Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: The Dark Priest's Lair
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Loan immediately focused on transforming the Convection.
A narrow, slender path that flowed straight toward the target, yet bent flexibly when needed.
The clear mental image instantly transformed into a brilliant halo of light, guiding Loan.
All he had to do was imbue it with spells to seamlessly link action and reaction, then place his feet upon it.
The counter-force, gently supporting and flawlessly propelling him, felt pleasant.
He let his body ride it, proceeding without obstruction.
A sprint.
‘I can run this fast.’
Surprised at himself, he entered the desolate and filthy street.
In a place where all sorts of filth covered the ground, making one reluctant to even set foot, Loan didn't get a single speck of mud on the tips of his toes.
Through the narrow alleys where no sunlight reached, making it hard to distinguish between darkness and grime, the ‘Narrow Path’ Loan extended continued as a brilliant light.
At the end of that path, Loan finally caught sight of a group with his own eyes.
A figure cloaked in a black robe among the horde of ghouls.
That’s the dark priest.
Swoosh-!
There was no time to rejoice in the completion of his movement technique. The moment he identified the target, he launched the Sheville.
Without a direct attack, it circled wide around the group in a swift arc—
The twelve blades, imbued with the image of a faint crescent moon, became an impassable boundary, instantly halting the fugitives' steps.
Loan was quite satisfied with himself, wondering if there could be a better method of containment.
"Kieeeek!"
The situation took an unexpected turn.
The ghouls, who had been fleeing with their backs to Loan, suddenly turned to face him. Ignoring the Sheville spinning before their eyes, they stepped toward him.
Thwack-!
Thud-!
There was a limit to how much the blades could cut and pierce.
One, two, then in double and triple layers. As the ghouls formed a wall, the Sheville failed to penetrate them all, either lodging in their bodies or…
"Kieeeeek!"
"Kehek!"
…losing their way after breaking free from the influence of the Convection.
The bigger problem came next.
The ghouls, now free from the blades, rushed toward Loan like a flood.
Sharp teeth, claws, and long, swaying, dark-red tongues. Tongues, tongues, tongues…
Swish-!
Loan hadn't anticipated those tongues suddenly flying into the air as blood splattered everywhere.
‘Fast.’
Sometime in the chaos, Sienna had passed him, drawn her twin swords, and was weaving through the gaps between the ghouls as if dancing.
A breathless rotation based on swift footwork.
Every time she spun, parts of the ghouls’ bodies rained down onto the ground.
But neither Loan nor the dark priest merely watched the one-sided slaughter.
Loan was a mage, but one vulnerable to ranged attacks.
He lacked the ability to turn the tide of battle in a single blow with his powerful mana.
So he had to get closer.
The bare-handed mage leaped into the tangled fray.
Soon after, the Sheville, synchronized with the flow of Convection, rose again.
Loan matched his steps with Sienna, and just as he had when he first realized his Domain, he briefly shared the space with her.
Within the slowed time, as ice and fire blossomed on the ghouls' bodies, Sienna's two greatswords and the Sheville blades swept past, drawing clear lines.
They broke through the falling fragments, charging toward the dark priest together.
The creature was stretching out its hand and muttering something when, just in time—
A black fog, thick with murky mana, spread from its fingertips, enveloped its body, and was then sucked back into its mouth.
A bizarre sight.
It wasn't just its appearance; a strange premonition instinctively stopped Loan in his tracks, and Sienna was no different.
"Be careful!"
The dark priest's bones and muscles, now filled with abundant darkness, twisted, snapped, and swelled in an instant.
‘It cast a spell on its own body.’
He couldn't read the spell immediately, but the priest now looked at least twice its original height and build.
The dark mana, not yet fully contained within its body, stretched outwards, causing even its hair to ripple in the air.
Thump.
As the creature took a slow step forward, Loan thought.
‘An inhuman being.’
Beyond its completely altered appearance and form, its very essence had changed.
It was as if another soul now inhabited its body, one of pure, jet-black mana.
For a moment, Loan recalled the being of complete darkness he had encountered in his memory—or more accurately, in his illusion.
Though the concentration was weaker, this creature before him was undoubtedly of the same kind.
Just as he was thinking it might be a demon.
As if releasing pent-up frustration from a long period of confinement, the creature threw its chest out and let out an unintelligible roar. At the same time.
Swoosh-!
Loan reflexively launched the Sheville.
Twelve blades poured down on the creature's body like a bombardment.
Not a single one was thrown carelessly. He had already scanned its entire body and read its mana.
Since its body seemed to be crafted from dark mana itself, with no apparent weak spots—
He aimed for the eyes, the open mouth, the neck, and the joints of each limb, which seemed relatively weaker than its thick, powerful hide.
His intent was not to inflict a direct, fatal wound, but to find at least one of its weaknesses.
Clang-! Clank-! Clang-!
A series of sounds followed a shower of red sparks.
The result was meaningless.
The creature's hard, thick hide far surpassed the sharpness of the Sheville.
Moreover.
Crunch-!
The Sheville aimed for its mouth was caught between its teeth and stopped cold.
Then, it charged straight at Loan.
It reached for him, sharp claws leading the way.
Loan, not at all flustered, immediately transformed the Convection that had been a straight line into a thick, concentric circle.
