Fifty-Fifth Chapter
The Shadow of the Snow-Laden Sky
The king of moths. It was the kind of bizarre monster that belonged to mythology. Who could blame anyone for bowing down to it when meeting it in reality? There were even humans who worshipped Fiends as the world’s saviors. After all, it was impossible to prove that beings that exceeded human knowledge, like gods and demons, weren’t real.
That was why, when people saw things or events that were beyond their understanding, they tended to treat them as either divine or demonic. By doing that, they were able to make ambiguous things seem acceptable and reasonable.
Humans were weak creatures after all. But Alus was different. He saw the idols of gods and devils that humans used to comfort themselves in the unreasonable world as useless, and discarded them. At the very least, he had no interest in them.
If something got in the way, just kill and remove them. If people wanted to live to see tomorrow, they needed to struggle to survive no matter what happened.
Still, with a hint of malice and irony, he felt demon was a suitable name for Fiends. He thought back to the name of one of the Fiend worshippers’ evil gods. “Shem Azah...the king of moths.” It was a bit of an exaggerated name, but no problem. He would be killing it after all.
Alus raised his left arm into the air. “Drop dead.” The next moment, five fireballs came flying from on high.
It was Volcano, the advanced fire spell. Each fireball was as large as a meteorite, but it wasn’t only their size; they were in a league of their own in firepower when compared to an ordinary advanced spell.
The approaching fireballs lit up and dyed the snow-covered ground in red light. They scorched the air as they flew at an extreme speed, covering several hundred meters of the area around Shem Azah.
However... “Tsk.” Alus sensed a spell manifesting, and clicked his tongue. It wasn’t enough to panic over, but the Fiend wasn’t going down without a fight.
As expected, once the five fireballs were close enough, they scattered from within. Shem Azah forcibly undid the magic circle, causing the fireballs to disperse from mana leakage instead of bursting. It was like a teacher showing an inexperienced student the basics of counteracting magic. Alus’s fire spell was at a higher standard than a Magicmaster who specialized in it, but even so it was treated like child’s play.
“So that wasn’t even enough to test you. Or are you just going to play around?” Alus struggled to suppress his anger. The Institute was one thing, but it had been a while since he’d felt something like this on the battlefield.
But he wasn’t going to counterattack just like that. Having seen the enemy’s first move, he switched his strategic brain on. If I can’t take it down right away, it being in the air is a disadvantage. I can’t have it move around freely with that size and speed. Guess I’ll have to bring it down.
The Fiend was probably using wind magic to achieve its mobility. For starters, there was no way it could support itself just by flapping its wings. Right now, the Shem Azah was hovering seemingly by flapping only the back pair of its wings.
Besides, I can’t afford to flee. If this thing gets to the rest of the squad, they probably won’t stand a chance. In that case it would be better to have a magic battle. Alus’s gaze turned to the Fiend’s legs that were hanging down. Including the talons, the legs were bizarrely long, even for the size of the moth.
The next moment, Shem Azah violently flapped its big wings just once, causing enough turbulence to create a storm. It quickly turned into a white raging blast of wind that blew up the snow, mowed down trees, and whipped up leaves and twigs, and the Fiend sent it directly at Alus.
The scale of it made it impossible to escape from. Alus pulled his hands back, then thrust them forward as the wind’s momentum weakened slightly. ‹‹Dolrain Zephyr›› Following the flow of his arms, a huge barrier of azure wind formed.
He intercepted the white storm with the wind attribute’s highest-ranking spell. If the storm was only wind, he could’ve used a simpler way of countering it. However, he sensed that something was off, and decided not to let the tempest that threatened to swallow everything reach behind him.
With his hands held out, palms forward, Alus’s body shook as the winds raged. Before him, white and blue winds clashed, creating a rift in the air. Both winds fiercely competed, trying to devour and cancel the other out.
Then, timing it perfectly, Alus threw his hands up. When he did, the two clashing winds roared as they shot up into the sky and disappeared.
However, his vision was blocked by the whipped-up snow. A dark shadow moved. The leg that had easily blown Lettie away was swinging again. It tore up the ground as it approached Alus.
The snow not only blocked his vision, but jammed mana, delaying his response by a moment. He pulled in his right arm by conditioned reflex, ingrained through many years of experience. Any superfluous thoughts vanished as his fighting instinct made him move.
His barely opened eyes were a void, showing no emotion. He took a small step forward as he spoke. “I’ve already seen that.”
Contrary to the rapidly approaching kick, Alus slowly walked forward like he was giving himself up. The intense wind rustled his hair, but his eyes remained unstirred. His lips parted as he vocalized a spell’s name.
“‹‹Cocytus››” He elegantly moved his hand as if brushing away smoke, his palm expelling chilling air. With his fingers covered in a thin layer of frost, he stroked the Fiend’s leg.
There was a flash of blue-white light and the instantly frozen leg was stopped. Or more accurately, it was killed. It wasn’t just frozen. Even its kinetic energy was reduced to zero. It didn’t matter if something was slow or fast. Anything touched by the Cocytus would get completely frozen in its matter, mana, and even energy. It was almost like time stopped, which made no sense considering the laws of physics.
