The most shameless alchemist in history

Dure was not far behind Winry. Originally, he did not want to get involved in the events in the Snow Country, but now that his friends were involved, it was impossible for him to stay out of it.

"Boom boom boom!" At the same time that Du Lei finished speaking, the ground cracked open all around, and a loud rumbling sound came out. In the white snow, a huge outline could be vaguely seen crawling out from the ground.

Some guards who couldn't dodge in time were thrown heavily into the air. Even the bravest soldiers couldn't remain calm in the face of such a situation, and screams and cries of pain rose and fell.

"What is that thing? Is it a monster?" A soldier couldn't see clearly through the white fog, but he could see a huge outline emitting a deafening roar and wreaking havoc on the surroundings.

With each roar, the snowflakes in the air are shaken to pieces, a sight that sends chills down one's spine. This is a power that no mortal could possibly attain!

"Look, that's... a dragon? A bone dragon? No way, what kind of joke is this? How could something like this appear in Winter City?" Just as all the soldiers were puzzled by this sudden commotion.

As the white snow mist gradually dissipated, a sharp-eyed soldier immediately recognized the enormous creature crawling out of the crack in the square. The stark white bones, the wings of death, and the monster with its immense destructive power—wasn't it a bone dragon?

"A bone dragon? It's actually this kind of monster..." Du Lei was also startled by the sudden appearance of the bone dragon. He had seen a lot of things, but this was too sudden.

Furthermore, the bone dragon is not an ordinary magical beast. To be precise, it is a summoned creature, and it can only be summoned by a high-level summoning spell. It is no exaggeration to call it the ultimate summoning spell. As its giant paw slammed down, a nearby building collapsed with a crash!

"Everyone scatter! Griffin Legion, enter battle mode!" General Restia made an accurate judgment immediately. She knew that ordinary guards had no way to deal with such an ultimate summoned creature, so only she could take action herself.

However, even for a warrior like her, defeating the bone dragon alone would be extremely difficult. It would require the entire griffin legion to work together to have any chance of withstanding its attack.

Following General Restia's order, the soldiers gathered in the square immediately withdrew.

Startled by the sudden commotion, the surrounding residents quickly left the nearby buildings and evacuated the dangerous area. They were all in a panic and had no idea what was going on.

"What did you say? That's a bone dragon? My God, how could something like that appear in our Winter City? This is terrifying!"

"Hey, hey, now's not the time for sentimentality. We need to get out of here right now. Tanya, come over here quickly. Doctor, are you alright?"

"I'm alright for now, but... oh, isn't that Du Lei over there?" At that moment, three people were running towards safety with the crowd. They had heard that something had happened in the square today, so they rushed over to check.

But no one expected this to happen halfway through, which made them feel uneasy. They couldn't understand what was wrong with the city.

()

792 Summoning Magic

"Dr. Sara? And Rhodes and Tanya? Are you all alright?" Dure heard someone call his name, turned around, and quickly recognized Dr. Sara and her group.

“We’re fine for now, but what’s going on? How could a monster like a bone dragon suddenly appear? Isn’t that a creature that only exists in legends? How could it actually appear?” Rhodes was particularly puzzled by this.

"To be precise, the bone dragon is not a creature, but a product summoned by someone using high-level magic." Dure shook his head to correct him. Although he had never seen a bone dragon in person before, he had read about it in books.

"Magic? But wasn't magic something that was lost to history long ago? And there's even debate in academia about whether magic ever really existed. How could it actually exist?" Rhodes was greatly surprised by this.

He was a top student at the University of Seine. Although he didn't have much power and was just an ordinary person, he had a wealth of knowledge.

"It certainly seems so. Not only does magic exist, but people are also using it to create chaos. This is troublesome. Bone dragons are too powerful. Even if General Restia and her griffin legion use all their skills and work together, they probably won't be a match for the bone dragons." Dure watched the melee between General Restia and the bone dragons from afar.

In Dure's view, General Restia was undeniably brave. She launched attack after attack on the bone dragon. She was skilled in ice-attribute magic, and in this icy and snowy land, her offensive was undeniably fierce.

