Chapter 130: The Dice that Twists Fate (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 130: The Dice that Twists Fate (3)
Jorn knew from his previous experience that Azyeth was no ordinary mage.
He was a layman when it came to magic, but he was also the chief of a tribe and a veteran warrior who had danced with death countless times. His instincts for combat were sharper than most.
Even so, Jorn knew that if Azyeth's magic had been aimed at him, he would have been helpless. That much was clear even after seeing it just once.
Could he react to Azyeth's magic?
Dodge a spell that manifested without any warning…?
No matter how many times he ran the simulation in his head, he couldn't picture a scenario where he'd win.
That was because even with his keenly honed senses, he couldn't detect the slightest hint of killing intent from the seemingly emotionless Azyeth.
Not even now, as she slaughtered the wyverns.
Azyeth hooked her thumb on her middle fingernail.
She flicked her finger.
An eagle of ice soared into the sky.
Wary of the mana-infused eagle, a wyvern tried to create distance, but the eagle pursued it relentlessly.
As if it possessed a life of its own, it chased the wyvern—which navigated the sky as if it were its home—with ferocious speed. Eventually, the eagle caught up.
Boom!
The moment it made contact with the wyvern, the ice eagle exploded.
A burst of pure white frost erupted, engulfing the wyvern.
Doused in the frost, the wyvern froze solid with a crackle.
The frozen wyvern plummeted.
Upon hitting the ground, it shattered into a spray of ice crystals, leaving no trace of its original form.
It was a level of magical skill that would have made mages from prestigious families faint in shock. There were several reasons why Azyeth possessed such prowess.
First, even before being sealed in the ice crystal, Azyeth had been the kingdom's foremost mage.
She didn't need to gather mana, draw magic circles, or chant incantations. She could cast magic simply by willing it.
Considering she had cast her first spell at the tender age of two, no further explanation was needed. Ice was but another one of her limbs.
Ironically, Azyeth's magical abilities had been maximized only after she was sealed away by Skadia.
Skadia, the Ice Dragon.
A dragon born of ice, the very embodiment of ice itself.
Though it took the crude form of imprisonment, Azyeth was undeniably a mortal chosen by Skadia. To be chosen by a dragon was synonymous with receiving its blessing.
What Azyeth received was the Ice Dragon's grace.
The blessing of the ice element had been bestowed upon her.
With a single gesture, she could build a bridge or raise a castle.
Azyeth, who already had a high aptitude for ice magic, had now also received the Ice Dragon's grace, making her unparalleled when it came to the art of ice.
Azyeth, bearer of the Ice Dragon's grace, against mere wyverns, a lesser subspecies of dragon?
It was no contest.
With every flick of Azyeth's finger, another wyvern was crushed into shards of ice.
Kieeeeeeek!
The so-called tyrants of the sky shrieked pathetically, sounding the alarm.
Their target was but a single, slender woman.
Just as the old saying goes to beware of women and the elderly in the world of martial arts, the same held true in a world of magic. After all, what powerless woman would come to such a remote place?
At the center of the wyvern flock, the leader, larger than the others, took a deep breath, its chest swelling to an enormous size.
It snapped its maw wide open, unleashing its held breath. A massive stream of fiery breath shot out, threatening to engulf the village.
Azyeth extended an arm forward.
She blocked the breath with a barrier of ice.
Swaaaa...
The defensive mechanism of the curse on her soul activated. A massive wave of cold energy flowed from Azyeth, neutralizing the heat.
There is nothing better than fire for melting ice, but it is useless against an even greater mass of ice. Azyeth pushed her arm forward slightly.
Crack!
The breath attack froze in an instant.
The ice traveled backward along the stream of fire, climbing all the way to the wyvern and freezing it solid as well.
Kyaaaaaak!
Their strongest leader had fallen. As with any group that loses its leader, their formation broke. The surviving wyverns turned tail and fled without a second glance.
Azyeth, who had been watching blankly, clenched her fist.
Crash!
She turned the leader into ice dust.
A shower of ice crystals rained down from the sky.
To the northerners, snow was a familiar yet tiresome sight, but the falling ice crystals were beautiful enough to stare at in a daze.
Azyeth, having dispatched the tyrants of the sky with a mere gesture, remained expressionless. An impassive face that showed none of the urgency of battle, but rather a languid glow.
