The Gatekeeper

Chapter 13

I stand about 30 metres away from the four dragons, who seem to be really excited for this battle.

When I asked them the reason, they said "we finally get to fight after so many years. Since we were established as the strongest, none have dared to oppose us", and after agreeing with my conditions, the dragons were ready for battle.

They looked at me fiercely. They released their killing intent all at once.

The atmosphere around me becomes heavy, no voices can be heard. It feels like the calm before the storm. A lot of pressure is exerted dirctly over my body, it feels as if a bus fiiled with people is trying to run me over.

I release my own dense killing intent in order to ward of theirs. The dragons" expressions twitches for a bit, but then it changes to that of a fearless one.

"So he warded off our pressure just like that huh."

The Carmine dragon said so to her sisters in a voice which shouldn"t have been audible to me.

"START!!"

The Azure dragon cried out, it was followed by deafening roar of the other three. They all dash at me with super speeds.

I go into my super perception.

d.a.m.n they"re fast.

In my super perception, they are moving at a speed similar to that of an eight year-old child.

How fast they must be to have this effect? I am really impressed, if it were anybody except me, they would"ve already been dead.

I dodge the incoming dragons easily, they form a fortress around me, covering me from each cardinal direction.

The Black Dragon is in front of me, the Carmine dragon is behind, the Azure Dragon and White dragon cover my east and west respectively.

"You are fast, you were able to avoid all of us. There are only so many creatures who can match us in speed."

The White Dragon says with admiration in her voice.

"But none can match us in power!"

The Carmine dragon roars aloud and all four of them take to the air and chant their spells at the same time.

"Fire Magic- h.e.l.lfire Blast."

"Ice Magic- Halberd of Snow."

"Wind Magic- Electric Hail."

"Dark Magic- Demolition of Life."

The clouds turn black and powerful lightning starts to erupt in them. The surroundings go cold as there are numerous huge halberds in the sky made of white ice. A tremendous amount of fire is condensing in front of the Carmine dragon. The black dragon is emanating a creepy black aura around it.

Each spell is of a legendary tier. If I don"t do something, I"ll definitely die.

Within a few seconds all their spells will be ready, and they"ll release their spells at the same time.

Let"s try that.

""""GO!!!!""""

Lightning and Ice halberbs from above, intense fire from my south, and a beam of darkness from in front of me are charging at me with extraordinary speeds.

I calmly cast my spell.

"Light Magic- Sacred Barrier."

"Fufufu, does he really think he can defend against our legendary-tier magic with a primary level shield!?"

I supply the shield with huge amounts of mana, enough to cast 3 Divine spells. In addition, I also conjure a barrier made up of pure mana under the "Sacred Barrier", just for the off chance that my "primary" shield is destroyed.

The legendary-tier spells make contact with my sacred barrier. Immense Magic can be felt clashing with each other. The power exuded by the spell which were cast by the dragons is truly terrifying. The power of their legendary-tier spells exceeds that of a Divine cla.s.s spell cast by a human.

I reinforce the barrier with more magical energy as it would"ve probably crumbled under this towering power. The attack pa.s.ses and it leaves my barrier in a dire state. At least it didn"t come down to the mana barrier.

Following the attack, I am left standing on a small piece of land, while every shred of visible greenery within 500 metres of me is obliterated, leaving me stranded with nowhere to run.

"Wow. That could"ve easily wiped out the whole capital."

I say nonchalantly.

Dragons have one of the most formidable intellects among the beasts, which can rival, or even surpa.s.s that of humans". The sisters clearly saw what unfolded in front of them, but were unable to comprehend it. A mere primary-tier spell blocked their near divine cla.s.s spells. They were dumbstruck, unable to a.s.sess the situation. As they were trying to a.n.a.lyze the situation, I spoke with a slight excitement in my voice.

"It"s my turn now!"

"Water Magic- Grand Water Vortex."

A whirlpool of water forms under my feet, rapidly enlarging in size. In seconds, the whirlpool turns into a humongous ma.s.s of runation, more than 100 metres in height, rotating with speeds surpa.s.sing the speed of sound. With my mana, the spell is more powerful than what it would"ve been if deployed by any other being.

"This can"t be real!"

"Even with the four of us consuming his mana, he is able to cast a Divine cla.s.s spell of such caliber."

"I-Is he even human?"

The Dragons voice their shock, unable to fathom the power of the spell.

"This spell... it is in a different league than my own."

Finally, the Azure dragon gives her consent.

"Have a taste of this!!!"

I roar loudly as I release the whirlpool.

With me as its centre, the whirlpool expands in all directions with incomprehensible speeds. Unable to react in time, the dragons are engulfed by the swirling waves, they look like vegetables in a grinder.

Deafening screams are heard coming from the dragon"s mouths as they shriek in pain.

Their unbreakable scales start to take damage and can be seen broken in some places. They have wounds all over their vulnerable belly and their face. The harsh and dense killing intent and pressure they exerted dissipated as soon as they started taking damage.

I retract the spell as it has done enough damage.

