The Traitor's Trail

"Because of you!"

The moment the words left Markel's mouth, a crimson light flashed in the corner of my vision. Dark magic. Specifically, the manifestation of blood magic.

Whoosh! A blood-red spearhead lunged forward, aiming to pierce my head in the blink of an eye. I jerked my head to the right, dodging the spear of blood. I didn't dodge it perfectly; a thin line was carved along my cheek. But the fact that I had dodged it at all was what mattered.

"You... H-how...!"

Markel's eyes filled with sheer bewilderment. It must have been utterly unbelievable to him that a novice who had only just initiated into magic could perceive his surprise attack.

To be fair, dark magic does not follow the typical process of 'perception-construction-manifestation,' meaning it has no warning signs. It was a magic system ruthlessly specialized for real combat.

But dark magic always carries a distinct, foul stench.

I had fought dark mages dozens, hundreds of times in my past life. It had only been a month since my regression. My senses hadn't rusted so much that I would miss the precursor of blood magic. If anything, the sting on my cheek was sharpening my five senses ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even further.

"Damn it...!"

Markel snarled, lowering his stance. Drawing a dagger from his breast pocket, he sliced his own palm and flung droplets of blood into the air.

The droplets floating in the air instantly reshaped into spears of blood. Thwip-thwip-thwip! The blood spears hurtled toward my throat.

Whoosh.

I grasped the rune Kenaz and swept it horizontally.

The sudden burst of scattering flames made the blood spears falter. Instantly, I lowered my center of gravity and lunged at Markel.

I had no sword. But I had my body. I swept my leg, kicking Markel square in the shin.

"Argh!"

Markel's balance broke in an instant. Realizing he had allowed me to land a blow, a thick vein bulged on his forehead.

"You bastard...! How dare you...!"

As Markel shoved me away, the blood-red spears that had paused in midair shot forward once more.

Clang!

Yet, those dozens of spears couldn't even graze a single hair on my head.

They had helplessly dissolved against an invisible barrier that had enveloped me at some point.

"Markel."

A cold, majestic voice echoed through the room.

Stern von Benheim. The Archmage bordering the 7th tier stepped forward with a dark expression.

"My brother, on one hand... I hoped it wasn't true."

"...Brother."

"Even if it were, I expected you to at least admit your wrongdoing and beg for your life. I thought you possessed at least some shred of self-awareness as a mage of Benheim."

Hummmmm.

Two runes floated above Stern's palm.

They were the runes Lunia used to use in my past life.

"But you have done neither."

"...Tch."

"Where did you learn such a vile, heretical art?"

Rumbleeee.

The room vibrated. As Stern raised his hand, the invisible barrier compressed tightly, crushing Markel from all directions.

Stern's magic was brutally simple. No tricks, no anomalies. He crushed his opponent with nothing but overwhelming mana density. It was not something that could be resisted with mere blood magic fueled by blood.

"Cough, ugh..."

Markel drew upon his mana to construct and manifest Rune Magic. But the difference in their realms was vast.

Though they used the same runes, the power contained within them was worlds apart. Markel's stance collapsed completely.

Just as Stern's Rune Magic was about to crush Markel's body into paste—

"...Cough, gasp..."

Markel rolled pathetically on the ground. Stern had withdrawn his magic.

"Markel, this is your last chance. Tell me the truth. Who taught you dark magic? Who ordered you to kidnap Lunia?"

"...Heh. Are you... trying to coax me now?"

Stern approached the exhausted Markel and knelt down.

"My brother, if you surrender now, I will spare your life. Though your mana core will be destroyed and you will rot in the family dungeon for the rest of your days, your life will be preserved. Above all, I do not wish to kill you."

"...Ha, haha. Brother, do you know something?"

Markel glared at Stern with a wretched expression. Then, his gaze shifted to me, who was quietly observing the situation.

"I truly loathed you. I hated that pathetic sight of you acting as if you were the only great one, carrying all the family's honor on your back."

"..."

"You were always like that. Trapped in the outdated title of Patriarch, you couldn't see true power. You will probably never know how futile ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this rotten order you're trying to protect is until the day you die."

"Markel..."

"In truth, talking about a last chance now is utterly laughable. That disgusting sympathy of yours, pretending to be merciful, always drove me mad."

While Markel was passionately ranting—

This is...

I caught the scent.

The precursor of blood magic.

Behind Stern, droplets of blood were already floating in the air.

"Patriarch! It's dangerous!"

Even before my shout ended, Stern was already casting a defensive spell.

But Markel's target wasn't Stern.

Nor was it me.

Splat!

The blood droplets pierced Markel's own body. It was clear self-harm. While Stern hesitated in shock, the fresh blood flowing from Markel's body enveloped him.

Before Stern could make a move, Markel's body turned into a crimson mist. Having transformed into mist, Markel vanished through the window of the magic tower.

Blood Mist.

This was why blood mages were so troublesome.

Just when you thought you had them cornered, they would turn their bodies into a crimson mist and escape.

"...He escaped."

Stern let out a soft sigh and stood up. He stared out the window where Markel had escaped with a detached look.

"Are you alright, Raygan? You've got a cut on your cheek."

"It's just a scratch."

"I am glad to hear that."

Stern briefly inspected the cut on my cheek, then let out a deep sigh.

"Regrettably, we let him slip away."

Markel had escaped.

Despite all this commotion, they had ultimately failed to capture him.

But...

"Patriarch, may I ask you one thing?"

"Speak."

"Did you not let him go on purpose just now?"

