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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 456 Part 1

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 456: Dragon, Oh Dragon! PART 33 Part 1

I would like to take this moment to explain something about magic really quickly.

The world of ShangriLa Frontier offers many different kinds of magic to the players, but amongst them there is one particular kind that is thought to be the “Ultimate” type of magic.

That type of magic is the “Gate Magic”. It is the sort of a special or hidden magic class available only to those who have mastered other magics belonging to some very specific fields. And normally on its own the Gate Magic is pretty powerful or even downright broken, but it’s true potential comes through once the player has obtained the Realization Wand – The Desire –.

Sure, there are a whole lot of spells that include the “gate” keyword in them, but the kind of magic we are talking about here is fundamentally different. It is the kind of magic that is triggered upon chanting a surprisingly short incantation: “Gate Open!”.

To tell the truth here, Joset is not a strict Physical Wall Tank, like those guys from SF-Zoo are. You could argue here that a Tank is a Tank, but like always, the Devil is in the details.

Essentially, Joset is the kind of Tank that you might call a Magi-Tank, a Tank that gets his job done not through super high physical resistances and such, but the one who protects his/her allies though super high magic defense and magic spells designed specifically for such a feat.

And in order to be better at protecting her beloved Iristella, the Saint of Charity, from possible dangers and monsters that might await her during her many journeys and pilgrimages, Joset continued to study the arts of defense magic ever since she started her service in the Holy Shield’s Territory. And it took her precisely one year of both studying and many trial and error processes to develop something that she would like to call the ultimate defense system. And what that system boiled down to was basically:

* * *

「–––––– My Blood Burns Hot!」

It was only a short and seemingly insignificant chant, but the effect it had on the battlefield was nothing short of dramatic.

「Uwoah!」

It was hard for me to not let out a voice filled with shock and awe at what I saw. And what I saw were the two lines that started to spread from Joset and go towards Siegwurm.

Those line looked just like fire, but they were not made out of flame. Because not even for a single second they would not retain constant shape and continued to shift and fluctuate.

For some reason right about now Joset looked as though she was wearing an oddly familiar helmet on top of her head. And there was also an oddly familiar shield resting on her back as well. Specifically speaking, I saw a reflection of my own equipment in her looks just now, which was an oddly specific experience.

「Come forth and open the Gate!」

Through the flickering flames I swear that I could have seen hundreds of Spartan warriors brandishing their swords, spears and shields, only to melt right back into the flame and disappear like some sort of a mirage. And then all of those phantom weapons changed into two gigantic walls of flames that rushed forward, blocking the way out and locking the two people inside of a literal corridor of flame.

It’s like a spearhead. It’s like a swarm of swords. It’s like an impenetrable line of shields. That’s right…… Right about now the Hot Gates opened wide all so that the path of the enemy warriors could be blocked.

「–––––– BURNING FIRE BREATH – BREATH OF BAIN!」

「–––––– GATE OF BURNING BLOOD – THERMOPYLAE – !!!」

Just like that, Siegwurm’s Flame Breath and the Thermopylae’s wall of flames collide with one another. And just as the initial wall of weapons is shattered to pieces and blown away by Siegwurm’s attack, right after that new wall emerges in its place and stands in Siegwurm’s path without hesitation.

Over and over again, fire weapons dig into the Breath of Destruction, chipping away at it bit by bit.

I could see threads of sweat dripping down Joset’s forehead and cheeks. She threw her right hand forward and stepped her feet firmly into the ground to not be pushed back and to maintain her balance. Even though it was just a game here, it seems like it was taking her all just to maintain the spell and to defend against Siegwurm’s assault.

「Do you think that this is actually going to work?」

「Of course it will!」

Joset replied to my question with her “normal” voice. It was a voice filled with strain and hardship, so much different from her usual “role-playing” voice. But even so, the conviction in that voice was simply unwavering.

「I can see it now…… Unique Monsters are really something else entirely…… Suuu……」

Joset lets out a deep breath, as if she was stealing her resolve for something. And then she took a step forward, with a gaze so fierce and determined that any normal monster would probably turn away and start running at the very sight of her.

「SAINT-CHAN IS THE BEST IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!」

「Oi! Are you really sure that it’s okay to be shouting things like that out loud!?」

I mean, as long as it gets the job done, then it is all good, right? Right?

And surely enough, in this moment the momentum of Joset’s wall of flames managed to exceed that of Siegwurm’s fiery breath. It was a particular sight to behold, for Siegwurm’s attack seemed to have weakened with the passage of time, while that of Joset’s was only growing stronger in comparison.

「You see, this magic of mine…… Is actually a counter magic!」

「KUHAA, GUUUAAAHHH……!!!」

Coming forward and burning the earth to cinders, the swirling wall of flames is just like a shield charge of a brave soldier: always pushing forward and not minding anything that comes in its path, only pushing towards its goal. And even though Siegwurm’s attack lost all of its momentum and was being pushed back, seeing that the Golden Dragon Kind did not chose to run away. Instead, he just stood there, standing straight and with expression that could only be joy and happiness on his face…… And just like that, the body of Siegwurm the Heavenly Emperor, and immovable wall that never before wavered even for a bit, was pushed back and sent flying for the very first time.

「Oh wow, won’t you just look at that……」

「H-How about that, huh……!? O-Oh shit, my body feel awfully dull for some reason right now……」

Right after Siegwurm was blown away, Joset’s body slumped to the ground as if all of the strength had left her on the spot. It was a magnificent feat she managed to accomplish here, but it was not without a sacrifice. As could be seen Joset’s HP bard has been greatly reduced, so much that only a mere millimeters of it were now left to her.