The Invasion of Widia (3)
A man with a square jaw rose from the shadows. Before him stood a long-haired man in black, idly spinning a silver broom between his fingers.
The long-haired man looked at the square-jawed man and let out a low, mocking chuckle.
Zatul pulled off the robe covering his head and spoke in a voice thick with irritation.
Zatul let out a long sigh and shook his head instead of answering. Even if he tried to explain, he had no confidence they would believe him.
A young-looking Secret Magic mage who could chain high-level incantations, endlessly pull scrolls from his subspace, and swing a wooden sword with bizarre abilities. Just describing it would probably earn him ridicule.
‘Still, he’s only at the beginner level of Secret Magic.’
No matter how talented, he couldn’t possibly stand against a Mystery-rank mage. That much was obvious.
The long-haired man slipped the silver broom between his legs.
The long-haired man clicked his tongue.
With that, he shot into the sky atop the broom.
Zippy was the nickname the long-haired man used for the silver broom he rode. Zatul made a disgusted face before barely managing to compose himself.
Before Zatul could finish, the long-haired man vanished into the sky on his broom.
“Always chasing after men…”
As Zatul clenched his square jaw and grumbled, another figure rose from the shadows.
A short-haired woman with heavy eye makeup spread her fan wide and covered her mouth.
Once again, before Zatul could finish speaking, the short-haired woman disappeared into the shadows.
“Damn bitch…”
Fortunately, no one else appeared before Zatul after that.
Three hundred students followed behind Deck. Among them were Leon and Lia. Rowen followed Meln.
After putting some distance between them, Deck landed nearby. He held a black brooch in his hand, infused it with mana, and pressed it against each of the three hundred people one by one. It was a process to check if anyone was carrying an item enchanted with the same tracking spell as the black brooch.
There were two instances where the black brooch resonated with a vibrating hum upon contact. Each time, Deck killed the person without hesitation. When he searched their bodies, a black brooch was always found.
Deck’s blue sleeves fluttered as he took to the sky once more with the remaining survivors.
Deck’s first words were cut short. A massive flock of crows had covered the sky and was swooping straight toward them.
Each one was infused with mana, making it clear they weren’t real crows.
Deck gritted his teeth and pulled a staff from his subspace. A white gas poured from the staff. The cold-laden vapor froze every crow it touched the instant it made contact. The flock couldn’t follow Deck’s group and plummeted downward in clumps.
The ice chunks shattered upon hitting the ground, but from the broken fragments, tiny crows burst out like budding cells and flew toward Deck’s party once more.
At his command, the rest of the group hurled spells at the small crows. With each explosion—boom, boom—the tiny crows detonated on impact. But there were simply too many of them.
With no other choice, Deck deployed a large-scale defensive spell. The barrier enveloping the large group rang with dull thuds as hundreds of small crows slammed into it.
Maintaining large-scale levitation magic, freezing magic, and defensive magic all at once caused Deck’s mana to drain at an alarming rate. Each tiny crow even carried the power of a beginner-level Secret Magic spell. For that to be possible, the caster had to be at least at the Mystery rank.
The long-haired man sitting on the silver broom following them burst into loud laughter. Despite his massive frame, the way he sat primly on the broom looked strangely unsettling. A group of dark mages followed closely behind him.
…
Deck tried to gauge the opponent’s level with detection magic but couldn’t. Deck himself was at the intermediate level of Mystery. That meant his opponent was at least at the high level of Mystery.
‘Just how many Mystery-rank mages are there…?’
It didn’t make sense that high-ranking mages were appearing like they were being mass-produced. But in the heat of a desperate battle, seeking perfect understanding would only slow his judgment.
Deck, who had been levitating hundreds of people, began a rapid descent toward the ground.
The moment they landed, Deck shouted. Even though he knew he couldn’t face a high-level Mystery mage alone, this was the decision he had made. Whether they fought alone or together, they would die. That left only one option: drag the enemy down with them no matter what.
Since he hadn’t reached the high level of Mystery, he couldn’t use grand magic. But his meticulously refined Secret Magic spell activated. The ground before Deck froze solid, and dense pillars of ice began rising from it. Each pillar radiated extreme cold.
The dark mages who had been flying using levitation magic had their paths obstructed and their movements slowed.
The long-haired man within the spell’s range simply smirked from atop his broom.
Those with quick situational awareness didn’t hesitate. They grabbed their nearby companions and immediately took to the sky again. Leon was one of them.
Leon gathered Lia, about twenty regular disciples, and academy apprentice students and flew off in a different direction. He equipped his golden wings and wrapped the regular disciples in his own levitation magic. They couldn’t fly for long and had low mana reserves, so they needed his help.
One of the academy students asked Leon. But even Leon didn’t have an answer. He never expected so many high-ranking mages to be chasing them.
‘Is it because of the artificial cores they create in the heart…?’
That was the only method he knew of that could mass-produce mages of such high rank.
‘Wait a second.’
Leon frowned. He had sensed that a group was already following them, even though they had only scattered moments ago.
‘Deck…’
He hadn’t been able to hold out long even after using every ounce of his mana on Secret Magic spells. Still, the number pursuing them wasn’t that large. It seemed the dark mages who had been following the long-haired man had split up to chase the scattered groups.
‘Is the silver broom chasing someone else? Or maybe Deck is desperately holding that one back…’
There were no Mystery-rank mages among those chasing Leon’s group. Their pursuit speed wasn’t particularly fast either.
‘If we keep going like this, they probably won’t catch us.’
The problem was that while they might not be caught right now, there was no telling when or where more enemies might appear. Leon could escape into the Chrono Orb if things got dangerous, but the others couldn’t.
‘Heading to Meira feels too risky now.’
Their movements were already being read with alarming accuracy. Even if tracking magic could no longer be used, it was obvious that the scattered groups were all heading toward Meira. Changing direction might make it harder for the enemy to predict their path.
He had briefly considered splitting off alone like Arpina or Deck had done, but quickly dismissed the idea. If another enemy appeared after they separated, these people wouldn’t be able to put up any resistance before dying.
‘If I want to change direction, I need to deal with the ones following us first.’
Changing course while still being tracked was meaningless. Leon maintained his speed while checking if anyone else was following. As more people began complaining about mana depletion, he made up his mind.
‘Let’s wipe them all out and then go.’