Hellfire (1)
The next day, at noon. The sun hung high in the sky, pouring its harsh light down onto the ground. Mass stepped out of the house and limped toward the Red Wolf Forest. Even in broad daylight, a damp, shadowy atmosphere seeped from the entrance.
He turned his head, scanning the surroundings. He could see the path where people came and went.
Irin wanders around places like this all by herself.
The spot where Irin gathered mushrooms was none other than the outer edge of the Red Wolf Forest. As long as you didn't venture into the heart of it, you could avoid monsters to some extent—but that was just probability speaking. With a monster surge imminent, even the outskirts were no less dangerous. The village hadn't even held a meeting out of fear that the beasts would soon spill into town.
What was strange was that Irin kept entering that perilous forest alone, over and over. It wasn't as if no one went in at all; most were village defense squad members scouting monster movements. But the only one who went in regularly was Irin. That left Mass no choice but to ask her to gather herbs for him.
Though it's awkward to even bring it up.
In the Nameless Village, it was custom not to pry into anyone's past. Asking where someone came from or what they did before would make it hard for most to live here comfortably.
If only I could go in myself.
To get the herbs he needed, going into the forest personally would be best. But with his leg like this, that was impossible. The irony was bitter: to heal his leg, he needed a working one to fetch the cure.
Woooooooo!
A monster's howl echoed from afar. It wasn't certain, but that eerie baying was likely the Red Wolf's.
"Huh, Mass."
As he stood still, gazing down the forest path, a familiar face emerged from between the trees.
"You here to meet me?"
It was Irin. Coincidentally, the moment she appeared, the howling from the forest cut off.
She smiled at him.
"The mushroom soup was that good, right? Couldn't wait?"
So stubbornly dishonest. She showed off her haul as if to prove it. Her basket brimmed with all sorts of mushrooms.
"Couldn't find anything like herbs today."
As if guessing his reaction, she mumbled with an awkward look.
"But I'll make soup with this new kind I found for the first time."
"Pass."
"Huh? Why?"
"Unverified mushrooms."
He had no desire to die screaming from poison mushroom idiocy. Mass turned and started limping back.
"If you're here, let's head home."
Clop, clop. Irin stuck close to Mass, who couldn't move fast.
"Hey, doesn't Mass ever feel like revenge?"
"Revenge?"
"Yeah."
Irin glanced at him hesitantly.
"Doesn't seem like you're hurt alone."
That dug into his past. Mass stopped in his tracks.
"Irin, that's the village's unwritten rule."
"R-right."
She scratched her small head.
"But the village might not be here much longer."
The Red Wolf Forest grew more dangerous by the day, and these people couldn't expect aid from the Holy Kingdom.
"Just wanna know more about you before then."
"......Knowing isn't always a good thing."
It meant shouldering more burdens. Like Mass, who knew the original story and acted despite everyone's misunderstandings to avert the world's end—ending up hiding his past, limping on one leg.
"Would you tell me if I asked about you?"
When he turned the question back, Irin fidgeted with her fingers.
"Better not to hear about me."
"Guess we're alike then."
That's why they were both here.
"You'll find out someday, so don't be too curious yet."
A few villagers already seemed to know about him. Mass hinted at it obliquely and resumed walking. Irin watched his back quietly.
They already know.
A blue glint flashed in her eyes.
That's why I told you not to trust humans too much.
Blue wings flickered briefly behind her back before vanishing.
Rest a bit more, Mass.
Her unbound body twitched faintly as she slowly followed him.
Once I'm free here, I'll take you to the fairies' paradise for sure.
The Red Tower. The place where the next tower lord had volunteered for the elite Holy Knight Order to defeat the Demon King was now buzzing with frantic activity.
"Hurry! Only 30 minutes till the succession ceremony!"
The prospective tower lord had suddenly announced her return from the Holy Knight Order. With the previous lord already retired, the tower's top brass was vacant. They had no choice but to scramble preparing to welcome her as the new head upon her immediate ascent.
"There! I said portion the food!"
"Add more candelabras!"
"Need more tables here too!"
Amid the chaos, Keron—the elderly magic scholar handling the tower's affairs in the absent lord's stead—sighed quietly to himself.
