Chapter 273
Chapter 273
Translation: Godtl
When Frondier's Sword Essence struck the cliffs of Manggot, a massive earthquake shook the entire region.
It wasn't enough to destroy Manggot, but everyone immediately realized something extraordinary had occurred.
"......What the hell is this?"
Belphegor furrowed his brow.
Hagley's eyes narrowed in tandem.
"......It's not a Monster from the Outside. This is sudden, foreign mana. A Magic Circle."
"Since when was there a Magic Circle installed here?"
Both found the current situation difficult to comprehend.
It went without saying—a Magic Circle is a Spell Formula drawn upon the ground.
And this Magic Circle encompassed Manggot within its range. Meaning someone had drawn the Spell Formula across Manggot itself.
When could they possibly have done that?
And if they could do that, why attack from the outside now?
"They're trying to lure me out."
"Could it be the Empire's interception squad?"
"Hard to say......"
While Hagley's deduction was reasonable, Belphegor tilted his head in thought.
Manggot hadn't deployed its entire military force for this war. They'd left behind a minimal defensive contingent—most of whom specialized in detection abilities.
'No matter how hard humans try to conceal their qi, they can't reduce it to zero. All living beings possess qi—it's impossible unless they're dead. And even if they suppress it to that extent, organized movement by a large group would inevitably draw attention.'
No matter how well they hide, they'd still leave traces of qi comparable to herbivores. Concealing qi is closer to disguising oneself as prey rather than complete invisibility.
It's not about completely evading detection, but reducing it to levels that wouldn't raise suspicion. Yet if a large group moved en masse toward Manggot, their very movement would become suspicious.
But to infiltrate undetected all the way within sniping range of Manggot meant only one thing:
'Don't tell me... someone came here alone?'
"Hagley."
"Yes."
"If it were Osprey, would remote drawing of a Magic Circle be possible?"
Hagley looked at Belphegor in shock at the question.
"You can't possibly mean Osprey is the one intercepting us now?"
"No idea. But no other plausible candidates come to mind."
To Belphegor's knowledge, Osprey was a master of spatial magic. Given his expertise in separation and teleportation, maintaining distance while drawing a Magic Circle wouldn't be beyond his capabilities.
"Tch, racking our brains like this won't get us anywhere."
Belphegor rose to his feet.
Hagley was startled by the action. It was surprising enough that Belphegor was moving on his own initiative, but more perplexing was the reasoning behind it.
"Is there any need to play into the enemy's hands? Drawing them into our territory would be more effective."
"You only say that because you didn't properly comprehend that last attack."
Belphegor picked up the staff leaning against the wall. Its appearance was utterly unremarkable—if anything, its defining characteristic was how crude it looked.
It resembled a thick tree branch crudely hacked into shape, with only minimal work done to form a handle and a base for ground contact.
"That last strike—they intentionally missed."
Belphegor examined his staff briefly as he spoke.
"A direct hit would have collapsed Manggot."
"......!"
Hagley's eyes widened.
"Are you saying that attack possessed such destructive power?"
"Well, it wouldn't have killed everyone. Some would survive and flee. But that's not what they want. Their aim is to completely eliminate Manggot's central figures. Either me... or you."
"......I'm hardly a central figure."
"Hahaha. Your humility sometimes goes too far—it worries me. I wonder if you truly believe that."
Belphegor seemed to finish inspecting his staff as he planted its end on the floor.
"I'll be back shortly. If we dawdle any longer, the next shot won't miss."
"I'll accompany you."
"No."
Belphegor refused outright.
"Search inside Manggot instead. This could be a diversion."
"......Understood."
Hagley nodded.
Truthfully, Hagley shared Belphegor's assessment. His offer to accompany was half out of formality anyway.
There would be no role for him in a battle between Belphegor and Osprey. Not getting in the way would be fortunate enough.
And above all—worrying about Belphegor was pointless.
When Frondier's Sword Essence made Manggot tremble,
"W-what the hell?"
A guard stationed in Manggot's prison tensed up and stared at the ceiling.
