Ch.304Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

The army passes through the desolate streets. The night in Orbentsk, covered in heavy snow, is a stark contrast of white and black.

The city’s residents were startled by the sudden appearance of strangers.

Unusual visitors had appeared in Orbentsk, which had become chaotic due to the blockade.

Veronica placed her hands on her hips and looked around at the residents who were whispering about her.

“Hmm…”

There were more residents than she had expected.

While the areas near the collapse site were completely deserted thanks to the military’s evacuation of civilians, this place was different.

“It seems the residents here haven’t evacuated. Or rather, they couldn’t evacuate?”

“Yes, Holy Maiden. I’m told there are no cities with the capacity to accept them.”

Though it was said to be a city of 330,000, that was merely a statistic from the past.

After five years of conflict, Orbentsk’s population had long since swelled to approximately 410,000 with the influx of numerous refugees.

And currently, most northern cities were in a state of oversaturation.

“Well, several cities have fallen during the war.”

Sending residents to other cities would overwhelm them, and setting up temporary refugee camps outside the city posed climate issues.

Even in shelters, people were dying of hypothermia overnight—how could they leave residents exposed in the open field?

In the end, while they hesitated, unable to decide what to do, they found themselves in a situation where they had to fight in a city still populated with residents.

A knight in armor appeared before Veronica, who was commanding the forces of the Inquisition.

The Holy Maiden asked the knight:

“Any unusual findings during the search?”

“No, Holy Maiden. Nothing has been discovered yet.”

“Communications?”

The knight shook his head. Communications still seemed to be down.

Suddenly, she thought of her siblings who had gone in the opposite direction. Though her siblings and the hero weren’t the type to be easily defeated, her worry wouldn’t easily subside.

If there was any consolation, it was that her siblings were moving with people they could trust.

Veronica issued a new order.

“Search thoroughly. A demon of that level couldn’t have gone far.”

Just then, a priest came running breathlessly. It was an inquisitor who had been guarding the rear.

“What’s the matter?”

“T-there, in the sky…!”

Veronica turned her head.

Over her shoulder, she saw Orbentsk’s dark blue night sky.

Amid the procession of stars that seemed about to pour down, flames were shooting up into the sky, burning so fiercely they dimly illuminated the entire city.

It was the signal they had been waiting for.

Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

Lucia tears the holy scripture from which white divine power flows. Though she didn’t touch it with her hand, she firmly grabs and rips the pages that turn by themselves.

A wind blows with a dazzling light.

Her brilliant golden hair flutters in the breeze. The torn pages of the scripture do the same.

-Swoosh!

The torn papers fly with the wind like paper boats drifting on a flowing river, sticking to various places.

The damp brick walls with snow piled in every crevice, the broken asphalt stained with the blood of refugees, the dark utility poles, and even the burning body of the demon.

One, two, three… The papers multiplied into dozens, hundreds, threatening to cover the world.

Like a tsunami hitting the coast, the wave of papers instantly swept over walls, floors, and the demon’s body.

The scripture pages, filled with verses said to have been transcribed by God’s disciples, spread like a net and stuck to the demon’s body. Despite the still-burning flames, the papers adhered to the demon’s body without being singed at all. It was a strange sight.

The papers stuck all over its body, like wrapping an object in newspaper, resembled an ancient Egyptian mummy.

The only difference was that mummies don’t move because they’re dead, while this thing was very much alive and moving.

-Grrrrrr…!

A low, growling sound could be heard. Except for the mouth area that the papers hadn’t covered, the demon was buried in paper and pinned to the ground.

The demon no longer spoke human language or screamed with a high-pitched voice as before. It only struggled desperately to break free from its restraints, like the chained wolf from Norse mythology with its head buried in mud.

Every syllable it uttered, the intensity and pitch of its sounds, seemed impossible to imitate with human vocalization.

The subdued demon howled with bestial sounds.

I pointed my gun barrel at the demon and asked Lucia:

“…Did you seal it?”

“No, I didn’t.”

She shook her head firmly and answered with an expressionless face. It was a rare expression for her.

“I’ve merely restrained it temporarily. It’s vulnerable to external attacks, and the seal will break when my divine power runs out—”

Lucia closed the scripture with a thud and added:

“But by then, reinforcements should have arrived.”

Reinforcements, huh.

“Now that’s a heartwarming word.”

Ganging up is a human tactic with a long history. Prehistoric humans hunting mammoths with rocks and spears are even depicted in Goguryeo’s Subakdo.

But that’s that, and this is this.

The demon is subdued but still alive and breathing. We can’t just sit around twiddling our thumbs until reinforcements arrive.

I raise my rifle and aim. At this distance, taking time to aim would be a waste, so I immediately pull the trigger.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three gunshots rang out, and bullets lodged in the demon’s body. Its paper-covered body, restrained on the ground, jerked several times.

But,

-Grrrrrr…!

The demon wasn’t dead.

It was still alive, making beast-like cries.

I pushed up my helmet that had slipped down and turned to look at Lucia. The cool night air brushed against the beads of sweat on my forehead.

“…Damn. Even consecrated bullets won’t kill it.”

