Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

The dragon's jaw was closed by Elsa's kick. The heavy metal vibration, accompanied by visible sound waves and sparks scattered by the impact, disappeared into the night sky. The next second, a violent explosion, accompanied by blazing flames, burst out from the teeth, nostrils, and ears. Even its long neck seemed to be straightened in an instant.

This scene made everyone in the camp stunned. It was dark, so they naturally couldn't see what was happening. They only knew that the dragon looked like it had cramps. Only Ryan was so excited that he couldn't control himself - he used the eyes of his familiar to see the battle between Elsa and the dragon clearly. He was deeply impressed by Elsa's powerful strength, and at the same time felt extremely emotional.

That's a giant dragon.

Even though he was mentally prepared, the shock in his heart still made him excited when he actually saw the dragon being beaten unilaterally by Elsa.

At this time, Elsa was already standing on the dragon's head, clamping its horns with both hands, and stepping on the dragon's huge head to forcefully turn over. Then Elsa raised her heels high in a split position.

“—Get down!”

Bang—the foot that fell upside down at high speed turned into an afterimage, and the high-pitched metallic vibration sounded rapidly through the night sky.

The moonlight was instantly distorted by a shock wave visible to the naked eye, and ripple-like sound waves broke through the night like mist. The huge body of the dragon fell to the ground, and everyone in the camp only felt a shock under their feet. The huge central lake also spread out circles of ripples, and then high smoke and dust rose from the place where the dragon landed. For a moment, the sound of rubble rolling, falling, and colliding was everywhere.

They saw Elsa's figure falling from the air a step late, and she came to the edge of the dragon's deep pit - Elsa did not kill her, but this kick was enough to kill even the dragon.

"I advise you to stay put—otherwise you'll just sink to the bottom of the lake and rot away."

Elsa stared at the dragon's dark golden vertical pupils with a cold look and a slight frown. Suddenly, she felt that the dragon in front of her was very strange - its body seemed unable to move, and it just twisted its head left and right stiffly and mechanically, and the friction with the ground occasionally erupted into sparks.

The dragon's eyes slowly turned when it saw Elsa. Its huge mouth did not move, but a hoarse and dry voice came from the depths of its throat: "Filthy... earth... lowly ant... why... have you come here..."

"We're here to investigate the black monsters here—are you familiar with those black monsters?"

The dragon didn't answer, and Elsa felt a deep sense of disharmony.

She circled the dragon's head and came to the top of its head where she had kicked it. However, what Elsa saw was an unusual scene:

The scales on the dragon's skull had been blown open by Elsa's kick, and what was revealed was not the dragon's skin and flesh, but a thick and complex metal structure, countless black metal pipes whose purpose was incomprehensible, and densely packed magic runes - the dragon that appeared here was not actually a dragon, but a mechanical body composed of mechanical structures and magic runes.

Elsa's eyebrows raised slightly.

No wonder I always felt a deep sense of disharmony. It seems this is the reason.

At this time, Ryan's familiar came over, and when he saw the gap in the dragon that was broken by Elsa, Ryan was immediately stunned.

“This, this is… This is actually the Age of Gods Mage!!”

He screamed in shock.

……

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136. It takes half an hour

The Magic of the Age of Gods refers to the general term for magical devices that emerged from the ruins of the Age of Gods. It is also the ultimate interpretation of magic and represents the pinnacle of magic.

Elsa didn't know much about magic. After all, there was no one who could be called a magician in the town of Weilin, and the magic devices in circulation were just some ordinary and simple props - even the magician corps of Dammas Fortress did not have many magicians.

"Magic" can be considered a very young "science".

Today, the definition given by the Warlocks' Union is that "magic is not formed naturally, but is artificially processed and endowed with magic or predetermined magic patterns, thereby demonstrating magical creativity" equipment and props, as well as other items with similar characteristics. This is a very broad definition, which simply divides "magic" into processed and endowed creations. In this sense, even magic stones used as flares and processed staffs can be regarded as products of magic.

An equally widely circulated theory defines magic as "a device driven by external magic power and producing magical effects." This excludes items such as magic stones and staffs, because the former are themselves sources of magic power and can be activated without the need for external injection or embedding other magic sources. The latter cannot be said to "produce magical effects" at all, but is simply a medium for transmitting magic power. Of course, if it is a staff embedded with some inherent magic that is released instantly, it is another matter.

