Chapter 430: Baptism by Firepower, Return [BONUS]

“Oh, right, Takumi-sama. The Megalodons summoned by Charybdis seem to have attached themselves to the corpses of low-ranking dragons.”

“After materializing, each one reached a length of twenty meters. There are thirteen in total.”

“According to my detection, every individual has reached A-rank.”

The information Treyni reported made Frey’s heart pound, yet it failed to stir even the slightest reaction from anyone else present.

“Oh~~”

Takumi yawned, clearly not very interested in dealing with it.

Even Charybdis had no traits worth plundering.

A mindless monster that acted purely on instinct was simply too useless in his eyes.

“Just gather a few people and go deal with Charybdis.”

Takumi’s casual tone left Frey feeling absurdly bewildered.

After all, Charybdis was a calamity capable of destroying entire nations!

Even if it was only that level of disaster, couldn’t they at least take it a little more seriously?

Kagali spoke up instead.

“Master, there’s no need to send anyone. Charybdis has already been locked onto by the air-defense system we installed.”

As she spoke, her gaze swept over Frey before she lowered her voice toward her bracelet.

“Master has given the order. Eliminate Charybdis.”

The instant Kagali issued the command, hidden turrets, missile silos, and laser cannons throughout the cities rose into firing position and locked onto the approaching Charybdis.

In the next moment, electromagnetic railguns, low-yield nuclear missiles, plasma disintegration beams, and countless other weapons poured toward Charybdis like a torrential storm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!

Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!!!

An overwhelming barrage of firepower instantly illuminated the heavens!

Even the blazing sunlight was drowned out by dazzling arcs of electricity and brilliant flashes of light.

Inside the office, Frey didn’t even need the live feed to watch what was happening.

With her current level of strength, she could simply stand by the office window and clearly see what was unfolding hundreds—even thousands—of kilometers away.

In the distance, Charybdis’s enormous body was being dismantled and blasted apart piece by piece, like a structure made of toy blocks.

Its summons, the thirteen A-rank Megalodons, failed to survive even the first wave of anti-air fire before vanishing into nothing.

In less than a few minutes, nothing remained in the sky except a few drifting clouds of black smoke.

After Charybdis was eliminated, the air-defense systems in that region quickly shut down and returned to their normal state.

A Shadow Demon girl’s voice came through Kagali’s bracelet.

“The enemy has been eliminated. Detection confirms it was a spiritual life-form without a substantial physical body, but plasma disintegration beams are capable of tearing apart spiritual entities through magnetic-field interference.”

“We’ve absorbed the remaining spiritual energy. Transmitting the data to Master now.”

In the next instant, Takumi received the “data” sent over by the Shadow Demon Corps.

[Ding! Acquired trait: Magic Interference (Purple)…]

[Magic Interference (Purple): Through physical contact, you can seal the opponent’s magic. You also possess extremely high magic resistance.]

“Mm~ Decent enough.”

Takumi muttered to himself, but didn’t pay much attention to it.

It wasn’t as though he lacked similar traits already.

Adding another one merely raised his magic resistance even further.

With how durable he was now, only Dragon God-class magic—or a physical attack at the same level, capable of pulverizing an entire continent—could truly injure him.

Even the [Limitless Technique], which he had once taken pride in, was starting to feel unnecessary.

At this point, its only remaining use might be showing off.

Takumi sighed inwardly before turning toward Frey, whose face was still filled with shock.

The instant she noticed his gaze fall upon her, Frey immediately dropped to her knees with complete devotion.

The movement was so smooth that she nearly lunged forward to hug his leg.

The once-lofty Sky Queen was becoming increasingly skilled at kneeling.

Looking up at Takumi, Frey lowered her head respectfully.

“Thank you for your immense grace, Master. Charybdis is the natural enemy of our Winged Race. You are the benefactor of all our people!”

“Whether I’m your benefactor or not can wait. Right now, what I really want to know is how similar the bodily structure of the Winged Race is to that of birds.”

“Uu~~”

Faced with Takumi’s intense “thirst for knowledge,” Frey had no way to refuse.

Unfortunately, despite being a queen, even she didn’t know much about that subject.

Thankfully, Suphia and Albis, who had already gone through a fierce “battle” the day before, were now quite experienced.

Seeing that the former Demon Lord Frey was now in the same boat as them immediately got the two women interested.

As Kagali tightly shut the office door, Takumi’s knowledge expanded yet again.

Although Frey belonged to the Winged Race, the biggest difference was mostly the pair of pink wings growing from her back.

When those wings fluttered, they even reminded Takumi a little of Raynare.

Frey simply lacked that overtly seductive air, carrying instead a touch more youthful purity.

Once Frey formally announced that the Skywing Nation would also be incorporated into Takumi’s territory, the Takum Empire’s expansion reached a new peak.

The entire central region of the continent was now completely occupied by the empire.

Among all existing nations, the Takum Empire had officially become the largest in terms of territory!

By the time word arrived from the Magic Dynasty that the Elf Queen intended to come pay respects to Takumi, he had already returned to his original world through the Space-Time Realm.

Looking at the progress of his World Crossing Gate, which had already surged past forty thousand, Takumi revealed a satisfied smile.

“This round brought a huge increase. The plan to establish a unified kingdom has also proven itself to be a very effective shortcut.”

“If I kept opening up new worlds and gathering faith this way… Tsk~”

Takumi could barely imagine how rapidly his strength would grow if he truly threw himself into that kind of workload.

Even so, he had no intention of doing it.

He still preferred to advance steadily.

If he really went all-out like that, he would probably have to work around the clock, twenty-four hours a day.

“The pace I have now is much better. If I got that busy, I wouldn’t even know what I was living for anymore.”

Life was like a seagull at the docks.

You still had to find yourself some fries.

If you didn’t enjoy a good life when you had one, what was the difference between that and being an idiot?

“Welcome back, Takumi~~”

The moment Takumi returned home, Tohru greeted him with a sweet smile.

Ever since Takumi had taken a turn as a dragon rider, something inside Tohru seemed to have been switched on.

Her dragon tail wagged constantly behind her, making her look exactly like a puppy greeting its owner.

Seeing that Tohru had stayed up late waiting for him, Takumi smiled and stepped forward to pat her head.

“Oniichan~ I’m here too.”

“And me, Takumi-nii~”

“M-Mr. Takumi~ G-Good evening.”

Mio, Maria, and Asia also peeked out from behind Tohru.

All three had faintly flushed cheeks as they looked at him expectantly.

“All right, all right. Everyone gets a turn.”

Unable to refuse them, Takumi reached out and patted each of them on the head one by one.

This time, Tohru didn’t overreact either.

Although she still looked a little jealous and somewhat displeased, at least she didn’t try to stop them.

After all, they could now more or less be considered comrades who had shared the same bed and room.

Tohru no longer rejected them nearly as much as before.