Chapter 97
Assault
Two men watched the village from afar.
“So that is Hestia Village.”
“Yes.”
“Can a place truly change this much in only a few months?”
The larger man could not hide his astonishment.
The Far East was a region no one dared enter. Yet here, on land close to its very frontier, a proper village had been established. The sight stirred an unfamiliar feeling in him.
“Until only a few years ago, they said it was impossible for a new village to take root here, did they not?”
“It was impossible. The Far East’s reputation was simply that terrible.”
“Then how did they manage this?”
“We can only say that he is exceptionally capable. The Pascal Trading Company’s full support, the declaration of alliance from the Iorga faction, and even the southern region of Halim were brought together. One might call it alchemy.”
“Alchemy… Indeed, considering how money is gathering here, the word is not inappropriate.”
Turning such barren land into something resembling a mountain of gold was more than merely impressive.
“And all of it was accomplished under the name Ferda Valdrova.”
“He is a dangerous man. If he continues expanding his influence at this rate, our plans will encounter difficulties.”
“Hmm…”
The man silently gazed down at the village.
Watching his back, the larger man made a suggestion.
“Why not reveal ourselves now?”
“No. That would not align with our plan.”
The reply came as sharp and decisive as a blade.
“What we need above all is Valdrova’s isolation. What do you think would happen if we openly stepped forward and destroyed Hestia Village?”
“Would he not lose the people’s support?”
“No. They would rally around him, just as they did during the Dragon-Demon War.”
The Dragon-Demon War.
At those words, the larger man’s excitement also subsided.
To the demon race, there was no event more humiliating than that war.
“A cause is a terrifying thing in the hands of humans. Once before, they united under the banner of eradicating demons. Even now, when only remnants remain, they still seek to wipe us out.”
“That is true.”
“Which is why we must leave them alone. We must allow their descendants to lose their vigilance toward demons.”
The man murmured as though reciting poetry.
“Peace rusts the blade. Peace wears down the walls. And peace dulls mankind as well.”
The larger man agreed with the plan.
Yet he could do nothing about the unease weighing upon his chest, and eventually asked,
“Even so, if we leave him unchecked, will his power not continue to grow?”
“Of course. That is not something we can overlook either.”
Destroying the village would ruin the greater plan, but remaining hidden would only strengthen Ferda’s position as a unifying figure.
Everything had begun when Ferda Valdrova accepted the engagement.
“Therefore, perhaps it would not hurt to scatter a few seeds.”
The man revealed a hand concealed beneath his robe.
His fingers were exceptionally thin and pale.
One finger traced a vertical line through the air.
A multicolored rift shimmered open before him.
A wolf emerged from within.
“Grrrr…”
No.
They were monsters shaped like wolves.
They slowly emerged from the rift one by one and formed a line. Every one of them possessed eyes devoid of reason, yet they remained obedient.
They waited like puppies before the robed man they regarded as their master.
The man issued his command in a courteous tone.
“Wipe it out.”
“Woof! Woof!”
The monsters charged forward the instant they heard his order.
Creatures filled with nothing but the malice of destruction raced toward Hestia Village.
“Emergency wartime measures! Summon every soldier and alert the adventurers! I repeat, we are now under wartime conditions! All officials are to evacuate the residents, and every soldier capable of fighting is to assemble immediately!”
Isabella, who held command authority during emergencies, shouted her orders.
“How many are approaching?”
“Fifteen.”
“Fifteen…”
Isabella was occupied transmitting orders through communication magic.
Meanwhile, Erika remained silent, staring at the ground.
‘Something is wrong.’
She stepped back mentally and looked at the situation from a broader perspective.
‘A sudden monster attack. And fifteen of them at once.’
She considered the recent incidents and circumstances, even allowing herself speculative leaps that might ordinarily seem forced, as she searched for the answer that best fit the situation.
‘Perhaps…’
Erika looked toward Isabella.
“Bella! You will be all right without me, won’t you?”
“You are not joining the battle?”
“There must be someone behind this invasion. I intend to find them.”
Five separate magical transmissions were constantly pouring into Isabella’s ears.
She frowned deeply and answered with a fierce glare.
“The children of the great Lord Iorga are watching over us. There is no need for concern.”
“Thank you.”
Erika calmly assessed the situation and deployed her magic circles.
Unlike ordinary human mages, who drew only a single circle at a time, five circles revolved around her.
This was the true strength of Erika, the famed Blue-Eyed Master of the Magic Tower and leader of the Blue Dragon Spawn.
Multicasting.
She could chant two spells simultaneously and keep five spells prepared at once.
