Ch.184184. Transformation Girl Freesia

Having made an emergency escape, Horizon, unable to contain his rage, fired magic in all directions. The carefully constructed rear base was destroyed, but to him, who had lost his reason to anger, it meant nothing.

This was the beginning of a conquest war mobilizing an army of thousands of giant god-soldiers. Despite starting his grand plan earlier than expected, he didn’t doubt his success for a moment.

Overwhelming numbers and high-performance giant god-soldiers.

With these two preparations, Horizon could easily envision himself becoming the Lion King.

But in reality, he had been defeated in two battles that began in Obitus. Even though he had personally entered the battle this time, he failed to defeat his opponent and ended up fleeing like this.

It was an utter disaster of a battle.

Fortunately, since his forces were still preserved, he could simply pilot a reserve giant god-soldier and rejoin the fight. Though his defeat might have dampened morale somewhat, the intimidating presence of his superior numbers remained intact.

Horizon hurriedly headed toward where the reserve giant god-soldiers were stationed. Although he had been defeated by Gilbert, the war was far from over.

“I will capture that bastard and make him die painfully.”

Though Horizon felt his reason might fly away with anger, he somehow managed to endure it.

It was possible because he had already vented his rage once.

Arriving at the location where the reserve giant god-soldiers were kept in the rear base, his eyes flashed with determination as he renewed his commitment to victory.

– How ugly.

“Who’s there?!”

Horizon, who had reached the level of Grand Sage, shouted in surprise at the voice that came from nowhere without any presence. He couldn’t imagine that someone could invade his detection field.

– Arrogant one. Did you truly believe you would become the Lion King?

“I asked who you are!”

Horizon drew up his mana and frantically looked around. Even using detection magic, he couldn’t pinpoint the location of the voice.

This meant only one thing.

The owner of the voice had reached a higher level than Horizon.

And Horizon absolutely refused to accept this fact.

The years and effort he had accumulated denied it.

“Insolent fool! Show yourself to me, the one who will become the Lion King!”

– The insolent one is you. How excessive your arrogance is, claiming to be the Lion King when you cannot even detect my position.

“I said show yourself!”

Horizon, whose anger had already reached its limit after being defeated by Gilbert, finally lost his temper at the mysterious voice. Having lost all reason, he began to scatter magic in all directions, devastating the surroundings.

Fire magic and ice magic collided, creating enormous amounts of steam. It felt almost like being in the middle of a battlefield where giant god-soldiers clashed.

But none of Horizon’s magic reached the owner of the voice.

Instead, his actions were belittled as useless struggling, earning only mockery.

Horizon, now completely enraged, let out a terrible scream. Massive amounts of mana began to concentrate around him. This was because he started gathering mana to cast a large-scale area magic.

His face turned bright red from the rapid mana concentration, but he gritted his teeth and endured, thinking only of killing the owner of the voice. Though anger dominated his reason, the magical formula forming in the air was nothing short of perfect.

Just as the spell was completed, a shadow appeared before him, rippling like a curtain.

“So it’s you!”

– One with neither dignity nor class. I’ve watched your antics long enough. I shall now carry out my lord’s command.

“Ha! The likes of you against me? You’re a hundred years too early, child!”

The black shadow drew its sword as Horizon activated his completed spell.

A massive explosion occurred as the two clashed.

***

After declaring that he had defeated Horizon, Gilbert immediately connected a communication to Seraphina. He needed to report that the rebel leader Horizon had left the battlefield using an emergency escape spell.

[If capture is impossible, you may kill him.]

Seraphina didn’t ask if it was possible.

She naturally assumed that Gilbert could catch Horizon, and merely granted him the authority over Horizon’s life and death, not considering the possibility of failure. It was a testament to her trust in Gilbert’s abilities.

Having already received confirmation from Fresia that they could pursue Horizon, Gilbert ended the communication after promising to capture him without fail.

“You said you could track Horizon’s magical residue, right?”

[I can find him. His high level actually makes him easier to track.]

