Chapter 625: The Season is Autumn (14)
Chapter 625: The Season is Autumn (14)
The ‘Golden Fortress.’
This was the name given to the Alphenhauser-owned building located within the Academy. In truth, it was a nickname that could have been aptly applied to any Alphenhauser property scattered across the continent.
What was the power held by the Empire's Five Great Noble Families?
Yurdina of the North commanded the military.
Lupemion of the East commanded the knights.
Findleston of the West commanded intelligence.
Arahorn of the South commanded magic. Because the fields they governed influenced more than just the Empire, the entire continent kept a wary eye on them.
However, there was only one family.
Only Alphenhauser could roam every corner of the continent with total freedom.
The reason was simple.
There was no nation on earth that hated gold coins.
They were a family that had amassed staggering capital over centuries. Naturally, they had more money than they knew what to do with, and gold had a way of transforming into anything.
Whether it was manpower, magic, or construction materials, it didn't matter. An Alphenhauser building, fueled by an inexhaustible fountain of gold, was truly worthy of being called a ‘fortress.’
It was, quite literally, impregnable.
Of those who had approached seeking Alphenhauser’s gold or secrets, none had ever returned alive. Such was the towering reputation of the place.
That was the ‘Golden Fortress’ of the Academy.
And yet, why?
Crash!
“Aaaaaagh!”
With a scream, the door shattered, its wooden splinters scattering through the air. Beyond the threshold, billowing flames were staining the world crimson.
It was blood-red.
The guard knight employed by Alphenhauser thought as much, trembling violently. Beyond the spot where the door had been blown inward, sending his comrade flying—
Everything was burning.
Licking flames were devouring portraits and walls, steadily expanding their domain. Blood stained the walls, and knights lay collapsed everywhere, their bodies contorting in agony.
“Ugh, keu, aaaaaaaaagh!”
“H-Help… No… Just, just k-kill meeeeeeegh!”
Was this a nightmare?
The guard knight stumbled back in terror, shouting at his subordinates who were similarly frozen in place.
“Activate the interception magic!”
“I-It’s not working! H-H-How… I’ve been trying, over and over, for a while now!”
That was impossible.
The guard knight’s face turned deathly pale at the horrific news. These were magic traps that had been tested countless times and maintained with rigorous precision.
Alphenhauser was thorough. There always had to be a reason for their vigilance.
They had poured so much effort into those spells.
To think they were broken in a single instant? And at such a critical moment?
Looking back, there were other anomalies.
The door, now reduced to mere fragments.
This was a building called the ‘Golden Fortress.’ Naturally, every single door had been reinforced and enchanted with magic to bolster its strength and isolate spaces from one another.
Yet it had been torn through so effortlessly.
“What on earth is…?”
While the guard knight stammered, facing a situation he had never encountered in his life—
Step, step.
The sound of chilling footsteps reached his ears. It was the omen of the devil’s approach—the one who had brought about this entire catastrophe.
In that world beyond, which had been nothing but red, a new set of colors drifted into view.
Amber eyes, hair that traced a jet-black trajectory, and a longsword scattering a sharp, pale-blue aura.
Her stride was steady. Her pace was leisurely, making her look like a girl who, at a glance, couldn't possibly be a threat.
If anything, she was beautiful.
But the moment he saw her, the guard knight could do nothing but scream out in desperation.
“Stop her now!”
“B-But the flames…!”
“I’ll handle that somehow! Just stop her!”
It was do or die anyway.
If death was the end regardless of what they did—
Finally hardening their resolve, three knights met each other's eyes and nodded. Their heavy frames kicked off the ground, lunging forward.
It was a speed that defied their bulk. It was a feat made possible only because their bodies were reinforced by all manner of magic relics.
They were, in essence, steel cannonballs.
Three first-rate swordsmen charged like a gale. Their momentum was so threatening that it seemed a lone, slender girl would inevitably be swept away.
Center, right, left.
The knights closed the distance in a tight formation to ensure no escape from the front, descending like a thunderbolt.
Only then did the girl’s longsword begin to move.
A single exchange.
Blade met blade and slid past. It was an astonishingly precise interlocking of steel.
To have edge stand upon edge—
The identity of the one intended for this unbelievable display of skill was revealed shortly after.
The girl’s wrist seemed to twist ever so slightly.
Slice.
The first knight looked down at his chest with a face of disbelief. The trajectory of the sword had been diverted, and the man’s body was collapsing as if sliding down a slope.
A deep scar was carved into his chest.
This was merely the beginning of the sequence.
The girl’s lips parted slightly.
‘One.’
Thwack!
‘Two.’
The girl’s body twisted slightly as a thrust and a slash intersected. Before the blood sprayed into the air could even dissipate—
“Keu, keureuk….”
The last man to charge stumbled backward.
With a clang, his fallen sword split into two pieces, letting out a mournful sound. Already, the woman’s blade had passed through the man’s torso in a diagonal slash.
He had been cut down, blade and all.
An overwhelming difference in martial power. Realizing this, the knight’s eyes were dyed with despair, and the last man, frothing blood, collapsed onto the floorboards.
Only then did the girl let out a sigh as cold as ice.
“……Three.”
It was right then.
With a boom, an explosion rang out, and hairline cracks began to encroach upon the ceiling and walls.
It didn't take long for the intent behind that move to be revealed.
Torrents of water burst forth.
The force of the water, which began to pour down like a heavy mist, was terrifying. It seemed as if it would flow endlessly if left alone.
