Chapter 326: Tomb of the Serpent (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 326: Tomb of the Serpent (4)
Dark clouds gathered in the once-clear black sky.
Suddenly, a flash of violet light split the silent darkness. The lightning was far too sudden and powerful to be a natural phenomenon. It was undoubtedly Euria's magic.
“Hina, that child, and Kyrie have arrived at the Marquis's mansion with a mage named Rachel Grace. They say Crown Prince Franz remained in the annex.”
If Chase made a single wrong move or said one wrong word here, he could be branded a traitor and spend the rest of his life in a dungeon. Because of this, he couldn't relay Kyrie's explanation word for word, sharing only the most crucial details. Then, rather than explaining further, he handed the ring connecting him to Kyrie over to Calian.
"Did you think I would just sit back and take it?"
Those were the words Devlan had just spat at Chase.
And Franz's killing intent.
That was more than enough for Calian to piece together what had happened. Devlan had plotted another one of his serpentine schemes, and Franz had found out. He had sent Hina to the mansion, and a fight had broken out there.
For a Kairis mage—who should have avoided getting involved in Secritia's affairs—to act so conspicuously meant only one thing: something had happened that forced them to unleash such blatant power.
“Master. Come immediately. To Marquis Lin's mansion.”
“Understood.”
Thus, Calian had immediately summoned Alan, who was scheduled to meet with Ruben, another 7th Circle mage.
"Devlan... How dare you."
A dry laugh escaped Calian's lips.
The plaza had been quiet to begin with. Because of that, the eyes of those who clearly heard the Third Prince of Kairis's words widened in shock.
He didn't care.
"You dared to touch my people? While keeping me tied up here, right in front of my eyes... How dare you."
This was not Calian the calculating, politically savvy prince. Nor was it Calian the Sword Master, who knew precisely when to use his strength and when to hold back.
This was simply Calian, and he was furious.
Whirrr—!
An aura that seemed to contain a blazing fire gathered at his empty fingertips. A long, sharp sword burning a brilliant crimson materialized in his hand. Gripping it, Calian took slow, heavy steps forward.
"Prince Calian. Stop."
Devlan's knights moved in unison to block Calian's path. Calian paid them no mind. He raised the sword in his hand and threw it as if it were nothing more than a dagger.
Swoosh!
The long blade of aura flew relentlessly toward Devlan. Chase watched, the knights could do nothing, and Teilan did not move. Devlan simply stared back at Calian.
Calian's sword did not stop.
It flew straight toward Devlan's heart. The blade lunged forward without hesitation, as if to pierce Devlan's chest—
Thwack!
—and embedded itself deep into the center of the palace's main gate pillar, right behind Devlan.
Everyone held their breath.
Devlan, who had been staring at Calian, slowly inhaled and exhaled. He didn't look down at his body, which had just seemed to be pierced by Calian's sword. His eyes remained locked on Calian's crimson gaze.
He knew better than anyone that Calian would not kill him here and now.
For the brief moment it passed through Devlan's body, Calian's sword had turned into formless energy, leaving him completely unharmed despite seemingly piercing his heart. Now, buried entirely in the palace pillar with only its hilt exposed, the sword dripped with a sizzling red energy.
It was a message: I could have killed you at any moment, but I chose to let you live.
"Sir Castrin."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness."
Chase's voice cut through the silence.
"His Highness is currently attacking the Marquis's mansion and the annex."
The words were spoken aloud for all to hear. Gasps echoed through the crowd. Marquis Legian Lin's gaze shot toward Chase.
"As you know, my mother, Lady Lin, and Viscountess Bern—Crown Prince Franz's fiancée—are at the Marquis's mansion... and Crown Prince Franz is alone in the annex."
Chase continued his public declaration. "Go to the Marquis's mansion immediately. Assist Lady Lin, rescue everyone, and bring them safely to the palace."
"Yes, Your Royal Highness."
Handing the sleeping child to the person beside him, Teilan slipped through the crowd. He immediately mounted his horse and galloped toward Legian's mansion.
For Chase's knight to aid those opposing Devlan's knights was an act of treason. Chase had just openly committed it, yet no one wavered.
Instead, Devlan's expression faltered, if only for a fraction of a second. He likely hadn't expected Franz to be alone in the annex, nor for Hina to be at Legian's mansion.
Step.
Calian took a step forward.
"Once a month. Sometimes once a week."
He walked, digging through his memories. He walked toward Devlan, dredging up sickening, ancient memories he never wanted to recall again.
