Chapter 111
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: Contingency Plans
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Preparations for a potential attack.
Pernyan’s preparations involved more than just Professor Rosalia, the Red Shell Knights, or holy water.
Wooden.
The Ego Golem, created with the pinnacle of the Fallenberg family’s technology, was the final weapon Pernyan had in mind.
- Thump.
It wasn’t just its destructive power that was formidable.
A spirit’s sensitivity and detection abilities far surpassed a human’s, and Wooden, enhanced by its golem form, was even more exceptional.
Thanks to this, it had located the hidden Vile Breed, allowing them to draw the enemy into a battle on their own terms.
After cleaving its body with Wooden’s sword, coated in holy water and aura, drenching it thoroughly with more holy water, and finally setting it ablaze, the Vile Breed’s body was completely annihilated.
It was a slight shame not to take it prisoner, but once it had seen Wooden, annihilation was the better choice.
Besides, Professor Rosalia would be capturing a prisoner anyway.
“Well done.”
- Thump, thump!
Pernyan stroked Wooden’s head, now small again. Its eyes curved into crescents, seemingly satisfied with having grown to its true size for the first time in a while.
“Still, try not to devour so much mana next time. My mana heart is completely empty.”
Creating an aura blade on such a massive sword required a proportional amount of mana. And the source of that mana was, of course, its contractor, Pernyan.
- Thump.
“Right, I’m the one who made your sword that way. What can I say?”
A wave of exhaustion washed over him, and he briefly considered drinking a mana potion but quickly dismissed the thought.
There wouldn’t be any more enemies for now, so there was no need to waste a potion.
“Now, let’s see…”
He peeked out from the crevice to look outside. Unlike the quiet underground, the surface had completely transformed.
A pure white, snow-covered mountain. A thick blanket of snow covered the world, and a fierce storm swept across the land.
A shiver ran down his spine, and Pernyan pulled his head back inside.
“We’d better stay here for a while.”
- Thump!
Pernyan sat before the cart and started a fire. He boiled water and made coffee.
- Thump, thump?
“Am I being too relaxed? This doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon. Not that it’s a situation I can carelessly jump into, either.”
In the first place, with Rosalia fighting at full strength, there was little Pernyan could do. The gap between them was just that wide.
‘Besides, it’s not like I don’t have other contingencies in place.’
When he’d checked just now, all the demonic beasts had been dealt with. Even so, Pernyan didn’t call the Red Shell Knights to his side.
As already agreed, they would remain hidden in the snow, prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.
If Rosalia were in danger, they would save her.
If the Vile Breed tried to flee, they would block its path.
And if Rosalia successfully subdued the Vile Breed, they would return as mere spectators.
‘That would be the best outcome.’
After all, a ‘what if’ is best when it never comes to pass.
- Thump, thump, thooooomp!
“Bring the people outside in? No, they have a job to do.”
- Thooooomp!
“A wicked master? Where did you learn a word like that?”
Pernyan scoffed.
“Listen closely, Wooden. Humanity is divided into two types: those who give money and those who receive it.”
- Thump?
“They are paid an immense sum by me to do that job. So there’s no need for pity.”
To be precise, the Fallenberg family was paying them, but what did it matter? Eventually, the Fallenberg family would be his.
Slurp—
The raging blizzard was visible high above.
Perhaps it was the scenery, but the coffee tasted exceptionally good today.
“You have this.”
- Thooomp!
Wooden took the World Tree bark chocolate and hugged it tightly.
It couldn’t eat the chocolate, but it could absorb the faint forest essence mixed within it.
‘Mixing a branch of the World Tree into its core was a brilliant move.’
The discovery that it adored the energy of the forest and could grow from it was a coincidence.
Specifically, it happened after Wooden secretly devoured a box of World Tree bark chocolate Pernyan had prepared for Ruina.
‘The chocolate, drained of its essence, was reduced to a tasteless lump of sugar.’
Still, Wooden’s energy had grown, however slightly, so he didn’t say anything about it. Since then, he would just toss it one from time to time.
‘What would happen if I took it to the World Tree one day and let it absorb everything?’
An impossible feat, but still.
Pernyan chuckled and stroked Wooden’s head as it absorbed the chocolate’s essence.
- Thump!
Wooden shivered with delight.
***
“Commander.”
“Wait.”
Harten lay buried in the suddenly conjured snow, suppressing his presence.
The biting cold was repelled, unable to penetrate the vest-shaped warming artifact.
Pernyan had given one to every member in preparation for this very situation.
