Ch.269Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

Lucia and I kicked off the ground. The moment we threw ourselves down the steep slope, clutching her cloth bag, a massive explosion sounded from behind us.

Crash! Fragments of stone rained down. Covered in debris and dust, I raised my head to see grotesquely shattered stone bricks. It was where we had been standing just moments ago.

“Damn…!”

Shing!

A sharp metallic sound pierced my ears. The investigator who had just unleashed his attack adjusted his grip on his staff.

Beneath the wooden handle of the staff gleamed a long blade reflecting starlight, while the sheath that had concealed it now lay discarded on the ground.

I quickly got to my feet and looked back at Lucia.

“That’s one of those staff-swords the battle priests use, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

Lucia wrapped the cloth that had held her talisman around her fist, while I hastily drew my pistol.

The investigator took his stance. The taste of blood lingered between my tightly clenched teeth.

“Son of a—”

I bit down hard on my molars as I grabbed Lucia and rolled across the floor.

“Now we’ve got clergymen swinging blades at holy maidens!”

The sharp blade began its relentless assault.

Episode 12 – The Most Powerful Mage in History

—BANG!

A vicious sword strike flew toward us.

The attack was too fast to follow with the naked eye, and its power was as destructive as its speed.

—Crash!

Shattered bricks scattered with stone dust. The flying fragments bounced in all directions, hitting walls and floors with a cacophony of noise.

These stone bricks could have lasted thousands of years if given the chance. Bricks that had likely stood for over a century were now being sliced and scattered like pudding.

“……”

The investigator readjusted his grip on his staff-sword and took his stance again. In the blink of an eye, another attack followed.

Lucia, who was in the line of fire, quickly twisted her body to avoid the attack.

“Are you alright?!”

“I’m fine…”

Having evaded the blade, Lucia planted her feet firmly on the ground and took her stance. Her small fist clenched as her slightly twisted waist rotated in the opposite direction.

“…indeed!”

Her fist shot forward.

The talisman wrapped around her powerfully swinging fist glowed with energy. A pure white light, like fireflies illuminating a dawn field, gently enveloped her hand.

Lucia’s forceful punch hit nothing but air.

She swung her fist powerfully through the wind, but unfortunately, the distance was too great for her fist to make direct contact with the investigator.

However,

“Urgh!”

The moment her fist extended, a pain-filled groan erupted from the investigator’s mouth.

“Priest…!”

He clutched his abdomen and crumpled like a shrimp, dropping to one knee on the ground.

I turned to Lucia and shouted:

“What was that just now?!”

“I landed a hit! It didn’t go deep, so be careful! He’ll recover soon!”

Thunk! A blade stabbing into the ground cut off Lucia’s words.

The investigator, still clutching his stomach, used his staff to pull himself up. Then, after pulling the blade from the ground, he swung it again to launch another attack.

“Dodge!”

As soon as the warning came, I threw myself to the right. The sword strike that cut through the air narrowly missed the back of my head before embedding itself in the wall just moments later.

Lucia rolled to the left, opposite from me, avoiding the attack. While we were fortunate enough to evade the first strike, there was no time to counterattack.

—Whoosh!

The staff-sword bent at an odd angle as it pursued her.

The direction of the sword strikes changed with the twisting and bending of the investigator’s wrist. He wielded the staff-sword as if it were an extension of his own body, unleashing a barrage of attacks.

—Slash!

Stone bricks were sliced along the trajectory of the blade.

—Rumble!

A beat later, fragments and dust showered down on Lucia’s head.

“Oh no…!”

Lucia swung her arms to block the falling stone fragments. She managed to protect her vital points, but there was nothing she could do about her torn skin and clothing.

—Crack!

The investigator swung his sword toward Lucia.

He repeatedly swung both his staff-sword and his arm. When he slashed, cutting strikes flew through the air; when he gestured, fragments went flying.

Whether it was magic or some psychic ability, it seemed clear that all the stone fragments raining down on Lucia were the investigator’s doing.

