The Flames of Memory
After that, there was little I could do. I simply sat dazed atop my horse, letting my mind wander through all sorts of pointless thoughts while continuing to ride along the road. There was no reason to hurry, yet no reason to stop either, so I kept riding except for the occasional breaks to rest the horse.
Though the knights’ provisions had all been sold off in Amusbian, there was no need to worry about food. The emergency rations Rowell had carefully packed were more than sufficient.
Ever since the incident in the Demon Forest, we had stocked emergency rations to excess, and each time Medrup had personally layered multiple layers of permanent preservation magic upon them.
The rations I was eating now, and those still in my bag, were the leftovers from that time—simple field meals that could be eaten even while riding. Their taste was, of course, far below the meals Rowell and I used to prepare every morning, but at least they were less harmful to the mind than Aegina’s cooking.
“The dishes she used to make at first were relatively decent, though.”
I had no idea when the princess had ever found time to cook, but the first time we tasted her food, both Rowell and I had been genuinely surprised—it was better than expected.
“Come to think of it, Aegina really does seem to have an extraordinary talent for cooking. It’s just a shame she insists on using those ingredients…”
The Demon Forest. We never should have gone there in the first place. If she could create dishes of that caliber with such horrific ingredients, then with normal ingredients and normal recipes, she might have become a chef the world would marvel at. But what was the point of speculating? Only Rowell was to be pitied.
To eat his beloved wife’s cooking, he first had to steel his resolve, and inevitably, the cooking duties had fallen entirely to him.
“Now that I think about it, the time Rowell and I traveled together wasn’t all that long. When we first arrived at Kasin Village…”
My mouth suddenly went dry, and my mind darkened. A heavy memory forced its way between my thoughts, and my consciousness returned to that moment and froze there.
“…Right. There’s no way I could forget.”
Even this current situation was ultimately the consequence of that day. No matter how hard I tried to think of something else, no matter how composed I pretended to be, I could never forget those memories while walking straight toward their center.
“I never intended to forget, nor did I want to deny it.”
The scenes from that day. The memories. The voices. The expressions. The resentment. The rage.
All of it rushed through my mind at once. Even among countless memories, those remained vivid, untouched by time.
“There’s no excuse I can offer.”
The situation then, the choice I made, the emotions I felt—they replayed endlessly in my head. And they would never change. No matter how much I regretted. No matter how much I sorrowed.
What happened that day was clearly my sin. Because of it, people suffered, and Rowell was hurt as well.
“…Nothing changes. Nothing will get better. Not with someone like me.”
That was why I could not turn away. No—I must never turn away. It was both my duty and my mercy.
“Of course, as always, it’s only the second-best option.”
After that bitter self-mockery, I rode in silence until the sun set and the moon rose. I hadn’t meant to dwell on it, but once the memory surfaced, it refused to sink back down. No other thought, no meaningless joke, could push its way through.
I had no appetite, yet I deliberately forced a few bites into my mouth. If hunger caused some foolish mistake, it would be disastrous.
Finally, night deepened and it was time to rest. At this pace, I would reach my destination around the time I had planned.
Of course, I had no idea what traps might be waiting there.
“…Well, if the transporters are only at this level, the main force probably isn’t much stronger either.”
The skill of agents dispatched by the Assassins’ Guild was generally determined by the commission fee. So the client had likely paid the maximum amount they could afford, but it clearly wasn’t a top-tier request.
If the assassination or ambush squads were on the same level as these transporters, then even with my limited skills, it wouldn’t be difficult—as long as I knew I was the target.
“But I still can’t afford to be careless. I’m not Rowell, I’m not Medrup, and I’m not Bagloros.”
I lightly tugged the reins and brought the horse to a halt. It was about time to let the horse rest and return to Rofena. But then—
“Hm?”
The moment I dismounted, a sudden, violent surge of mana engulfed the surroundings. At the same time, countless red sigils appeared in the air around me.
“Damn it!”
Lunatic Explosion
A thunderous roar tore through my ears as crimson flames engulfed me from every direction.
The massive explosion shook the ground, and fire instantly swallowed the surroundings. My fragile autonomous barrier was shredded in an instant, and the equipped barrier activated to block the flames. But—
“Hiiing……!”
