Chapter 371: Why They Seek Temar's Tomb (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 371: Why They Seek Temar's Tomb (3)
Mages emerged from the dim thicket.
Twenty of them appeared, with Myla visible at their side.
[Look at this! I knew it. I knew my sister would have hidden the tomb's seal elsewhere. But it was so predictable! In Wantaramo, the only place she could hide it from my eyes was the Red Lake!]
Myla stepped forward, her voice shrill. She was panting, as if she had rushed to get here. The mages' faces were also slick with sweat.
‘I was a bit worried the Wraith Squad might be among them, but fortunately, it seems only mages from the Magic Tower have come. Since the 3rd Magic Tower is the closest, they must have come in a hurry and wouldn't have had time to bring the Wraith Squad.’
As Zipple’s elite secret unit and the direct subordinates of Octavia Zipple, the Wraith Squad was a force the 3rd Magic Tower wouldn't dare to summon on its own authority.
‘Still, a report that I’m in Wantaramo must have been sent to the higher-ups, so the Wraith Squad will eventually arrive. They deployed five of them just to catch me last time.’
The goal was to kill them all before reinforcements arrived, check the tomb, and then escape the forest.
[When I said we should ally with Zipple for the sake of our kin, she ignored me, calling it nonsense! And now Runcandel? Not even Cyron Runcandel, but clinging to this powerless little brat!]
Screaming in a fit of rage, Myla’s body temporarily swelled and turned red. It was a phenomenon that occurred whenever a fairy descendant became excited or manifested their power.
[Is this the path for our kin that you spoke of, Sister? This is why everyone turned their backs on you. Where are you? Come out! Come out and say something!]
A moment of silence followed. Only the sound of Myla’s heavy, ragged breathing echoed in the clearing.
In the meantime, Jin and Valeria gauged the approximate strength of the Zipple forces, while the Viment demons observed them with cautious intensity.
[Ha, I got worked up for nothing. Anyway, listen well, Sister. This is my final warning as your sibling. If you come out and beg now, I’ll let you die without pain. As a final mercy for our shared blood…]
“Aaaack!”
Myla suddenly shrieked.
A mana beam fired by Valeria had grazed her wing. From the moment the mages appeared, Valeria had already finished her incantation, keeping the spell hidden within her palm.
[My wing! My wing! It’s burning!]
Myla scrambled behind the mages, letting out a grotesque scream. The mages showed no particular reaction to her injury.
[You couldn't even block that? Kill them now! What are you all doing!?]
“Shut up. You’re the one who dared to step forward and scream like a fool. Who are you blaming? And who do you think you’re commanding?” one of the mages said, casting a look of contempt at Myla.
Cowed by his cold attitude, Myla had no choice but to shut her mouth.
“A pleasure to meet you, Jin Runcandel. I am Drew Malaga, Vice Tower Master of the 3rd Magic Tower.”
The Malaga family was one of the central families of the Lutero Magic Federation. Before taking charge of the Magic Tower, Drew Malaga had served as the 2nd Captain of the magic unit, White Night.
—...A pleasure, Lady Luna. I am Maul Henserck, 2nd Captain of the White Night.
—You? It seems the 2nd Captain has changed without my knowing.
—My predecessor, Sir Drew Malaga, has retired…
—If it were Drew, he would have stepped down from those stairs before accepting my greeting.
Jin recalled the conversation Luna and Maul Henserck had shared during the Holy Kingdom Incident.
“There is much to be pleased about, Sir Drew Malaga. I heard you had retired.”
“I recently returned as the Vice Tower Master of the 3rd Magic Tower.”
“The Lutero Magic Federation must be lacking in talent.”
“The former Black Knights of Runcandel have all retired, yet they still carry out unofficial missions, do they not? My case is similar.”
“You seem quite lacking compared to the former Black Knights. Is that excessive confidence, or do you simply know no shame?”
“That was an inappropriate comparison. I apologize if I offended you.”
Drew was not a shallow man who would fall for such simple provocation. There was a reason he had served as the 2nd Captain of the White Night and was reappointed as a Vice Tower Master even after retirement.
“Sir Jin Runcandel,” Drew said, stroking his beard.
“Speak.”
“I would like to make a proposal.”
“A proposal?”
“Just leave. The higher-ups will be sending reinforcements soon, and you won't be able to handle them. However, I also do not wish to lose my subordinates needlessly trying to stop you.”
“And you think you could stop me even if you sacrificed your subordinates? What do you think my answer will be?”
“Then it can't be helped. I'll ask one last thing: who is that mage beside you? I hear she uses magic that has long been forgotten and lost…”
Drew had already been informed by Myla on the way here that Valeria was a user of record magic.
‘Since Myla activated the staff that calls the Magic Tower and they came without any prior information, Drew didn't know from the start that a record mage was here. But even if I kill all these mages, the information that I’m accompanied by a record mage will reach Zipple.’
Just as Jin suspected, Drew Malaga had already sent a letter to the Zipple main house the moment he heard about the record mage from Myla.
Myla’s betrayal was unexpected, so this couldn't be helped.
Just as Jin was about to scoff, Valeria suddenly stepped forward.
“You handle the demons, Jin Runcandel.”
