That was, to describe it more accurately.

At least, that's what the king of the gargoyles felt.

That human sorcerer with brown hair.

He didn't appear to the king of the gargoyles as a human being.

'Weaker than I thought.'

On the other hand, Ian was at ease.  At least, he felt many tens of folds easier compared to when he had faced the dragon.  Of course, the power of the gargoyles' king was in the headcounts though.

But since the source of his power was being kept at bay at the entrance of the cave, it would render useless.

'Should slowly subdue him now.'

How long the s.h.i.+eld at the entrance would hold was not known.  It was better to subdue him when possible.  If it was possible to interrogate this ent.i.ty, that would be attempted.  However, a.s.sessing the conditions of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d, that choice would need to be forgone.

"Let me end it."

A gigantic hand appeared above Ian's head.  The pair of hands of ice mimicked exactly that of Ian's hands.  The looks of them and the movements all exactly mimicked Ian's hands.

(Kwaaaak-!)

That gigantic ice hands s.n.a.t.c.hed the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's wing.  Was that all?  It ripped up the right wing from there.  The screams of the gargoyles' king echoed loudly throughout the cave.

(Stop!  Stop!  You..humaaaan-!)

At that moment.  An unfamiliar voice struck inside of Ian's head.  The nasty voice that brought out the utmost unpleasantness from just by listening, it was certainly the gargoyle's voice.

"You could talk?"

Ian relieved the enormous pressure that he was exerting through the ice hands.  Instead, he held him lightly and brought him close to his face.  The two ent.i.ties, Ian and gargoyles' king, finally met each other's eyes, for the first time.

Soon, Ian felt awed.

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d's eyes were truly weird.

It wasn't that he was one eyed or had no eyeb.a.l.l.s.

It surely wasn't such an issue.

"The eyes….."

Half bow, they were exactly a half bow shape.

Both of gargoyle's eyes were exactly half bowed.

That is, only half remained in each eye.

It was as if that much was torn apart.

It was beyond being grotesque.

(Allegrapo.)

It was right then.

It was truly in a blink of an eye.

That was, in the time that Ian stared into the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

It didn't even come to a few seconds.

That's how long it was for sure.

(Hoonkanathio,Harknap!)

Allegrapo, Hookanathio, Harknap.

The words that could not be interpreted came into his head.

"Kr…..!"

Ian let out a painful moan.

Indescribable pain overtook him.

Even the ice hands were melting away.

Exactly what witchcraft is this?

The answer was immediately found.

'Petrification…..?'

Ian's body was hardening stiff.

It wasn't an ordinary symptom of paralysis.

He has begun to transform into a stone.

It was 'petrification' as the word suggested.

'Let's be calm.  Be calm.'

Ian held on to the last strain of his consciousness.

And he thought it out first of all.

First, the king of the gargoyles.

'Even that b.a.s.t.a.r.d's body was hardening.'

The problem would be much bigger, should Ian be the only one turning into a stone.

However, the king of the gargoyles also began to petrify.

It appeared to be the power of some type of a suicidal bomb.

'Petrification is the ability to enter the dimensionless s.p.a.ce.'

He thought of the information that the spirit of Reeses Rajendu had spared him.  At the end of the petrification process, the body turns into a stone, the mind enters the dimensionless s.p.a.ce.  That is, even Ian's mind would enter the dimensionless s.p.a.ce.

'I would enter the same dimensionless s.p.a.ce with the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.'

Based on the process, that was the most likely scenario.

Of course, it could have been the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's plan all along.

'If I can only stay focused, I can somehow…..'

When Ian's thoughts reached that point.

The blurring view turned into darkness.

Even the thought process has stopped for that moment.

It was the effect of the body, completely turning into a hard stone.

How much time has pa.s.sed, having been in that condition?

His lost mind has woken up.

Even the vision returned from the darkness.

'This is…..?'

The gargoyle's cave that he was in.

At least, this wasn't that place.

The prairie that was filled with purple sand.

There was even purple lightening.

Kwaaang!  K-k-kwaaaaang-!

Beyond being unfamiliar, it was a disparate s.p.a.ce.

Even the king of the gargoyles came into his view.

As if he was used to it, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d flew away to somewhere.

Although an immediate attempt was made to chase after him, it was impossible.

That was because no magic could be initiated at all.

'This was different than the repository of time.'

Ian calmly surveyed the surroundings.  In a short time, he couldn't help, but be astonished.  A nebulous landscape, at the end of the direction to which the gargoyle flew, came into his view.  That was the issue.

A gigantic purple sphere.  The sphere that was as big as if the gargoyle's eye has been magnified by tens and thousands folds, was levitating in the air.  The purple lightening that was thought to be from the sky was also the energy that was spewing out of that sphere.

Yet, there was an ent.i.ty that has captivated Ian's eyes.

And it wasn't the purple sphere.

Of course, the sphere was also astonis.h.i.+ng.

However.

"No….."

The ent.i.ties were surrounding the purple sphere.  With each one's mana power, the ent.i.ties were helping to maintain the sphere's form.  The countless number of ent.i.ties came into his view.  There was no wonder.  The ident.i.ties of the ent.i.ties were very definite, and familiar.

"…..Dragon?"

The spirit of Reeses Rajendu.

The speculation that he had made was correct.

The dragon race that was thought to have been extinct.

They existed in the 'dimensionless s.p.a.ce'.