Of course, Lucia wasn’t just standing still.

“Hiyah…!”

After narrowly deflecting an attack, Lucia kicked off the ground.

The smooth stone brick cracked, leaving deep footprints. Lucia took exactly three steps forward, leaped into the air, and instantly closed the distance between herself and the investigator.

—Hah!

Lucia, channeling holy power, jumped with a trail of light behind her.

Her lips were slightly bloodied and her face was dirty with stone dust. Despite her wretched appearance, Lucia didn’t hesitate for a moment.

Her blue eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky, and pure holy energy poured down like a meteor shower flowing through the galaxy.

A small ring of white light rotated around her tightly clenched fist.

Lucia quickly closed the distance with the investigator as she soared through the air.

The sole of her shoe planting itself into the investigator’s chest happened in an instant.

The firmly planted shoe left a clear footprint on his brown tunic. The impact made a sound so powerful it was hard to believe it came from a mere kick.

“…!”

The investigator, who had been about to swing his sword at the airborne Lucia, widened his eyes.

Lucia, who had put her full weight into the kick, drove her fist into the investigator’s abdomen.

At that moment, holy energy exploded and penetrated through the investigator’s body. The stream of light flowed out through his back and dispersed like smoke.

“…Kuhak!”

Eyes bulging and mouth wide open. The impact was so strong that he couldn’t even scream.

The ambushed investigator tumbled to the ground.

His brown tunic was dragged around and torn to shreds, and he was instantly covered in filth.

Yet the gleam in his eyes remained fiercely bright.

—Shing.

The staff-sword was raised high and then brought down diagonally from top to bottom.

A sword strike extended along the trajectory drawn by the blade. Solid stone bricks in its path were torn like paper, and splashes of muddy water and fragments chaotically filled the air.

Amid the slashes and debris, Lucia’s blue eyes shone brightly.

Eventually, as Lucia jumped into the air after pushing off the wall, the released sword strike hit the spot where she had been standing with the force of a storm.

Lucia dodged all the incoming attacks by throwing herself in various directions. However, as time passed, the speed and power of the attacks gradually increased.

The investigator swung his sword as if he would kill Lucia at any moment, and fierce attacks were fired at her.

There had been no problems so far, but it would be too much for her to endure all the attacks alone.

When that thought occurred to me,

I lined up the back of the investigator, who was pouring sword strikes at Lucia, in my sights.

—Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three gunshots shook the darkness-engulfed chamber. A flash of light momentarily brightened the surroundings.

All the fired bullets hit their mark. The three holes punctured in the brown tunic were proof of that.

But they had no effect.

“……”

The investigator didn’t even flinch.

He briefly paused his actions and turned around due to the attack from behind, but only for a moment.

Despite being shot, he turned his head as if nothing had happened and continued to unleash attacks toward Lucia.

I emptied my magazine firing at him, but it didn’t make a dent.

He swung his sword, and Lucia ducked to avoid it.

The blade didn’t touch Lucia, but a few strands of her hair were cut and fell to the floor. She had barely avoided the attack.

I dropped the empty magazine to the floor, inserted a new one, and muttered as I pulled the slide:

“This bastard…”

As expected, guns were ineffective. I needed to change my plan.

I needed to find something that would work on him. Like the items Lucia had brought. Come to think of it, I had grabbed her bag when we jumped down earlier.

I frantically looked around. I spotted Lucia’s cloth bag draped over a pile of stones. It was closer than I expected.

I ran like mad with my gun, snatched the cloth bag, and quickly opened it to check its contents.

Just then, something useful caught my hand. I grabbed it and ran toward the investigator who was attacking Lucia.

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

“…?”

The investigator turned toward me at the unexpected insult.

I smashed the glass bottle I was holding right into his face, as if slapping him.

“Eat this!”

—Crash!

The sound of breaking glass echoed clearly.

