So I'm a Dragon, So What? - Game System [93]

Damn. To fight the darkness, you had to become the darkness yourself. A perfect example of fighting fire with fire.

Emilia felt a wave of nausea. She couldn't believe it. Both elves and humans, treating life like it was worthless, using their own kind as disposable pawns. It was too much for her to bear.

Just then, a blond man in the ornate robes of a Cardinal used space magic to bypass the fighting, appearing directly in front of Emilia. This was Otto.

He placed a hand over his heart and bowed deeply to Emilia. "Your Highness the Saintess," he said, his voice ringing with piety. 

"I, Cardinal Otto of the Divine Religion, have come to welcome you!" He then dropped to one knee, a gesture as elegant as a marriage proposal.

But the Saintess was clearly not accepting.

Emilia took a step back, her hand clutching tightly to Elliot’s sleeve. Only by his side did she feel safe.

Seeing the Cardinal of the Divine Religion appear in person, the powerful mages who had accompanied the Pontiff finally made their move. 

These were mages far superior to Ronandt. In the time it took to blink, they constructed the very same Hellfire Magic spell that had taken Ronandt over ten minutes to prepare.

A torrent of fire erupted, incinerating Otto in less than a second, leaving not even ash behind.

But in that same second, under the power of the [Crimson Rite] domain, Otto’s body reformed, completely healed. 

From destruction to rebirth, such an agonizing experience, yet his expression didn't change at all. 

He didn't even deign to glance at the human mages. His arrogance was absolute!

He looked past Emilia, his gaze falling on Elliot, and his expression filled with a strange pity. "Those who defile Her Highness shall be hunted down by the Divine Religion, no matter how far they run! We will grind your bones to dust and cast your soul into a place of filth and decay, where you will suffer for all eternity, never to be reborn!"

Otto spoke the most depraved, insane words in the calmest, most indifferent tone.

With a snap of his fingers, a dozen more priests in black robes materialized around him. A quick glance told Emilia that each one was at least one and a half times stronger than she had been, even in her full Witch form. They were incredibly powerful.

"Your Highness the Saintess," Otto said, his voice devoid of all warmth, "you are now irreparably sullied! I will take you back to the Faith immediately, where the Pontiff himself will perform the cleansing ritual."

They bowed in unison, then began to advance on Elliot. They moved with caution, careful not to harm their "hostage," Emilia.

Elliot’s face remained a blank mask. He simply raised a hand, and magical energy began to coalesce.

"Summoning magic?" Otto noted, his eyes narrowing as he recognized the structure of the spell. What could this Earth Dragon possibly summon?

In truth, Elliot had only one summon. But she was also his ultimate trump card.

Kanna Kamui!

No one should ever underestimate Kanna’s power. She was a monster whose raw stats were even greater than his own, a true, Godzilla-level existence.

….

The moment Elliot began his summoning incantation, he became the center of attention. 

The fierce battle between the heretics and the Deathguards seemed to pause as all eyes, from both sides, turned towards him.

Summoning magic, at its core, was simple: pulling a tamed magical beast from a specific location to the caster's side. In this world, there were three ways to tame a monster.

The first was brainwashing. You would wipe the creature’s memory clean and implant a new one of absolute servitude. 

The beast would become a pure tool, devoid of its original personality. This method had a 99% success rate. 

But it came with a huge risk: the brainwashing magic had to be perfect. If it wasn’t done properly, and the monster’s original memories resurfaced, the chances of it turning on and killing its master were extremely high.

The second method was to cultivate affection. Over a long period, you would shower the beast with kindness and goodwill, slowly raising its affinity until it "liked" you enough to become a true partner. 

It was a lot like a slow-burn romance. 

This method only had about a 30% success rate, and the stronger the beast, the harder it was to tame. 

Furthermore, if the beast already held a grudge against you, trying to show it kindness could actually backfire.

The third and final method was a matter of pure, dumb luck: raising a magical beast from birth. 

A hatchling had no independent will and was highly imprintable, making the success rate very high. 

The problem, of course, was getting your hands on a hatchling in the first place. Earth Dragon eggs, for example, were guarded jealously by Güliedistodiez; no one could get their hands on one. 

The eggs humans occasionally found were usually from lesser dragon species, like Earth Drakes, the kind Mirei Shinohara had been.

"I wonder what kind of beast Lord Elliot will summon," Pontiff Dustin murmured, his gaze fixed on Elliot's spell. The moment he sensed the summoning, he had already given a silent order for the team of ninja hidden in the mists to ensure Elliot’s safety.

Dustin’s forces consisted of his dozen or so powerful mages, his three hundred Deathguards, and, hidden in the shadows, his ninjas. 

The ninjas were his greatest trump card. Though few in number, they could move freely across any battlefield, possessing incredible agility and considerable combat strength. 

Their daggers, already drawn, glinted strangely in the darkness, aimed directly at Cardinal Otto. If Otto made a move, they would emerge from the mists and stop him, no matter the cost.

Otto, of course, was aware of the Pontiff's actions. He didn't recklessly try to interrupt Elliot’s summoning. 

In this world, summoning and transformations were easily interrupted, as was the casting of most magic. 

This wasn't like a magical girl anime, where you were invincible during your transformation sequence.

He held back for two reasons. First, with the Pontiff's protection, his chances of success were low. 

Second, he sensed that the beast Elliot was summoning was small. 

The magical disturbance was minimal. And a small monster… how much combat power could it possibly have? 

In this chaotic environment, even large monsters struggled to be effective. What could a small one possibly do?

But Otto wasn't just standing around doing nothing. Under his command, his priests began to move.