Crossroads of Life and Death

The Empire was relentless. "Spiteful" was perhaps an even better word for it.

To shake off an imperial pursuit whose motives remained entirely opaque, no precaution ever felt sufficient. Peria knew this intimately, and Einzel was no different. Even as their carriage rattled along the uneven road, neither let their guard down for a single breath.

Then, mounted riders appeared on the horizon.

As expected, their armor bore no heraldry or crest. Yet unlike their previous pursuers, these men radiated an unmistakable, murderous intent.

The moment they came into sight, Einzel hurled a fireball. He aimed not directly at their bodies, but across their path to disrupt their momentum. Undeterred, the riders leaped straight over the barrier of flame.

"...They're a rough bunch, aren't they?"

Einzel muttered, unhooking his bow. Beside him, Peria began to chant an incantation.

A wall of earth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surged upward, blocking the riders' advance. As they swerved around it, Einzel loosed an arrow straight toward an exposed throat.

"Guh!"

One rider tumbled from his saddle.

Einzel quickly assessed their numbers. Roughly six remained. He needed a way to deal with all of them at once.

He conjured a wall of ice. Because the frost barrier was paper-thin, the knights sneered and smashed right through it—only for the shattered ice to liquefy instantly into a dense sheet of water.

"What the—"

In that split second, Einzel discharged a bolt of lightning. The moisture hanging in the air served as an immediate conductor, arcing the electric shock through every single rider in an instant.

"Oh, modifying formula applications on the fly? Not bad at all!"

Peria beamed, thumping him on the back. Seeing him independently adapt and refine spells was precisely what she had hoped for when she took him under her wing.

Yet as the steam and dust cleared, the knights remained standing, largely unfazed. The reason was simple: their armor had been crafted from an insulated, non-conductive alloy.

"Well, that's mildly inconvenient."

Their mounts, however, had collapsed. Iron fittings on the saddles and bridles had carried the full brunt of the jolt.

"Here comes the real trouble."

Those knights possessed physical reinforcement techniques capable of matching a galloping steed. They had ridden horses merely to conserve stamina; now that their mounts were gone, their pursuit of the carriage would only grow more relentless.

The knights surged forward on foot. Moving even faster than the carriage horses, they closed the distance stride by stride, dodging Einzel's arrows with effortless precision.

"Damn it all!"

Peria unleashed a volley of spells. Forgoing elemental attacks like fire and lightning, she channeled pure kinetic shockwaves that blew the charging knights off their feet mid-sprint. Yet they rolled to their feet in the blink of an eye and resumed their charge.

Einzel racked his mind for a countermeasure, biting his lip as he began weaving a new formula.

A howling sandstorm rose between them.

Grit whipped across their armor, grinding into every joint and hinge until the knights grimaced beneath their visors. Einzel felt his mana reserves rapidly depleting. But the moment Peria lent her strength to the spell, the strain lifted from his shoulders.

The sandstorm grew heavier, thicker, and far more violent. Sensing his reservoir nearing empty, Einzel cut off his supply.

"All right! I'll keep the sand howling, you just keep them off us!"

Peria shouted, and Einzel drew his bow once more, letting loose a steady stream of arrows.

The knights were forced to roll aside to dodge—proof that their movements were growing sluggish. And each time they hit the ground, even more grit forced its way into their armored joints. Their limbs grew heavier and heavier.

To compensate for the mechanical friction, they had to pump excessive mana into body reinforcement. Before they even realized it, their mana pools had run dry. And once their mana gave out, the rigid joints froze completely, leaving them unable to move.

Einzel offered a faint smile.

"Good. All we have to do now is keep driving."

At last, they put the capital far behind them.

Their destination was a treacherous canyon renowned for its monster infestation: Sefil Gorge. Its sheer cliffs, perilous climate, and swarming beasts made it nearly impassable for ordinary humans—which made it the ideal sanctuary to lie low.

Peria hollowed out a cave wall to fashion an underground workshop. With high magic at her disposal, excavating the chamber was anticlimactically swift. The moment the workshop was complete, she immediately turned her focus to analyzing the ring in her possession.

"Found anything yet?" Einzel asked.

Peria shook her head. "No matter how deep I dig, there's nothing recorded about a ring engraved with a phoenix."

