The Problematic Child of the Magic Tower
Chapter 216

[Translator - Night]

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Chapter 216: Eternal Moment (4)

Beneath the waterfall lay a massive hemispherical space that swallowed nearly 80% of a modest meadow.

It looked far too alien to be called a "dragon's nest."

“...That’s the nest?”

Kaya muttered, frowning.

In traditional folklore, a dragon’s nest was typically described as a vast cave. The entrance would be hidden along a gorge or cliff, and inside would be a fearsome dragon in a long slumber, surrounded by mountainous piles of gold and treasure.

In other words, the thing before them shared not a single trait with that image.

“It’s transparent like glass on the outside, but it gets murkier toward the center. I can’t see anything inside,”

Oran described the space with a shrug.

“I know this isn’t the time to say it, but I really don’t want to go in there.”

“...Same here.”

She turned her head toward Oscar and asked,

“You’re sure that’s the location marked on the map?”

“The position is accurate. If there’s a problem, it’d have to be with the map itself.”

Even if that were the case, they couldn’t really blame Oscar for it.

Kaya and Oran were the ones who had brought the map.

“Tch,”

Kaya clicked her tongue with a light sigh.

“Even if it is the real nest, that's a problem too. It’s sitting wide open in a spot like this—if the demons haven’t touched the treasure inside, that’d be even weirder.”

They’d risked their lives crossing the Red Mountains—returning empty-handed would be frustrating beyond belief.

“Hmmm…”

After crossing her arms and pondering briefly, Kaya gave the most optimistic answer she could muster.

‘Still, the mana I’m sensing is far from ordinary... And more importantly—’

What had caught her attention was the lush green meadow that filled her view.

“Oran, didn’t you say there isn’t a single blade of grass in the Gray Zone?”

“At least, not to my knowledge.”

Indeed, everything they’d seen on the way here had been the same: murky air, ashen wastelands, dust clouds rising with every step.

This was the first place she’d found beautiful since entering the Demon Realm.

“...Then the presence of a meadow here is a good sign.”

Edna Sol Laplace was a Green Dragon.

Her nest should have been inside a dense forest.

Clap, clap!

Oran clapped his hands to break the heavy mood.

“Well, standing around here debating won’t change anything, right? Let’s just go down and see for ourselves—whether that thing’s really a nest or not.”

“Agreed.”

Before anyone could stop her, Kaya ran to the cliff’s edge and threw herself off.

“Sigh, she really is as impulsive as ever... Little brother, I’ll go on ahead too.”

He fired a thread of magic and anchored it to the ground, then glided smoothly down along the taut thread with his hands behind his back.

“...I’ll head down too.”

With that, Sasha disappeared in a gust of wind.

Oscar, gazing after where she’d vanished, gave a sigh of concern and took to the sky.

No sooner had he landed on the lush meadow than Oran waved him over with an awkward look.

“Hey, little brother. Come take a look at this.”

“What is it?”

As he approached, Oscar’s gaze locked onto something inside the colorless barrier.

He squinted and muttered,

“...Isn’t that a demon?”

“Yeah.”

Inside the barrier was a demon frozen exactly in the pose of crawling outward.

The demon’s hand, stretched toward the outside, didn’t twitch in the slightest.

“Seeing that, the two of us came up with two theories.”

One: Beyond the barrier is a space where all movement of matter is halted.

Two: Or perhaps a space where the flow of time itself has stopped.

“Which one do you think it is?”

“Hmmm.”

Time-stopping magic, huh.

Oscar stared at the colorless barrier for a moment and chuckled inwardly.

‘Creative. As if magic like that really exists.’

Well, the world was vast—maybe such a spell did exist somewhere.

After all, even he could manipulate space.

But Edna didn’t have such capabilities.

‘If she had that kind of magic, killing the Great Emperor would’ve been way easier.’

More importantly, Oscar knew what this space really was.

This was the original form of the magic that inspired his own spell, Solitary Garden.

In other words, this had to be Solitary World—one of Edna’s unique magic spells.

‘Unfortunately, my version is just a cheap copy. The effects don’t even compare.’

Not because his magical talent was inferior, but because dragons possessed an overwhelming amount of innate mana.

“There’s actually a really easy way to find out which theory is right.”

With that, Oscar plunged his hand straight into the barrier before anyone could stop him.

“Y-you crazy!?”

Oran shouted in panic.

“Hm.”

Oscar casually pushed his hand in and pulled it out repeatedly.

“It’s more tolerable than I expected. Not for long, though.”

“...Seriously? Then I guess I’ll try—”

Oran followed suit, trusting Oscar’s word, and quickly grimaced.

“Ugh, this is... really unpleasant.”

Of course it was.

Solitary World is a spell that halts all matter and phenomena within a fixed range, down to the particle level.

The discomfort came from his blood beginning to coagulate rapidly in his fingers.

Oscar explained,

“This isn’t so much stopping time as it is freezing matter and phenomena at the particle level.”

“...If that’s true, wouldn’t the moment you stick your hand in, it should freeze too?”

“That’s likely due to the repulsive force of our mana.”

He pointed at the demon frozen inside the barrier with his chin.

