Episode 623
Episode 623
Crunch!
"!"
With a thunderous noise, massive tentacle-like appendages began sprouting from the fallen fanatic's body.
The writhing tentacles, intertwined with ominous and sinister mana, coalesced into a grotesque chimera-like form.
The collapsed fanatic had long since lost any semblance of human shape.
"F... F... F... For Lord Prahgal..."
"An evil god worshipper!"
Giselle exclaimed in shock.
Among the Empire's numerous enemies, these were the most insidious and twisted.
Those whose minds had been corrupted by worshiping bizarre evil gods—these were the evil god worshippers.
Whoosh!
"Become steel, O cloak!"
As a club-like thickened tentacle arm came flying, Lee Han chose to defend rather than dodge.
There were friends behind him.
Thud!
Even as the impact sent his body floating backward, Lee Han focused his mind.
"O strength, surge forth!"
The incantation taught by Gonadaltes' black book summoned formidable physical power.
Feeling his arms surge with strength capable of crushing anything, Lee Han gripped his cloak once more.
Thud!
This time, his body didn't get sent flying.
"Lightning, take hold!"
Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Simultaneously, sparks of lightning began dancing across the cloak like static. It was the <Lightning Cloak Enchantment>, the most advanced among 3rd-Circle Lightning Element Enchantment spells.
Despite demonstrating textbook combat mage techniques—swift steel transformation, strength enhancement, and lightning enchantment—the fanatic paid no heed.
The tentacle arm pushed forward relentlessly, even as parts of it began to necrotize.
"...Why aren't you dodging?!"
Giselle, half a beat late, plunged her twin swords into the fanatic's torso.
She had been startled by Wardanaz choosing to block instead of evade, delaying her reaction.
And there was only one reason Wardanaz would choose to block rather than dodge now.
'Damn it!'
Gritting her teeth, Giselle awakened her swords.
The renowned blades, forged from northern floating ice and honed by her family, emitted an eerie chime as light burst forth—ice-blue hues and frost flowers blooming from the blades.
Infused with her mana, the swords began unleashing the northern extreme cold from their edges.
Shiiing!
"Nice one, Moradi!"
Thanks to his friend buying time, Lee Han quickly created distance and began chanting his next spell.
He had already cast his other combat enhancement spells earlier.
"O mist, spread!"
As the surroundings suddenly blurred, the fanatic's movements momentarily halted. Lee Han advanced his skeleton warriors.
"Bind his feet! O bones, shoot forth!"
Pulling bone fragments from his reagent pouch, Lee Han fired them like arrows.
Though the bones embedded themselves into the fanatic's chimera-like tentacle body, the creature didn't even flinch.
'Just how tough is this bastard?!'
Those were precious reagents condensed with dark element—yet the fanatic was tanking them barehanded.
The enhanced skeleton warriors stabbed at the fanatic, attempting to bind his feet.
Slowed by Moradi's earlier attack, the fanatic couldn't react immediately and staggered.
"Your arm?!"
"What arm?"
"I'm asking if your arm's okay!"
Lee Han was baffled by Giselle's sudden, random question.
"It's fine?"
"Good, that's all I needed!"
"What's all you—"
"Just cast your damn spell!"
"What do you know about Prahgal? What kind of being is it?"
"I think my family exterminated his cult once or twice, but I don't have specifics...!"
Lee Han hesitated between lightning elemental magic, the Water Prison Bomb, or another offensive method.
With so little intel on the enemy, he couldn't decide immediately.
'Why is that evil god worshipper so damn strong?'
The fanatic, who hadn't seemed particularly threatening at first glance, was now displaying monstrous strength in its frenzied state.
'Is it because he's gone mad?'
Among priests, those capable of wielding divine magic weren't common.
The Wardanaz family head had once explained it simply: "Because there aren't many who are genuinely insane."
Fanaticism was the foremost requirement for divine magic.
If that was the logic, it made sense why the evil god worshipper was so strong.