Gilbert once again marveled at Fresia’s competence as he gathered her spirit core and CT-777.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

[Alright, I’ll teleport us following Horizon’s magical residue. Get ready.]

Fresia confidently said before immediately casting a teleportation spell. After briefly closing his eyes, Gilbert found himself transported from the giant god-soldier’s cockpit to the New Resistance’s rear base.

The moment Gilbert recognized the change in surroundings, he drew the sword at his waist, Dalbaragi.

Dalbaragi was a sword that had been completed after he commissioned Gwendolyn, and she had named it after the Moon’s Tear that was used in its creation.

Looking at the hole in the cross guard, he started to take out CT-777 from his chest but stopped. He already knew the abilities that would manifest when CT-777 was combined with Dalbaragi.

But then he suddenly realized that he had Fresia with him and fell into brief contemplation.

Although he had temporarily gained ownership of Fresia, once this matter was resolved, he would have to return her to Ian.

Gilbert wasn’t pleased about returning the high-performing Fresia to the troublesome Ian, but since Fresia’s will was firm, he had no choice.

In other words, this might be his last chance to use Fresia with Dalbaragi. Gilbert wasn’t about to miss such a perfect opportunity.

[Gilbert, what are you doing?]

Gilbert took out Fresia’s spirit core instead of CT-777 from his chest, ignoring her question.

Instead, he inserted her spirit core directly into the slot in Dalbaragi’s cross guard.

[Hng!]

With a sound like Fresia was suppressing something, Dalbaragi emitted a bright light. This was a different phenomenon from when CT-777 was inserted into Dalbaragi.

The light that started from Dalbaragi’s cross guard grew increasingly brighter until it became so intense that it was difficult to look at with the naked eye.

Even Gilbert had to use mana to protect his eyes from the bright light. Even that wasn’t enough, and he had to narrow his eyes to minimize the light entering them.

When the light became too intense to visually perceive Dalbaragi and Fresia’s core, another strange phenomenon occurred. The natural mana spread around them began to be absorbed into Fresia’s spirit core.

Gilbert quietly observed these abnormal phenomena. Although Fresia was making pained sounds, it didn’t seem like she was in any direct danger.

How much time had passed?

At some point, the speed of mana absorption began to decrease, and the bright light gradually started to fade.

Opening his eyes normally after having narrowed them, Gilbert realized that Dalbaragi, which had been in the form of a longsword, was beginning to blur.

Could Fresia’s effect be weapon transformation?

A brief question crossed his mind.

But his expectation was completely off the mark.

As the light faded, Dalbaragi began to grow larger and take on a certain form.

It was definitely not the form of a weapon.

Head, torso, arms, and legs.

As this form was woven with light, the bright glow gradually became fainter.

Gilbert had an ominous feeling and tried to let go of Dalbaragi, but his action was a bit too late. When the faint light completely disappeared, Dalbaragi had transformed into a human form.

“Mmm… what is this…?”

The closed eyes opened, and Fresia’s familiar voice was heard.

She seemed to not understand the situation yet, blinking her eyes several times before examining her newly formed hands and legs with surprised eyes.

Then, feeling something on her chest, she looked down.

“Y-Y-You shameless bastard! Where do you think you’re putting your hands?!”

Fresia collapsed to the ground and screamed loudly.

When she looked down, what she saw was Gilbert’s large, scarred hands gripping her chest.

***

“Pervert.”

Gilbert sighed at Fresia’s glare as she wore his upper garment.

This was an accident that even Gilbert hadn’t anticipated.

Who could have imagined that inserting Fresia’s core into Dalbaragi would transform it into a human form?

Moreover, he truly never dreamed that the part he was holding would become her chest. Gilbert expressed his grievance about this point, but all he received in return was Fresia’s cold, icy stare.

Of course, it wasn’t incomprehensible. He had inserted Fresia’s core into Dalbaragi without asking for her opinion.