The dragons lay on the ground, scales broken on parts of their body, and they have wounds which look really severe.

"Looks like I overdid it a little."

I murmur to myself, all four of the dragons muster up their strength to stand up and face me. The ground around me which was destroyed, now has increased in depth, making it utterly impossible to see the bottom.

"You..."

"We underestimated you..."

"With every ounce of remaining energy we have..."

"We will defend our honour as the strongest beings."

The dragons are infuriated, looks like they are going to use their divine spells. I can guess what the Carmine, White and Azure dragons will use, but I am still not sure about the Black one. It has to be either earth or wind, because even she knows that light divine cla.s.s magic will have no effect on me. Or she could just manipulate her preferred element and deal damage that way.

"Ice Magic- Wrath of Khione."

"Water Magic- Grand Water Vortex."

"Fire Magic- Immortal Fire of the Phoenix."

"Wind Magic- Spirit Tempest."

Their sweet, gentle and womanly voices reverberate loudly in the atmosphere.

Immense amounts of magical energy envelopes each of the dragons. Sky turns black, atmosphere alternates between extreme hot and extreme cold, furious cold winds flow at incoherent speeds. A whirlpool emerges from beneath the Azure dragon, weaker than the one I conjured, but enough to cause ma.s.s destruction. Obliteration-cla.s.s hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, thunderstorms, blizzards, earthquakes, heat waves etc, cover a huge area around me. Numerous large phoenixes made of pure fire hover in the sky, unaffected by the fierce winds around them, ready to prey without a moments hesitation.

Enough to annihilate an entire nation, these frightening forces were coming together for the sole reason for eliminating me.

I don"t have much time, in less than 10 seconds, attacks which can destroy a whole nation will be coming at me without mercy.

I got myself into some crazy s.h.i.t, didn"t I? I have to take their attacks head on, or they won"t acknowledge me as their master. Even if I put up a mana barrier, given the time frame, I won"t be able to supply it with the necessary mana to endure these attacks.

I can think of two ways to accomplish that, but let"s try this one.

I stand there, without doing anything. Looking at me just standing, the dragons become bewildered.

"What is he doing!?"

"If he does nothing, he"ll die!"

"But these attacks aren"t in our control anymore..."

"Hey, don"t forget, he is strong, he probably has a plan."

Each dragon voice their concerns.

"Oh! don"t be concerned. Please proceed with your attacks without hesitation."

Hearing my earnest approval, they nod and send their strongest attacks my way.

Looks like it is time.

"s.p.a.ce Magic- Black Hole."

The s.p.a.ce itself is torn apart, in all of magic, this legendary-cla.s.s s.p.a.ce magic is the hardest to control. If it were to go berserk, the whole planet will be in jeopardy. Having the same gravitational pull and ma.s.s as a microscopic black hole, it can devour anything and everything within its range, creating a vacuum.

I already have a thin mana barrier up for the sole reason of trapping enough oxygen which would last through the length of this spell.

The microscopic black hole starts to suck everything, except for myself as its caster. The tornadoes, cyclones, phoenixes, none remain.

The atmosphere itself has a bite taken out of it.

After it devours the spells, the flying dragons are caught in its range. The dragons, flailing in order to escape from the grasp of the gravitational pull are saved when I retract the spell, the black hole vanishes without a trace. Apart from the time spells, this particular spell has the highest mana consumption among the legendary-tier spells, and is near impossible to control.

Well, I just controlled it with impressive precision, so I don"t get to speak do I? But seriously, this is the first time that I"ve seen a black hole, it may be microscopic, but it sure piqued my interest. Let"s just forget about it, if I were to create a black hole any bigger than this, it may end up sucking the entire planet.

In the aftermath, the dragons are left deprived of air on the land outside the crater. Because of the black hole, the depth of the crater now appears to be endless from the naked eye. I glance at the dragons, they have wounds and bruises all over their body. The oxygen fills the empty s.p.a.ce, and I let down my barrier.

I"m reduced to my knee and spit out blood from my mouth while panting.

No matter how much mana or magic manipulation capabilities I have. Pulling off something as absurd as this is still too tall a task for me.

I landed on my back while gasping for air. Turning my head in all directions, the dragons are unconscious, and frankly, on the verge of death.

I manipulate the Light element and completely restore myself.

After about 5 minutes, the dragons finally open their eyes.

"Now then. Is this enough to establish myself as a worthy master?"

The Azure dragon, while laying on her back, turns her neck in my direction, and speaks in a weak but willful voice.

"To be honest, we had already acknowledged you as our master after you had cast that Divine spell. The reason we still fought was to determine the difference in our might. We beg you to bestow upon us names and let us serve you for as long as you live."

Shouldn"t it be as long as "we" live? Oh, they must think that I"ll die of old age or something. Well, dragons do live for tens of thousands of years.

"What do the rest of you think?"

I face each of the dragons which lay across from each other.

"Yes master, please let us serve you."

"We"ll be your faithful subjects."

"Yes, It would be an honor to be your servant."

Each of them give their consent.