All this for nothing.
The next tower lord, Sorena. Mass, who had once risen to high priest, had spotted her talent while she suffered abuse in an orphanage and sent her a letter inviting her here. Despite their small age gap, he was brilliant and exceptional. Under his insight, Sorena thrived here, her talents exploding.
Her magical insight let her approach the origin of fire itself. She even subdued Ifrit and the Flame Dragon in mirror matches.
But trials came. A catastrophe where her own body caught fire.
Red Tower mages inherently resisted fire—through talent and training. For Sorena, who wielded fire magic freely, it was unprecedented.
Shocked, Sorena suffered full-body burns and shut herself away. But overcoming that fear erased the scars entirely, thanks to the ancient spirit's blessing: betrayal-proof against fellow flames, wounds from fire could revert to original form—if one truly understood fire.
No one had ever met that condition. Thus, Sorena hated the one who set her ablaze.
Ridiculously, it was Mass. He gifted her an incense stick with embers bypassing even fire mage resistance. Ignorant, she lit it—and suffered the unquenchable, rampaging flame for ages.
Sorena isn't just returning to become tower lord.
She mastered fire's essence, regaining her pre-burn body, but not her rage. Free-spirited, she'd escaped Mass's control. He deemed her useless for expanding his power, so he did it. She saw it that way, harboring immense hatred.
That's why she hadn't returned. To unleash her burning vengeance using the tower's full might in horrific ways.
Saying she had no interest in lordship, yet coming back...
Perhaps now she'd wield the tower's power unchecked. Mass's escape from confinement had reached her ears. Yuria's knights failed to find him; the saintess who heard God's voice to track him vanished.
Sorena would surely mobilize the entire tower to hunt him.
This time, something terrible will happen.
She'd somewhat contained her fury by imprisoning him there. Ignoring that mercy and fleeing? No more leniency.
"The tower lord has arrived!"
Someone shouted from somewhere. Far earlier than scheduled.
"T-the tower lord?"
"Already?"
No succession yet, but she was already called lord. All eyes turned to the grand hall's entrance.
Bang!
The ornate double doors flew open. Sorena's twin sister aides had flung them wide. Between them emerged the fire empress with red hair and red eyes: Sorena.
Click-clack.
Her heels echoed as she strode straight to the dais. Her bold gait silenced everyone, who parted in awe. The unprepared hall fell into utter stillness.
Silence.
As all held their breath staring at Sorena, she sat in the ornate chair onstage, draped an arm over the armrest, and slammed her staff down.
"It's been a real long time, everyone."
Only then did the crowd snap to, placing right hands on left shoulders.
""Tower Lord, we meet you.""
Knowing procedure mattered, Keron spoke up before the unheld ceremony.
"Sorena, the succession isn't fully prepared. If you wait just a moment..."
"Keron."
She flashed a sly smile.
"Don't wanna acknowledge me as tower lord?"
"Pardon?"
"Skip the procedures. Hate the sight of 'em."
Ignoring his fluster, she continued.
"From now on, I ascend as Red Tower's lord. Anyone unhappy? Step up. Let's see who burns first."
Naturally, no one dared duel her in fire magic. Under silent consent, Sorena dropped an even bigger bomb.
"You all know recent events? Mass's escape, Yuria-unnie's knights slacking, the saintess gone missing."
She laid out the sensitive issues in a flash.
"Can't sit idle anymore, right? Everyone wants the truth."
At her gesture, the twins hauled a massive crystal orb device onstage.
"Effective immediately, I overhaul tower rules. Investigation and enforcement powers consolidate under me."
"S-Sorena!"
Keron cried out.
"That's to check the lord's power..."
"Holy Knight Order members seeking truth got ruined or vanished."
Sorena twisted her lips.
"Unnies wouldn't end up like that for no reason."
"B-but Sorena..."
"Call me Tower Lord."
She scanned the murmuring mages and spoke again.
"From now on, the guilty burn. The innocent survive."
No exceptions.
"After investigating everyone here, I'll visit the previous tower lord."
"!"
"So brace yourselves."
Gazing at the stunned mages, Sorena declared.
"Hellfire opens soon."