“It’s not something that can be killed so easily. Even as a minion, a demon is still a demon.”

Lucia looked down at the demon with a rather calm demeanor. For some reason, she seemed quite accustomed to this sort of thing.

I raised the gun barrel slightly and pulled the trigger. And a moment later, I discovered the new fact that a demon can survive even with a consecrated bullet lodged in its eye.

I muttered a small curse.

“…Damn it.”

“Saint Veronica will be here soon, so let’s wait. I’ll keep watch. Please go check on the others.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Lucia.”

Lucia, who had subdued the demon, kept her eyes fixed on it. Meanwhile, Francesca and Camilla checked on the condition of the people found at the scene.

The place where the creature had been crouching was an open space between commercial buildings, similar to a typical alleyway in Harlem from American movies.

This dirty place, which would normally have been used as a garbage dump or smoking area, was serving as a sanctuary for refugees with nowhere else to go.

“Is anyone alive?”

“…No. They’re all dead.”

Francesca removed her hand from the neck of a fallen refugee. The bodies, dressed in layers of shabby clothes as if they had been living rough, were brutally mutilated as if attacked by a wild beast. The dark red blood dried on the torn fabric was vivid.

I presumed these were the owners of the items we had seen on our way. There were four bodies in total, all adults of different ages. Francesca’s brow furrowed.

“They seem to be people without local connections, unable to meet the conditions for entering shelters. They must have banded together to survive.”

She murmured quietly while removing the sling from her neck.

“Why did it attack these people? If it had broken the seal and escaped, it would have been better to flee and avoid being tracked.”

“I don’t know either.”

I glanced back at the subdued demon. Lucia was sprinkling holy water from her fingertips onto it.

As the droplets of holy water touched its body, the demon twisted its limbs and struggled like a wild beast caught in a net. A terrible scream, like a mixture of male and female voices, echoed between the buildings, shaking the complex.

I felt a strange sense of déjà vu watching the demon wailing like a soul fallen into hell.

“……”

While feeling this inexplicable déjà vu, I left my post briefly, saying I would look around the area.

*

After patrolling the nearby buildings and the area for about 5 minutes, I found nothing unusual.

There was no Muspel suddenly emerging from the ground like before, nor any necromancers jumping out from somewhere to threaten us.

Having confirmed the safety through my patrol, I summarized the current situation.

The demon was subdued.

Everyone in our party was safe, and I was uninjured. There were no casualties, not even injuries.

However, there were civilian casualties during the subduing process. Four in total. They had been killed by the demon before we arrived at the scene. There were no survivors.

Since the civilians died because of the demon, not me or my companions, there should be no controversy in any post-operation assessment. There won’t be any broadcasts from Abas news agencies quoting foreign press saying, “Kiyen Empire’s Defense Attaché kills multiple civilians in friendly fire during military operation…” or anything like that.

So I could wait for Veronica with peace of mind. Once she puts a bullet made from melted holy relics in its head, the demon will be sent straight to hell on an express train.

After organizing my thoughts, I returned to the open space without taking any detours and informed my companions of the news.

“The area is safe. I looked around thoroughly, and there’s no one passing by or looking out.”

Judging that it wouldn’t be a problem to rest for a while since Veronica would arrive soon, I took out a water bottle from the bag I had thrown on the ground when the battle started and passed it around.

“Lucia, Francesca. Share this and drink a little.”

“Thank you.”

“Thanks, Attaché.”

“Let’s rest until support arrives.”

Francesca, who received the water bottle, leaned against the stair railing to rest. Lucia, on the other hand, only took a sip of water and kept her eyes fixed on the demon.

“Go rest, Lucia. I’ll keep an eye on the demon.”

“No, I should be the one watching…”

“It’s fine, go rest with Francesca. You two will need to capture the demon when Saint Veronica arrives. Save your strength until then.”

“……”

Lucia stared at me as if she wanted to say something, but then firmly closed her lips and nodded.

“By the way, where is Camilla?”

“She went into that building with the open door earlier. She said she would send a signal so others wouldn’t get lost.”

“Please stay here and keep the demon subdued. I’ll find her and bring her back quickly.”

Finding Camilla was easier than expected. She was at the top of the tallest building.

Climbing the stairs with paint peeling off to reveal bumpy concrete, I found Camilla standing outside the wide-open door.

With the Milky Way flowing overhead as if about to pour down, Camilla silently gazed at the darkened city.

After briefly surveying the rooftop and confirming there were no danger elements, I approached her. Orbentsk was still deathly quiet.

“Are you okay?”

I called out to Camilla.

“I heard you went to send a signal, so I came to check on you because I was worried about you going alone. Have you received any response from elsewhere?”

There was no answer.

While her hair fluttered in the gentle breeze, Camilla continued to look at the city with her back to me.

“Did you see any soldiers or inquisitors passing by? Veronica went in the opposite direction, so it might take her some time to get here.”

“……”

“…Camilla?”

I was in the process of adjusting the length of the sling around my neck.

Suddenly, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. My hands slowed down as I adjusted the length.

