The Mage of Stars and Scales (2)
The mages of Bia were tearing the village apart like a pack of hounds hunting lice. “Search every inch! He’s definitely here in this village!”
Prometheus. The great sinner who had defied the will of the gods. An oracle had been issued to capture him. It was exceedingly rare for a deity to exert direct influence over the mortal realm. No one knew the reason, but an oracle was an absolute command. The followers could only obey without question.
Capturing a man who could see the future was no simple task, yet they were now on the verge of success. Decima, leader of the pursuit squad and servant of Bia, the goddess of violence, checked the divine artifact in his grip. It was linked to the curse cast upon Prometheus. The brighter the artifact glowed, the closer the target. The nearer the distance, the more intense the curse’s agony. He had to be writhing in pain somewhere nearby.
Just then, one of the pursuers who had been inspecting the hut on the hill shouted down.
“Leader!”
“Did you find him?”
“Not exactly, but something’s off! The villagers say this is where the young man lived, yet there are clear signs two people were staying here!”
Decima fixed the village chief with a piercing glare. “Explain.”
“Aigoo, honored sir. We truly know nothing. That boy lived with his grandmother. After she passed, he must not have been able to let go.”
“Who is he? Is he among these people?”
“He isn’t here. He’s an odd one who climbs to the mountain peak every night to stare at the stars. He should have returned by now, but…”
“I-I know something!” While the chief was hesitating, Tom bravely raised his hand. All eyes turned to him. Under Decima’s predatory gaze, Tom trembled as if he had come face-to-face with a wild beast.
“What is it?”
“Th-that oddball… I’ve seen him muttering to himself sometimes. I thought maybe… it was the old man…”
Decima and his men exchanged glances. It was almost certainly him. He had likely lowered his presence using a divine artifact that normal humans couldn’t detect.
“Head to the summit and confirm whether he’s there.”
“What about the villagers?”
“Have you forgotten whose servants we are? We’ll take whatever supplies we need from this place as well.”
There is a saying that like attracts like. The goddess of violence and those who followed her were cut from the same cloth. To them, the screams of mortals were hymns offered to their deity. Violence only grew sweeter when inflicted upon the weak. Bia’s followers smiled thin, cruel smiles as they looked at the villagers.
The people huddled together in terror, clinging to one another, when a flame suddenly blazed on one side of the mountain.
“Leader! That fire!”
“Just as expected. It’s him. After him!”
A flame burning deep within the mountain range. The pursuers abandoned everything else and raced toward the blaze. Mages who had received oracles could not only wield miracles but possessed physical abilities far beyond ordinary humans. A single leap covered the distance of twenty adult strides, allowing them to sprint unhindered across the rugged mountain paths.
They reached the burning spot in an instant. Yet by the time they arrived, the fire had already been extinguished and the criminal was nowhere to be seen. As the pursuers scanned their surroundings, they spotted a new flame on the mid-slope.
They moved toward it once more. When they reached the mid-slope, the fire had again gone out. Soon after, another blaze kindled a short distance away.
“Leader, it seems we’re being lured. What should we do?”
“Why hesitate? Even if he’s scheming, he’s nothing but a cursed old man wracked with pain. There’s no reason to fear him. His body must have limits to how far it can run. Continue the pursuit without stopping.”
The chase continued. The next place the fire led them was a clearing surrounded by trees. Once again, the flames died as they arrived.
“Leader, no more fires are appearing.”
“Hmm.”
Decima checked his divine artifact. After chasing the torches, the light had grown weaker. It meant they had actually moved farther from Prometheus.
Then the one who lit these fires was someone else?
Decima fell into brief thought.
“Leader, doesn’t this place feel strange?” one of his subordinates who had been scouting the area asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The whole mountain is covered in snow, yet there’s none here.”
Just as the man said, this particular spot in the snowy range was completely clear of snow. The fallen leaves scattered across the ground were bone-dry.
“Hmm…”
An uneasy feeling settled over him. He was about to order a return to the village when—
Whoosh—!