It certainly lived up to its name as an ultimate level spell. Even more terrifying was the precise control of its range. The Fiend’s leg, half-covered in a silvery-white ice coffin, was spatially frozen in place, but the rest of its body was able to move freely.
It was like the single wheel of a magic car suddenly stopped, and not from mechanical error, but absolutely stopped due to a supernatural phenomenon. The car would naturally be torn apart. The boundary between the car with its massive kinetic energy and the suddenly stilled wheel would tear them apart.
A sound similar to a frozen tree trunk getting snapped by a huge force echoed across the snow fields of Vanalis. The Fiend’s body fluids sprayed out, covering the snow in an eerie color.
Alus lowered his eyes to gaze at his right hand covered in Cocytus. He’d already released the spell. Even though he had a wealth of knowledge and could use all attributes aside from the elements, there was still a price to pay, such as poor efficiency and his manifestation speed being affected.
Cocytus was normally something only a Magicmaster with an affinity for the ice attribute could use. So there was a cost for Alus forcibly using it when he had no affinity for any attribute. His right hand was deeply affected by the spell and had turned dark from frostbite. That was the effect of using the spell for only an instant. If he’d continued using it to completely freeze the Fiend, his entire arm could’ve become necrotic and fallen off, or worse.
However, that level of sacrifice hadn’t even registered in Alus’s mind when he made the choice. After all, he’d finally been able to make the Shem Azah realize that someone who could kill it was standing in front of it.
After confirming he could still move his fingers sufficiently, Alus detected another leg coming in diagonally from above, and jumped back to get away from the leg and the snow still obscuring his vision. The legs moved more like whips than kicks, and tore up the ground, sending lumps of earth at Alus.
You don’t need to go that far to kill me. If you can hit me, that is, Alus carefreely thought to himself, as he easily dodged the attacks.
Eventually there came a break in the attacks, which he took advantage of. Alus narrowed his eyes as he jumped up to the Shem Azah’s level. Its massive size threw his sense of distance for a loop, but at least he didn’t have to strain his neck looking up at it. He didn’t like being looked down on by anyone.
Seems like it’ll take some more time for its leg to heal. Some species of Fiends could heal missing body parts in a matter of seconds. But this one didn’t appear to have such a high level of regeneration.
Alus twisted his body to dodge an attack he didn’t even have to confirm to know was coming, and set his sights on the Fiend’s torso. The spell he was composing was of a rather high level. That much could be seen from the amount of mana surging around his body. Night Mist immediately read the magic formula from the ring Alus chose, and expended a vast amount of mana.
However...an attack came from his blind spot. Taking advantage of its long legs, the Shem Azah swung out a leg to cut Alus to pieces from behind.
The attack should’ve been impossible for even Alus to dodge. However...
Red flames unexpectedly exploded in the air behind him. A Detonation had been cast from somewhere. The burst of fire and shockwave formed a barrier that canceled out the surprise attack. Not only did it protect Alus, but it dealt damage at the same time, a feat a normal barrier spell couldn’t imitate.
Alus’s expression didn’t change, as if he’d expected as much. After a brief respite, she had finally been able to take her revenge. Besides, it was the same kind of attack that had gotten her. The only difference was that it came from behind, but he had already seen through it.
This time, he decided to leave the support to her. He wasn’t going to repeat a mistake, even if it was someone else’s mistake. That was natural for a first-class Magicmaster.
With the shockwave giving him more momentum, he pointed Night Mist towards the Fiend. Its chain wrapped around Alus like an endless snake, making a metallic sound.
“‹‹Hell Fang››” It wasn’t like he chose the fire attribute to match his backup, but he cast a fireball that manifested before Shem Azah. In the blink of an eye, flames fitting the spell name flared up, and as they reached their threshold, another change occurred.
A two-headed dragon was born. As it raised its heads, it grew even larger as if feeding off of the flames. The two heads were engulfed in flames, and by the time they were ready to bite their prey, they were already big enough.
The heads curved in on either side of Shem Azah and plunged down towards its shoulders, as if to burn the wings off at their base. It was a kind of composite spell, combining the fire attribute with a summoning spell.
The patterns on the Fiend’s wings glowed, but it was too late. The heads bit down on the Fiend’s massive body before it could escape upwards.
After that, the dragon fell still. Alus landed on the ground and looked up. Anyone watching would’ve imagined the Shem Azah would go up in flames. But no matter how long he waited, the flames showed no sign of fully burning up the Fiend.
Usually that would be enough damage. The slight doubt in Alus’s mind quickly turned to conviction. The jaws of the double-headed dragon were slowly turning gray. He immediately understood it was turning to stone. It was a terrifying anti-mana power that replaced already manifested mana, transformed a spell into a different one and then re-manifested that one.
But it seemed it could only affect some types of magic, otherwise the Cocytus wouldn’t have worked. Alus took a closer look at the veins on Shem Azah’s wings. The eye-like patterns on the wings glowed like an AWR would. That’s the source of it.
Alus figured the Fiend was directly interfering with the construct, but had no way to confirm it at the moment. Before long, the two-headed dragon turned into a statue, which then crumbled from its own weight and fell to the ground. “So, you can use the earth attribute too.”
