Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Flame of the Red Mage
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After meeting with Hadem and returning, I went straight to see Sharen.
No matter how much I'd chosen this path for the territory and its people, in the end, I'd decided to treat one of my vassals as a weapon.
I believed it was only proper as a lord to make that crystal clear to her.
It might just be an excuse, but I really did try!
It's that crazy bastard Yu-seon who's screwing everything up!!
"Things have come to this, and you're the only one I can turn to. Sharen, I beg you. Lend me your power—for the sake of our people, and for me."
Sharen listened intently to every word I said.
Then she quietly opened her mouth.
"It's fine, my lord. I understand completely."
She gave a calm smile.
It was as if she already knew everything without me saying a word.
"I understand how hard you've worked for the people, and how you hesitated until the very last moment to use my power."
She rose, gripping her red staff.
Even I, with no mana or blessings, could feel the enormous storm of magic power surging around her.
Whoa... Mages like this get ambushed by bandits every two days on their travels?
Those bandits outside must have nine lives each.
"And that's precisely why I chose to become your vassal."
She knelt respectfully before me.
It was the formal posture of a vassal before their lord.
"Give me your orders, my lord. Red Mage Sharen stands ready."
In her own way, she'd steeled her resolve and become the mage of me—and our house.
Then, as a beloved lord, it was time for me to live up to those expectations.
"Sharen! Burn every last one of those monsters invading our territory to ash!!"
At my words, Sharen lifted her head and met my eyes.
Her crimson gaze burned even brighter and more beautifully than it had in the game.
"As you command, my lord."
With Sharen accepting my orders, I could finally launch Operation Monster and Lion—hunting Deep Rocks while keeping the Lion Family in check.
Alright! Time to put on a hell of a show!!
The Lion Family noticed the change first.
Ragos, Hadem's right-hand man, was smoking a cigarette at the border when he spotted it.
"The knights... they're multiplying?"
Hadem's orders had been clear: strike Cron's territory the moment a gap appeared.
And Ragos had spent days scouting, finally spotting that gap.
If they moved knights to hunt monsters, his Lion Family knights could march in and seize it with ease.
But those gaps were filling with knights almost instantly.
"Deploying knights like that... how do they plan to handle the Deep Rocks?"
Ragos had fought in a Deep Rock extermination before.
He knew they weren't to be taken lightly—it would take Cron's full strength to drive them off.
As Ragos pondered this, two riders approached from the Cron side.
One was a girl with white hair, the other a knight guarding her.
The girl stopped before him without flinching.
"Hello. I'm Noah, vassal to Lord Calix. I've come to deliver a gift from the lord to Baron Hadem."
"A gift?"
"Yes!"
Noah pulled out a small box.
Inside were black protective goggles.
"Another sun might rise today, so the lord thought these would protect Baron Hadem's eyes."
"I see. I'll pass them on to the baron."
"Thank you! Farewell."
With that, Noah turned back.
Ragos got the message Cron was sending.
It was a warning: prepare like this, because Red Mage Sharen's magic is that devastating.
But Ragos had fought mages before and seen high-tier spells.
Impressive, sure—but not goggles-impressive.
"Still, better safe than sorry."
Ragos's creed was 'as long as I survive, that's all that matters.'
He valued survival above all, and every effort to that end had gotten him this far.
He quietly pocketed a pair of goggles from the box, then returned to Hadem.
Near Rag Beach, where the Deep Rock horde was climbing ashore, hell was already unfolding.
"Awoooook—!!!"
"Aook!!!!"
The grotesque fish-headed monsters with arms and legs—Deep Rocks—clustered in groups of dozens.
They ravaged fish from the shore, livestock like cows, pigs, and chickens, and wild animals like rabbits and foxes.
"Disgusting creatures."
"Indeed, my lord."
From a distant hill, Hart and I watched, grimacing.
Ugh, how can anything be that gross?
I love sashimi, but after this, I won't touch it for a while.
As we observed, a soldier ran up.
"Preparations are complete, my lord!"
"Good work."
At his words, I mounted up and rode forward.
I felt the eyes of the knights and soldiers below turn to me.
They awaited my command.
Their gazes burned with morale—but laced with fear.
It was justified.
With main forces tied up at the border checking the Lion Family, our numbers here were less than 10% of the Deep Rocks'.
A head-on clash meant certain death for us all.
Feeling that dread, I drew a deep breath and steeled myself.
Stepping before them, I shouted loud enough for all to hear.
"You are all afraid!!! "
All eyes locked on me.
As lord of Cron—and commander of this operation—I declared,
"There are too many of them, and too few of us. And behind us, those hyenas in lion skins wait for a chance to bare their teeth."
