Overwhelmed
Fwoosh.
A great blaze erupted and swallowed the monsters that had crossed the moat.
The mages' assault did not end there. Ice pillars shot up from the ground, lightning crashed down from overhead, and razor-sharp winds tore through the air—a spectacular display of every elemental magic at once.
The monsters were wiped out in an instant.
"Our strategy worked perfectly."
"All thanks to Your Highness's keen judgment."
Orlando inclined his head slightly toward Sernel.
"It was only possible because of Sir Chedleton and the Tower mages. But this alone is not enough."
Sernel looked up at the towering wall.
"Wouldn't it only be complete once we've dealt with the enemies beyond that wall as well?"
"The enemy won't be able to dispel magic of this caliber. We should climb up at once. Maintaining the wall drains a great deal of mana—the mages are barely holding it."
At Orlando's signal, a mage cast Levitation.
Thoom.
Everyone except the mages still sustaining the spell rose onto the wall. On the far side, where their path was blocked, the monsters battered the barrier with everything they had. The wall did not so much as budge.
"Fools. They have no idea what is about to fall on their heads."
The mages understood what Sernel meant at once.
BOOM.
Once more, multicolored magic filled the air.
Orlando and the other mages cast attack spells without pause, and the number of monsters dwindled at a rapid pace.
"Seeing a mage's true power in person is overwhelming."
Romiu watched from the wooden fortifications. Inside the stockade, people murmured in awe at the mages' display.
"Her Highness must have been quite anxious."
"She's always hated to lose. Still, I worry for the girl."
Just as Romiu said, Sernel stood precariously on the not-particularly-wide wall.
But Ellen was looking at something else entirely.
The mana over there... something feels off.
Using View Mana Force, Ellen peered past the wall. The flow of mana there was subtly twisted.
Anyone of their caliber should be able to sense it.
In that instant, the subtle distortion erupted into a massive rift.
The moment Ellen registered the change, one of the mages on the wall coughed up blood and collapsed.
That was only the beginning.
The two mages beside him fell without even managing to raise a shield.
The restless atmosphere inside the stockade fell deathly silent, as if ice water had been poured over it.
"What just happened?"
Romiu could scarcely believe what he was seeing. Three of Prode's mages, who had just demonstrated overwhelming power, had been taken down in the blink of an eye.
"And what is that blackness...?"
It was hard to see past the wall, but the far side was now completely steeped in black.
CRASH.
The wall finally shattered. Thick dust billowed up. The entire sequence had taken mere seconds.
"Sernel!"
Seeing the wall collapse, Romiu shouted urgently.
"Remi, please..."
Before Romiu could finish, Ellen's form shot forward.
He sprinted toward the wall at maximum speed—so fast it almost looked as if he were using the spatial magic Blink.
In an instant, Ellen reached the moat.
With the wall down, he could finally see what lay beyond.
Everything was black. It was as if the very mana in the air had taken on a black hue.
What is this?
The sticky mana clung to his body.
The feeling is similar to the mana the Black Society usually uses.
But it felt far more repulsive and threatening than before.
"Aaaargh!"
A scream tore through the darkness. The only people here who could make a human sound were Sernel's party.
Ellen raced straight toward it.
"Pull yourselves together and protect the princess first!"
Orlando shouted at the mages, who had gone blank with terror. But he failed to notice the black beast closing in on the princess from behind.
"Princess Sernel!"
Seeing it, Ellen hastily cast a defensive spell.
Whoosh.
Just as in the previous battle with the Black Society, his defensive magic was absorbed.
But it bought him the barest fraction of a second.
That was enough for Ellen to save Sernel.
"H-how are you here?"
Sernel, sprawled on the ground, looked up at him and asked.
"I don't think this is the time to be asking that."
Ellen rose, eyes fixed on the shadow looming before him.
"You there—what in the world is that thing?"
Orlando, who had always looked down on Ellen, now directed the question at him.
"I don't know. What I do know is that none of us are getting out of here alive today."
Something's form appeared before their eyes.
Enormous horns thrusting up from its head, deathly pale skin drained of all color, eyes filled entirely with black and no whites at all, and pitch-black mana writhing in multiple tendrils behind its back.
A demon risen from hell.
That was how the being appeared to them.
Hic.
One of the mages took one look and hiccuped.
-Could that be Lord Net's soul?
Proveng seemed to recognize the being.
You know him?
-That being was a mage who flourished in my era. The one who came closest to the truth. It seems to hold Lord Net's soul.
Ellen's face twisted. He already knew of Net, the legendary blood mage.
The man who had obliterated an entire city for the sake of his magic. The one ultimately responsible for the ban on black magic across the continent.