Though the quake was massive, nothing further happened even after considerable time passed.
"Scared me half to death. Thought Monsters had broken in or something."
"Well, if something like that happens, the people upstairs will take care of it. It's not like anything would come all the way down here. This prison is located in the deepest part of Manggot, after all."
"Speaking of which, that one over there..."
The relieved guard sat back down in his chair and glanced toward one particular cell.
"Is she trying to die or something?"
Inside lay a woman who was far too alluring to be just another prisoner.
"Hey, Jay."
The prisoner called out, but Selena remained silent, just as she had been all this time.
It had been four days since she was moved here.
In all that time, Selena hadn't consumed so much as a drop of water, let alone food.
Given that she hadn't been eating well since returning to Manggot, going four days without water in her already malnourished state was extremely dangerous.
"......"
The guard silently watched Selena, who lay collapsed on her side.
She was still wearing the same outfit she had on during the meeting. The dress, designed to seduce men, clung to her figure, and despite four days without sustenance, her curves remained unchanged.
Gulp. Unconsciously, the man's Adam's apple bobbed. He shook his head and forced himself to look away—only to glance back into the cell moments later.
"Hey, Jay. Stop being stubborn and at least drink some water. Throwing your life away over one failed mission is just stupid."
Within Manggot, Selena was known to have failed her mission. No one else but Selena herself had said so.
She was supposed to extract all the ancient language speakers before Manggot's war broke out, but she hadn't managed it. It wasn't a lie.
However, the war had started earlier than expected, and her plan had never had a high chance of success to begin with. Regardless of Selena's skills, obtaining the knowledge of the ancient language was too unpredictable.
"Jay. Would it kill you to say something back?"
Still, Selena said nothing.
After watching her for a while, the man began to feel an odd sense of unease.
Even so, isn't her lack of response too extreme? He had no idea how long she had been lying there in that position.
At first, her shoulders had still risen and fallen slightly, but now even that faint movement was gone. Not a single strand of her disheveled hair stirred—as if...
"H-Hey, Jay?"
Uneasy, the guard stood up.
Then, a faint voice reached him.
"......Water......"
It was so quiet he could barely hear it, a volume that required him to strain his ears just to make it out.
Had Jay been muttering that all this time? Had she been calling for help continuously, and he just hadn't heard her until now?
"H-Hey, Jay. The water's right in front of you."
A water jug had already been placed inside Selena's cell. After all, locking her up wasn't meant to torment her—just to restrain her.
Even now, if she could just lift herself up and reach out, she could grab it.
Yet Selena kept repeating the word "water" like a madwoman.
'......Don't tell me she doesn't even have the strength to sit up?'
The guard stepped closer and peered into the cell.
Up close, Selena's body looked even more emaciated. Four days without food or water—of course she would be like this.
"Jay! Jay! Snap out of it! The water's right in front of you!"
"......Water......"
Damn it. The guard pulled out his keys and unlocked the cell door.
Selena's wrists were already bound in shackles—restraints designed to block both Aura and magic. Shadow teleportation, too, was impossible. Of course it was. If she could still teleport, a prison cell would be meaningless.
"Jay! Here's the water. Get a hold of yourself—"
Whoosh!
The guard thought he had walked over with the water jug. Maybe three steps.
But the next moment, he was staring at the ceiling of the cell, with Selena straddling him.
It was the same technique she had once used to overpower Frondier.
"......Huh?"
Still dazed, the guard let out a bewildered sound.
In the pitch-black darkness, Selena's silhouette loomed over him. Her long hair cascaded down.
She gazed down at the man, slowly reaching out to take the water jug he had brought. Her head tilted slightly, and as she drank, a few stray droplets traced the corner of her lips before falling from her delicate chin.
After four days without water, Selena drank it with a sweetness—a terrifying, mesmerizing allure.
"H-How did you... break the restraints......?"
Seeing Selena's hands free, the man asked in shock.
The restraints that had appeared to be intact at a glance were in fact already undone. No, it was strange to even worry about the restraints coming loose in the first place.