These were the elite of the Cron Knight Order.
They knew the situation better than anyone.
But knowing and overcoming were different.
People need something to stir their hearts for courage.
In a word, dope!!
"But we must overcome!!!"
I thought of my past life.
Recalling war stories I'd seen, I delivered the most hyping line.
"If we fall, our families and friends are in danger. Our land will be toyed with by fish freaks and lion whelps!!"
I pointed toward the territory and the border.
Reminding them what we protected—and our foes.
"Only we here can stop it!!"
I saw fire ignite in the knights' and soldiers' eyes.
The dope was filling their hearts.
Now, the finisher.
"And when fear grips you, remember—behind you stands I, the Silver Dragon of Cron!! For Cron!!!"
I'd recently learned they called me the Silver Dragon of Cron.
Not a nickname I wanted—it just fueled enmity.
But now was the time to use everything available.
My words hit home; knights and soldiers roared.
"For Cron!!"
"For the lord!!!"
"We will triumph!!!"
"Wooooooo!!!!!!!"
They looked ready to charge the Deep Rocks right then.
Hmm... morale's sky-high, but I hope they remember this is a lure op...
"Operation Deep Rock Annihilation begins now!!!"
"Charge!!! Time to chop off those fish bastards' dicks!!"
At my declaration, Brock—leading in Rikain's stead—spurred his horse toward the Deep Rocks.
Armored lightly with bows and crossbows only, they rode like knights unburdened.
Reaching the horde, Brock commanded,
"Fire!!"
Shuuuk! Shuu-shuuk!!
At his order, they unleashed arrows and bolts into the Deep Rocks.
Dozens pierced the hunting packs.
"Awooooook!!!"
"Kook!!"
Arrow-riddled like porcupines, the Deep Rocks glared at their attackers.
Furious, they gave chase.
"Perfect! On to the next group!! Hya!!!"
Thus, the knights shot and fled, luring pack after pack along the shore.
Recognizing them as foes, the Deep Rocks pursued.
Dozens swelled to hundreds, then thousands in moments.
"Don't stop!!! Halt here and you're trampled!!!"
"Yes sir!!!"
The Deep Rock legion chased relentlessly.
Clustering, they accelerated—trampling slower kin, forcing knights to full gallop.
They reached the final stage of the plan.
"All... scatter!!!!!"
"Yes sir!!!"
It was Cron's widest valley.
Far from homes, dank and swampy, shunned by beasts.
At the entrance, knights dispersed.
The horde ignored the fleeing humans, eyes on piled wild boar corpses like mountains.
"Awoook♥!!!"
"Uwoook-uwoook♥♥!!!"
Enraptured by fresh meat, Deep Rocks stormed in, heedless of the knights.
The silent valley filled with hundreds, thousands in seconds.
All preparations complete.
From a safe spot away from the valley, I told Sharen,
"Sharen, finish it."
"As you command, my lord."
Sharen levitated into the air.
Before ascending, she glanced back.
"It's dangerous, so wear the goggles and stay in the barrier."
"Got it."
I donned the goggles and entered her protective spell as she warned.
High above, she began her incantation.
Crimson mana swirled around her.
"Domine Ignis."
"Incarnatio Draconis."
"Supplico tibi."
"Flamma diei ultimis orbis."
"Descende."
⟨ Flame of Lanix ⟩
Sharen was revered as the Red Mage, but what people knew differed subtly from the truth.
I learned why after making her my vassal.
I'd first encountered her as a game character and knew her power.
How overwhelming it was.
But others didn't.
Because she'd been hiding it.
She distrusted all lords, using minimal power.
Even hunting orcs was just her basic fire spell.
True power unleashed before all...
Was now.
Flame of Lanix
The pinnacle fire magic, drawing on Fire Dragon God Lanix's might.
Usable only by heirs of the Red Tower.
Her chant ended; crimson mana gathered overhead, forming a fire dragon.
How did it look to the Deep Rocks below?
Mid-feast, they looked up: sky ablaze, hell dragon glaring down.
Cthulhu mythos had nothing on this.
"Awoo..."
"A... awoo..."
Unlike Cthulhu, this dragon craved not madness, but annihilation.
The Flame of Lanix plummeted into the valley.
And...
Woooong—
KABOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Gahhh!!!"
Even from afar, with her barrier, the heatwave slammed me.
Regaining senses, I looked to ground zero...
"...My god..."
A pillar of fire erupted hundreds of meters, birthing a mushroom cloud.
I recalled her ultimate's description: nuclear-blast power.
Not hyperbole—a real nuke.
That day, I gained the nuclear button in this world.