Southward, Further South (2)
On the massive wall that sliced across the Empire's northern border, guards stood watch in their posts, braving the biting cold wind.
"It's getting even colder now. Damn it. Feels colder than last year, doesn't it?"
"But Corporal, aren't you going on leave soon?"
"What's the point of leave? I don't even have a home or family anyway."
"Still, if you head to a warmer region for winter, at least you can thaw out your body."
"That'd be nice."
"What if the barbarians invade while you're on leave, Corporal? You're a war hero."
The corporal snorted at the rookie's words.
"Barbarians are people too. They never attack in winter."
"Why not?"
"Because they'd freeze their asses off. You haven't experienced a real northern cold snap yet. You'll find out soon enough."
"That bad?"
"You see that outpost over there? Why do you think..."
The corporal's eyes caught something odd as he pointed to the outpost on the wall.
"What the hell is that?"
"Huh? Corporal, isn't that... a barbarian?"
"Son of a bitch!"
A group of barbarians had appeared out of nowhere. All mounted on horses, armed to the teeth. They weren't here with good intentions. Had barbarians ever come with good intentions?
"Ambush! Barbarian ambush!"
The corporal rang the bell on the outpost frantically.
"Barbarians incoming! All hands to battle stations!"
The wall erupted in chaos with the deafening bell tolls. Soldiers who had been going about their peaceful routines moments ago grabbed their weapons and rushed to positions.
In the corporal's eyes, as he sounded the alarm from the outpost...
"W-what the hell is that?"
A man floated in the air, drifting lightly toward them. White mask. Wolf pelt draped over his shoulders. Dressed in typical barbarian garb.
"A mage?"
The Crui tribe had a mage? But the corporal's words cut off there.
Puk!
"Gahk!"
Ice needles had struck the outpost.
"It's a mage!"
The wall had almost no defenses against magic. Simple reason: barbarians used body-enhancing shamanism, not magic.
And who would expect an 8th Circle mage to appear in the north and assault the wall?
Morris's magic threw the sturdy wall into pandemonium.
Boom!
Boom!
A single massive ice spell cratered the battlements.
"Shields up! Hold the line however you can!"
"Where's the magic cannon? Reload it now!"
"Send word to the other lords' castles—emergency!"
The sudden magic had the wall in utter disarray.
"Goddamn it! Where the hell did that mage come from? You, communication mage!"
The wall's commander summoned the mage sending messages to other castles.
"Y-yes?"
"Can't you cast defensive magic?"
"W-well..."
"Spit it out! Don't dawdle!"
"I-it's impossible, sir."
"What?"
"No matter what spell I cast, I can't block that mage."
"That's it? That's the best your mouth can do?"
"I-I'm sorry, sir."
"Useless idiot!"
No wonder their so-called mage was worthless.
The commander's gaze turned to the mage hovering in the sky. No idea where he'd come from. Did the barbarians have a mage of that caliber? Not in his memory.
"What in the world is he?"
The commander sensed defeat. His 10,000 troops guarding the wall were flailing against a single mage.
A powerful mage outshone ten Swordmasters in group battles.
No Swordmaster here to check that mage right now.
It hadn't even been a year since the rebels breached the wall. No more excuses about internal betrayal.
Is this the end of the Empire's luck?
Then a man flashed in the commander's mind. The Empire's mage who had driven the barbarians back without a fight in the past. The war hero, Morris Dmitry.
If he came...
Even if the wall fell now, he'd push them back beyond it again. That mage ravaging the walls and soldiers wouldn't stand a chance against Morris.
All an mere commander like him could do was...
"Hold the gates! Don't let them through no matter what!"
Buy time somehow, keep the barbarians from ravaging imperial lands.
"As expected, it was over in no time."
Baekseol looked at the captured imperial soldiers and spoke.
Most had fought to the death, but plenty surrendered. The battle had ended too easily. The imperial troops, demoralized by Morris's magic barrage, were no challenge. The cavalry punched through the shattered gates and cut them down in moments.
