Chapter 114

Chapter 114

#114. Ariana Rune Renslett (1)

Above the snowy plains.

“We’ve succeeded.”

A dark wizard muttered to himself while observing a special operations team charging towards the workshop.

The mage, with his whole body wrapped in bandages and eerie green light glowing from his eyes, was none other than Isaac’s avatar.

“I don’t know what scheme you’ve prepared, Isabel… But we won’t be an easy target.”

He spat after pondering the unsettling conversation he had when he was with the white snake.

It was too late to turn back now.

He decided to focus on the present.

“Even if this succeeds, it’ll be troublesome. It’ll take a long time to make the Northern Region fully under Demon Den’s control.”

The recent series of events had led to the downfall of the Demon Den. Only a handful of dark wizards remained.

But Isaac wasn’t particularly bothered by this fact.

After all, about 200 years ago, the Demon Den had already experienced total annihilation once.

What Lich Isaac had in abundance was time, and during that long period, he abducted children and rebuilt the Demon Den.

‘There are many talented kids in the Northern Region, so teaching them could be fun.’

All he needed to do was rebuild it again like last time.

‘The only problem is the Empire. In the worst case scenario, the Imperial Mage Tower and the Church might take our place.’

The only downside was that others would reap the rewards while he did all the work.

‘I’ll think about that when it comes.’

For now, he decided to focus on the task at hand.

Isaac directed his floating avatar towards the workshop.

‘Failure is not an option.’

He didn’t even entertain the thought of failure. There would only be glory or destruction.

‘What exactly have they prepared over there? Did the Duke’s injuries really heal perfectly?’

While flying towards the workshop following the trail of the special ops team, he kept mulling over the unsettling feeling.

The conversation at the Main Wall lingered in his throat like a splinter.

‘Honestly… I’ve been uncharacteristically hasty. I rushed things and got too impatient. Time was always on my side…’

Isaac knew he had started things too early just because the white snake had awakened.

The growth of the Northern Region, the Empire’s ambitions… There were many reasons, but the real reason was something else.

‘Maybe I’m just tired.’

Two hundred years of time had accumulated mental fatigue in him, who was only half-lich.

Though his physical body had escaped mortality, his spirit hadn’t.

This was why his kind of immortality was called “half.”

“How did Isabel endure this loneliness?”

Suddenly, he thought how truly remarkable Isabel was for enduring 200 years alongside him.

“What a tough woman.”

Even when the original witches aged and died,

Isabel, with faint fairy blood in her veins, as Haran’s direct disciple and having received Haran’s curse directly, didn’t die.

She just aged extremely slowly.

“Well, at least I wasn’t lonely thanks to her.”

For 200 years, the Coven and Demon Den had waged shadow wars across the land.

The reason the Northern Region had been operating Frosthaven’s systematic intelligence network long before the Empire even had one was because of this.

“…”

Isaac’s avatar closed its eyes and reminisced about the past.

In the past…

When he, resurrected from death along with the white snake, reappeared in High City…

* * *

Rune Renslett never stopped training even as a ruler.

Because he was certain he would eventually have to fight the white snake.

“White snake! Jormungandr! If I kill you! The North will…”

Kuuuooooo!

High City and the Main Wall were half-destroyed, the witches suffered great losses, half of the Northern knights either died or became disabled, and even Rune Renslett sustained severe injuries in the fierce battle.

“Knights of the North! Follow Lord Rune Renslett!”

Rune Renslett’s complexion was dark and blue from excessive use of magic power.

With a roar accepting death, he charged towards the white snake.

“Renslett! Rune Renslett!”

“Witches! Spirits! Aid the heroes of the North!”

“Of course!”

Rune Renslett wasn’t alone.

He had witches, knights, and family with him.

“Haaaaaaa!”

Rune Renslett’s massive sword energy slashed deeply into the white snake’s abdomen.

[No wayyyyyy!]

The sword energy, easily exceeding a hundred meters, left a long scar on the white snake’s belly.

[Kraaaaaaaaaaahhh!!]

Four of the white snake’s seven hearts were in that path.

Three were completely destroyed, and one was partially damaged.

‘This is it!’

Just as Rune Renslett shattered four of Jormungandr’s hearts,

Isaac, who had been secretly supporting the battle from behind, activated his ultimate curse using the mana released from the raging Jormungandr.

[Black wizard! What are you doing?!]

‘White snake, this is all to save you. Can your current body contain the mana exploding from those four hearts?’

[…I understand.]

‘However, you’ll need a rather long sleep.’

Taking lessons from past failures, Isaac was more cautious than ever.

‘So there was something protecting Isabel and the witches! A powerful curse combined with protective spells!’

Though he couldn’t kill Isabel due to Haran’s curse,

-Renslett Dukedom shall have few descendants!

Northern Dukedom House of Renslett.

Curses on the house itself were still possible.

-Dukes shall never die of old age!

While destroying the house was impossible, curses making it precarious were still within reach.

* * *

Back to the present.

“This tiresome feud will soon come to an end.”

Isaac snapped out of his reminiscing as he looked down at the ground.

The closer he got to his destination, the more often old memories surfaced.

“Isabel and the King of Lies, whatever preparations you’ve made, it doesn’t matter.”

He saw orcs and druid commandos running across the snowy plains far away.

Their two-legged dash matched the speed of top-grade horses, creating streaks across the snow.

An almost relieved smile naturally formed on his face.

* * *

Ariana wandered around the workshop restlessly, unable to hide her anxious expression.

“Hmph…”

Her current mission was to guard the workshop and Professor Arad.

But her real mission was different.

Though no one dared to say it outright, she knew it all too well.

