The Awakened Mage
The Awakened Mage
Luna was fidgeting with the subspace ring Piel had given her long ago (received from the Military Inspector General as a gesture of goodwill).
"I'll be back!"
"Be careful."
Wearing her night vision goggles, Luna soared high into the sky.
"Whoa. How far does this stretch?"
Who would ever see this place as the rye field that was once the largest in the Marquisate?
Dense ancient trees, over 50 meters tall, stretched boundlessly, endlessly.
"So this Explosive Bag X Incendiary Grenade Package is supposed to sweep all of that away, right?"
A package made by bundling 5 incendiary grenades to each explosive bag (TNT 13kg class).
Flying freely over the forest, Luna took out the explosive packages from her subspace ring and dropped them.
"The Colonel said one of these explosive bundles is worth 3.5 tons of flour...."
And there were no fewer than 1,000 such explosive bundles.
"Hyeok, I'm spreading 3,500 tons' worth of flour right now."
A scorching carpet bombing operation, costing a staggering 3.5 million budget.
Luna dropped the explosive bundles maintaining the precise spacing Piel had taught her.
The explosive bundles, carried by the wind wrought by magic, were dropped at exact intervals.
Not a single one missed its mark, maintaining uniform distance without clustering.
A pinpoint dispersal conducted on a massive collective scale.
The forest was so vast that just scattering them took over an hour.
"I've scattered them all. Now it's time to detonate."
Luna grabbed the remote detonation switch and input the password Piel had told her.
[DETONATE?]
[Charges within 100m of the trigger will NOT detonate.]
Luna had been learning English from Piel all this time.
She was proud of that fact.
'Only I am learning the unique language of the Marshall family.'
"Then die."
The moment she touched the LCD screen.
The 1,000 explosive bags, receiving the activation signal, detonated simultaneously.
The fuze of the 13-ton TNT class C4 explosive bag burst, emitting a high-temperature, high-pressure blast.
The heat instantly tore through the outer casing of the incendiary grenades, whose safety pins had not been removed, awakening the latent flames within the thermite magnesium inside.
The incendiary grenades originally designed for destroying equipment, even melting metal, instantly fully ignited, spewing out massive flames.
The flames simultaneously radiating from the 5,000 tightly-scattered incendiary grenades wildly spread unquenchable metal fires onto the surrounding ancient trees.
Hwareureureuk! Hwareureuk!
Sucking in the surrounding oxygen in an instant, a tremendous updraft was generated.
It didn't even take a single second for the entire forest to transform into an inferno.
With the night vision goggles lens flipped up, Luna, who was staring blankly in midair, involuntarily let out a cheer.
"W, Whoa! Whoaaaa! It's fire, fire! I've summoned Bulkhanus! Kyahahaha!"
The god of flames, Bulkhanus.
A mythical being said to incinerate everything wherever it steps when it descends upon the human world.
Its form is invisible to human eyes, its presence felt only through the heat of the fiery calamity that burns the earth.
In Luna's eyes, it looked as if that invisible being from myth was wantonly trampling the elf forest.
A tremendous updraft struck, but Luna did not waver in the slightest.
To a wind mage, the wind is a familiar and harmless entity.
"Kyahaha! Kyahahaha! It's fire, fire!"
No corps of fire mages could demonstrate such destructive power.
Clutching her stomach, Luna laughed without pause, even to the point of tears.
That was how the 7th-class wind mage opened her eyes to the magnificent flames of carpet bombing.
***
Kugwagwagwang!
A roar as if the earth was collapsing was heard even at the distant Marquis's castle.
The sentries who had put down their spears and were dozing off in the outer wall watchtower startled awake.
"What, what is it? What's going on?"
"L, look over there! Flames!"
"I, is it a wildfire?"
"That's nonsense! There are no mountains there! It's a rye field, I tell you!"
Tremendous flames were burning the horizon.
It felt like witnessing the moment just before the sun rises.
Soldiers from the encampment, awakened by the explosion, also ran to the watchtower to gaze upon the giant flames blazing fiercely on the horizon.
The slumbering territory was awakened in an instant, and the anxious residents also shuddered at the sight of the burning horizon.
"It's Bulkhanus... Bulkhanus is burning the elf forest!"
"W, we're saved! We're saved now!"
"Bulkhanus! Bulkhanus has descended!"
"Lord Bulkhanus has descended to burn the elf forest!"
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
The territory residents, realizing it was the direction of the rye fields, embraced each other and rejoiced.
***
The young marquis looked up at the flames burning the giant forest, his eyes filled with terror.
The momentum showed no signs of abating.
Ceaselessly, endlessly, giant tongues of flame flickered in the void.
Backlit by the fire clinging to the earth, two human silhouettes slowly approached.
It was Hildea, and Piel supporting her as she looked exhausted.
"V, Valkenhart-nim...."
The young marquis called out to her, barely parting his trembling lips.
The knights, completely intoxicated by fear, didn't dare to utter a word.
'What on earth, how was it done?'
They had no guess what kind of magic-like ability could create such a giant flame, instantaneously at that.
Naturally, the unknown breeds fear.
And that fear sometimes stimulates an impulsive urge that drives one to self-destruction.
'There is an unknown, mysterious something in the North. That's how they've been holding the border without collapsing, even under poor supply conditions.'
The marquis was convinced that the fragment of the mystery Hildea was hiding was precisely this super-sized fiery calamity before his eyes.
He coveted it.
He wanted to possess it.
'I must have it, no matter what.'
