Unmasking Bertolt, the Heavenly Law Master
Ian eyed Pael. No, the nameless necromancer. This bastard was the mastermind behind the whole incident. The one who'd murdered Eric and framed Maria for it.
...But why? Everything from here on was pure speculation. Yet strangely, Ian was dead certain his hunch was spot on. He couldn't explain why. It was just a mage's intuition.
"You... targeted Maria from the very start. You orchestrated the whole thing."
Pael—or whatever his name was—listened with a meaningful smile.
"What makes you think that, mage?"
Ian glanced at Maria for a moment. She was glaring at Pael with eyes that could tear him apart.
There was only one thing that made sense.
"You were drawn to Maria's looks."
"Kuh, hahaha! Brilliant! Mage! You think I went to all this trouble over some girl's pretty face?"
"If it wasn't any trouble, it wouldn't have meant anything."
Ian spoke in a low voice.
"What you wanted... was Maria's submission."
"..."
"It was a setup so suspicious anyone would buy it. Everyone thought Maria was the killer. She nearly got executed for real."
Pael was the mastermind pulling the strings. That meant he'd maneuvered things from the beginning to get Maria on the execution block.
Why go through all that hassle? Just to kill her outright? A necromancer who commanded undead summons?
"You wanted to turn Maria into an 'abandoned soul'."
Pael's goal wasn't Maria's death. It was her social death.
"Maria's a natural-born necromancer. A prodigy with a future in the art."
"..."
"But even if she learned necromancy from you, there's no guarantee she'd follow your lead."
A disciple walks the path paved by their master. But they're not obligated to stick to the exact same road.
...Especially if that road reeks of blood and horror.
"You're with the Golden Rule Research Society, aren't you?"
GOLDEN RULE RESEARCH SOCIETY
Pael flashed a dark smile. As good as an admission.
"Spot on. Did Lershah tell you?"
"It's obvious. The only black mage lurking around here pulling this kind of shit."
That was Ian's conclusion. And it was correct.
Pael bowed theatrically, like a circus clown.
"Then allow a proper introduction. I am Bertolt, necromancer of the Golden Rule Research Society. The Heavenly Law Master."
Heavenly Law Master Bertolt
Ian let Bertolt's self-introduction go in one ear and out the other. So what? Heavenly Law Master? What the hell is that, you weeb?
But an unexpected reaction came from somewhere else.
"...Heavenly Law Master Bertolt!"
It was Sir Lershah.
Sir Lershah knew the name Bertolt.
Ian nodded. Ah, got it. So that's how it is. Heavenly Law Master Bertolt—like some wuxia novel title!
Wuxia trope: When the epithet drops, act shocked first. Can't skip the cliché~
"Heavenly Law Master Bertolt!"
Ian echoed Sir Lershah. Bertolt chuckled darkly.
"Heh heh... Now do you grasp it? What manner of mage stands before you!"
"Heavenly Law Master Bertolt!"
"Yes! 'Tis I!"
"Yeah! You're totally Bertolt!"
"...?"
Bertolt paused at Ian's bizarre response. The answer was perfect, but... something felt off. Lacking punch.
"Hey. Do you even know what kind of mage I am?"
Ian replied boldly.
"Of course! You're Heavenly Law Master Bertolt!"
Something felt chilly.
"...Besides that!"
"Then nah, no clue?"
"..."
Bertolt's blood pressure spiked. This prick... yapping without knowing shit about me!
"Who gives a damn what you do! Sneaking around plotting sleazy schemes!"
Ian pointed accusingly at Bertolt.
"The Bertolt I know is the slimy bastard who framed a girl, trying to socially bury her! Isolate her from the world, abandon her completely—that's the only way you could mold Maria your way!"
Ian's tone was pissy, but he nailed every point. Bertolt's hand trembled.
Yes. Bertolt craved Maria's social isolation. Branded a death-row murderess and wicked necromancer, she'd lose faith in humanity, harbor hatred for the world.
That's when Bertolt would extend his saving hand...
'I can nurture your necromancy.'
'Your kills were justified. Don't you want revenge on those who tormented you?'
Few could resist such temptation. Bertolt alone would affirm the Maria cast out to die.
...But Bertolt's scheme had crumbled spectacularly. Mage Ian had exposed the ugly truth.
"Maria's got black hair, black eyes—the hallmarks of the 'Golden Empire folk' you Golden Rule Research Society weirdos obsess over."
"..."
"You want to raise her as a true Empire black mage, right? Am I wrong?"
Ian's speech was crude as hell, but instead of snapping, Bertolt slowly clapped.
Clap, clap, clap. The hollow echoes rang empty.
"Perfect. Everything as you say, Ian Eredis Raven."
No more denials possible. Bertolt cleanly admitted his crimes. No point hiding now that it was all out.
"Maria, I apologize for the mischief I caused you."
"...Mischief?"
Maria muttered blankly, like a kid hearing an alien word. Stunned by Bertolt's wild euphemism.
"No malice toward you. I merely wished to show how pathetic, stupid, and spineless these 'Holy Empire folk' are—how easily they're swayed."
Ian was dumbfounded by Bertolt's words. Sure, the villagers flip-flopped without backbone. Yeah, they misunderstood and nearly executed Maria by mistake.
