Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

Chapter 227: Ancient Dragon Ignisia (6)

“I wonder what the result will be.”

It was exceedingly rare to use such an amount of catalysts in a single magic circle.

Even the ancient dragon Ignisia had never witnessed such a thing, so it was practically unheard of.

Naturally, this made her curious about the outcome.

However, the tone of the wandering merchant was rather strange.

It was as if he anticipated that the result would be distorted and ruined.

Ignisia didn't pay much attention to it.

"I've thoroughly calculated everything, so there shouldn't be any problems. Let's get started."

"Alright. What should I do?"

"First, go to the center of the magic circle and sit down."

"Understood."

Ketal walked forward with long strides and sat cross-legged in the center of the magic circle.

Ignisia tilted her head.

"Aren't you uncomfortable?"

"People often ask me that. I'm fine."

"If you say so. Then..."

Ignisia took a deep breath, and her eyes became serious.

"I've been pondering how to contain all of this within you."

Each of the catalysts was enormous.

It was impossible to do this using conventional methods.

"So, I'll just go with a straightforward approach. [[ᚱᚺᛊᚷ]]."

Acceleration.

Ignisia cast her dragon magic.

And at that moment, the numerous catalysts floating in the air above the magic circle began to accelerate.

They started spinning rapidly around the magic circle.

[[ᚱᚺᛊᚷ]]

Acceleration.

She cast the dragon magic again.

The already accelerating catalysts sped up once more. They spun rapidly around the magic circle, gradually losing their shapes.

Ketal's eyes gleamed with interest.

"So, this is your method."

"You figured it out?"

"It's like a particle accelerator."

The catalysts were trapped within a confined space, then accelerated and rotated.

The immense kinetic energy generated there would break down and mix the forms of the catalysts.

They would then be fused together into one giant catalyst.

The power of cutting-edge science was being wielded by a dragon.

This filled Ketal with a strange feeling.

"...You understood well. It's a difficult concept to grasp, but that's exactly what it is. They'll be fully fused and embedded into your body. Normally, even a dragon wouldn't survive this and would explode, but you'll be fine, right?"

"Of course."

Ketal responded as if it were only natural.

Ignisia smiled and cast the spell again.

[[ᚱᚺᛊᚷ]]

Kiiiiiiing!

The magic circle accelerated.

It spun and spun until its interior was obscured.

[[ᚱᚺᛊᚷ]]

Once more.

[[ᚱᚺᛊᚷ]]

And once more.

It accelerated to a physically impossible speed.

The room filled with heat. Space itself began to distort.

"Ugh."

Ignisia let out a small groan.

Even for her, it was a power she could barely handle.

"Wandering merchant, I'm counting on you."

[Ugh, what a hassle...]

"It's your quest to deal with mysteries, isn't it? You need to handle the aftermath."

[Fine...]

The wandering merchant grumbled but operated the device.

With a click, the space separated from the outside world.

And finally.

Kaaaaaaaang!

The catalysts were completely fused.

The swirling rainbow light encircled the magic circle.

The acceleration was so rapid that it appeared as a solid wall.

It was a colossal, controlled mystery in its entirety.

Ketal gazed at the mystical wall surrounding him, as if entranced.

"Huu."

Ignisia exhaled softly.

"Now, Ketal. Hold on."

[[ᚱᛟᛞᚴ]]

Be imbued.

The wall of energy rushed towards Ketal's body.

It crawled along the floor, soared through the air, and infused into his flesh.

Ketal let out a small groan.

"Ugh."

The sheer quantity and quality of energy were enough to overwhelm him.

It was meant to be imbued into his body.

Though it was a burden, Ketal instead smiled, as if welcoming it, and opened himself wide.

Come.

You are mine.

Kugugugung!

The immense mystical energy began to be absorbed into Ketal's body like a black hole.

Ignisia, who had been quietly watching, let out a gasp.

"You’re actually absorbing it."

Even she couldn't handle such a density of power.

It was more like an attack under the guise of injecting mystic energy.

But Ketal was taking in all that power at once.

And his face showed no sign of feeling the burden.

It was a process she had decided to proceed with because she believed it was possible, but seeing it in reality, she couldn't help but be impressed.

"At this rate, there shouldn’t be any problems."

The mystical energy was embedding itself into Ketal without any major issues.

Ketal himself was holding up just fine.

Just as Ignisia began to relax, thinking everything was stabilizing...

[Well… are you sure about that…?]

The wandering merchant muttered.

"What are you suddenly talking about? Is there a problem?"

[There’s nothing but problems...]

"Where? It looks like everything's going well. Theoretically, it’s perfect, isn’t it?"

[Theoretically, there’s no issue… but you’re mistaken...]

The immense mystical energy was being absorbed into Ketal's body.

The wandering merchant spoke calmly.

[That’s a being of the Forbidden Lands… one of the oldest things… you don’t understand what that really means at all…]

"Huh?"

Ignisia was confused, not understanding what the wandering merchant meant.

And then, the problem arose.

"...Huh?"

The fused mystical energy was being absorbed into Ketal’s body without any issue.

But then a crack appeared.

Crack!

The mystical energies began to seep out slowly.

It was as if they didn’t want to be embedded in Ketal’s body. Ignisia shouted again.

