Ch.262Chapter 262. Anomaly

“……this…….”

Tifa checked her body in bewilderment.

Though she didn’t know why… right now, inside her body, ‘power’ was overflowing.

To be precise, it was like that strange energy she vaguely felt during training.

The mysterious source of power that had seemed just beyond her grasp was now permeating her body and running wild.

A refreshing feeling she had never experienced before.

Tifa lightly swung her axe.

I can fight with this.

As if the struggle she had been experiencing until moments ago was a lie, she felt her body become light as a feather.

Yes.

—I absolutely cannot die in a place like this!

“Come at me, you bastard!!!”

“Kuh!”

Their weapons clashed once again.

If there was anything fortunate for Saad, it was that this time his weapon wasn’t literally sliced apart.

However, after exchanging just a few blows, he easily noticed the difference in skill. Completely opposite from before.

I can’t… win!

If this woman possessed this much power, this was a battle he could never win.

Saad readjusted his stance once more and looked at Tifa before him.

A blue aura surrounded her as she held her gleaming axe. As if she were wearing armor made of light.

That appearance was like the manifestation of a knight prophesied in the apocalyptic tales that religious fanatics used to preach about when the continent was peaceful.

And simultaneously… Saad was gripped by an emotion he had instinctively felt, yet never experienced on the battlefield.

——Fear.

It was the emotion of fear.

They say humans experience fear in many different moments—

But the greatest of all is the fear felt when encountering an unknown entity.

That was exactly how Saad felt now.

Wouldn’t it be normal to feel afraid when suddenly seeing a human glowing bright blue?

‘What… what is this? This woman… what the hell is happening?!’

Saad tried to turn his horse to retreat—

“Haaaah!”

Slash!

His horse’s head was severed, killing it instantly… and he was thrown off.

“Aaaagh!”

Though tumbling on the ground after being thrown, Saad desperately tried to figure out how to survive.

He could have been paralyzed by fear, but his survival instinct was much stronger.

‘I have to escape somehow…!’

If he escaped, he could save his life.

Having fallen from his horse, he couldn’t quickly disappear from sight… but this was a battlefield. If he could just get among the soldiers, he might somehow survive amid the chaos!

Why this woman had suddenly become stronger as if she had awakened, how our army should deal with it—such matters could be considered many times over as long as he could preserve his life.

While Saad was thinking—

Tifa, for her part, began to properly test this ‘power’ she had become aware of.

‘I think I can send this power… outward…’

It wasn’t a theoretical matter. It was instinctual.

Just as one breathes from birth and somehow demands food when hungry—Tifa, from the moment she accepted this power into her body… began to use her ability as naturally as someone who had always known how.

‘If I do this…!’

Whoosh!

The axe in her hand began to blaze with flames.

Though these flames clearly reached the hand holding the axe… her hand didn’t feel hot at all.

She didn’t know exactly what this power was…

But with this strength flowing into her body, she felt her pain disappear and her physical body restore itself.

At that moment.

Tifa’s gaze finally caught Saad frantically trying to escape.

“Where do you think you’re going…!”

Tifa instinctively reached out toward the fleeing Saad.

She wasn’t consciously trying to do anything specific.

But—once the nameless power, ‘mana,’ that she had recognized began circulating within her and fully activated—

Her gesture could no longer be just a ‘simple gesture.’

Swoosh!

“Haaaah!!”

The ball of flame at the tip of Tifa’s weapon, receiving her will, flew straight toward where Saad was.

As he continued to flee, Saad—in a split second—instinctively looked back.

——Ah.

A ball of flame, almost like magic, was flying directly at his face.

In this moment, Saad experienced the same sensation Tifa had felt earlier.

He was going to die.

If that flame hit his head… he would definitely die.

Could he avoid it? No, he couldn’t. He would die before his thought process could even function properly.

What Saad could perceive at this moment was… yes, that this flame was very similar to ‘magic.’

And that magic did exist on this continent.

“Magic, sor…!!!”

KWAAANG!

The huge ball of flame Tifa had launched hit Saad’s face directly.

And… what had been Saad’s body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Saad Astron.

Having made a name for himself under Karelia, then forming a mercenary group after being abandoned by his lord.

For an incredibly long time, he had lived by staining his weapons with countless people’s blood just to survive.

His end was pathetically anticlimactic, but a third party might consider it a blessing to die so painlessly and instantly on the battlefield.

Tifa rode her horse to where he was.

…He was dead. Unless there were humans who could survive with their necks severed, he must be dead.

She felt no sympathy or guilt. After all—this man had tried to kill her. If she hadn’t been able to use this magic-like power—it would have been her lying there bleeding to death, not this man.

‘…Wait.’

Yes.

Magic!

Tifa finally vaguely realized that her power was ‘magic.’

