Chương 49: The Answer He Never Gave

Sieghart went silent. The Firian leader had asked what kind of monster he was, but answering served no useful purpose. A conversation wouldn't end the battle or convince the man to retreat. Anything Sieghart revealed could become a weapon against him later. He also had no truthful answer that sounded reasonable. Sieghart was a reincarnated five-year-old with the mind of a failed college student, an uncooperative system, and enough mana to make the concept of conservation deeply offended.

Explaining that situation might confuse the enemy. It wouldn't make him less dangerous. Sieghart maintained the orbiting stones while studying the battlefield around them. Several defenders had stopped fighting long enough to watch the confrontation. That was another problem. He was making himself far too famous. Before arriving at the camp, only his grandparents and Master Thorne understood that his mana pool was unusual. Even they believed it merely larger than normal.

Now, hundreds of soldiers had seen Sieghart recharge weapons endlessly, create siege-scale water attacks, survive a fireball, develop mud magic, and fight the enemy leader directly. Rumors would spread. Every survivor would describe the battle differently. Some would exaggerate what happened, while others would attach Sieghart's name to spells he had never used.

By the time those stories reached the capital, Sieghart might be described as a child capable of drowning armies, surviving inside volcanoes, and commanding the earth with one hand. House Emberhart would hear everything. His father would hear everything. Alaric had ignored Sieghart while believing him useless. A battlefield report describing unlimited mana and large-scale combat magic could transform that neglect into interest. Sieghart had wanted a peaceful life.

He planned to remain at the farm, study magic, earn his own money, and build enough strength that nobody could decide his future for him. That plan depended upon remaining unimportant. He had failed spectacularly. Perhaps destroying my reputation for weakness counts as personal growth. It certainly feels expensive enough. Sieghart couldn't undo what everyone had witnessed. Hiding his power now would only allow the Firian leader to kill him and everyone nearby. Peace required survival first.

He decided to go for the kill. The orbiting stones tightened around him. Their paths shifted from wide defensive circles into narrower formations aimed toward the enemy's head, throat, and knees. The Firian recognized Sieghart's decision. He stopped questioning the child and lowered his stance. The uncertainty in his expression vanished beneath violent determination. Orange veins brightened across his entire body. Heat erupted from his skin with enough intensity to push the surrounding smoke away.

The air became painfully clear around him, forming a circle untouched by ash or steam. The wounds left by Edric's arrows closed completely. The cut across his cheek disappeared, and the clay fragment lodged near his shoulder fell from repaired armor. He was going all out. The remaining fires throughout the camp bent toward him. Flames stretched sideways from burning tents and traveled through the air like streams pulled by invisible chains. They entered his arms, chest, and back.

His hair rose higher, changing from crimson strands into something almost indistinguishable from actual fire. Sparks escaped whenever he moved his head. The orange lines beneath his skin turned white near the center of his chest. That brightness spread toward both shoulders before flowing down his arms. His hands became enveloped in flames. Sieghart directed six stones toward his head. The Firian punched the air. The movement launched a massive fireball before the projectiles reached him.

It expanded as it crossed the short distance between them, swallowing the approaching stones. Sieghart's eyes widened. The attack was larger than the first fireball despite requiring almost no preparation. At close range, he possessed less than a second before it reached him. There was no time to create a water wall. Sieghart pulled every orbiting stone into the same path. The spheres abandoned their individual attacks and formed a rotating barrier before him.

Three layers overlapped, each moving in the opposite direction from the next. Wind accelerated them. Earth Magic compressed the remaining gaps with loose sand, creating a dense shield of spinning stone directly between Sieghart and the fireball. The attack struck. Flames engulfed everything. The outer stones shattered immediately, their compressed surfaces exploding into glowing fragments. Sand became molten in places and scattered through the surrounding fire.

The second layer survived long enough to divide the fireball's core. Flames moved around both sides of the rotating barrier instead of striking Sieghart directly. Then those stones broke as well. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The final layer slowed the remaining heat but couldn't stop it. Every sphere cracked, blackened, and disintegrated beneath the overwhelming temperature. Sieghart disappeared inside the flames.

His clothes heated instantly. The moisture trapped within the cloth turned into steam, while the outer fabric began darkening. Pain spread across his arms and chest as the temperature passed through the final stone barrier. Protection responded. Sieghart forced water-aligned mana through the spell, making the layer beneath his skin flow across his entire body. The heat concentrated around his front spread toward his back, legs, and arms. The process hurt. Protection reduced damage rather than eliminating sensation.