It went without saying that petrification belonged to the earth attribute. Alus gave his spells enough compositional strength, but the effect of the snow was ever present. A sound came from the construct, deteriorating the information itself.
As Alus expressionlessly watched the end of the dragon, a figure landed next to him. After receiving backup in the form of Detonation, he didn’t need to look to know it was Lettie. Drawing a signal flare from his belt, he casually shot it up in the air. Since the Consensor was out of range, this was the sign to let the squad know that Lettie was safe and the mission was to continue.
He saw when Lettie went flying and confirmed the degree of her injuries. They weren’t light, but he still made the decision to carry out the mission after seeing the power of her Detonation and her focus in keeping her coordinates straight. It might be a little harsh, but she was a soldier. Most of all, she wanted to continue the mission as well.
“You didn’t miss this time.”
“Haah...haah... If I did, you would’ve been seriously hurt, Allie,” Lettie answered him, out of breath.
“That’s a needless worry. Besides, your injuries aren’t exactly minor.”
“This much is nothing. More importantly, Allie...let’s switch.”
“With you like that? I think it’s a bit too much for you.”
“I could say the same about you and your hand,” Lettie replied, after looking at his frostbite.
“No,” Alus curtly said. He glanced at Lettie’s body. Her injuries played a part in it, but she gave off the impression of putting up a tough front. If she was being stubborn, she might not be able to make calm decisions.
“Is that an order?”
“I don’t care which.”
Lettie’s demeanor was quiet, but she stared willfully at Alus, who gave it right back to her with a cool expression. Her lips were tightly pursed, like she was grinding her teeth.
But Alus’s answer remained the same. It might have seemed strange coming from someone not normally part of the squad, but allowing Lettie to fight that Fiend on her own wasn’t going to happen.
The mana around Alus surged, a sign he was going to do it. He was also putting pressure on Lettie to hold back her impatience. Besides, they were already in battle. Being battle ready, he didn’t have the time to be considerate of someone else.
He narrowed his eyes and gave Lettie a cold stare. “Don’t make me do your role, Lettie,” he clearly said in no uncertain terms.
That was the line in the sand as a leader. If she was going to step over that line for emotional reasons, Alus would have to take a firm stance, using force if need be. The fact that he was even taking the time to persuade her was his way of showing kindness. If he wanted to, he could’ve knocked her out if need be.
Lettie was blindsided by his refusal. The next moment, her mana and unrest subsided. “F-Fine... Actually, I’m sorry,” she said in a dejected tone, lowering her head. Her braid slumped over like a scolded cat’s tail. But at least she reconsidered her reckless attack.
“I shouldn’t have taken that attitude either. If you just act like normal, I have nothing to complain about.”
“Gotcha.”
Once calmed down, Lettie should be a valuable asset. As for Alus, it was only a small increase in work, but any negative impact on the mission was within the margin of error. “Focus on responding to the enemy rather than attacking. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Lettie’s face lightened at Alus’s somewhat kind tone. She made a beeline for the Fiend without any signal or answer. Of course her intentions had already reached Alus.
Their highest priority right now was to stall Shem Azah for as long as possible. The worst thing that could happen was if it escaped. Ripping off its leg and sending a dragon of fire after it wasn’t just to gauge its strength, but was also meant to provoke it.
The Fiend was huge, and it had the mana to go with it. It also had its quick kicks. In the event it managed to get away and hide somewhere to recover its strength, or headed over to assist the A-class Fiends, the entire Vanalis reclamation mission might end up failing.
The question is how long Lettie’s stamina will last. Alus kept a keen eye on his surroundings and chased after her. He’d been keeping his guard up during his entire exchange with Shem Azah due to a certain doubt in his mind.
Unaware of his thoughts, Lettie ran across the snow, pulling her arm back and thrusting it forward again while snapping her fingers. Red dots appeared all around the Shem Azah. In the next moment they exploded, dyeing the surrounding air red. At that range any minor change in coordinates wasn’t going to matter as long as she focused. And even if her aim was a little off, the spell covered a fair amount of area. The Fiend wouldn’t be able to avoid being damaged from the blast.
“?! What?!”
However, the Fiend dodged the attack in an unanticipated manner. Four maelstroms suddenly appeared in front of the Fiend and swallowed the spell, flames and all. Soon, a black conical tip started growing out of the maelstroms. It reminded Alus of his own Oboro Hien, although something that looked like a charred tree was appearing instead. It looked like a massive stake formed from an old tree, so thick not even an adult could wrap arms around it.
Again! It’s using the mana to deploy a different magic formula!
The Fiend was diverting Lettie’s spell and counterattacking, while keeping its own mana consumption to a minimum. It was another application of the same ability it used before. Even if it didn’t work against all magic, it was troublesome to say the least.
Stakes were fired and rained down on Lettie. Fortunately, because of their large size, they weren’t all that fast. She figured they’d be easy to dodge. Staring at the four stakes, she casually jumped. Instead of dodging them, she used them as footing to get closer to the Fiend.
Once she was beyond them, the stakes continued falling. She’d been the one to use the enemy’s attack this time, but Alus would’ve been a little more cautious. The stakes were too crude of an attack for a Fiend like Shem Azah to unleash against a target as nimble as Lettie. But if you asked Lettie, she would say there wouldn’t be any problems if she beat the Fiend first.