Erika activated the first magic circle.
“Go. Become my eyes.”
The mana condensed within the circle transformed into dozens of blue sparrows that scattered in every direction.
Enchanted with motion detection and mana detection magic, they began tracking anyone behaving suspiciously.
Erika was known as the Blue Eye that watched over all magic.
No one could escape her pursuit.
The sparrows spread beyond the village and into the dense forest in an instant.
Something entered their sight.
“Found you.”
Erika immediately spread one of her prepared magic circles across the ground.
It was a teleportation spell.
She rapidly fixed the coordinates and teleported to the position of the blue sparrow that had detected the target.
What had previously appeared only as the shape of mana now became clearly visible to the naked eye.
Erika did not hesitate.
She had decided that anyone who unleashed monsters would be treated as a demon without exception.
She immediately cast one of the prepared spells at the visible targets.
“Bending Time.”
It was a high-level spell that slowed time within a designated area almost without limit.
A mage of Erika’s caliber could even bring it to a complete stop.
Everything affected by the spell froze in place.
Two spells remained.
She fused the two magic circles, forming a new and unfamiliar geometric pattern.
It was a bizarre spell that only Erika could wield.
Elemental Demolition.
By exploiting the repulsive force between two opposing elements, it unleashed a savage and destructive power capable of obliterating everything in the surrounding area.
The spell was excessively destructive, but Erika did not care in the slightest.
Such force was not excessive against the demon race that had once attempted to dominate the continent.
It was proof of her resolve to leave no opportunity whatsoever for their remnants.
However, as Erika prepared the spell, her instincts sharpened.
A Dragon Spawn possessed highly developed senses.
Something within her field of vision triggered an especially sensitive reaction.
‘Impossible.’
Time had quite literally stopped.
Nothing inside the affected area should have been capable of movement.
Yet Erika did not blindly trust her rational conclusion.
That decision saved her.
Something flew toward her through the space where time should not have been flowing.
It was a massive black object with a vicious face.
A hand as large as a cauldron lid stretched toward her.
The instant Erika saw it, her instincts screamed.
If that hand caught her, she would die without being able to resist.
The hideous hand seized her leg.
No.
It seized only the spot where her afterimage remained.
Erika had already escaped the danger with teleportation magic.
She descended to the ground and corrected her stance.
Before preparing another magic circle, she first analyzed what had just happened.
‘Was the time-stopping magic nullified?’
The trembling leaves and crawling insects remained frozen in place, drained of color.
The spell was still functioning.
Yet there was one thing moving freely within the frozen space.
A man wearing a gray robe.
He alone ignored everything and stared directly at Erika.
‘How is that possible?’
The usual way to counter Bending Time was to deploy resistance magic.
Yet there had been no sign of resistance before the spell activated.
Everything had stopped, leaving them utterly defenseless.
That was why Erika had attempted to strike with a decisive blow.
How could someone move alone within frozen time?
“You appear quite surprised.”
The man’s voice rang clearly in her ears.
“For a descendant of the great Iorga and the strategist of the Twelve Expeditions, one would think this was not your first encounter with demons.”
There was a mocking edge to his voice.
Erika quickly regained her composure and responded with dignity.
“Indeed. I am surprised that there are still things capable of surprising me.”
“That is good news. It means we have not regressed, at least.”
A moment later, the large man who had leaped into the sky landed on the ground.
Boom!
The earth sank deeply beneath his immense weight.
He remained on one knee behind the robed man.
Without turning around, the man asked him,
“Did you fail to catch her off guard?”
“She assessed the situation faster than expected.”
“Is that not obvious? She is one of the Twelve Expeditions and the master of the Blue Eye Magic Tower. It would be stranger if she were defeated without resistance.”
The eyes hidden beneath the robe became faintly visible.
Black sclera gleaming like obsidian, with crimson irises.
The contemptuous ease within them stirred deep fury inside Erika.
‘I need to kill them both…’
Reality, however, was not so simple.
The price of failing to cast such high-tier magic was enormous.
The magical backlash had not merely drained her mana. It had disrupted the mana circulating inside her body as well.
‘I have no choice.’
She temporarily set aside human magic.
Erika carefully reached behind her.
A canteen hung from her belt.
She intended to open it.
Pop!
The instant the cap came loose, the liquid inside flowed out and swam along her fingers.
The water formed a full ring around her body.
One of the large man’s eyebrows rose.
“A ring of water?”
“Iorga is not only an authority over magic, but also over water.”
“Hmph. What could you possibly accomplish with mere water?”