As for the "God Age Magic Guide", it can be said that it itself is the source of the word "magic guide", and narrowly speaking, it is more in line with the latter definition.

Before the current magic system was established, the oldest magicians had always admired, and tried their best to imitate and reproduce, the various magical products in the ruins of the Age of Gods - most of them were extremely complex and gorgeous, with their ingenious mechanical structures that were amazing, and their operating principles were also different from modern magic. But no matter what, most of the magical devices found in the ruins of the Age of Gods have their own unique roles and functions.

Most of the most advanced magical products today bear the shadow of the relics of the Age of Gods. It can be said that the magic of the Age of Gods is the goal pursued by today's magicians.

Ryan is not a magician, but as an excellent magician, he naturally knows a lot about the ruins of the Age of Gods - he even knows more about the ruins of the Age of Gods than the deceased old leader.

"Look... it's so beautiful and exquisite! Lady Faris, I'm absolutely certain that it's a product of the relics of the Age of Gods—because even the most outstanding magicians in the empire could never design and create such a powerful and realistic dragon. Only the sages of the Age of Gods could do this! My God—I actually witnessed the reappearance of greatness with my own eyes!"

Ryan was very excited and thrilled, his fiery eyes reflecting the body of the dragon. The other magicians were also eager to come forward to watch, but due to the dragon's terrible power, they could only watch from afar.

It can be seen that they are particularly enthusiastic about the ruins of the Age of Gods - this is also the original intention of their group to follow Elsa to the town of Weilin, which is to find the possibility of the existence of the ruins of the Age of Gods through clues of the black monsters. Now they have unexpectedly obtained such a huge result, and all this is because of Elsa.

"Don't get too close, it's not dead yet."

Elsa reminded the magicians who were eager and enthusiastic. If Elsa hadn't stopped him, Ryan would have rushed forward to hug the huge mechanical head.

Ryan smiled dryly and took a step back, forcing himself to suppress the urge in his heart. He looked at Elsa, and unlike the other magicians who were too excited to control themselves, Elsa's eyes seemed calm.

"Lady Faris, you... look really calm..."

Ryan admired Elsa's calmness and indifference very much. He himself asked himself if he could do that. The adventurers on the other side also had different expressions and expressed admiration from time to time - they couldn't do that either.

"I'm naturally happy that you've gained something, but I don't know much about the Age of Gods ruins. Precisely because of my limited knowledge, I can't empathize with your feelings—naturally, I can't compare to you."

"This... Lady Faris, you are too modest."

"No, I'm just telling the truth."

Aisha said nonchalantly.

For Elsa, she could naturally understand the excitement and passion of these people, but she really couldn't empathize with them - just like when she knew nothing about Go and went to the Go hall to watch others play, she lost interest after just a few more glances. Only those who truly understood the game could see the charm and mystery.

Moreover, the dragon's exquisite mechanical structure only reminded her of various mechanical products in her previous life, rather than any creations from the Age of Gods, so naturally she lacked that innate sense of awe.

Of course, Elsa's world hadn't produced bionic mechanical weapons as massive as dragons. In this respect, the Age of Gods' magic was indeed impressive, but that was all. Judging from Elsa's conclusion after battling it, its highly developed magical science hadn't given it any advanced structures or attack methods. It seemed that even the so-called "sages" of the Age of Gods hadn't moved beyond the worship of the might of other creatures. They mechanically replicated everything dragons possessed through magical science, but forsaken many possibilities.

In a nutshell: we can create giant dragons, but the dragon's attack methods are still simple and honest: scratching with claws, spitting fire, and biting with teeth. How do you think about it? It's a bit unacceptable, right?

Could it be that the dragon still has some ultimate killer move that it hasn't revealed yet?

The more Elsa thought about it, the more she felt that this was possible. She approached the huge pit where the dragon was alone, paced back and forth, and observed the dragon's body. The dragon had not moved for a long time, and it seemed that the internal transmission mechanism was damaged by Elsa.

The dragon's skin does look very realistic, but what is exposed from its wounds are various mechanical and magical structures full of magical punk style. According to Ryan, the dragon should be a kind of "war puppet", a magical product positioned as a weapon in the ruins of the Age of Gods. Its core components should be things like magic furnaces and magic circuits. Even the supporting skeleton and transmission are inseparable from magic, which is fundamentally different from modern machinery that relies on electricity, integrated circuits and sophisticated mechanical structures.

