Book 2 Chapter 24

Chapter 48

Brienne moved through the crowd, completely suppressing her presence. With skills acquired from the Thieves' Guild, she meticulously observed the faces of passersby.

‘Searching for dangerous individuals…’

Walking like this, she saw many human archetypes. From merchants loudly soliciting customers to male and female prostitutes in provocative attire, selling their bodies.

‘Honestly, searching for dangerous individuals inside <Redacable> doesn't make much sense.’

Where was this place? Wasn't it the main headquarters of the five Thieves' Guilds that dominated the empire?

In case of an emergency, even the five Great Thieves (大盜), also known as the Five Shaggy Shadows (五鬅影), individually selected by the Thieves' Guild, would be dispatched.

And it was also where she had learned her skills as a child… As she recalled vague memories, a strong smell of blood wafted from somewhere.

"…?"

Kicking off the wall and climbing onto the roof, she saw the center of the chaos. A couple, a man and a woman, were surrounded by about thirty thieves.

"—Those bastards, those are them!"

"—They've got some nerve. Do they know where this is, coming here to cause trouble?"

To the captain's question, the woman in an ominous dark blue robe smiled eerily.

"—A place where I can kill a lot of trash like you?"

"—This bitch…"

The next moment, even though the thieves responsible for security were by no means nobodies… Brienne doubted her own eyes at the nightmare unfolding before them.

"—Ah, ah, aaaaaaaah!"

"—S-s-save… Kwaaah!"

She couldn't believe it. How could so many people… in an instant… Just as she was about to go back to warn her companions of the danger, a blood-stained hand suddenly sprouted from her chest.

"I'm sorry. All witnesses must be killed."

When did this guy…? Something that felt both hot and cold spread throughout her body.

When the man in the dark blue robe pulled out her arm, *Pwuhaak*, a feebly fluttering heart, dragging long strands of blood vessels, was yanked from his grasp.

Brienne collapsed into a pool made of her own blood. In her eyes, which she couldn't close before dying, life's vitality coldly faded away.

* * *

Chaos began with piercing screams around the time a soldier brought good news.

"You found it?"

Hirphien had a look of disbelief. The soldier nodded vigorously.

"Yes! There's no mistake. It's very old, but the inscription was clearly engraved."

"In what way? Raised relief? Incised?"

"It was incised."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Hirphien covered her mouth with both hands, then jumped up and down, kissed the cheek of the soldier who brought the good news, and looked at Bardwell.

"Let's go immediately, Bardwell!"

"Of course, young lady."

Just as Willis and Rain exchanged smiles, someone rushed over from the side.

"Y-you shouldn't go that way!"

It was Yanar, the mage who had been supporting the group from a high vantage point. But her face was drenched in cold sweat. Her breathing also seemed ragged.

"What's wrong?"

"Now, now, things that are out of their minds have come from over there… I saw a gold-rank adventurer die in one hit!"

What nonsense was that? Just as Willis scoffed, telling her not to joke, a scream that seemed to tear eardrums echoed throughout the underground city.

"—Kk, Kwaaaaaaaah!"

And the moment he turned to look in that direction, a sight that made his mind go blank was reflected on his retina.

Dozens of people rose into the air as if caught by invisible hooks, then were haphazardly crushed.

Ribs burst out from the squashed flesh, and intestines and vomit rained down.

The underground city instantly transformed into a chaotic slaughterhouse. People gripped by fear started screaming and running away.

‘That is…’

Rain swallowed dryly.

His heart pounded wildly. Countless pieces of information chaotically intersected in his mind.

‘Telekinesis? No, no… telekinesis with only such cruel murderous intent added to it…’

The answer had already been determined the moment he witnessed its power, but the conclusion was delayed as he tried to deny reality.

‘Black magic (黑魔法).’

Had the black mage followed me? They watched during the Queen's incident, so why now? Were they waiting for me to get away from <Delighten>?

"No, it's seriously dangerous over there!"

"That's why I'm going alone. Bardwell, take all the guards and withdraw first. I'll just go quickly and come back."

"No, young lady. Please let me stay by your side until the very end!"

"Don't say that! I have no intention of putting everyone in danger because of my stubbornness. And if we all move together, we'll stand out and it'll be more dangerous."

When he came to his senses with a deep breath, the group was arguing amidst the people rushing in the opposite direction. Hirphien puffed out her chest, telling them not to worry.

"Who do you think I am? I'm someone who climbed to bronze rank on my own. Don't worry."

"And where are the guards who would say 'Yes, I understand' and leave? If the young lady dies, all those people might be beheaded by the family."

Willis sneered. The commotion had become so intense that communication was impossible without shouting.

"If that's the case, I'll go."

He opened his mouth, steadying his breath. Instantly, all attention focused on Rain.

Willis gave him an accusing look as if asking why he was spoiling things, while Hirphien seemed moved by the appearance of a powerful ally.

‘Don't look at me like that. I'm the one who least wants to go here…’

But hadn't Hirphien bought a book worth a whopping seven gold coins for him? Saying it was an investment in connections. He had to pay that price… In any case, he was just repaying a debt.

"I just need to go alone. If you follow, honestly, you'll just be in the way."

He only needed one soldier who knew the location of the music box to accompany him. But Hirphien shook her head vigorously.

"I have to go too."

"It's dangerous. Just give me the money."

The merchant might have already fled, but it was possible they would still have to pay the price.

"Sorry, I know I'm being stubborn. But I have to go to confirm whether it's real or not."

