The North of the Sultan's Magic Mirror
Boom—! Boom—! Crimson poison fog billowed across the ancient city streets. Specter soldiers caught inside its range melted on the spot and fled outward. Thudthudthudthud—! The Sichuan Tang clan members lying in wait outside unleashed their hidden weapons in unison, turning the escaping specters into living pincushions.
Whoosh—! Salamander spirit beasts summoned by Monarch’s mages spewed flames, incinerating the collapsing soldiers. Over a hundred specters struck by blades and fire vanished in seconds.
And then.
Thudthudthudthud— A thunderous rumble of hooves erupted from the fog as a jet-black lancer on horseback burst forth.
“Catch it!”
At Dang Oe’s roar, poison sand and throwing weapons flew. Fireballs streaked through the air. The Papal bishop division unleashed holy light that bathed the Sultan in blinding radiance. The creature’s entire body melted under the poison and charred under the flames until it was a ruined wreck. Yet the moment it absorbed the hunters’ mana, it regenerated in an instant.
Thudthudthud— Dang Oe hurled a dagger at the fleeing beast, but the jet-black armor deflected it harmlessly.
“Aargh!”
—Kieeeeek!
The Sultan’s merciless charge trampled the Tang clan members and salamanders blocking its path beneath iron hooves.
“Tsk.”
Dang Oe scowled as the Sultan shrank to a distant dot. Frustration burned in his chest. In the short time they had tried to pin it down, nearly a third of his own mana had already been stolen. If the clan elder was in this state, the others were far worse off. Casualties from its hooves alone had already reached twenty.
Despite the heavy losses, no clear method to stop the creature had emerged. Its speed made every charge unstoppable. Poison or magic, it regenerated instantly. Thrown blades bounced off its armor, and its sharp instincts let it avoid most traps.
“Elder Dang, we must change tactics,” said Antonio, leader of the Papal Court’s Third Bishop Division. “At this rate our mana will run dry first.”
“You want us to enter the hotspot?”
“We have no choice but to try.”
Dang Oe’s face hardened. Entering the hotspot would drain their mana in moments and make movement nearly impossible. That was precisely why they had used the poison fog and spirit beasts to lure the Sultan outside it. They had already lost twenty lives. No one could guess how many more they would lose inside.
Liam, mage from the Monarch Hunter Administration Bureau, spoke up. “We’ll all go together, Elder Dang.”
“What use are those fake summoned creatures compared to the lives of our clan members?”
At Dang Oe’s stubborn words, Bishop Antonio’s expression tightened.
“Command authority rests with the Papal Court, Elder Dang.”
“Tsk.”
Dang Oe clicked his tongue but fell silent. Since the baiting tactic had failed, entering the hotspot really was the only remaining option. They had to change their approach one way or another.
“The holy knights will join the operation as well.”
“So the Church plans to claim credit with a handful of men,” Dang Oe sneered.
Both Liam and Antonio frowned at his mocking tone.
It was right then, as the three showed signs of fracturing without having captured the Sultan, that the message appeared.
The clone of Sultan Kilij Arslan I has been destroyed.
“!!”
The three men’s eyes widened at the sudden global announcement. The message about the clone’s destruction had been broadcast not only across the Sichuan Tang sector but throughout the entire Sultan’s Magic Mirror.
“Hmm. Interesting,” murmured Laura Crowley, the White Witch of the Crowley family, who had the Sultan trapped inside her barrier.
“Already?!” exclaimed Han Yujin, the Korean Hunter Association’s special-grade hunter who had been incinerating specter knights with flames.
“Remarkable!” added Namgung Cheon, vice-lord of the Namgung Clan.
“……Hmm.” Even Paladin Lucius, commander of the raid party, froze and stared at the notification.
Everyone stopped what they were doing to look up at the message.
The clone of Sultan Kilij Arslan I has been destroyed.
The same question rose in every mind.
Just who…?
*
[■■■■─!!]
The Sultan, drenched in Hydra poison, melted as its wounds worsened. I raised my right arm toward the writhing creature. The hair tie wrapped around my wrist—Jeanne’s—erupted with dazzling holy power.
Flash!
Within the brilliant light the Sultan crumbled into ash and vanished without a trace.
The clone of Sultan Kilij Arslan I has been destroyed.
Once the Sultan disappeared, the demonic energy enveloping the plaza lifted. Jeanne and Vanessa, who had been watching, approached.
“Are you all right, Sir Seojun?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Lord Seojun, you worked hard.”
“It wasn’t really work. The thing basically killed itself.”
Since the Sultan had committed suicide on its own, there had been no real effort on my part. I had simply stood still. That aside—
“It wasn’t the main body.”
