Book 13 Chapter 22
Mercenary Request (4)
Chief Tinker Nils Blantz returned to the mercenary encampment to explain the decisions made at the high council.
“The outline for the Svalag Subjugation Operation has been drawn up. The operation will commence tomorrow at dawn. The creature has made its nest in the <Forest of Nightmares>.”
Just as everyone was about to react, questioning if it wasn't too hasty, a young mage named Lynn spoke up.
“As expected…”
Nils raised an eyebrow with interest.
Mages see something different from ordinary people. They had already discerned unusual phenomena related to Svalag, or that now was the opportune time for its subjugation.
“The professor from <Winterhold> also said the same thing. Svalag's behavior is unusual. According to the scout reports, it’s growing stronger by absorbing the surrounding blizzards.”
“…!”
“The subjugation force is divided into three fronts. We are at the very front of the second front, which is responsible for the central exploration. They say they need the help of my detection tools.”
This is the most dangerous position. Of course, what's important to a mercenary group isn't honor, but compensation. When assigned to this position, Nils inflated the compensation to be given to the mercenary group severalfold due to issues of safety and artifact usage.
Nils's subordinates would know this well, but the young mage's reaction might be different. It might take time to convince him.
“Hmph…”
However, the boy responded as if he had naturally expected it, as if it were obvious, and thus, as if he were satisfied. Without even taking his eyes off his book. Perhaps because of that, a formidable aura of experience seemed to emanate from his entire body, unlike other children his age.
“Gwahahahaha! We’ve brought in a proper mage. Now, get some rest, even if just a little! Tomorrow, we’ll be the main players in the Svalag subjugation and enjoy the immense rewards together!”
* * *
“Shoot! It’s him! It’s Svalag!”
There, a pure white nightmare stood.
The pure white nightmare, appearing suddenly, swallowed the light of the dawning day in brilliant white, and shattered the core of the subjugation force. Could the word "death by freezing" be used more appropriately than this? Everything exposed to that blizzard instantly froze.
“Damn it, damn it! Where did it come from?! What is the search party doing?!”
Weapons shattered. Even the light of Providence alteration, even magic, froze before reaching the heart of that cold wave. Even magical flames, as if trembling with fear, extinguished as soon as they reached it.
“How could a search possibly work?”
Someone spoke from atop the nightmare’s head, which had emerged as a dark silhouette within that colossal… blizzard.
“We just opened a dimensional gate and arrived here.”
The nightmare’s grasp slammed down on everything on the ground with overwhelming mass, size, and volume.
* * *
“What, Number 1, that bitch, started having fun first.”
Number 3 frowned with a displeased expression. It was a blizzard where one couldn't see an inch ahead. The subjugation force would be picked off one by one, unaware of what was happening elsewhere. Originally, it was Number 3's role to be the first to show their prowess and monopolize 'His' favor. But Number 1, that bitch, that bitch…!
“Ah, how annoying. I'll have to kill the ones who come here as painfully as possible.”
Number 3's assigned position was at the entrance of the <Forest of Nightmares>. This would be the position where the search party exploring Svalag would arrive, and there was nothing like Number 3's dark magic to exploit the weaknesses of those chasing something big. Number 3 was a woman with a small, girlish physique and was a master of trap-type dark magic of a mutated steel attribute lineage.
“If I don't vent my anger like this, I won't feel better.”
In the distance, a colossal human figure began to appear. Thudding footsteps could be heard even amidst this blizzard.
“Is that the giant Number 2 mentioned? This will be fun to kill.”
Number 3 pulled back her robe and unfurled the grimoire she had hung at her waist. At that instant, her lungs were pierced. And then again, from her limbs to her internal organs, her heart, cervical vertebrae, clavicle, and brain were pierced by steel wedges. It was… the pinnacle of magic. Just now, for this one instant, she had merely revealed herself to cast a spell, but in that single moment, every human weakness was accurately targeted. An unbelievable ability to calculate coordinates.
‘Who… who… could it be…?’
Number 3 felt the terror of death. At the same time, she felt awe for the magic wielded by the unknown assailant.
‘…Such… a level… of magic… ■.’
* * *
“What kind of magic did you suddenly use?”
Nils asked.
“Oh, I just kind of got rid of what seemed to be a bear or some monster that appeared in front of me.”
I was riding on Link's shoulder. Link's height was roughly eight cheok, which is enormous.
On the first day, when I went to the East Gate, the gathering point, Nils had attached a chair to Link's left shoulder. There was also a chair on his right shoulder, which Nils said was his exclusive seat from the beginning.
“Gwahahahaha! Even a fully grown bear runs away in fear when it sees Link. You wasted your effort.”
“Mind your own business. It was just a warm-up before using magic.”
“Hmm, but it’s strange. I can’t see the rear, Link.”
If you travel three days northeast from <Snowstorm>, you reach the entrance of the <Forest of Nightmares>. The <Forest of Nightmares> was influenced by Halvadonia, causing its atmospheric phenomena to become bizarre, with snow falling all year round, and tangled wind currents covering the entire forest in blizzards. Because of this, the forest was also known by the nickname "Snow Forest," and while it was originally said that you couldn't see the front or back of your line after walking only a short distance, it was now at an eerily extreme level.
