Ch. 296
“Listen! Intruder! This is your last warning! Surrender, or we will kill you!”
They’d been surrounded at some point, but Rai wasn’t bothered in the slightest.
Pulling his hood down further, he touched the Barrier. He couldn’t pass through it, but he could touch it.
The texture was like rubber.
That meant it was a shield strong against physical force.
Shields strong against Magic were generally irritating to the touch and couldn’t be touched by hand, often appearing as a constantly shimmering form.
He scanned his surroundings one last time.
Knights were arrayed on both sides, and in front and behind were the castle walls and the green Barrier stretching above them.
“Are the archers still far?”
“They are on their way!”
“Tell them to hurry!”
Riding Undaine, I was floating high enough to touch the top of the dome, so the knights could do nothing but mill about and follow my movements.
Archers were no threat to me, but it would be a pain if they called in a bunch of Mages or other Spirit Mages.
I wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible, but it couldn’t be helped.
I had no choice but to break through. It was a Barrier weak to magical attacks, after all…
[Me! Me! I’ll do it, Master! I’ll turn into an Ogre and crush them all!]
“Ah, of course, I’d like to do that too.”
How much easier would it be to just kill them all and smash everything in sight?
But killing slave traders and killing knights trying to capture an intruder were two very different acts.
I did have a tendency to kill people indiscriminately, but that was limited to slave traders who were no better than human trash. Other than that, as long as they didn’t mess with me, I didn’t crush them to death.
Even I had a final line, shabby as it was.
[Then I’ll only kill half of them! How about I crush them gently?]
“This isn’t the worst-case scenario where you need to step in, so just wait for now.”
Rai was the last resort, to be used only when a Dragon appeared.
Even without that, I was already about to add destruction of property to my simple trespassing charge, so it was best not to do anything that would get me branded as a Black Wizard.
If I controlled an Ogre, a carnivorous monster, the knights would all see me and cry in unison that I should be burned at the stake.
You don’t use a monster-slaying sword to catch a rat.
Besides, Rai’s power, befitting his metallic nature, was purely physical, making him unsuitable for breaking through the Barrier.
Unless I wanted to turn the knights into minced meat, it was better to keep him on standby.
‘I wonder if Ash knows. That when I decide to go on a rampage, the scale is on a whole different level…’
My nosebleed had stopped, but I rubbed my still-throbbing nose and pointed at the Barrier.
“Undaine?”
Undaine, who had been ready, shot a long stream of water at the Barrier, so powerful I could feel the vibrations, but it had no effect at all.
Even as the compressed jet of water, as thick as an old tree, struck it directly, the Barrier held firm.
“That’s strange. Is the water pressure too weak?”
This time, I turned my fingertip and had her fire the water cannon at the knights.
“Kuaaack!”
“Gack!”
A dozen of them were swept away like ants in a monsoon, so the shield’s defense was just too formidable.
[Master, it will take a long time with my power.]
“So it’s difficult for an intermediate Spirit.”
Water Spirits were good at understanding commands—gentle and smart—but their weakness was poor attack power.
Ah, who was it that said being a Spirit Mage was easy?
It was me, dammit.
Breaking the Barrier with Undaine was a lost cause.
To get out of the castle, I had to break through three walls—meaning three Barriers—but at this rate, I’d be caught and my identity would be completely exposed.
“It can’t be helped… I was hoping not to call you for a while, but this is your chance for redemption! Come out again! You pain in the ass!”
[…My name is Ador!]
“You understood, so that’s all that matters. Be grateful I even called a pain in the ass like you.”
From now on, your name is Pain in the Ass.
[Ah… Master? It’s pretty amazing that he comes out even when you call him so carelessly.]
[This is too much! I’m going to spread rumors in the Spirit realm that my master is abusing her power! I’m going to tell everyone!]
“Oh, I’m so scared I could cry. Shut up and break the Barrier! If you can’t get through this, you’re….”
Screak. I slowly drew a finger across my throat.
If you disappoint me again, you’re fired.
You won’t have to be abused anymore; I’ll let you rest in the Spirit realm forever.
[Ughhh… At least call me by my proper name! That’s part of the contract!]
“Go! Ador, all talk and no action!”
I shouted, pointing to the spot still wet from Undaine’s attack.
Now is the time for you—whose only redeeming quality is your attack power—to shine. Prove your worth.
Did my fervent sincerity get through?
As if sensing this was his last chance, Ador momentarily grew enormous, illuminating the surroundings as brightly as day.
It was so dazzling, like a small sun had appeared, that I reflexively turned my head away.
Pzzzzzt!
I vaguely saw lightning strike down, aiming for the Barrier.
I couldn’t keep watching because the intensely bright streaks of light repeatedly tore through the darkness, making it impossible to open my eyes.
In an instant, a flash of light—large enough to be mistaken for a Dragon—fell upon the Barrier, shaking the very earth. Its power spread in all directions, striking the Barrier again and again.
The thunder that slammed into my ears was so intense my whole body went numb.
In a flash, the Barrier that had seemed so mighty began to crack helplessly.
