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Arlman city, near the east wall—
A faint rainbow-colored haze spread over the area as a group of Magic Stone Beasts, the Prisma’s minions, approached. The moment people came into contact with the haze, they began to turn into Magic Stone Beasts. The Prisma intercepting force that was stationed in the city was about to experience a huge upheaval even before the battle started.
The same was true for the select team who came from the Knight Academy, led by Principal Miliera. Maurice, a second-year, was suddenly transformed into a Magic Stone Beast.
「E-, even Maurice turned! This is absurd, Principal! What does he mean by Prism Powder?!」
Silva, clearly dismayed, demanded an answer from Miliera.
「I heard it was some kind of secret medicine possessed by members of the Ironblood Chain Brigade… It has an effect similar to Prism Flow that, when given to animals, it can turn them into Magic Stone Beasts, and in larger doses, even Highlanders will turn!」
「——! So, Maurice was a mole for…?!」
「Indeed. In retrospect, the brigade had a better grasp of the movements within the royal castle than we did, and there were hints that they had informants lurking in places! They even managed to rope in Leon the Holy Knight… Perhaps it’s no surprise they have people within the academy! But, see what’s happening before you! It’s possible that Prism Powder has some effects on the transformation!」
Even Miliera had never heard of a phenomenon where a human being turned into a Magic Stone Beast. Maurice mentioned the Prism Powder being hot before he turned, but that might not be the only cause. Something reacted to the Prism Powder.
Perhaps it was this rainbow-colored light haze. This haze occurred near a Prisma, transforming other life into Magic Stone Beasts, and spawning a huge army. As the Prisma moved, it engulfed the surrounding ecosystem, creating countless Magic Stone Beasts and wreaking havoc.
Was the haze reacting with the Prism Powder to cause the transformation of people into Magic Stone Beasts? If so, why now of all time?
Miliera had heard that the Ironblood Chain Brigade was cooperating in protecting nearby villages and towns from the large number of Magic Stone Beasts. Essentially, the kingdom only turned a blind eye to the brigade due to the emergency… but practically, they were an allied force. It wasn’t even wrong to say that, thanks to the Ironblood Chain Brigade, the kingdom managed to establish a defensive base here in the city of Arlman.
Which means… Soldiers of the Ironblood Chain Brigade who were in possession of the Prism Powder must’ve gotten too close to Prisma. They must have stepped into this haze.
If it was simply a reaction between the haze and the Prism Powder, then cases of people turning into Magic Stone Beasts would have been confirmed much, much earlier and the information would have been passed on.
After all, the resuscitated Prisma had moved a considerable distance from the border of Venefique to reach Arlman here.
At the very least, the members of the Ironblood Chain Brigade should be informed promptly of the danger! As this was vital, life-threatening information. And yet, Maurice was carrying the Prism Powder with him. So there must be something else at play here in this area that didn’t exist on the border.
Miliera had no idea what it was, but she couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. If that was a relatively easy condition to fulfill… If someone could easily set up the condition to turn people into Magic Stone Beasts in large numbers… This was a situation that could trigger the destruction of the surface world.
Whilst her head was spinning, Miliera’s eyes shifted to the chaos below. A Knight transformed into a Magic Stone Beast and was attacking his peers.
His arms, growing obtusely huge and thick, reaped several Knights.
「「GUWAAaaaahhhh!!」」
「Kgh…! Come back to your senses, oy! We’re on your side! Can you hear me?!」
「Have you transformed both body and mind…?!」
The surrounding knights didn’t expect their own ally would transform into a Magic Stone Beast. They were hesitant to take immediate action to slay it, while the Magic Stone Beast just kept rampaging unilaterally.
「GRRRRRrrrrr!」
The same went for Maurice who also turned into a Magic Stone Beast. He tried to kick Yua away with his log-thick legs.
Although, unlike the Knights, Yua was Yua. She easily took that kick with one hand.
「Beansprout… is this a new trick?」
Twisting her neck, she lifted Maurice’s leg up. Unable to fight her at all, Maurice fell down and began to thrash about.
「…Now now.」
With a troubled look on her face, Yua lightly kicked the ground. Holding onto Maurice’s legs, she jumped onto the roof of a nearby building. Maurice the Magic Stone Beast was hanging upside down because of that.
「GRAAAAAH!! GRRRRRR!!!」
「Hey, Beansprout. Both the principal and mister Foureyes aren’t smiling, you know… Stop it, okay? They’ll scold you, you know? If they scold you, then who else can I hide behind?」
Yua shook Maurice left and right, but even that didn’t solve the situation.
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