Nomember Castle (2)
"Kyahaha! If they're alive, kill them! If any remain, wipe them out! Show these feeble humans the might of the Demon King's army!"
From beyond the slowly closing gates, the Demon King's executive, the Gargoyle Queen, cackled madly as she bellowed.
Walter, sword at his hip, joined Rose in shoving the gates shut with all their strength. At that moment, Jeong-jae sensed something hurtling toward the rear gate from inside the castle at tremendous speed. Rose felt it too and shoved Walter toward the walls before swiftly slamming both hands against the gates to seal them. Boom—a massive crash echoed from inside as something collided with the gates. From the sound alone, it was clear that without Rose's desperate block, the gates would have shattered to pieces.
"This must be what smashed the walls," Walter said, his face tinged with slight fear.
Jeong-jae had gone pale, utterly numb.
Rose Caprice absorbed the full force of the impact with both hands braced firmly against the gates. The scratch on the Ironwall Princess's face tore open a bit wider. The blow had been that ferocious.
"Solid! A true iron wall! Completely unbreakable!" The Gargoyle Queen's laughter rang out, and in the next instant, another powerful strike hammered the gates from inside. Rose, struggling to hold with just her hands, turned and braced her entire body to prevent the gates from breaking.
"Jeong-jae, now for your orders," Walter said gravely, eyes fixed on the widening wound on Rose's face.
Jeong-jae nodded, knowing they were in a critical situation that demanded immediate action.
"Just say it."
"Draw a Karmic Fire magic circle in the sky above the castle and rain hellfire down on it. Burn it thoroughly—leave nothing inside."
Jeong-jae, sleeves already rolled up and ready to obey any command, froze for a moment. Rose, propping herself against the gates with effort, gaped in shock.
"Wait, Walter. Is that really the best option?" Rose asked.
Inside the castle, the chaos of destruction and screams continued. Yes, screams. That meant people were still trapped inside, unable to escape. Closing the gates had been unavoidable...
"Whether it's the best or not... I don't know. But it's the best I can do. Trust me. We can't save those trapped inside, no matter what. But this way, we can at least hit the enemies who've breached it hard."
"Ha... But human lives inside are worth more than just striking back at the enemy..."
Jeong-jae timidly tried to object, but Walter irritably adjusted his monocle and shot back.
"Think I don't know that? Breaking the enemy's momentum here means they won't pursue the defenseless refugees with just a few dozen soldiers. The Gargoyle Queen's too dumb to realize she's led her troops into a trap, but give it a little more time, and once there's nothing left to slaughter, she'll slink out. Got it?"
"Makes sense, Walter. Margaret would've fainted if she heard," Rose sighed in response.
Jeong-jae grasped the point and couldn't argue. Walter's judgments were almost always right—that was why he was called the "Sage" and the "Hero."
"That's why I kept Margaret far away. Damn. But even she'd understand this situation leaves no choice. It's not like I never tried to save people."
Walter's words rang true. If he only cared about kills and disregarded lives, he wouldn't have risked the party inside just to buy time for evacuations. Even evacuating through the rear gate had been a gamble, with demons potentially mingling in. For the risk-averse Walter H. Hellhound, it was his utmost effort.
"Got it. I'll do it."
"Prepare thoroughly and end it in one go. Even a dumb gargoyle will know what happens when a massive magic circle appears in the sky."
Jeong-jae steeled himself and rolled up his sleeves. Karmic Fire magic circle. Hellfire that couldn't be extinguished without the caster's permission unless it inflicted severe damage on them. Even igniting a tiny spark of Karmic Fire marked one as an exceptional mage.
As Jeong-jae swept his hand toward the sky, a massive crimson circular magic circle materialized in the heavens. Within it, complex geometric forms—barely comprehensible in three dimensions—twisted into sharp mana circuits.
As if everyone inside had looked up, the clamor quieted into silence.
The survivors inside recognized it before the monsters did.
"Y-Yeah, better to burn us with Karmic Fire than torture! Long live the Grand Archmage! Long live the Hero!"
"N-No, save us! Y-You can save us! I'm still alive!"
"M-Mommy, what's that? Mommy? Mommy? Something weird in the sky? Mommy? Open your eyes, Mommy?"
Reactions varied wildly, but only then did Jeong-jae, listening to the voices from inside, grasp the weight of the order. He turned to Walter, face ashen.
Walter shook his head with genuine pity.
"I won't say I'll take all the blame."
"It was just an order, so no responsibility. You wouldn't buy that flimsy excuse and live with it, Jeong-jae. But do it. You have to. Even if I can't shoulder it all..."
