Ch. 297
“W-what is this?!”
“Whoosh! Whoooosh!”
When a shard of ice about a meter long flew in and shattered at their feet, it instantly clung to them up to their necks, freezing their entire bodies and rendering them immobile.
It wasn’t ordinary ice, so it would take at least half a day to melt naturally, and trying to break it by force could cause their limbs to fall off entirely.
The mages screamed in unison at the horrific sensation of their entire bodies freezing while they were still conscious.
“Grufain?”
[The mages are done, now for the archers…….]
“Freeze their mouths, too.”
[Because they’re noisy……?]
“That, and it’ll be a pain if they chant spells.”
[Pain is a problem…….]
My voice didn’t reach all the way to where Grufain was, but by thinking strongly as I spoke, we were able to have a conversation.
“What is this—mmph!”
“Mage-nim!”
“Mmmph!”
The mages were hiding in the rearmost position, guarded by knights and archers, but they were powerless against flying types like Ador or Grufain, especially those completely immune to physical attacks.
Arrows crumbled before they could even reach Ador, and while the knights were distracted by the conspicuous Ador, Grufain—who had already frozen all the mages—was freezing enemies indiscriminately from the rear.
The slightest brush with Grufain was enough to freeze them, so the knights didn’t even dare to extend their swords.
Meanwhile, Undaine used her spare energy to push the knights together with streams of water, drenching them thoroughly, which made Grufain’s job of freezing them even easier.
Thunder roared from above and chaos erupted below as people were frozen alive, but amidst the pandemonium, I felt an unseasonable sense of peace.
“Kkeuaaaak!”
“Somebody help me!”
‘Ah, this is why I’m a Spirit Mage.’
Teaching the kids is tough, but once I let them loose, I feel the satisfaction of having raised them well.
[Master? Is there nothing for me to do?]
“Yeah, there isn’t.”
[I’m bored.]
“It’s good to have a free hand.”
[Sometimes… I wish Master was a little incompetent. Then there would be something left for me to do.]
For a moment, I wondered if I should have escaped upward and looked up at the sky.
But I would have had to break through three Barriers even if I went up. Above all, a dome-shaped Barrier becomes several times stronger the higher you go.
‘It’s inconvenient to attack, too…’
[Mwahahaha! Master! Did you see? Did you see me break it?]
While I was briefly contemplating whether I should have gone a different way, I heard Ador’s triumphant laughter after he destroyed the second Barrier.
To be honest, with that guy around, it probably wouldn’t matter which way I went.
“Let’s go, Undaine! Only one left.”
[Then I’ll be on my way…….]
“Grufain? Shut up and follow me.”
The time it took Ador to break the second Barrier was just over twenty seconds, and the time it took Grufain to freeze all fifty-odd people who were blocking and confronting me was about the same.
Riding Undaine, I leisurely passed over the heads of the frozen knights.
The mages, their mouths also frozen shut, rolled their eyes to look at me, but there was nothing they could do.
I gave them a light wink from under my hood.
‘You’ll probably thaw out by tomorrow, so hang in there.’
I leisurely slipped out through the collapsed castle wall. There was no one to block my path.
‘My review of infiltrating the Royal Palace! The escape was the easiest part!’
[Master, knights are swarming ahead.]
“Wipe them out.”
On the way to the final wall, I encountered a troop of mounted knights armed with spears, but I didn’t avoid them in the slightest.
‘Because this is the fastest way!’
There was no need for Ador or Grufain to step in.
Even from a distance, Undaine accurately aimed and shot streams of water only at the knights’ heads, and unable to withstand the water pressure of the cannons blasting their faces, the knights tumbled from their horses one after another.
The spears they had intended to throw at me were left soaking wet, rolling on the ground.
Even if they had succeeded in throwing them at me, they wouldn’t have been able to pierce Undaine’s shield, and even if they had, Rai would have swallowed them in one bite.
[Somehow, I get the feeling you’re only avoiding the horses… Am I mistaken?]
“Horses are precious!”
[What about the knights?]
“Who cares about some humans! It’s enough that I didn’t kill them!”
I couldn’t be any kinder.
I flew toward the wall without stopping. Once past the final wall, it was straight to the city.
The distance between the walls was such that they were faintly visible to each other on a clear day; it was far to walk, but only a few minutes on Undaine.
When the distant wall came into view, I had a premonition that my unplanned escape operation would be a success.
‘If I could just break through the last Barrier like this, the intruder who had disturbed the Royal Palace’s dawn would disappear forever.’
[Master!]
[Hm? Master!]
Even before I reached the wall, a sense of foreboding shot up.
Rai and Ador reacted before I did, and then Undaine, of her own accord, slowed her flight speed and flew sideways, wary of one spot.
It was extremely rare for a Spirit to act against its master’s will.
It happens when it feels a fear so great that it goes against its master’s will, or when it makes its own judgment to protect its master from danger.