Hildea looked extremely exhausted.
Seeing a Sword Master unable to even walk properly, being supported by Piel, confirmed his conviction.
"Valkenhart-nim, are you alright?"
The young marquis asked in a calm voice.
And the knights, catching onto their lord's intention, also began secretly positioning themselves for a mass ambush.
Hildea completely slumped down and spoke in a feeble voice.
"I exhausted all my energy spreading the flame magical devices throughout the forest while evading its attacks. Bring me something to eat, Marquis."
"Oh dear, has your energy been completely drained?"
"Can't you tell by looking? I can't walk any further. I'd appreciate it if you brought bread made from wheat, not rye."
"I see. Your energy is completely drained. Understood. I shall prepare a feast of wheat bread drizzled with honey and beef dishes heavily seasoned with pepper."
"I thank you for your heartfelt loyalty."
"It is an honor, Your Excellency. If you would bear my child, I would provide a variety of delicious cuisine daily so you never grow tired of it."
At that, Hildea flinched.
"Marquis, what kind of disgusting talk is that?"
"Valkenhart-nim, no, Hildea. I am saying I will make you my woman."
"M, Marquis! What rude remark is this! It hasn't even been a day since you swore fealty to me!"
"I shall offer you fealty with my whole body. Every day, in my bedchamber, of course."
The marquis drew his sword.
The knights also drew their swords in unison, encircling them in a ring.
"Of course, before I take your body, I must starve you a little more to completely sap your strength. Worry not. After sufficient wedding rites, I will serve you delicious cuisine."
"Betraying your oath of fealty not even a day later, how fitting for a bloodline that signs dirty pacts."
"Quietly surrender and become my wife... Heok!"
Hwareureureuk!
An aura blade blazed fiercely from the machete of Hildea, who had sprung to her feet unnoticed.
Reflexively, a few knights lunged at her, but with a light swipe through the air, their swords and bodies were sliced apart simultaneously.
Even as their severed torsos fell, they couldn't believe their own deaths.
The young marquis dropped his sword and trembled violently.
"V, Valkenhart-nim... I, I did not mean it that way... That's right! Th, these bastards egged me on! No, no, they threatened me! They threatened me, saying if I didn't take Lord Valkenhart at this opportunity, they would take you themselves!"
The young marquis, turning pale, stumbled backward and shifted all the blame onto the knights.
"I, isn't being my lawful wife better than being g, gang-raped?"
The knights' faces contorted, and their morale plummeted instantly.
As if to show off, Hildea grabbed a Calova CX with her left hand and chewed on it with her teeth.
Kkadeudeuk, kkadeudeuk, chewing the Calova, she slowly advanced, aiming her aura blade at the marquis.
Clang! Changgeurang!
The knights quietly threw their swords to the ground.
Seeing the aura blade, they realized Hildea was not tired at all, and seeing her even chewing emergency rations to sustain combat power, their will to fight vanished completely.
The fact that their lord had pinned everything on them also contributed to the annihilation of their morale.
Hildea kicked a stone with her foot.
Like a high-velocity bullet, the stone struck the young marquis's shin.
"Kkuaaaaak! V, Valkenhart-nim! Why on earth are you treating me so cruelly!"
The young marquis, collapsed and clutching his leg, cried out as if truly feeling wronged.
"From the moment someone supposedly came asking for help yet started talking about marriage alliances, I was displeased. Still, pitying the misfortune of losing your birth father and your territory being ruined, I accepted your oath of fealty and took you in as a vassal."
Before anyone knew it, the Northern knights had appeared, drawn their machetes, and completely surrounded the area.
"Yet you dared defile my ears with such filthy words. Just looking at your face makes me feel nauseous."
"S, spare me! Valkenhart-nim! Please, spare me! There is no such law as executing a noble so lawlessly!"
"Anyone who betrays their liege lord is summarily executed, regardless of their title."
"P, please spare me.... Kkuaaaaak!"
Hildea's military boots (Nike, sold at PX) ruthlessly kicked the intact shin.
From the pain of his bone breaking, the young marquis screamed and wept, too far gone to care about dignity.
"I will spare you."
"Th, thank you... No, no, thank you.... I am grateful... Valkenhart-nim...."
"I mean I will not behead you on this spot."
Hildea laughed coldly.
"I shall personally escort you to the capital, put you through the Noble Council's trial, and then, in front of everyone, I will personally cut your neck myself."
The young marquis wept disgustingly, yet inwardly felt relieved.
'The Noble Council's trial... Then it won't result in a death sentence. Probably a reparations order will be issued. Phew, I'm saved.'
However, he did not know.
That Hildea had already anticipated this outcome as well, and was actually looking forward to such an unreasonable verdict.
***
Hildea recalled the exchange she had with Piel in advance and smiled.
'Preferably, it would be good if a not-guilty verdict is handed down.'
'Why?'
'The moment the not-guilty verdict is issued, I'll immediately slice off that bastard's head. How shocked would the Noble Council be?'
'Great. Let's do that right away!'
'But even by my prediction, a not-guilty verdict is too burdensome for them, so they'll likely issue something like a reparations order. They aren't complete fools, so they'll have to read your mood, Hildea-nim.'
'Damn, isn't there a way to get a not-guilty verdict?'
'Hmm, I'll look into it.'
'I'm counting on you, Colonel Piel.'
Hildea's heart was already set on the future version of herself, stylishly slicing the neck the moment the not-guilty verdict was handed down.
'What would be a good thing to say then? Mm... I'll have to think hard about it until then.'