The Face Beneath the Mask
The carriage rattled violently as it sped down the road.
"Driver, as fast as you can!"
"Y-yes! Right away!"
The carriage surged forward, racing until it reached the road just outside Snowfield Village. The moment it stopped, the three women leapt out and sprinted toward the village without hesitation.
"This is insane... what the hell is this?!"
"How could this..."
"............"
The villagers of Snowfield Village had taken refuge just beyond a small fence, wailing in despair. Their homes were already engulfed in flames, reduced to nothing but smoldering ash. The place once filled with happy memories had burned to the ground, collapsing into utter ruin.
The children... that girl from back then... where is Venice?
Erielle scanned the crowd of villagers in silence. She confirmed that everyone she had seen here with Venice before was present. Everyone, except for Venice himself.
"Th-there are dark mages up ahead...!"
"Oh gods... our village... our homes...!"
"Waaaaah...!"
"Dark mages?" Erielle's voice sharpened. "It can't be...!"
"Erielle, where are you going?!"
"We have to go together!"
With her expression hardened, Erielle dashed toward the center of the village. Kayle and Fria spotted her and quickly followed.
It can't be... it can't be...!
A burning Snowfield Village. The dark mages the villagers had screamed about. Everything was visible, yet the one person missing from it all was Venice.
Erielle desperately tried to suppress the rising dread in her chest and the horrifying scenarios racing through her mind.
Beep— Beepbeepbeep—!
Suddenly, a loud, urgent alarm began ringing from inside Erielle's coat. She reached in and pulled out the source of the sound. It was the dark mage detection artifact that Ride had given her.
The artifact was flashing bright red, emitting a piercing, continuous alert.
WARNING: Multiple dark magic signatures detected in the immediate vicinity.
ALERT LEVEL: CRITICAL
"That's... the dark mage detection artifact, right?"
"It's never reacted like this before. For it to be going off now..."
"It means there are dark mages right in front of us."
Having reached that grim conclusion, the three women lowered their stances, tension coiling tighter in their bodies. They raised their mana, scanning every direction so they could react the instant an attack came.
Beep— Beep— Beep—
When Erielle held the artifact out toward the corner of the street cutting through the village, it flashed even brighter. After exchanging glances, they began gathering their power.
"What the—?! Who the hell are you bitches?! Die!"
A dark mage who had been hiding around the corner suddenly burst out. The moment he saw them, he hurled a blast of dark mana at them. He clearly thought it was a successful ambush, but it was useless against women who had already pinpointed his location with the artifact.
"Abso— cough, cough!"
"Erielle—! Magic Missile!!"
When Erielle began chanting and suddenly vomited blood, causing her spell to collapse, Kayle instantly gathered mana and launched it at the dark mage. The man never even imagined a counterattack; he was struck directly by the magic bolt and died on the spot.
"Cough... cough."
"Erielle!! Why are you suddenly like this?!"
"You...! What the hell is going on?! Weren't you completely healed?!"
Kayle and Fria rushed to her side in shock, but Erielle herself could not answer their questions.
Why... is this happening?
She genuinely didn't know the reason. In all her life, she had never once failed a spell, nor had she ever coughed up blood. Just moments ago, she had tried to use her most confident magic—Severing Magic. But suddenly, it felt as if her mana was flowing backward inside her body, making it impossible to cast. It was as though something was actively preventing her from using mana.
The horrifying pain felt like insects burrowing into her heart and gnawing away from the inside. She simply couldn't attempt it again.
"...Ugh. We'll deal with this later. Let's get to the center first. There might be other people there."
"You...! Haah. Fine. But you are absolutely not allowed to use magic!"
"We'll protect you! You can't keep hurting yourself like this!"
They hurried toward the village center. Dark mages occasionally sprang out from hiding, but they were no match for three of the academy's top students. Strangely, every dark mage who appeared was already clutching wounds, cursing violently as they emerged, which made dealing with them even easier.
Boom—!
Burning houses collapsed one after another, accompanied by the continuous roar of explosions. When they finally reached the center, a vast clearing greeted them.
The heart of Snowfield Village, once home to a lovely fountain and beautiful open space, had been turned into a wasteland that looked like the center of a battlefield. Scattered wooden planks, ash swirling in the wind, water slowly flowing from the shattered fountain to form a small river. And in the middle of it all, a single figure.
