Book 15 Chapter 11

On the ruins of that day,

The Fated Nemesis (1)

The Crimson Mountains are humanity's sacred mountains (靈山) and the backbone of the Akrad Continent.

No less than three borders were formed along these mountains: the Holy Human Empire, the Dragonkin Republic, and the Blade Peninsula's Northern City-State Alliance.

The mountains were extremely rugged, but when the Dragonkin carved paths into the mountains and connected the peaks under the name of the One Thousand Steps (一千階段), this place also became a home.

"These people who live as mountain dwellers, unbound by borders, are called Freemen (自由人). We witches have a symbiotic relationship with them. Let's rest here for a bit and get some food."

Dragon shrines were built on each major peak of the Crimson Mountains, and the Dragonkin and witches teach the true light's wisdom there.

The Freemen fulfill their duties by living lives of service to these shrines, so no nation levies taxes on them. It is considered as already offered to the Dragonkin.

It was when they reached a certain Freemen village on the mountainside, guided by Frie, that they heard a 'strange story'.

"Oh…"

At that moment, Lyn was gazing at the distant horizon unfolding below the mountain, unconsciously widening her eyes and letting out an exclamation.

'The sea.'

So that's the sea…

Water stretching endlessly…

There was such a land beyond these colossal mountains…

'I thought a river's lower reaches and the sea would be the same, so I hadn't paid attention, but they were completely different.'

Thanks to its spiritual energy, the Crimson Mountains did not obscure the view with fog or clouds; instead, they opened it up wider and clearer.

It allowed them to see.

The shape of the peninsula stretching straight like a blade towards the end of the horizon, and the sea unfolding on both sides, as if it were a vivid oil painting.

It was a mystery.

No, was this part of the 'world' (世界) that Reesta spoke of? Reesta, who had suddenly approached, smiled sweetly.

"Lyn, that's the Blade Peninsula right there. The Papal State is in the center of that land."

Frie stood on the opposite side and put a pipe in her mouth.

"Once we finish our work here, we'll soon meet another comrade there, so get ready to greet him. He's a scary drunk old man. If you mess with him like you mess with me, you'll get a good beating."

It was around that time that the village chief of this hamlet appeared. Despite being an old man, the chief showed Frie the utmost respect.

"Oh, Lady Priestess. We are extremely delighted that you have visited us again."

"And you all, have you been safe and well? The surroundings were in complete chaos when the prison collapsed, weren't they?"

"Ah, we also didn't leave the village for a while because of that issue, but it turns out it was all just rumors."

"What?"

"Didn't you know? Come to think of it, ten days ago, Lady Mina came down and asked if we could help clean the prison, so we sent the young people—"

It was the first time Reesta had seen Frie's face turn so chillingly cold. And the life disappearing from her eyes.

"Frie, wait, Frie!"

In the blink of an eye, Frie summoned a broom, mounted it, and flew at high speed towards the other side of the mountain range.

'What on earth, what happened?'

<Ikegrad>.

Also known as, the Unseen City.

It was built on a high peak 2,421 meters above sea level, making it invisible from below the mountain and its existence impossible to deduce, hence its name.

The city's infrastructure was built around a prison that housed only Class 1 heinous criminals from all over the Akrad Continent, which is why it is also called the Prison City (刑務都市).

About a dozen witches who managed the prison, their apprentices, a hundred guards, and some seven hundred Freemen resided there, but all died during the prison massacre, and the city became ruins.

'Surely, I saw that happen with my own two eyes…?'

Frie, who was traversing the city's skies on her broom, suddenly felt a pain that seemed to freeze her entire body from her spine.

"Frie…?"

"Frie…!"

The sight of the city's residents warmly waving their hands to Frie, who was returning to her hometown (故鄕) on a broom.

Joy surged in her heart.

It was a sight she had believed she would never see again, no, a sight she had been certain of. Reason denied the outburst of emotion. This couldn't be happening.

