Published: January 22, 2026
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“So, Orun, are you saying that the black dragon might be able to simultaneously summon more than ten of those mists?”
During the meeting about the black dragon battle, Ms. Selma asked after I shared my thoughts.
“Yeah, I don’t think the possibility is zero. I have a similar ability to interfere with mana like the black dragon does, so I understand. I don’t know if humans and demonic beasts have the same senses, but in my case, if I focus solely on mana convergence, I can interfere with mana more than usual. If what we’ve planned so far works out, it could become a one-sided fight. And if what I said earlier applies to the black dragon, it’s quite possible it would recklessly focus entirely on manipulating the mists.”
In the two times I fought, and from other explorers’ battle reports, the black dragon has never been recorded summoning more than ten mists at once.
However, just because there’s no precedent doesn’t mean it’s 100% impossible.
Since we’re having such detailed meetings, it’s better to also consider things we might be dismissing as impossible.
The more thorough the planning, the more likely we’ll be thrown into confusion when something unexpected happens.
“If it summons a hundred, that would be bad.”
Will muttered jokingly.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be fine if Will just eats them all with his sword?”
“Can I even do that? I can’t stay more than a certain distance from the black dragon’s front, and even if I could, a hundred is physically impossible.”
“Well then, you know! With spirit!”
“Don’t be ridiculous…”
“Ahahaha. But yeah, a hundred is too much, but thinking it can only do ten is dangerous. What if it actually summons more than ten?”
“If I use my trump card, I can attack a wide area faster than Ms. Rain’s offensive magic with a heavenly flash, but it’s still an experimental magic technique, so I can’t guarantee I can shoot all of them down.”
“That’s ‘demonic sword unification (alteration),’ right? I saw it yesterday, but why does the material turn into mana? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
Ms. Rain asked.
Come to think of it, I showed how the schwarzhase transforms into jet-black mana, but I never explained it.
Right after that, I had another appointment, so there wasn’t time.
“The schwarzhase is infused with hide turtle blood from the black dragon’s scales and deep-layer ore. I’ll skip the detailed theory, but it reacts to mana converged through the demonic sword unification (alteration) technique, causing the schwarzhase to transform.”
The hide turtle is a demonic beast turtle inhabiting the lower layers.
Its characteristic is adapting to the surrounding mana, changing its body to blend into the background.
In other words, we incorporated that trait into the schwarzhase. Normally, it’s just a masterwork sword, but it adapts to mana channeled through a specific technique and transforms into a fluid mana mass.
“Whoa~ I kind of get it but also don’t… Anyway, that means the heavenly flash, which used to take time to release, can now be fired multiple times quickly, right?”
“No, multiple times is impossible. The total mana is fixed, so mana is consumed each time the heavenly flash is released. Being able to fire it quickly is just a bonus. The original purpose is—”
When I explained the original use of demonic sword unification (alteration), Will had a blank look.
“Hey, hey, Will? I’m not very familiar with martial arts learned by frontline explorers, but it’s not something anyone can just do, right?”
“...Of course not. Martial arts aren’t that easy for greedy people to succeed at. But, I’ve been watching Orun fight for the past month, and it doesn’t seem like he’s only skilled in typical swordsmanship. He looks like he’s incorporated various martial arts. Plus, Orun can raise his physical abilities to monster-like levels, and there’s also this ridiculous magic called instantaneous ability surge (impact). Considering all that, I’m starting to think he can do it... Lucre, don’t ever think this is normal. This guy is more out of the ordinary than I thought. I really, really feel lucky he’s on our side.”