"..."

Stern looked at me. A deep curiosity flickered in his purple eyes.

"...What makes you think so?"

"It is hard to believe that an Archmage of your caliber could fail to capture a single dark mage. I merely deduced that you might have let him go intentionally."

"...Raygan, your intuition is remarkably sharp."

Stern readily admitted it.

"As you said, I intentionally let Markel go without capturing him. What do you think the reason is?"

Stern asked with a deep smile.

"...Brotherly affection?"

"Yes. It must have looked that way. Markel likely thought so too."

Stern chuckled.

"However, I am someone who knows how to separate public matters from private ones."

Stern raised his left hand.

Throughout the entire fight, Stern had kept one hand behind his back. I had assumed it was the typical leisure of the strong, but apparently, that wasn't the case.

What floated above Stern's palm was a rune.

"This is the rune Raido (ᚱ). It means 'vehicle' or 'guide.' Before Markel fled, I engraved this rune onto his body."

"Don't tell me... through that rune..."

"Yes. We will be able to find out where he fled, and by extension, the identities of the dark mages collaborating with him. Of course, a meticulous operation must follow."

Stern was a colder man than I had thought.

To him, Markel was already prey. And Stern had marked him.

"Now that we've flushed out the rabbit, it's time to dig up the rabbit hole."

Stern wasn't just planning to uncover the forces behind Markel; he intended to capture them all in one fell swoop.

While I was tongue-tied by his ruthlessness, I understood. Only someone with this level of cold composure could serve as the patriarch of a prestigious magic family.

"I have truly received your help this time, Raygan. Without your tip, I would never have dreamed that my own brother was a dark mage."

"I, too, only heard it from the mage who handed me the pendant."

"Yes. Because of that, there are a few things I must verify with you."

I could easily anticipate Stern's next words.

"Did the mage who gave you the pendant name anyone else besides my brother?"

Dark mages are like cockroaches.

If you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spot one, there are bound to be other pests connected to it nearby.

Now that the tip about Markel being a dark mage had proven true, Stern intended to use me to weed out the spies within the family.

In truth, several individuals colluding with dark mages were hiding within Benheim. If we could weed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them all out, we would undoubtedly secure a massive advantage in the upcoming war against the Archduke of Demonic Magic.

"Yes. The mage who gave me the pendant named each and every traitor within the family."

There was no reason not to cooperate.

It might draw attention in the short term, but in the long run, it was a guaranteed benefit.

Particularly, gaining the trust of an Archmage who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the continent's mages would serve as a decisive stepping stone to thwarting the Archduke of Demonic Magic's underhanded schemes in the future.

Having made my decision, I spoke calmly.

"Among the dark mages, there are branch family mages, researchers of the Magic Tower, and even among the elders of Benheim..."

"Wait."

The moment the word 'elders' left my mouth, Stern raised his hand.

In the next instant, a powerful torrent of mana swept around me. It was a spell cast by Stern. Before I knew it, an invisible barrier of mana had completely enveloped the annex.

"Speak quietly. There are many watching eyes here."

"I will be careful."

Our conversation would no longer leak outside.

A complex spell formula combining four or more runes.

If runes were words, the spell formula formed by them was a sentence. What I was looking at right now was the pinnacle of Benheim's unique magic formula.

However, with my current self, I couldn't even begin to fathom its depth. It was a spell that could only be cast by Stern, who had reached the realm of an Archmage.

"Returning to our discussion, is it truly a fact that there are traitors among the family elders?"

"Without a doubt. The nameless mage gave me their names and a detailed list."

"...I see. Understood."

Stern nodded, unable to hide his deep exhaustion.

"Do not tell me specifically who the traitors are just yet. Now is not the time. Once we capture Markel, I plan to devise a separate scheme to apprehend them."

"You intend to catch both rabbits at once."

"It will be dozens of rabbits."

Stern agreed with my words and continued.

"I will devise a plan to lure the spies out and sweep them away all at once. I will seek you out again then."

Stern's expression had turned icy cold.

He seemed deeply shaken by the fact that even the Senate, the core responsible for the family's history and tradition, had been touched by the hands of dark mages.

"Ah, and."

Stern spoke before leaving the annex.

"I must bestow a reward for this matter. I will have my servant deliver it to you."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. It is a reward you rightfully deserve."

With those words, Stern vanished into thin air.

"Well, he'll handle it fine on his own."

In any case, the fact that Markel was a dark mage had been exposed. Just as Lunia had said, Benheim would no longer fall helplessly to the rise of the Archduke of Demonic Magic.

Leaving Benheim's complicated affairs to Stern,

the most urgent matter for me right now was training.

The goal I had set to reach the 3rd tier within a month.

That deadline was right before my eyes.

"...Shall I get started?"

Now that I had created an atypical mana core, breaking through the barrier of the 3rd tier was no difficult task.

Just as I was about to return to the annex and practice my magic—

"Lord Raygan, this is a delivery from the Patriarch."

Sheryl approached. With a half-believing, half-doubting look, she handed me a long box.

Checking the contents without much expectation, I let out a dry chuckle.

"My father-in-law is incredibly generous."

Inside the long box lay a luxurious glass bottle, within which a golden, transparent liquid sloshed gently.

It didn't take long to identify it. What was contained inside the glass bottle was an extremely pure essence of mana, looking as if the primordial life force itself had been concentrated.

"An Elixir."

An elixir that ranked at the absolute top among artificial elixirs, one where the seller could name any price.

An Elixir, of all things, was right before my eyes.