Chapter 74
Chapter 74
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: Reversing the Flow
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With their commander-in-chief gone, Libertha was powerless.
Even their command, filled with formidable individuals, was being pushed back by the Union and the Varchino Capital Army, led by Sienna.
And with the Harmony Division joining the fray, they stood no chance.
"Why aren't the reinforcements here?"
"Dammit, now's the perfect time to hit them from behind!"
Frustrated voices rose from the Libertha side.
The comrades who were supposed to cross the Grafton Kingdom's territory via the bridge district and attack Varchino from the rear never arrived, no matter how long they waited.
"The guys you're waiting for aren't coming."
Lucas said, swinging his greatsword at the man shouting for reinforcements.
"They were all slaughtered in the bridge district."
"How, in the bridge district..."
The Libertha man's words were cut short.
Lucas spoke to the head rolling on the ground.
"...Let's just say there's a way."
Once the Honor Division arrived, the scales of victory tipped swiftly.
Faced with the Harmony Division's advance and the Honor Division's large-scale magical onslaught, Libertha was helpless.
As time passed, it became a veritable slaughter, but there was no mercy until the very end.
The Union and the Varchino Capital Army left not a single Libertha remnant on the battlefield, beheading them all.
Ironically, the only things left moving were the ghouls, alive yet not living.
"We won!"
A chorus of victory cries echoed through the ranks of the Varchino Capital Army.
The Varchino-Union alliance celebrated their victory while assessing the damage.
While the Varchino Capital Army had suffered some casualties, the Union's side had only minor injuries.
Oscar losing an ear was considered the most severe injury among them.
As Hans bandaged Oscar's wound, someone in heavy armor stood before them and asked.
"Where's Franco?"
With that, she removed the helmet that covered her entire face, and dazzling blonde hair, suddenly freed, cascaded down.
She was a woman of considerable beauty.
Lucas, who had been looking worriedly at his father, turned his gaze and let out an involuntary gasp.
Hans answered.
"He escaped."
"I knew it, that bastard."
A curse, unbefitting of her small, shapely lips, slipped out.
Hans cut off the string of curses she directed toward the direction Franco had fled.
"He'll lay low for a while. His wound must be deep."
"Who did it? You? The one with one ear?"
"It was Loan. From the Faith Division."
At Hans's reply, she whipped her head around.
Though more than a few were staring at her face, she singled out Loan, her gaze unwavering.
Loan, who was feeding Aul a usable head he'd found, met her gaze.
"You're Loan, right?"
"Yes."
"Lydia, Commander of the Harmony Division."
"Greetings. Oz Loan of the Faith Division."
"Greetings! Oz Lucas of the Faith Division!"
Loan and Lucas placed fists over their chests in a show of respect.
Lydia didn't spare Lucas a glance.
"You're the one who wounded that bastard Franco?"
"My Sheville, ah. This weapon of mine..."
"I know. How'd you do it?"
"I aimed for his neck and sent it flying precisely on a Convection current, but he dodged at the last second and fled with my Sheville embedded in his left eye."
Saying it out loud only made him more upset.
As he let out a frustrated huff, he suddenly felt a warm presence from behind.
"You ugly thing. Are you trying to torment a child who has distinguished himself with your needless persecution?"
It was Magda, Commander of the Honor Division.
She seemed to have paid special attention to her makeup today. Her bright red lips were particularly glossy.
Lydia scowled and retorted.
"None of your business, old hag."
"He is a comrade who shares my literary sensibilities and someone from whom I seek magical counsel. I have every reason to be concerned."
"Bullshit..."
"Your mouth is as foul as ever. Quite a peculiarity from such an upstanding family. Even if you've left home, seeing this must cause great worry. Wouldn't you agree, Varchino?"
"Indeed, Lady Magda. That is why blood ties are not always a welcome thing."
The Duke of Varchino, who had been standing beside Magda, replied.
Magda's familiar way of speaking was something Loan was used to, but the Duke of Varchino's polite demeanor felt strangely unfamiliar.
After replying, Varchino's gaze fell coldly upon Lydia.
Did she lose the staring contest?
"How peculiar. He seems so eager to play the big brother."
Lydia clicked her tongue and, just as before, whipped her head back to look at Loan.
"Anyway, once you get to the Union, come by the Harmony Division."
"I'll ask Commander Adrian. That's the proper way, isn't it, Vice-Commander Oscar?"
Oscar, having been asked, gave a slight nod.
It was a perfectly sensible answer, but Lydia seemed displeased with it.
She cursed Loan and Oscar with her eyes for a moment before turning and leaving.
And so, the chaotic moment passed.
Magda said.
"Her grudge against Franco is one thing, but why is she picking on Loan?"
"She has always been an unpredictable child. It is easier on the mind to not pay her too much attention."
"I suppose so. I'm already getting a headache."
Magda said, shaking her head.
Varchino remained impeccably polite to her.
"Thank you for coming. The Honor Division's final blow played a significant role in the cleanup."
"It's thanks to this child. Loan, passing through the bridge district was remarkably easy thanks to you."
Magda's hand lightly brushed through Loan's hair.
"I'm just glad you arrived early."
Loan looked around at Magda and the members of the Honor Division, offering his greetings. One of the members whispered that Sophie was away on another long-term mission.
The Duke of Varchino nodded with a satisfied smile.
