Chapter 262

(262)

“Huff, huff.”

Eric climbed the rocky mountain, breathless.

Thanks to the massive flames reaching to the horizon and the pungent smoke that chased away the dawn, it was easy to find the magical realms and Valenciaunos.

However, the rocky mountain was untraversable by horses, and after dismounting, he scrambled up the slope on all fours.

‘Does Duke Valencius intend to keep his promise to me, or does he plan to use me to inflict a fatal blow on the Republic? Why isn’t Brnoa retreating immediately?’

Countless questions and the harsh path exhausted Eric.

As his breath hitched, his handsome face contorted, his fair golden hair became drenched in sweat, and he found large and small wounds accumulating on his fingers and hands.

But Eric did not stop.

‘No matter how costly, dirty, and insidious peace is, it’s still better than war.’

‘If Duke Valencius is still on my side and intends to allow our soldiers to retreat, I need to save him.’

‘To do that, I must warn him of the danger posed by the witch hunters. No matter how powerful a magician he is, he has no way to withstand a witch hunter!’

Eric braced himself against a rock to pull his body up.

Thud.

Then he heard a sound that should not be present.

Slowly, Eric raised his head and saw a military boot right in front of his fingers.

“…Senator? What brings you here? This is currently a combat zone.”

He was wearing light armor under his cloak, armed with a spear and a ballista, and bearing a black-and-white emblem.

He was a member of the reconnaissance unit moving with the witch hunters.

Eric inhaled calmly.

“Have the witch hunters already gone up?”

The reconnaissance officer shot him a skeptical look.

“As far as I know, you should be staying at the encampment, Senator. Do you have a command from Duke Brnoa?”

“I am an elected senator. I don’t need a command when I move.”

“I’m sorry, but I only follow orders.”

The reconnaissance officer jumped down from the rock.

At that moment, Eric clenched the potion, a lightning-struck wooden shard, in his left hand and recited a lengthy incantation in his mouth.

‘Quickly.’

“Even the smallest blue flame blinds the eyes of the foolish.”

“Senator?”

“The body dances violently, and the teeth clash in homage.”

“What are you… no way?!”

The reconnaissance officer’s eyes widened to the size of saucers.

“The sound of fabric tearing and the smell of burning flesh. The touch of electric current.”

Blue lightning flickered from Eric’s right-hand index and middle fingers.

Zzzzz!

“Ahh!”

Eric accurately struck the reconnaissance officer’s wrist with his two fingers, and the officer trembled and collapsed to the ground.

At the same time, Eric felt his own legs give way as he staggered.

“Gahh, gahh.”

His heart raced like mad from the backlash of using magic, and he felt a crushing pain.

It was as if all the energy had drained from his body.

Yet, he staggered back to his feet and moved up the mountain.

“If I am betrayed, it means doom, but if I am not, there is hope.”

‘I have no right to gamble the fate of the nation. But for the sake of a hundred thousand soldiers and their families, I can wager my life.’

* * *

I gazed contentedly at the flames spreading beyond the horizon.

The fire spread, grew even larger, and finally stained the black night sky red.

The barren land of winter, filled only with dried grass, surrendered everything to the greedy flames, turning red-hot before ultimately melting away.

Now untouched by fire, my face felt flushed from the overwhelming heat, even at this height.

Sererassie was using magic to shield herself from the heat.

She slowly scanned me up and down and said.

“You’ve become unexpectedly strong.”

I nodded confidently.

“I’ve worked hard.”

Sererassie rolled her eyes.

“Did you only work hard?”

I chuckled and shook my head.

“Oh, of course, my innate lineage mattered more. I survived the dragon’s blood thanks to my draconic heritage, and because I was imbued with the fire spirit’s energy, I managed to transplant the essence of a spirit, which allowed me to absorb Cuith Az.”

It was a power precariously gained, floundering between risk and reward.

A force to protect Jeilliris, the Empire, and my loved ones.