"When I heard that entire noble families were wiped out and burned to ashes, I thought that no matter how mad a king was—one who couldn't even recognize his own family—he was still human. I wondered how a human could possibly be so cruel. But seeing what you did to my brother and my people today, I understand. I see now that it was all true."
Step, step.
"Kairis will never let this matter slide. And as for me..."
He took another step toward Devlan, passing the King's knights, who stood frozen, paralyzed by the day's revelations and a suffocating, unprecedented killing intent. He walked until he could hear Devlan's very breathing.
Calian flashed a slow, lingering smile. He leaned close to Devlan's ear. Without bothering to cast a Silent spell, his crimson lips parted slightly.
"Every single day, I will come for you. Until the day you die."
A flawless, beautiful voice delivered the dreamlike whisper.
"I will make sure you die regretting that you ever touched my people. No matter when or where, whether you are breathing or not... I will make wherever you stand the tomb of the serpent."
The specter that would haunt Devlan for the rest of his days had delivered its warning.
"......I..."
Devlan clenched his fists unconsciously. He looked at his knights, who seemed to have given up on trying to protect him, and then at the faces of the nobles still staring at him. When he turned his head back, Calian was gone. He had vanished without a trace.
A chilling sensation seemed to linger in his heart, right where the red aura had passed through.
It was as if he had just encountered a ghost.
*
A round, playful smile filled Adelia's narrow eyes.
"Wow. Alan Manasil is here. When they told me to play for a bit, they must have been talking about you."
Watching Adelia, Hina thought she looked very much like a mischievous child.
"Anyway, I thought something was off. You've reached the 8th Circle, haven't you?"
Standing a fair distance away, Adelia flashed a grin. After all, he had neutralized all of her attacks the instant he arrived.
At her friendly remark, Alan gave a small nod, prompting Adelia to speak again.
"So, did you come to capture me, or just to show off your advancement?"
"What would I do with an old hag? I came because you touched my kids."
"Ah... that's too harsh."
A mage who reaches the 7th Circle reverts to the age most suitable for manifesting their magic. This phenomenon, known as age reversal, restored their appearance to their early or mid-twenties. A mage who had undergone age reversal also aged much more slowly than ordinary people. Alan, for example, had reached the 7th Circle upon arriving in Libern and reverted to the body of a twenty-three-year-old, maintaining the appearance of someone in his mid-twenties until recently.
Therefore, Adelia, who currently looked to be in her mid-thirties, was actually far older than Alan. Despite this, her words and actions were a far cry from mature. Then again, considering the likes of Arsen or the lunatics of Valkan, one had to wonder how many mages in the world actually acted their age—but that was a thought for another time.
"I haven't even started with the harsh words, so don't take it to heart," Alan said. "By the way, what is someone who used to shut herself in a back room doing research doing out in the world?"
"I was bored," Adelia answered nonchalantly, her eyes smiling.
She was still standing atop a pillar of the mansion's main gate. Finding it awkward to converse like that, she lightly hopped down in front of Alan. She smiled once more at Hina, who stood behind Alan, and spoke.
"By the way, that half-elf. Earlier, she—"
Snap!
Adelia's words cut short.
Alan snapped his fingers, and in that instant, the two mages standing in the middle of the Marquis's estate vanished.
The forest where Alan fought Calian had been completely devastated, even though Alan had merely exerted himself as if taking a stroll while Calian emptied his entire mana pool. Adelia aside, Alan had no intention of destroying Secritia.
Those who had briefly faced such an overwhelming presence, only to be left behind in an instant, wore complicated expressions. No one moved.
Hina quietly lowered her head and unclenched her tightly closed fist. Then, she took what was inside and slipped it onto her finger.
A simple silver ring.
It was what Alan had handed her just moments ago. It was a means to contact Calian, replacing the bracelet Adelia had broken.
Seeing this, Arianne approached and placed her hand over the ring. She knew Hina was a healer and guessed she wouldn't be able to manipulate mana on her own.
Soon, a faint light began to glow from the ring.
“Prince Calian.”
There was no response.
Though she didn't know what he was doing, Hina did not call out again and simply waited. After a long while, a reply finally came.
“Hina.”
“Are you alright?”
“I... don't know. What's the situation there?”
“A white-haired mage showed up, but Marquis Manasil arrived. Everyone is safe. Marquis Manasil vanished along with that mage.”
“...I see. Hina. I'm glad. You must have had a hard time.”
Calian's voice was heavily subdued, yet a deep sense of relief could be felt within it.
“I didn't have a hard time. I'm fine.”
“Right.”
“What about Prince Franz?”