“Link! Link! Link!”
As Link let out a roar at Nils's words, the mercenary comrades who had fallen behind in the distance began to appear one by one.
“Ow! My ears hurt! I thought my eardrums were going to burst!”
“Gwahahahahahahaha! Your eardrums won’t burst from just this! Unless they just tear a little, maybe!”
“Shut up, you old geezer! Before I pierce your eardrums.”
“Link, LinkLink, LingLingLingLink.”
“Link is dying of laughter. Gwahahahaha!”
It was genuine anger expressed, but I couldn't understand why these guys were laughing so heartily. It seemed that all those working as mercenaries had intelligence levels akin to apes, so their sense of humor was different from ordinary people.
“It seems the situation is serious, and playtime is probably over. Link, pick up the detector.”
The Aein cannot use spells, magic, or miracles. They have no physical advantages, the most important aptitude in close combat. Since they lack magic power, physical enhancement is also impossible, making them truly flawed. But the Aein are smart. That’s why I respect them. It's truly an ideal race, despising the dim-witted while the entire race reveres those with brilliant minds. The entire Aein race is obsessed with technological advancement. For the Aein, technological prowess is the very indicator of strength. That’s why the genius tinker and his nine monkeys… Ugh, this is getting tedious. Nils’s lackeys, for short, were all wearing reinforced exoskeletons that Nils was said to have manufactured. The operating principle is unknown. They say countless cogs interlock, augmenting physical abilities severalfold through the principle of levers and fulcrums, and this was certainly something. Link also wore that exoskeleton contraption all over his body, making it seem like he could even pick up and move mountains.
“Link! Link! Link!”
As Link, who was spinning a pillar-sized detector with both hands, urgently shouted, Nils activated the detection equipment. An artifact said to be powered by relics left by <The Ones Who Came>, it projected a three-dimensional map into the air with a beam of light. Oh, an artifact. I've seen one for the first time in my life. Platinum-grade mercenaries generally seem to possess one artifact each as a secret weapon. This detector, they said, was a highly concentrated piece of technology that emitted sound waves to track magic factors. A red light source was seen flickering on that three-dimensional map.
“Hmm, what is it? That direction is where the main force is. I suspected the blizzard was intensifying, but it seems the main force has been attacked.”
“Wow, they must have used spacetime magic. Is there a dark mage nearby?”
“Seeing the blue light source rapidly diminishing, the situation seems very dangerous. We can't miss this opportunity. Let's go, Link!”
“No, no, don't run, no, nooooo!”
For Link, a snow-covered path reaching an adult's thigh (waist-high for me) was nothing. When Link started running excitedly, the entire world shook. He wasn't just running; he was amplifying his leg strength and leaping like a frog. From the perspective of an observer on top, the world truly shook so severely that it induced motion sickness.
“Ugh, ugh, bleh…”
Even the [Strongest Mage] must have memories of motion sickness in childhood, it seems. Hmph, is this human charm?
* * *
The air was filled with venom that even evaporated blizzards through a mutated chemical phenomenon. This was not dark magic. No, of course, dark magic was mixed in. But what was overwhelming that dark magic was pure venom, magic of the potent poison attribute. However, the venom, which covered the entire area without distinguishing friend from foe, sacrificed countless allies as biochemical victims.
“Indeed… someone singled out as the next Gladoss (4-star) mage… truly a genius…”
A hunchbacked man, his skin rotting from his fingertips and toes, perhaps having been hit directly by the venom, said. He was by no means weak. He was Number 4, part of 'The Toes of the Pillar' under the Second Pillar of the Black Church, ranking fourth among their ten dark mages.
“Interesting. To still be alive after taking that. I could try experimenting with various other things.”
The young mage who defeated him after a fierce battle was Ken Serman. The Serman Viscounty competed with the Seven Great Schools and was one of the Ten Great Clans that supported the Empire's noble mage society, renowned for their esoteric magic of the potent poison attribute. And Ken Serman was one of the greatest geniuses of this era produced by the Serman family.
“But as for strong mages… it would just be you and Chief Professor Kern… Hehehehehe, I am the weakest among the comrades who came here… While you waste time here, my comrades will kill everyone… like Cecil Duren or Delkin Blado…”
“That's really helpful. I'd appreciate it if they died as quickly as possible.”
“Hmm…?”
“They're all just obstacles. Duren, Blado. Only I will reach the peak. Isn't it better for things that get in the way to disappear now?”
“Kuh, kuhuhuhuhu… So there was someone like you in the North…”
The hunchback pulled a ring, embossed with a toe-like shape, from the rotting middle finger of his right hand. He threw it at Ken's feet.
“Someday… when your yearning for power reaches its peak… seek out 'Him' through that ring… You are of our kind… He will surely welcome you… ■.”
Ken initially stomped on the ring with his foot, but then retrieved it from the snow, gazed at it for a moment, and eventually put it into the inner pocket of his scroll case.
Beyond the blizzard, a rampage of uncontrolled magic power was felt. Ken snorted with a cold laugh.
“Should I just recover my magic power here until that Duren kid and Blado fellow die?”