Chapter 224: The Magic Council
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"Shatter… Kyoka Suigetsu!"
With a flash, the sword released its initial form. Renzo instantly poured his Origin Power into it, converting it into Ice-type energy that surged through his body and into the blade.
Sword aura burst forth—then he swung hard.
"Ice Slash!!!"
BOOM!!!
In the next instant, a terrifying slash, dozens of meters long, shot into the sky—howling with freezing cold and a razor-sharp sword aura. It collided head-on with the Ice Sub-Dragon's breath attack.
RIIIP!!!
Before the Sub-Dragon could react, the icy slash tore straight through its breath attack, cutting it in half mid-air like it was paper. The slash didn't stop there—it closed the distance in a blink and struck one of its massive wings.
SHHHK!
It sliced through the wing like a hot knife through butter, severing it cleanly with no resistance, and continued charging forward until it slammed into a mountain several kilometers away.
BOOOOM!!!
The mountain split in two with a thunderous crack—cleaved clean from the middle, leaving behind a several-meter-wide gorge between the shattered halves.
"W-What the hell..."
Far behind, Ultear and Kagura were watching from a distant peak. When they saw the spectacle through their magically enhanced vision, they both gasped, instinctively sucking in a breath.
...Which slightly raised the temperature around them by 0.01 degrees.
Hey, in a frozen tundra like this, that actually meant something.
"..."
"Whoa... That was amazing, Renzo-niisan," Kagura murmured, her eyes wide in awe.
"Yeah... he's definitely gotten even stronger," Ultear nodded, her gaze glued to the battlefield. There was no way she was looking away—not even for a second.
"ROOOAAR!!"
The Ice Sub-Dragon, a Wyvern with high dragon blood purity, let out a scream of agony and fury.
'YOU DAMN HUMAN! YOU DARE HARM ME?! I'LL KILL YOU!!!'
Fueled by rage, the Ice Sub-Dragon endured the pain surging through its back and quickly generated a new crystalline wing using pure ice magic. Frost burst out from its body as thick, white-blue ice armor coated it from head to tail.
"Eternal Frost Armor!"
With a flap of its new icy wings, the Sub-Dragon surged forward, its massive claws slamming toward Renzo.
"Ice Dragon's Talon Strike!!"
Just before the claws could connect, Renzo vanished.
In the blink of an eye, he reappeared—standing right on the Sub-Dragon's back.
"Slash!"
His sword glowed with condensed sword aura as he unleashed a powerful strike directly onto the Ice Sub-Dragon's armored back.
CLANG!!
The blade only pierced about 30 centimeters before stopping—completely halted by the thick ice plating.
The armor was at least 70 or 80 centimeters thick. He hadn't even broken through halfway.
"Hah! Is that all you've got?! My Eternal Frost Armor is tougher than anything—even true Dragons can't easily cut through it! And you're just a human! Now get off me!!"
The Sub-Dragon had flinched at first, but once it realized how shallow the cut was, it regained its confidence.
As it began to repair the damage with magic, it let out a smug laugh and started twisting and rolling wildly in midair, trying to throw Renzo off its back.
But Renzo stood firm—as if his feet were glued to the Sub-Dragon's scales. No matter how the Ice Sub-Dragon thrashed, he didn't budge an inch.
The Sub-Dragon was losing it.
It roared and spun like a lunatic, completely enraged by the fact that this tiny human wouldn't fall off or even flinch.
"…Looks like my sword aura and swordsmanship aren't at a high enough level yet," Renzo muttered calmly, despite the chaos beneath him. "I'll have to get the swordsmanship squad to step it up."
Then, without hesitation, he dismissed his blade and clenched his fists.
His arms darkened as Haki coated them, and he shifted into Sage Mode. Power surged through his body as he gathered every ounce of strength.
"Sage Art – Magic Armament: Impact Punch!!!"
This wasn't just any punch. It was a full-power blow combining his Sage Arts, Strength magic, Armament Haki, and raw brute force—all focused into one devastating strike.
BOOM!!!