“That demon didn’t enter in that pose. He probably went in to explore, tried to come back out, but miscalculated and ran out of demonic energy—hence ending up like that.”

“...That does make sense.”

Nodding, Oran wiped his hand on his clothes as if something gross had touched him.

“Still, sticking your hand in without thinking—what if something had gone wrong?”

“Worst case, I’d have lost a few fingers. Nothing a visit to the Grand Temple couldn’t fix.”

“...Jeez. You seem like a smart guy, but sometimes you act like you have zero caution.”

Oran let out a hollow laugh and turned to Kaya.

“Anyway, Kaya, it looks like we’ve reached a conclusion. What now?”

“Oran, tie a thread to my waist.”

“...You’re going in yourself?”

“If I don’t run out of magic, I can still be pulled out. If I stop moving for more than ten seconds, pull me back.”

With that, Kaya stepped into the barrier.

Her movements slowed noticeably.

Soon, she disappeared completely from view as the barrier grew opaque with distance.

“How is it?”

“Well, since the thread’s made of magic, I can faintly sense it.”

Oran replied with closed eyes, focusing all his senses on his fingertips.

“But yeah, this is definitely risky. If either of us runs out of mana, one of us dies.”

“You can’t say for sure she’s dead. That demon might still be alive too.”

“If you can’t move, it’s basically the same as being dead... Hmm?”

Just then, Oran’s eyebrows twitched violently.

“What is it?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Kaya’s body has stopped reacting. One... two... three...”

As he began to count, he tugged on the thread without hesitation.

“…Huh?”

But Kaya’s body didn’t budge, as if it were firmly bound by something.

Only after Oran forcefully surged his mana did the thread begin to pull, little by little.

“Damn it, help me out here!”

At Oran’s shout, the other two rushed over and began pulling the thread together.

After some struggle, Kaya’s silhouette started to faintly appear from within the opaque barrier.

“Haa! Haa!”

It took a great deal of effort, but they finally managed to pull Kaya out.

“Senior! Senior!”

Oran called out in a trembling voice.

Kaya’s eyes suddenly snapped open as she gasped for air.

“Cough! Cough!”

Grabbing her throat and looking around, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Thanks. I nearly died in there.”

“What exactly happened?”

“Just as expected. The moment I entered the barrier, I felt a strong force trying to paralyze me. My mana instinctively resisted it.”

However, she explained that her mana ran out before she could reach the end of the path.

Looking at the others, she said,

“This seems like something only the person with the most mana should attempt.”

“If that’s the case…”

Three pairs of eyes turned simultaneously toward Oscar.

They had all witnessed over the past few days just how much mana he possessed.

“When it comes to sheer mana, little brother has the most, right?”

“I agree.”

“Then it’s settled.”

Kaya nodded.

“Looks like you’ll have to go in.”

“W-Wait a minute!”

Sasha quickly grabbed her sleeve and spoke up, her urgency evident.

“I’ll go instead.”

“No.”

Kaya shook her head firmly.

“Even I couldn’t make it far before my body froze. If someone with more mana than me goes in, they’ll definitely get farther.”

What that meant was, the farther Oscar went, the longer the distance they'd have to pull him back from.

“You’re the most skilled among us. You need to stay outside and pull. That way, he has a better chance of surviving. And don’t forget—this is still enemy territory, even if it’s been quiet for days.”

“She’s right.”

Oscar nodded.

“If only one person can go, it makes sense for someone with less combat ability but the most mana to go. That would be me.”

“That's true, but…”

A look of fear surfaced in Sasha’s eyes as she stared at him.

Her small hand gripping his sleeve trembled without rest.

When she opened her mouth to speak, a magic message whispered in his ear.

—Can’t I go instead? If I lose you too… I…

—It’s okay.

Oscar understood her feelings.

She was afraid of losing him again, afraid that something would go wrong.

With a warm smile, he gently patted the back of her hand.

—If you wait for me outside, I’ll feel a lot more at ease going in.

—…Really?

—Yeah. And even if something happens to me, I trust you’ll come get me.

I trust you.

The moment she heard those words, Sasha's trembling subsided slightly.

After a long moment of hesitation, she reluctantly let go of his sleeve and spoke.

“…I’ll allow it. But if you stop moving for even a second, I’m pulling you out.”

“That’s reassuring to hear.”

Oscar chuckled softly and slowly stood up.

Before leaving, he stirred his mana to scan the area.

‘No threats detected.’

After confirming, he gave the three of them a small bow.

“Well then, I’ll be back.”

“Don’t worry.”

Oran raised both hands, now tied with multiple layers of mana threads.

“If anything happens to you, I’ll be the first to notice and pull you out.”

Oscar smiled wryly at those words.

“That’s reassuring. Feels like I really have an older brother now.”

“…Huh? What did you just say?”

Leaving Oran wide-eyed, Oscar stepped into the barrier.

* * *

“Target has entered the zone where everything stops.”

At those words from a demon specialized in reconnaissance, Yuribe slowly opened his eyes.

42 kilometers away from where the four stood.

Rising to his feet, he muttered with a sinister smile.

“Well then, I suppose it’s time to go collect them.”

The arrogant lives of those humans.

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