Chapter 121: Demonstration

From high above the training grounds, I memorized the layout of the shields and checked my flight course.

I told the commander of the magic corps—who would be handling all magical attacks—that once I appeared over the training grounds and passed in front of His Majesty before circling back, he was free to attack at any moment.

He gave me a wry smile at my words, saying, “We’ll use our full strength,” but his eyes were completely serious.

* * * * * * *

Settled into the quarters provided by the Holtland Kingdom, Ambassador Trevan McNeill recalled everything the servants had whispered to him.

Stories like:

• The castle was attacked by a man flying in the sky, throwing everything into chaos.
• He flew straight through a volley of arrows and dropped something huge that smashed the castle roof.
• No matter how much magic they blasted him with, he didn’t receive a single injury.
• He appeared over the castle every day, breaking things, and in the end the inside of the castle was torn apart by wind magic.

Many corridors were blocked off with curtains and guarded by soldiers, as if to prove those rumors true.

The ambassador’s own servants had mingled with the castle staff and brought back their accounts. Some had witnessed the destroyed rooms with their own eyes. There was no longer any doubt that the stories were real.

He had been invited by Chancellor Corbens, and the chancellor’s aide gave him a concise explanation—but it was unbelievable.

While McNeill had been confined—dragged out of his embassy by Holtland knights along with all guards and staff, then locked inside the castle or thrown into underground cells—a war had broken out along the border between the Sutherland Kingdom and Holtland.

Holtland lost. A ceasefire was agreed upon. Negotiations for reconciliation were underway.

And now Holtland claimed that they had gained “a new power,” and—together with Sutherland—were ready to repel any outside threat.

They were going to demonstrate that “new power” today.

And then there was Leon, the flying man who showed the chancellor’s personal identification. He had said as much yesterday. That infuriating man refused to answer any questions. His identification badge indicated a status equivalent to an earl under the chancellor. McNeill—himself an earl—had no way to force answers from him.

He could only wait for today.

Escorted by Holtland attendants, he arrived at the training grounds. A spectator area had been set up where nobles were seated in rows, watching the line of shields placed on the field.

He greeted the other ambassadors and took his seat. Soon, the newly crowned King Felix Holtland appeared, and everyone stood to welcome him.

Once Chancellor Corbens gestured for them to sit, the chancellor gave a signal, and a soldier began waving a large flag.

* * * * * * *

As the people gathered and the flag signal went up, I confirmed it was time.

Since I’d been practicing in the grasslands since early morning, two of my magic pouches were already empty, but there was more than enough left to impress the ambassadors and nobles.

Flying about ten meters high, moving at the speed of a galloping warhorse, I passed before King Felix and gave a bow.

He and Chancellor Corbens returned the gesture. I climbed to about twenty meters and increased my speed more than double.

From the ambassadors’ seats came a stir of voices. Among the nobles, only half reacted at all—the rest watched me with uneasy expressions.

Seeing me begin to circle around, Chancellor Corbens gave permission for the magic corps to attack.

Time for the main show.

Maintaining altitude, I increased speed and turned the rank-2 magic pouch upside-down, shaking it left and right so the rocks would pour out through the opening at my feet.

Arrows shot up toward me, but my balloon armor only had openings above and below, so no problem at all.

Bang! Boom! Crack!

Magic attacks began as well, but at this speed not a single spell hit me—their explosions went off behind me.

Below, the stones I’d scattered bounced, rolled, and slammed into the shields with thunderous crashes.

Then the spells that missed me—Stone Lances and Ice Lances—landed among them, adding more blasts of noise.

“Wh-whoa! What is that!?”

“He can already fly—what did he do just now!?”

“Look! The shields—!”

“That’s… stone!?”

“I’ve never seen a real attack from him before… incredible.”

“Those stones are only fist-sized. But he used boulders like that on the castle roof and walls—they were full of holes afterward.”

“Hearing about it and actually seeing it are completely different. This is no less than siege weaponry.”

The front half of the shield line had collapsed or been blasted away, so I made a sharp turn and launched a rear attack.

This time, a Fireball exploded right in front of me, bright red filling my vision—but I didn’t stop scattering the rest of the rocks from the pouch as I passed through.