“There are only two scenarios in which we intervene: if Professor Rosalia is in danger, or if the Vile Breed escapes. The young master’s orders were not to act until then.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Still, the mage touted as the next Archmage is truly on another level.”
“I agree.”
The members of the Red Shell Knights marveled.
───!
A wall of clear, transparent ice blocked the demonic energy before surging forward to crash down on the Vile Breed.
As the Vile Breed burst through the wall, a brilliant white flash erupted.
Hundreds of ice spears rained down on the half-frozen Vile Breed. It barely escaped by melting into the shadows, only to slip on the snow-covered ground.
Then, the snowflakes themselves gathered and swallowed the Vile Breed whole.
The raw power was one thing, but what was more astonishing was the fluid, natural chain of attacks.
There were no gaps between her spells, and she utilized both her magic and the environment to their fullest to corner her opponent.
“Asen. What’s your assessment of that Vile Breed’s level?”
“I couldn’t win. What about you, Commander?”
“If I fought well, it would be an even match. Otherwise, I’d lose.”
“It’s that strong?”
“It’s a powerful one.”
He didn’t feel a sense of defeat at the admission.
He roughly knew the value of the research subject known as the mana stone combination and that the Vile Breeds were after it.
It was within expectations that a high-level adversary would appear.
He hadn’t lost his motivation. It was simply too soon now, but he was filled with the resolve to surpass that level one day.
“Split into two groups and circle around to take the rear. Be careful not to be detected.”
“Yes, sir.”
Harten led one half and moved out cautiously.
Meanwhile, the battle was reaching its climax.
“Hmph, you’re not easy…!”
The masked man knocked away a shard of ice aimed at his chest and threw himself backward.
“Damn…!”
A wall of ice, erected at some unknown moment, blocked his path.
A moment’s hesitation, and as if waiting for it, a blue beam struck him directly.
───!
When the white mist cleared, the masked man was gone. Rosalia cast Blink.
A step too late, black aura sliced through the empty air.
“How?”
“Pathetic.”
Rosalia wasn’t the kind of fool who explained her methods to the enemy, nor did she have any intention of doing so.
Conversation during battle should be kept short. Long talks were more efficient after the enemy was beaten half to death.
Tap—
She lightly tapped the ground with her staff. The ice the masked man stood on erupted into dozens of spikes.
His body was launched into the air, and Rosalia didn’t miss the perfect target.
First, she sent hundreds of ice spears flying, then began chanting while forming hand seals.
In the sky directly above the masked man, a massive magic circle of unimaginable size began to form.
The masked man, who had been forging demonic energy to deflect the spears, felt the ominous mana and his brow twitched.
“This is a bit dangerous…!”
His figure vanished in an instant. It wasn’t magic or anything of the sort. He simply kicked off the air with brute force, launching himself like an arrow.
─!
A large crater appeared where Rosalia had just been standing. Shattered debris scattered in all directions.
“There!”
─!
─!
He predicted Rosalia’s Blink location and fired blasts of demonic energy. Rosalia sometimes dodged, sometimes blocked with shields and walls.
Even amidst the chaos, her chanting and incantations never ceased.
The magic circle was finally complete.
“N-No…!”
A colossal amount of mana stirred.
The spell was cast.
The world was bathed in blue, swallowing the masked man’s scream.
When the pillar of light completely vanished,
the masked man stood there, every part of him completely frozen except for his head. His complexion was pale, and no demonic energy could be felt.
“…His head is still free?”
He must have a trick or two up his sleeve.
Rosalia walked toward him, her steps steady.
“This isn’t very cost-effective…”
“It will be, if what’s in your head isn’t worth my trouble.”
“No, that’s not what I mean. Heheheh, did you know? I’m actually the bait.”
The masked man burst out laughing.
“Bait?”
Rosalia levitated a smoothly polished piece of ice in the air.
Reflected in the makeshift mirror, the cart was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were only signs of a fierce battle.
“My target was you from the very beginning. To tie you up and stall for time. Honestly, I was confident I could win, but after fighting you directly, I see it now. Rosalia Vienderk, you’re an absolute monster. I understand why they say you’re the next Archmage.”
“I don’t know your name, yet you know mine.”
“Do you want to know my name?”
“Not particularly.”
There was no reason, no need, to know the name of a corpse.
The masked man, now just a head, sneered at Rosalia’s cold, venomous words.
“Calling a perfectly living person a corpse. How hurtful. Isn’t your heart pounding? Your research has already been stolen. The invisible cart and Pernyan Fallenberg are the proof.”
“I don’t normally converse with my enemies. But there is an exception: a captured enemy.”
“Can’t argue with that. I can’t move an inch.”
“So, allow me to correct your foolish assumption.”