Being more fanatical than anyone else would mean he could wield divine magic stronger than anyone else.
"There's no choice. Moradi, don't approach. It might splash around you."
"What?"
"Burn!"
Lee Han summoned flames into the air.
Given the opponent, he made them slightly larger than the size he usually restrained himself to.
'It's the cold northern region, so it should be fine... Probably!'
"In Afha's name!"
But he didn't stop there.
Lee Han used the divine magic he had learned—the White Flame of the Afha Order.
The flames were replaced and began blazing fiercely.
The fanatic, who had broken through the encirclement after dealing with the Skeleton Warriors, reacted differently than before.
"Grrrrrrr!"
'I chose right!'
Lee Han felt his choice had been correct.
The bastard feared the divine magic of another order!
"Arise, warriors of bone!"
As the Skeleton Warriors bound his feet once more, embers of the White Flame flew and exploded against the fanatic.
"It's working!"
Giselle lowered her poised sword and shouted.
The bastard, who had stubbornly endured every attack earlier, now screamed every time the flames struck him.
"P-P-P... Prahgal...!"
"He's charging!"
Lee Han nodded and signaled with his eyes.
The Skeleton Warriors blocked the front while the Flame Energy condensed, growing even stronger.
Whoooosh!
The flying embers merged and attacked the fanatic as if trying to incinerate him alive.
The fanatic's scream lashed at their ears, nearly deafening them.
At that moment, the fanatic mustered his last strength, transforming his entire body into a spear of tentacles.
"!"
Using Divination Magic, Lee Han predicted the trajectory and grabbed Giselle, throwing them both aside.
But it turned out to be unnecessary.
Jiklin, who had rushed in from afar, swung her sword and cleaved the fanatic in two.
Sschhk!
"...!!"
Jiklin swung her sword again, splitting the fanatic into four pieces this time.
Even then, when the fanatic twitched and tried to move, she relentlessly slashed at him. The shredded fanatic could no longer endure and burst into roaring flames.
'What kind of power...?!'
Lee Han couldn't believe his eyes—the same bastard who had resisted all kinds of magic earlier was now being sliced apart like butter.
"My apologies for being late!"
"N-No, it's fine."
"Hey. Move."
Giselle pushed Lee Han's head aside as she got up. Jiklin apologized to them again.
"I'm truly sorry. I put you both in danger while searching for prey."
"......"
"......"
Lee Han and Giselle exchanged glances.
There was no way they could admit they had approached the criminal first to finish the hunt quickly.
"It's alright."
"This much is nothing..."
"No, this is indeed my mistake. Let's end the hunt here."
"!"
Lee Han and Giselle's eyes widened slightly.
Ah...
'Wait. Don't look too happy.'
'I know. You stay calm too.'
"Truly unfortunate..."
"I'm sorry too, Wardanaz. But I can't take guests into such dangerous situations any longer."
"Sniff..."
"...Sniff, sniff."
Giselle had no choice but to play along with her friend's act.
But she couldn't stop the self-loathing rising from the depths of her heart.
"Wait a moment."
Jiklin stopped them and turned her head.
Then she swung her sword to extinguish the White Flame, which was still blazing wildly.
Unnoticed, it had already burned all the surrounding trees and was spreading aggressively.
Giselle, baffled, asked,
"Why did you let your Fire Magic spread out of control like that?"
"...It's a secret."
Lee Han dodged the question.
"Prahgal? More nonsense."
The Skeleton Principal, seated in the family head's office, sighed upon receiving the report.
These damn evil god worshippers were like mold—no matter how many times you cleaned them up, they always sprouted from somewhere.
"Perhaps it's because of this agonizing world."
Though the Skeleton Principal had abandoned his flesh and reached a state of enlightenment, he couldn't expect the same from other mortals...
'How truly regrettable!'
"Lord Gonadaltes."
"Ah. My apologies. Do continue."