A large boom rang out behind Lettie. It was the sound of the four stakes she’d evaded piercing the ground and throwing up snow.
At the same time, a strange crunching sound reached Alus’s ears. His instincts on high alert, he stopped and poured his entire focus into his consciousness, discarding all unnecessary thought.
A chill ran down his spine. He instantly manifested his special ability and appeared right next to Lettie. He saw a flash of light in the corner of his eye, and the next moment the light reached them before being devoured by his unleashed Gra Eater.
That light was Demis Brionach...the long-range spell the Lefkis used. After a day, the mana in the atmosphere must have recovered enough for it to be able to use it again.
This was what Alus had been on guard for during the entire fight. It was why he’d split the squad up to eliminate the Fiends. It wasn’t a matter of numbers. He’d already expected the battle wouldn’t be against Shem Azah alone.
Considering the Ogma’s intelligence and its strategic abilities, it wasn’t unthinkable for the Fiends’ cooperation to rival their own. A-class and S-class Fiends were powerful enough alone, but together they would be far more formidable. That was normally unimaginable, but anything could happen in Vanalis.
But Alus had predicted a surprise attack in the case that Sajik, as well as Mujir and Loki, were to fail to defeat the Ogma or Lefkis or both, and they came to the Shem Azah’s aid. He’d not only anticipated as much, but even took Gra Eater’s characteristics into his plan and waited for an opportunity.
He was almost sure of a first attack coming. And the Lefkis’s position could only be determined once it fired off its attack. So the Lefkis is still around, and as expected, it fired off a Demis Brionach. That’s the first hurdle cleared.
Gra Eater didn’t just eat mana, but also sent it to its master. Right now, the Demis Brionach mana was being absorbed into Alus’s body, and of course it was an abnormal amount. This isn’t something it can eat time and time again. Gra Eater had a will of its own, and Alus simply reined it in and kept it under control. However, its will grew greater the more mana it ate. Once it exceeded what Alus could control, the dangerous special ability would run rampant, becoming a demonic plague that sucked the life out of anyone it came across.
For the time being, it would be fine as long as he could wrap things up while keeping Gra Eater under control. With that in mind, Alus looked over at Lettie.
Lettie had seen the Demis Brionach, but since Alus took care of it, she prioritized the Shem Azah, shooting out flames while dodging its kicks.
Alus suddenly remembered, and glanced behind him. That was where the stakes fired by Shem Azah were supposed to be. He clicked his tongue as something unusual had happened.
The stakes that had been fired into the ground had taken root. They looked to be positioned haphazardly, but still, they were a product of magic. “Lettie, wait!!!”
His voice didn’t reach her. She was in the midst of battle with the Shem Azah. Demis Brionach’s characteristics made it unsuitable for firing repeatedly. Maybe thinking about the weakness Alus discovered yesterday, Lettie wanted to reduce the Shem Azah’s fighting power before something else came to interrupt them. But with her injuries she was at a disadvantage.
However... Ignoring those would be bad. The exposed trunks of the rooted stakes were pulsating ever so slightly. Alus hesitated, as something was steadily growing there. Even if he scanned through all of his knowledge, he didn’t know what this spell would do.
There’s no time to think about it. Emergency measures first. Alus made up his mind and took action, quickly constructing Niflheim and unleashing it on the stakes. He struggled a little to prevent the snow from influencing it, but it activated as he wanted, transforming the four stakes into clear icicles and freezing the entire area around them. If the stakes were an earth attribute spell that worked like plants, that should be enough to stop them.
That’s a bare minimum measure, and now we need to finish this before the Lefkis’s next attack comes flying! If the Lefkis could use composite spells, then Demis Brionach probably wasn’t its only trump card. It would be safer to assume it could use other long-range spells. Considering Lettie’s condition, Alus switched from defense to offense.
The Ogma aside, with the Lefkis firing off a spell of that caliber, Mujir and Loki should’ve discovered its location. I hope they finish it off quickly, Alus calmly thought to himself. Now that Gra Eater had supplied him with mana...
He reached a decision, then sprang into action. Turning on his heel, he dove back onto the battlefield where Lettie and Shem Azah were locked in a battle of flame and gale. From what he could tell, the old style of Detonation she was using was already losing power and effectiveness. That was in part because she needed more concentration with the snow’s interference, but also because her personality and tactics weren’t suited for drawn-out fights.
Her spell constructs are pretty sloppy. I guess she’s pushing herself just to dodge those attacks. From Alus’s point of view, Lettie was reckless. Maybe she’d tried everything else, as right now she was repeatedly using Detonation without regard for her remaining mana. It dealt damage, but it was a horribly inefficient mana method. Even so, just building up damage on the Shem Azah was better than nothing.
Now is the moment. Alus read the situation, leaped past Lettie, and rapidly moved in on the Shem Azah. He raised Night Mist, which read its master’s intention and instantly began constructing a spell.
Several small maelstroms appeared behind Alus. It was an attribute-less spell unique to him. Night Mist’s shape was replicated and countless blades were born from the maelstroms. The process repeated, and before long there were over a hundred short swords with chains attached.