What shone in Hirphien's eyes was an unyielding will… It seemed like any further persuasion would be a waste of time.

"Alright, then follow carefully."

"I'll protect you from the side too… because that's what I contracted to do."

As Yanar stuck close to Hirphien, Willis the spearmen sighed, irritably scratched his head, and stepped forward.

"Damn it! This just makes me the bad guy. Fine! Let's go, go! We just need to grab the item and get out quickly, right?!"

After pushing through the frenzy for some distance, at some point, only an eerie silence settled.

The terrified soldier guided them with ragged breaths, and Willis ran ahead, reading the enemy's presence to choose a detour.

And finally, when they turned the last corner the soldier pointed to… cruelly dismembered corpses were strewn across the street. Swarms of flies were already buzzing maddeningly.

"Ugh…"

"Is this the right place? Here?"

Rain silently watched Hirphien's eyes darken with despair. Then Willis kicked over one of the corpses.

"This one's still alive."

Though stained bright red with blood, his appearance was clearly that of a Diall family guard. Hirphien gasped and rushed over.

"What, Jackie. Are you okay?"

"Ah, young lady… I-I'm sorry…"

With trembling fingers, he extended what he had carefully held in his arms to Hirphien.

"W-when the master ran… u-ugh, I barely managed to get this… but it's covered in too much of my blood…"

Rain could see dark blue venom writhing from the deep wound on the guard's chest, blackening and decaying the surrounding flesh and blood.

It was the product of black magic, dark poison.

Since the area around his heart had begun to be eroded by dark poison, that guard… couldn't be saved no matter what. Hirphien started sobbing as she took the music box.

"Hey, no time to cry!"

Willis tore off a piece of clothing, quickly wrapped it around the soldier's wound, then hoisted him onto his shoulder. At that moment, a squelching shadow loomed overhead.

"What, there were still so many left?"

It was a woman's voice, full of playfulness. But the power of the magic mixed in that voice… Rain instinctively stepped forward in front of the group.

"I'll handle this here, get out."

"What are you talking about, we—"

"—I'll handle it, hurry up and go!"

His heart began to pound. Clearly and intensely, as if carving the last traces of life… Now, a single mistake would lead to death.

The murderous aura (殺氣) of magic, like a blade held right before his eyes, that he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Fighting such a monster while protecting someone would be quite difficult for Rain's current body. The woman's eyes curved like crescent moons.

"You'll handle it? I can hear everything. Is a little kid underestimating me?"

A fierce silence for an instant, the distance between the two was approximately 12 meters. Cold sweat beaded on Rain's forehead.

At that moment.

Dark blue venom condensed into the shape of a scythe in the woman's grasp, then she swung it widely with a laugh.

"Oh karma of Jo (助) wandering in the air, oh name of Ru (樓). By my command, Ribeni, dance the dance of slaughter here and now."

High-speed chanting of a 2-star spell…!

Witches of the Republic who use spells, like this, employed incantations (言令) to imbue the power of runes into all creation, bringing about miracles.

*Jing*, the runes of Jo (助) and Ru (樓) rose, scattering light in the air, then the next moment, they struck with a powerful wave of force.

"Constructing a magic circle, 2-star."

The forms of the magic circle were square and triangle.

The runes etched were Wa (渦) and Du (阧).

To the combination of earth attribute magic and fire attribute magic,

he imbued the properties of 'Wa (渦: swirling)'

and 'Du (阧: soaring).'

‘Oh, ultra-high-speed computation of 2-star magic?’

The moment Ribeni's eyes widened with curiosity and bewilderment.

*Kugugugugugu────!*

The ground seemed to surge up like a barrier, then flames swirled around it as if intertwining.

The wall of flames, clashing with the magic wave amplified by black magic, screamed sharply and created a storm. A storm that cracked the surrounding ground, shattered glass windows, and tore flesh.

In that storm, a scythe made of venom and a staff strengthened with magic clashed more than a dozen times, emitting a grating metallic sound.

As the mist cleared due to the reverberations of successive impacts, Ribeni and Rain stared directly at each other, blinking their eyes in wonder.

‘Osarius-style staff art… Is he a minion of Osarius?’

‘This guy, the way he uses his scythe… It's exactly like my staff art.’

Is he part of the Osarius school, but learned black magic?

No, if so, he should be using magic, not spells… In any case, what was clearly proven was that there was no chance of victory in close combat.

He could at best suppress her, but if he were hit even once by that scythe… that was the terror of black magic.

"You're incredibly strong, aren't you?"

The woman named Ribeni said, sounding amused.

Rain took a deep breath.

Focus. He could feel the throbbing power of the runes in his bandaged left hand.

‘If I use the power of this mental image here, now, surely…’

Just as he was about to seize the opportunity to take off the glove on his left hand, Ribeni pushed back her hood. The moment he saw the face revealed within, his thoughts (思考) froze.

'Huh…?'

Her unremarkable dark brown curly hair was much longer than he remembered, but her common features and the freckles scattered around her nose were exactly the same.

‘No, how could this be…’

He truly couldn't explain it, but to put it bluntly, her appearance… was too similar.

To his old self… that is, 'Lyn.'

More precisely, it was exactly the same as when he was forced to cross-dress by Leesta and Frieda in the past.

‘A hallucination…?’

No, the light of Bell Cidious was connected to his perception right now. That was an undeniable reality. His mouth muttered blankly, on its own.

"Me…?"