As the large man scoffed, Erika extended her hand.
A portion of the ring separated into a droplet and hovered above her palm.
“Something like this.”
She flicked her finger.
The droplet became a bullet and shot forward in a straight line.
The large man thrust out his hand to block it.
“Ugh?!”
The compressed water projectile pierced cleanly through his hand and burrowed into his heart.
“Guh!”
It tore through his chest and burst out through his back before continuing toward the young man behind him.
However, it failed to penetrate the mana barrier surrounding his body and ricocheted away.
“Urgh… What was that? It was only a drop of water…”
“Did I not tell you? Iorga is the authority of water and magic. Naturally, a spell wielded by its leader can pierce your skin.”
“You should have warned me sooner.”
“Do you not prefer learning through direct experience?”
The large man looked utterly astonished.
Yet Erika was even more shocked to see the two of them continuing their conversation so calmly.
‘I fired that with the intention of killing them both…’
Her droplets possessed lethal force.
When the projectile pierced his heart, the rotational force and water pressure should have twisted the organ apart and shattered it.
Even a demon several times tougher than a human should not have escaped a fatal wound.
Yet the demon whose heart had been pierced treated it as though he had merely been stabbed somewhere unimportant and sprang back to his feet.
‘And I could not even pierce the demon behind him.’
The casual mana barrier wrapped around his body alone possessed that much defensive power.
‘They are merely remnants of the demon race, yet they are this powerful.’
At the very least, they were Noblesse-class.
And not ordinary Noblesse-class demons, either.
They were close to Emperor-class.
Now that both Bending Time and Elemental Demolition had failed, Erika no longer possessed anything that could be called a viable option.
‘I have no choice but to retreat, make preparations, and return.’
She deployed a teleportation magic circle.
The circle activated and surrounded Erika’s body.
Yet she did not teleport.
“Cough!”
Instead, blood burst from her mouth.
She staggered in pain, coughing blood without understanding why.
“My organs… It feels as though they have been twisted.”
She knew what caused such a reaction.
It occurred when an incomplete teleportation spell was cast.
‘Are you telling me I constructed the magic circle incorrectly?’
That was impossible.
Erika had lived for over a thousand years and had used teleportation magic hundreds of thousands of times.
She had mastered it to the point where she could draw a teleportation circle while half-asleep and transport herself elsewhere.
‘Then that man must have interfered with it.’
She had fallen into his trap like a fool.
Erika glared at the man in frustration.
“Did you believe you could leave as freely as you entered?”
A broad smile could be heard in his voice.
She should have responded with anger or cold contempt, but all she could do was bend forward and groan.
“Since the Tower Master greeted us so passionately, it seems only proper that I return the courtesy.”
He raised a finger from beneath his robe.
His hand was not black, but pure white.
He pointed ahead and drew a vertical line through the air.
A multicolored rift appeared and disgorged what lay within.
“Krrrk.”
“Krrrk.”
They were demonic creatures modeled after monster wyverns.
They beat their wings and rose into the air.
There were more than twenty, even by a conservative count.
For the cornered Erika, the situation was utterly hopeless.
The man pointed toward her.
“End her life.”
“Kieeeh!”
The wyverns all flew toward Erika at once.
That was when it happened.
A heavy gale slammed into them.
An enormous object descended like a barrier, large enough to block Erika’s entire field of vision.
The charging wyvern monsters were killed in a single blow.
Boom!
The object crashed into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dirt.
Erika opened her eyes and looked at it.
It was an axe.
A massive battle-axe with a blade large enough for a giant to wield.
Erika knew its owner.
Unlike the brutal weapon she carried, she had a petite frame.
Yet she was a silver-haired girl of extraordinary martial skill, renowned by the epithet Nightmare of the Frost Giants.
“Greetings, Lady Erika.”
It was Luri Silverwind.
“I heard that you had visited the territory and came running without even putting on my shoes. I hope I have not interfered unnecessarily.”
Erika wiped the blood from her lips with her index finger.
“I have shown an unsightly appearance before Valdrova’s maid.”
“It does not concern me. However, from this moment onward, I recommend that you compose yourself more properly.”
There was no need for Erika to question the meaning behind Luri’s words.
She could already sense someone approaching.
He wore a pitch-black suit.
Gray hair and blue eyes.
He was tall and lean, with a delicate build apparent at a glance.
Yet no one could have mistaken him for weak.
His gaze remained fixed upon the enemy without the slightest tremor, as though an army of thousands stood behind him.
Ferda Valdrova.
He strode forward with imposing dignity and came to stand beside Erika.