The petite Witch lightly waved her Magic Staff, and flowing Magic and elements rushed toward a single point, merging into an incredibly solid structure. Transparent, radiant crystal clusters grew from the ground, somewhat similar to the proliferation of Belial's Crystals. This was the origin of her title as a crystal Witch.
It combined sealing and amplification, easily turning the surroundings into a casting ground. "You try it too."
She tapped the dragon's claw with Magic Staff, and the earth shook as enormous white crystal prisms tens of meters tall burst from the ground. The scale far exceeded her own. At the same time, an oppressive Energy Field spread outward, similar in nature but vastly greater in level, nearly overwhelming her domain.
"That is seriously unfair..." She muttered under her breath. In both raw output and control, her domain fell short of Belial's Energy Field. What cost her a major effort was merely his constant state, and even a lower version at that.
Using her domain, she then linked with the crystals he had released, an idea she had just realized. Since both were crystal-based and similar in effect, she might be able to control them too. After some exploration, and with Belial's permission, she managed to mobilize part of that power through nearby Magic Array and her own domain.
Next came the hands-on demonstration. "Watch closely!"
The second path was ultimate release. Under domain control, when all elements and Magic were compressed to the extreme and converged at a final point, violent energy phenomena occurred, like collapse after reaching critical mass. Extreme compression would instead produce an equally extreme release.
The Light Cannon she had used before followed this principle, and what Belial saw at a more microscopic level fascinated him. "This is like fusion, but with a Magic elemental version, and the energy has to be supplied manually."
His own internal reactor worked on a similar principle, constantly providing vast energy. If he could master this method and apply it to Magic or other techniques, it would be very useful. Mephist grew excited, imagining building multiple such reactions at once and releasing several Spiral Heat Ray in a single burst.
A hexagon formed by elements tightly bound the violent energy, with every corner being critical. Only someone who had comprehended each element to the level of law could achieve this. Lilith now unfolded this process step by step, and whether he could grasp the laws within it was uncertain, but worth trying.
She did not expect him to learn it immediately. The requirements were absurdly high, needing entry-level mastery of all six elemental Laws and microscopic domain control. Laws were the laws of the world itself, usually only attainable by those of Gold Rank, and even partial understanding set one far above peers.
Going further to form one's own unique Laws led to the level of Ascendant Hall. Anyone who reached that stage would be a singular existence, like a rare work of art displayed in the highest Ascendant Hall. Mastering all six laws without promoting them into a personal one, like Lilith had done, was exceedingly rare.
"My research has hit a bottleneck. Maybe I can find a way beyond the crown by observing this dragon." With similar abilities but far greater power, she hoped to glimpse a new path, one that might even resolve her condition.
Then she watched as Belial used Energy Field to bind six different Laws in the same way, began pouring in Magic, and initiated a reaction. Something felt wrong. "Wait."
"Damn it!" Lilith's expression changed, and before she could speak, she sealed herself in crystal protection. A blinding white light erupted, followed by a violent explosion that sent a mushroom cloud hundreds of meters into the air.
A massive crater remained. Lilith stepped out of shattered Shard crystal, her face darkened, staring at Belial, who stood unharmed at the center of the blast. "I lost control a bit just now," he said, scratching his face.
She looked up at him. "Is my brain rusting lately?" She knew how dangerous he was, yet stood so close while teaching something this risky.
For future observation, she would need stronger protection, in case he experimented with some Magic and blew her up. While she was thinking this, Belial was thinking too. During that violent reaction, he had felt something stir and touched his abdomen.
"Did that Magic source react?" After acquiring it earlier, he had swallowed the Magic source and continuously drained it. With the surrounding Magic exhausted, he had been sleeping underground beneath Lilith's Sky Island.
The precise control required for that reaction was extremely complex, being the result of decades of refinement by Lilith. After the inevitable loss of control, the well-contained Magic source seemed to resonate when he formed that reaction. The more he sensed the fluctuations, the more familiar it felt.
"These two things feel similar." He grew curious about this seemingly technological Magic source, even if it clashed with the swords-and-Magic style of the world. After all, MOGUERA already existed, so he did not dwell on it too much.
Still, the reaction had sparked his interest. He had been worried about how to properly learn this method, and now a perfect teaching material had appeared. "What is it?"
Lilith watched as the Black Dragon bent his massive head, his body rumbling, then opened his mouth. "Gwah."
A sphere wrapped in silver-white metal, glowing faint red, was spat out and floated in the air. Lilith's eyes widened. Even ordinary people could feel the intense Magic activity radiating from it, and the sudden rise in concentration caused her pain.
It was the familiar sensation of her internal and external Magic balance being disrupted. She stared at the object in shock. "Where did this come from? You picked it up too?"
She nearly screamed. Even a simple probe with Mental Power revealed even more violent energy, similar in nature to her own domain. Encased within the sphere, it was like a dim little sun.
"I wanted you to take a look, but I have never seen this either." Regaining her composure, she understood his intent, though it might be overestimating her. The shell resembled Ancient Steel but was different, covered in fine patterns and structures similar to Magic Circle, making her dizzy to examine.
Anyone could tell its technical level was absurdly high, something that would cause a sensation if revealed. She rubbed her head, looking at the dragon's eager gaze, then smiled faintly. "All right. It will only take some time, and I will return it to you soon."
"And I am very interested in its secrets." Her curiosity was genuine, and perhaps it could show her a path toward the crown. "First, we need to build a suitable place to study it."
Far away, about twenty kilometers out, a bird formed of flowing gray-white metal perched on a person. After a brief shudder, the adventurer-like figure took a deep breath. "Found it."
Inside a certain manor, this was one of the temporary garrisons of Third Army Group. For specific reasons, the entire city had been emptied of people, leaving only large numbers of rare engineering magitech machines working under specialized operators as they continued excavation. To the outside world, it was announced as the mining of a newly discovered deposit.
"My lord, the information has been delivered." The steward kept a stiff face, bowed respectfully, and presented what he held.
A metal bird dissolved into liquid and flowed like water into the skin of Ludwig. The legion commander's face darkened as he lowered his head, his fingertips tapping the tabletop in a steady rhythm. Although the windows were open, it felt as if the space inside and outside had become two separate worlds with no connection at all.
The light in the room grew strange, as if it had frozen in place and time itself had stopped moving. The scenery did not change until Ludwig finally raised his head and spoke. "Leave."
"Yes, my lord." The steward turned to go, but the command was not meant for him.
A massive dragon claw fell from the sky and smashed the puppet into fragments of Shard. "Why so impatient? Are you not curious about my purpose?"
A bizarre dragon head mixed with five-colored scales pushed in through the window. Its head was larger than the entire room, yet it appeared in the smaller space in a ridiculous way, as if size no longer mattered.
At that moment, the entire space had already been cut off and isolated. The ugly, twisted grin on the strange dragon head made Ludwig look on with disdain. "You want nothing more than my Authority. You, and the Demon King behind you, are not worth the exchange."
"Heh heh, do not rush. Even if you plan to refuse, you should at least hear the terms first." The dragon head twisted further, resembling a distorted human face. "We know that beings like you Crimson God never care about existences on a lower level like us, let alone anything of value. We are not even on the same height, so how could we talk?"
"So this time, I am here on behalf of the various Demon King…"