[[ᚱᛟᛞᚴ]]

Embed.

She issued a command to keep the escaping mystical energies inside forcibly.

This was dragon magic, a power that could twist the laws of the world and intervene.

Since she had given the command, the mystical energies should have been absorbed into Ketal's body again.

But they weren’t.

The mystical energies continued to try to escape.

Ignisia repeated her command.

[[ᚱᛟᛞᚴ]]

Embed.

Three layers of dragon magic.

A power strong enough to shake the world.

Yet the mystical energies still did not obey.

Ignisia’s eyes filled with bewilderment.

"What’s going on?"

Her dragon magic wasn’t controlling the world as it should.

It felt as though the world itself had its own will and was resisting.

It was an incomprehensible situation, but the wandering merchant seemed to have expected this.

[Well… that’s just how it is… this is impossible...]

They were beings of the Forbidden Lands.

They did not belong to this world.

[You can’t become us, and we can’t become you… those energies seem to want to become you, but that’s impossible...]

The mystical energies were slowly breaking free from Ignisia's control.

They were on the verge of bursting out.

"...Wait a minute."

Ignisia began to understand what the wandering merchant was saying.

She frowned.

"So, did you know from the beginning that this was impossible?"

[Something like that… but the quest will still be completed...]

The wandering merchant looked at Ketal indifferently.

[It’s not entirely impossible...]

Ketal couldn’t become a being of the world, but he could dominate a part of it.

Not all of the mystical energies were escaping.

Some of them couldn’t escape in time and were embedding into Ketal's body.

Even just fragments of that energy would allow him to handle mystical powers.

But that wouldn’t have any meaningful effect—it would be insignificant.

It wouldn’t affect the existence of Ketal in any significant way.

But the quest would be considered complete.

With that, the wandering merchant's task was finished.

Ignisia, seemingly out of stubbornness, tried to force more of the mystical energy into Ketal.

But in the end, it was impossible. Ignisia eventually lowered her hand, a look of disappointment on her face.

As the wandering merchant waited quietly for the process to finish...

[Huh...?]

The wandering merchant sensed something strange.

The mystical energy that had been desperately trying to escape was, at some point, slowly being absorbed into Ketal’s body.

[What’s going on…?]

The wandering merchant looked at Ignisia.

But it wasn’t her doing, as she also looked surprised.

"Huh?"

[Isn’t this your doing…?]

"I was just about to give up. I have no idea why it's going back in. Did the mystical energy come to its senses?"

[Hmm…?]

At that moment, they realized something.

The world was distorting around Ketal.

“Uh…”

Ignisia lowered her hand.

She stopped trying to control the mystical energies to keep them from escaping.

The natural reaction would have been for the mystical energies to flee the moment they were free.

But they couldn’t escape.

They were being held in place, centered around Ketal.

‘You belong to me.’

They are mine.

Ketal bared his teeth.

He had noticed it as well, starting from the middle of the process.

The mystical energies weren’t trying to enter him; they were trying to escape.

But Ketal had no intention of letting them go.

This was his mystical energy.

It belonged to him.

It was his possession.

How dare they try to escape?

That was unacceptable.

You belong to me.

You cannot escape.

You must be bound to me.

“Shut up and get in.”

The mystical energies began to be absorbed bit by bit.

[This is…]

“Uh, uh…”

The two of them watched the scene in a daze.

A powerful will was trampling the world.

Centered around Ketal, the very fabric of the world was twisting and breaking.

His will was warping rules and laws.

Vreeee!

Perhaps realizing they couldn’t escape, the mystical energies changed their approach.

They lunged at Ketal, trying to overturn and destroy his body from within.

Ketal welcomed it instead.

‘Run wild all you want.’

I’ll accept all of you.

But in return, you belong to me.

Crack!

A storm raged within Ketal.

It was as if he was being attacked from all sides.

It tore through his entire body.

But Ketal endured.

He accepted and embraced it all.

And finally...

Whoosh!

The storm calmed.

The flames of the magic circle went out.

Even the remnants of the mystical energies that had been desperately trying to escape were swallowed up by Ketal's body.

Grumble…

They heard it then.

A sound like a beast growling in discontent.

But there were no other living beings here besides the three of them.

Ignisia decided it was just a trick of her mind.

However, as someone of her strength, she knew it couldn’t just be a simple illusion, yet the situation left her with no other explanation.

The growling sound lasted only a moment and then disappeared.

Ketal remained still, his eyes closed.

A long silence followed.

Ignisia finally spoke quietly.

“Ketal?”

“…Ah. Ahhh.”

Ketal opened his eyes.

A broad smile spread across his face.

“Hahaha! Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!”

“Ugh!”

[Oh no…]

His laughter echoed all around.

The wandering merchant and Ignisia raised their defenses.

The power contained in his laughter caused their defenses to tremble.

The wandering merchant doubted his own senses.

There was mystical energy within Ketal's laughter.

He muttered to himself in disbelief.

[How is this possible…?]

“Aaaah…”

Ignoring the wandering merchant, Ketal’s body trembled.

An intense power surged within him.

A mighty force filled his entire being.

It was the mystical energy of the world that he had possessed but could never fully control.

Now, he could.

He had become able to wield the mystical energies.