Are you saying you'll handle twenty mages alone?
Jin didn't bother asking the question aloud and simply nodded. If his teacher said she could do it, then she could.
“Be careful.”
As Jin turned his sword toward the demons, Valeria glared at the mages.
“Listen well, you dogs of Zipple.”
Valeria pulled back her hood, revealing her face. Her Silver Pine Staff, glowing with mana, illuminated her features.
“I am the descendant of those you trampled into oblivion, a sibling to the Grey Owls you murdered without cause, and the mage who will one day erase the name Zipple from this world.”
Valeria Hister.
As she finished speaking, Drew’s eyes widened. Jin, too, couldn't help but be shocked.
‘Teacher revealed her real name?’
It was the name she had yet to reveal even to him.
Even while fighting the demons, Jin kept his attention on Valeria.
The reason Valeria revealed her name was simple.
It meant she intended to kill every single mage before her, without exception.
“None of you will return alive.”
She possessed the absolute conviction that she could make it so.
“…Watch the ground!”
The moment Valeria’s staff moved, Drew suddenly shouted.
Before anyone realized it, Lightning Chains had spread across the ground where he and the mages stood.
‘She formed the spell while revealing her identity…!’
It was a shocking display of magic manipulation, difficult even for Jin to comprehend. Even Jin, who was right beside her, hadn't noticed any mana flowing from her, so there was no way the mages of the 3rd Magic Tower could have perceived it.
“Aaaagh!”
“Guh!”
Mages who failed to dodge the Lightning Chains screamed.
Blood poured from their mouths, noses, and ears. The mages who barely managed to deploy shields and escape the worst felt a chill run down their spines.
“Gurgle…”
Five mages were ensnared by the chains. They soon met their end, charred black and vomiting bloody froth.
In an instant, twenty percent of the Magic Tower’s forces had vanished.
But the misfortune of the 3rd Magic Tower’s mages was not over. Even after killing five, the Lightning Chains writhed like living creatures, continuously lashing against the remaining mages' shields. The chains weren't just putting pressure on the shields; they were also blocking the mages' vision, maximizing their terror.
“I will buy time! Respond calmly! If you move rashly, you’ll fall into a backflow!”
Drew indeed showed the qualities of a former 2nd Captain of the White Night. He continued to lead his men excellently, preventing his panicked subordinates from falling into mana backflow.
However, Valeria had expected Drew to be capable of at least that much.
Therefore, she intended to kill them in a way that defied all expectations.
Klang—!
Suddenly, a dimensional gate opened in the air, much like when a phoenix is summoned. Valeria had performed a summoning ritual. However, the gate didn't open near her, but directly above the heads of the Magic Tower mages.
Crrrk, ching, chiiiing!
What emerged from it were hundreds of sharp Ice Spikes. Like overlapping shark teeth, the Ice Spikes continued to form incessantly, even as they broke against the shields.
Mages whose shields were pierced met gruesome deaths, their bodies skewered. Their torn flesh and entrails were instantly turned to charcoal by the still-surging Lightning Chains.
The mages of the 3rd Magic Tower never expected to be attacked in such a manner.
They had all learned magic from Zipple and treated Zipple’s library—which was said to contain all the magic in the world—like their own home, but they could say with certainty that the magic Valeria was unleashing was of a kind they had never seen before. In fact, all the magic Valeria used had undergone so many modifications that it was difficult to discern the original spells.
That was why they couldn't respond properly. They thought they knew almost every spell in existence, yet seeing their comrades burned and impaled by strange, unheard-of magic was pure horror.
Shring!
Amidst the confusion and panic, the chilling sound of a blade leaving its sheath followed. It wasn't Bradamante.
It was the sound of a dagger being drawn from Valeria’s robe sleeve.
Step, step…
Valeria began to approach the mages at a pace that wasn't particularly fast.
Her eyes were stained with a dark, red murderous intent. Until Valeria reached point-blank range, the mages were too preoccupied with struggling to survive the Lightning Chains and Ice Spikes to notice her.
The chains on the ground parted to make a path for her footsteps.
The Ice Spikes pouring from the dimensional gate above also avoided the path she walked.
From then on, it was a literal massacre.
She moved through them like a reaper, and with every flick of her dagger, a life was extinguished. Thud, thud. As she stabbed the mages in their necks and hearts, Valeria wore an expression of chilling indifference.
Eventually, her steps led her toward Drew Malaga, who was protecting his remaining subordinates with his shield.
Even before she approached, Drew had already accepted defeat and death—he had from the moment five men died in the first surprise attack.
Even with Valeria standing right in front of him, Drew lacked the strength to counterattack or even push her away.
Valeria didn't stab Drew immediately but locked eyes with him for a moment.
“Among the mages who massacred the Grey Owl Mercenaries, there was a man named Holden Malaga.”
“Is… that so.”
“It seems he was your kin.”
Drew did not answer and avoided Valeria’s gaze.
“I see you people also fear the death of your own brothers.”
Slash!
As Valeria slit Drew’s throat, the Lightning Chains and Ice Spikes began to devour the subordinates who had barely been holding on thanks to his shield.
While blood and screams filled the air, Valeria fired another mana beam, shooting down the wings of the fleeing Myla once more.