Magic Circle
"Everyone off! Move it, move it! I said move!"
Crack! The black whip lashed across the deck with a sound like a bomb exploding. The porters, already cowering in terror, scrambled to unload their heavy cargo with frantic haste.
"What's your problem, you lazy bastard?!"
Thwack. Splash.
An elderly porter took a brutal lash across his back and tumbled straight into the sea beside the gangplank. Crimson bloomed rapidly across the water's surface. The other porters paled at the sight, their feet moving even faster.
"Hey! What if that was important cargo...!"
"Nah, checked it. Just food supplies. Heh heh."
"...Oh yeah?"
"Gotta have some fun around here, man."
"Kuhahaha. That guy's something else...."
A chill glint flickered in the eyes of one porter passing the laughing, chattering sailors.
...Is this the last one? Scattering their forces across seven islands... I never saw that coming.
He'd thought it odd that they'd only unloaded a little at the first stop, but seven locations? No way he could've predicted that.
Since this is the final island, I hope the real elites are here.
The porter—Jay—glanced toward the sea where the whipped old man had fallen. The sailors, casually joking after killing a man, didn't seem to wonder why no body surfaced. But Jay knew exactly why.
It had happened several times at previous stops: punishments meant as examples—or entertainment. And it was Jay himself who'd suggested to "him" that they exploit it.
...No need to worry.
A powerhouse far more reliable than Tiny, who was guarding the holy relic back in the Carun royal palace. By rights, he wasn't the type for covert ops like this. Even Jay had been stunned when he first heard the man was coming.
That just shows how seriously our lord views this mission.
A renewed resolve to complete the task perfectly welled up in him.
Perhaps he'd lingered too long in thought.
"What the hell are you doing?! Wanna die too? Move your ass!"
A shout exploded right behind him.
"Y-yes, sir!"
Jay bowed and scraped, eyes on the yeller, but his pace didn't quicken. Even so, no whip flew his way. Of course not. Unlike the "old man" who'd just fallen, what Jay carried now was a crucial crate of mana crystals.
I need to get as deep as possible. There...
The royal sword had gone ashore on the first island, Blackwing's combat agents on the third. And now "he" had just plunged into the sea here at the last one.
He hadn't anticipated their forces splitting like this, so he'd only hit three of the seven sites. Even the royal blade on the first island would've been spotted sneaking aboard without Jay's covert aid.
Even without their kingdom's mage, trying to slip past mana detection with such sloppy methods...
Jay clicked his tongue inwardly, but he had faith in his aces.
The Rock Wall Knight. If even half the intel on him is true...
He wouldn't fall easily. And their own preparations weren't half-baked either.
Carun's royal knight commander on the first stop, Blackwing elites mid-route, and "he" on this seventh and final island.
Whatever the demon worshippers were plotting, they could smash at least half of it.
But first, Jay had his own job.
I need to uncover their goal before he starts moving.
Fortunately, the sailors were leading him and the other workers deep into the island's innermost cave.
* * *
"You'll all wait here for a while."
In the cave, where sporadic torches barely pierced the gloom, the porters—beaten into submission by days of the sailors' cruelty—offered no resistance to the curt order. All but one.
"Wh-what about food? At least give us water!"
"Who the hell said that?!"
A roar erupted in response, but the porters exchanged baffled glances. They had no idea who the voice belonged to either.
That reaction irked the sailors.
"...Ha, look at these punks."
"Hey, hold it. We can't afford to lose any more manpower..."
The trailing words hung ominous in the air, and everyone—sailors, demon worshippers, and one porter with hyper-attuned senses from special training—knew exactly what they implied.
The result?
"If no food or water, they're planning to kill us all here, right?"
A rough voice echoed from the porters again. The sailors' faces hardened, but now the other porters began to murmur too.
They'd stayed quiet so far on the slim hope of release if they obeyed.
—But if not?
Veteran porters, weathered by lifelong gales at sea, shared the same grim realization in that instant.
"Wh-what the hell are you doing?!"
"They're really gonna wipe us out...!"
"Fuck that, you think we'll go down easy?!"
Some shouted, others grabbed clubs from the discarded crates. And the furious sailors looked ready to erupt.
The cave's atmosphere turned vicious in a heartbeat.
But then—
"Enough! Who's talking about killing anyone?! They said they'd let us go once the storm passes!"
A bellow from near the entrance, where another sailor commanded the rest, plunged the cave back into silence.
Not from agreement or intimidation, but from the icy chill laced in his voice that dropped the temperature and stalled the rising tension.
Yet one refused to yield.
"Then... food...?"
A cautious voice from the porters made even them flinch, searching for the source. The shouting sailor scowled, scanning them before bellowing rearward.
"...Hey! Someone grab some food!"
"Captain...?"
"We were gonna give it anyway! Hurry!"
"Too soon... Uh, no sir. Lads, let's go!"
As some sailors echoed and vanished, the order-giver smirked coldly, sweeping his gaze over the porters.