But fuck, that's because you set it up, asshole.
Wasn't it weirder for bumpkin farmers to unravel a scheme plotted by a full-on mage? Bertolt had rigged it to frame Maria from the start, and he was this close to success. Without Ian, she'd have gotten the noose, no question.
And now? 'Heh heh, Holy Empire idiots couldn't see through my plan~' Straight-up chuunibyou bullshit.
"Maria, you're different from these dumb barbarian descendants. Noble Golden Empire blood flows in your—"
"SHUT—YOUR—MOUTH!!!"
Ian couldn't take it anymore. Maria clenched her fists and screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Don't say another word! You... you toyed with Eric's life like a plaything! Me too! The whole village! We were all pawns in your filthy hands...!"
"..."
"I swear here and now. Even if my limbs shatter and my heart's ripped out..."
Maria bellowed.
"I won't forgive you necromancers! Never!"
Her voice clawed through the courtroom like a wild beast's. Hard to believe it came from such a small girl—loud, fierce, raw with true conviction.
Ian grinned at Bertolt.
"You're fucked now. What're you gonna do?"
The situation had flipped 180 from his original plan. Bertolt wanted Maria in the Golden Rule Research Society. But she'd never join him now.
"...So it seems. I've earned her hatred."
Bertolt gazed emptily at the night sky.
In that instant, Ian felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Wait. That's...!
The primal dread any living thing senses instinctively. The ultimate horror for all life.
Death.
Death began slithering toward Bertolt.
The most shocked by the phenomenon was Joseph the gravedigger.
"Impossible! He had no power until just now...!"
But Ian and Sir Lershah pierced the truth instantly.
"A corpse..."
"Pardon? What?!"
"That's not 'Pael'! Not 'Bertolt' either!"
Belenca, closest to Bertolt, moved first.
"Haaah!"
Her longsword sliced smoothly through Bertolt's neck. His head tumbled to the ground.
Thud...
No mage, no matter how great, survives decapitation. Magic requires incantations to persuade the mystery; cut off the head before it's done, and nothing happens.
But that's only if you properly kill the mage.
"Careful, Ian! Bertolt's the Heavenly Law Master! Not some run-of-the-mill necromancer!"
Sir Lershah drew his sword, chanting in the Maronius tongue.
"Heavens above! Protect your children!"
Momentarily, the darkness lifted, a beam of moonlight illuminating Sir Lershah. The heavens had accepted his holy plea.
At the same instant.
The death mystery swirling around Bertolt erupted skyward!
They'd severed the head, yet Bertolt kept moving. Simple reason.
"It was a corpse from the start!"
Bertolt was a master necromancer.
"He was puppeteering Pael's corpse!"
The 'real' Bertolt was hiding somewhere, controlling Pael's body remotely.
No death mystery from Pael's corpse earlier? Bertolt hadn't sent any.
It lingered only around the true Bertolt!
The decapitated Bertolt—no, Pael's corpse—shouted.
The churning death mystery was ominously vile. Just as fire mystery births flames and wind summons gales...
...death mystery could crush and erase life itself.
No mere illusion of danger—it was lethally perilous!
Regular magic won't cut it!
Ian snapped to attention. Exposed to the death power Bertolt had amassed, even he couldn't guarantee survival. It was insanely dangerous.
But it had a glaring weakness.
He's not the main body. It's a puppet.
The controller was Bertolt's spirit possessing the corpse. Destroy the corpse, and the death mystery loses its anchor, scattering away.
Hit it hard!
No time for subtlety. Ian prepared his strongest spell.
His most powerful? Skill card magic, naturally.
"Spear of Lightning!"
Aerokinesis: Lightning Spear (Lv4)
Throws a spear forged of raging lightning. Its unstable power will fry everything!
BZZZCRACK!
One of the eight skill cards he'd forged with Ice God Hrun Dahl. Aerokinesis power unfurled from Ian's fingertips.
Ian gripped a massive lightning spear.
The villagers. Sir Lershah and Maria. Even Bertolt.
"What... is that?"
They stared at Ian's magic in undisguised shock.
Small wonder. Ian's spell was an unprecedented monstrosity no mage had ever witnessed!
Skill card magic was Ian and Hrun Dahl's original creation—unknown to this world. Of course it was new.
"Lightning mystery? But the sky's so calm...?!"
Bertolt, forgetting the enemy before him, busied himself analyzing the novel magic. Mages gonna mage.
Whatever Bertolt thought? Ian didn't give a shit.
"Bertolt!"
Without hesitation, Ian slammed the lightning spear down on him.
It struck too fast. In an instant, it engulfed Bertolt.
Before he could even finish gawking—
"Vanish!"
BOOM!
The pure lightning spear pierced Bertolt's crown! A deafening roar shredded eardrums; blinding flash seared retinas.
Moments later.
"...Heavens above."
Sir Lershah rubbed his stinging eyes and peered ahead.
Ian's lightning spear had charred the puppet corpse Bertolt controlled to a crisp. The human-sized lump of coal crumbled slowly.
Thud.
Ian sighed in relief at the fallen husk. Heavenly Law Master my ass (lol). Necromancer Bertolt. Not so tough after all, huh?