Cardinal Candidate Morana
"How is progress looking so far?"
"We've transferred seventy percent of the Volcanium Ore the criminals hauled in. Just as you ordered, the ones who carried the sacks inside earlier have been kept waiting right where they are. Another ten minutes and we'll have everything moved."
"Good. Almost finished, then. Lucky for me—I just wrapped up my own preparations."
Morana Dorothea, Grand Mage of the Void Cult and a master of Fire magic, gave a small yawn at the bowed priest's report.
She had been assigned as the leader of the operation to detonate Bramante Volcano. Research was what she truly loved, so the mission itself had never much appealed to her—but once she took a job, she finished it perfectly. That was simply who she was.
Seventy percent of the Volcanium Ore needed for the forced eruption had already been relocated without a hitch, and the criminals used for the labor had been left waiting neatly inside the cave so they could be disposed of cleanly afterward. The mages and soldiers the Void Cult had deployed each carried one of those expensive disposable teleport scrolls for a safe withdrawal. Morana herself had finished every preparation needed to drive the fire element born from the exploding ore deep into the cave. All that remained was to wait for the last thirty percent to be moved.
"Haaah… I hope this wraps up soon. I've still got unfinished research waiting for me."
"We'll finish as quickly as possible."
"Yes. The sooner the better. I'd rather not deal with Himrave's militia or some mercenary company showing up to get in the way."
"Understood."
Of course, even if the militia or a mercenary company did arrive, Morana was confident she could finish the job without trouble. She was a mage who resonated with all five elements, and the leading candidate to succeed Maltas—one of the Five Great Mages and a current Cardinal of the Void Cult. A free city's militia or a pack of mercenaries, no matter how many of them came, she could slaughter every last one without leaving her spot.
Still, picking a pointless fight sounded deathly tedious, so she hoped to get this over with and go home as fast as possible. The one bright spot was that neither the militia nor any mercenary company had shown any sign of catching the scent and climbing Bramante Volcano yet.
"Hwaaah…"
With another long, listless yawn, Morana inscribed the completed spell at the cave mouth, then sat down blankly and looked up at the sky. Pale, sluggish clouds drifted across a blue expanse—almost a perfect reflection of the fog inside her own head. She half-listened as the priests and soldiers prodded the criminals along, and she let her heavy eyelids begin to close.
Or rather, she tried to.
"Who's there?!"
"Urgh?!"
"Stop them! Everyone over here—now!!!"
If not for those sudden shouts, her eyes would have shut. The cries of the priests rose from lower down the slope. Morana opened the eyes she had been about to close and looked down toward the sound.
"What is it?"
What she saw when she lowered her gaze were two intruders: a woman with sword and shield, and a girl with a staff, standing right there. Out of nowhere they had appeared, weapons in hand, thrashing the priests without restraint.
"…Oh. Not bad at all."
No—looking closer, it wasn't mindless thrashing. While the shield-bearing woman bought time at the front, the girl behind her merely checked the charging priests with magic while systematically breaking the binding spells on the criminals who had been hauling the sacks. And those criminals, for all their rotten natures, were not fools. In a situation like this their judgment was sharper than anyone's. The moment the binding magic snapped, most of them turned on the priests who had deceived and trampled them. They understood that the two intruders who had freed them were, at least for the moment, on their side.
"Maybe we treated them like too much garbage… More of them are charging in than running away."
And perhaps that was only natural. More criminals attacked the priests right in front of them than fled to save their own skins. These were people who had never been good at keeping their darker emotions in check; the anger and resentment they had banked under the Void Cult's priests exploded into violence the instant the binding spells broke. The girl had surely known that when she shattered the magic.
"…I want her."
At the sight of it, Morana's eyes lit with greed she could not hold back. The charging criminals and falling priests no longer even registered. They were disposable tools and replaceable cogs anyway. Far more important was the girl who looked like a part that could never be swapped out; Morana filled her vision with her.
"The Cardinal is going to love this."
The Void Cult offered gifted mages a new chance—the chance to become great mages under the Cult's name. And that girl reflected in Morana's eyes, still carrying potential she had not yet fully measured, would surely catch Maltas's interest as well.
"Well then. Shall we see just how strong she is?"
The languid gaze from moments ago was gone. In its place burned Morana's red eyes, gleaming with interest and greed. She took up the staff she had leaned against a boulder and rose to her feet—ready to take the measure of the girl who was looking right back at her.