"Sister, Sister!"

That voice made Frie forget all reason, emotion, doubt, and even the charm of these mountains from her mind.

"Mina."

Mina, who had flown in on a broom from the opposite side, jumped straight into Frie's embrace.

Just as she had done countless times in her childhood.

Frie possessed a unique constitution that even the Fire Dragon Bel'Dakhidun found wondrous. Any significant supernatural hallucination would be easily dispelled by merely touching her breath.

'It's… not a hallucination?'

Was it just a nightmare?

"Sister, where's Pipi?"

Was witnessing the prison collapse a dream, and capturing the escaped convicts who were disturbing the world also all a dream?

No.

If so, she would be incredibly, incredibly happy, but… something, something was too strange, far too strange.

"Sister?"

Frie lowered the broom's altitude and landed on the city's flagstones.

The deeply missed… scent of water from the terraced rice paddies. The sound of water flowing through conduits from the city's summit to every part of it.

The 'family' members, scattered across the city, approached, throwing teasing remarks mixed with laughter.

"…Brat, you're a priestess now, how long do you plan to keep coming here?"

"…'Brat,' what 'brat'? Frie is Lady Priestess now. You should use honorifics."

"…Yes, you shouldn't keep coming here. Shouldn't you be associating with the upper class now?"

This place resembled.

A longed-for place, and a hometown that, having been lost, could now only be missed but never returned to.

It was merely similar. Not the same place.

"That's right, Sister! Master is here too! Last night, he waited for you all night at the Altar of Fire Judgment over there!"

Frie turned her head towards the city's summit, which the woman, closer to a younger sister than a martial sister, pointed to with a gesture.

Her dead master was sitting there.

The poisonous aura that secretly filled the city would have continued to appear that way, had it not been burned away by Frie's breath.

'Yes, that can't be right.'

The true form, hidden within the hallucination induced by the poisonous aura, was captured by Frie's optic nerves.

"You, what kind of bastard are you?"

He was a young man whose fair and refined elegance, typical of the upper class, contrasted with his fierce features.

But something was strange about him.

His eyes seemed to move independently.

"Sister, what's wrong? Did you fight with Master? What's with that rude tone?"

In his eyes, there was only malice (惡意).

"Sister?"

In that malice, accumulated and solidified over hundreds of years, there was no humanity, only a primal thirst (渴症) for blood and screams, expressed through an innocent smile.

[Oh dear, you shouldn't get wrinkles on such a pretty face. Making something beautiful ugly, that's a sin.]

"I agree with that. So, what's going on here? It's not a hallucination."

[I'm a genius in geometry, you see. No, you could say I'm its father. I never forget the topography of a place I've seen once. Recreating it is no big deal.]

"Handsome and talented too? You've got all the makings of a bad boy."

[You say pleasant things. But even if it's not my specialty, seeing right through my hallucination stings a little.]

"Unfortunately, I'm a woman who's grown accustomed to being deceived by handsome men."

[You haven't met me yet. How sweet am I, you ask? I even practiced this woman's way of speaking just to give the one-of-a-kind genius priestess a surprise gift.]

The small talk before the storm ended there.

From the cigarette smoke Frie exhaled with a sneer, beings of flame hatched (孵化).

Greater Flame Spirits, Hagnis. Their number was a staggering five.

'Five Greater Spirits, each equivalent to a Tier 4 spell, instantly? She truly deserves to be called a priestess of a rare age.'

Two surged towards the enemy, while three surrounded Frie to protect her, each beginning to condense different flame powers in their hands.

"Oh, power of fire dwelling in nature."

Frie also threw her pipe high into the sky and began chanting a spell.

"Oh, work of fire that illuminates the world."

This was a 5-star spell, ranked highest among fire-elemental enchantments.

"Oh, element hotter than sunlight and brighter than moonlight."

