In just an instant, the Chaos Flower seemed to suffer an utterly unreasonable crushing force, and from the front, it was completely torn apart.
Yes, the scene was exactly as the words described, so shocking it left one dumbfounded.
Sein had almost already been prepared to mourn Ash. After all, facing head-on with magic a monster that could reflect magic… was practically suicide.
But how things unfolded went far beyond his expectations.
He watched as the ground collapsed beneath the Chaos Flower, its massive body crushed into fragments without the slightest resistance, deeply embedded into the soil and completely losing all signs of life.
And outside that abnormal zone of gravitational pressure, sand and dust erupted violently. As the Chaos Flower was squeezed by overwhelming force, it was like an octopus being pressed by a hydraulic press. Naturally, beyond the gravity-bound area, its internal remains scattered everywhere.
The scene created by just a single strike perfectly embodied destruction and trampling. Even as an ally, Sein couldn't help but be tightly bound by fear, an indescribable shock surging through his heart.
Just recalling that exaggerated sight that made both body and mind tremble, he found himself unable to make a sound for a while.
Only after a long time did Sein snap out of his stunned state. With an expression full of disbelief, he turned his head to look at Ash, who seemed as if he had merely done something trivial. His voice trembled unconsciously.
"This is what you meant by… only knowing a bit of magic?"
"I said I can use some magic."
"That's not 'some magic' at all!", His casual tone made Sein rush up, press both hands on his shoulders, and shake him nonstop, "I've never seen magic this ridiculous!"
"Don't exaggerate so much. This is your first time leaving the village, right? If you've always stayed in the village, what kind of magic could you have seen?"
"Even so, I have common sense!"
"Is that so? But I said from the start that I was pretty strong. You're the one who didn't believe me."
"No! No! No! No! No! This isn't within the range of 'pretty' at all!", Sein shook his head like a rattle drum.
His overexcited reaction made Ash shake his head with a laugh.
"Don't worry about those details. No matter how you think about it, this all started because you didn't believe me. That's your fault."
"I won't argue about who's right or wrong for now. Even if it's my fault, how did you do it? It could reflect magic, right?"
Even after calming down a bit, Sein still couldn't understand what had just happened.
Ash simply explained, "You just have to break through the limit of what it can reflect."
"You make it sound so easy."
"It actually is pretty simple."
"Damn it! This humble-bragger!!"
"Well, I guess I do count as strong."
"Shut your trap up!"
This wasn't just admiration. Sein was genuinely so jealous that he almost wanted to bite on a handkerchief.
Seeing him like that, Ash didn't think there was much to brag about to this wine-and-meat priest, but he still unconsciously showed a smug expression, wanting to provoke him a bit more.
Of course, he didn't explain it. Aside from brute-forcing through it, gravity lightning also carried physical pressure. Against an ability that only targeted magic, its effectiveness naturally wouldn't be limited.
After his envy and amazement subsided, Sein gradually regained his composure, though it did take some time.
That said, fully recovering was impossible. He still couldn't help staring at Ash with a baffled look, feeling his entire impression of him had changed.
"You're ridiculously strong, aren't you? At this level, why are you still working so hard?"
"So that one day, I can rule this world."
"What kind of villain line is that?", Hearing this, Sein shook his head with a laugh, "The world is so peaceful right now. What you're saying is…"
"Is it really peaceful?"
"Uh, at least overall, it's not that extreme… probably?"
Having never really left the village, Sein lowered his head in thought, trying hard to say something but unable to be certain, looking unusually conflicted.
Ash, on the other hand, was very casual. He picked up Frieren, who still hadn't woken up, and without bothering to wake her, slung her over his shoulder and turned back into the forest without looking back.
"I'm joking. Let's hurry back."
"I know you're joking. It's just that coming from you, that joke doesn't sound very funny," Sein gave a bitter smile and complained as he hurried to follow.
While watching Ash's back on the road, he couldn't help thinking a little, 'If Ash really becomes a villain, who will be able to stop him?'
But in the end, the conclusion was… he truly had no idea who in this world could do that, so he could only give up on what was clearly an offhand joke.
"Hmm! It's probably a joke, right?"
Instinct told him it was a joke. Reason also told him it had to be a joke. Yet for some reason, Sein felt a strange, indescribable sense of discomfort.
But since he really couldn't think of anyone who could stop such a situation, he could only shake his head hard and throw this nonsense completely out of his mind.
And because Ash didn't wake Frieren or Fern, the two of them, under the lingering effects of the Chaos Flower, slept straight through until morning.
———
[Morning]
Feeling the sunlight gently caress her face, bringing a bit of warm comfort, Fern slowly opened her hazy eyes.
Under the dazzling morning sun, the natural scenery of the forest unfolded before her like a painting, making one unconsciously sink into the brilliance of the dawn.
With a long, drawn-out "mm," she stretched comfortably, as if trying to shake off all the fatigue from the night.
As her mind gradually cleared and she instinctively looked around while recalling what happened last night, she immediately noticed Ash sitting beside her, an open book still in his hands.
When he lifted his head and met her gaze, Ash wore his usual smile.
"Good morning, Fern. Looks like you slept really well."
"Yes, good morning, Lord Ash."
With yesterday's unease completely gone, a warm, indescribable feeling rose in Fern's heart, and she couldn't help but show him a bright smile.
This scene also caught Sein's eye, making him look toward Frieren, who had unusually gotten up early. He walked over quickly and asked with a puzzled but extremely serious expression, "Hey, these two really aren't married yet?"
"What are you even talking about first thing in the morning? At least try to act like a holy man and stop thinking about weird things."
Still not fully awake, Frieren shot him a blank look, feeling that this guy really was hopeless.
Those words made Sein start doubting himself. Maybe the problem really was with him, though that thought only flashed by before being replaced by a new emotion.