We had tracked footprints to the open space and engaged in combat with the demon. I fired first, landing the first blow on the demon, and then Camilla, Francesca, and Lucia joined in to attack it.

The demon screamed and struggled. It dodged attacks here and there, and even tried to lunge at me to bite my face when it saw an opening.

I didn’t check the time, so I can’t be sure, but it felt like the battle lasted about 10 minutes.

During those 10 minutes, we fought fiercely with the demon. We shot, slashed, punched, and even threw fire.

Yes, we fought intensely.

Very intensely, and noisily.

And that’s what I’m curious about.

The noise.

We fought so loudly, so why is the city quiet?

“……”

I raised my head and looked around. The blockaded Orbentsk was deathly quiet.

Come to think of it, there were many strange things.

No matter how blockaded the city is, it’s still home to 330,000 people. Including the refugees who flowed in after the conflict, the population is estimated to exceed 400,000.

As a precaution, the military command had evacuated all civilians near the collapse site where the demon-sealing formation and barriers were installed. This was to minimize civilian casualties in case a battle broke out. However, due to practical difficulties, civilians living beyond a certain distance from the collapse site were not evacuated.

In other words, where we are now, where we engaged with the demon, is an area where civilian evacuation did not take place.

It means that in each of those distant houses, someone is grateful for surviving another day and preparing for tomorrow.

But the residents showed no interest in the situation outside.

Even though the army might have broadcast announcements telling people to stay indoors, a battle still took place. Loud gunshots rang out in a blockaded city, but residents neither came out nor even opened their windows to check the situation.

That’s not the only strange thing.

We made a lot of noise fighting the demon. Gunshots, explosions, screams, and so on. If nothing else, the explosions and gunshots should have attracted the attention of forces searching in other areas.

Everyone should know what’s happening in Orbentsk right now, so they should have realized that someone was engaging in combat with a demon. If no one else, at least the mages from the Magic Tower should have come right away, since they can fly.

But even after the engagement started, and even now that it’s over, no one has come looking for us.

Not the Empire, not the Church, not the Magic Tower. Not even Veronica, who promised to send a signal if an emergency arose.

No one came looking for us.

As if we didn’t exist.

When my thoughts reached that point, goosebumps rose on my forearm where I had rolled up my sleeve.

“…We need to get out of here right now. Let’s go down.”

“……”

“Camilla, I said let’s go down. I’m not joking right now.”

“……”

Camilla still didn’t answer.

Neither the damn gray city shrouded in darkness, nor the radio, nor Veronica, nor Camilla. None of them answered.

As my heightened senses calmed down, I became aware of the surroundings. The once ordinary city now felt like a bizarre den of evil.

I could feel my hair standing on end despite wearing a helmet. I needed to get out of here immediately. With that thought filling my mind, I grabbed Camilla’s shoulder and turned her around.

“…Camilla!”

She whirled around and reached out to grab my neck.

Torn clothes in places, disheveled dry hair, and blackened eyes brought right up to my face.

Between her slightly parted lips came the revolting smell of decaying corpses.

Bringing her face close to mine, she smiled broadly and spoke in Kiyen:

“I told you. Run away if you want to live.”

My throat is being squeezed. I can’t breathe.

Blood rushing to my head can’t reach my brain, and my consciousness gradually fades. I hear a ringing in my ears.

Flickering vision and a world splitting into three. A flashback rushing by.

Fading vision and sinking consciousness. The maritime training I received before joining the company. I feel again like I’m diving into the deep sea. Dark blue, cold seawater engulfs my body.

The scent of a funeral home stings my nose. A familiar crying sound seems to chase after me.

A mocking laugh cuts through the ringing.

And a thread-like voice.

I tried to escape,

But I couldn’t.

*

“Wake the fuck up already! We’re all going to die at this rate!”

I suddenly heard English with an accent clearly different from my American friends. It started with “Wake the fuck up,” a crude curse.

My mind snaps to attention. My eyes open and my blocked airways clear as cold air fills my lungs.

I inhaled sharply like someone caught in rapids. Then I immediately choked and coughed violently.

What I see before me is a monster with its skull crushed. With a thud, its jaw is torn off as it slams its head against the wall. I see Lucia swinging silver knuckles dripping with blood.

Next to her is Camilla. She’s crouched behind a trash can using it as cover, shooting at the monsters with a rifle.

-Ratatatatat! Ratatatatat!

Even in the chaos, I noticed the familiar gun in Camilla’s hands, and looking again, I realized it was the one I had brought.

As I flailed my limp arms in the air, trying to raise my unmoving upper body, someone grabbed me and forced me to lie down.

A beautiful woman who looked like she had been raised in privilege was before me. It was Francesca who had laid me down.

She had bandages in her hand.

“…Francesca?”

“Don’t move. You’ve injured your head. Given that you were unconscious for a while, you likely suffered a brain injury.”

Gunfire. Combat. Monsters. Unconsciousness. Fainting.

A flood of information washed over me.

I barely managed to ask what was going on, my mouth not working properly.

The answer was very simple.

Camilla, dropping a magazine on the floor, shouted in an urgent voice:

“Can’t you see? We’re fucked right now!”

A truly kind explanation.