Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Deal (2)
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Royal family member and devil's deal.
This was an enormous scandal.
Even Oliver, who was still largely naive about the ways of the world, knew about it, let alone Arthur and the others.
Their emotions churned like lightning—shock, astonishment, fear, and more.
"...Explain exactly what the hell that means."
Arthur's sharp question. Willis answered.
"A royal offered up a young boy to some creepy foundation. Stabbed his heart with a dagger and smeared the blood on his face. Hewitt saw it through the World Tree."
"Who was it?"
Willis shook his head.
"This is the advance payment. You'll get the details after you successfully complete the job."
Arthur couldn't press further in the face of Willis's firm words and unwavering gaze.
Instead, he shot Oliver a look, asking if it was true.
Oliver nodded.
"Hoo... "
Arthur exhaled roughly as he thought it over. Finally, he made up his mind.
"What do we need to do?"
Willis wanted cover fire.
Macboer, equipped with a stockpile of magic gear, would scout and provide support from the surroundings.
Arthur, with his high-performance golem prosthetic arm, and Dona, the sniper, would cover them.
For the black mage Oliver, he requested backup firepower in case of escape.
Arthur's group all agreed. In fact, they welcomed it.
Not directly attacking the kingdom's army but merely providing support eased their psychological resistance and discomfort somewhat.
Perhaps that had been the plan from the start.
This man named Willis—whether when they first met or in the basement—seemed straightforward, but beneath that lay sharp judgment.
'That aside, they all look pretty serious.'
Oliver thought as he watched Arthur and the others waiting silently in the rear.
Macboer pulled numerous small golems from his magic bag, focusing intently on the projections from his goggles as he flicked his fingers in the air to control them. Dona finished preparing her cover, sniper rifle at the ready.
She mounted a variety of weapons—from a basic sniper rifle to magic guns loaded with chemical projectiles instead of bullets, and even grenade launchers for bombs—preparing for quick swaps if needed.
They weren't exactly small, but he pulled them out of the magic bag with ease.
Oliver didn't sit idle either. He extracted emotions and fed them into several minions with black magic, scattering them around.
Nothing impressive, just enough to trip up groups of enemies.
"...Dave."
"Yes? Arthur?"
"Let me ask one more time. Was it real?"
Arthur's sudden question after a long silence. Oliver replied.
"Yes. I don't know if the story itself is true, but Mr. Willis was at least sincere when he said it."
"I see..."
Arthur trailed off, his expression grave. Oliver asked,
"If it's all right, may I ask a question too?"
"What?"
"I thought only black mages made contracts with devils, but can others do it too?"
Oliver was half-lying.
He knew mages traded with devils too, but saw no need to mention it.
"Who knows... What would an ignorant retired soldier like me know?"
"Ah, sorry. I thought you knew more about the world than I do."
Feeling a sense of responsibility at those words, Arthur spoke up.
"It's the stuff of urban legends."
"Urban legends?"
"Yeah... On the level of witches who cook and eat people for youth, health, or virility."
"But Mr. Willis seemed completely serious. Maybe it's true?"
"Watch your words."
Arthur's voice was deadly serious. His emotions swirled with worry, concern, anxiety.
"...This could make the mighty empire that rules the world creak at the seams. Mind your mouth. Just... don't say anything about it."
"...Ah, sorry."
Arthur's emotions grew grave again.
Greed burned like gold before him, yet he was anxious and afraid. Tormented. Deeply tormented.
The royal's ties to the devil had clearly shaken him hard.
As Arthur's torment deepened, a heavy darkness and silence settled around them.
Then, Macboer—who was monitoring and supporting Willis's group with his small golems—spoke up.
"It's starting."
With those words, a deafening roar erupted below, followed by crimson flames shooting skyward.
Willis's target: the kingdom army reserves meant for reinforcements.
Originally, the plan was to attack small guard units at key points to lure them out, but with Arthur's group added, they changed to striking the reserves directly.
Riskier, but it would draw more attention.
'They've been doing that all along, and they even pinpointed the hidden kingdom army positions. The Kell Freedom Fighters must have more hidden forces and talent than I thought. To map every location...'
Then, flames roared again.
Like cannon fire, massive pillars of fire erupted from multiple directions, igniting the surrounding forest.
The inferno devoured the air with monstrous howls.
The kingdom soldiers plunged into chaos, shock, fear, and panic.
Not just them.
Beasts in the forest fled in terror from the sudden disaster.
Other nearby forces were thrown into confusion, unsure what to do.
'Not everyone, though.'
As Willis and his group used the spreading flames to overwhelm the reserves, another reserve unit far off rushed toward them.
Quick decisions led to swift action.
Normally, they'd retreat here, but Willis didn't.
Instead, to draw even more attention, they gathered mana and ambient flames, conserving power until the kingdom forces were right upon them.
Pababababat——!!