I’d asked the spirits beforehand not to intervene no matter what hit me, so I could focus on flying. Still… taking multiple Fireballs in the face stung a bit.

Next, I doubled my altitude to about forty meters, opened the second pouch, and scattered stones widely as I passed.

“Oooh!”

“All of that is stone!?”

“This is insane! If he dropped that on a marching column, they’d be wiped out!”

“They’re only fist-sized, but you can’t dodge that many falling from above!”

“He’s dropping them over a huge area… a single strike could wipe out an entire rally point.”

I circled again and performed a high-speed pass, emptying the last pouch in a single burst.

At this speed, neither magic nor arrows could touch me.

Stones poured down like a wave, bouncing across the shields, smashing them one after another—like fleeing from a dragon, or being rammed by an armored buffalo.

Spectators stared in silence, goosebumps rising as the destructive roar continued.

“The fist-sized stones alone were terrifying… but when he dropped stones the size of a man’s head, everyone looked like their souls left their bodies.”

“The soldiers who actually fought him tremble at the mere sight of him. The magic corps was relieved they weren’t being targeted today.”

Next, I dove steeply, leveled out, and tipped the rank-5 magic bag, shaking out the much larger stones.

Arrows still came, but the magicians couldn’t chant fast enough this time. It was quiet compared to before.

I dropped the stones earlier than planned—at this speed many bounced clean over the shield line. My lack of practice showed.

Even so, that magic bag held several hundred stones the size of human heads. Cleanup would be a nightmare.

Honestly, it was fortunate there weren’t more—I hadn’t thought about cleanup at all, and the guild couldn’t gather enough to fill the bag anyway.

The finale: I stopped at an estimated 100 meters altitude and created a fat little whirlwind beneath me using an updraft.

I fed stones from the magic bag into the whirlwind, adding more mana to guide it downward.

“What… is that?”

“It looks like a whirlwind, but what is he planning?”

“What is that!?”

“A whirlwind that huge… no way.”

“What’s that noise!?”

Inside the whirlwind, stones struck each other—

Gon… Gon…

—making an ominous rumbling as it descended.

“No way—something that massive—Run!”

The moment one person screamed, nobles and ambassadors bolted from their seats.

It was only a demonstration—no one was going to get hurt!—and yet they ran for their lives.

I created two more whirlwinds and fed the remaining stones into them before lowering them to the ground.

I might’ve used too much mana—the whirlwinds were huge—but I had full control, so no problem.

I guided the whirlwinds over the fallen shields, grinding them into fragments.

“Corbens! Look, the shields are being pulverized!”

“And he’s controlling that… it’s unbelievable.”

Once the ground was leveled and the shields reduced to debris, I released the mana and let the whirlwinds dissipate.

Finally, I landed before King Felix, bowed, and signaled the end of the demonstration.

The moment the whirlwinds vanished, the nobles and ambassadors cautiously approached. King Felix and Chancellor Corbens were smiling with satisfaction.

Maybe I overdid it… but apparently they were pleased.

“Leon, we are grateful.”

“With this, the nobles will calm down, and judging from the ambassadors’ faces, their reports to their homelands will change drastically.”

Maybe. People don’t believe anything unless they see it themselves—and even then, they don’t always believe it.

Plenty of fools only learn after getting burned.

“If our country faces invasion someday, could we request a similar demonstration?”

“I don’t want an actual war, so if it’s just intimidation, fine.”

“How can we contact you?”

“I’m based at the Linus Adventurer Guild. I’m there about half the month, but don’t expect messages to reach me conveniently. And if someone with a bad attitude comes, I won’t even listen.”

Felix and Corbens nodded deeply, exchanged glances, and called their aide, who brought something forward.

“This is equivalent to my own identification—proof that you are an attendant of His Majesty. Present it whenever you visit our kingdom on business. The nobles and officials will obey your commands.”

He handed me a golden badge: a roaring bear within a ring of thorns.

Then another one: a red bear within thorns, indicating the rank of chancellor’s aide.

Red must be a royal or national color.

Honestly, the king’s personal-attendant badge seemed too excessive and basically useless to me. The aide badge was far more practical.

But now I had five identification badges…