With a swing of Alus’s arm they shot out like arrows, chains trailing after them, towards the giant Fiend’s body. The reason the chains were replicated was because this Oboro Hien was intended to restrain.
Shem Azah attempted to counteract with mana, flapping its wings and sending mana into its surroundings. The outlines of the replica Night Mists began to distort and blur.
Alus quickly realized they’d only last another few seconds at most. He spread his arms in the air, as if feeling the wind between his fingers, and then began stroking the air like a conductor swinging a baton. The space he touched with his fingers immediately froze into ice.
At first there was only the crunching sound of air freezing. But as more mana was absorbed, more moisture in the air was collected, and a thick block of ice formed. Soon a long block of ice that followed Alus’s movements was created, and looking at the composition, it was almost identical to Icicle Sword.
Alus snapped his wrist to form a sharply pointed tip. Linked to the movements of his arm, he sent the huge ice sword flying at the Shem Azah.
However, the enemy spread its wings, intending to counteract that as well. A thick wall of wind immediately appeared and stood before the ice sword.
The weapon was gradually being scraped away in the clash of raging wind and frozen sword...but Alus wasn’t going to let it go to waste. He interfered with space, pushing the equivalent of the handle with his palm covered in mana.
The tip got crushed, but it broke through the wall of wind. However, it was thrown off its path and just grazed the Shem Azah’s abdomen. It seemed the Fiend had dodged it, but this was simply laying the groundwork.
Because it had evaded, Shem Azah moved to a certain position. Alus, having anticipated that, had already jumped up next to where it moved to. He swung Night Mist while lengthening its reach with mana. The thinner the mana blade, the sharper it was. The edge created from intense focus was the same as a masterfully crafted blade.
Alus swung the blade diagonally, cutting off the Fiend’s wing and slicing its stomach open. He thrust the tip in and stirred it around to expand the wound.
The Fiend’s fluids splattered through the air. How do you like this? Spells aren’t the only way to kill you. Alus coldly looked down at the Shem Azah falling to the ground with one fewer wing, then prepared to land.
Close to the ground, the Fiend flapped its remaining wings and created a powerful gale that blew up a huge amount of snow, concealing its body behind a white curtain. Just before that, Alus saw the eye-like pattern on its remaining wings glow red as if in a fit of rage. The forewings that had been partially open were now wide open, their red eyes emitting mana in a fury.
Just then, the air trembled. The temperature at ground level dropped and snowy wind swept across the land. There’d been sudden changes before, but this time it was a snow tornado created by a wounded Shem Azah.
Alus narrowed his eyes when he spotted Lettie. She was leaning forward with eyes wide open, as if shouting that she’d never let it escape, her level of killing intent bordering on the abnormal.
As she was about to dash into the white storm wrapped around Shem Azah, Alus soundlessly appeared at her side and wrapped his arm around her abdomen to forcibly stop her. “I know how you feel...but that’s enough.”
“?!” Lettie looked over her shoulder at him with a harsh glare. “Why?! We’ve got it cornered!”
Alus didn’t answer as the snowstorm rumbled, simply pulling Lettie closer.
She wore a surprised expression, but in the next moment a ray of light cut through the snowfall. The shot passed through the space that Lettie was headed for, before burning through the face of a distant mountain and fading away.
“Don’t get too worked up. You’re not stupid enough to choose death because of a hot head. If that’s what you want, fine, but your subordinates will blame me.” Alus finally let her go.
Lettie looked like she still wasn’t done, prompting Alus to brush away the snow in his hair, and say, “It wasn’t as powerful, but that was a Demis Brionach too... To think another one of those would come so soon. There are things not even I can predict.”
She silently hung her head down. It might have been weaker, but she could feel the power it contained. If he hadn’t stopped her, she doubted that she would’ve been able to avoid it. That surely would have been the worst outcome. She would’ve lost an arm at least, but even that would have been lucky. Either way, she’d have been out of commission.
Seeing how Lettie looked relieved, conflicted, and remorseful all at once, Alus shrugged. “The power in that shot was different. The Lefkis must be able to move pretty fast. By changing locations, it’s able to secure more mana in the air. It recharged its mana and fired off another shot. It can probably adjust the output. While it’s not a complete Demis Brionach, it can repeatedly fire off something with considerable power.”
Moreover, though seemingly not critical, he had major concerns. The first was Lettie. “You’re not calm right now. You’re injured, and you’re close to your limits, aren’t you? And you want me to protect you, while staying on guard for the Lefkis and fighting the Shem Azah?”
The original premise had already fallen apart. That’s why they needed to pause, even at the expense of the original mission. “There’s something I’ve understood in this fight. The Shem Azah specializes in magic, though that kick can’t be ignored either. Fortunately, its regenerative abilities aren’t very high. Not to mention it’s quick to anger and vindictive. It’ll definitely come after us.”
Alus continued with a mean smile. “So even if it hides in the snow here, it’ll come back for revenge. It won’t run or go anywhere else. This will be where it gets settled. But unfortunately for it, things won’t go the way it wants.”
“How would you know that—”
“I can tell. It’s not like I’ve been killing monsters like this for show. We’ll fall back for now. It’s not the right time yet.”
