou's current strength wasn't exactly "crushing" everything, he was indeed stronger than any Godslayer in history.
"And... the incantations they use every time they perform magic are too long. That amount of time is enough for the snakes to kill them dozens of times over..."
The strongest among them was undoubtedly Paolo Blandelli, but he had been careless during the snake's first attack and hadn't dodged, so the fact that he could continue fighting while heavily injured was already impressive. If Paolo were at his peak, he should have been able to contend with several snakes for a period of time.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting