Meanwhile, Merlin and Will teleported into the forest to track Lloyd and the others. After a quick scan, Merlin spotted the ship hurtling straight for a canyon. She relayed the info to Will, who promptly teleported them both to intercept the group.
Inside the ship, panic was setting in—everyone was dangerously close to the ground, and the Chimera was still blocking the exit. Silica tried a wind spell to shove the monster aside, but the Chimera swatted it away like an annoying fly, leaving her unsure what to do next. Lloyd briefly considered jumping out the window, but the holes were more “mouse-sized” than “human-sized,” so that plan was a no-go.
Looking at the tilted terrain, Lloyd realized the ship was leaning toward the ground, and the only reason they weren’t sliding already was his gravity magic. Clever as ever, he told everyone to press against the wall and stash their weapons. They complied, trusting him blindly—though secretly wondering if he was about to pull something insane.
Once everyone was in position, Lloyd canceled his gravity magic. Suddenly, everyone—including the Chimera—started sliding across the tilted floor. Perfect! The monster flailed trying to regain balance while Theion scooped up Clare, and they made a run for the exit.
As they were leaving, the Chimera fired a devastating fire-and-wind blast, but Lloyd spotted it in time and created a shield to protect everyone. Disaster averted—well, sort of, because the ship was still diving.
Lloyd instructed Theion to form an ice platform to escape, but just as it was about to appear, the Chimera burst from the lower deck in a massive fireball. The flames melted the ice instantly, rendering the escape plan useless. With no other options, Lloyd grabbed Yui and Silica, shouting that everyone else needed to jump—immediately.
Cross protested, pointing out that reckless free-falling is generally frowned upon when you have no landing zone. But logic prevailed: better to jump than hit the ground face-first. Everyone followed Lloyd‘s lead and took a leap of faith.
As they plummeted, Lloyd commanded Theion to form an ice slab beneath their feet. They landed safely, but the ground was approaching fast. Silica used her air-pressure spell to slow their descent, while Lloyd buffed her magic to make it even stronger. Just before impact, the spell and ice platform combined perfectly, letting everyone leap to safety.
Relieved and solidly on the ground, the team showered Lloyd and Silica with gratitude. Meanwhile, Theion stood dumbfounded—he always thought teamwork was for weaklings, but even he had to admit that without Lloyd’s strategy, they’d all be pancake-shaped.
Moments later, the airship crashed beside them in a fiery explosion. Safe, sound, and mildly singed, the team silently agreed: thank goodness Lloyd had a plan.
However, the Chimera was still aboard when the ship crashed, and Clare was devastated at the thought that all the innocent monsters’ souls inside might have perished. Just when despair was setting in, a deafening roar echoed from the wreckage, and to everyone’s shock, the Chimera emerged—completely unharmed. It looked extremely pissed, probably ready to turn them into chew toys again.
Lloyd quickly told everyone to scatter into the woods for cover before the monster could attack. Meanwhile, Merlin and Will had teleported to a nearby mountain. Merlin locked onto Lloyd’s position but saw him hiding in the woods with his friends, and she tilted her head, wondering what on earth he was up to.
Back in the forest, the group was panicking. They had never faced a monster like this before! But Lloyd had a theory. When Clare used her ancient magic on the airship to calm the monsters, some of the count’s magic had reacted as well. That, he realized, was when Gri began acting strangely. Lloyd remembered the mention of a demon lord fragment, so he guessed that the awakened fragment was searching for a body to revive the demon lord, which explained why it had absorbed all those monsters earlier.
That still didn’t explain why the Chimera was relentlessly chasing them. Yui suggested it might be searching for Clare, because even though Gri was transformed, his mind might still be partially present, and capturing her could be his only goal. If that was true, the Chimera wouldn’t stop until it got her.
Theion declared that their only choice was to kill the monster. But Clare recoiled at the thought of harming the innocent souls trapped inside. For her sake, Silica asked Lloyd if he could think of a way to defeat the Chimera without killing it. Fortunately, Lloyd did have a risky idea: if Clare sang while he used enhancement magic on her, her song might reach the fragment inside the Chimera, possibly calming it back to normal.
The plan was equal parts brilliant and absurd. Essentially, it was Clare telling the Chimera, “Chill out, bro.” Yet it was the only way to avoid killing the monster, so she was willing to try.
Before they could start, Merlin suddenly appeared, scolding Lloyd. Ancient magic was far too dangerous for him to meddle with! Lloyd was surprised to see her, but he reassured her that he understood the risks and was confident in his strength. Merlin reminded him angrily that overconfidence could be his downfall. Lloyd, with a sly grin, insisted he wasn’t overconfident—he was just acknowledging his capabilities. He knew he wasn’t strong enough to surpass Merlin yet, but his friends needed him now, and he had to act.
