Chapter 170
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Translator: Prime Works
Chapter: 170
Chapter Title: In Front of Namaran's Barrier (1)
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Trading post.
A place frequented by countless merchants.
A place where goods and currency flow between cities.
Namaran City's trading post was no different.
It was the most visited spot by merchants operating in the kingdom's south and east.
Even now, with the east reduced to scorched earth, it was less bustling than before—but still always full of life.
Not today, though.
“…….”
Dead silence.
That was Haviel's first impression upon arriving at the trading post.
The place that should have been noisy was eerily quiet.
No one was in sight.
No wagons or carts bustling in and out at this hour.
No stevedores sweating as they loaded and unloaded goods.
No merchants haggling at top volume beside them.
No one at all.
Not in the front yard of the trading post.
Not on the unloading docks across from it.
For some reason, not a single soul anywhere.
‘No way.’
Haviel's brow furrowed slightly under his hood.
Something was wrong.
The truth he had uncovered in Kannavaro's basement today.
Seeing the trading post wrapped in this ominous silence alongside that horrific truth stirred a bad feeling.
Bam!
He kicked open the trading post door and charged in.
But the interior was just as empty.
Even the guide who would normally greet incoming merchants first was nowhere to be seen.
“…….”
Had they caught on?
Haviel swept the trading post from the basement to the third floor with hardened eyes.
But he found not a single person.
It was like an abandoned ship left intact.
‘Why? Did they notice the facilities in the mansion basement had been exposed?’
No, there wouldn't have been time for that.
He had come straight here after uncovering the truth.
He had even delayed informing Lloyd and the Namaran Count to prioritize this.
‘Just five minutes.’
The time it took him to get from Kannavaro's mansion to this trading post.
Had Kannavaro and the black mages sensed the situation in that interval?
Emptied this place spotless and fled perfectly?
It didn't make sense realistically.
‘They wouldn't have had the time. So why? What's going on?’
Should he rush to Lloyd like this?
Or search this place more thoroughly?
Lost in anxious deliberation, he moved forward.
But the moment he grasped the door handle to leave the trading post—
Rumble!
Out of nowhere, a thunderous roar echoed.
From the sky?
No.
From all directions.
Outside the trading post.
From every cardinal direction.
A massive explosion-like boom came rushing in.
His stomach churned with it.
“……!”
His gut spasmed in an instant.
His heart pounded wildly.
His vision shook violently.
His mind clouded rapidly.
At the same time, mana drained from his entire body into the air like an ebbing tide!
‘What.’
If he weren't a Swordmaster.
If he hadn't achieved endless mana circulation.
If he hadn't instinctively drawn on his vast mana reserves to activate the Asrahan Heart Method.
He would have lost consciousness right then.
“……Urk!”
He urgently activated his Mana Heart.
He triggered the Asrahan Heart Method.
He spun his three mana circles at full power.
Kiiiiiing!
The circles screamed, blocking the mana outflow.
Only then did his spasming gut and heart calm.
His vision steadied, his mind cleared.
‘What in the world.’
What was happening?
Haviel was horrified.
Was this what it felt like when the air suddenly changed so drastically?
No—when the surrounding air began sucking the life force from your body?
He finally realized.
‘Mana is draining into the air. With tremendous force.’
Even now, at this moment.
He had to keep the Asrahan Heart Method active.
If he stopped the mana circles' rotation?
He'd go through the same ordeal again.
‘What the hell is going on?’
That enormous roar from moments ago.
The bizarre phenomenon that started with it.
Something was happening.
Feeling ominous, he opened the trading post door.
And witnessed it.
“What…….”
A massive barrier encircled the city.
Not a material one.
Purple mana close to black.
It enveloped the city with a sinister, heat-haze flicker.
Far taller than the city walls.
It pierced the heavens, easily hundreds of meters high—no, it blanketed the sky above the city entirely.
The sun was blocked.
Sunlight warped into a murky purple rained down everywhere.
And people lay collapsed on the main street.
Everyone in sight.
“Hey!”
He rushed over. Checked the fallen person. An elderly woman with white hair.
“Urgh…… ugh…….”
She was already unconscious.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Her eyes rolled back, foam filled her mouth.