As the representative of the party and the only priest, after waking the villagers who had been cursed into overly deep sleep, Sein also accepted their thanks as the representative.
All his worries and confusion vanished in an instant amid the gentle smiles and words of gratitude from the village's representative "big sister".
On the road as they left the village and resumed their journey, Sein's face still carried a lingering blush, and an uncontrollable smile hung on his lips. That sense of happiness lingered for quite some time, even.
"Lord Sein, that's disgusting! A reliable adult should be like Lord Ash, upright and strong!"
Fern shot Sein a look of disdain, then turned to Ash with a respectful smile, one that even seemed to hide a trace of warmth.
Frieren stroked her chin and joined in thoughtfully.
"I think none of this is very normal. Well, but if I really think about it, Ash is still the most normal one."
However, Sein, riding his high, completely ignored their cold remarks. Alone, he basked in the excitement of having been thanked by the village's big sister earlier, so happy he was almost floating.
He even moved close to Ash, slung an arm over his shoulder, and asked with intense enthusiasm, clearly seeking a kindred spirit, "You think that big sister was great too, right?"
"How am I supposed to answer that right now?"
The gazes from Fern and Frieren behind him made Ash feel like he had thorns on his back. He had absolutely no desire to get involved with this guy.
Because he knew very well that if he agreed, he'd end up being disliked by the two girls just like Sein.
"Come on, they're just kids. Why care so much? Men have to be shameless!"
"Putting that aside, if you like that big sister so much, why didn't you stay in that village?"
"I really wanted to! But... she's already married!", As soon as he said that, Sein clenched his fists, so full of regret that he started pounding his chest, "If only I'd started traveling a few years earlier! Then the one who married that big sister would definitely have been me!"
"So you really thought about it. But priests aren't allowed to marry, right?"
"Why don't you mention that priests also aren't allowed to smoke, drink, eat meat, or gamble?"
"Fair enough, you win."
Facing this anything-goes priest, even Ash was left speechless, completely unsure what to complain about.
After all, this guy was already this outrageous. Even if he got married, it wouldn't really be surprising. It was just that, the increasingly icy gazes from behind made Ash feel that even participating in the conversation was getting him caught in the crossfire.
———
Not long after leaving the village and continuing north, the group entered a fortress city near the Kingdom of Oisast, Vorig.
For travelers, Vorig was the transit point before reaching the magic city.
"This is the last major city before reaching the magic city. If you need anything special, this is the only place you can buy it."
Very familiar with this stop, Frieren looked toward the fortress city in the distance and, as a senior, naturally reminded everyone.
But upon hearing this, Fern couldn't help pulling out her coin pouch and taking a look.
"Lady Frieren, our travel funds are already at the bottom. If we don't use Lord Ash's money, we might not even know where we'll be staying tonight. Buying anything strange is probably impossible."
"Using Ash's money? No, if we keep doing that, it feels like we'll be toyed with terribly later," Hearing this, Frieren immediately looked troubled and instinctively furrowed her brows.
Before she could reach a conclusion, she suddenly seemed to notice something and abruptly looked toward the road behind them.
A noble's carriage had, for some reason, stopped behind them.
There was an elderly man who looked like a butler, a middle-aged man with one eye who looked like a noble, and a young man with slicked-back hair who looked almost exactly like the second son of the village chief from the earlier warrior village.
Worth noting was that this old man, middle-aged man, and youth were all staring straight at them, hostility practically radiating off them.
"Frieren, are they your enemies?", Having heard that Frieren had been here before, Sein instinctively looked toward her.
But that question made Frieren unsure herself. She lowered her head and thought hard, "I don't like the lord of this territory, but I don't think I've offended any nobles."
"But if you don't like them, you probably offended them by accident, right?"
Thinking of how in the Central Lands, even a slight disrespect toward nobles could mean execution, Fern, who had grown up under Ash's guidance and unlike most people lacked reverence for nobles, was already preparing to run.
Because, the three of them had all placed their hands on their weapons.
Before they could decide anything, the slicked-back red-haired youth who clearly looked like a noble's son had already walked over and tossed his glove at Ash's feet.
"He's looking for Lord Ash?", Fern looked completely confused.
"Threw it wrong?", Sein quietly crouched down and placed the glove at Frieren's feet.
That action made Frieren frown in annoyance.
"What is this? Why put it here? He already threw it to Ash. Just let Ash deal with it."
But before Sein could say anything, the youth stared straight at Ash and shouted angrily, "You had a servant throw the glove symbolizing a duel at a child's feet? Do you not even have the courage to accept my challenge head-on?"
"Huh? He really is looking for Lord Ash?"
"Wait a second? I'm a priest. Why am I being treated as a servant?"
"I'm… a... child?"
Fern, Sein, and Frieren all reacted with varying degrees of shock to the youth's words. Sein and Frieren even began to question their lives.
Only Ash remained calm as ever. He sized up the unfamiliar youth for a while, then helplessly spread his hands.
"Sorry, you've got the wrong person. I don't think I know you."
"You may not know me, but I know you! It was you, who took my father's eye!"
"Did that happen? Hmm, who is your father?"
"One of the three great knights of the Northern Nations, head of the Vorig family, Orden!"
"Ah, I see, Orden?", Ash nodded as if suddenly understanding. Fern immediately grew uneasy and tugged at his sleeve.
"Lord Ash, what's going on? Did you accidentally injure that noble named Orden?"
"No, you misunderstood. I have no impression of that name at all. I just wanted to show that I remembered it."
"You bastard!", Hearing that, the youth grew furious and was about to attack on the spot.
But the man he called father, the middle-aged man with a scar on his right cheek and a black eyepatch, Orden, suddenly pressed a hand on his shoulder.
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