A brilliant white flash burst along the path of the approaching reinforcements, triggering landmines that hammered the kingdom soldiers.
Macboer's handiwork, the magic gear expert. He repositioned golems while monitoring the area.
His timely ambush scattered the reinforcements like ants in a downpour, throwing them into disarray. Seizing the moment, a mage dense with mana closed in fast and unleashed a torrent of power.
A cross-shaped blaze spread wide.
Oliver focused his eyes.
A flood of emotions and life forces—presumed kingdom soldiers—rushed toward them.
Macboer spoke into his communicator.
"Lured them in. Retreat. Retreat."
The target: Willis's side.
Acknowledged, came the reply.
As Willis began retreating, the disorganized kingdom forces hastily reformed and pursued, but they couldn't keep up with Willis's mana-enhanced group—the gap widened steadily.
And on top of that—
"Providing support."
Dona raised her sniper rifle to aid Willis.
Tung-! Tung-!
Dull shots rang out. Kingdom soldiers chasing Willis took rounds to the legs and fell, forcing the rest to drag wounded comrades to cover from the sniper.
They were stalled. Looked like they could escape now.
"Hm?"
A sudden mechanical whine pierced the air.
Gieeeeeeng———!!!
High-output mana energy climbing the slope from below.
It leaped up at astonishing speed.
An exoskeleton-armored kingdom soldier—1.5 times larger than the models Oliver had seen in Randa.
And not just bigger.
Complex mana flowed through its frame. Massive mana poured from the front ram and shoulder-mounted devices, deploying shields in three directions.
The hexagonal blue mana shields protected not just itself but nearby allies—wide coverage, incredibly sturdy.
Sturdy enough that even Dona's high-output mana rounds from her magic gun barely budged it.
Oliver focused his eyes, scrutinizing the exoskeleton's mana shield.
The mana volume was huge, but on impact, it surged to the struck point, boosting defense three or four times over.
Truly remarkable tech. As if to prove it, Arthur muttered,
"Exoskeleton armor imported from Galos. They're serious."
"You know about it?"
"Fought it before. Full specs can trouble even mages. We can't let it reach us."
With that, Arthur extended his golem arm toward the charging exoskeleton.
Mana and stone shifted; a hole opened in the palm's center.
Whoosh. Zzzzzz—
Mana gathered in the aperture. Oliver cut in.
"Hold on."
"What?"
"I'll handle it. Save your strength."
With that, Oliver extracted emotions from a vial and processed them into black magic.
A bit far, but just barely within range.
The converted black mist activated before the exoskeleton-clad soldier, past Willis.
Outcry
Black mist clumps into raging faces, unleashing sonic shockwaves of fury.
The black mist clumped, morphing into countless furious faces.
Kraaaaaaaaagh——!!!!
The roars of rage unleashed shockwaves with deafening noise, slamming the exoskeleton head-on.
The soldier reacted fast, merging shields to max defense.
It held, but trembled violently.
Like a glass shaking from high notes.
That was enough.
Oliver focused his eyes, condensed emotions at his fingertips, and fired hate bullets in rhythm at the vibrating shield's mana particles.
The quaking shield weakened inevitably. The bullets struck soft spots perfectly, piercing through.
A clean hole, cracks spiderwebbing out.
The mana shield shattered like broken glass.
"Minions."
At Oliver's call, the pre-planted minions erupted from the ground like bursting water balloons.
The Blister within them sprayed everywhere, hitting the exoskeleton pilot and trailing kingdom soldiers with biochemical attacks.
The following soldiers took direct hits, purple blisters blotching their faces.
The one inside the armor, struck through gaps, groaned in agony, groggy.
"That's enough. Move per plan."
Arthur said, eyeing the halted pursuit. Everyone followed without objection.
They'd inflicted damage and drawn eyes. Nearby and regional forces would mobilize.
That raised Hewitt's escape odds.
Now it was a race against time.
Shake pursuit, get final payment from Willis, scatter and escape.
'Hm...?'
Mid-flight, Oliver sensed something off and halted.
His sudden stop puzzled everyone.
"What is it?"
Instead of answering Arthur, Oliver triggered black magic. Fast.
Targeting
Marks allies and scatters decoys to rocks/trees for evasion.
Targets: Oliver's group, Willis's too.
Their forms dispersed wildly, dartboard marks flying to nearby rocks and trees.
Activation so swift only startled Willis reacted; others didn't—and that luck saved them.
They barely dodged the ground explosions.
Fwoom——! Boom! Bboom boom!! Boom!! Thud!!
Volcanic blasts uprooted trees, shattering them mid-air; dirt rained down.
As flames spread like Willis's initial attack, painting surroundings red, a man emerged from the earth.
Black hair, red skin.
Oliver saw him today for the first time, but not as a total stranger.
He'd sensed him from afar during his first fight with Willis.
"You're the army mage, I take it."
Oliver addressed the red-skinned mage staring coldly in silence.