Stunned by Lloyd’s determination, Merlin let them go without stopping them. She told herself that perhaps he could handle ancient magic this time… though she still worried.
Meanwhile, the battle against the Chimera began. Theion created a hailstorm of icicles to distract it while Lloyd got in close, jamming his staff into the Chimera’s torso to prepare for Clare’s song. Once in position, he told her to start singing. And she did. Lloyd began modifying her spell in real time, amplifying its effects, hoping that this “sing it, monster, be calm” strategy would actually work.
Lloyd was struggling big time, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, but slowly, the monsters that had been absorbed began falling out of the Chimera’s body. Looks like his “sing it, monsters, be nice” plan was actually working. Phew!
But just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Lloyd noticed a dark portal opening ominously behind him. Before anyone could react, he was being sucked in. Merlin’s eyes widened—oh no, this was the classic ancient-magic-backlash, a not-so-fun side effect of using spells without being an inheritor.
On the other side, Lloyd found himself in a completely white, featureless room. Gri’s body disintegrated right next to him, and to make things even weirder, he saw his own body floating nearby. He blinked—okay, brain, what is happening?
Then a voice echoed around the white void, explaining that Lloyd’s mind had been separated from his body. That’s why there were suddenly two versions of him—talk about a bad clone day. Lloyd asked if this was the side effect of the ancient magic he’d used, and the voice began explaining the truth.
Ancient magic wasn’t just your average spell—it was left behind by beings so far beyond human understanding that they basically made their own reality rules. They could manipulate reality, create spells that defied nature, and probably even make coffee taste like cake if they felt like it. Unfortunately, too much of that power wrecked the world, so they banned its use for regular humans. Only special inheritors, born with the innate ability, could wield it safely. Anyone else trying to use it would have their mana go haywire and… well, die.
The man speaking to Lloyd was Cibil, the healer from Merlin’s former party, and the only person in history to successfully use ancient magic without being an inheritor. During the final battle against the demon lord, Cibil and his party had victory within reach—but the demon lord blew himself up, wiping out everyone nearby: Cibil, his party, and the entire city. Merlin had blamed herself for that tragedy ever since—predicting attacks was her job, and she failed spectacularly.
But just before dying, Cibil used forbidden ancient magic to bend the line between life and death, reviving everyone caught in the blast. Heroic, right? Of course, this heroic stunt cost him his life. Poor guy, talk about bad timing.
Now, for Lloyd, there was still hope. The rift in the world’s boundary hadn’t closed yet. Cibil told him he could escape if he acted quickly—but he had no idea how.
So, naturally, he asked for instructions. Cibil calmly said, “Just think about the people you want to return to.” Simple enough, right?
At that moment, Lloyd heard the voices of everyone outside the portal calling his name. With newfound determination, he dove headfirst into the portal, racing against time to make it back. As he did, the visage of Cibil faded away, leaving him to face the world again.
Everyone outside was growing more and more worried as the portal looked like it was about to seal completely, but there was still no sign of Lloyd. Just as the pocket dimension began to close off, Lloyd suddenly appeared behind them. Their relief was so intense that they all rushed over for a giant, chaotic group hug—probably breaking a few ribs in the process, but who’s counting?
Eventually, they all returned safely to the capital. Yui still couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Lloyd’s master was the legendary sage Merlin. Now it made sense why Lloyd had been comparing himself to her the whole time—no wonder he initially underestimated his own power.
Thanks to their stellar performance, the group received a huge bonus from the king—and, because apparently kings are into dramatic gestures, they were even gifted a mansion in the capital. Looks like they’d be staying put for a while, at least until they accidentally burn it down with another “training mishap.”
Just then, Lloyd noticed Loen sniffing him. She remarked that he smelled really good. Cute? Sure. Creepy? Definitely. Especially because she just… sniffed him out of nowhere. Merlin walked over and explained that Loen was an old friend and had the unique ability to detect Mana by scent. Ah, that explains the sniffing—but it’s still a little weird.
Meanwhile, Lloyd realized everyone had gone strangely silent the moment Merlin arrived. Honestly, you can’t really blame them—compared to most adventurers, Merlin is practically a living, breathing god. Naturally, they were all nervous wrecks.
Merlin approached Lloyd and asked if he would consider returning home with her. He glanced at the wonderful friends he had made here and shook his head. No way could he leave them behind. He explained that he wanted to continue adventuring in the capital while researching all sorts of magic. Besides, living with Merlin could be… a little high-maintenance at times. Staying here seemed far more appealing.
And with that, their story came to a close. For now, at least.
