Chapter 170
The trade center.
A place frequented by countless merchants.
A hub where goods and currency flowed between cities.
Namaran City’s trade center was no different.
It was the busiest stopover for many merchants active across the kingdom’s southern and eastern regions.
Although the east had recently been devastated, reducing traffic somewhat, the place was still always lively.
But not today.
“…….”
Silence.
That was the first thing Javier felt upon arriving at the trade center.
Normally, the area would be bustling—yet now it was eerily quiet.
No people were in sight.
No wagons or carts that should have been constantly moving in and out.
No porters sweating as they loaded and unloaded goods.
No merchants raising their voices in negotiation.
No one.
Not in the front yard.
Not in the loading area.
Not anywhere.
‘Don’t tell me.’
Javier’s brows tightened beneath his hood.
Something was wrong.
The truth he had uncovered in Cannavaro’s basement.
When he compared that horrific truth with the eerie emptiness before him, a bad feeling spread through his chest.
Bang!
He kicked open the trade center doors.
But the inside was empty as well.
No attendant greeted him as they usually would.
“…….”
Did they realize something?
Javier searched the basement through the third floor with hard, cold eyes.
But not a single person was there.
It was as if a perfectly intact ship had been suddenly abandoned.
‘How? Did they realize the basement had been exposed?’
No—there wasn’t enough time.
He had come here immediately after uncovering the truth.
He hadn’t even informed Lloyd or the Count yet to avoid losing time.
‘Five minutes.’
That was how long it took him to get from Cannavaro’s mansion to the trade center.
In that time, could Cannavaro and the black mages detect the situation, clear out the entire building, and escape flawlessly?
Impossible.
‘Then why? What happened?’
Should he go to Lloyd?
Or keep searching here?
He moved restlessly, caught in anxious indecision.
Then, the moment he reached for the door—
BOOOOM!
A thunderous sound exploded out of nowhere.
From the sky?
No.
From everywhere.
East, west, south, north—every direction.
A massive roar rushed toward him like an explosion.
And with it—
His insides twisted violently.
“……!”
His stomach convulsed.
His heart thrashed wildly.
His vision shook.
His mind grew hazy.
And all at once, the mana in his body surged out toward the air!
‘What—’
If he hadn’t been a Swordmaster.
If he hadn’t achieved endless mana circulation.
If his instincts hadn’t immediately triggered the Asrahan Heart Technique—
He would have collapsed unconscious on the spot.
“……Kuh!”
He forced his mana heart into motion.
Activated the Asrahan Heart Technique.
All three circles spun at full power.
Kiiiiiing!
The circles howled as they blocked the violent outflow of mana.
Only then did his stomach calm down.
His heart steadied.
His sight returned.
His mind cleared.
‘What is happening.’
Javier was horrified.
This sudden change in the air—
Was this what it felt like when the very air tried to steal all life force from a body?
He finally realized—
‘The mana in the air… it’s being pulled out of every living being. At an insane rate.’
Even now.
He had to keep the Asrahan Heart Technique active.
If he stopped?
He would suffer the same collapse as moments ago.
‘Something’s happening.’
That roar.
That sudden phenomenon.
His instincts screamed disaster.
He pushed open the trade center doors.
And then he saw it.
“What….”
A massive barrier was surrounding the city.
Not a physical barrier.
A barrier of mana—dark purple, nearly black.
It shimmered like a sinister mirage, encircling the entire city.
It was taller than the city walls.
Hundreds of meters high—no, it covered the sky above the city entirely.
It even blocked out the sun.
Twisted black-purple sunlight drenched the streets.
And people were collapsed everywhere.
Everywhere his eyes fell—
People lay unconscious.
“Hey—!”
He ran to one person—a white-haired elderly woman.
“Ghh… uuh…”
She was already unconscious.
Her whole body trembled.
Her eyes were rolled back, foam bubbling from her lips.
“……Damn.”
Her mana was being drained.
Just like what he had felt before activating the Asrahan Heart Technique—except unlike him, she had no way to resist.
It wasn’t just her.
Everyone on the street was suffering the same fate.
He didn’t know the exact mechanism.
But he could guess.
That barrier.
The ominous mana enveloping the city.
It had to be linked.
It had to be sucking mana from everyone inside.
Even the mana essential to staying alive.
Which meant—
What about Lloyd?
“Lloyd.”
His heart sank.
He wouldn’t endure.
Even with the Asrahan Heart Technique.
Even as a Sword Expert Intermediate.
He couldn’t stand against this.
He wasn’t a Swordmaster.
He had no endless mana circulation.
At best, he might last a few minutes longer than others.
After that, he would collapse.
Lose consciousness.
Stop using the Asrahan Heart Technique.
And be drained dry.
He would die.
“……I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I’ll fix this. Please hold on until then.”
He carried the elderly woman into the shade.
It was all he could do.
To save her, he had only one option—stop this phenomenon.
And he had to do it quickly.
Burning that resolve into his heart, Javier sprinted.
Past the trade center.
Across the plaza.
Toward the Count’s mansion.
People lay collapsed all over the main street.
Others shook violently on the plaza ground.
Even the lady from the distribution center lay unconscious.
Every time he passed another victim, Javier bit his lip.
He pushed harder.
Keeping all circles spinning to prevent mana loss, he channeled every bit of remaining strength into speed.
He reached the guest lodging at the Count’s mansion.
“Lloyd!”
Bang!
He kicked the door open.
He ran inside.
But—
Lloyd was nowhere to be found.
His stomach dropped.
‘Where?’
Lloyd.
He had to find him.
To save him.
