Chapter 20
"Mir-nim, what's the matter!"
One of the knights rushed out, not even bothering to button his clothes, and asked.
I'd opened all my mana to gauge the positions of the approaching magic beasts, and I answered heavily.
"A horde of magic beasts is coming right now. We can't beat them with our current forces. We have to run!"
"What do you......"
"At least forty of them. Massive giant magic beasts. And they're moving fast! We can't outrun them on foot. We need to use teleport!"
I clutched my throbbing head and dragged along the two dazed-looking magicians.
"You two! How many people can you teleport right now?!"
"Y-Yes?!"
They blinked at me with sleepy, confused faces, still not grasping the situation. Just as impatience started to boil over, Kal grabbed my arm, having regained his composure.
"Explain the situation first. Where's this magic beast horde? I don't see anything."
"Everyone, put your ear to the ground."
At my words, they all tilted their heads but complied. And then they froze.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The monsters were coming.
"An e-earthquake?" someone asked, voice trembling with fear.
I shook my head.
"It's the vibrations from a giant magic beast horde on the move."
If it were just me fighting, I might have a slim chance of victory, faint as it was. But protecting all of them while fighting? No way. They'd get trampled to death while I held the line.
Damn it, why is a giant magic beast horde moving now of all times!?
Giant magic beast hordes rarely migrated. There were few species that lived in packs to begin with, and giant magic beasts almost never left their habitats unless absolutely necessary.
"Hurry and tell me—how many can you teleport?!"
But this wasn't the time to ponder reasons. At my urging, the two magicians hurriedly checked their mana circuits.
"If we really push it, maybe six. Anything more, and our mana circuits might burst......"
"I can do six too. Beyond that is beyond my ability."
The knights' faces went deathly pale at their answers. We had fourteen people total here. That meant two had to stay behind.
"Young master! Can you cast teleport magic?!"
"Ten...... No. No, I haven't learned teleport."
Kal, who'd started to answer the frantic question, quickly changed his tune.
Damn it!
I bit my lip. If one had to stay, it should be me. Protecting them all while fighting was impossible anyway, but alone, I might hold out somehow. But if two had to stay, the other one would die while I fought.
"......I'll stay."
And then Kal spouted nonsense.
"Young master! Absolutely not!"
"Cut the bullshit! Have you lost your mind?!"
The knights erupted in protest, and a curse slipped from my lips. For the Crisis ducal heir to stay behind in this situation—it was absurd. He had to be the first one to go.
I ground my teeth. I couldn't let my brother—the one I'd just started opening up to after our first real meeting—die here.
Goddamn it! There has to be a way—ah!
I racked my brain until it felt feverish, biting my lip until it bled, when suddenly an idea flashed into my mind. I hurriedly rummaged in the subspace pouch at my waist and pulled out an object.
A stone-like thing that fit perfectly in one hand, glowing with a faint silver light.
'Please take this. Mir's really worried about you. Please, okay? Just keep it with you.'
It was a teleport artifact El had shoved into my hands long ago, insisting he was worried about me.
'I'll kiss El when I get back!'
I was thrilled. I grabbed Kal's shoulder and forced the stone into his hand.
"The activation phrase is 'Tu Miti Salvator'. Think of the place you want to go, grip it tight in your hand, and recite it."
"What...... Urk!"
My black aura bound Kal's entire body tight. He toppled over, unable to move a muscle.
To the knights dithering between the bound Kal and me, I commanded:
"Drag him away."
"What are you doing?! Release me this instant, or it's a crime of noble assassination!"
"You have to live to press charges. Go quietly."
I led the magicians away, ignoring Kal's furious shouts and struggles.
"How long to activate the magic circle?"
"About ten minutes......"
"Five minutes! We'll do it in five!"
The magician, sensing my glare, shouted desperately. I nodded and probed the direction of the growing vibrations.
North.
I wrapped my feet in mana.
"W-Wait! Where are you going?!"
"I'll block the horde's path and buy time. Escape to the village as fast as you can and request reinforcements from the other knights."
"You crazy bastard! Untie me!"
"Take good care of Young Master Kal. If he gets hurt, we'll all face severe punishment."
It was obvious that failing to protect the ducal heir would mean harsh repercussions, even if I wasn't responsible. I glared at them anyway. The knights nodded, pale-faced, glancing sidelong at the tightly bound Kal.
I might end up charged with noble assassination.
Charges be damned—as long as they survived. Seeing my aura cords digging into Kal's still-thrashing body, I loosened them slightly.
Rumble! Boom!
The vibrations grew louder, and about 500 meters ahead, trees started toppling.
I'd witnessed a giant magic beast horde migration once in my life, and the forest had been reduced to ruins.
And I...... lost something precious that day.