I activated the energy of incantation while wearing the ‘Invisible Hand’ gauntlets.

Swoosh.

Golden colors bloomed amidst a black claw, gathering into a large sphere.

The power of incantation moved the mana and sent it to the fire spirits below.

“Karururu!”

“Ha ha ha ha!”

The fire spirits no longer appeared as androgynous boys but as muscular demons adorned with flaming manes and gigantic horns.

They grew even larger, feasting on the mana I sent, and with a mere gesture, ignited flames around the core of the magical realm.

The area, corrupted with a purple hue, had long been purified by fire.

To prevent the speed of aberrant creatures emerging from the core from quickening, I deliberately left a certain range untouched.

Then two aberrant monsters crawled out of the fleshy core.

“Moooor?”

As soon as they emerged, they opened their mouths in panic, trying to flee westward, following their kin who had already fled from the flaming whips wielded by the fire spirits.

“Ah. That one is a bit large. Sister, take it down.”

One that had just sprouted four horns emerged.

Sererassie nodded and used ‘Piercing Flash.’

Swoosh!

Without fail, a blue and white ray shot out, and the giant aberrant monster rolled upon the ground.

The fire spirit burned its body, transforming the power it held into heat to send to me.

I smiled at the sensation of warmth spreading in my chest.

At that moment, Sererassie furrowed her brows.

* * *

“Sister. What’s wrong?”

“Brother. Can’t you feel it? The mana feels off.”

“What do you mean the mana feels off? Did I use the incantation too vigorously? I only gathered the mana from below the mountain.”

“No. It’s not what you did. This is… well, I’ve learned about this before.”

There was a considerable unease lurking in her eyes.

Her blue and yellow pupils contracted, and her voice trembled slightly.

“Witch hunter.”

“Witch hunter?”

At that moment, I felt a presence behind me.

Rustle, rustle.

It was such a faint presence that even a fighter of my caliber had only just noticed it.

About thirty steps away, someone was walking out from between the low shrubs of the rocky mountain.

“An Inquisition officer?”

He wore a mask made of iron and donned a loosely fitting black-and-white robe.

I was familiar with the black-and-white robe itself.

The Inquisition officers, under Pope Argos’s command, wore just that attire.

Black or white, guilty or innocent, burning at the stake or release.

That was the way of the Inquisition.

However, Inquisition officers never concealed their faces.

They moved openly before God according to church law.

Clang!

I immediately drew the Black Tear and positioned myself in front of Sererassie.

“How dare you raise your head before me!”

Yet the thought that I could cut him down lingered in the back of my mind.

Despite the opponent being right in front of me, it felt as if I were staring at a vague illusion that I might have dreamt while dozing off.

I couldn’t tell if this was real or not.

Even before my regression, I had encountered similar beings under Justianus.

Though I didn’t know they were from the Land of Lanzo.

That being clearly…

“Brother. He’s a mana denier.”

Mana denier.

It referred to those born with a constitution that absorbs mana.

They typically weaken and die young, but those who somehow survive boast the best compatibility against magicians.

Due to their constitution, they also possess a faint presence, making them nearly impossible to detect.

“What are those bastards doing here?”

From below, the voice of Lady Trentia raised in a cheer and clanging of metal echoed.

Rustle, rustle.

And as if mocking her and me, dozens of witch hunters stepped out from the thickets.

Amidst the crimson-stained night sky, only the reflecting metal masks floated.

“Karururu…”

From below, fire spirits were staggering one by one.

The spirits reverted to boyish shapes or simply exploded and disappeared.

A large aberrant creature that had just crawled out from the core glared at me.

Swoosh…

I drew the energy of incantation again, but barely any mana remained around.

“The world.”

Not only that, but it felt as if the witch hunters were also siphoning mana from our bodies, causing a rapid onset of lethargy.

Swish.

They pulled out terrifying daggers with serrated edges and war hammers from their bosoms.