Simply put: Don’t cause trouble.

“Being treated as useless is heartbreaking.”

At first, she tried to go to the Main Wall.

She wanted to fulfill the glorious duty of guarding the wall there.

-The northern orcs are coming according to reports! Surely Orc Chief Hunsler will be among them! I must kill him with my own hands! How can one call themselves a child if they cannot avenge their father?

-That’s precisely why Your Highness must not go to the wall! They will surely take advantage of this and devise some scheme!

-Scheme?

-Yes! They attacked the workshop last time too. There’s nothing stopping them from doing the same this time.

-…Understood.

Despite her determination, Ariana ultimately gave in to her retainers’ persuasion.

Talks about guarding the rear, preparing for emergencies, and protecting the workshop and Professor Arad which were lifelines of the Renslett family were all excuses.

The real message was clear, and Ariana wasn’t unaware of it.

“Right… At least I shouldn’t be a hindrance.”

She knew her situation all too well.

“If only they’d let me use it, it would be a huge help in battle.”

Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

There was a technique she had shown Professor Arad during her treatment.

The technique of combining mana from the heart and dantian.

-Absolutely! Do not use it.

But that technique was practically unusable.

Not because of Professor Arad’s stern warning…

Ariana herself knew well that fusing mana from the heart and dantian would be beyond what her body could endure.

“Good thing I didn’t show this to Grandma and Grandpa. If they found out, they probably would’ve teleported me somewhere far away like Narvik instead of keeping me here.”

Currently, only Professor Arad knew about this technique.

“Hmph…”

Ariana touched her lower abdomen with a troubled look.

The restored mana core could be felt.

But the amount of gathered mana was too little.

Then she focused her mind on the chest area where her heart was located.

There, three additional circles had appeared.

“What’s the problem?”

The insufficient mana gathering in the dantian could be overcome with more practice.

The issue was the part that couldn’t be resolved through practice.

“The dantian cultivation causing the heart circles to grow simultaneously… And I can’t even control it.”

Every time the dantian’s mana core grew through cultivation, the circles in the heart resonated and expanded accordingly.

“It’s not because of the magitech work.”

Thinking it might be due to magical artifact creation and study, she avoided them for a while, but nothing changed.

“At this rate, I’ll become a swordsage, which is my biggest concern. That would trap me in a realm between both worlds.”

Ariana had no intention of becoming a swordsage.

That’s why she was especially sensitive about the circles in her heart.

Sensitive enough to halt the cultivation of the dantian’s mana core.

-Maybe… Your Majesty has hit a new form of barrier.

Professor Arad, who regularly examined Ariana, categorized her abnormal condition as a growth barrier.

-The change in color of Your Majesty’s mana and sword energy is also related to this.

It was an entirely unknown territory, so all Professor Arad could do was speculate.

-Meditation and discussion to gain enlightenment seems to be the safest approach.

-Or… life-and-death combat. Ah! Please forget what I just said.

Anyway, since that day, Ariana stopped practicing and sought enlightenment through meditation and discussions.

Isabel, Valkyrie, Sun, and herself participated in these discussions.

-Meditating while observing the state of the mana core and circles as much as possible would be good.

-Or how about closing your eyes and engaging in life-and-death combat?

-Hey! I told you not to mention life-and-death combat!

-Geez, Master keeps picking on me! Didn’t Professor Arad suggest life-and-death combat as one of the solutions?

Enlightenment was the only way to overcome this barrier and solve everything. It would lead her to the realm above Swordmaster.

Until then, Ariana’s skills were merely those of an ordinary high knight.

-Your Majesty, don’t rush. You’re still young. And ignore what Sun said.

-That’s right. Thinking about it, Valkyrie’s words are correct. Rather, it’s Your Majesty’s impatience that’s the problem.

-Hey!

Ariana smiled wryly as she recalled the conversation she had with the three.

‘Right, as Valkyrie says, I shouldn’t be in a hurry. If it weren’t for Professor Arad, I would’ve died back then. Be grateful for this second chance at life. Be thankful to everyone who brought me here. Especially Professor Arad!’

Even if she failed to reach the realm above Swordmaster, she tried to console herself saying it would just be disappointing…

[Ariana, my beloved daughter, pride of Renslett.]

But the more she tried not to be in a hurry…

A voice echoed in Ariana’s mind.

[You can reach the pinnacle of the sword. The next stage after Swordmaster, the Legendary Grand Swordmaster.]

Such a familiar yet distant voice she missed dearly.

[Ariana, my beloved daughter, pride of Renslett. You resemble Mary more than me. Not just in appearance, but in stubborn perseverance. That stubbornness is exactly like your mother.]

“Father…”

The voice of her father, whom she loved dearly but could no longer hear, filled her with longing every time she tried not to be in a hurry.

[So you can do it. You will make the North great, and you will reach a realm beyond Swordmaster. I believe in you.]

Memories of her father made her feel apologetic and regretful about her current state.

[I want to see you reach that realm.]

Her resolve wavered, and she became impatient again.

“…”

Ariana realized her mouth felt dry and empty.

She instinctively reached for the pipe and mana cigarettes in her bosom but quickly withdrew her hand.

It wasn’t because of the circles in her heart.

‘He seemed to dislike mana cigarettes.’

Only because Professor Arad didn’t seem to approve of smoking mana cigarettes.

That was her excuse.

“Mary? What are you doing there?”

“Ah, President!”

At that moment, a man appeared, interrupting Ariana’s troubled thoughts.

Wearing a high-quality coat infused with various enchantments, a magic pistol on his waist, and carrying magic stone bullets,

Arad was fully equipped in his own style as he approached Mary.