Dure knew very well that if he were on the opposite side of General Restia, he would probably be unable to withstand her for long and be defeated by her.

However, the bone dragon was different at this time. The bone dragon had a strong ability to withstand magical energy. No matter how General Restia froze it, it could quickly break free of the ice and launch a fierce counterattack.

The black fire it spewed out evaporated a large area of ​​snow near the square, revealing the rock strata beneath the ground.

"What should we do then? Are we just going to let the bone dragon continue to wreak havoc like this? If we don't stop it, the consequences will be unimaginable..." Rhodes said worriedly.

In this short period of time, large areas of buildings had been destroyed by the bone dragon, leaving behind vast ruins.

"It is indeed difficult to confront the Bone Dragon head-on, but... the Bone Dragon was summoned by someone. As long as we find the person who summoned the Bone Dragon and defeat him, the Bone Dragon will lose control and its source of power, and it will disappear on its own."

Dure calmly considered for a moment. He knew that confronting the bone dragon head-on was not a wise move. As a summoned creature, the bone dragon's weakness lay in the magician who summoned it.

"The one who summoned the bone dragon? So where exactly is this person?" Rhodes asked anxiously. He knew that time was of the essence, and every second of delay meant that destruction was one step closer.

“This… he must be hiding somewhere in Winter City. Only within the boundaries of Winter City can he control the bone dragon to cause destruction. But Winter City is so big, finding him won’t be an easy task…” Dure carefully looked around.

He wanted to find the summoner who controlled the bone dragon nearby, but there were panicked crowds all around, and everyone was running for their lives. Where could he find any trace of the summoner?

At the same time that Winter City was thrown into turmoil, on the other side of Winter Valley, the guards of the Southern Front, who were already prepared, were ready to go. They were all dressed in neat uniforms and polished their newly issued gunpowder guns until they gleamed.

After Commander-in-Chief Farn gave a speech, the young soldiers began to cross the Valley of Winter and head towards the City of Winter. Today would be their decisive day. If they won this war, the capital of the Snow Kingdom, Frost City, would be exposed to their icy grip.

With the Frost City's military strength, there was simply no possibility of resisting them. Once Winter City was captured, it would almost be a declaration that this eight-year-long war would finally come to an end!

Everyone had reason to believe they would win the war, because they had fought their way from Maple City and were almost invincible. They had advanced weapons and strong support.

Several countries, including the Land of Wind, support them. The young people are eager to accumulate military merits so that after the war ends, they can retire with higher ranks, go back to find a beautiful girl to marry, and enjoy a wonderful and comfortable life. What a wonderful development!

So when Grant watched from afar as this group headed towards the Valley of Winter, he was very proud. After years of painstaking efforts in the Snow Kingdom, he was finally about to succeed. This way, the people within the organization would have no reason to laugh at him, and he was capable of great things!

However, despite his smugness, the person he had seen a few days ago still caused him deep worry. He never expected that the person who came to help him would be that man.

"I never expected it to be him. He should be in Winter City now, right? If he makes a move... taking Winter City should be a piece of cake. I just don't know what will happen to the grudge between him and me after we take Winter City... Sigh." Grant sighed deeply at this thought. Pang Ran, who knew nothing about him, would be very confused to see him like this, but Grant himself knew perfectly well that the man must hate him very much.

Now he has been ordered to take over Winter City, but his mission is not over yet. Simply put, he still has value to be used, but what will he do once he loses his value?

"Forget it, I won't think about it too much. As long as I can take over the Snow Country, I will have fulfilled a wish. It's been more than ten years. More than ten years have passed for this day. Gru, and Aisha, you two..." Grant said these two names with resentment.

The name Ashe is known to all the people of the "Land of Snow." It is the name of the Frost Queen, a woman as cold and indifferent as ice.

As for who Gru is, no one knows, but he is mentioned alongside the Ice Queen.

From any perspective, the person named "Gru" must be an extremely powerful individual, right?

()

793 Gift Giving

Grant knew this perfectly well. If we go back more than twenty years, when they were all still young, he would know that whether it was Ash, Gru, or him, Grant, they all once harbored dreams and hopes, and they had such a close relationship with each other!