"Well then, I can"t leave my servants in this condition, now can I?."

"Light Magic- Healing Radiance."

White light surrounds all of them, healing their wounds in a matter of seconds.

"Now then everyone, come together!"

At my command, each of them station themselves side by side, facing me with eyes full of admiration.

"Master, if I may be permitted to speak, what do you plan to do about this "mess""?

The White dragon says while pointing her claw towards the crater.

"Time Magic- Deception of Time."

Stretching my hand towards the destroyed land, I cast the visibly omnipotent "time reversing" spell.

The time runs back, showing everything that happened in the last 20 minutes, returning the ground to its original gra.s.sy state.

"What are you talking about?"

I face the White dragon who gasps after seeing me cast the spell.

"M-Master can use s.p.a.ce magic and time magic?"

"Yes, I can use all elements."

Everybody is frozen solid, unable to respond to what I just so nonchalantly and indifferently uttered.

"Now then, about the names…"

Everybody snaps out and face me, their gazes full of antic.i.p.ation.

"White Dragon. From this day forth, you shall be known as "Shirone"."

As soon as I give her a name, a string, similar to the one Gatekeeper-san used to send me here, connects me and Shirone.

"Thank you Master for this lovely name you have bestowed upon me."

She thanks me while prostrating, her forehead touching the ground and her huge tail swaying vigorously, similar to a dog.

"Carmine Dragon, I bestow upon you the name of "Freya"."

"I am overjoyed that master has provided me with a worthy name."

"Black Dragon. You shall be called "Kuromi"."

"Thank you Master. I shall cherish it."

"Azure Dragon, I grant you the name, "Nirvana"."

"Such a great name Master. I vow to serve you with utmost loyalty."

The soul strings connect each of the dragons to me, making me their rightful master.

Everybody likes their names I guess, I just made something up on the spot.

"Now, can you all transform into something smaller because it would be difficult to take you into city like this."

I can just send them back and call them after I"ve eaten lunch, but I have a lot of questions to ask them, and I can"t wait to get some answers.

"Yes Master, each one of us has the ability to mimic appearances of any being we"ve encountered, although it is more of a skill than actual magic."

Nirvana says as the representative of the group.

"And what about your power?"

I ask the question just out of concern for their safety.

"No matter what kind of form we take, we retain every bit of our strength. Even in the form of a rodent, we can cast our divine spells and fight with the same physical capabilities"

"What about a human form?"

It may be less risky if they had the form of a human.

"Certainly Master, it would be no problem."

After Nirvana"s response, I order them.

"Everybody, change into human form."

Everybody nods together. The light of their respective colour engulfs them, a few seconds pa.s.s, the light fades and what remains are 4 girls standing side by side.

Thank G.o.d, they"re all dressed. I was ready to fly off with wind magic if they weren"t.

Nirvana has the same azure hair and pearl blue eyes, she looks to be in her mid-twenties in terms of external appearance. She is wearing the standard clothes for wealthy women; a pretty violet dress, and the shoes of the matching violet colour. She has a voluptuous body and slender waist, complimenting her elegant facial features that much more. She stands at about 170 centimetres with her hair falling to her waist, her skin is pure white with a sort of smooth and fluffy feeling to it.

Freya, in terms of appearance, looks to be in her early twenties. Similar in facial features and body structure to her older sister, with the difference being her hair and eye colour. Being of a silky carmine colour, her hair flutter about just like fire, her eyes have the same fiery spirit in them as before. She is wearing a type of gown unfamiliar to me. The slight red gown matches her hair and eyes perfectly, amplifying her fiery charm.

Shirone can be said to be a twin to Freya with the same impressive body proportions and similar facial glamour. But unlike Freya"s fiery aura, her icy glance can send anyone in the depths of anguish and despair. Her pure white hair and grey eyes only exist to be overshadowed by her smooth and pure-white skin. She"s wearing a white full-sleeved shirt with a red long-skirt which reaches her ankles.

Kuromi appears to be no more than 18. Her silky, black-violet hair resemble mine. Her black eyes, remind me of the all-devouring black hole I just conjured. Her long and slim eyebrows are of the same shade. She has a beautiful and bewitching face, and combining that with her perfect curves, makes her look like an evil witch. Her wearing a black robe over the frilly purple dress just proves that a.s.sessment to be correct.

All four of them are total knockouts. They can give Haruki and Gatekeeper-san a run for their money. But still, Sylvia is comparatively is slightly more charming and beautiful.

"Are you sure you retain all your strength?"

"Yes Master, we retain all of our previous strength, and our mana has also been completely replenished."

Nirvana says so while clasping her hands in front of her chest. Their mana replenishing rate has probably been increased because of me. They are connected to me via my mana reservoirs after all. At least, now they won"t ever run out of mana.

"Now then, let us all return to the city. Kuromi, will you fly us all there?"

"Surely Master, as you command."

Her body is engulfed in light, and unlike before, this time the process was completed in mere seconds.

She changed back into her Dragon form, we positioned ourselves on her back and she rose to the sky in an instant.