“……Damn.”
They were having their mana stolen.
Just like what he had experienced moments before reflexively activating the Asrahan Heart Method. But unlike him, they had no way to cope with mana theft.
It wasn't just the old woman in front of him.
Everyone collapsed on the street was the same.
All suffering identical symptoms.
He didn't know why.
Or rather, he could guess.
That barrier.
The ominous mana barrier surrounding the city.
It had to be deeply connected.
Perhaps that barrier was mercilessly absorbing people's mana.
Even the mana needed to sustain basic life.
What about Lloyd, then?
“Lord Lloyd.”
His heart sank.
He wouldn't hold out.
Even with the Asrahan Heart Method.
Even having reached mid-tier Sword Expert.
He couldn't endure.
Because he wasn't a Swordmaster.
Because he couldn't achieve endless mana circulation.
He might last a few minutes longer than others, but that was the limit.
Eventually, he'd lose consciousness, unable to use the Asrahan Heart Method, and have his mana stripped away mercilessly.
He'd die like that.
“……I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. But I will resolve this. Please hold on just until then. Please.”
He laid the grandmother in the shade.
He spoke with genuine apology.
There was nothing more he could do.
Resolve this crisis as quickly as possible.
That alone was the way to save her and all the fallen.
Engraving that in his heart, Haviel ran.
Past the trading post's main street, across the plaza, toward the Namaran Count's mansion.
People collapsed on the main street.
Others convulsing in the plaza.
Even the distribution center auntie lay fallen.
Each time, Haviel bit his lip and pushed his sprint harder. Even as he devoted his Mana Heart and circles fully to blocking mana theft, he poured every last bit of remaining mana into running and running.
And he arrived at the guest quarters of the count's mansion.
“Lord Lloyd!”
Bam!
He kicked open the door to the quarters.
He hurriedly searched for Lloyd first.
But he wasn't there.
Lloyd was gone.
His heart plummeted.
‘Where?’
Lord Lloyd.
He had to find him soon.
Only then could he save him.
Only then could he save everyone in this city.
‘Lord Lloyd seemed to know something.’
Thinking back, it had been that way from the start.
He had suspected Kannavaro from the beginning.
Even on the day the Namaran Lady arrived at Frontera Territory.
Lloyd had immediately questioned her about Kannavaro upon meeting her.
So Lloyd knew something.
He probably knew how to resolve this crisis too.
Lloyd's wisdom.
Combined with his own strength.
They had to stand side by side and help each other.
Only then could they save everyone in the city.
But…… Lloyd was nowhere in the quarters.
“Lord Lloyd!”
Haviel's increasingly desperate shouts echoed through the count's mansion.
♣
“Ah, nothing here either.”
Shunk!
The steel shovel plunged into the earth.
Sweat dripped around the blade buried in the ground.
Lloyd pursed his lips at the sight.
“Shouldn't have come all the way down here.”
Grumbling, he looked up.
He gazed at the cliff face above where he stood.
Nearly a hundred meters up.
There stood the city of Namaran.
In other words, he had descended far below the cliff top of Namaran City.
The reason was simple.
To grab more gems.
‘Last time, I only scanned around the Namaran walls.’
He had gotten 200 gems that way.
Satisfying, yet regrettable.
He wanted more if possible. A "what if" crossed his mind. He realized he hadn't scanned the lower cliff face.
‘No reason to hesitate.’
No real loss.
Just a bit of legwork.
A little sweat.
And he might score more precious gems.
With that thought, he grabbed his shovel and sack and headed out.
He diligently scanned the lower cliff face.
But it was all for naught.
“Tch. Thought I saw a skull.”
A couple times.
He spotted buried skulls underground with the scanning option.
But when he excitedly dug them up, they were just ordinary skulls.
No condensed mana, no gems.
‘Looks like actual execution remains from long ago this time.’
Tch.
He clicked his tongue involuntarily.
‘Was I too greedy?’
He came on a whim.
Hoping for a jackpot.
But this time, it seemed like a bust.
‘Sigh. Pack it in. Time to rest today.’
He had sweated enough.
With that, Lloyd gathered his steel shovel and empty sack.
He asked toward his vest pocket.
“Kkoming? You asleep?”