Rosalia’s staff tapped the masked man’s head. A chilling mana replenished the frost.
“Pernyan Fallenberg is a relentless man. He never allows his possessions to be taken. No matter what it takes, no matter what he has to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means you’re the bait that was pointlessly devoured by the fish.”
“You’re confident. Do you really think Pernyan can stop *Him*?”
“Didn’t I just say? Pernyan never lets his things be taken. If something is taken, he takes back more than what was lost, but he would never make a deal with disgusting filth like you, so there’s only one possible outcome, isn’t there?”
Six years. A full six years.
“It was Pernyan’s first sponsorship, and the amount of funding was astronomical. It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but my research was a money pit.”
Pernyan managed to salvage something that had been destroyed by Vile Breeds, and you think he would just hand it over to you?
“Wake up, you fools. That will never…”
Rosalia’s eyes widened. The corners of the masked man’s mouth were drenched in crimson blood.
“Khahaha, we’ll soon see who’s right. For that to happen, I’m afraid I’ll have to leave.”
Crrrack, crrrack—
The masked man’s eyes turned bloodshot.
His body twisted grotesquely and swelled, and demonic energy erupted from him like an explosion.
Shattering the ice that had half-sealed him, the creature, now more than twice its original size, exhaled black demonic energy like breath.
“…Ugh, this feels amazing. A mug of beer would be perfect right now.”
He caressed his bulging muscles and veins, and with those words, he turned without hesitation and began to flee.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Rosalia’s magic exploded on the creature’s back.
“Damn it, stop him!”
“Get out of the way if you don’t want to die!”
The waiting Red Shell Knights swung their swords, but he took the blows with his body and pushed them aside.
His path was recklessly straight, his speed brutally fast.
“…His legs.”
It wasn’t a wound from Rosalia’s magic or the knights’ aura.
Overload. From pushing his muscles beyond their limits, his legs were being destroyed in real-time.
Yet his speed didn’t decrease. The black demonic energy was constantly replenishing his strength.
Catching him would be difficult.
“…I was the fool.”
She’d thought she had him on the hook and started running her mouth.
It was something she rarely did, but she had been furious with the Vile Breed for ruining her research and even blocking its presentation.
If she had to make an excuse, it was that she hadn’t considered he would flee by pushing his power to a level that consumed his own life force.
“…I made a mistake.”
“Professor! Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. What about the other knights?”
“Some are injured, but since he was only focused on escaping, none of the injuries are serious.”
“He got one over on me. Oh, right, where is Pernyan?”
“The young master is down in the crevice. Don’t worry, the research material will be safe.”
“Crevice?”
Rosalia strode into the fissure in the earth.
And there she found him.
“…What are you doing right now?”
Pernyan, sitting calmly by a campfire, drinking coffee.
“Drinking coffee.”
“I hope you don’t think I’m asking because I couldn’t see that.”
“I was replenishing my energy. You might not know it, Professor, but I had a bloody battle of my own.”
As if to prove Pernyan’s words, traces of a battle were scattered all around.
Wanting to say something but unable to find the right words, Rosalia let out a hollow laugh and sat down beside him.
Then she held out her hand.
“What is it?”
“A cigarette.”
“Didn’t I give you some?”
“I’m too tired. I don’t have the mana to open my subspace. You always keep a carton on hand.”
“Yes, right away, ma’am. That’ll be 100 gold per stick.”
“That’s a rip-off.”
“Prices tend to fluctuate depending on the environment and circumstances.”
Pernyan grinned as he pulled a cigarette from his subspace. At that moment, Rosalia’s eyes narrowed.
“…For someone who just fought a bloody battle, you seem to have enough mana to open your subspace?”
“…It’s best to let the little things slide. I’ll give you a special price, one-tenth of the original.”
Pernyan placed the cigarette in Rosalia’s hand. He lit it with a small flame from his fingertip.
Shhhh—
Rosalia put the cigarette to her lips and took a drag. As the mana stimulant filled her lungs, her mind cleared a little.
“…Good.”
As expected, the mana stone combination was unharmed.
Rosalia was satisfied that things hadn’t gone the way the Vile Breed she’d let escape had claimed.
“You’ve all worked hard. Come, have a cup.”
“Thank you, young master.”
The tea time, now including the knights, continued for ten minutes.
“Oh, right. I let the Vile Breed get away.”
“…Pardon? I completely annihilated the one that came this way, trusting you’d handle yours.”
“He was surprisingly fast, running as if his life depended on it. Things might have been different if someone had helped instead of leisurely drinking coffee.”
“…”
Until the blizzard completely subsided.