The punch landed squarely on the Sub-Dragon's neck.
CRACK!
A shattering sound echoed out as a huge chunk of the Sub-Dragon's frost armor shattered, leaving a deep crater in its neck. The impact sent tremors through the beast's entire body.
The Sub-Dragon's vision blurred. It felt dizzy—ears ringing from the shock.
Before it could even recover—
BAM!!!
Another punch slammed down.
This time, it completely destroyed the armor that had barely been holding on.
The force went straight through, hammering into the Sub-Dragon's neck scales, sending cracks spiderwebbing across hundreds of them.
A thin stream of Sub-Dragon blood seeped out.
Even with armor that thick, it had still taken real damage!
Feeling the pain shoot through its neck, the ice Sub-Dragon snapped back to its senses and began thrashing wildly, rolling and roaring in the air as it poured all its ice magic toward the damaged area in a desperate attempt to patch the armor.
But would Renzo really give it that chance?
BOOM! BOOM!
The next instant, his fists came crashing down like a storm. Blow after blow slammed into the same spot with ruthless precision.
Two more punches.
CRACK!
The Sub-Dragon's neck broke clean.
"RAAARGH!!"
The Sub-Dragon howled in agony, its eyes starting to dim. That massive body began plummeting toward the ground.
Renzo quickly reached out with his telekinesis, catching the beast mid-fall. In the next second, he activated his Eye Technique—Takamagahara—and teleported the Sub-Dragon into his domain.
Only then did he fly over to Ultear and Kagura.
"Congrats, Renzo-nii! You've officially slain a Dragon! Guess we can call you a Dragon Slayer now! Hehe!" Kagura grinned, running up to greet him.
"What took you so long?" Ultear crossed her arms and huffed.
Renzo just chuckled and flicked her forehead.
"Ow—!"
"That ice armor was no joke," he said. "Honestly, it was tough. That thing's defense might even outclass real Dragons!"
"Plus, don't forget—this was its home turf. In a frozen world like this, its environmental advantage was maxed out. So yeah, I had to throw in a few extra moves."
He paused, his expression thoughtful.
"Honestly, I really need a better armor-breaking skill for tanky enemies like that. Gotta create some new moves!" He made a mental note of the weakness.
His attacks were strong, sure—but he lacked high-penetration moves against heavily armored opponents.
No big deal. Now that he'd noticed, he could fix it.
"Alright, let's head out," he said casually. "We've made enough noise. Wouldn't be surprised if the Council's magic detection system already picked it up. I really don't want to run into those guys."
As he spoke, Renzo casually wrapped an arm around both girls—one on each side.
With Kagura and Ultear blushing, the three of them vanished in a flash, reappearing on the outskirts of Mt. Hakobe.
As they flew, he kept dispersing any leftover magic residue, just in case. He didn't even teleport straight back to Magnolia.
Why? Because the Council had ways of tracking spatial fluctuations and teleportation trails.
That was the kind of hidden power the Magic Council held—an organization that stood above hundreds of kingdoms as the peak of magical civilization.
They might not have many top-tier fighters, but their detection and surveillance spells were ridiculously advanced.
Renzo wasn't afraid of them—just didn't want the hassle.
"Is all this caution really necessary?" Ultear asked, clearly skeptical. "That place was buried deep in the middle of some frozen mountain range. Would the Council even bother checking that far out? And would they care?"
"They're just that bored," Renzo said, throwing his hands up in defeat.
"Unless you plan to ignore every rule and go full brute-force, not caring about guilds or family or consequences… staying lowkey is just smarter."
Ultear: "…"
Kagura: "…"
Both of them suddenly had a much clearer picture of just how annoying the Council could be.
"…You know, now I kinda want to join the Council myself," Ultear muttered, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Feels like judging people from on high would be really satisfying."
She was actually tempted.
In fact, the mission Hades originally gave her involved infiltrating the Council and eventually becoming a member.
After all, having someone on the inside made it way easier to cover up the activities of Grimoire Heart—especially anything involving the Devil's Heart.
"Eh??"
.
.
.