Chapter 90

"Is it a barrier? ... But something like this... Hmph!"

As Gitan exerted force, cracks began to appear in the barrier.

With a resounding crash, the barrier shattered, and fragments of magic scattered like mist.

"... Phew, it was a rather hard barrier, but for me, a divine-demonic being, breaking a barrier is a piece of cake."

Gitan turned to face us, cracking his shoulders.

Indeed, if he can use such powerful magic, he must have extensive knowledge of barriers.

Barriers are fundamentally used against creatures like monsters that cannot use magic.

Against a magician who understands the spell, a barrier can be effective for defense, but not for capture.

In the extreme, anyone can break a barrier given enough time.

"Then, I'll just incapacitate you normally."

"Heh, to not even try to run and instead come at me... Very well. Since it's a rare opportunity, I'll use this body for a test run."

Gitan snapped his fingers.

The space in the room suddenly expanded.

Hmm, spatial magic. To use the highly advanced 'Area Expansion' shows that he is indeed deeply knowledgeable about magic.

"With this, we can fight to our heart's content. Now, don't die too quickly... Hey!"

In a single step, Gitan approached right in front of me.

—Fast. He swung his fist at high speed.

But the automatically deployed magic barrier blocked it.

The air barrier creaked and bent significantly.

"Hmm, a magic barrier. But it's futile, futile, futile! !"

Gitan continued to punch without hesitation.

Four arms striking in rapid succession, the automatically deployed magic barrier shattered instantly.

The next magic barrier was automatically deployed, but it was immediately destroyed as well.

Again, and again, every time it was deployed.

"Whoa, what is this? To break such a sturdy magic barrier in less than a second is unbelievable! Even I would take a few seconds!"

"He is simultaneously casting four barrier dissolution spells, weakening the magic barrier. Strange... Gitan is indeed an excellent magician, but he wasn't this skilled..."

While Grimo and Jiriel were muttering, they were still rapidly deploying magic barriers, but Gitan was breaking them faster.

"Heh, quite a dense magic barrier, but my body has five brains and five hearts! Parallel thinking and simultaneous spell casting are child's play! Of course—attacks too!"

A magical reaction appeared at his feet.

In the next moment, the ground rose up, and rocks extended.

It was the earth magic 'Rock Fang'.

I easily jumped to avoid it.

"You're in trouble! You can't move in the air, right!"

Aimlessly floating in mid-air, Gitan's kick was launched at me.

But I activated the 'Strong Magic Barrier'.

With a dull thud, the kick stopped right in front of my face.

The 'Strong Magic Barrier', which is ten times harder due to its constraint of being activated at close range.

To be forced to use this so easily. Not bad.

Even as I was blown back by the impact, I began to formulate a spell for a counterattack.

"Not bad. This time, I'll go first."

I unleashed the highest-level fire magic, 'Scorching Flame Fang'.

I concentrated the magic at a single point, forming a dense ball of flame and released it.

The bluish-white flame fang flew straight at Gitan—hit, and his upper body was blown away.

"Take that! One hit, baby!"

Grimo cheered. Damn, did I overdo it?

I didn't think he would die in one hit.

But it's strange. A magician of his caliber should have been able to guard against that one hit with a magic barrier, but he didn't show any signs of defense.

"There aren't many magicians who can withstand Lord Lloyd's attack. Poor Gitan, rest in peace."

As Jiriel muttered, I watched the smoke rise, and Gitan's body twitched.

"What, what? Is the corpse convulsing?"

"No, wait... Something's off."

Under the watchful eyes of Grimo and Jiriel, the convulsions continued twice, thrice, and then—Gitan's upper body grew back from his lower body.

His appearance was exactly the same as before it was blown away.

Gitan moved his limbs to confirm, then turned to us and grinned.

"Heh heh, divine-demonic beings surpass all life. Naturally, we have incorporated the high regeneration ability of slime."

The overwhelming regenerative power due to being a gelatinous being, I can't help but believe it after seeing this.

It must be that the structures of various creatures have been spell-ified and condensed into one body.

From a distance, the spells that make up Gitan looked like a tangled mess of spaghetti, complex and intertwined.

It's probably impossible to return to the original state now.

I narrowed my eyes and muttered.

"... You were hasty, Gitan."

"Pity? ... There's no need to measure me by the standards of trivial humans. I have no regrets. Overwhelming power! Life that surpasses death! I have become a being equal to a god! Hahahaha!"

Gitan laughed triumphantly, and I sighed.

"No, that's not what I meant. With such a messy spell, you can't add new necessary spells or remove unnecessary ones. Magic evolves quickly. It must be tough to have to keep using outdated spells..."

The same spell can evolve over time through repeated modifications and reconfigurations.

In ten years, the spells you use now will likely be completely replaced.

Of course, sometimes old spells find new uses and are revived, but that's a different story.

Having to use the same spell over and over is essentially giving up on evolution.

Gitan clenched his teeth, understanding the meaning of my words.

"Grr... Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! I am the strongest being!"

Aiming at the approaching Gitan, I released a magic light from my fingertips.

The poison magic 'Poison Fang'.

Like a snake biting a charging target, sharp holes appeared in Gitan's body.

Gitan, clutching the wounds, widened his eyes in shock.

"W-What? Why isn't it regenerating!?"

Gitan's voice grew hoarse as he saw the holes not closing.

"I embedded poison. Poison that surpasses your regeneration."

The 'Poison Fang' with multiple layers of spells, dozens of times more concentrated.

Normally, even this wouldn't match the regeneration ability of a slime, but these poisons are specifically effective against slimes, causing corrosion, weathering, and decomposition.

Moreover, with his body so fortified by spells, healing spells have a weaker effect.

Thus, Gitan cannot heal his own poison.

He probably thought that with his regeneration, it wouldn't be a problem, but it was shortsighted.

If he had known, he could have reconfigured new spells.

... In short, fixing spells in place means sacrificing flexibility.

"The strongest being, huh? I don't think you're as strong as you thought."

"Grr, grr, grr...!"

In response to my words, Gitan clenched his fists, blood dripping from them.