"As thanks for your help, let me explain."
Selena's other hand—the one not holding the water canteen—came into view. Between her index and middle fingers, she held a needle.
"I undid them with this. A simple trick that requires neither mana nor aura."
"......H-how? Such hidden weapons should have been confiscated before you even entered the prison."
The man already knew the structure of Selena's clothing. The retrieval team had been the same. They knew every hiding spot for needles and even the exact quantity she carried.
"Because I modified it. Just enough to hide one between the layers of fabric at my waist."
"Modified? When did you even—"
"I went to a department store."
A department store?
An utterly unexpected word slipped out.
Since when did members of Manggot ever visit something as mundane as a department store?
"......Frondier took you there, didn't he?"
"Yes. You're quite sharp."
"They said he was completely bewitched by you. Seems it was true."
She didn't answer that. Selena's gaze flickered sideways for the briefest moment.
"Even so, how did you undo the restraints with just that needle? These aren't ordinary handcuffs."
If the restraints could be picked with simple lockpicking methods, every petty thief breaking into houses would be able to remove them. These weren't restraints that could be undone so easily.
Yet Selena had undone them.
The answer was absurdly simple.
"Because I know the structure of these restraints. I've even practiced a bit."
"......You know the structure?"
The restraints were a product of magical engineering. In the end, they were still engineering.
If one perfectly understood their design, someone like Selena—who possessed top-tier skills with a needle—could undo them.
But that premise shouldn't have existed in the first place.
"How the hell did you figure out the design? How could you even see the structure?! And what do you mean, you practiced?!"
"Unfortunately—"
Thud.
Selena's needle lightly pricked the back of the man's neck.
She hadn't killed him, but he wouldn't wake up for half a day unless someone threw him into the sea.
"—that's a secret."
Selena stowed the needle in her sleeve and stood.
"Sorry. But if you stay here and sleep, you won't die. No one will blame you either."
After offering a small apology, she lifted her gaze toward the ceiling—toward the cliffs of Manggot above.
'......This magic circle.'
Its enormous size, the familiar scent of mana.
So unmistakable, so vivid.
The moment Selena first sensed this mana, she had nearly ruined her act of pretending to be exhausted.
Frondier had come.
He had reached the place where she was.
Even knowing it wasn't solely for her sake, Selena struggled to contain the overwhelming swell in her chest.
"......You really came."
Selena had asked Frondier for one thing.
To save her.
Belphegor believed Frondier had missed Manggot's complete annihilation by a hair's breadth.
But Selena alone knew the truth.
'Belphegor must have gone out to stop Frondier. He's not inside Manggot right now.'
If Selena merely wanted to escape this prison, she could leave anytime.
But if Belphegor were lying in wait inside, it would be pointless. Even if she escaped this small prison, she'd still be trapped within a larger one.
Yet at this very moment.
Through the magic circle, Frondier had sent her a signal—proof she had slipped free of Belphegor's surveillance.
"You really came to save me......"
Frondier had already kept his promise to Selena.
That alone was enough for her.
"Now then."
As Selena took a deep breath in and exhaled,
the shadows seemed to draw toward her as if enchanted, and she sank into the darkness in turn.
"I have my own work to do."
She wanted to use teleportation immediately, but she couldn't—not yet.
Teleportation meant arriving by someone's side.
Having severed her shadow connection with Frondier, the only people Selena could teleport to were members of Manggot.
Using teleportation like that would immediately expose the fact that she'd escaped the prison.
"Right, first—"
Selena examined herself. More precisely, she examined her outfit.
The clothes Manggot had given her. One of many outfits meant to seduce Frondier.
—That ridiculous outfit must have been brought from there too, but there's nowhere to change?
—Next time, wear normal clothes, whatever they are.
—Once this trip is over, I'll go buy some clothes.
—When I go to buy you clothes, I should buy some for myself too.
"Alright, let's change clothes first."
I brought several decent outfits that are way better than this trashy getup.
"It's time to return to my usual attire."