A holy light that punished darkness, a merciless radiance that destroyed all foes the caster deemed as enemies.
Like divine judgment, it came crashing down from the heavens through the enormous magic circle.
In the blink of an eye, blinding light swallowed everything.
When the light faded…
All that remained in the center of the cavern was a pile of shattered remains—
The massive form of Udaeus, which once stood over ten meters tall, had been completely obliterated.
Only a mound of bone fragments lay scattered on the ground,
And within it, a large magic stone lay silently.
A silent testament—proof that a terrifying Level 6 boss monster had just been defeated.
Seeing the result before him, Hajime was extremely satisfied with the super magic Fairy Law.
Even Udaeus, a floor boss of Level 6, had been instantly obliterated without the chance to resist.
The power of this spell was indeed overwhelming.
Moreover—
"The mana cost wasn't even that high."
Hajime was a bit surprised after checking his remaining magical energy.
He had assumed the spell would require an enormous amount of mana.
Fairy Law was a powerful super spell, but not without drawbacks.
If used by someone unqualified, it could backfire drastically—
Cursing the caster with immortality.
While immortality might sound appealing, it came at a terrible price.
The curse caused the caster to unconsciously drain the life force of those nearby—
The more one cherished life, the more uncontrollable the draining became.
This meant the cursed one had to abandon family, friends, and any future connections.
A form of isolation that bordered on torture for any social creature like a human.
Fortunately, Hajime in the Fairy Tail world was already an S-Class mage.
He met the requirements to cast this magic safely.
His recent status update and level-up the night before had further enhanced his mana pool.
At this point, he had nothing to fear from backlash or curses.
Previously, his only concern had been whether the spell would consume too much energy.
But it seemed that wasn't an issue either.
"This low mana cost probably has to do with there being just one enemy… and not an especially powerful one."
Because Fairy Law targets all foes the caster designates,
its mana cost scales with both the number and strength of enemies.
If the caster's mana is insufficient, the spell will draw from their life force.
In the original Fairy Tail story, Makarov had once used this spell to wipe out nearly 700,000 enemies—
And paid with his life in return.
Udaeus, as a mere Level 6 boss, clearly didn't require such a heavy price.
Just a small amount of mana had been enough.
"Which means… using this spell to take down a full-power god-tier enemy is still unrealistic."
Maybe it could finish off a weakened heretic god,
But against one at full strength, Fairy Law alone wouldn't cut it.
Worse, it might even consume his life force.
"But… if I cast it in my Ultraman Tiga form…"
The potential power would be unimaginable.
Even now, Hajime couldn't picture the upper limit.
He actually wanted to try it out—
But unfortunately, he couldn't find an enemy worthy enough to test it on.
In Orario, where gods were forbidden from intervening, his normal state was already enough to handle almost anything.
Even Ottar—the city's strongest Level 7 adventurer—didn't warrant him using his Ultraman form, let alone casting a super spell in that state.
Having roughly confirmed his current combat power and familiarized himself with his new magic,
Hajime picked up the magic stone and began heading back.
Converting all the stones at once for money might attract unwanted attention.
Keeping that in mind, Hajime chose not to exchange them at the Guild.
Instead, he carried the entire bundle home.
---
"Welcome back!"
Waiting and worrying at home, Hestia lit up with joy the moment she saw Hajime return.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
The moment he stepped through the door, she began frantically checking him over,
Worried he might've been wounded but was too proud to admit it.
"Relax, I'm not hurt," Hajime said with a chuckle.
"You know my stats. Ordinary monsters can't handle me. I didn't even go that deep into the dungeon, so there's nothing to worry about."
Only then did Hestia sigh in relief.
That's right—
Hajime was never the reckless, hot-blooded type.
When he initially refused to enter the dungeon, he'd openly discussed it with her.
Given how cautious he was, she knew he wouldn't take unnecessary risks.
With that thought, her tension eased.
But then—she spotted the bulging package he brought back…
Inside it—was an enormous magic stone.
"…"
Hestia narrowed her eyes, pulled out the stone, and stared at Hajime.
"This is what you call 'not going too deep into the dungeon'?"
The petite goddess's expression darkened.
"Even Level 5 monsters don't drop cores this large."
Puffing her cheeks in frustration, she crossed her arms and glared.
"Your first day in the dungeon and you already dove deep enough to fight Level 6 monsters? That's outrageous! What would I do if something happened to you!?"
Even though Hajime returned unharmed, Hestia couldn't stop herself from worrying.
Thankfully—
Hajime had long since mastered the art of calming her down.
A bit of coaxing was all it took to make her smile again.
Once Hestia was soothed, Hajime closed his eyes.
With a thought—
He returned to the fog space.