"Long live Chief Baekseol!"
"Long live the chief!"
Victorious cheers echoed across the wall. The chieftains who had doubted her before departure now gazed at her half-enchanted. Of course—who could doubt after breaching the wall without a single sacrifice, without even opening it themselves?
"But are you okay with this?"
"With what?"
"You killed imperial citizens with your own hands."
"I'm fine."
"You must have some plan."
The suspicious mage who breached the wall with them. Repel him, civilize the barbarians, settle them below the wall. Nobles would object, but no one wanted to die to the emperor's army.
"I have a pretext ready to convince the nobles."
"What shall I do, my lord?"
"Hold here and advance only to the Volke Plains. But."
"But?"
"No ambushing civilians or looting. Absolutely."
"Understood, my lord."
Baekseol leaned against me.
"Leaving today?"
"I have to."
I needed to check what was happening in the capital. Scout the emperor's forces moving from west and south.
"This will protect you while I'm gone."
I handed her a headband. Made by the Empire's top designer. Crafted from material that held magic: a Magic Shield against any attack, and an alarm to summon me.
"Wear it well."
"Ah... Thank you. I'll treasure it."
Baekseol clutched the headband to her chest.
"My lord, before you go, I have a request..."
"What is it?"
"Make me not miss you until you return..."
Baekseol twisted against me coyly.
"Even after last night, it's not enough?"
"It's just... you're so virile, I can't help myself..."
I looked down at her quietly.
"If you put it that way, no choice."
I took Baekseol to the wall's grandest chamber. Soon after entering, her moans filled the room.
In Morris's office at the Magic Tower.
Mary Jane tensed at the sudden intrusion of soldiers and shouted.
"Your Majesty! Do you know what this means?"
Even the emperor couldn't bring soldiers into the tower—it was one of the great taboos.
"Heh, everywhere the imperial sun shines is mine to tread. A mere transcendent like you wouldn't dare block the Empire's—keh, sun, would you?"
"This breaks an ancient pact."
"Even the great Magic Tower's master, the Magic Department Minister, is appointed by the Empire's emperor—hiiit!"
"Your Majesty! That too is bound by pact..."
"Pact... Trying to bind me with a few scribbles from forgotten history? Troublesome."
Mary Jane watched the emperor before her. Hidden among the soldiers, he looked haggard, as if days without food or sleep. Bloodshot eyes, sunken sockets. Sallow, flaky skin. And twitching, manic laughter mid-sentence.
Is this really the emperor who once embodied imperial dignity? She almost doubted it.
"Search! I permit ransacking the Magic Department Minister's office, who dared abduct my empress!"
"Your Majesty!"
Mary Jane bared her teeth and yelled, but that was all. Even as a transcendent, she lacked the physical force to kill. Observer transcendent. She'd lost her body in ancient transcendent wars.
Yes, she'd died once before. Now bound to the tower by a pact with the first tower lord, her soul spared the afterlife.
So she couldn't stop the soldiers tearing through the office.
"If you do this, I cannot accept Your Majesty's appointee for Minister."
"Keh! Never planned to anyway."
"What?"
"Guessed you and Morris were thick as thieves. Trusted you, so that bastard Morris dared challenge me—hihit."
"..."
Mary Jane fell silent. How?
"Don't underestimate the Empire's intelligence network. Heh, keh keh."
The giggling emperor ordered his soldiers.
They're digging for the Minister's secrets to deem him unfit and oust him?
Mary Jane bit her lip.
Minister, hurry back.
Powerless, she couldn't stop them. Where the hell was Morris?
"Found it!"
All eyes turned at the soldier's shout. Mary Jane too.
"Report on Her Majesty the Empress."
"Oh? Let me see."
The emperor rushed over, decorum forgotten. And there...
"Keh keh! Morris, Emily, you dog bastards... All dead."
No one in the room dared speak amid the emperor's mad cackles.