I realized this was the first time I’d seen Ador at his maximum output.
I knew he was dangerous, but to this extent?
He was at a level where living peacefully meant never having to call him.
He was overkill unless I planned to conquer the continent.
[Oh, it broke! Master!]
How long had I been watching, squinting and shielding my eyes from the light with my palm? Unable to withstand Ador’s power, the Barrier let out a long, metallic screech and burst out of existence.
The castle wall didn’t even need to be attacked separately; it crumbled from the aftershock of the lightning that had pierced the Barrier.
[Mwahahaha! How is it, Master! The power of this great being! Now! Be amazed! Be awed! I am the best! This is electrifying!]
“So-so. You’re useful enough.”
Faced with the overwhelming lightning that looked like it could turn people to dust, the armed knights didn’t even dare to approach.
[…So-so! Me!]
[Pfft, how dare you! It’ll be a hundred years before you’re worthy of the Master’s praise!]
[A hundred years? Humans don’t live that long!]
[It means an ignorant electric-head like you will never be praised!]
Like a proper senior, Rai was putting Ador down.
I wonder if people knew Spirits had their own pecking order.
[Did you just call me ignorant! Who’s the one made of ignorant metal!]
[What do you know! Metal is so cool!]
“Stop fighting!”
[Master! That metal-head insulted me first! He’s the one who should be fired!]
[I was just stating a fact! Master!]
“Ah… this is giving me a headache….”
This was why I hated summoning multiple Spirits.
I could tolerate them fighting amongst themselves, but they always had to drag me into it and demand I judge who was right and wrong.
If only these two were half as good as Undaine.
While the two idiots screamed and fought, Undaine calmly moved according to my will.
Leaving the panicking knights behind, I slipped through the broken castle wall.
“After the intruder!”
“Stop! Intruder!”
If you were me, would you stop?
Shaking off the pursuing knights, I flew quickly toward the next wall.
As Undaine glided through the air, Ador followed behind, emitting a garish light so conspicuous it was like he was advertising, “I’m right here.”
Especially at night like this, there was no hiding that presence.
I considered sending him back, but there were still two more Barriers he needed to break.
When I passed a few buildings that looked like warehouses and arrived in front of the second wall, a large number of archers and knights on horseback had already gathered there.
‘I haven’t even stolen anything, yet this reception is a bit much, isn’t it?’
[There are Mages too, Master!]
“I felt them too.”
I could tell from the flow of Mana that they were preparing Magic to welcome me.
It was clearly attack Magic, and even as I saw them draw their bowstrings at my approach, I didn’t slow down.
Behind me, the knights I’d shaken off earlier were chasing after me in a horde.
“Undaine! Reinforce the shield and prepare for magical attacks. Also, the knights following behind… it’ll be hard to deal with them too, right?”
Undaine was already carrying me and defending at the same time, so she had no spare capacity. In that case…
[Master! Me!]
“Grufain!”
[Hmph! Me, me!]
“Grufain! You little brat, not coming out again! Hey! Grufain!”
Grufain, the Spirit of Ice who never came out on the first call, was another one I needed to summon often just to get friendly with.
The complete opposite of Ador, he hated being summoned at all—a Spirit difficult to handle not because he was too strong, but because he was utterly uncooperative.
[Haaaah… what a pain….]
And it was unpleasantly easy to see how that brat resembled me.
“It’s been a while since I called you, you know?”
[I wish it was half of half of that….]
“You shameless things… you’re all so selfish! But I’m the most selfish of all! Ador, you break the Barrier! Undaine, block the arrows! Grufain! You freeze the Mages first! Go!”
As I pointed forward, Ador once again explosively swelled in size, and Grufain sluggishly changed his form.
From a round mass of ice, spiky like a chestnut bur, into a shimmering weapon of murder bristling with dozens of ice swords.
His attack power was less than Ador’s, but that didn’t mean he was harmless.
“Wait! Grufain, freeze them only enough that it’ll melt over time! Leave their heads unfrozen! They need to breathe! I’m telling you not to kill them! Got it!”
[Tch, such a troublesome order….]
“After you freeze the Mages, freeze the archers, then the knights! If you act out of line again, I’ll summon you once a day, so do it properly.”
[It’s easier to just kill them… so troublesome, so troublesome.]
The Spirit of Ice, by nature, was good at immobilizing enemies.
It wouldn’t work well against an opponent as fast as Rovenin, but there was no better Spirit for neutralizing Mages or archers.
Thwump! Thwump! Thwump!
Once I was in range, arrows flew fiercely, but they couldn’t penetrate Undaine’s shield.
When Magic began to fly next, I expanded the shield into double, then triple layers, and then signaled Ador.
[Hee-yah!]
As Ador—floating as high as possible—unleashed a brilliant light and attacked the Barrier, the arrows lost their targets and fell.
It was too bright to see, so they couldn’t aim at me, and the horses, startled by the light, bolted in all directions, throwing the formation into chaos in an instant.
In that gap, Grufain, who had drawn close, began to freeze the Mages one by one.