If time could turn back, would he still make the same choice? Grant suddenly wondered. Would the relationship between the four of them ever go back to what it was before? Grant, Ash, Gru, and another man—Grant thought about it over and over again, and finally came to the conclusion that he had indeed been overthinking things.

Yes, time is a terrible thing. It can create everything and destroy everything. More than 20 years ago, they were inseparable. Just being together made them happy. But now, more than 20 years later, they are on opposite sides. They have become enemies and wish they could kill each other. How ironic!

"Perhaps it's time to come to an end soon?" Grant said, looking into the distance. Back then, all four of them had bright futures to choose from. They could have lived better lives. Their lives were developing in a positive direction. But when exactly did they deviate from their original path and embark on a completely wrong one? Maybe it all started that afternoon.

If time is a gently flowing river, then going upstream back to that afternoon twenty-five years ago, Grant was just a young man under twenty years old. He was handsome and spirited, and with his noble birth, his future was already planned out and would be smooth sailing!

"Hey, Gru, what are you doing over there?" Grant walked through the quiet campus. He had been here for three years and would be graduating soon. This place held many wonderful memories for him, and he had made three very good friends here.

Although their relationship wasn't very good at first, after going through some things together, they found that they were kindred spirits and their relationship became increasingly close.

“I’m making a gift for Ash here.” The young man named Gru was about the same age as Grant, around nineteen or twenty years old. However, compared to Grant, who had a noble air and was extremely charismatic, he looked much more ordinary. He was sturdy and looked somewhat dull, and in fact, he was indeed not a very talkative person.

"A gift for Ashe? You don't mean to say that all the clanging and banging around here is a gift for Ashe? Hey, are you kidding me, Gru? It's a girl's birthday, and you're planning to give her... a hammer?"

Grant heard the clanging sound from afar, a discordant note that disrupted the tranquility of the campus. However, he was used to such things. He originally thought that Gru was forging iron again, making hammers, daggers and the like. Even though the academy had repeatedly warned Gru to tone it down, he still enjoyed it immensely, finding his greatest pleasure in forging iron.

“Yes, I plan to forge this hammer for Ashe to protect her. It’s made of mithril, and I went to great lengths to find the raw material. It’s not only very hard, but also lightweight, so even a girl like her can wield it.” Gru nodded heavily, confirming that Grant’s guess was correct.

"I was just saying it casually, I didn't expect you to actually plan to give this hammer to Ashe, I'm amazed you came up with that idea, well, that's very typical of you, Gru." Grant chuckled at this, because it was a bit too far-fetched, but considering Gru's personality, he didn't say anything more.

"By the way, where's Hanks? Have you seen him?" Grant looked around. They had arranged to meet three people today. To be precise, it was a meeting of the three members of their best group of four, excluding Ashe, who was the only woman. Now, he and Gru had already met two of them, and there was still a third person who hadn't shown up.

"Hanks? I just saw him a moment ago, where did he go? That's really strange." Gru scratched his head and looked around. He tried to find his companion named Hanks, but after searching for a long time, he still couldn't find him. Actually, Hanks had told him where he was going before, but Gru was too focused on blacksmithing at the time and didn't listen carefully to what Hanks said.

“I was saying that Hanks guy… could he be on a date? I heard he’s been really into a girl from the next class lately. What’s her name again? I think it’s Vivian?” Grant thought to himself, resting his chin on his hand.

Hanks has been acting alone lately, and in a mysterious way, which has aroused his suspicion. After his investigation, he learned about the relationship between Hanks and Vivian, but so far it is just rumors and there is no definite conclusion.

“Not Vivian, but Barbara.” Gru said without looking up as he patiently forged the iron, uttering the name casually, his expression focused and serious.

“Oh, it’s Barbara. I’ve met this girl before. She’s a very introverted and shy girl… But… wait, Gru, how do you know about this? I don’t even know myself.” Grant nodded thoughtfully.

But he soon discovered that he was the kind of person who was very active in the academy, and there was nothing that happened in the academy that he didn't know about, but he didn't know much about Hanks and Barbara.