I bit my lip. This subjugation mission was dredging up too many nightmares from that day, leaving me in a daze.
"Then I'm off."
Any closer, and they'd be in danger. I steeled myself, gripped my sword firmly, and released my mana. I gave a slow smile to the stunned Kal.
"It was nice meeting you all."
"Mir!"
I kicked off the ground, leaving Kal's cry behind. Without losing momentum, I bounded from tree to tree, leaping higher.
Rumble! Boom!
I moved swiftly, stepping on trees. The closer I got to the source, the more the trees shook, and my instincts screamed.
Can I survive this?
Feeling my body tremble and cold sweat pouring down, I squeezed my eyes shut then open. Memories flooded me—of the first time I'd faced a giant magic beast horde as a child, a day I wanted to forget.
Fragments of nightmares paralyzed my thoughts. Trauma, they called it.
I have to hold out.
I tightened my grip on my sword. I was strong now. No longer someone who needed protecting—I could protect others. I had to buy time for the group to escape.
Suppressing my fear, enduring the memories, I raced forward—
Kraaaah!
—and faced the calamity again.
A calamity that seemed impossible to survive.
The eyes of the noisy, advancing horde turned to me, the one blocking their path.
Hellhounds crawling from the abyss, Deberas.
They resembled dogs in form, but their size was ten times that of a grown man. The eerie, mindless red eyes burning fiercely; the stench of blood and rotting flesh; the strange magical aura.
......I'm gonna puke.
Despite being in a state where they should be dead and still, they moved as if defying hell itself. That's why people called them "hellhounds crawling from the abyss."
Grrr......
I faced the largest one, clearly the alpha. Vile saliva dripped from its massive fangs.
The Debera, tail rigid with tension, eyed me warily but didn't charge. Its beastly instincts had already clocked me as no easy prey.
Among magic beasts, Deberas were among the most savage and powerful. One alone? I could kill it and be done. But a horde? That was different. I could die.
If I can just make them turn away without fighting......
Clinging to that faint hope, I unleashed my killing intent. Black smoke exploded out, as if to bind the entire forest.
The Deberas flinched violently at the killing intent.
Killing intent was raw aura conveying an opponent's strength through the air. Man or beast, anything exposed to a stronger being's intent felt primal fear.
If the killing intent overwhelmed them and they retreated north, no fight needed. So I pushed it out to the point of straining my body.
......They're backing off.
Magic beasts were violent monsters addicted to demonic energy, devoid of reason or awareness—but they still had instincts. The alpha Debera trembled and retreated step by step, and the others lowered their tails.
As faint hope flickered—
Kraaaah!
Something changed. Madness filled the alpha's eyes, and the faint magical aura I'd sensed erupted explosively.
The Debera howled. A power similar to mana but far more sinister and potent dominated it. Like a puppet on strings, it lunged at me with jerky, unnatural movements.
Damn it!
I dodged swiftly, mana cloaking my body.
Boom!
A crater formed where I'd stood moments ago. Even after fighting Deberas many times, their power was still terrifying.
......It's being controlled.
The timing and circumstances fit perfectly. I ground my teeth and glared north, then infused my snow-dusted sword with aura.
Shiiiing!
Black aura flickered menacingly around the blade, as if slicing the darkness above into a single thoughtform. The darkness of my life enveloped the sword.
"Guess I've lived a decent life, all things considered."
I muttered softly and raised my sword. The mindless puppets that were the Deberas rampaged toward me.
I had no confidence in surviving being trampled under them.
......Aria. My child.
In this desperate, possibly final moment, only one face came to mind.
My little one, my reason for living. The sole color in a colorless world.
I want to see you again.
With that single obsession, as I prepared to face the massive calamity alone—
"Guard!"
A brilliant light seized my vision. That familiar, refreshing mana now dominated the area.
Countless magic circles unfolded between me and the Deberas. The charging beasts collided with them and recoiled.
I turned my stiff body with effort. His clothes were disheveled from struggling against the aura bonds. He floated in the air on flight magic, his hair a mess from the wind. Between the strands, two red eyes gleamed fiercely.
Snow-white skin. The cold winter. The northern border forest. A giant magic beast horde. In this nightmare redux, that red glow approaching me was perhaps a form of salvation.
A small salvation for the child I'd been, clutching a dead body in the snowy wasteland, weeping endlessly alone.
And yet, terror too. The fear that this time, that dead body might be his.
In that moment, I realized it.
Ah. Kal had become someone heavy enough to evoke both salvation and terror in me.
"You crazy bastard......" I muttered a curse, my throat thick with emotion.
Kal, magic circles hovering in both hands, grinned.
"Were you planning to hog all the glory? Crazy-ass Mir."
Another of my blood kin was standing with me against the calamity.