Only then could the guard knight burst into laughter.
His sword was embedded in a corner of the wall. That must have been the starting point of the fissures, the cause of the surging water.
“Heh, hehe… Hahahaha!”
He couldn't win against that monster anyway.
Death was already a foregone conclusion. But if he could just extinguish those suspicious flames?
He might be able to increase the odds of victory for his remaining comrades, even if only by a little.
As if he had no more regrets now that he had achieved his goal, the man let out a mad laugh. His spiteful curse followed.
“You… you damn bitch… Do you think Alphenhauser is a joke?! Did you think we wouldn't have measures prepared in case the magic failed?! This place specifically has water mains installed close to the walls and ceilings…!”
But before that final outburst could be fully spat out—
Step, step.
The sound of the girl taking another step forward was heard. Without the slightest disturbance, she maintained a face so expressionless it was chilling.
Immediately after.
Thud.
The guard knight’s body collapsed forward of its own accord. Even though there was still distance between him and the girl, and even though he had felt no sign of an attack.
‘Wh-What…?’
The man’s trembling gaze moved toward his own body. There, his arm and shoulder were melting away like a shimmering haze.
“U-Uwa… Aaaaaagh?!”
The guard knight was startled and wanted to struggle somehow. But his body was already beyond his control.
His liquefying flesh only repeated the sound of splashing mud.
How? How?
Finally, the guard knight realized.
The intensity of the flames was not diminishing.
No, if anything, they felt even fiercer than before. The fire that had been smoldering through the building was now sweeping through the interior like a typhoon.
“Wh-Wha….”
His tongue had melted away as well, and the guard knight could not finish his sentence.
Only the single sentence left by the girl, as she stepped firmly onto his melted remains, echoed through the air.
“Four… Still not enough.”
And then another.
The count continued without a single hesitation. Advancing relentlessly, the girl soon blew away the final remaining door.
Boom!
The same commotion as before did not break out. Inside the vast and luxurious office, two women with surprisingly calm faces were waiting.
Sienne and Luna.
The Sun and Moon of Alphenhauser, and the influential direct descendants who dreamed of becoming the next head of the family.
“No matter how much we searched, we couldn't find a single hair of yours, yet here you are, gracing us with your presence on your own two feet.”
The girl did not answer.
She merely glanced once at Luna, who was standing by Sienne’s desk. With her face still devoid of emotion, the girl took a step forward.
It was Sienne who blocked her.
“Stop.”
A short, low command.
Yet it was a voice with a strange, magical quality. It was enough to make the girl’s relentless steps falter for a moment.
Sienne took this opportunity to continue her persuasion.
“Celine Haster, you have committed an unforgivable sin. Do you know how long your childhood friend has been looking for you? I’ll make you an offer. If you stop now and agree to a deal with us, for the sake of your childhood friend’s face…!”
Of course, it was a futile attempt.
Luna’s eyes, which had always been hidden behind her bangs, flew wide open. It was because she sensed an ominous heat, enough to make her skin sting.
Beyond.
In the hallway the girl had just crossed, the flames were about to let out a monstrous roar in the shape of a devil.
The moment she realized this, Luna threw herself forward and shouted.
“Get back, Sister!”
Light encroached upon the world.
It was the power of a potent self-defense artifact protecting Luna’s body. The mana, rising with the force of a tidal wave, was strong enough that it wouldn't have been strange if it smothered the flames and swept through the entire building.
Thwack.
If not for that echoing sound.
“Uh, ah, eu…?”
A dazed, questioning sound.
With trembling hands, Luna fumbled at her abdomen. There, she felt a foreign sensation.
The chill of a cold blade that had pierced through her internal organs.
Immediately after blood surged up in her throat—
The girl ruthlessly withdrew the sword, and the woman’s body collapsed helplessly onto the ground.
It was then that the composure Sienne had been struggling to maintain shattered.
“……Lu, Lunaaaaaaaaagh!”
Letting out a shriek that sounded as if her soul were being torn apart, Sienne rushed forward and gathered her sister into her arms.
She dragged Luna’s body along, trying to get even a little further away from the girl.
“Ah, ah… ugh… J-Just wait… S-Sister will s-save… Luna?”
She didn't seem to care in the slightest that her clothes and hands were being stained. Sienne merely checked Luna’s pulse with trembling fingers, then eventually grit her teeth and looked back.
Amber eyes.
A cold, desolate gaze, devoid of any emotion, was looking down at Sienne.
Sienne could not bear that fact.
“How dare you… how dare someone like you touch our Alphenhauser?!”
By now, the capillaries in Sienne’s eyes had all burst, dyeing them red. Grinding her teeth so hard her jaw joints felt like they would shatter, Sienne spat out a desperate cry full of hatred.
“You… you will regret this…! Surely you don't claim not to know? Our Alphenhauser never forgets a grudge…!”
“Don't forget.”
For the first time.
Sienne heard the woman’s transformed voice. A cold tone in which not a shred of emotion could be found.
Yet, was it an illusion?
That low sentence seemed, for a moment, both intense and suffocating.
It was before Sienne could even escape her confusion.
A snapping sound brushed against her eardrums like a hallucination.
“Just as I did.”
Blood scattered into the air, and a scream echoed through the midnight Academy.
A few minutes later.
By the time those who had received the news strangely late came running, the fire had already spread through the building beyond control.
Like kindling on a funeral pyre.
Autumn was ending, and already, the season was winter.
A trial was beginning to sprout.