And now he stood before Ellen in a form far more monstrous than he had ever been in life.
But how is he here?
-I wonder the same. My guess, however...
Proveng was about to continue when—
-I came because I sensed blood magic, and I find you lot doing something rather interesting.
A voice so cold it raised goosebumps rang through Ellen's head—in the same manner as Proveng's.
Wh-what? How can he join our conversation?
-Interfering with such a trivial mental link is a simple matter. A Lich clinging to your body, is it? Amusing.
The voice paid no mind to Ellen's shock and continued.
-But that foul stench of a mere imitation of pure blood magic—that, you cannot hide.
Black light blazed from his dark eyes.
"Ugh!"
Ellen wondered if this was what Dragon Fear felt like. At nothing more than a look, he was frozen in place.
Thud.
The surrounding mages could not withstand the pressure and lost consciousness. Vitality drained from their eyes, noses, and mouths, sucked into Net.
"Kh—cough."
At last, crimson blood poured from Ellen's mouth as well.
But he could do nothing. Simply holding on to consciousness was almost more than he could manage.
His very existence is on another level. How the hell are we supposed to stop something like that?
It was not a question expecting an answer—just words spilling out of despair, like a curse.
"P-please, save me."
Sernel's voice reached him.
Somehow she was lasting longer than the other mages.
Looking closer, he saw that Orlando had cast a wide protective spell over her.
Damn it. If I were only at the 6th Circle...
Anti-mental magic was a 6th Circle spell. Thanks to the Robe of Silence he could produce 6th Circle-level power, but that did not mean he could cast actual 6th Circle magic.
Orlando—he's about to collapse too.
Cold sweat poured down the man's face. The moment his spell broke, both of them would lose consciousness as well. Then, like the fallen mages, their life force would be drained until they were empty husks.
-Ellen, you must flee.
Then Proveng's urgent voice cut in.
What are you saying?
-You could die and come back a hundred times and still never defeat him. You know that as well as I do.
"Cough."
Orlando seemed to have reached his limit. That only made Ellen's heart race faster.
-I will heal your internal injuries with my power for now. You must get out of here. You, at least, should be able to escape.
But...
Proveng gave him no chance to speak.
-You must survive if there is to be a next step. Even if everyone here dies, word of this situation must get out. If every kingdom unites, they may yet defeat him.
Ellen slowly nodded.
-Good. Well thought. Borrow my power and heal your wounds first.
The necklace Ellen wore—Proveng's—began to glow. The light seeped into Ellen's body, calming the mana that had been running wild.
"Hah..."
Ellen straightened from his crouched posture. Clarity returned to his fading mind.
Thank you, Master.
But Proveng did not answer. Having poured so much mana into Ellen at once, he had entered a dormant state.
-So a Lich's communion can develop to the point of exchanging mana?
"That's none of your concern."
At Ellen's words, Net's eyes blazed with light once more.
The pressure was still crushing, but this time he could endure it.
-Do you truly believe a gaggle of fledglings banding together could stop me, as your master claims? No—you will not even manage to flee this place.
Ellen picked up the staff that had fallen to the ground.
"Can I run from you? No. I will not run."
A fierce will hardened in Ellen's eyes.
Can I hold him off?
Stopping a being whose very existence was on another plane seemed impossible.
But the prince and princess of Prode were here, along with countless others. He had to stop him.
Somehow, a deep calm settled over Ellen. At first he had only wanted to live more grandly than in his previous life, and so he had resolved one crisis after another.
But through the Buner human trafficking case and the Kenipra regional incident, something other than ambition had taken root in him.
He had finally shed the inferiority complex that had tormented him without end. By regressing to the past, he had gained power that matched the effort he had poured in.
He no longer needed to fail the Magic Tower exam and bury his face in his pillow, weeping alone.
He no longer needed to endure a mage's scorn for being a mere Magic Assistant. He now possessed the power, the honor, and the wealth to stand tall.
He could simply run. Report that the mad blood mage had returned. Heroes always rose in times of chaos. The heroes of the continent would join forces and stop this monster. And Ellen himself would go on enjoying his power, honor, and wealth.
His body, his survival instinct, screamed at him to do exactly that.
Gripping the staff tight—
Ellen was calmer than he had ever been.
He no longer wanted to survive by cowardice, using powerlessness as an excuse. He refused to become a bystander.
I'd rather die fighting like this.
If you have convictions, it is far better to die fulfilling them.
-So you mean to challenge me.
Tap. Tap.
Ellen's feet began to step. He was ready to move at maximum speed in any direction.
"I mean to fight you until I die."