The numerical disadvantage was crushing.
Counting everyone managing the criminals and those keeping records nearby, the Void Cult's priests had to number at least several dozen. Facing them were only the two of us—Sigrun and me.
It wasn't as though I hadn't considered options before revealing ourselves: going back to Himrave for reinforcements, or evacuating the people there. But both were practically impossible. Bringing support would mean persuading them and hauling them all the way here, which would easily take more than an hour. Trying to convince the residents of Himrave to flee beyond the volcano's blast radius was no better—people who had made this place their home would never accept it easily, and we had no clear proof that would sway them. If Himrave had a teleport gate I could have called for Father and Henry, but a free city like Himrave had no such thing. And above all, the wagons at the bottom of that road lined with dozens of criminals held almost no Volcanium Ore left. Time was already running out.
So only one path remained: Sigrun and I alone would have to face and bring down several dozen members of the Void Cult.
If it were just a matter of fighting them, it wouldn't be hard.
Honestly, handling the priests in front of us wouldn't be difficult at all. I could probably subdue every one of them on my own in under ten minutes. The real problem was the woman who looked to be the highest-ranking person here—the one radiating enough fire element to be visible to the naked eye.
Even if Sigrun and I hit her together, grabbing a clear advantage would be tough.
We might manage an even fight, but if I faced her alone without using True Name Release, I would almost certainly lose. The pressure rolling off her made it plain: she was an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.
But I can't just burn True Name Release right away either—not when I don't know what tricks she might have prepared…
The fact that she was pouring out fire element so thickly it was visible meant she had cast something just before I arrived. If that spell was meant to trigger the volcano—or anything else—then the 30.7-second limit on True Name Release was better saved for the worst possible moment. Without knowing where a pre-cast spell was set, even I couldn't prepare for it. That meant if I was going to fight her, I had no choice but to do it with Sigrun. And if our numbers were the problem, then the answer was simple: create temporary allies of our own.
That choice paid off beautifully. I watched the fight that had started two-against-dozens collapse into a chaotic free-for-all.
"These bastards—stop these ones first!!"
"Damn it! Hurry and recast the—!!"
"Lady Morana isn't paying attention over here! We can't use the binding magic right now! No choice—just kill them all!!"
The criminals, freed from the binding spells, threw themselves at the Void Cult members who had been working them like animals, and the priests' focus scattered as they scrambled to hold them off. The criminals clearly had plenty of experience with dirty brawls like this; even outnumbered, they were knocking the Cult down, seizing weapons, and pushing back hard. Sigrun and I used the opening to catch our breath.
"Huff… huff… That was rough. I don't think I've ever just held the line against this many enemies before."
"Haa… Same here. At least the plan worked out."
"So what now? We've stopped them from moving any more ore, but a great deal of it is already inside."
Sigrun pointed out the progress already made and looked to me for the next step. The answer was simple.
"There's only one way to stop that."
"Which is?"
"Take down the one person who can actually use that ore."
Even if some Void Cult grunt set off the Volcanium Ore, only one person here could truly make use of the result.
"And look—that person seems pretty interested in us."
The moment I finished speaking, the woman in question rose from her seat and started toward us. Staff set with a red mana crystal in hand, her gaze locked solely on me, she closed the distance. I kept my eyes on her, caught Sigrun's shoulder as she stood rigid, and whispered.
"I'll take the front. Sigrun, hit her blind spots from the side."
"…Asking an aspiring knight to strike from behind. Hardly an honorable request."
"Without that, we won't seize the initiative against someone like her. And the kind of knight you want to be isn't the rigid sort anyway, is it?"
"You already knew?"
"I picked it up while we were talking earlier."
Sigrun huffed a short laugh and nodded. Then she kicked off hard and slipped out of the woman's field of view. The woman paid her no mind at all. She kept coming, eyes still fixed only on me. I swallowed dryly and raised my staff.
"Hello there, little one. My name is Morana. Mind if I ask for yours?"
"Sorry, but I don't give my name to people from the Void Cult."
As if I would hand my name over and invite whatever the Cult might do with it. At my answer, the woman smiled as though she had expected it and began to draw up her mana.
"I like that you aren't afraid. Your talent looks promising too… So shall we find out just how impressive you really are?"
With those words, flames slowly rose around her body. I pulled up my own mana in answer, ready to meet her.
And I kindled the same fire she had called forth—right before her eyes.