Chapter 31
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Translator: MJK
Chapter: 031
Chapter Title: I Saved Them
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A wall of fire erupted into the empty air, incinerating the hail of arrows. Every shaft hurtling toward the boy caught ablaze in the flames, crumbling to ash.
In the end, not a single one of the dozens of arrows loosed reached him.
'Curtain of Fire.'
A technique that summoned intense flames vertically to block incoming projectiles.
It wasn't an easy one by any means.
Taming the wild, violent mana of fire and erecting it straight up required total control. For an ordinary first-circle mage, it was a bit much to handle.
But Andy was a freak of nature when it came to magical talent.
His mana sensing was on another level entirely. Even as a mere first-circle mage, he could pull off Curtain of Fire.
"The arrows are getting burned up before they can reach him!"
"...Shut up and keep firing! We can't just charge in there!"
"Archers! Maintain continuous fire!"
Pabababak!
The arrow barrage kept coming.
They knew it wasn't working anymore, but no one dared close the distance for melee with a mage.
The Empire soldiers just kept loosing arrows like mad.
Andy shifted the flow of his mana.
'Forward. Advance.'
Hwarrrrr!
The soaring wall of flames began inching forward, scorching the ground and searing the air as it went.
The Empire troops let out cries of alarm.
"Crazy! The fire's coming this way!"
"Fall back! Fall back!"
The panicked soldiers stumbled backward. But the narrow street was packed with hundreds of them.
They tripped over their own feet, blocked by those behind, unable to retreat quickly.
Hwarrrrr!
Finally, the Curtain of Fire reached them, and it started burning men alive.
"Gaaahhh! Aaaahhh!"
"It's hot! So hot! Save me...!"
The flames marched on, consuming people in their path.
One by one, dozens got swept up and set ablaze. Soldiers thrashed wildly, their bodies wreathed in fire as agonized screams filled the air. The stench of burning flesh mingled with cries of torment.
Andy gritted his teeth.
'Horrible.'
Burning people.
It was a gruesome, nightmarish sight.
Skin charring, throats and lungs cooking from the heat. Their cracked voices howled like wounded beasts.
His hands trembled faintly. His eyebrows twitched. Nausea surged in his gut.
In that brief moment, he'd burned dozens of men to death. Guilt clawed up his spine.
But Andy didn't back down.
'They deserve it.'
These were the Empire soldiers who'd massacred hundreds of innocent townsfolk without mercy.
Knowing that, he swallowed his rising guilt and disgust, pushing the flames onward.
Hwarrrrr!
The fiery curtain swept through the narrow alley. Dozens of Empire troops went up in flames and collapsed. Their screams echoed everywhere.
And moments later...
Hwak...
Andy recalled the fire mana.
"..."
The devastated street filled his vision.
Dozens of charred corpses. Wavering smoke. The sickening smell of burnt meat.
And the terrified eyes of the remaining Empire soldiers.
In that short time, dozens had burned to death. It had all happened in mere minutes—an utterly unreal scene.
"H-he's a mage! We can't win!"
"Run!"
The Empire soldiers, cowed by the young mage's power, were retreating. Some had already turned tail and fled.
Mages terrified them, shattering their morale and sending them routing.
'Looks like they're falling back. Thank goodness.'
Andy let out a quiet sigh of relief.
He felt a wave of relief. If they retreated now, he didn't want to fight anymore.
But their commander clearly had no intention of running.
-Seok!
The centurion's sword flashed. A faint slicing sound rang out, and a fleeing soldier crumpled lifelessly.
Having cut down the deserter, the centurion bellowed.
"Deserters in the face of the enemy will be executed on the spot!"
"Damn it! Don't talk crazy! How are we supposed to fight a mage?! We're not knights!"
"Look over there, all of you!"
Cheok. The centurion pointed his blade at Andy. All eyes turned to the boy.
The centurion shouted confidently.
"That last attack took a lot out of him too! Look at his condition!"
Andy was drenched in cold sweat.
Maintaining Curtain of Fire demanded huge mana reserves and intense focus. That one spell had burned through a third of his mana.
Plus the mental shock of incinerating dozens of men.
His state was far from normal now. Anyone could see he was exhausted.
"He's staggering after just one spell! He's no proper mage! Push a little harder, and he'll drop!"
This was bad.
Andy bit his lip.
'I came out strong from the start to break their morale... but he saw through my condition.'
Why he'd burned so much mana right away on a big spell.
To crush their spirits.
His mana pool was limited; he couldn't fight forever. Show overwhelming power early to make them overestimate him and flee.
But the centurion had clocked his fatigue. He realized Andy couldn't keep that firepower up all day.