Sieghart felt as though he had stepped into an oven while wearing wet clothes. He closed his eyes and covered his face. The fire roared around him for several seconds. Wind pulled at his hair, flames consumed the nearby canvas, and burning debris struck Protection before falling away. Then the pressure weakened. Sieghart opened his eyes. He remained standing. Smoke rose from his clothing. The front of his shirt had become black and fragile, while several holes revealed unburned skin beneath it.

His arms were red from the heat but showed no serious burns. His hair remained mostly intact, although the blond tips along his fringe had curled slightly. He was mainly unscathed. The spinning stones were gone. Every sphere had been destroyed, leaving only molten grains and scattered fragments across the ground. Sieghart's defensive crown had bought enough time for Protection to endure the rest. The spell worked. The result still left him defenseless. The Firian leader stood with one arm extended.

The orange veins along that side had dimmed after releasing the fireball. His other arm remained bright. The man pulled it backward. Flames gathered around his second fist, condensing more quickly than Sieghart could rebuild the orbiting stones. He had prepared both attacks before releasing the first. That explained why he had gone all out. The first fireball destroyed Sieghart's defense. The second would kill him before he replaced it. Sieghart reached toward the surrounding moisture.

The previous attack had evaporated water from barrels, mud, and his clothing, leaving steam throughout the area. He couldn't gather vapor quickly enough. Water Creation remained faster. Sieghart raised both hands and summoned the largest sphere he could form within the available time. Water poured from his palms and rotated before him. The ball expanded rapidly. It wasn't large enough. Sieghart could see the difference immediately.

The Firian's second fireball contained more heat than his hastily formed water sphere could absorb. A collision would weaken the attack. It wouldn't stop it. The leader punched. Another fireball launched from his fist. Sieghart released the water sphere. The two attacks met several meters ahead of him. Flames buried themselves inside the water, producing a violent eruption of steam. The sphere collapsed. Water spread across the ground while the fireball emerged from the explosion.

Its outer layers had vanished, and its core became smaller, but enough flames remained to kill an ordinary person. Sieghart attempted to create another wall. His concentration faltered. The previous fireball, his destroyed stones, and the rapid water sphere had pushed his mind close to its limit. Pain stabbed behind his eyes, and his hands trembled as the next spell failed to take shape. Protection covered him. He doubted it would be enough. The weakened fireball crossed the remaining distance.

Someone struck Sieghart from the side. He fell. For one confused moment, Sieghart assumed the enemy had reached him. Then he saw white hair above his face. Edric had tackled him. His grandfather's injured leg collapsed as they hit the ground, but he forced himself upright before Sieghart could recover. Edric positioned his body between the boy and the incoming flames. He held no shield. His enchanted bow remained somewhere behind the broken line.

The short knife had disappeared again when the pressure wave threw him across the camp. Edric possessed only his body. He spread his arms.

"Grandpa!" Edric looked over one shoulder. His face was covered in blood and soot, yet his expression remained calm. The fear that had appeared when the wagon exploded was gone. He had made his decision.

"You were supposed to run." The fireball struck his back. Flames spread around both of them. Edric's clothing ignited instantly, and the remaining force lifted him from the ground. His body struck Sieghart, covering him as they were thrown through the air. Protection activated between them. Sieghart poured water-aligned mana into the spell, attempting to expand it beyond his own skin. The layer resisted, stretching only a few centimeters before collapsing back against his body.

It wasn't designed to protect someone else. Sieghart tried again. Mana surged uselessly through his arms as he grabbed Edric's burning clothes. He created water between them, but most of it turned into steam before reaching his grandfather's back. They hit the ground. Sieghart absorbed the landing beneath Edric's weight. Protection prevented his bones from breaking, while the old man's body shielded him from the remaining flames. For several seconds, Sieghart couldn't hear anything except the fire.

Then the attack ended. Smoke rolled across the earth. Burning pieces of Edric's clothes clung to his shoulders and back, producing small orange flames. Sieghart extinguished them with trembling hands. His grandfather didn't move. The weakened fireball hadn't reached Sieghart. It had struck Edric instead. Sieghart stared at the motionless body covering him, feeling something inside his mind become terrifyingly quiet. The Firian leader had asked what kind of monster he was. Sieghart still hadn't answered.

Now, he was beginning to understand what kind of monster he might need to become.