"Not sure if you're bold or just chickenshit, but there's one sneaky bastard hiding here... This is your last warning. One more slip of the tongue..."
His vicious red eyes gleamed as they raked the group again. Those meeting his gaze bowed heads, frozen stiff. Soon, sailors returned laden with hard bread and water.
That was when—
"Hey, you, right?"
A poke in the ribs from an old man made Jay shake his head in feigned confusion.
"N-no, not me."
"Nah, you're the only one who knows ventriloquism, heh heh. Play dumb if you want. Thanks to you, we got something to eat."
Tsk. Age brings wisdom, huh.
Jay shook his head vigorously amid gathering stares.
"N-no, old timer, you're mistaken. Whoa, you tryna get us killed...? Turn away, quick!"
His flushed whisper looked like a flustered laborer's panic. The stares dispersed, and porters snatched the meager rations.
Jay tore off a bit of hard bread like the rest, chewed deliberately facing away, then—
Ptoo.
—spit it out quietly.
Bread ground with sleepweed leaves... They're drugging us, alright.
He hadn't misheard the sailors' whispers. Confirming it, Jay pretended to eat, spitting bits into corners. The damp, mossy cave hid it well.
Lucky it's not magical sleep... Though I have a wakeup timed for that too.
A bit later.
"Yawn... Getting sleepy."
Following the others collapsing on the cold stone, Jay lay down and closed his eyes.
Hours later, someone entered to bind the sleeping porters' limbs. Jay, catnapping for condition, cracked his eyes and twisted his wrists slyly.
"Ugh, this guy's got shitty sleep habits! Annoying."
"Tie loose! They won't wake till the ritual anyway."
"Wasn't it rushed 'cause of that weirdo earlier?"
"It's within margin of error. And even if they wake, what can they do?"
"True..."
Their nonchalance let his trick work easy. Enduring rough transport, he soon reached the destination.
Thud.
"Ugh, what a pain."
"Easy, easy! You'll wake 'em!"
"Tch, like they could do anything. Toss 'em and let's go."
"Why rush? Nothing for us outside. Might as well rest..."
"You'll get thunderstruck. Things are hectic up top—the bosses are buzzing."
"Damn, gonna be a shitshow. Come on, before we get caught slacking and catch hell."
Changes in the chamber began about 30 minutes after the noisy voices faded.
"Nngh."
Only after heightening smell and hearing to scan did Jay groan and writhe—insurance against unseen watchers.
"Gah! Wh-what is this?!"
Bolting upright in feigned shock at his bonds: all acting.
...Clear.
Finally sure no eyes watched, he eyed the chaotic floor pattern.
A magic circle. Excluding the black magic victim inscription... concealment, stealth, perception block. Target... Hm? What the hell?
He couldn't cast, but knew magic theory well—spies needed broad knowledge.
Yet this circle was weird. Why drag victims for this?
Luring some overwhelming monster. Like a kraken...
Kraken's probably a joke, but...
Jay didn't fully trust his dimwitted superior who'd sent him here, but figured no lies to comrades. He'd expected beast summon or similar.
Reality differed wildly.
Input coordinates: major cities. Perception block and concealment on entities meeting criteria... And...
Head spinning, one conclusion emerged.
"Damn it!"
This wasn't the main site. Nor the other six islands.
The floor pattern was a linked array: seven circles synergizing for one amplified goal.
But not destruction, lure, or summon.
"We got played? Me? Son of a...!"
Urgency surged.
Crack.
Bones realigning, he slipped free easily, pulling a small orb from his bosom.
Smashing it—
—screams erupted from deep in the cave.
"Aaaagh!"
"Gaaah!"
"Enemy!"
"He" had begun moving on signal. All per plan, but Jay's face soured.
Wiping the circle with lupen tears to nullify magic, unease lingered. A side blow at best.
Deploy Blackwing's full might to back Tiny. The fate of the world... no, our house rests on it.
His lord's order resurfaced. What linked Carun chaos to Valentia? Yet the duke saw farther than he knew.
Just obey—yet he'd botched it fatally.
"Damn! You idiot!"
Thump thump.
Jay pounded his head, face twisted.
Damn, gotta get back to Ortus fast! No time for signals or reinforcements. Get the Rock Wall Knight back ASAP too...
Concealment magic this scale across seven islands meant the true aim was grander, deadlier.
And their strongest blades scattered dismantling these auxiliaries. Carun held only clueless troops and an untested hammer kid.
Hold the line somehow, Sir Tiny.
Jay prayed fervently inward while erasing the circle.
Some time later.
"Ah, aaaagh!"
"Monster!"
"It's a monster! To the main base...!"
With enemies' screams outside as backdrop, Jay shook the groaning porters awake one by one.
"Wake up! I said wake up! Anyone here who's sailed these waters before?! No one?! Hurry! Snap out of it!"
Jay's voice, stripped of leisure, echoed desperately through the cave.