If a magician hadn’t appeared on the continent—Tifa wouldn’t have had any idea what this power was, but hadn’t one already appeared in Serpina’s army?

Then… was that sensation I felt the mana I’d only heard about?

Tifa turned her head to look at where the soldiers were gathered.

She saw perfect targets for using magic… scattered everywhere.

“——!!!!”

Tifa roared with enough force to tear the sky.

And then… once again she accepted the source of power she had just felt—mana—into her body.

She felt overwhelming energy penetrate her body, making her feel as if she had been reborn.

I will definitely bring victory to Lunarian in this battle.

And, I will personally establish Lunarian’s supremacy with these hands…!!!!

She—rode her horse and charged straight toward where the soldiers were.

And…

* * *

“A, a magician…!”

“Run away! We can’t defeat a magician!”

‘A magician?!’

Vanessa looked once more toward where the thunderous sound was coming from.

KWAAANG!!!!

…Indeed, something was exploding—as if someone were using magic.

A way to artificially cause such massive explosions? At least within her common sense, there was no other explanation. Unless the magician who had appeared in the northern continent had come down.

But what was before her eyes was undeniable reality.

And there was no way the magician said to be under Serpina’s army would come to help Lunarian’s army… so there was only one conclusion left.

‘There was… a magician…!!’

Vanessa—with eyes wide open—lost her composure for the first time, even though she had never lost it at any moment, not even when begging her lord to kill her.

‘Damn it…!’

What frightens humans most is unknown power. Vanessa knew this well.

That’s why these soldiers were fleeing, forgetting even that they were violating military law!

Because they didn’t know how wide the range of that power might be. Because they had no idea how deep that power might go!

Though it was terrible as soldiers, it was a very rational choice as mere living beings. She shouted to try to calm them down.

“Everyone, everyone calm down! This is the enemy’s trap! Even a magician is just one general! They cannot defeat us when we have the advantage in numbers!”

Vanessa’s cries reached no one here.

KWANG-!

From beyond, the sound of something exploding continued to be heard.

No matter how many troops there were, they could never win without the will to fight.

Just as fifty thousand men merely desperate to preserve their lives could not defeat ten thousand men prepared to die fighting.

Yes, even with a 5-to-1 advantage—one could capture retreating enemy troops who had lost the will to fight. And we barely had a 2-to-1 advantage!

‘Lunarian, from the beginning, was aiming for this with the interception unit…!’

The two mercenary groups were a smokescreen.

The plan was to create confusion by bringing out a magician, and then capture us…!!

“Damn it, damn it…!!!”

Vanessa… bit her lower lip until it nearly bled and turned her horse around.

With the soldiers’ line retreating… she, as chief of staff, could not be captured.

She could only hope that Saad would come to his senses and lead the soldiers, but… soon, she too would realize that he had gone to a place where he could never fulfill such hopes.

“…!!”

It wasn’t just the Karelia army that was surprised.

Ginor, who had been coordinating this situation, was also startled by the sudden appearance of a magician and looked toward where the interception unit was.

‘This can’t be…!’

When the mercenary groups first arrived as reinforcements, he had thought his reasoning was fairly accurate.

Although the number of mercenaries wasn’t as many as he had thought… since his reasoning was correct, he had simply believed they could somehow find a breakthrough in the battle.

But a magician appearing?

And that an existing general in our army would awaken as a magician… he had never thought of it for even a moment.

The discomfort he felt from things going so well, even excessively well for Lunarian’s army’s circumstances.

If a god truly existed, it felt almost as if they were receiving overwhelming love from that creator.

Ginor was certainly a wise person. His extensive experience and expertise had made him the continent’s greatest strategist.

Even so—he too was human. What one feels when witnessing something beyond imagination is awe, and beyond that—fear.

As soon as he detected that the emotion he was feeling now was ‘fear,’ he recalled the message sent by that man—the real ‘strategist’ of Lunarian’s army whom Lunarian trusted completely.

[Go find Lunarian Ineanne.]

‘!!!!!!’

Swen… truly knew.

That Lunarian Ineanne was the ruler who would unify the continent.

At least after witnessing this situation… doubting his words would now truly be foolish.

Of course, he had trusted his words originally and that’s why he had come here—but actually seeing the evidence with his own eyes naturally hit differently.

‘Lunarian is… the woman who will become the new emperor of the continent…!!’

Ginor realized.

That the lives of all people on the continent depended on those red eyes.

* * *

——Battle result.

The Karelia army’s 200,000 troops, with completely fallen morale and unable to respond properly, were overwhelmed by the Lunarian army.

This was one of the most unexpected events among all battles that had occurred in the southern continent—no, throughout the entire continent.

And from this battle onward—

The Karelia army began walking the path to complete downfall.