The bottle that hit his face shattered into pieces. Glass fragments pierced his facial skin and my hand, and the liquid inside the bottle splashed onto his face.

The sensation of glass fragments tearing into my hand was vivid.

Blood mixed with liquid flowed down my fingers, hands, and wrist.

I swung my hand to spread the liquid across his face. A red handprint stretched from his left forehead to his right cheek. Along that path, the flesh of my palm and fingers was torn by glass fragments.

I rubbed the liquid on his face, but the investigator didn’t react. He froze in the position he had been in when swinging his sword.

The man, who had been standing still with his staff-sword raised high, wiped away the liquid flowing down his face with his hand.

Then, looking at the liquid on his palm, he muttered in a very small voice:

“…Holy water?”

His lips twisted grotesquely.

And then.

*

The sound disappeared.

The sounds that had been coming from around me until just a moment ago vanished.

The dripping blood. The rough breathing. The sound of shoes dragging on the floor and the echoes of impacts against the bricks.

“……”

In a world where ambient sounds had disappeared, I saw the investigator’s mouth open grotesquely as he held his sword high.

And then,

“…Urgh!”

I felt something rising from within me.

An intense pain, as if tearing at a wound in my chest. My esophagus and stomach burned as if on fire. I tried to cover my mouth with my trembling arm, but only for a moment. I couldn’t resist the overwhelming nausea and ended up vomiting.

“Uweeeegh…!”

Dark red vomit poured onto the floor.

There were lumps mixed in, either blood or flesh.

The moment I saw it, my vision began to shake from side to side. No, to be precise, my vision was splitting into multiple fragments.

Like an image reflected in a broken mirror, my vision shook and fractured.

I felt warm liquid flowing from my ears down my earlobes, and a strong ringing pierced my eardrums, threatening to steal away all thought and consciousness.

I clutched my ringing head and collapsed to the floor.

Then I crawled across the ground, supporting myself on the bricks with my convulsing limbs.

*

At that moment,

A warm hand was placed on my shoulder, and a gentle warmth enveloped my body.

“Get up.”

Holy energy like white fireflies illuminating a dark meadow.

Golden hair that looked as if it had been melted from pure gold, floating slightly in the air.

In a world where all sound had disappeared.

A resolute voice that came through clearly in that silence.

“You’ve been cursed. But you’ll be fine now. I’ve successfully performed a dispelling.”

“…Lucia?”

“It’s not over yet. Stay focused.”

I raised my head at the sound of Lucia’s voice. And finally, I could properly grasp the situation around me.

My vision that had been split and shaking in multiple directions.

The convulsions throughout my body.

The strong ringing that had captured my mind.

They had all disappeared, like a midsummer night’s dream.

The only thing I could clearly feel now was Lucia’s resolute voice.

Lucia, channeling holy power, gently supported me and helped me regain my senses.

“……”

Rising to my feet with Lucia’s help, I looked at the investigator. He had thrown aside his staff-sword and was frantically scratching at his face with his fingernails.

I silently looked at Lucia. She too turned her gaze from the investigator to meet my eyes.

“……”

“……”

No one spoke, but there was no need to say anything.

At this moment, what needed to be done was crystal clear.

I grabbed the investigator by the collar and slammed him to the ground, while Lucia pinned him down with her foot. Before anyone could say anything, I took the talisman and tied up his limbs.

Seeing this, Lucia mounted the investigator to keep him from moving.

The man, who had been frantically scratching at the holy water on his face, began to twist his body and scream when his hands and feet were restrained. An animal-like howl echoed through the underground chamber.

“It’s almost over now. We’re nearly there.”

Lucia, looking down at the investigator who was convulsing intermittently, quietly took out her Bible.

As she quickly turned the pages, she said:

“I’ll finish this as quickly as possible. Before the priests arrive.”

“If you can.”

Lucia made the sign of the cross, touching her forehead, chest, and shoulders.

Then, in a solemn voice, she began:

“I will now commence the exorcism ritual.”