She shut her tome with an irritated thud. Every text she reviewed merely repeated what she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠already knew; nothing yielded fresh insight.

"...Isn't there a way to examine it using magic?"

"Well... like appraisal magic, you mean?"

Appraisal spells could analyze an object's latent mana to determine its properties, but they could not divine its historical origins or lineage.

"It'd be nice if there were a spell that could read an item's history," Einzel remarked.

At his offhand comment, Peria began sifting through her master's old research logs. Suddenly, her hands trembled as she pulled out a worn sheet of parchment.

"Holy crap."

Hearing the stunned murmur escape her lips, Einzel cocked his head. "What is it...?"

As he peered closer, Peria thrust the parchment toward him. Einzel's brow furrowed.

"...What am I looking at?"

Einzel had not yet reached the level where he could decipher raw magical formulas straight from research notes.

Peria sighed, rolling her eyes. "Good grief, after all that teaching, you're still hopeless, you dummy. It's a decoding spell."

Einzel merely shrugged. Peria continued to explain.

"It's a spell designed to reveal records sealed directly inside an object."

Only then did Einzel understand her astonishment. "And what if there's nothing hidden inside it?"

"Well, if there weren't anything hidden, would they really be hunting us down like this? Besides, it's more than worth a shot, isn't it?"

Peria began weaving the incantation. The phoenix's ruby eyes flared with a crimson radiance. A faint smirk touched her lips as she finished the chant. From the ruby gaze of the phoenix, glowing letters manifested in midair.

"It worked!"

The moment the words appeared, Peria frantically scribbled them onto scrap paper before the light faded and the script vanished into thin air. Having penned the message, she tilted her head in confusion.

"'Young phoenix'? 'Tecamiel'?"

Ironically, even after uncovering the long-sought clue, she had no idea what it meant. Einzel was just as mystified.

The "young phoenix" part made some sense; considering that the former emblem of the Empire was a phoenix, it was likely an allusion to that legacy. But Tecamiel? It was a name neither of them had ever encountered.

Peria groaned, diving back into the piles of reference books to uncover any mention of Tecamiel. Yet time slipped past without yielding a single hint, until an entire month had gone by.

Einzel gazed down across the windswept canyon. He lamented how they were simply holing up here without a single breakthrough, watching the wild grass bend and ripple with stubborn vitality beneath the breeze.

He bit his lip. Like clockwork, roving monsters prowled into view, and as naturally as breathing, he cut them down where they stood. Yet the suffocating weight in his chest refused to lift.

Is it truly right to waste time like this? The thought gnawed relentlessly at his mind.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to suggest returning to the capital. Even knowing they could not afford to drag their feet, he had grown blinded by this rare, stolen tranquility. He desperately did not want to let go of this peace.

He did not fear death. What he feared was losing himself—and equally terrifying was the possibility that his resolve to save Peria might begin to waver. Though he knew idling away the days was a dead end, the desire to preserve his own fragile sanity lingered just as fiercely.

Einzel resolved to put ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an end to his vacillation. It was absurd to let personal longing blind him to what had to be done.

Steeling himself to broach the topic of braving the dangers and returning to the capital, he turned toward the cave. The moment he stepped inside, Peria marched up to him and spoke first.

"We need to go back to the capital."

Einzel blinked in surprise. Setting aside the fact that she had beaten him to the punch, he had no idea what had prompted this sudden declaration.

"...Why?" he asked.

"Because staying here won't teach us a single damn thing." Peria drew a deep breath. "I was being foolish. Thinking I could dodge immediate threats and somehow uncover the truth holed up in the middle of nowhere. You... you said you have the power to turn back time when you die, right?"

Einzel nodded slowly.

"Then you already know. The answers are always waiting right in the teeth of danger. That's how you pitted the Lich King and Grandis against each other, wasn't it?"

"...Yeah."

"Exactly. That's why I'm going to face the threat head-on. I know it's dangerous... but there's no other way forward. You said you'd help me even if it meant dying, right?"

"I did."

"I'm sorry. I really can't find a safe way to get our answers. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The only way I can find them is by dragging you right back into harm's way with me. You've already killed imperial knights to protect me, and chances are you might die, too. But if you truly can save me... help me. Fight with me."

Einzel smiled gently.

"All right."