"There is much to discuss regarding this decisive battle. Leave the cleanup to us and get some rest for now."
"Yes. The sun is too strong here. My skin will be ruined."
Magda said, raising a hand to create a small patch of shade.
The sun had just passed its midday peak.
While most who had fought on the battlefield were resting, a few, including Loan, were still busy.
The number of captured ghouls was around thirty.
Moving them and isolating them was no easy task.
"Varchino gave us a good place."
Magda said, looking around.
The ghoul treatment room prepared by the Duke of Varchino was a space borrowed from the Varchino National Hospital.
It had an isolation area inside, making it convenient for various uses.
"Let's start with one for now."
With Hans's help, Loan laid a ghoul straight on a table and secured it.
Since it was thrashing violently, Magda used her mana to press down firmly on its body.
"Thank you, Commander Magda."
Loan, Hans, and Magda gathered around the table where the ghoul lay.
From the Faith Division, Oscar was present, just as he had been during the magical consultation with Le Tell.
His ear and head were wrapped tightly in bandages, and he leaned against a wall with a weary expression, his eyes closed.
There were many others as well.
Members of the Stability and Honor Divisions. They sat in the second-floor gallery, looking down.
These two divisions had some of the oldest members in the Union. The atmosphere in the treatment room was like that of aged instructors observing a student's practical exam.
"I'm curious. To challenge the purification of ghouls, something even priests find difficult."
"I'm looking forward to it. I wonder what kind of magical achievement this will be."
It was quite unusual for priests and mages to gather like this with a common purpose.
What Loan was attempting was both a purification and a cure, and at the same time, a way to dismantle a form of magic, so it drew interest from all sides.
Loan looked between Hans and Magda and spoke.
"Then I will explain the treatment process. Commander Hans and Commander Magda, you are both aware that I helped the torchbearers in the bridge district."
"Yes."
"I heard. You did something interesting."
Loan began to briefly explain the process of how he had applied his experience with the human tree to draw Libertha's mana into the torches.
"...The key point here is that while our mana cultivation and breathing draw mana into the body, the human tree and the torches draw out what is already inside."
"Hmm..."
Hans hummed a low, long note and nodded.
"Taking a hint from that, I reversed the process of mana cultivation to draw out Libertha's magic through their breathing. That is what I attempted in the bridge district."
A collective gasp went through the priests and mages listening from the gallery.
They were all people who had practiced mana cultivation from an early age.
Listening to him, the hypothesis itself was theoretically sound.
But how Loan had made it possible was a matter of practical application. Naturally, their curiosity was piqued.
As if to voice their collective question, Magda asked.
"Mana cultivation isn't a spell with a formula. It's more like imbuing your breath with will. How can you reverse that?"
"Mana breathing and cultivation are internalized over many years. You instinctively know how, how much, at what speed, and with what depth to breathe, even without specific measurements."
"Hmm. That's true."
He deliberately didn't mention that he could see mana.
There was no need.
Normally, one doesn't breathe while watching the air go in and out. Everyone simply knows by feeling the tedious process of mana entering, some of it accumulating, and the rest exiting.
"The reversal I performed was to intervene in that process and draw out the target's breath with my own."
"Intervene? Is that possible?"
"It was. However, for convenience, it was necessary to inflict a rather excessive amount of pain on the target."
"Pain? Ah, the second torchbearer's hut. Is that why those men were clutching their knees?"
"Yes. I will demonstrate the advantages and specific methods for this later, when the opportunity arises."
They let it pass casually, but directly intervening in another's magic was a considerable achievement.
It was close to a unique form of magic, or a unique magical understanding, so it wasn't something they could easily ask him to teach.
They all nodded as if in full understanding.
Hans, who had been lost in thought for a while, asked.
"So that's why you said then that it might be possible even for darkness that has completely taken over."
"Yes."
"And this time, I suppose I'll be playing the role of the torch."
"Exactly."
Loan was impressed by Hans's insight.
He understood precisely what Loan was trying to do.
With a rare bright smile, Loan turned his gaze to the ghoul and said.
"I don't think pain will be necessary this time. Just removing that gag should be enough to make it gasp for breath."
Magda casually waved her hand and did so.
Spitting the gag from its mouth, the ghoul began to let out a shriek so loud it echoed through the treatment room.
"Kieeeeeeek!"
Loan stared blankly at the ghoul.
Tainted mana, forcibly instilled without cultivation. It was now time to draw out all of it, which had spread inside the ghoul's body like mold.
"Gurgle! Gaaack!"
Ghouls breathe too.
Loan quietly scouted the flow of breath, the exchange of air at the end of each shriek.
Then, he began to meticulously refine his Convection. The Convection was adjusted to an immense density. Thread-like streams formed bundles, taking shape.
The process itself was invisible, but everyone knew something extraordinary was happening just from the fine dust scattering and swirling in the air.
"Now, I will begin."
A bundle of thin Convection streams originating from his fingertips entered the ghoul's body through its nostrils.
It was a ghoul that did not perform mana breathing. Its breathing was rough and intermittent. Shrieks erupted at unpredictable moments.
Therefore, having a fluid stream of Convection whirling through its body must have been an extremely unpleasant or strange sensation for the ghoul.
"Kieeeeeeek!"
Loan patiently circulated the Convection inside the ghoul's body.