The three Dragon Legions were created with different intentions; the Red Dragon Legion's calling was the extermination of evil (滅惡).

"By my command, burn my enemies!"

Sorcery is about resembling the heart of a dragon. This particular spell recreates the heart and power of a fire dragon that burns the abyss. Its name is none other than.

"Draqutos (Draqutos; Dragon's Breath)!"

As soon as the chant ended, the pipe fell directly into her line of sight.

What erupted from Frie's mouth after she coolly snatched the pipe and took a deep breath, filling her lungs, was… not cigarette smoke nor human exhalation, but a dragon's flame.

The power of the three Hagnis, who had recited their master's incantation exactly, amplified the breath's might and size.

[Impressive! So it doesn't matter if people get caught in it, does it?]

The flames, expanded and augmented to a scale that could incinerate heaven and earth in an instant, were truly a fire of judgment.

[Even her tough inner self is to my liking!]

The Hagnis that had engaged the enemy from front and rear were not meant for close combat in the first place, but to be used as detonators for this power.

*BOOOOOOM…!*

Even that deafening explosion, which tore eardrums as it erupted, could not accurately describe the burst of power that dyed the world crimson in that single moment.

"May the holy light grant blessings (聖光許之以福)."

Frie was not so naive as to be optimistic that she could catch the one who killed her master with just one Draqutos.

"It is said (謂之曰)."

That is why she unrolled one of the scrolls she cherished at her waist and began to utter that sacred incantation.

"Be fruitful and multiply (生育衆多)."

If the power of sorcery resembles the mindset of a dragon, then the power of this is said to imitate and declare the mind of creation.

It was the Genesis Psalms.

This was one of them, the Psalms of Proclamation.

All priestesses are guardians and preachers of the psalms, and Frie at that time possessed no less than three psalm scrolls.

"Fill and abound (充盈於)…?!"

Frie was instantly forced to close her mouth.

Her jaw was slammed into the ground, almost severing her tongue.

Pressing down on Frie's back with his knee was… him.

'This bastard, how…?'

The brilliant light that surged from the text on the scroll ceased the moment the incantation was interrupted.

[Mmm~ I love those eyes. Those eyes that say, "Ah, what on earth just happened?" Heh-hah-hah-hah! Especially when a strong woman makes such an expression, it makes me feel like I'm going to burst.]

"What are you talking about, you crazy perverted bastard…!"

[No matter how much they're called "one of a kind" or how much they try, priestesses and witches are ultimately nothing more than support. After all, from their very birth, priestesses were always incomplete beings who could never stand on the front lines.]

* * *

They had been watching the sea when Frie disappeared.

The sea held a mysterious charm; one could listen to the sound of its waves without ever getting tired or bored.

Within the single phrase "sound of waves," countless distinct sounds overlapped.

"Lyn, let's go. We have to chase Frie."

"Chase, chase, we have to chase her."

Reesta and Pipi looked extremely serious. It seemed Frie had once again gone to lure those handsome older brothers with the party's slush fund.

If that's the case, it cannot be forgiven.

But to think there's a facility that makes money off handsome older brothers even in such a mountain valley was utterly astonishing. Ooh, the Crimson Mountains are amazing.

"Chief, how far is it? How long will it take?"

"You must reach the summit, but it's on such a rugged mountaintop that you have to go up and down via stairs carved into the cliff. While the Lady Witches can go up and down quickly on their brooms, it takes us at least half a day, no matter how fast we are."

"Could you guide us?"

"All the young people capable of climbing the mountain have already been sent up, so…"

The old village chief hesitated, glancing at the people around him.

Right, it would be a bit awkward to say you're going to such an entertainment facility when Grandma and all the family are watching.

"Pipi, Pipi will guide, Pipi."

"No, Pipi. Pipi only goes by air with Frie, so you don't know where the paths are."

Just then, someone appeared at the village entrance.

"I will guide you. Follow me."