Chapter 27: Aftermath
MC POV:
'How can I deal with this barrier without wasting more time?' I thought, trying to analyze the barrier surrounding the old hat. For some reason, I could only break one layer at a time, and who knows how many there are? 'I can try blasting it with fire like I did the dragon, but if I hit Latifa, it's not worth it,' I thought. The barrier made it hard to detect the presence inside it, preventing me from pinpointing Latifa's exact position. 'What if I emulate the energy signature of that mage bastard?' I pondered. Assuredly, his barrier won't restrict him.
Everyone's energy signature is different, but that's primarily due to having different combinations of elemental affinities and the purity of the energy. Since Origin is the purest form of energy, I should be able to emulate other's energy signatures.
I placed my hand on the barrier and focused on matching its energy signature. As my energy changed, I could feel my body change as well. I grew taller, and my face seemed to resemble the mage more and more with each second passing. This process continued until, suddenly, my hand passed through the barrier completely unobstructed, with my body following suit.
I entered the old house and, after looking around while concealing my presence, I found stairs leading to the basement. As I descended the stairs, I heard the mage's voice. "Indeed. I used these ungrateful bastards as a sacrifice to summon the dragon! I wanted to unleash it on the kingdom and then offer to slay it in exchange for your hand! That would surely bring glory to our house, so they should be happy about being part of it!" the mage said in a voice tinged with insanity.
Shortly after, I heard Latifa. "How could you do that? Even if your whole family turned on you, surely your parents didn't. How could you sacrifice them?" she asked, sounding mortified. Hearing the sorrow in her voice, I quickened my descent.
As I entered the basement, the mage shouted, "They were the first to turn their back on me!!!" For a moment, he looked at Latifa as if wanting to strangle her. Then, he took a deep breath to calm himself down. After a moment, his face became stone cold again. "Enough chatter," the mage said, then blocked Latifa's mouth again with a cloth.
'Time to die, asshole!' I thought while moving behind the mage. "I couldn't agree more," I said while swinging my flame-covered katana at his neck, severing his head, and then stopped emulating his signature, making my body return to its normal albeit demonic state. There was no blood. The hot blade cauterized the wound and set his lifeless body ablaze on contact, making the scene slightly less gruesome since the flames didn't leave anything behind, not even smell.
However, this did not prevent Latifa from closing her eyes and turning away. "It's alright. I came to save you," I said reassuringly.
Hearing my voice, Latifa opened her eyes and looked back at me. "Arthur?" she asked.
"Yeah, it's me," I replied gently and proceeded to remove her bindings. Seeing the marks left behind by the ropes and the symbols painted all over her body, I cast healing and cleaning spells, causing Latifa to exclaim cutely, "Kya!"
"Sorry about that. I forgot that cleaning magic can feel weird," I said with a wry smile. "Here, cover yourself with this," I added while handing Latifa a tracksuit from my inventory.
"Thank you," Latifa replied and, with a slight blush, put the clothes on. Luckily, she was only a bit taller than me, even while being physically older by four years, so the loose tracksuit fit her well.
"Let's get out of here," I said, picking her into a princess carry, and we left toward the castle.
***
While on our way back to the castle, in the distance, we spotted an army of knights on horses traveling in the general direction where I fought the dragon. They were armed to the teeth. Even from this far away, I could feel their resolution to die in battle.
At the forefront, I spotted a few familiar faces, like Captain Lawrence, with whom I had sparred, Isuzuruha's father, and... Moffle? My surprise didn't come from just seeing him there. It was the fact he looked like a regular, albeit handsome, human.
'They could transform? Does it mean Latifa also has another form?' I thought. Such questions could wait. "Hold on tight," I warned Latifa, whom I held in a princess carry, and sped up towards the knights.
"Halt!!!" Moffle exclaimed, seeing us fly towards them.
As soon as he did, the galloping army came to a stop.
"Arthur? Latifa?" he questioned, visibly surprised to see me.
"Yes, it's me, uncle," Latifa said, slightly embarrassed due to her current position.
"Do you know another guy this handsome?" I replied. "Anyway, you guys are slow. In the time it took you to mobilize your forces and get here, I already saved Latifa and killed both the mage and its black flying lizard," I added with a smug face.
"You killed the Black Dragon?!?" Isuzuruha's father exclaimed from behind Moffle, matching his bewildered expression. The same could be said about all the other knights, as most of their jaws nearly dropped.
"Why are you making such a fuss? It was just a big flying lizard that could spit fire. I expected more from a threat that endangered the kingdom enough to promise the hand of its only princess as a reward," I explained. Alas, it only made them even more shocked.
"What do you mean by 'just a big flying lizard that could spit fire'?! Its scales were hard and magic resistant beyond reason! Neither the spells nor the magical bullets we sent at it could pierce them!!!" protested Moffle. "Do you think I would allow my only niece to be treated like a trophy if it was so easy to kill it?!" he added.
'Damn, it seems my new transformation is far stronger than I expected,' I thought.
"What is important is that it's dead, just like its master," I replied, but then, I realized something. "Oh, right. Don't look for the corpses since I burned them down," I added.
"You burned down… a dragon?" Moffle said, visibly lost for words. "No. It doesn't matter. I have enough surprises for today," he added, massaging his forehead. Then, he looked at Captain Lawrence and ordered, "Take fifteen knights with you and search through the mage's hideout," he said, apparently knowing its location.
'I guess they had their way to locate
Latifa,' I thought.
"The rest of us will return to the capital. There is no need for all of us to go there if the enemy is already dead," Moffle said.
"Yes, sir!" Captain Lawrance replied.
After that, we split, and our group returned to the capital without further incidents.
***
"I am beaten..." I muttered to myself while lying in my bed.
After returning to the capital, we went straight to the king, where I explained what transpired during my rescue mission. It was followed by a ceremony where the king praised me for quickly resolving the problem and the knight for fulfilling their duty and rushing to fight the dragon despite the high likelihood of death.
All the guests of the banquet were still present to witness it. They were forced to stay to prevent chaos from spreading and because it was safer to stay within the magically reinforced castle walls rather than run away and risk being targeted.
With the enemy dead, everyone's mood became festive once again, and the abruptly ended banquet resumed, albeit without Latifa's presence since she was too mentally exhausted to attend.
As for me, I stayed there for a bit, but after getting tired of the attention, I excused myself and returned to my room.
*clank**creak*
Hearing the door to my room open, I directed my gaze at it, only to witness a visibly embarrassed Latifa in her nightgown.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, puzzled.
"I couldn't sleep..." Latifa muttered while avoiding my gaze.
"A nightmare?" I asked.
"Nn," Latifa nodded, her cheeks becoming more flushed.
"Won't it be a problem? It will cause a lot of chaos if the princess, right after getting abducted and saved, is found missing in her bedroom," I inquired.
"I left a notice on my bed..." Latifa replied while fidgeting.
"I see. Then come over here, or you will catch a cold," I said after seeing Latifa's bare feet.
Hearing that, Latifa quickly approached my bad and slipped under my blanket, then snuggled closer with her back against me. In response, I hugged her and muttered, "Good night."
"Good night," she replied and soon fell asleep.
Now, it was the time to enter the Orb and see what changes today's events caused to my Status.