Chapter 323
"Did something happen?"
Alma asked me as I immediately started checking Dragon Vein after suddenly falling .
Ruli is looking at me with a worried look .
"Some really huge mana poured out of Dragon Vein for a second, then Mathi-kun fell down . . . "
"Yeah . . . You noticed huh, Ruli . "
I checked Dragon Vein once again after saying that .
No mistake about it .
The mana mixed in Dragon Vein closely resembles mana pattern of [Demon of Destruction] Zadokilgias .
I'm sure the past me had erased that demon without a trace . . . But then why is this mana pattern here .
Perhaps, Zadokilgias didn't really perish back then . . . ?
I can't say the possibility is nil .
I fought Zadokilgias when I was still young and lacking magic knowledge .
That demon could have fooled me if it employed an ingenious ploy to fake its death .
Even the me now could easily fake my death against the me at that point of time .
"What was the mana that flowed out of Dragon Vein earlier anyway?"
"That's a demon's mana . . . Apparently the demon they were trying to awaken had been revived just now . "
That much mana don't get mixed in Dragon Vein even when demons interfere with Dragon Vein or communicate through it .
There must have been some sort of special magic behind it .
It could have been resurrection magic by way of [Broken Star] . . . But from the sensation of mana mixed in Dragon Vein earlier, it probably has nothing to do with [Supra-Natural Art] .
I look over Dragon Vein .
Its mana has gotten considerably more stable compared to before .
Right now is the best timing for analysis .
"Ruli, help me analyze this . Can you stabilize Dragon Vein's mana for a little while?"
"I understand! Err . . . Will [Dragon Vein Stabilizer] do?"
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka . com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel . >
"Yeah . Counting on you . "
Once I said that, Ruli fetched a magic stone and augmented it with [Dragon Vein Stabilizer] .
It's a magic that does exactly what it says on the tin, stabilizes mana flowing in Dragon Vein .
Of course it can't hope to cover the whole thing due to the enormity of mana flowing in Dragon Vein, but it's better than nothing .
This is usually used in the preliminary step before the use of other magic tools .
"Here I go!"
Ruli activated the magic tool . . . the mana in the surrounding Dragon Veins started slightly stabilizing .
It's still rough compared to its normal state, but good enough for analysis .
"Alright, good going . "
I gripped the [Dragon Vein Sword] as I said that .
Then . . . I made a new connection to Dragon Vein .
" . . . Good, this will do . "
Even after connecting to Dragon Vein, no control-losing amount of mana flowed in .
At times, sometimes more mana than usual flowed into me when Dragon Vein got stormy, but the [Dragon Vein Stabilizer] helped settling down it to a controllable state .
I can precisely analyze the mana mixed in Dragon Vein now .
Uniting your body with Dragon Vein is a better way to do that compared to external monitoring .
"This is . . . "
I got a good grasp on the situation after reading the connected Dragon Vein mana .
The mana pattern resembles Zadokilgias indeed . . . But this is most likely not its original body .
–Mana pattern is influenced not only by the host body, but also the individuality of that body .
The story of amnesiac mages having completely different mana reaction than before their memory loss was quite well known .
And this Zadokilgias's mana mixed in Dragon Vein–is most likely the reverse of that .
Zadokilgias's individuality is inhabiting the body of a different demon .
Due to the difference of Crests between the past and present me, my mana reaction isn't the same . . . But since demons don't have Crests, mana reactions between demons can be quite similar depending on individuality .
Hence, a demon with Zadokilgias individuality possessing similar mana pattern as Zadokilgias itself is not exactly out of this world .
The problem is . . . How was a demon with the individuality of Zadokilgias came into being . . .
The answer to that is most likely the same as me .
Reincarnation .
Zadokilgias must have set up a magic that would preserve its soul before it was killed off .
The past me succeeded in defeating Zadokilgias yet failed at noticing the existence of this Soul Preserving magic . . . that must be it .