Chapter 263
Chapter 263
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 263
Chapter Title: Tag - 3
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In the past, a frigid winter.
Snowflakes piled up on the roof, producing an ominous creak that forced them to climb a ladder even in the dead of night to sweep it away. Inside that small, shabby cabin.
A pair of close-knit hunter siblings lived there.
The younger sister, who had started coughing lightly just a few days prior, picked at only the leg of some nameless, decently roasted bird before handing the rest over to Bennett.
"Bennett, I'm full enough. You eat what's left."
"...Don't lie. Your stomach's still growling."
"It's not a lie."
"Adults can tell. That's a lie. I ran into kind old Uncle Hans and ate like a mountain out there, thanks to him. Don't worry about me—just eat."
"......"
The boy Bennett put on a stern, resolute expression. It was one he'd copied from his father. Bennett's father had died young, but he'd left behind more than enough.
A hardened face that hid fatigue, calluses on his hands, and a love for family. All virtues of the head of the household.
Then his sister Berd would glance around cautiously before pulling the plate back and munching away with her small mouth.
Both Bennett and his sister knew the truth.
The Uncle Hans that Bennett mentioned at every turn didn't exist, and he was just as starved today as ever.
Bennett was the one who'd have to go hunting again tomorrow, so rationally speaking, his nutrition should come first.
If things continued like this, they'd both waste away—so if one was to survive, it meant abandoning his sister.
They both knew it all. They could see it just by looking into each other's eyes. No joy in surviving another day, only sorrow directed at one another.
Yet these two were the last of the Hilton bloodline left in the world. If one vanished, the word "family" would cease to exist, leaving only lonely individuals. That terrified Bennett more than hunger.
He didn't want to be left alone in this cold, merciless world.
Once the meager meal—short only because there was so little—ended, Berd sidled up next to Bennett and pressed against him. It was for survival. The winter was so brutal they had to share body heat like this.
Berd spoke up.
"Hey, Bennett."
"...Use polite speech. I'm your big brother."
"If I grow up enough to catch birds... strong enough to draw a bowstring... will you teach me how to hunt?"
"I was planning to anyway. If we hunt together, we could eat our fill every single day."
If only that were possible. The siblings dreamed in their frigid cabin.
A few days later, Berd came down with tuberculosis.
Bennett left his sister with the village alchemist, who promptly sold the girl—who was sure to become a beauty someday—to a slave trader.
Learning the truth too late, Bennett killed the alchemist and began tracking the trail of his sold sister.
And then—
"......"
"Bennett? Are you unwell?"
The mad wizard gazed at Bennett with her signature vacant, indifferent expression. Bennett blinked, shaking off the past.
He answered on reflex.
"No, it's nothing."
"You spaced out for a second there... I'd give you a pass if I could, but the situation's what it is. Even if you're off your game, focus up for a bit."
What was that just now? It felt like the stagnant memories at the bottom of a well had surged up all at once. Why had that brutally cold winter day resurfaced?
Was his soul sensing fate? Or...
Was it awaiting an unfinished reunion?
Bennett splashed cold water on his face and pulled himself together.
Noting the sharpened glint in his eyes, the mad wizard began her briefing. She seemed to have read signs of incoming danger.
"From relic tracking, the red assassin has gone still. Heat detection magic picked up some weird-looking forest critters too. They're not resting from exhaustion, so it's probably a counterattack."
"A counterattack instead of fleeing? Isn't that odd? You said that dark wizard entered the tournament, so they know at least two of us are myth-rank—at minimum."
Siselle Yurensuto, Bennett, and the mad wizard—not myth-rank, but a tournament veteran. Even excluding the unknown Selbia, they were an overwhelming elite squad.
No matter how tricky their myths were, did they have the confidence to overcome numbers like that? Enough to prepare a head-on fight? No way.
Redburn's puppeteer had consistently hidden their identity, so they wouldn't suddenly turn battle-crazed now. The mad wizard nodded.
"Yeah. They're probably plotting something."
A trump card to turn the tide.
No telling what sharp dagger hid beneath the enemy's cloak. But the mad wizard had a backup plan stashed away too.
Rustle.
The bushes stirred with an ominous sound.
"Heat signatures approaching. Battle stations. We'll push forward while fighting. Priority target... take out the girl with white hair. Capture her if you've got the spare bandwidth."
"Got it."
"And as I explained... if Selbia activates her myth, Bennett, you're on defense. Lady Siselle, go wild."
"Understood."
The silent forest.
No bird chirps, no beast cries—just the rustling bushes echoing, heightening the tension.
And at the peak, where the tension strung tightest...
"Kieeeaaahhh!!"
"Grulk, gruk!"
Monsters burst forth in droves with grotesque cries.
Shapes like deer and bears half-melded, a massive toad with eight legs, a spider with human arms for legs.
Creatures born from Faceless's myth 『Flesh at Will (精肉自在)』.
Deliberately designed to horrify any who beheld them. Novices would scream, their focus shattered by rising nausea.
But Siselle and Bennett were veterans who'd seen worse, and Selbia had been tempered by the mad wizard's tentacle labyrinth.
Not one of them flinched—they responded in kind.
Rumble rumble. Gravity shifted direction, and Siselle Yurensuto's form vanished in a burst of acceleration. By the time she flickered into view, a monster's head was sailing through the air.
The massive greatsword swung like paper. Quick yet heavy, each strike held enough power to cleave steel. The knight tore through the battlefield, marking the most threatening beasts.