“Kill the magicians.”

“Kill the hybrids of heterogeneous races.”

“Kill the impertinent dreamers of the future.”

“This world belongs to mankind, who are equal from birth.”

There was a voice laced with dreadful hatred underneath its stoicism.

Clearly, it was hatred drilled into them through brainwashing since childhood.

I heard Sererassie grinding her teeth.

It was something she would spring awake to strike with lightning.

With her whole body trembling, Sererassie vented her frustration.

“…Isn’t it infuriating? To think that I can’t find my compatibility with those who say such things.”

The next moment, dozens of witch hunters charged towards us in unison.

* * *

Eric barely crawled up to the rocky mountain’s peak.

The night sky glowed bright red, and he was drenched in sweat due to the intense heat, when something caught his grasp.

Clang.

“A mask?”

A strange light glimmered in his blue eyes.

Witch hunters only removed their masks at the last moment.

Once a witch hunter removes their mask, the opposing magician must die without exception.

That was the reason why hybrids of heterogeneous races had never secured a position as nobles for hundreds of years in the history of the Republic of Lanzo.

Eric let out a low whistle and pushed aside the bramble.

“Duke…!”

He inhaled sharply at the scene before him.

“No way.”

Dozens of witch hunters were cornering a silver-haired boy duke and a wizard clad in a pointed hat against the cliff.

However, rather than gruesomely succumbing, the white-haired duke arrogantly lifted his chin and glared at the witch hunters.

Rather, around the wizard in a pointed hat, a dozen witch hunters writhed on the ground.

“Uurgh!”

“Ahhh!”

“Kurgh! Gurg!”

They all had removed their masks and had swollen veins grotesquely protruding from their faces and hands.

At first glance, it looked as if dozens of snakes were crawling beneath their skin.

‘What the hell is this?’

Eric blinked in confusion.

The dozen witch hunters slammed the ground again.

“Kill the gifted!”

The witch hunt was the founding ideology of the Republic of Lanzo.

If those who inherit power through blood were to solidify the social elite, it would give rise to a world no different from the horrific rule of heterogeneous races.

“With our lives, we shall launch universal equality!”

“Humans must be equal!”

War hammers swung, and daggers gleamed.

Behind them, the wizard illuminated the red-burning sky with a flash of golden light.

On the wizard’s face, deep shadows gripped him, and blood streamed from his hand gripping the staff.

Screech!

Golden energy rippled around the wizard, and blue lightning sparked, causing the wizard’s long dark blue hair to shoot upwards into the sky.

Eric gasped in astonishment.

‘How can he use mana in front of witch hunters?’

The next moment, all the witch hunters who had slammed the ground began spurting blood from seven holes in their faces, collapsing to the ground.

“Gah!”

“Cah!”

“Kerh!”

They shouted, trying to rise again, but like their predecessors, the veins in their bodies began to swell.

A single drop of blood flowed from the wizard’s blue eye.

Only then did Eric realize what had just happened.

‘Did he just crush them with sheer strength? Is that even possible?’

In hundreds of years of history in the Republic of Lanzo, there had never been a record of a magician defeating even a single witch hunter.

‘They said that magicians who learned properly at the Ivory Tower possessed unimaginable power, but… that’s—’

The wizard raised his staff high and slammed it down.

Thud!

Blue lightning spewed forth from the yellow gem, electrocuting five witch hunters who were flanking one side.

“Uurgh!”

The current that burrowed into their bodies flowed out elsewhere, absorbing into their bodies instead of inflicting wounds.

It was an act only possible for mana-denier witch hunters.

The wizard tightened his grip on the staff even more.

Screech!

Veins bulged on the back of his hand, and blue lightning surged, sending the five witch hunters flying like doll figures.

Eric stared blankly at Sererassie.

Sererassie gasped in surprised breath and murmured lightly.

“You’re not the first to obstruct me. Try to trip me again and again. My dream will only grow stronger.”