It's not surprising that he didn't know; it could be attributed to Hanks's excellent secrecy. However, it was particularly puzzling for Grant that Gru, a guy who rarely interacted with anyone other than the three of them, knew everything.

“How would I know? Because Grant, you’re a prominent figure in the academy. You always focus on things that benefit you, while you’re indifferent to things that don’t.” Gru said without looking up as he forged the iron.

He has always been a very taciturn and outspoken person, always saying what he thinks directly, which makes him offend people. If these words were spoken by someone else, not him, Grant would definitely be very angry.

()

794 is unacceptable.

“Gru, what you’re saying... I really don’t know how to respond... Hey, over there... Hanks finally came out, hey, Hanks.” Grant was very embarrassed.

Although Gru was telling the truth, it still made him feel somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, someone walked over from not far away at that moment. The refined-looking young man was none other than Hanks, his and Gru's good friend. However, he was alone when he came over.

"Let me see... wait, where is everyone?" After Hanks walked over, Grant looked around behind Hanks, seemingly trying to find someone, which puzzled Hanks.

"Hey, Grant, what are you doing?" Hanks asked nervously, his tone more or less guilty, trying to hide something, while Grant looked him over seriously.

"You ask me what I'm doing... Where's the other person? Why didn't you bring her along?" Grant asked with some dissatisfaction. What Gru said earlier wasn't wrong. Grant was adept at social maneuvering and had good relationships with many noble children in the academy, keeping him very busy every day.

Most of the information he focuses on is beneficial to him. Things like the hot romance between Hanks and Barbara are automatically filtered out when he absorbs information from the outside world. But if we set aside those messy interests, he still values ​​his friendship with Hanks.

After all, this was one of the few remaining relationships within the academy that were not based on mutual benefit.

"What person? I don't understand what you're saying." Hanks quickly waved his hand, putting on an innocent act.

"Stop pretending. I heard it from Gru. Where's Barbara? Weren't you with her just now?" Grant said the name directly.

"Huh? How did you guys find out about this? And Gru, I didn't tell you about this." Hanks had originally wanted to keep it a secret, but now it seemed that the truth couldn't be hidden forever.

"Come on, don't give me that. If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place, right? You did something but didn't share it with us. That's really not fair. Isn't today Ash's birthday? Why don't you invite Barbara over? That way there will be more people and it will be more lively."

After a brief moment of tension, Grant quickly stepped forward, hooked his arm around Hanks' shoulder, and said with a smile that he was genuinely happy for Hanks.

"This kind of thing... let's not do it... besides, you know what kind of temper Ashe has..." Hanks waved his hand. He could easily imagine what Ashe's expression would be if he really brought Barbara to Ashe.

Just thinking about that scene sent chills down his spine.

"Tch, Hanks, when did you become so timid? It's just that you used to pursue Ashe and got cruelly rejected, so now that you have a new girlfriend, you can bring her in front of her and finally show off, right?" Grant joked.

"Who among you wants to show off?" Just then, a girl walked over from not far away. She was tall, with fair skin, and a cold expression, like an iceberg. Her tone was also extremely icy.

"Huh? Ashe, what brings you here... Well, well, no one's feeling triumphant, we were just joking." Grant, who had been chatting and laughing with Hanks not long ago, suddenly became nervous and even stammered.

"Oh? A joke? Since it's a funny joke, why don't you share it with me?" Aisha said coldly. In the academy, she had always been the type of person who was difficult to approach. In the past three years, countless boys had tried to chat her up, but none of them had ever seen her smile.

"No need... Hahaha, by the way, Ashe, it's your birthday today, I prepared this for you." Grant quickly waved his hand, he was completely at ease talking to others.

But in front of Aisha, he didn't know why, he always felt very guilty, and even his speech was not very fluent, which was not like him at all.

To distract her, Grant quickly handed a small box to Ash. He had put a lot of thought and money into preparing this birthday gift for her, and he felt a pang of regret when he finally decided to buy it.

But when he thought of Ash's delighted expression when she received the gift, he felt it was all worth it.