I clicked my tongue. All that trouble, and it had only been a copy.
“Let’s head back.”
When we returned to where Dang Soso and Namgung Jin waited, the hunters were in an uproar. The announcement that the Sultan’s clone had been destroyed had reached the entire gate.
Rachel stared at me with wide eyes. She was the only one who knew I had gone after the Sultan.
Glancing around, she asked in a low voice, “Ancestor, how exactly did you defeat it?”
“I learned a poison-related skill. Turns out it was the Sultan’s weakness. I got lucky.”
“That wasn’t luck. It’s because you’re outstanding, Ancestor.”
Even hearing her praise, I still believed it had been luck. Acquiring the one poison that worked on it could hardly be called skill. It was purely good fortune.
Besides, the conquest of the Sultan’s Magic Mirror was far from over. We hadn’t caught the real body, and there were still the other ‘wraiths’ to deal with.
Whiiiir—!
Suddenly a yellow signal flare requesting aid burst in the western sky.
“The west is where Hunter Han Yujin is stationed.”
“Must be Karbugha.”
“Looks like it.”
The gate held more than just the Room Sultan. Several other dangerous entities from the First Crusade’s Muslim warriors existed besides him. Karbugha was one of them—an undead horse-archer phantom that commanded Seljuk specter soldiers. Because it could summon countless troops, it was the most troublesome foe after the Sultan himself. S-rank fire awakener Han Yujin had been assigned to it, but it seemed she was struggling. Karbugha’s tactic was overwhelming numerical superiority.
“I should go help.”
“Miss Rachel, wait a moment.”
I stopped her and turned to Jeanne. She nodded, untied the black ribbon from her sleeve, and handed it over.
“What is this?”
“If you carry it, you’ll be able to share Jeanne’s holy power.”
“!”
Rachel’s eyes widened. Remotely sharing energy was an extremely rare ability even among top-tier awakening skills.
“Thank you, Lady Jeanne.”
Rachel removed her own hair tie and replaced it with the black ribbon.
“Be careful, Miss Rachel.”
“You as well, Sir Seojun.”
After replying to me, Rachel gave Jeanne and Vanessa a polite nod and headed west with the ghoul soldiers armed with anti-materiel rifles following behind.
“Shall we go too?”
When we reached Dang Soso and Namgung Jin, the pair greeted us warmly.
“Where did you disappear to?”
“Did you enter the hotspot again?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me that conquest message just now was…”
“It was.”
““!””
Both Namgung Jin’s and Dang Soso’s eyes widened.
“I’ll explain the details on the way. Let’s continue exploring.”
While searching for traces of the Sultan, I told them what had happened in the plaza.
“I got lucky. The Bonaparte family had already driven it to the brink of death, so finishing it off was easy.”
“No, even then, that can’t just be called luck.”
“To think you defeated a clone of the Sultan…”
The two had trouble processing the fact that I had taken down the Sultan’s duplicate.
Chatting like that, we advanced toward the center of the gate. The deeper we went, the more specter knights appeared.
—■■■■! Neighhh!
Slash— Slash—
Thanks to Vanessa we could eliminate them easily, but the knights posed a serious threat to the other hunters.
“……”
Vanessa, who had been quietly staring at the misty forest where the specter knights kept appearing, spoke.
“Lord Seojun.”
“Yes, Lady Vanessa.”
“Could you stay here with Lady Jeanne and the other two for a while? At this rate it will never end, so I’ll go clean it up and return.”
I looked at the misty forest she was watching. Apparently the one summoning the knights was hiding there.
“Shall I come with you?”
Vanessa smiled happily at my offer but shook her head.
“It won’t take long, so there’s no need to worry.”
“Understood. But please come back quickly.”
“Of course.”
With a bright smile, Vanessa headed into the mist-filled forest. One more of Jeanne’s ribbon decorations disappeared.
“Let’s keep exploring.”
After sending her off, we resumed our search with a focus on the hotspots. We encountered more specter knights along the way, but they posed no problem.
Whoosh—!
Jeanne’s holy power reduced them to ashes before they could even approach. It was precisely because Jeanne was with us that Vanessa could move alone with confidence. As long as we had Jeanne’s holy power and the Hydra’s poison, the Sultan could never threaten me.
The incident happened shortly after that.
Rumble—!
Suddenly the ground shook with a deafening roar. The northern sky of the gate was swallowed by pitch-black demonic energy.
“What tremendous mana.”
“That place is…”
Dang Soso’s face turned deathly pale. The north was the Sichuan Tang family’s assigned sector.
It should be fine.
I glanced once more at the misty forest Vanessa had entered, then turned my steps north.
“Let’s go.”
To catch the real Sultan.