"A few years ago, our family also eradicated a Prahgal fanatic sect. I suspect their temple might be hidden somewhere in the northern regions."
Despite being well past middle age, the Moradi family head showed no signs of aging in his appearance. To an outsider, he might seem like the Skeleton Principal's peer.
A fierce will was etched onto the family head's cold, sharp features.
"Another extermination."
"Should suffice."
"We'll require the assistance of exceptional mages."
"Ugh..."
The Skeleton Principal made no effort to hide his reluctance.
Searching for hidden evil god worshippers in the vast northern empire was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.
At least with a needle in a haystack, a simple spell could locate it—but hunting down these fanatics required pouring an absurd amount of magic into the task.
"I'll... consider it."
"Very well. I shall await your response."
The family head's eyes as he made this "request" were anything but pleading.
They bore into the Skeleton Principal like a predator sizing up its prey, as if to say he wouldn't relent until he got his way.
But the Skeleton Principal remained unfazed. Given the centuries he'd lived, some young elf's pressure tactics weren't about to shake him.
"Incidentally, who uncovered the Prahgal fanatics? Those zealots are notoriously hard to identify—someone must've been quite resourceful."
"Lady Jiklin was—"
"Ah."
Both the Skeleton Principal and the family head wore expressions that said, 'Well, of course.'
A knight of Jiklin's caliber could likely sniff them out by instinct alone.
"She took Lady Giselle and Lord Wardanaz on a hunt. According to reports, the two of them were the ones who located the fanatics."
The Skeleton Principal and the family head simultaneously lowered their heads in disbelief. That was how stunned they were.
'Just what is this kid up to?'
The Skeleton Principal was at a loss for words.
He'd told Lee Han to rest until the banquet, yet the boy couldn't even wait that long before rushing out to capture Prahgal fanatics?
Was he some kind of ambition-crazed lunatic??
'It's not like he's trying to make a name for himself across the entire empire...'
When the Skeleton Principal glanced at the family head, even the latter seemed thoroughly bewildered. His usually icy composure had cracked.
And honestly, it made sense.
Jiklin's "hunts" were anything but ordinary.
To drag along an invited guest—no less, a member of the prestigious Wardanaz family—into such a dangerous excursion...
For the family head, a staunch pragmatist and rationalist, this was absolutely unforgivable.
But the Skeleton Principal knew the truth.
'That Wardanaz brat definitely insisted on tagging along first!'
Though he hadn't confirmed it yet, the Skeleton Principal would've wagered the recently received gold coins that Lee Han had volunteered himself.
"This is..."
"Ah, ah. No need to overreact. They're just close friends, that's all."
"Excuse me?"
The family head stared at the Skeleton Principal with a look that said, 'What kind of nonsense are you spouting?'
No matter how he thought about it, the explanation made no sense.
"They're Einrogard students, aren't they?"
"But they're from different towers?"
"Tsk! Are you saying friendship can't blossom across towers? How narrow-minded!"
"......"
The family head was speechless. Coming from the man who actively pitted towers against each other to foster rivalry, this was rich.
"Anyway, they're close, so don't make a fuss. Friends hunt together and catch fanatics together—simple as that."
"...?"
A nearby servant tilted his head in confusion.
Was that how it worked?
"Understood."
Though still skeptical, the family head nodded for now.
Upon reflection, the Skeleton Principal had no reason to lie about something like this.
And neither Jiklin nor Giselle would recklessly endanger their family's esteemed guest without cause.
'...'
Wait. Jiklin might actually do that.'
"Lord Gonadaltes. I'd like to meet the boy from the Wardanaz family."
"Hm. Doesn't sound like the best idea."
The Skeleton Principal offered this sincere advice, sensing the family head's blood pressure was about to spike.
The family head pondered again.
'Is he, as the guardian of the empire's balance, trying to prevent closer ties with the Wardanaz family?'
"Look, just meet him if you want."
The Skeleton Principal said this with visible distaste.
This was exactly why he couldn't stand overthinkers.