Fierce flames erupted. What had begun as a small spark spread in the blink of an eye, leaping from tree to tree. Fire encircled the pursuers on all sides.
“Leader, the fire! It’s him!”
“These aren’t ordinary trees. It’s like… they’re soaked in oil!”
The place where they now stood was the heart of a Flame-heart Wood colony—trees nourished by the blood of fire giants, found only in the Mite Mountain Range. The blaze was as if a fire giant had descended upon the mountains once more. A wall of flames surged upward.
“It’s a trap, Leader!”
“Tsk. That slippery old snake… Follow me. We’ll break through in one place.”
As Decima summoned his power, his muscles began to swell. The bodies of the pursuers bulged like those of raging bears. With Decima at the lead, they charged straight into the inferno.
The mages who served Bia, goddess of strength and violence, wielded miracles that drew upon the reinforcement of their own bodies. They borrowed their goddess’s power to commit violence in the mortal world, and in return she delighted in their savagery. Their momentum rivaled that of a charging beast. A single punch caused the blocking flames and the trees themselves to explode outward.
Yet the fire refused to let them go easily, clinging persistently. It blocked their path, and pillars of flame erupted from the ground without warning.
“Kuaaagh!”
Even those who had received oracles could not easily withstand the heat of Flame-heart Wood. One by one, the pursuers engulfed by fire pillars vanished. Unfortunately for the chase squad, the goddess of fortune did not seem to be on their side.
Thud…! Thud…!
A tremendous vibration. The earth shook as though the mountain itself were awakening.
“Damn it, what now?!”
Something as enormous as a mountain was approaching the pursuers.
“I-it’s a Titan!”
They were Titans. Ancient beings who had once ruled the world in place of the gods. Drawn by the brightly burning flames, the giants of the Mite Mountain Range had gathered.
“Run!”
“Let go! I said let go! Uwaaaagh!”
The Titans snatched fleeing men in their hands and crushed them, or stomped them flat like ants beneath their feet. The pursuers’ strength was utterly powerless before a far greater force. The squad members died helplessly.
“Run! Don’t stop running!”
Decima deliberately ignored his men’s screams, driving his legs with everything he had to barely escape the encirclement.
“Huff… huff…!”
Hidden in a place where the giant’s eyes could not reach, Decima gasped for breath. When he finally checked the number of survivors, only he remained of the nearly ten men who had begun the mission. Even mages who had received oracles were not immortal. His subordinates had either been burned to ash and returned to the soil or had become snacks for the giants.
“This damned…”
Decima was a veteran mage who had seen his share of battles, but he had never encountered such a cursed mountain. Not only had he failed to capture the criminal, he had lost his entire squad. As leader, he had failed completely. He had no face left to return to the temple after such humiliation. No matter what, he had to capture Prometheus.
Decima forced his exhausted body to stand.
“Huff… haa… How did it go, Elder? Did everything work out?”
Leon panted heavily as he reached the mountain peak. An axe was clutched in his hand. Prometheus sat at the summit, gazing down at the mountain. Watching the blazing slopes, he offered a calm assessment.
“Not bad.”
Leon had scoured every corner of these mountains since childhood in his search for the best place to see the stars. He had used that intimate, one-sided knowledge without mercy, taking shortcuts to lure the pursuers straight into the Flame-heart Wood colony. Once the bait had been taken, he had set the fire Prometheus provided and fled. Flame-heart Wood burned with several times the power of ordinary timber. Even a mage whose body had been strengthened by an oracle could not withstand a direct hit from such flames.
“Thank goodness it worked. The giants didn’t even glance at me—they only chased after those men.”
“I see.”
“If I’d known it would go this smoothly, I wouldn’t have gone through all that trouble to receive an oracle. Don’t you think so, Elder?”
The entire operation to eliminate the pursuers had been planned inside Leon’s head from start to finish. Satisfied with the result of his own scheme, Leon chattered excitedly. Prometheus listened with half an ear, then lowered his gaze.