After a brief silence, an even more subdued voice answered.
“He's asleep. I moved him inside the annex and am watching over him.”
“There was a concealed weapon coated with an anesthetic.”
“That must be why. He has a wound on his right shoulder.”
Hina asked back, her face filled with surprise.
“Is the wound serious?”
“...It was pierced through. But it's not an incurable wound. It's healing, and the bleeding has stopped. He seems fine otherwise.”
“I'll take a look at him when I return. Don't worry too much. Marquis Manasil and the Crown Prince will be fine, too.”
“Yeah.”
While they carried on their brief conversation, Arianne was the first to move, checking if anyone inside the mansion had been injured. In the distance, Euria could be seen on the roof, her eyes closed as she focused entirely on guarding the perimeter. Arsen, who was supposed to be guarding Louise, was nowhere to be seen. Since coming outside was dangerous, he was likely still protecting Louise inside her room.
Some more time passed. As the quiet night deepened, no one could easily bring themselves to speak.
Then, another person who no longer had any reason to hold back arrived.
Teilan had reached the mansion.
Long, agonizing screams began to echo from outside.
*
Deep in a forest, there was a small village.
It was the safest of places, where no matter how much destruction occurred, no damage would reach the outside world, and the map of Secritia would remain unchanged. It was also a place where no one lived anymore, as everyone who had been staying there until recently had fled.
Ruuuumble!
Bridget Forest.
In its very center, the village once protected by the elves' barrier shook. Literally, the entire village trembled. Blades of grass on the small hills swayed wildly, and dust fell from the ceilings of the small houses.
Soon after, fire tornadoes as massive as the spires of the Secritian Royal Palace erupted from the earth. Writhing as if alive, they surged toward Alan.
Just before the fierce flames could engulf him, Alan, who had been watching with calm eyes, moved his hand.
The air in the forest froze, and all oxygen around the pillars of fire vanished. The rapidly spreading flames cooled and lost their shape with anticlimactic ease.
With a single gesture, he had dispelled a 7th Circle Flame Storm.
"As expected," Adelia said, standing at a distance and nodding as if she had anticipated it. Immediately after, a massive wave of mana surged from all directions around Alan.
Whoosh... Swoooosh...!
The wind rushed in. A tornado descending from the sky and another rising from the earth closed the distance in an instant, hurtling toward Alan.
Alan vanished, reappearing right behind where Adelia had been standing. Simultaneously, Adelia faded away and popped up where Alan had been just a moment ago. He had swapped their positions.
An admiring smile played on Adelia's lips.
Ruuuumble!
The earth groaned. The ground beneath Alan's feet seemed to sink as the earth split apart. Above, the house-sized tornado Adelia had created bypassed her and swept toward Alan. At the same time, multiple pillars of fire erupted from the ground, stretching out like vines to seize his ankles.
Snap!
A crisp sound echoed from Alan's fingertips.
The earthquake conjured by the mage's power ceased. The earth, which had split apart, moved once more to restore its original form. Having forced the fractured ground back together, Alan reached his arm out toward Adelia again.
Rumble! Boom!
The ground beneath Adelia's feet shattered into pieces, kicking up a massive cloud of dust as it plummeted toward a seemingly bottomless abyss. Losing her footing, Adelia vanished and reappeared elsewhere, only for the ground there to collapse as well.
Deep underground, bubbling lava bared its crimson maw, as if waiting for Adelia to fall. Briefly stepping on a falling fragment of rock, Adelia manifested her body elsewhere. And there…
Boom! Crash! Bam! Thud!
Stars fell from the sky.
Each fragment, forcibly pulled down to crash into the ground, left deep scars upon the earth. Realizing a shield would be useless, Adelia smiled faintly and warped further away. Then, she extended her arm toward Alan.
Swoooosh!
The wind swirled. Sharp stone fragments, shards of ice, and pillars of fire all blended into the vortex. As this new attack formed, Alan felt the ground beneath his feet grow heavy. She had manipulated the gravity around him to bind him in place.
Casting five different types of magic simultaneously.
This was not a feat possible for a mere 7th Circle mage.
He hadn't heard the full story from Hina, but he could tell. A gentle smile played on Alan's lips.
"So it wasn't just empty bravado."
No wonder she had been so relaxed in the presence of an 8th Circle mage.
Alan raised his hand, having already forced back the gravitational force binding his arms long ago. Just as he opened his mouth to chant a short spell—
“How noisy.”
Flutter, flutter.
A single black butterfly quietly fluttered down and perched on the tip of Alan's finger.