It could not protect the horse. With eyes filled with terror, the animal’s form was erased within the intense blaze. It never even finished its small cry. Not even a handful of black ash remained. Just like that, the horse I had liked the most vanished from this world.
At least the bag nearby had been within the equipped barrier’s range, but that offered little comfort.
‘I should have sold it along with the others. Then it wouldn’t have died here like this.’
The regret flashed through my mind, but there was no time to dwell on it. Though I had blocked the explosion, the seventh barrier I had set up was already at its limit, and the sixth barrier was reacting to the crisis and activating.
Lunatic Explosion! It was a large-scale offensive spell that required an entire unit of trained mages to chant during sieges or major battles. How—?!
My hands quickly traced sigils in the air. I didn’t know exactly what was happening, but this spell wouldn’t be the end of it. The mana flow I had sensed just before the spell activated clearly belonged to more than a dozen people—mages skilled enough to cast Lunatic Explosion.
No matter how mana-intensive the spell was, it wouldn’t end with a single cast.
“A summon to call forth from within the flames……!”
For the first time in a while—and under sudden threat—my mind felt like it was misfiring, but I soon recalled the perfect summon for this situation.
The air warped within the flames, and a massive ruby-colored wall surrounded me. A Lava Worm, a giant creature that swam through and drank molten lava. Its hide would withstand these flames and explosions. And just as the fierce fire began to subside—
Frozen Nova
“They’re using opposing attributes this quickly?”
Normally, when multiple mages cast large-scale cooperative magic, their breathing had to be perfectly synchronized. Even a small mistake in mana control or a slight mistiming of the activation word would render the spell incomplete and drastically reduce its effect.
That was why even veteran mage units who had trained together for years could only reliably use two or three cooperative spells at most. Most of those were large-scale barriers useful in war or sieges, plus one large-scale offensive spell.
This was because each spell had its own unique mana flow, mana form, casting speed, and activation timing that varied according to each mage’s ability and talent. Perfectly synchronizing all of those differences in real time was nearly impossible.
Of course, there were mage units and specialized groups capable of using a wide variety of large-scale cooperative magic, but even they were generally limited to spells of a single attribute and form.
Because spells of the same attribute and form had similar mana shapes and control timings, it was far easier for them to synchronize.
Yet my opponent had immediately cast a cooperative spell of the completely opposite attribute—ice—right after seeing the summon I had called.
Unless they were extraordinarily lucky and happened to know exactly two wide-area offensive spells—one fire and one ice—this meant the enemy mages’ skill far exceeded my expectations.
‘I have no choice but to send it back.’
The savage cold that swept in from all sides tore apart the Lava Worm’s ruby hide. Its pained groans reached me through our soul link, and the agony was transmitted directly to me as well.
When I dismissed the Lava Worm, the blizzard struck my barrier head-on. Compared to the previous spell, its direct destructive power was lower, so the sixth barrier showed no sign of breaking. However, my plan to counterattack immediately after a perfect defense was completely ruined.
Of course, I could summon something to block the blizzard right now. But if the enemy could once again use a large-scale cooperative spell targeting the summon’s weakness, it would only waste mana.
“No choice!”
Usually, after such wide-area magic in battle came concentrated fire from spells or cannons. That was why, in past battles as well, I had always preferred to endure the barrage until the enemy’s mana or ammunition ran dry and they became helpless before counterattacking.
“That’s why Orcan always said my methods were cowardly and spineless.”
And every time, he would charge straight into the heart of the enemy’s concentrated fire and sweep them away single-handedly.
“Whether I like it or not, he’s the only one who can do something like that.”
With a gesture of my hand, enormous white sigils—completely different from before—appeared in the air around me. The sacred sound of a heavenly trumpet echoed from every direction, and behind me, a massive white gate resembling a castle door manifested. The blizzard could not even touch the white gate. With solemn drumbeats, the enormous doors swung open on both sides.
Along with that stern, arrogant voice that seemed to pierce the soul, the blizzard came to an abrupt halt. If possible, I would have preferred not to summon this being, but I had no choice. In a situation where I had no idea what large-scale cooperative magic might fall next, there was no summon more reliable than this one.
“It has been a long time, Lord Morotai.”
From the open gate emerged a colossal knight clad in white full-plate armor, a massive sword at his side that looked like a pillar. Morotai, the First Gatekeeper of the Heavens.