『Flame Angel (焰天使)』, ignite!
Massive amplification of fire arrow spells
Whoosh!
A halo formed overhead as flames wreathed Selbia's body, unleashing a barrage. Even basic fire arrows were amplified several times over.
Sizzle—!
Spiraling fire arrows pierced monsters, leaving charred holes along their paths. The flame mage culled the horde's numbers with overwhelming firepower.
The few monsters that slipped past steel and fire to reach the group...
"Mad wizard, duck."
"Whoa."
Swish, slice—!
Bennett's 『Howl』 whipped out with precision. Ever since swearing to protect Tara and Niore, he'd shifted his swordsmanship toward defense.
He deflected the claws of a grotesquely swollen monkey torso. Then, with measured precision, he severed its neck vertebrae. Simple, efficient motion.
They ground down the endless monster swarm.
Watching, the mad wizard pondered. Each modified beast was ogre-tier in lethality and power, but against their elite-of-elites party, they were pushovers.
Why was the red assassin launching this futile assault? Prepping an ambush? Or dragging it out to wear them down?
Her abilities didn't create from nothing, so even if she'd modded every beast in the forest en route, limits would hit eventually. Scattering these small fries was wasteful.
If she wanted even a single solid hit, fewer but higher-quality monsters would've been more efficient—an elite few.
Either way, she seemed to want a prolonged fight.
And you don't give enemies what they want. The mad wizard grinned slyly.
"Selbia. Forest's crawling with bugs—wanna disinfect the whole thing?"
"...You mean launch 『Radiant Cascade (輝瀲)』? But elves or allies might get caught. Honestly, I can't control it that well."
Selbia's myth Flame Angel spared its linked mad wizard due to its unique properties. Everyone else? Fair game.
Bennett was already sweating from the searing heat. Unleashing mini-suns would leave no forest—or allies.
The mad wizard snapped her fingers.
"Got that covered. I'm a flame mage right now to boot... and the crow's got me back in form."
Ultimately, myths overcame the difficult or tricky through force of will. Immense firepower, gravity control, unbreakable properties.
Dump city-scale mana or use potent enchantments, and you could achieve it without myths. They just sucked in difficulty and cost-benefit.
Flip that around...
"If you're smart enough, you don't need myths."
"...Bro, that sounds super annoying, you know?"
"I'll show you something fun, Selbia. Theory's solid—I practiced plenty on the fly. You drill it properly, you'll pull it off later."
The mad wizard closed her eyes, focusing her mind.
Flicker, flicker.
Flames rippled across the ground, tracing a magic circle in soot. Complex and intricate, it symbolized stability, control, repetition.
Flame magic she'd never touch again once back at Violet Magic Tower. So, last hurrah—might as well go out with a bang.
"Burn in love, burn in longing, even if naught but ashes remain at the end—so be it. I shall burn even those ashes in love."
⟨ Academic Courting Flame Serpent (求愛炎巳) ⟩
Rumble rumble rumble—!
The earth quaked as a massive serpent's head rose from the magic circle. Selbia's eyes widened in shock. She'd seen that shape before. She knew it.
The famed flame mage Kravelin Render's myth. One that rampaged through wooden buildings leaving mere scorch marks, the pinnacle of flame control—never reducing to ash.
Reinterpreted purely through magic.
Hiss—!!
The serpent writhed, jaws gaping in a silent roar.
Prolong the fight? Bring it.
The Courting Flame Serpent wasted no power. It absorbed every stray bit of heat Selbia leaked, acting as regulator for her absurd firepower.
Kravelin-whatever's version had burst trying to swallow Selbia's mini-sun, but Flame Angel didn't harm her. Symbiosis, call it that.
"Sister-in-law Siselle! Casting's done—take it easy, I'll mop 'em up!"
"Roger. Switching to defensive formation, conserving strength. But what'd you just call me...?"
Even Siselle, who'd been lopping off outlier threats like an assassin, was called back. The flame serpent got to work cleaning monsters.
This let them preserve main forces all day if needed.
Of course, she had no intention of dragging it out.
Hummm—!
A mini-sun born of compressed heat. Like a second sun in the sky, its radiance dazzling the eyes. Looked cool, but it was pure energy waste.
Slither...
The Courting Flame Serpent reared up, gently claiming the airborne mini-sun. Like an imugi swallowing a yeouiju.
The light faded.
The blinding glow and heat shrank in moments, leaving a white orb in the serpent's maw. Vast thermal energy split into fine threads, twisted, and forged into spells.
As the orb shrank, dozens, hundreds of flame spears materialized in the air.
She cast a heat-tracking screen. Every animal in range had been modded into monsters by the red assassin—made targeting a breeze.
Burn every heat source in sight; one had to be the assassin.
Whiiiiiish—!
Flame spears launched in unison, sparks flying.
Boom boom boom—!!
Explosions chained off. This power could've razed the forest—but non-targets escaped with not a singed leaf.
And faintly, in the distance... a scream.
"—Gah, aaaargh!"
Gotcha, you bastard.
"Hear that? Let's go. Time to see that mug up close."
"...What the hell did you just do? No mage on the eastern front's ever shown anything like that."
"Power of friendship and love. Researched it pretty hard on the road—not bad, right?"
"Not bad? That's an understateme—"
As we celebrated the hunt's success and moved to confirm the red duke-assassin's kill... I felt my right foot snag.
Tree root? I glanced down.
A gaunt, icy skeleton gripped my ankle.