The Lefkis’s existence would definitely get in the way. Even if they could finish off the Shem Azah, he didn’t want to pay a steep price for it. “Mujir and Loki are on it. The Demis Brionach should have broadcasted the Lefkis’s position to those two. So we have to trust in them and wait.”
The Shem Azah’s massive body had already disappeared within the snowstorm. Alus had told Mujir and Loki that it was pivotal not to miss that long-range spell. The Ogma was still an unknown, but seeing as it hadn’t interfered yet, it was probably hiding underground. In fact, its lack of involvement proved that Sajik had gotten close. So it was likely the type to avoid fighting, which made it less of a direct threat. That was just as the report from Clevideet had said. Either way, since they didn’t have enough hands to go around, they’d just have to trust Sajik to deal with the Ogma.
Then there was the other doubt in his mind. Alus glanced over at the black stakes the Shem Azah fired off before. Lettie followed his gaze and looked as well.
Something strange was taking place before their eyes. “Not even Niflheim can stop the pulse within. Can you tell?” Alus asked. He glanced at Lettie, who didn’t confirm or deny it. “We’ll need to get away from here so I can explain. Seeing how bad this storm has gotten, it’s completely switched to defense. It looks like it’s trying to lure us in, so we’ll need to make preparations. Also, we need to tend to your wounds.”
“Fine,” Lettie said after a pause, having calmed down some.
Alus was a little relieved. The Shem Azah lurked within the snow tornado, but it wasn’t going anywhere soon with those injuries. He narrowed his eyes to try to see through the snow. He was barely able to make out the Shem Azah’s body...and something was happening to it. He’d sensed that its activities had stopped, but what he saw was unexpected.
The Fiend’s huge body was covered in string. It had woven a cocoon at some point and its body had disappeared into it. It was probably meant to treat its wounds, but if it wasn’t going anywhere, that was all the better for them.
Turning their backs on the cocoon, Alus and Lettie decided to make a tactical retreat. Like Alus predicted, the snow that Shem Azah whipped up had turned into a blizzard that swallowed up the entire area. There were no signs of it dying down soon either.
The two sought refuge in a cave on a nearby high hill. The reason they went for height was so that they could sense the Shem Azah sooner if it came back. It wasn’t even one of the small bases, but it had been noted on the map in case of emergency. It wasn’t too deep, but it was enough to shelter them from the snow and winds. They put down anything they’d been carrying to move as lightly as possible.
Lettie held her shoulder and leaned against the craggy wall.
Alus quickly made preparations by setting fire to the branches he’d collected on the way. “Strip.”
“What?” The suddenness of the word made Lettie yelp.
“I’m treating the injury on your shoulder and checking the rest of your wounds.” Alus wasn’t going to take no for an answer, but he had no ulterior motives either. If anything, he almost sounded annoyed.
“I understand what you want to say, but can’t you be more considerate, like turn around or something?”
“What? I didn’t know you had a sense of shame.”
Lettie pouted and turned around to remove her top. “I’m not the type to take off my clothes in front of a guy. Just what do you take me for... Jeez.” Besides, she hardly ever got hurt in the first place, she wanted to add. With her top off and her back to Alus, Lettie brought her braid in front of her. “Are you angry?”
“No, I’m used to hurting and getting hurt. If you want to die without getting any treatment, that’s fine with me.”
“So you are angry,” Lettie weakly muttered, turning her head away. She blamed herself for everything, giving her an unusually meek attitude.
Alus told her to sit down and she complied. She sat down cross-legged with her back straight. “For starters, I’m going to stitch you up.”
Lettie responded with a nod.
He didn’t have much use for it himself, but the soles of Alpha’s military combat boots had a needle and thread in them. Sewing up a wound with these was a pretty drastic measure, but well known in the military. Back when Alus wasn’t as experienced, he’d used them to fix himself up.
Alus first put the needle through the flames to sterilize it before approaching Lettie. When he did, she threw up a hand to cover her chest. Ignoring that reaction, Alus set to treating her. The laceration was deeper than expected, and the area around the torn skin was burning hot. “You’ll need to get proper treatment later, but just deal with this for now.” He gathered mana in his fingertips as a replacement for anesthetic.
Lettie’s temples twitched as the needle went into her skin, but Alus couldn’t do anything more for her. Thanks to the simple anesthetic, though, her sense of pain was dulled, and it didn’t hurt all that much. In the middle of the treatment, she muttered, “Aren’t you going to get angry?”
“A Single wants someone to get angry and look down on them? I’m not your parent or teacher, so I’m going to refuse no matter how much you pay me.”
“I can’t tell if you’re being kind or cold...” Lettie looked at his hand. Even now, Alus was continuing to focus mana in his fingertips as he moved the needle fixing her up.
“Let me ask you something. Was that supposed to be you being honest from the bottom of your heart?” By that, of course, he was referring to Lettie losing her calm when shouting that they had it cornered.
His words dripping with sarcasm made her drop her head with a look of remorse. “Sorry.”
“I’m relieved to hear that. You should be able to calm down a little more the next time,” Alus replied, after he finished stitching up the wound on her shoulder. He examined her body again. Damage to internal organs was particularly dangerous in these cases, and she might have damage she wasn’t even aware of.
Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. That said, her body was covered in bruises. There was also swelling here and there that looked like bruising as well. However, her back only had fresh wounds. There weren’t really any old scars. It was only yesterday when it was as beautiful as that of any normal girl who lived in the Inner World.
But in Vanalis, she had to bear new wounds, alongside bitter regret. She seemed to have gotten over it for a moment, but judging from her earlier actions, the advance party still weighed heavily on her mind. Wounds weren’t just carved into the flesh. In exchange for purity and innocence, they were carved into the soul as well.
When Alus thought of that, the faces of two girls popped into his mind. The two were novice Magicmasters that knew nothing of the Outer World who were just single-mindedly walking down the path before them. “I’m going to say something unnecessary, so just think of it as me talking to myself.”
“Gotcha.”
Lettie’s back was unexpectedly slender. Alus put his mana-covered hand on it while speaking a few words. He’d said he was just talking to himself, but it was an expression of his true feelings. “You know there are students at the Institute that I’m teaching, right?”
“Frose’s daughter Tesfia. And Alice. Right?” Lettie answered immediately.
He was a little surprised that she remembered their names. “Yeah, since I’m teaching them, I’m not holding back. If they’re planning to become Magicmasters, I’m going to help them out as long as I’m there.”
“That sounds pretty rough. Well, I’m sure they’re good kids.”
Alus struggled to agree with that last part. If Lettie felt that way, it might have been some kind of womanly connection. “I want them to become Magicmasters like you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Is that a confession?”
“What?” Alus let out a dumbfounded voice at her remark, but Lettie laughed it off as a joke. She seemed back to normal, so he removed his mana-covered hand from her back.
“Wouldn’t you make a better role model, Allie? You’re the ranked No.1 after all.”
“I’m no good. I can teach them all kinds of things, but I can’t be their goal.”
“That’s true,” Lettie said after a pause. She understood what he meant, and seemed to reflect on her rash comment.
When it came to Magicmasters, Alus’s career and characteristics were amazing. But even an outstanding novice Magicmaster shouldn’t look to him as a goal, no matter what their potential. In fact, it was questionable if a Magicmaster who was lacking in so many ways could even be considered a decent human.
The path the two girls were walking down would introduce them to plenty of Magicmasters on the same path ahead of them. But no matter how far they walked, they wouldn’t find Alus on that path. He had gone off the road and was wandering alone through a dark maze without a light. He could never be anyone’s goal.
But compared with him, Lettie made for an ideal Magicmaster both as a squad captain and as a person. She cared for her subordinates and valued her bond with her comrades. Even considering that bond, she carefully maintained some distance to avoid taking biased actions.
There were times when she couldn’t restrain her feelings, like during the battle with Shem Azah. But that only made her even more human in Alus’s eyes. That was why he could never hate her, though he wasn’t so naive as to tell her that.
“But...” Lettie said. “I see, so you hold me in that much high esteem.” She smiled happily at Alus’s words, letting them sink in and feeling her heart grow warmer. “Still, it was pretty roundabout for a confession. I’ll give you a passing grade anyway.”
“Should I give your head...no, your front, a look over too?”
Her eyes opened wide at this, and she hunched over slightly. “No thanks! No need! I can check it for myself! What’s with that casual sexual harassment?! And if you’re going to say that, at least try to look excited instead of like you’re just saying it for the hell of it... Actually, whose influence was that?”
“Lindelph, I guess.”
“Him, huh. Jeez...” Lettie’s expression turned bitter at the thought of the man known for being a womanizer. He was a pathetic middle-aged man who seemed to have grown up without ever having been taught delicacy or refinement. “Jokes really don’t suit you, Allie.”
“I see. Still, if you’re that energetic about it, your wounds are probably fine.”
“Thanks to you.” Lettie looked her body over and lightly moved her arms and legs. After that she started putting her clothes on again.
In the meantime, Alus was properly looking the other way, while also putting a cloth over his frostbitten hand.
Lettie suddenly stood. Alus assumed she’d finished dressing, looked over, and saw that her tattered jacket and sleeves were still by her feet. She gazed at Alus, who stared suspiciously at her. “Yeah, I’ve decided.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t sure when to tell you. Actually, I hadn’t planned on saying it at all. Allie...when we’re done with this mission...” Lettie paused. Her expression was serious. “I want you to officially join my squad.”
“You’re recruiting me now? But I don’t...”
“I’m sure our squad will be the best place for you. Besides, when I first established this squad, your face was the one that came to mind when I was choosing members. I’m sure they’ll accept you too...and then we can be like a family.”
The military—with a few exceptions—was a place with intense rivalries. That’s why there were few people a Single could truly trust. Lettie was no exception to the rule. When she said the unit was like a family, Alus felt that was very fitting for her. Indeed, that was the reason why she was so fixated on Vanalis and why she was so emotional in front of the Fiend. That was something that was present in Lettie’s squad and no other.
When Alus realized that, he could only hope that Alice and Tesfia would strive to become someone like Lettie instead of himself. Now she was standing on the boundary of a dark wasteland and the light, reaching out with her hand, inviting him to her side.