"You... ants... are polluting the earth... leave now..."

Intermittent sounds came from the depths of the dragon's throat. What it had said since just now was pretty much the same, something like this, and it kept murmuring over and over again.

Elsa stopped in front of the dragon.

"Why did you ask us to leave? What is here?"

The dragon did not answer, but repeated the same words again.

Aisha returned to Ryan.

"Lian, the God-era magic guides you mentioned, or this type of war puppets, do they have self-awareness and intelligence?"

"Unfortunately, as far as I know, there shouldn't be. All of their actions and language are basically designed—it's just a matter of complexity and simplicity. The more skilled the magician, the more diverse functions and methods they can give their creations."

"So, it's just a pseudo-intelligence... Then I feel like I can't get anything out of it," Aisha said to Ryan with a look of regret on her face. "Forget it, let's put this aside for now - do you have any way to stop it? I can't leave such a dangerous thing here forever. Besides, you want to transport it back to the fortress, right? How do you plan to do it?"

"This... I actually don't know how to shut it down. Each type of Age of Gods magic has a different way of activating and shutting it down. Some can only be operated by the creator's voice or blood, so there's nothing I can do... But I'll try my best!"

Ryan seemed to lack confidence. He was very hesitant and hesitated for a moment to consider his tone.

"As for the transportation... could I ask Lady Faris to help?"

"Of course it's possible."

Ryan looked at Elsa expectantly and nervously, until he got a positive answer from Elsa, he immediately smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

"However," Aisha turned around and glanced at the dragon, "If we want to take it away without destroying it, it will probably take at least half an hour to go to the fortress and back - what do you think?"

"Huh? Only... half an hour?"

Ryan suddenly didn't know what to say - even with the fastest horse, it would take at least a day and a night to get there.

……

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137. Moira's Gratitude

Because of the appearance of the magical mechanical dragon, the investigation into the black monster had to be put on hold for a while. After all, both sides were important matters and could not be ignored.

Now we have to deal with this big guy first.

"Then... for safety reasons, I will send you back to the town first, and then go to the fortress."

Aisha said.

She couldn't leave so many people here for half an hour—there was no other way. What if they encountered black monsters while Elsa was away with the dragon? One or two or dozens of them would be fine, but what if they were on the scale of the hundreds Elsa had encountered?

Then they will all have to explain themselves here.

So for the safety of Ryan and others, Elsa must first escort Ryan and others back to the town.

Ryan could only nod awkwardly. He once again felt deeply that in front of Elsa, he and his magicians were all just there to eat and do nothing to help.

There is no other way. Due to limited capabilities, even if the entire magician group is mobilized in full force, they can only make a small impact on Elsa.

In the end, it still depends on Elsa.

"Then everyone, go back to the tent and rest. We'll set out early tomorrow morning. I'll be here to watch it at night. Don't get too close without permission—it's still very dangerous."

Aisha said, and the dragon was still making a hoarse and ambiguous sound.

Since the matter had been decided, Ryan did not delay. He immediately urged the excited magicians to return to the tent and began to prepare the letter.

He also needed to arrange for the Magician Corps to take over some matters concerning the dragon, and report the matter back to the headquarters of the Imperial Royal Magician Corps. This was a big deal. The fortress could not accommodate the dragon, and it would be difficult to transport it without relying on Elsa, so he could only apply to dispatch more magicians to the fortress.

And Moira still looked at the dragon reluctantly, with a fiery flash in her eyes.

What a magnificent creation! If such a colossus could be recreated, surely everyone would be astonished? And no one would look down upon mages anymore, right? Then, the promotion and popularization of magic would become a natural progression, fulfilling their aspirations.

The lifelong pursuit seemed to be within reach at once because of the arrival of the dragon, and Moira's heart could not calm down for a long time.

Moira is a magician.

But at the same time, she is also a scholar of the ruins of the Age of Gods, and a very rare magician. Like other magicians here, they are all followers of Ryan, and most of them have the identity of magicians. Although Moira is a latecomer, her love for magic is no less than that of other magicians.

Some people have always said that the Age of Gods ruins are a treasure trove of magic, but Moira is well aware that many magicians actually scoff at this statement. After all, the value of a treasure trove itself can be divided into many categories. Sometimes it becomes expensive simply because it is "very rare and therefore very expensive" or simply "extremely ornamental."