Down below, within the still-burning Flame-heart Wood colony, massive figures remained. The Titans lifted their heads. Their gaze was directed toward the summit where Prometheus sat. For a moment their eyes seemed to meet, as if the giants were looking directly at him. Then, as though their task was complete, they returned to their original places.
Just as it seemed the matter was settled—
“Ugh!”
Prometheus collapsed with a pained groan.
“Elder!”
Leon rushed to check on him. The sound of crunching snow under heavy footsteps made him flinch and turn his head.
“You slippery old eel. So this is where you were hiding.”
The mage of strength and violence, leader of the squad sent to pursue Prometheus—Decima—staggered into view, his body in tatters. The villagers’ information about an oddball who climbed the peak every day, combined with the footprints leading to the summit, had guided him here. Just as expected.
Decima’s sharp eyes pierced through Leon. The murderous intent in that gaze made Leon flinch.
“You were the one living in the hut on the hill. How dare you shelter a criminal and harm a servant of the gods…!”
Leon momentarily shrank beneath Decima’s overwhelming pressure, but he steadied his heart and stepped forward with courage.
“I don’t know exactly what wrong the Elder has committed. But I do know you attacked the people of the village.”
“A mere mayfly dares to run its mouth without knowing its place.”
Decima examined Leon. The young woodcutter from these harsh mountains had a well-balanced, solidly muscled body, but that was all. There was no trace of any extraordinary power. He was nothing more than an ordinary mountain youth.
The corner of Decima’s mouth twisted upward. He had expended a great deal of strength breaking through the flames and the giants’ encirclement. If Leon had been a servant of the gods, there would have been no chance of victory—but he was not. No matter how exhausted, a mage was still a mage. The difference between one who had received an oracle and one who had not was like that between heaven and earth. Even a hundred ordinary men could not prevail.
Thud.
Certain of victory, Decima took a single heavy step forward. The force alone sent snow scattering like dust. Leon glanced behind him, but Prometheus remained motionless, clutching his side. There would be no help from that direction.
Leon gripped the axe firmly with both hands. His stance, unused to combat, looked almost comical at first glance.
“Kahahaha! You think something like you can oppose me? Go on, try it!”
Decima bared his teeth in a wide grin and charged. The pressure crushed against Leon’s skin. A cold sweat broke out all at once, soaking his entire body. Even as instinct screamed that he could not win, with nowhere left to retreat, Leon swung his axe.
And then, something unbelievable happened.
The axe that could split wood was stopped cold by Decima’s forearm. It failed to leave even a scratch. The recoil sent the axe bouncing back.
“What?”
Before the stunned Leon could react, Decima snatched him by the collar and lifted him into the air.
“Ugh!”
The monstrous strength that could hoist an adult man with one hand. No matter how desperately Leon struggled, he could not break free. The gap in power was like that between an adult and a child.
“Don’t expect an easy death. My squad members are screaming for your body to be torn to shreds.”
Decima swung Leon like a literal club. The young man’s body traced an arc through the air before slamming into the ground.
“Kuhack—!”
The massive impact against his back stopped his breath in his throat. Before he could even register the pain, Decima continued swinging him.
Thud! Boom! Boom!
Like a man using his own body as a hammer, Decima slammed Leon into the ground again and again. The lightning-like agony left Leon unable to even scream properly. Only when Leon’s movements had completely ceased did Decima finally stop. The young man’s body hung limp, utterly broken. The deep blue eyes that had once resembled the night sky had lost their light and turned cloudy.
“Hmph. A worthless brat who thought he could interfere with cheap tricks.”
With a contemptuous look, Decima hurled the ragged Leon off the cliff like a piece of garbage. Having disposed of the thorn in his side without much effort, Decima’s eyes suddenly fell upon a tombstone.
Information gained while interrogating the villagers came to mind. The oddball who climbed the peak every day and his grandmother who had died two years ago. It was not difficult to guess who the tombstone belonged to.
Decima twisted his lips into a savage grin and kicked the tombstone. With a crunch, the shattered stone and grave tumbled down the cliff.
“You seemed to miss your grandmother. I’ll personally send you to her side.”