He had completed plenty of missions in the past. And many of them involved working with squads, but in the end he was still treated like a heretic. They’d directly or indirectly wished death on him on many occasions. In the world of the living, Alus had been fighting in the place closest to death, and all alone.
“I know it’s pretty late though,” Lettie said with a gentle smile.
Alus lived in a small, dark, and freezing world, but now Lettie was offering him a place where he could truly rest. He’d been treated as a Fiend-killing tool since childhood, loathed and feared by fellow humans. She was saying that she would make a place for him to live in public.
“Hey, Allie... Do you hate running around the Outer World?”
“Not really.” Indeed, he didn’t hate the Outer World. In fact, he wanted to see the far reaches of it before anyone else. He wanted to chase after that unfulfilled dream without any restraints. Despite the constant fighting, it seemed the Outer World was the only place that filled him with satisfaction.
Before he could open his mouth, Lettie stopped him. “You don’t have to give your answer yet. I’ll give you some time to think about it and ask again later.”
“All right. I’ll think about it.”
By the time he noticed, the fire had weakened and looked like it might go out at any moment. They’d taken a half-hour break overall. It was the time needed to treat Lettie and let her regain her composure.
Suddenly, Alus sensed something, and peered out the cave’s opening. The blizzard had died down and a huge shadow had appeared under the ash cloud on the field of snow.
The first thing he noticed was the broken cocoon. Next, he saw Shem Azah, which must have struggled to get out of it. Under the dim sunlight, the king of moths trampled its cocoon, and slowly flapped its wings as it attempted to take to the skies again.
“That was faster than I expected. Its healing properties shouldn’t be that high, so it must have just focused on healing its wing.” The eye-shaped pattern on its regenerated wing glowed as if trying to find where Alus and Lettie were lurking.
“But that was plenty of time for you to close up my wound,” Lettie remarked, as she came up to Alus and peered over the battlefield.
With the blizzard over, the sky was relatively calm. From the looks of it, Shem Azah’s focus on healing its wing left its other wounds unhealed. It still had the damage from all the Detonations Lettie had unleashed.
“Go me. I would’ve preferred to just blow it up with a big bang though.”
“You wish. That damage is because you bombed it indiscriminately, neglecting the composition and coordinates.” As proof of that, Lettie hadn’t used the improved version of Detonation, but the old style that was less difficult to cast to reduce the shifting of coordinates.
Alus had hit Lettie where it hurt, and she could only gaze at him with some shame. She was a Single after all. “As an apology, you can do with me what you want.” She pinched her top and pulled it open a little to give him a glimpse.
She might’ve been trying to thank him for taking over her role. Of course, Alus ignored her. When she was in her element she was bold, but she’d been flustered just before this. Which Lettie was the real one was easy to tell. Alus felt he could understand why Sisty said that Lettie was all talk but no action. “We should get going. It’s best not to let it get impatient and turn on the rest of the squad.”
“So what was with that big stake spell anyways?” Lettie asked.
That was one of the primary reasons Alus chose to temporarily retreat. “It’s probably an invocation spell. An unknown spell trapped within that can be detonated from a distance. And four of them at that.”
“Can we break them?”
“I tried, but it didn’t work. It seems you can’t affect the magic from the outside.”
“So you don’t know what spell it is?”
“Not a clue. Based on how it looks, I thought it might be an earth attribute spell...but considering it further, it could also be a fire attribute spell.” His reason for thinking that was because not even Niflheim could stop it, and the stake spell had been created from Lettie’s flames. Unlike the fire dragon that was turned to stone, it was possible that the Shem Azah only diverted the mana without changing its composition, so it might have used the attribute formula as it was. “At any rate, we’re going to struggle if we don’t deal with this snow. No matter what spell it is, if I’ve dealt with it even once, I’ll be able to counter it the next time.”
“How reliable. But I don’t want another rampage like last time.”
“Well, I’ll do my best. I should be able to just absorb the spell...probably. Then there’s also the Lefkis that might intervene again,” Alus said.
“So for now we buy time until the Lefkis is eliminated.”
“That’s the plan. The snow is a big influence, but we know we can push it to a certain point. We just have to make sure not to overstep it.”
Alus’s last words made Lettie frown. The mistake she’d made as if she was some rookie was firmly etched in her mind. That was why she made her decision. “Sorry, Allie, but could you help me deal with that guy for a while longer?”
“Yeah, I was going to. But isn’t it a bit too late to ask for that?” Alus’s original mission was over by the time the Lefkis fired off its second shot. In fact, the first shot he’d had his Gra Eater deal with had been so flashy, Mujir and Loki must have found where it was hiding by now. He was convinced of it. “Lettie, we’re going to finish this thing off here, so I don’t want to hear you say you’re already out of mana.”
“I can handle another round. Actually, I’ve got a plan of my own. Can I count on your backup when the time comes?”
“As long as it’s not anything reckless.” Alus wasn’t a fan of doing a common front, nor was he very good at it. But that might not be the case with Lettie the way she was now.
Before confronting the Shem Azah, Alus fired off another signal flare. The Shem Azah would spot them, but they no longer had any intention of hiding. Some flashy colored smoke rose up, before exploding in the air and spreading a wave of mana.
It was the signal for the squad to move on to the final stage of the plan.
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