A man wearing a black robe stood there. Countless corpses of dark mages lay scattered around him. The black mana spears embedded in their bodies were slowly evaporating, fading away in a way that could barely be seen with the naked eye.
The man in the black robe seemed to be extracting something from the dark mage beneath his feet; dark mana could be seen slowly rising toward him.
"...Dark mage!"
"Did you burn this entire village to the ground, you filthy insect?!"
Kayle and Fria, seeing the village completely consumed by fire, unleashed their accumulated rage at the dark mage before them.
"........!"
The dark mage froze the instant he heard their voices. The man in the black robe and mask stopped moving so abruptly it was as if his functions had been shut down. They couldn't understand why he had frozen, but he looked utterly exhausted, so they lowered their stances and began condensing their mana.
"Mana Missile—!"
"Binding Vines!"
Fierce vines erupted from beneath Fria's feet and shot toward the dark mage. At the same time, a mana arrow formed in Kayle's hand flew straight for the center of his forehead. Seeing their spells reach him in the blink of an eye, they believed victory was theirs.
Shhh...
".........!"
"What the...!"
Until the dark mage's form shimmered like a mirage and vanished.
The three women looked around in open shock as the dark mage disappeared in an instant. Erielle quietly read the flow of mana around them, focusing on a spot where the flow had been unnaturally severed.
"There you are."
Crash—!
The moment she stared intently at that spot, a sound like shattering glass rang out, and the dark mage who had hidden himself reappeared.
"So there's a spell among dark magic that lets you hide like that? Disgusting bastards."
"Prepare yourselves. The sin of endangering the villagers will not be taken lightly!"
"........."
Erielle watched her friends explode with anger and wanted to do the same, but an inexplicable throbbing in her chest kept intensifying every time she looked at the dark mage, preventing her from joining them.
Why... is this happening? He's just a dark mage.
He wore the exact same robe and mask as every dark mage she had seen before. He even used that incomprehensible, undetectable black mana. There was no doubt he was a dark mage.
Yet... a deep sense of unease continued to swell inside Erielle's heart.
"........"
The dark mage slowly extended his hand toward them and began walking forward. But they had no intention of simply watching.
"Don't come any closer—! Fireball!"
"Earthquake—!"
The ground beneath him heaved upward, destabilizing his center. The fireball that flew at him erupted into a magnificent blaze the instant it struck, burning so fiercely that his survival seemed impossible.
Shhh...
"...That bastard's trying to hide again! Erielle, you did something earlier, right?!"
"Just wait a moment."
As he tried to conceal himself and disappear once more, Erielle read the flow of mana while using as little of her own as possible.
"Found you."
Crash—!
Not far from where the dark mage had been standing, his figure reappeared—this time with his back turned, attempting to flee.
"Why are you running?! After doing all this to these people, now you value your own life?!"
"Or do you have some reason you can't attack us, you filthy insect?!"
Even as they shouted, the dark mage's presence weighed heavily on them. If he could withstand their full-powered spells, he was more than capable of overwhelming them. Yet for some reason, the dark mage refused to attack. He only dodged, seemingly determined to avoid fighting. It was strange, but now was not the time to dwell on it.
...Just one shot. I just need to endure it once.
While Kayle and Fria drew the dark mage's attention, Erielle focused every ounce of her mind on preparing a single strike. She pushed down the anxiety crushing her heart and endured the excruciating pain by gritting her teeth. The result was just enough mana for one attack.
"Sever."
Shwaaaa—!
Though weaker than usual, and though she vomited a mouthful of blood after chanting, a perfect Severing spell shot toward the dark mage.
"........!"
Crack—!
Whether by luck or because he had seen the spell coming, her decisive Severing Magic only grazed the dark mage's mask, shattering it.
Clatter.
The broken fragments of the mask fell to the ground, revealing the dark mage's face.
"...Little brother?"
"Why are you..."
At the same time, Kayle and Fria's voices filled with utter disbelief rang out.
Erielle pushed back the growing dread and looked at the dark mage. Jet-black hair tied back, the color of the night sky. Captivating red eyes that seemed to hold liquid blood within them.
"Ve... nice...?"
Venice. Her personal butler was standing exactly where the dark mage had been, looking straight at her.