Someone was standing at the point we were trying to break through.
Not a large army, but a single person.
I could tell from a distance that this would not be an easy opponent.
“Damn it, nothing ever goes my way.”
[I had a feeling this would happen!]
“He doesn’t even live in the castle, so how did he show up so fast?”
Was he nearby? I knew he had come to the capital since I ran into him in the plaza.
The thick scent of wind I had caught a whiff of then tickled my senses again.
Funnily enough, it was a slightly pleasant kind of stimulation.
[Because he’s a Wind Spirit Mage. If he was in the city, flying over would be quick.]
“It’ll be hard to escape with Undaine.”
[It’s not just hard, it’s impossible!]
“……Whose side are you on?”
[Of course! I’m on Master’s side, but what can I do about the laws of nature?]
Rai’s words were annoying but true.
I wouldn’t be able to match his speed, so my only option was to defeat him completely before moving on. There was no other way to break through.
To be honest, I don’t particularly enjoy fighting.
I have a belligerent nature, it’s true, but before that, I was a slave to laziness.
If someone challenged me, I would defeat them, but I never initiated a fight.
Take Rovenin, for example. The start of our relationship was entirely his doing.
‘I guarantee that if something annoyed me three times, I would save a country just to be done with it.’
[Master, Master! Give the order! Should I break the Barrier first? Or attack that human? Should I wait?]
[You idiot! Can’t you tell Master is thinking!]
[I think Master finds fighting a hassle, but since she has to fight, she has to win, so she’s thinking about how to win.]
“Ador gets 20 points, Undaine gets 90.”
Perhaps because he’s so distractible, Ador is full of energy but offers little substance.
If he were just a little calmer, he’d be much more helpful to our fighting strength.
[What! Why only 20 points?!]
“A test on reading Master’s stream of consciousness. That Grufain fellow isn’t even trying to read it.”
[How can you do this so suddenly! Let’s do it again!]
[Ah! What about me! Master!]
‘You get 100 points, but I’m not telling you.’
In the first place, scoring Rai like this is meaningless.
“Everyone be quiet. You’re all chattering at once, it’s so distracting I can’t think.”
It was already a fight I could no longer avoid.
In front of me stood Theatrazen, who had summoned an intermediate Wind Spirit, and to my sides and rear, knights were swarming like a pack of dogs.
My senses picked up about a hundred of them… so in reality, there were probably more.
‘Isn’t this a bit much?’
I’m all alone, yet they’re ganging up on me like this. And to call in the kingdom’s strongest Mage for a single intruder—what an excessive welcome.
‘Hmm, it might also be that I’m so strong the final boss decided to pop out…….’
“Listen, intruder! I know not what your purpose is, but now that I, Theatrazen, have arrived, there is no escape! Surrender at once and kneel!”
When you meet an enemy, you naturally size them up. Even a beast will instinctively sense in that moment which of them is stronger and decide whether to flee or fight.
In my and Theatrazen’s case, the fact that we were both powerful adversaries was so clear that it made our bodies tense up on their own.
This was different from the case with Rovenin.
Because we walk the same path, the opponent feels closer, and because of that, you become more wary.
It’s like meeting one of your own kind.
The desire to compete was an unavoidable kind of instinct. It was a pain, but I had to settle this.
“How dare you invade the noble Royal Palace! If you wish to preserve your worthless life, reveal your identity and surrender now! You ruffian! Are you listening?!”
I wondered how his voice could be so clear from this distance, and it turned out he was using a Spirit to transmit his voice.
‘To use Mana on something so pointless…’
Opening my mouth would only reveal my gender and age, so I didn’t answer.
Instead, I pointed my fingertips toward the knights who had drawn near. Sitting on Undaine’s back, I quickly scanned the spirited eyes that glared at me with hostility.
Perhaps because they were born in a nation of knights, I don’t dislike knights with such lively eyes. That’s that, and this is this, though.
“This is a pain, so let’s end it quickly. Ador, you take the right. Grufain, the left. Undaine, you take the rear. Wipe them out with all you’ve got.”
[The right!]
[……The left…….]
[I’ll take the rear.]
Theatrazen seemed to assume I would naturally surrender once I was surrounded. But I was the one who broke the standoff first.
“Let those who flee live. But we don’t have time to spare, so if they’re persistent, you can kill them.”
I wanted to avoid bloodshed as much as possible, but that was only when my own safety was guaranteed.
Now that Theatrazen had appeared, the time for holding back was over.
If I were a mage, I would have surrendered long ago, but I was a Spirit Mage.
I was alone, but never truly alone, and fighting against many was my most preferred method of combat.
‘Among which, my specialty is slaughter.’
My kids just can’t control their strength!
‘Who the continent’s strongest Spirit Mage will be decided today.’
(T/N : Geenie going all in! Lets gooooo! )