The centurion yelled.
"Attack! Take him down! The man who beheads him gets a hundred gold coins as a reward!"
He promised a fortune to whoever killed the mage.
A hundred gold coins. An amount no ordinary soldier could dream of touching.
"..."
The soldiers' expressions changed.
These were Empire grunts who'd risked death in every battle. Men who sold their lives for pay, dancing with death daily.
And now, a massive bounty dangled before them.
The mage looked wiped after one spell. He couldn't last long.
With luck, one of them could kill him and claim the gold.
Clang.
Soldiers gripped their weapons one by one. Blades gleamed toward Andy again.
They weren't backing off anymore.
'So it comes to this after all.'
Andy steeled himself.
No choice now. Either wipe them out before his mana ran dry, or collapse when it did.
Woooong!
His circle spun, amplifying his will. Mana gathered in his hands, igniting.
He thrust his palm forward and unleashed fire magic.
Hwarrrrr!
Flames burst from his hand.
"Dieee!"
Soldiers charged, spears and swords gripped tight, surging toward the boy.
Andy blasted flames at them.
Hwarrrrr!
Dozens were engulfed, burning alive.
"Gaaaaahhh!"
Burning agony—the worst pain a human could endure.
Soldiers collapsed, writhing on the ground. Their screams reverberated through the city.
But even amid the carnage, the assault didn't stop. They couldn't stop now. Victory was in sight.
"He's tiring! Keep pressing, and we win! Grab the mage!"
"Squad Four! Flank him via the buildings! Archers! Loose arrows! Drain his mana steady!"
Andy kept casting nonstop.
The area around him turned to ruin.
Ground smoldered with dying embers. Nearby buildings caught from stray flames. Visibility choked by acrid smoke.
Soldiers kept dying.
The southern district had become an inferno.
Whoooosh!
Heat winds from the blaze whipped around. His black hair thrashed wildly.
Sweat trickled down his pale face.
Anxiety crept into his expression.
'Mana's running low.'
Nearly two hundred enemy soldiers. He'd scorched over a hundred without pause.
And now he felt his soul hollowing out.
He'd burned through so much mana. Not much left.
Breath came shorter. Mind fogged. Body grew heavy.
Every spell brought crushing fatigue.
"Almost there! Push harder!"
Seeing Andy falter boosted Empire morale.
Over half their men were down. In a normal fight, that was near annihilation—time to retreat.
But the enemy was weakening. The centurion pressed the attack, unwilling to waste the fallen.
'I can kill a mage...! Do that, and centurion's mine!'
A mage. Alongside knights, the highest-value target. Killing one rivaled beheading a high-ranking officer.
That glory was right there. Half the troops? Worth it if he bagged the mage.
-Hwak...!
Andy fired another fire spell. But its power was weaker. The flames sputtered feebly.
He knew instinctively.
'Mana's empty.'
He'd drained almost everything. His heart, his soul—hollow voids. No more spells.
And the bad news kept coming.
"Reinforcements! Reinforcements! First Centuria's here!"
Clang, clang, clang...
A hundred more soldiers joined, clanking armor echoing. Empire troops from elsewhere swelled their ranks.
Enemy numbers back to two hundred, all eyeing his weaknesses.
Andy had to face it.
'I lost.'
His defeat.
Mana bottomed out. Enemies emboldened. Fresh reinforcements.
No path to victory. Darkness closed in. He could barely move.
Suddenly, Andy glanced back.
"..."
No one was there.
While he'd held off the Empire with magic, the townsfolk had fled south.
The boy murmured softly.
"The people. I saved them."
Without him, hundreds would have died to Empire blades.
But he'd bought time. They'd escaped the city unharmed.
He'd saved hundreds at the cost of his life.
A worthy death, maybe.
He hated dying, but he wanted meaning in his sacrifice.
He staggered, legs giving out. Body too weak to stand.
"He's down! Attack! Kill the mage!"
"Ooooh!"
The Empire soldiers roared, charging with savage momentum, trampling embers.
Fallen Andy tried to squeeze out one last spell, but he had nothing left.
His vision blurred. Tears welled, blinding him.
'Is this the end?'
He'd tried. But it wasn't enough. Regret and reluctance surged late.
If only he'd trained harder, started magic sooner, raised his circle higher... he wouldn't die so pointlessly.
So many spells unlearned. He hadn't even glimpsed them. That stung most.
But then—
-Awooooooo——!
A wolf's howl rang out.
So majestic, so powerful. The cry of a single spirit beast.
Familiar to the boy.
"...Kurt?"
As he whispered his friend's name—
Kwarrrung!
Lightning rained down, sweeping every direction.