The Age of Gods is a very ancient era.

Human civilization is constantly evolving, and once-advanced technologies might be superseded by more advanced technologies after just a few hundred years. The same is true for magic. For magicians, Age of Gods magic is outdated, offering no inspiration for new magical innovations or improvements. While its unique mechanics may occasionally bring fresh inspiration, that's about it.

Many magicians look down on mages.

The level of development of magic is far lower than that of the Age of Gods. The development of magic still cannot break out of the theoretical framework left by the Age of Gods, and is even far inferior to it. Therefore, magicians always have a special liking for the relics of the Age of Gods. They must first learn, then create, and repeatedly go back and forth on this path - but this is not the case for magicians, because the current magic theory has long been very mature, and studying the magic of the Age of Gods is a foolish act for them.

Some people have always joked that the magician is a profession "specializing in archaeology" and the development of magic is more like a pilgrimage that retraces the path taken by the predecessors.

The difference between magicians and mages is embodied here. Compared to mages who delve into and imitate past techniques, magicians are undoubtedly a pioneering group that yearns for the future. Modern magic is vastly different from the complex and cumbersome magic of the Age of Gods. They belong to completely different systems and have almost no common ground. Magicians focus solely on researching and refining new magical theories, making magic more efficient and concise. Their research into magic is even more advanced than that of the Age of Gods, especially the extraordinary mages.

The most fundamental reason for this difference lies in the forbidden spell.

The forbidden spells in the hands of extraordinary wizards brought about a transformation in magic theory. The ultimate magic represented by this enormous power was as far away as the stars and the moon in the sky for the magic of the Age of Gods.

Therefore, most magicians, especially the most advanced and transcendental magicians, had little interest in the relics of the Age of Gods, and even held them in contempt. For them, the historical value of Age of Gods magic far outweighed its research value. Rather than delving into the obscure and complex Age of Gods magic that vanished ten thousand years ago, it was better to simply continue striving towards their established goals. As for magecraft, that was something only those without magical talent would celebrate.

But that was exactly what Moira saw.

The greatest value of sorcery lies not in the power it displays, but in its ability to popularize "magic," a discipline with high costs and barriers to entry, making it accessible to anyone. Even a farmer without any magic skills can use magic devices to accomplish things that were previously impossible. Precisely because of this, even though many magicians lack interest in the ruins of the Age of Gods, and the profession of mage has always been met with disdain, the Empire still happily invests a considerable amount of funds in supporting the research and development of sorcery.

Because the Queen has a longer-term vision than most people and can see the value of the magician. The Sage is the same in this respect. Her attitude towards the magician is appreciation and affirmation, rather than blindly belittling it.

Moira's mentor and boss, Ryan, was exposed to this niche magical subject while teaching at the National Magic Academy. He became interested in magical science and took this opportunity to come into contact with the ruins of the Age of Gods.

Similarly, as Ryan's favorite student, Moira was immediately attracted to magic after she came into contact with it. Therefore, she has a different obsession with the ruins of the Age of Gods than ordinary magicians. She followed Ryan from the academy to here in order to continue studying the magic she loves. Her dream is to promote and popularize magical science - in this way, people will no longer have to worry about monsters, and there will no longer be tragedies of being ravaged and killed by monsters because of lack of power. With the help of magic devices, even ordinary people will have the strength to fight when facing monsters.

So the moment she found out that the dragon was actually a magical wizard from the Age of Gods, Moira was so excited that she almost cried.

And all this is thanks to Elsa.

"Thank you, Lady Faris..."

She bowed sincerely and earnestly in the direction of Elsa. Her voice was so soft that only she could hear it. But she didn't know if it was an illusion, but she saw Elsa turn her head and smile at her.

……

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138. A Difficult Task [Chapter 3]

Most of the magicians Ryan brought were also mages, and several of them were his students. Like Ryan, they were so excited that they couldn't sleep.

After a while, I wanted to run out of the tent to take one more look at the dragon, as if ants were crawling all over my body if I didn't see it for a while.

Morning arrived quickly.

Ryan and his companions didn't waste any time, setting off at daybreak. The magicians were particularly enthusiastic. After all, they felt they were holding Elsa back, and the artifacts from the Age of Gods ruins had everyone incredibly excited. Some even stayed up all night, hiding in their tents to watch the dragon.