Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

“Bring it down? A dragon?”

“Of course. We can’t fly, can we?”

“……How?”

“By cutting off one of its wings.”

“Is that even possible?”

I didn’t say, ‘That’s what you did in the original story.’ In the original, Brynhild leaped into the sky, tearing off not just one but both of the dragon’s wings.

At that time, the power released by the Holy Sword temporarily split the sky into two pieces.

“You’ll see.”

Despite sounding quite irresponsible, Brynhild nodded confidently, likely due to the trust built between us over time.

“He’s coming.”

After waiting for some time, a massive silhouette appeared in the distance. Just by looking at it, one could tell it was ridiculously huge.

“……He’s really huge.”

“Indeed. Beyond my imagination.”

I had heard from Priscilla and Elysier that he was as big as a castle, but seeing him in person exceeded my expectations. I wondered if my height would even reach the size of one of his teeth.

“You’ll cut off his wings, and what should I do to help?”

“He’ll probably release some sort of black aura. Focus on cleaning up that with the Holy Sword. If you can target his body, even better. The aura feels different from regular magic, so it should be easy to distinguish.”

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

Brynhild nodded vigorously.

“But for now, you should stay out of the way. I don’t want you to get caught up in this.”

“Stay out of the way? Where?”

“Over there.”

I pointed to a cliff far in the distance.

“……That far?”

“I’ll go pick you up after cutting off his wings. Until then, conserve your strength. If my knowledge is correct, even with one wing cut off, he’ll still be quite a handful.”

Brynhild, who had been making a disbelieving face, quickly turned and left as the dragon drew closer. Once she was out of sight, I began to gather mana.

I didn’t need the mana breathing technique; this wasn’t a situation where I needed thousands of spells cast in real-time. I only needed one spell.

The one that was considered taboo in the other world.

I took a step forward with my left foot, shifting my center of gravity, and pulled my right shoulder back, forming a specific hand gesture as if grasping something. A magic circle appeared in my hand, and all the mana in my body rushed into it like a mad torrent.

A spear began to take shape in my hand. The surrounding air instantly heated up. The heat distorted my vision, and hot air seeped into my clothes.

Soon, the spear was perfectly engulfed in flames.

The nearby terrain warped. The soil, unable to withstand the heat, temporarily melted and then hardened, becoming as smooth as porcelain. The scorching air created an updraft.

I shifted my weight to my right foot, which was behind me. Crack! The ground, now like porcelain, couldn’t withstand the force and shattered like Styrofoam. Cracks radiated from where my right foot had been.

The spear sucked in the air, igniting into flames on its surface, with swirling winds and water swirling inside, and the tip coated in earth.

All the fundamental elements of magic were condensed into this one spear. Ignoring the shattering sensation in my right hand, I channeled recovery magic to keep it intact, and I thrust my left arm forward.

As I pulled my outstretched left arm back, I shifted my weight to my left leg. My right leg lifted slightly, and the ground near my left foot cracked and rose.

My right shoulder and left leg were now in a vertical line. Kurururung! The ground, unable to bear the force, crumbled with a loud noise. And I felt my leg bones shattering.

Ignoring the disintegrating sensation throughout my body, I moved my right shoulder to push my right arm forward, releasing the spear with all my might.

Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!

Light split the sky.

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.

.

Brynhild anxiously looked down at Mira from a distance. The dragon was getting closer by the second, but Mira remained unmoving.

Brynhild, unaware of Mira’s plan, could only wait anxiously.

“……Huh?”

Suddenly, she witnessed an unbelievable scene. A mirage seemed to rise from the wasteland, and flames began to boil around Mira.

There was no time to be surprised. The flames heated the nearby air to an unimaginable degree. Even from this distance, she could feel the faint heat.

Brynhild instinctively held the Holy Sword and channeled its power. The sword responded to its master’s will, creating a hemispherical protective barrier of light. The prickling sensation on her skin subsided.

“What… What is that?”

Brynhild could only see Mira forming a spear made of flames, water, and earth in his hand and taking a throwing stance. Beyond that, the swirling flames obscured her view.

“Ugh?!”

A scorching wind blew. She quickly reinforced the protective barrier. At the same time, she was astonished.

Even at a distance that made Mira look like a speck, the heat was overwhelming. She dared not imagine the hellish landscape at the center of it all. Even the dragon in the sky seemed unable to bear the sight, turning its neck and letting out a tremendous roar.

KuoOOOOOOOOO!

Its mouth gaped open, and a breath attack was unleashed, promising to melt everything in its path.

Almost simultaneously, a beam of light shot up from the ground.

!!!!!!!

The beam was swallowed by the breath, and an indescribable roar shook the heavens. Brynhild instinctively thrust the Holy Sword into the ground and put all her strength into holding her ground.

The aftermath alone brought a fierce wind that made her grit her teeth and hold on tight, despite the support of the Holy Sword. Had she not done so, she would surely have been swept away.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh……!”

Despite the strain, Brynhild witnessed the scene clearly. She saw a single beam of light piercing through the swirling storm. Even the breath couldn’t melt that light.

The light continued its ascent, shattering everything in its path, and struck the dragon’s left wing joint.

Kuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

With a loud tearing sound, the section connecting the left wing and the dragon’s back was ripped off. The dragon, now with one wing missing, twisted its body and fell beyond the mountain range.

The beam pierced through the dragon’s wing and kept going, soaring high into the sky and beyond, disappearing from view.

Dawn broke.

A mass of light, brighter than the morning sun, descended from the heavens, illuminating the world. Everything was bathed in light.

“……”

Brynhild stared at the surreal scene, unable to believe that such power could come from a human.

“……! Mira! Mira!”

Finally, when the light faded, Brynhild snapped out of her daze and hurriedly descended from the cliff, running towards the spot where Mira had been.

“Ugh! It’s hot……!”

The scorching heat greeted Brynhild as she reached the ground. Despite the protection of the Holy Sword, she hesitated to proceed further.

The breath attack that the spear had failed to pierce through swept across the wasteland, and the aftermath of the light beam erupting from the ground combined to turn the entire area into a hellish landscape.

However, she couldn’t turn back. Brynhild gritted her teeth and held the Holy Sword forward, advancing with determination. The Holy Sword responded to her heart, emitting a brilliant light that illuminated her path.

Her skin burned and healed repeatedly. Due to the power of the Holy Sword, her natural healing ability was pushed to its limits, but it couldn’t prevent the red marks from spreading across her body.

“Just… Just a little further……!”

After repeating “just a little further” countless times, Brynhild finally found Mira. She took hesitant steps towards the lonely figure standing in the distance.

“Mira! Mi…… Ugh?!”

Brynhild had reached out her hand, only about twenty steps away, when she quickly retracted it. In that short time, her fingertips seemed to have suffered burns.

She was bewildered. How could this happen just from being exposed to the nearby air? What about Mira, who was in the middle of it?

“What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me to come and pick you up, didn’t I……?”

Mira slowly opened his mouth as if responding to Brynhild’s call. However, his voice was severely hoarse, as if the inside of his throat had been burned as well.

“Mira, you……”

Brynhild was shocked at Mira’s appearance.

His upper body seemed to have almost evaporated, reducing his overall size by two-thirds. His right face was missing from the corner of his nose, and his right arm and shoulder were in a similar state.

Only his right leg remained, with the bones exposed, barely holding him upright.

The left half of his body wasn’t in better shape. Hiseyes had melted away, leaving bloody sockets, and his skin was charred, similar to the rest of his body.

“How…… How did this happen?”

Brynhild asked through her tears, unable to comprehend how Mira’s body was constantly melting and regenerating.

“It was a bit too much for a human to handle. I’ll regenerate soon, so don’t worry.”

“How can you tell me not to worry?! You’re in this state!”

Brynhild let out an involuntary wail but quickly closed her mouth, realizing her mistake.

“Let’s get out of here. If we leave, you’ll recover faster–”

“Can’t move.”

Mira pointed to his leg with one of the two remaining fingers. His leg, with all the flesh burned away, was nothing but exposed bones. If he tried to take a step, the joint would surely dislocate.

Seeing this, tears welled up in Brynhild’s eyes.

“It’ll only take a minute or so now. Not much longer.”

Despite his body being charred to a crisp, Mira’s voice remained calm, aside from the hoarseness. Brynhild couldn’t help but ask, even though she knew it was a foolish question.

“……Doesn’t it hurt?”

“I’m used to it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

‘That’s weird.’

Brynhild couldn’t bring herself to voice her thoughts.

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.

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“Hooo……”

I exhaled a long breath. It was a bit more bearable now that the heat had subsided. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to have my throat and lungs burned and regenerated every time I inhaled, even if I could endure it.

‘Am I imagining it, or did the power increase compared to before?’

It was my first time using this forbidden magic with this body, and I felt like I couldn’t control the strength well. It seemed stronger than I remembered.

The reason this magic was forbidden wasn’t because of some grand reason. It was simply because it was impossible for a human body to withstand the backlash.

With the highest-level healing magic, one could regenerate their body indefinitely, but too many people went insane from enduring the cycle of collapse and regeneration for a few minutes.

It was better to have ten people use a slightly lower-level magic and have nine of them survive than to have all ten use this magic and only one survive. It was forbidden to prevent the loss of talented individuals.

‘And the mana consumption was too high for ordinary people to handle.’

Even the nobles, who considered the blue-blooded magic their exclusive domain, needed at least ten years of training on average to use these spells. For commoners, who had no connection to that world, it was practically impossible.

“Let’s go. We have a dragon to catch.”

“……”

After finishing repairing my clothes, I turned to Brynhild. She stood there, staring at me blankly.

“Brynhild?”

“Huh? Ah? Yeah?”

“What are you doing? Let’s go.”

“Uh…… Yeah. Let’s go.”

Something seemed a bit off about her.

‘Well, she just saw me melt and regenerate hundreds of times right in front of her……’

It was only natural for her to be shocked after witnessing such a sight. That’s why I had said I would come back for her later.

However, I didn’t want to scold her for worrying about me. Since Mahbat couldn’t escape anyway, I thought about suggesting that we rest here for a while.

“……What’s that?”

Black clouds were gathering in the sky where Mahbat had fallen.