The sight of her, surrounded by the gently falling ice crystals, was reminiscent of a mother reading a fairy tale on a winter night.
“My, my~ Wyverns, all of a sudden. If not for my slave, this could have been a disaster.”
Karami stepped forward tactlessly, as if to chide them for watching the show for free. No one stopped him, as the battle with the wyverns had been in full swing.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Karami strolled around the village.
“Phew, the village is a complete mess. A flock of wyverns out of nowhere. How unlucky can you get? This is practically a natural disaster.”
“…”
“Well, still, if we had been here from the start, there wouldn't have been even the slightest damage. It's truly a shame.”
Jorn remained silent.
It was an undeniable fact that he had received help from Karami's party. Without them, the village would have been annihilated.
“What do you want?”
“I believe I've already stated our purpose. We came for the Lazurite.”
Jorn was suspicious. Deeply suspicious.
Having lived apart from the secular world, Jorn didn't know much about merchants, but he knew of their vileness. Especially slave traders.
They were the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to engage in human trafficking for their own goals. If they used Azyeth's power to take the Lazurite by force, Jorn would be powerless to stop them.
So why weren't they? He couldn't read the man's intentions.
Of course, whatever Karami's game was, there was only one thing Jorn could do.
“As I said before, that is the symbol of our tribe. Even if you saved our village, I cannot hand it over to an outsider. If you desire something else, I will consider it.”
“Hmm, I wonder. I doubt there's anything in this small village that would satisfy me.”
He couldn't figure out what stance to take.
Jorn's mood darkened.
Clap!
In response, Karami clapped his hands with a bright smile.
“I won't take it by force, so you can lower your guard. I stake my honor as a merchant on it.”
A merchant's honor. That held about as much credibility as a first-grader promising to marry her dad when she grows up.
“Then what?”
“If you, Chief, give me the jewel yourself, then there's no problem, is there?”
“She won't even let us touch it. Do you think she would hand over the jewel to an outsider?”
“We'll see when we try.”
Karami presented his proposal.
“Here is my request. Let us stay in the village. For one month. I will try to move your heart, Chief, and receive the jewel. Naturally, I will not use force. When the promised time is up, I will leave without any fuss.”
“…”
“This is the last peaceful method I'm offering, so please, think carefully and choose wisely, lest you have any regrets.”
Jorn fell into thought.
He couldn't predict how Karami would react if he refused even this.
'As I thought…'
He had no choice but to accept. As chief, he couldn't gamble with the lives of his people. Besides, he was confident that the Darka he knew would never hand over the jewel.
“I accept. But I don't trust you bastards. I will have your every move watched.”
“It's hard to plot conspiracies in a village this small. I accept your terms.”
Karami smiled in satisfaction and surveyed the village. Thanks to Azyeth's efforts, there had been no casualties, but the situation had been so desperate that the village was in shambles.
Tents had collapsed, and belongings were strewn about. Many had yet to recover from the terror of the attack.
“It would be nice to join you right away, but having outsiders interfere now would only add to the chaos. We will withdraw for tonight and return tomorrow once things have settled down. Miss Azyeth? Let's be on our way.”
Azyeth nodded.
She gave the village a quick glance before following Karami out.
Jorn didn't take his eyes off them until they disappeared from view. Once they were gone, he let out a shallow sigh.
The lingering unease was unpleasant, but for now, cleaning up the messy village was the priority.
“What are you all spacing out for? Check for injuries and raise the fallen tents!”
“Yes, Chief!”
Jorn glanced at the smoke rising in the distance, then began giving orders with practiced ease.
*
Don't you get tired of gambling all the time?
Not at all. Every moment is fun.
It feels new every time.
Of course, I can only say that because the results have been good.
But gambling is always done in anticipation of a good outcome; you don't even consider the bad ones. Anyone with the brains to do that would have to be a genius.
At least, I'm not.
'So Rin, even after leaving, is saving my hide.'
I wonder what she's up to right now.
I don't care what she does, as long as it doesn't affect me.
*
Vestia's Celestial Pavilion.
The place where the Dream Garden sat in place of the sky.
A little nine-tailed fox rolled around on the floor.
“Rin misses Mastahhhhh!”