“……Kkoming?”
“Tch. Never mind. Go back to sleep.”
Kkoming, dozing with half-lidded eyes, lifted its head sleepily from the pocket.
Lloyd chuckled at the sight.
For a moment, he considered riding it back to the city.
But on second thought, using a red sunflower seed for that felt too wasteful.
‘Just a walk for exercise, then.’
Sack in hand, he started along the winding path around the cliff face.
A late summer breeze felt refreshingly cool for once.
“Nice weather.”
A cloud conveniently blocked the sun, reducing the glare.
He started humming unconsciously.
Then it happened.
Suddenly, the clouds darkened.
From white fluffy ones to pitch-black thunderheads.
At the same time, strange mana fluctuations emanated from the city atop the cliff face.
“Huh?”
What was that.
What was going on.
He was baffled.
He alternated glances between the sky and the city.
That was when it happened.
A purple-black mana barrier began to rise.
Tssstsss!
“……!”
It flickered up like mist.
No sooner had it risen than it surged.
It blotted the sun, tore the clouds, enveloped the city—no, swallowed it.
Lloyd's eyes went wide.
‘What the hell is that.’
No way.
Namaran's barrier?
He wanted to rub his eyes furiously.
He couldn't believe the scene before him.
‘That has to be Namaran's barrier. Just like in the Iron-Blooded Knight illustrations. But how is this possible? How?’
It made no sense.
He had removed the underground skulls and gems.
He had destroyed the magic circle forming Namaran's barrier itself.
Yet all his efforts rang hollow as the barrier rose before his eyes. It encircled the city. It brazenly exuded gloomy, evil energy. And it began greedily devouring all mana and life force inside the barrier.
The moment he realized that—
“Damn it. Kkoming!”
Lloyd hurriedly woke Kkoming.
“Sorry. Explanations later. Eat this first.”
“Kko, kkoming!”
Had it sensed the ominous aura even while dozing in the pocket?
Kkoming's eyes were already wide open.
It snatched the proffered red sunflower seed and ate it.
Then it grew huge.
Poof!
“Let's go! Up!”
“Kkoming!”
He mounted its back.
Urged its fierce wingbeats and soared.
He passed the cliff face in an instant and reached the city.
But he couldn't enter.
‘It really is Namaran's barrier.’
Lloyd bit his lip hard.
Observing from high above the city, he could see the barrier's full form.
The purple-black mana barrier.
Its translucent film completely encased the city.
Not even a bird or a fly could slip through.
‘Can't smash this.’
No way with his power alone.
Even triple blasting wouldn't do it.
The cursed barrier that not even a Swordmaster's aura could break.
Was this how Haviel felt in the novel facing it?
‘What the hell happened.’
He had worked so hard to prevent this.
Yet here he was, chewing his lip in front of the erected barrier.
He had to do something.
But he didn't know what.
Stop flitting his gaze everywhere aimlessly.
He needed to find a way to shatter that barrier.
‘Invest RP? Level Mana Heart to become a Swordmaster? No, not enough RP for that. Much more likely I'd stall at advanced Sword Expert. Level Asrahan Heart Method instead? Increase circles for quad blasting instead of triple? That might work.’
But Lloyd soon shook his head.
‘No. Even quad blasting won't cut it. Blasting level doesn't matter. I need to infuse it with aura.’
Aura's terrifying cutting power worked on almost any material.
He had to mix that into blasting.
But he couldn't.
He wasn't a Swordmaster.
‘Then what the hell do I…….’
He felt stuck.
Then he spotted something on the ground.
“People?”
Scattered sporadically around the barrier encircling the city.
About ninety in total.
Three per group, positioned regularly around the barrier.
Their attire looked oddly familiar.
Black robes.
Black hoods.
Just like the illustrations from Iron-Blooded Knight.
“Black mages?”
Lloyd grinned unwittingly.
Perfect timing.
He was pondering how to break the barrier.
And right on cue, the producers(?) of it appeared.
Beat them down first.
Then he'd figure out how to dispel the barrier.
‘Annoying barriers like that deserve a refund anyway!’
Swoosh!
Gripping the steel shovel tight.
Lloyd dove in aggressively.
Toward the nearest black mages.