Walter placed a hand on Jeong-jae's shoulder, hesitating just one step from activation.
"As your friend, I'll share the responsibility."
"Karmic Fire, strike down."
A bolt of lightning arced from the crimson circle toward the ground. Where the blue lightning struck, a massive Karmic Fire storm erupted, swirling, spreading, filling the castle.
No turning back now. The Grand Archmage poured every ounce of effort into raining down more Karmic Fire, again and again. To ensure those inside endured the maximum human pain of burning—the worst agony—for as little time as possible. To let them all burn away swiftly, he unleashed the flames madly.
At last, when no screams or chaos remained inside, the magic circle in the sky faded and vanished.
"Good work," Walter H. Hellhound said.
Jeong-jae didn't respond. Rose stepped away from the gates she'd braced with her body and caught her breath. Jeong-jae pretended not to notice her dabbing tears with a handkerchief from her bosom.
"What now?" Jeong-jae asked.
Gray smoke rising from the silent castle hinted it was now uninhabitable.
"We check inside first. The Gargoyle Queen probably survived. I bet she ditched her subordinates and fled alone, but confirming a corpse would be huge. If she's wounded and still in there, I'll finish her myself."
"Inside the castle, huh," Jeong-jae said flatly.
Walter snapped his head up, realizing something.
"Ah, no. You don't need to bear that. Head south and link up with Margaret and Bernard. Rose and I will scout inside."
"Thanks. For that, at least."
Honestly, Jeong-jae lacked the confidence to open the gates and witness the atrocity he'd wrought. Sure, he'd fought plenty and adapted to this life. But he wasn't born here. He could never grow numb to the daily war with demons. He'd once averted his eyes from even a goblin impaled on a spear. He was desensitized to demon corpses now, but facing masses of charred human bodies—killed by his Karmic Fire? His mind couldn't take it yet.
As Rose cautiously cracked the gates open, Jeong-jae hurried south after the refugee group. With so many, they couldn't have gone far.
He felt no curiosity about what lay inside. He wanted to avoid it. Even through the narrow gap, a sight he dreaded imagining—a nightmare fuel he'd never seen but knew instinctively. Casting haste magic on himself, the Grand Archmage fled south.
His guess was spot on. After just a kilometer, he caught up to the refugees trudging south.
"Ah, you, mage," Margaret said from the rear, spotting him with a less-than-warm expression.
Jeong-jae forced a cheerful smile.
"Yeah, castle's sorted. Walter and Rose had stuff to check. I came ahead. Just."
"Didn't ask what happened. Your speech is rambling, face pale. What occurred?"
Jeong-jae shrugged.
"Nothing to brighten my mood. Bernard up front?"
"I asked what happened. This isn't a joke."
Margaret's voice was cool but carried weight. Jeong-jae hesitated, fumbling for words.
Margaret was noble. Despite tense human-elf relations, she'd spearheaded an alliance and fought alongside humans selflessly—a testament to her character. She despised injustice, raged at wrongful deaths. And she loathed fire, especially Karmic Fire. The forest princess hated flames that could raze an entire woodland. That's why Walter had sent her away first.
"Uh, we handled the castle situation."
"Few ways to 'handle' that."
She eyed him sharply. Jeong-jae realized dragging it out was pointless and came clean.
"Used Karmic Fire. On the whole castle. Happy now?"
"Tch."
As expected, Margaret gritted her teeth and turned away in disgust—at the spell and his ready execution. No surprise. As Walter said, he couldn't evade responsibility. Even the best choice demanded accountability. Her contempt was just a sliver of it.
The elf princess walked on silently for a bit before murmuring softly.
"Good work."
"Huh? Me?"
"Who else?"
"No, I... in this fight, I barely... did nothing while everyone saved people, then torched the ones we couldn't... Nah, forget it. Thanks, Margaret. Even if you hate what I did."
"I hate Karmic Fire. And those mages who casually torch forests to test their flames disgust me."
Jeong-jae knew this; many mages burned woods needlessly for development or farming, enraging elves.
"Fair."
"But I know you're not the type to dump it on innocents without thought or feeling. Short time, but I see that much."
For some reason, Jeong-jae sensed compassion and pity in the eyes of the elf princess who should despise him. A little... or more. Quite a lot, actually.
"I-Is that... praise?"
"That's why I said good work. This fight was hard for me, but tormenting for you. Those pains aren't comparable. So you worked harder than me."
"Th-Thanks."
Margaret truly was noble. A fairy who set aside personal feelings, judged fairly, compassionately. That day, Jeong-jae thought: To turn this situation around, extreme measures might be needed. And if reasonable, Margaret would be a reliable ally when the time came.