To save the city.
‘Lloyd knew something.’
He thought back.
Lloyd had suspected Cannavaro from the beginning.
When Namaran’s young lady first arrived at Frontera, Lloyd’s first question had been about Cannavaro.
Lloyd knew something.
He surely knew how to stop this.
Lloyd’s wisdom.
And his own strength.
Together—they could resolve this.
But—
Lloyd wasn’t in the lodging.
“Lloyd!”
Javier’s growingly desperate shouts echoed through the mansion.
♣
“Ah, not here either.”
Thunk!
A steel shovel dug into the earth.
Sweat dripped over the shovelhead.
Lloyd pouted as he looked down.
“Looks like coming all the way down here was pointless.”
He lifted his head.
Above him, far above—nearly a hundred meters up—
Sat Namaran City, perched atop the cliff.
Meaning—Lloyd had descended far down the cliffside.
Why?
To look for more gems.
‘I only searched around the city walls earlier.’
He’d collected two hundred gems.
He was satisfied. But he was also greedy.
Maybe there were more.
He’d realized he had never checked the lower cliffside.
‘Worth a try.’
Nothing to lose.
Just needed to walk.
And sweat a bit.
Maybe he would find more valuable gems.
So he took his shovel and bags and came down the cliff.
He searched vigorously.
And found nothing.
“Tsk. I thought I saw a skull here.”
He’d found skulls twice.
But they were ordinary skulls—no mana, no gems.
‘Looks like these were actual old execution victims.’
Tsk.
He clicked his tongue.
‘Guess I got greedy.’
He had tried to win the jackpot.
But came up empty.
‘Forget it. Let’s wrap up. Time to rest.’
He’d sweated enough today.
He packed his shovel and empty bags.
He asked his vest pocket:
“Ggoming? You awake?”
“……Ggoming?”
“Tsk. Never mind. Sleep.”
Ggoming, who had been dozing inside, lifted his head groggily.
Lloyd smiled at the sight.
He briefly considered riding Ggoming back to the city.
But using red sunflower seeds felt wasteful.
‘I’ll just walk. Good exercise.’
He started walking along the winding path around the cliff.
A late-summer breeze brushed pleasantly against him.
“Nice weather.”
A cloud blocked the sun, giving him shade.
He hummed to himself.
Then—
Suddenly, the cloud darkened.
From fluffy white to pitch black.
At the same time, from the city above, a strange surge of mana rippled.
“Huh?”
What was that?
What was happening?
He blinked in confusion.
He looked between the sky and the city.
Then—
A dark-purple mana barrier began to rise.
Tzztztztz!
“……!”
It shimmered like a rising mist.
Then shot upward.
Blocking the sun.
Tearing through clouds.
Encircling the city.
No—swallowing it whole.
Lloyd’s eyes widened.
‘What the hell is that.’
Could it be—
The Namaran Barrier?
He wanted to rub his eyes.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
‘That’s the Namaran Barrier. Exactly like the illustrations from the novel Iron-Blooded Knight. But how? How is this possible?’
It made no sense.
He had removed the underground skulls and gems.
Destroyed the magic circle meant to form the barrier.
But despite his efforts—
The barrier rose before him.
Encasing the city.
Radiating dreadful, ominous power.
Devouring all mana and life force inside.
The moment he understood that—
“Damn. Ggoming!”
He shook Ggoming awake.
“Sorry, I’ll explain later. Eat this first.”
“Ggo! Ggoming!”
Ggoming, sensing danger, snapped awake.
He gobbled down the red sunflower seed.
His body swelled.
Boom!
“Let’s go! Up!”
“Ggoming!”
Lloyd climbed onto his back.
They ascended rapidly.
Past the cliff.
Up to the city.
But they could not enter.
‘It really is the Namaran Barrier.’
Lloyd bit his lip.
From above, he could see the entire barrier.
A massive, translucent, dark-purple dome.
Completely encasing the city.
No gaps—not even for insects.
‘I can’t break this.’
His strength was nowhere near enough.
Even Triple Detonation wouldn’t work.
Not even a Swordmaster’s aura could shatter it.
So what about Javier in the novel?
Did he feel this helpless too?
‘How did this happen.’
He had tried so hard to prevent this.
Yet the barrier still rose.
He gritted his teeth.
He had to do something.
But what?
He had to find a way to break the barrier.
‘Maybe I should invest RP. Raise the mana heart skill to become a Swordmaster? No, not enough RP. I’ll probably get stuck at Sword Expert Advanced. Then should I increase the Asrahan Heart Technique? If I add a fourth circle and use Quadruple Detonation, could I break it?’
But he shook his head.
‘No. Even Quadruple Detonation wouldn’t be enough. The number of explosions doesn’t matter. I need aura.’
Aura—capable of cutting through nearly anything.
Explosions combined with aura.
But he couldn’t do that.
He wasn’t a Swordmaster.
‘Then what do I do…’
He felt hopeless.
Then—
On the ground, he saw something.
“People?”
There were scattered groups around the barrier.
Roughly ninety individuals.
Standing in organized triads.
Spread evenly along the perimeter.
And their outfits were familiar.
Black robes.
Black hoods.
Straight out of the illustrations of Iron-Blooded Knight.
“Black mages, huh?”
Lloyd smiled brightly.
How convenient.
He had been wondering how to break the barrier.
And the very people who created it were standing right there.
If he beat them up—
He could find out how to destroy the barrier.
‘A defective product should be returned to sender!’
Fwoooosh!
Gripping his steel shovel tightly—
Lloyd dove straight down.
Directly at the nearest black mage.