Chapter 111 (continued)

So I'm still trying, even though I find it a bit ridiculous to be half-dead and struggling, but... even if I become a paraplegic, Mel... probably won't dislike me, right?

Ah, if only I had tried a little harder, I would have only broken my back...

Um?

I felt a strange weightlessness, and then... a little short of breath? But amidst the buzzing, I heard a whisper as soft as a mosquito's buzz:

"... Teacher, I've caught you..."

Huh?

Moli?

I touched it and felt a pair of soft, delicate hands belonging to a young girl on my waist.

I shook my head, but felt a little dizzy and nauseous. Still, I was happy; I figured I wouldn't need to lie in the morgue later, but I might have to go to the hospital for a concussion. I felt relaxed, and then slowly cast two spells to restore my energy and stamina. I felt like a while later, the white blur before my eyes finally cleared up, and then...

Then, a scream more terrifying than an explosion rang in my ears, which had just recovered:

"Teacher--say--something--ah-ah-ah--"

"... Shut up!"

I yelled and instinctively cast Silence Spell. Moli's mouth began to open and close silently, then she happily hugged my waist and gave me a big kiss, leaving my face covered in saliva.

Hmm...

I chuckled, not pushing my apprentice away as usual. But when I saw the scene before me, I almost burst out laughing—because Moli was clinging to my waist, and we were still floating high in the air. The child's Flight Spell were indeed improving daily, but the funny thing was... that adorable little blue dragon, Frost —he didn't seem to realize that we mages could fly on our own. Instead, he was biting Moli's collar with all his might, trying to lift Moli up, while Moli's expression was truly utterly resigned...

The dragon's saliva smeared Moli's hair all tangled up!

Ha ha...

"Teacher, you're laughing at me!" Moli cried out in despair.

"Excellent!" I praised her sincerely, "You only took half a minute to break my Silence Spell this time!"

"Teacher!" Moli screamed again, "Your ear is bleeding!"

Hmm? I reached out and touched it, and sure enough, my hand was covered in blood. But for minor injuries like this, our magic can handle them, so I casually cast a spell and then scolded Moli with a stern face, "Isn't it because you were screaming loudly just now? Otherwise, why would my ears be bleeding from the shock?"

Moli... Moli's lips twisted in a grimace, and she looked at me like I was some babbling goblin... Sigh, kids grow up, and they're not so easy to fool anymore.

No... Goliath!

I was suddenly startled and quickly broke free from Moli's arm, taking flight on my own. Only then did I realize the entire sky was littered with the aftermath of the mothership's explosion—a massive plume of smoke trailed across the sky, and large chunks of burning debris were falling. Because I had tried to cast Levitation on the mothership earlier, their descent was slow. As the Levitation wore off, the larger pieces of debris began to fall first, including... I saw it! I saw Xuefeng folding his wings and plummeting rapidly; he was chasing after it—

Goliath!

I tried to Teleportation to catch up, but as I exited the spatial portal, my body lurched and I fell dozens of meters before taking off again. This startled Moli above me, who started screaming again. I ignored her and watched Goliath fall to the ground, oblivious to everything around him. His hands were covered in blood, and he could no longer hold the gun...

I could no Teleportation, so I chanted an acceleration spell and then had an acceleration aura envelop the Xuefeng.

The Xuefeng- capped peak unleashed a deafening dragon roar, blasting away the fragments hurtling towards Goliath, and as Goliath crashed into the other debris, it...

Wow! Xuefeng has swallowed Goliath whole!

Dragons... shouldn't have the habit of eating heavily wounded dragon knights, so before I could even exhale, Goliath was already being spat out by Xuefeng. The dragon hovered in mid-air, flapping its wings, its enormous claws carefully cradling...

Wet Goliath...

Seeing Xuefeng breathe a sigh of relief, and the taut dragon tail visibly softening and swaying, I figured Goliath had just fainted from exhaustion. But what about these remains?

I'm getting a bit unsettled again; I just can't stay calm! Even though the mothership was blasted apart in mid-air by Goliath's bullet, the largest fragments are still bigger than my old studio apartment! So while Holy Light City won't be completely destroyed by the mothership's impact, it will still suffer significant damage to buildings and injuries to many citizens!

But I really don't have the energy to deal with them all... Oh, right, I have apprentices!

I immediately called Moli over, quickly recited the spell to her, and told her, "Moli, if a shard hits a building, I'll tear up one of your paintings."

Moli didn't say anything, but she shot off as if she'd been electrocuted, waving her hands and chanting a spell as she flew—"Silly child, shouting won't increase the spell's power, but considering it's her first time using this spell, I won't hold it against her." At the same time, I cast the spell myself.

I'm grateful to my teacher, Hailianna; I learned this from him.

I spread my five fingers, and large, black, crescent-shaped blades appeared in the air. For the first time, I realized how incredibly beautiful this pure black was in the sunlight, like pieces of polished black crystal. They flew around, cutting the huge wreckage into small pieces at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye.

Moli... Moli was using her hands and feet, gesticulating wildly, and casting spells with strange body language. Fortunately, the spells weren't affected by her twitching movements, and she didn't forget to call upon her child dragon army. The sky was filled with small fireballs, ice blocks, and lightning bolts spewed by these child dragons, mixed with Dark Blade thrown by Moli —these are the names I wrote in my teacher's notes, which I copied verbatim.

Ignoring her somewhat awkward body language, this girl is indeed talented. I think what the Dragon Emperor said might make a lot of sense—when they applied for sperm donation, they accidentally got a sperm from a mage, or maybe even a Shadow Moon Priest.

As we steadily descended, we cut and disposed of the debris. Large pieces were cut down to a limited extent, while smaller pieces, thanks to my previous Levitation, only began to accelerate their descent at low altitudes. This meant that although they would still hit the ground, palm-sized fragments were better than those the size of a house. I could already see the crowds on the ground being evacuated, and patrolling sheriffs were using pitifully weak stun guns to try and blast the debris that had already entered the low-altitude airspace into even smaller pieces.

But at the same time, I suddenly heard a familiar clicking sound, and then a chilling, terrifying scream came from below—

"... Ah, everyone, look! The great Dark Mage, Ciprins Field, has descended to low altitude... He bravely confronts the massive Sky Helicarrier, defending it alongside Lord Goliath, the Paladin Commander of the Temple of Light... He is still trying to crush the wreckage—"

"Let us cheer for the heroes who saved the Federation, let us sing their praises!"

"--The greatest legendary black mage of this century--"

My heart clenched in that instant; I felt as if one hundred and thirty... no, one thousand three hundred curses were stabbing into my heart all at once!

I heard the reporter shouting at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking, as he pointed at me and yelled:

"... The most extraordinary legend— the Evil Fire Saint!"

What the heck?

I...

I felt a sweet taste in my throat, and a line of blood flowed down the corner of my mouth.

At the same time, I also felt a surge of anger rising from the depths of my heart—

--I fought so hard against this mothership, and all you reporters did was casually utter a new title that's the epitome of awful, embarrassing, and childish?