Chapter 263

I looked at Sererassie with a hollow smile inside.

Before my return, when I fought the assassins made by the Exile of Mana, it was like a street dog fight.

I fought shamelessly, poking eyes, biting necks, and stabbing between the legs with daggers—battles that I couldn’t proudly talk about.

“I’ve encountered scum like you more than once in my life!”

Today was different.

“What are you, some unemployed philosophy major turned human hunter? Do you grab passersby, lay them on the bed, and if they are smaller than the bed, stretch them out to death, and if larger, cut their legs off?”

Sererassie spat out her declaration and cast her magic.

Her posture was upright, her demeanor confident, and she looked more annoyed than desperate.

“If you have eyes, behold my brilliant talent. Do you seek to kill a mage like me, contradicting the ideal of equality in reality? That’s a loss to humanity as a whole!”

Flash!

Every time she drew runes in the air and struck her staff down, sparks flew, and the witch hunters rolled on the ground.

Being someone who handles incantations and the Power of Spirits, I was able to notice.

Suhhhh—.

Immense mana was gathering at this mountain.

The witch hunters absorbed and scattered mana, but Sererassie drew it in faster.

Two witch hunters crawled up beside the cliff.

I barely saw them only after they had nearly reached the top due to their faint presence, but it wasn’t too late.

I shook off my helplessness and charged in.

“Revealing your name before engaging is a warrior’s challenge, but coming in without a name makes you a despicable thief!”

There were two tactics when dealing with low-presence opponents.

The first was to engage in melee at elbow’s distance; the second was to sweep them away with an area-of-effect technique entirely.

“Flickering and blooming flames!”

Whoosh!

Following my gesture, flames surged forth, spiraling outward.

The flames, stretching over ten meters long, engulfed the two.

“Ahhh!”

“Ughhhh!”

As their bodies absorbed mana, my magical flames quickly extinguished.

But the black-and-white law uniforms burned black, and they received severe burns, their screams and groans clearly revealing their positions.

“You are not black and white; you are pitch black! How can I coexist with those who won’t compromise!”

Even the grotesque illusions of nightmares were merely night guests when they screamed.

“I’ll grant you the anguish you cried out for!”

Thud!

I forcefully kicked one in the chest.

One witch hunter was propelled down, falling off the cliff.

“No. This might not even be what you wanted.”

Evil!

The second witch hunter crouched and lunged with a dagger.

It was aimed precisely between the ribs, targeting the lung.

Holy power swirling like a mana blade enveloped them.

I wrapped my right hand in dragon scales like an exoskeleton to block it.

With a crunch, the holy power dissipated, and the dagger shattered.

“I have even returned after rejecting that.”

Even through the mask, I felt his surprise.

My right hand was covered in scales, but my left remained adorned with the black gloves called the ‘Invisible Hand.’

I moved the mana within me, inflating it into the gloves.

The sensation was as if a third arm developed, rushing up my spine, and I moved that arm to grip the witch hunter’s jaw, pressing down with force.

Crack.

His jaw snapped off with a sound.

“Ughhh!”

He rolled on the ground, unable to even scream.

From behind the mask, his poisonous gaze shot toward me.

I thought I could hear the voice of that damned half-blood noble.

“Call me Duke Valencius! How dare this lowly wretch try to kill anyone!”

Facing that glare directly, I continued to crush his head until he stopped moving.

“Your sister is a pride of the Imperial Court and will be the mage to protect this world in the future. You scum have no right to hold her back.”

Sererassie was just finishing a lengthy incantation.

“The sound of the crown dropping to the ground!”

Normally, spells could be cast with a silent incantation, but now she had to use words and startup phrases.

“A thunderclap.”

Yet, the mischievous smile at the corner of her lips didn’t fade.

Flash!

A white flash burst forth from the crimson sky, extending down like branches, and a dozen witch hunters rolled on the ground again.

Some were completely incinerated, leaving no trace.

More of them now lay down than stood.

As they met each other’s masked faces, they took a step back.

The bushes parted, and one wandered forth.

He held a strange horn, and Sererassie frowned upon seeing it.

“Brother, that—.”

He blew the horn, but no sound came forth.

In the next moment, I felt a ringing in my ears.

Sererassie looked at me, mouthing words and clicking her tongue.

It wasn’t that the horn sound was missing.

It was a sound-absorbing barrier.

I stuck my tongue out in disbelief at this absurd situation.

Had I ever encountered a situation like this before my return?

Do witch hunters use magic tools?

* * *

We pushed the witch hunters back toward the cliff, but they once again pressed us into it.

Swoosh, swoosh!

They were skilled at narrowing their encirclement while silently exchanging signs.

Blades and hammers, glowing with holy power, tore and smashed at our bodies.

I called upon the power of the dragon even more, looking up to the sky and roaring.

“……! ……!”

Mediocre magic tools couldn’t hold me and Sererassie.

But what on earth was that sound-absorbing barrier made from that horn? It showed no signs of disappearing.

Holy power-infused blades swayed in the darkness.

Then I realized the identity of the horn.

Whether manmade or genuine, it was a holy relic.

Damn.

Lanzo was a republic that proclaimed equality for all, and naturally, it had grown close to the Church of Radiance that advocated for equality before the God of Radiance.

So, even standard soldiers would have been armed with prayers, holy power, and spells.

If the witch hunters of that nation possessed such a holy relic, it could withstand my power.

Having thought that far, I intended to leap off the cliff with Sererassie in my arms.

I could handle the impact of the fall with this body.

But Sererassie firmly shook her head.

