* * *
The sharp chunk of ice accurately pierced the spell formation Klen had displayed for me to see.
And just when I thought it might only look that way and have no effect.
Crack—
The sound of my prediction shattering rang out.
The spell formation split apart like a poorly constructed sandcastle, crumbled down, and began to melt away into the air.
I wasn’t sure if what I saw was accurate or another optical illusion.
I turned my head to Klen, who would give me the correct answer.
“……It’s gone.”
Surprise was in his voice too.
The spell formation had completely disappeared.
I had heard that covering it with dirt didn’t work, so this was naturally a method I had never considered until now.
“Can it be erased this way too?”
“No. There is a different method.”
Klen placed his hand over the floating spell formation.
Soon, light gathered in his hand and slowly descended to the ground, and with a thud, the spell formation shattered.
Centered around that point, the fragmented spell formation began to break into pieces and scatter.
“Usually, it must be done this way. It takes more energy to erase it than to draw it.”
It was the same method the healer had used.
It meant that what was drawn with magic power must be erased with magic power.
The explanations of both people were the same.
Clearly, only that method had existed until now.
It was just that now, another method had suddenly appeared before our eyes.
We, who had been standing blankly, immediately took action.
We didn’t explain to each other what we were going to do.
Yet, merely by our movements, we already understood what the other wanted and acted accordingly.
Klen first checked where the spell formation was, then covered it again so it wouldn’t be visible.
Saaaaaah—
And he imbued Levatein with magic.
I immediately swung the sword toward the location of the spell formation.
Then, the cold air wrapped around the blade became a sharp edge that sliced through the empty air.
We immediately checked the spot where the spell formation had been.
“……Hmm.”
“Hmm.”
But only the area where the cold air passed was deeply gouged.
The spell formation slowly reappeared above it.
There was only the difference of whether the spell formation was visible or not, but the method was definitely the same as before.
I raised the sword high again, and Klen took a step back.
Whoosh—
This time, I swung the sword toward the spell formation without any magic imbued in it.
Crash!
“Did it work?”
“Oh.”
A sharp sound, as if thin glass was breaking, rang out, and the spell formation shattered into pieces.
And similarly, the fragments slowly floated up and began to scatter.
Next, I swung the sword at the spot next to it, where the spell formation had been but was currently invisible.
Whoosh—
Only the sound of the air being split rang in my ears; the sharp sound of glass breaking, as before, was not heard.
When Klen subsequently used magic to make it visible to me again, the spell formation at the spot where I swung the sword the second time floated up onto the ground, completely intact.
“Hmm.”
After multiple direct experiments, the conclusion we reached was one.
Whether magic was imbued in it or not, an attack carried out with Levatein could erase the spell formation.
And the most important condition was that I had to clearly see and recognize the spell formation with my eyes.
“Can other swords do this?”
“I have never heard even a rumor of such a thing.”
“Then… how about imbuing other swords with magic?”
I had never thought of the concept of imbuing a sword with magic before.
I had never seen anyone utilize it that way either.
Couldn’t the magic Klen just used be applied to another sword, even if it couldn’t capture the magic rushing towards it like Levatein?
“It probably wouldn’t work.”
“The blade wouldn’t withstand it?”
“It might turn into dust as soon as the magic is added. If that happens, it could splash onto the person holding the sword. The reason we could attempt this on this sword was because of Levatein’s characteristic of being able to contain magic power.”
Is that why he told me to keep it at a distance, in case of an accident?
‘Was Levatein… such an amazing item?’
Indeed, in the novel, it was later said that no sword would ever surpass it.
This sword is also what cuts through the powerful barrier within that forest.
Erasing a spell formation might have been child’s play for it.
But all of that was the protagonist’s role, and I thought it would only manifest when he used it.
“Then, Adrian.”
Klen gathered power and scattered magic around the area.
“……?!”
Then, spell formations I hadn’t seen began to pop out everywhere.
Literally, the entire area was like one giant practice ground, and various scribbles were revealed.
It wasn’t just the ground.
The scribbles floating in the air were enough to clutter the field of vision.
[What in the world are you doing?]
As magic power spewed out, there seemed to be a subtle change in the air, and the bird quickly returned.
It landed on my shoulder as a matter of course and tilted its head.
Showing it once was better than explaining it in many words.
I immediately raised Levatein and swung it down in a large arc from the top left to the bottom right.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
A sharp sound, satisfying enough to sound like a row of glass sheets being broken at once, followed.
The widely echoing sound made my ears sting, but strangely, my heart felt refreshed.
And the sight of the spell formations scattering and floating up like fireflies against the backdrop of the red-tinged landscape as the sun set was quite beautiful.
[Oho! You were up to something interesting.]
With the bird’s chirping following, sounding amused, I felt even further removed from reality.
Crash!
And so, we walked around, destroying all the nearby spell formations.
The sound echoing around sharply pierced my ears, but I was told that thanks to the bird’s magic, it didn’t travel far.
‘No wonder.’
With a sound like this, the knights should have rushed over immediately, but not a single one appeared.
If they hadn’t shown up even without the magic, I would have to impose heavy training on them for dereliction of duty.
Clang, clang, clang!
As I severed the spell formations one after another and raised my head, the surroundings were quite tidy.
As the scribbles that had blocked my view disappeared, I felt refreshed, as if old dust had been cleared away.
[Hmm? Someone is coming that way.]
“Klen. It seems there are signs of people nearby.”
I couldn’t hear anything yet, but the bird, which had cast magic over this area, definitely seemed to sense something.
Klen swiftly waved his hand and covered the spell formations in the vicinity.
Just as the fragments flying in the air disappeared with a faint light, a few knights appeared, pushing their way through the grass.
They quickly approached us as soon as they saw Klen and me, bowing from the waist.
“We didn’t know the two of you would come here.”
“What brings you here?”
I subtly shifted my gaze to Klen.
* * *