If she had given permission, it could have been dismissed as an accident, but since Fresia’s opinion wasn’t considered at all, all the blame could be placed on him.

“Fresia.”

“Don’t look at me! Don’t talk to me!”

She turned her head away as if she couldn’t stand the sight of him and covered her ears, making communication impossible.

If they had time to spare, he would have apologized properly, but right now they were pursuing the escaped Horizon.

This was not the time to waste here.

“I apologize. This was unexpected for me as well. Above all, I apologize for inserting your core into Dalbaragi without asking for your consent.”

“…”

Perhaps thanks to his sincere apology?

Fresia, who had been expressing with her whole body that she would never associate with Gilbert, now looked at him directly.

“Well… I’ll let it go this time since you apologized sincerely. More importantly, what is this sword? I didn’t know it could summon my original body.”

Fresia, now with her anger subsided, examined her body and asked him.

“Original body?”

“Yes, my original body. So, how does it feel to meet this supremely beautiful woman who’s been famous since ancient times?”

Gilbert’s eyebrows furrowed.

Once again, information he didn’t know had emerged. Despite having cleared all achievements in Tactical Combat, he had never heard that Fresia had a body.

If there had been a hidden secret he hadn’t found, he wouldn’t have reached 100% achievement completion, so this seemed to be another MacGuffin like Horizon.

“Anyway, where did Horizon go?”

“You deliberately changed the subject.”

“Fresia.”

“Fine, I’ll look for him now, just wait a moment.”

Fresia closed her eyes and began to detect magical energy. She was tracing the magical residue that Horizon had left leading to this place.

“Found him. Let’s go this way.”

Fresia pointed to the area behind the rear base. There had been concern about whether she would use teleportation magic again, but it turned out to be an unnecessary worry.

“Then, let’s go… ugh?!”

Fresia, who had been sitting, lost her balance as she tried to stand up. It seemed like her legs weren’t working properly.

Gilbert, who was nearby, caught Fresia as she fell. From what he could see, it seemed she couldn’t properly control her body after obtaining it after a long time.

“Th-Thank you…” Fresia, who had been confident before, expressed her gratitude to Gilbert in a tiny voice, apparently embarrassed that she couldn’t even stand properly.

“It seems you can’t use your strength properly since you’ve just obtained a body. It’s urgent, so get on my back.”

He briefly considered turning Fresia back into Dalbaragi but quickly changed his mind. He was being considerate of Fresia, who had obtained a body after a long time.

Instead, he decided to carry Fresia, who currently seemed to have difficulty walking, on his back.

“…Thank you.”

Instead of responding to Fresia, who again spoke in a small voice, he showed her his back. It was an expression to hurry up and get on since they didn’t have time. Fresia hesitated but got on Gilbert’s back.

“We need to track Horizon quickly since we’ve wasted time.”

“I remember the magical residue precisely. I can track him wherever he runs.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“What are you saying?”

Fresia twirled her hair and awkwardly responded, apparently weak to honest praise.

Gilbert smiled faintly and began moving toward where Fresia had pointed.

– BOOM!

As they were tracking Horizon following Fresia’s guidance, a tremendous shockwave swept through the area with a deafening sound.

Gilbert and Fresia’s expressions hardened instantly.

This was because the source of the sound coincided with the direction they were heading.

They both instinctively realized that something had happened to Horizon.

Gilbert enhanced his body by drawing up mana and then launched himself following Fresia’s guidance. The shockwave that swept through the area was accompanied by physical explosive force, and the scattered dirt and dust made it difficult to secure visibility.

But Gilbert, who had experienced worse battlefields with his bare body, used that experience to easily advance toward the source of the explosion.

Finally, upon arriving at the explosion site, Gilbert couldn’t help but frown.

“Is that… Horizon?”

In the center of a large crater between the bases lay a corpse that could only be described as “that”—a body torn to shreds in a complete mess.

The identity of that corpse was Horizon.

The sage who had lived for hundreds of years and aspired to the position of the next Lion King.