Her mismatched eyes were focused on the witch hunter leader blowing the horn, her long fingers moving endlessly in a sequence, creating overlapping shapes of triangles, squares, and circles.

Though she maintained a cold and composed expression, beads of sweat like grapes streamed down her nape and temple.

She was a genius, but she had always believed more in her passion and effort than her talent.

She spoke to me through her eyes.

“Can you hold out for three minutes?”

I cursed her in my mind through my gaze.

“Don’t say something so absurd.”

“It’s a request.”

Ah.

Really.

The world.

I took a step and stood in front of Sererassie.

Swoosh, swoosh!

Dozens of witch hunters charged in with powerful stomps.

In the night sky, only the metallic masks and holy power-infused weapons gleamed.

As I coated my hands and arms in scales, I pulled out the black tear sword, Black Tear.

Swish!

With a clean slice, one witch hunter’s face was cleaved in two.

Puff, puff!

At the same time, two daggers and an axe sliced into my side and collarbone, and a war hammer swung down toward my temple.

Thud!

I cursed as I poked at their eyes with my fingers, kicked their groins, and bit their necks.

I grabbed the clothing of a witch hunter charging past me toward Sererassie, and as they tried to throw off my grip, I crushed their flesh with my grip.

The witch hunter leader approached, wielding a sword meant for a holy knight.

Getting stabbed by that sword would certainly hurt.

I could see his smile even behind his mask.

“Eat dirt.”

I flipped my middle finger at his face.

He pointed his sword at me.

Whooom!

The next moment, the great sword that had reached right before my nose seemed to reverse time and pull away.

Thud!

A field of repulsion made of blue particles pushed them all back.

It was Sererassie’s self-repulsion field.

I let out a sigh of relief while also feeling incredulous.

How could she cast such magic with just signs when mana wasn’t even flowing properly?

It was an achievement that could be showcased in a biography of great figures.

Sererassie grinned at me, raising her staff.

Though a sound-absorbing barrier was cast, I thought I could hear her mischievous voice.

“I’m just special to the bone, aren’t I?”

It was the words of a mage who had genuinely become special after all her efforts to become so.

Black metal powder gathered and swirled around her staff.

Zzzzz!

They turned into blades resembling fine needles.

The mist-like blades split into dozens and extended outwards.

Swoosh, swoosh!

The scene of witch hunters’ necks and limbs falling off without a sound was surreal, even for someone like me who had experienced many wars.

The witch hunter leader raised his sword again.

The holy power blade glowed gently.

At that moment, two fingers shot out from the bushes and tapped the back of his knee.

A very, very faint blue current flickered, causing the leader to stumble.

It was such a discreet ambush that anyone would have thought the leader stumbled on his own.

I took that moment to dash out and seize the horn.

Crash!

With the sensation of breaking glass, the sound returned.

“How dare you, you damned scum, attempt to kill both me and Sererassie on the same day?”

I lifted the witch hunter leader and threw him off the cliff.

There were enormous alien creatures swirling around the core of the Magical Realms, but that wasn’t my concern.

* * *

The witch hunter leader was dead, and I had seized the holy relic.

I could feel the witch hunters trembling even behind their masks.

“Flickering and blooming flames.”

I summoned flames, and Sererassie sent her blades through her self-repulsion field.

Though it still wasn’t easy to control mana, as long as we could cast magic with incantations, they were no match for us.

Instead of them, I looked toward the bushes from which the hand had emerged to help bring down the witch hunter leader.

It would definitely be Eric.

He must have run here out of breath, wondering how this situation of the alien army advancing toward Lanzo began.

Knowing his personality, which cherished his people as his own life, he would surely be feeling sorry for the current situation.

I smiled and let my Black Tear dangle as I clearly spoke so the witch hunters could hear.

“Go back and tell them. If you do not retreat immediately, all the villages and cities near your borders will turn into a sea of flames. This is not a prediction. I will make it so.”

The witch hunters met my gaze behind their masks.

Some gripped daggers as if steeling their resolve, while others ground their teeth, watching the ever-growing aliens below the cliff.

I grinned wickedly and raised my chin.

“If you want to continue, feel free to do so. The pinnacle of bloodlines, the born ruler, the duke of absurdity, the blood of the Solletarass Empire will roast you all to perfection.”

This wasn’t some psychological warfare; it was merely a reflection of my pure desire to engage in some wanton cruelty.

The spot where the holy power-infused dagger had pierced still burned and ached.

“Challenge me or run away. Well, I guess it’s best for me not to leave any future problems.”

As I infused incantation flames into the Black Tear, the black blade glowed orange.

Step by step, as I advanced, they backed away; with every two steps I took, they retreated by two steps.

As I contemplated what to shout to make them neatly flee, they disappeared silently as they had come.

“Your Highness!”

Swoosh.

I heard Lady Trentia running toward me.

“Lady! Where have you been until now?”

I reflexively spat out words of blame.

Lady Trentia should have been blocking the path up the cliff, so how on earth had so many witch hunters come this way?

“Do not forgive me, Your Highness. It was my inadequacy—.”

Lady Trentia bowed her head before me.

I turned to see about 200 corpses piled up—witch hunters and reconnaissance soldiers from Lanzo all mixed together.

The corpses had accumulated to block the path.

If it weren’t for Lady Trentia, they would have all swarmed here, and surely, we would have faced sheer numbers.

I sighed softly, shaking my head.

“No, Lady. You have done well enough.”

As I turned back to the cliff, I saw Sererassie facing off against Eric.