The moment the creature entered his Domain and its speed faltered.
Another person stepped inside.
‘Senior.’
Sienna brushed past Loan and, as if reading and reacting to his Convection, used the flow as a counter-force to leap into the air, meeting the creature at eye level—
She crossed her arms in an 'X', positioning the tips of her swords behind her back, and charged, clearly aiming for the dark priest's neck.
"Ah…"
In that brief moment, Loan judged it to be a poor decision.
He had already experienced the toughness of the creature's hide.
‘It won't work.’
As expected, Sienna spread her arms wide.
In that fleeting instant, Loan saw it.
He saw a faint light of mana seeping from Sienna's greatswords like a heat haze.
Immediately after, a dazzling flash of light from the blades drew two semicircles toward the creature's neck.
Slice—
The neck of the dark priest, now a monster, fell to the ground with a remarkably clean cut.
Loan couldn't hold back his admiration.
"Whoa…"
It was the first time he had seen an Aura Sword in person.
Lucas and Sophie could imbue their swords with mana, but they couldn't yet manifest it like Sienna.
‘It looked like she had gone beyond simply imbuing the sword with mana and had coated the blade itself.’
It had been a rather tricky opponent, but she had dispatched it with surprising ease.
Seeing the difference in skill between his friends and Sienna firsthand made him appreciate just how incredible the Union was.
A single Runner was this formidable.
‘So cool…’
Sienna noticed Loan's gaze on her but seemed unconcerned.
"Well done."
Instead, she praised Loan. It was the second time today.
Loan's shoulders straightened a little.
But Sienna was already looking elsewhere.
"There are tracks here. This must be where they were trying to return."
Sienna immediately followed the tracks. Loan retrieved his Sheville and followed her.
There was no sign of life anywhere.
Amidst the bodies of those who had died of starvation or disease, scattered everywhere, and in a place full of unidentifiable filth, Sienna knew exactly where to go.
Loan didn't know if it was a skill of the Faith Division or Sienna's own ability, but it was something he would have to learn.
Through the dark fog that suddenly blurred his vision, Loan carefully stored away in his eyes and mind the direction of Sienna's gaze, the moments she held and drew her breath while tracking something, and the way her pointed ears twitched as she read the direction.
Soon after.
"There it is."
After leaving the foggy area, Sienna pointed to a lone building at the end of a gloomy road.
It was half-collapsed and its roof was caved in, barely qualifying as a building, but—
Loan saw the dense, murky mana remaining there, along with a corresponding halo of light, and agreed with her.
"Is that Le Tell's main base?"
"It's just one of their branches. Given the scale, there are probably several more within the quarantine zone."
"I don't think we would have found it without you, Senior."
He genuinely meant it.
"Humility."
Sienna casually patted Loan's head and walked forward.
As far as Loan could tell, there was nothing particularly dangerous in the Le Tell branch.
A prior scan with mana revealed only a few ghouls to deal with.
Sienna seemed to know this as well, her steps unwavering.
As expected, a few ghouls sensed their presence outside and poured out, but they were no match for Sienna.
Loan prayed for their souls and followed Sienna inside.
The gruesome sight immediately made him frown.
It looked like a scene from a human experiment. Body parts were scattered across the blood-soaked table and floor, and a pile of uncleaned corpses lay in a corner.
Beyond that were people locked in iron cages.
Many were injured or trembling in their squalid state, but thankfully, they had not yet lost their humanity.
Meeting their despair-filled eyes, Loan felt the anger he had pushed deep down begin to boil again.
A moment later.
Clang-!
The sound of Sienna opening the cage spurred Loan into action.
Sienna spoke.
"Freeing them is all we can do. And that's outside the scope of our mission. We can't take them beyond the high-risk area."
Her words were quite cold.
She meant to preemptively block any actions she couldn't take responsibility for.
"We're heading out anyway. After we search the place, let's go to the entrance together."
"…"
His tone became strangely soft at times like this.
But his gaze was incredibly firm.
Sienna had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Loan reassured the people with a gentle smile and a warm voice before searching the area with Sienna.
This was the original purpose of their mission.
Soon, Sienna tapped on a wall and said.
"This way."
When Loan went to inspect it, he found a magic circle on the wall as expected.
Just as Loan was about to decipher the circle by reading its formula.
CRASH-!
Sienna kicked the wall down.
"…"
Realizing that overwhelming strength could sometimes feel like magic, Loan stared at Sienna with a newly surprised expression.
"What?"
"A kick from you must hurt, Senior."
Sienna chuckled as if she had heard something strange and strode through the wall she had just destroyed.
The secret space, likely created by the dark priest, was like a mage's laboratory, cluttered with papers covered in various formulas and magic circles.
And next to them lay a very old-looking book.
The book's cover was made of leather, which he could tell at a glance was human skin.
Reluctant to touch it, Loan levitated the book with telekinesis and opened it before his eyes.
Sienna didn't miss the serious expression that crossed his face and asked.
"A grimoire?"
"Yes."
The book was filled with a specific type of magic circle and its numerous variations.
Loan remembered seeing such a form in the past.
Not in an illusion, but in reality.
It was similar to the one he had dismantled.
‘The Stone of Goetia.’
It was the magic circle that had sealed Aul.