Ch.332Episode 13 – There Is No Country for Wizards

A grenade cuts through the darkness-shrouded alley.

The fist-sized metal object flies at high speed, but only briefly, before its rounded warhead collides with the ground.

No explosion follows.

The grenade, after hitting the asphalt, merely rolls across the road, dispersing grayish smoke in all directions.

‘…A dud?’

So, it wasn’t particularly strange that Martinez, seeing a grenade that emitted smoke without exploding, thought of a misfire.

The pack of dogs, still retaining some of their instincts, became disoriented when the smoke suddenly appeared, halting their attack on the humans.

The surprise attack had failed, but it wasn’t a problem.

The undead under mental control would follow their master’s orders regardless of their instincts. And Martinez wasn’t the only one with obscured vision.

Using the smoke as a shield, Martinez rose to his feet, brushing off his mud-stained clothes. The gunfire had ceased, perhaps out of concern for misfires.

As he stood up, his loyal subordinate, Ahmad bin Rabani, approached and began supporting him.

“Senior.”

Martinez’s gaze turned to Ahmad.

Ahmad’s attire was exceptionally light, as if he had rushed out of the hotel immediately after receiving the call.

“…The contract?”

To Martinez’s hushed question, Ahmad shook his head with a troubled expression.

“No response.”

“…Damn it.”

After consuming so many sacrifices, the demon was washing its hands of them. Indeed, demons couldn’t be trusted.

But they couldn’t stop here.

After coming this far. After everything they’d been through. How could they stop just because things had gone a little wrong?

Supported by Ahmad, Martinez stood up and channeled magical power into the magic circle. The unstable spell transformed into a bright curtain of light.

Though no words were exchanged, they already knew what needed to be done.

He patted Ahmad’s shoulder, and Ahmad nodded heavily.

“…Go.”

By the time the thick smoke had dispersed in all directions.

All that remained in the alley were the baring-toothed pack of dogs, the magician who chose to stay behind, and the paramilitary operatives with their guns.

Episode 13 – There Is No Country for Magicians

“What’s the situation?”

In response to my casually tossed question, Pippin’s answer came through.

-‘One adult male has left the scene. 275 meters east… no, 286 meters now. Identified as Martinez.’

“What about our staff?”

-‘They’re in a standoff with a magician at the scene. During the engagement, a new magician intervened—it appears to be Ahmad bin Rabani.’

A standoff.

That doesn’t mean they’re fighting.

“Do they need medical support?”

I hear papers rustling over the radio. After a brief pause, Pippin contacts me again after communicating with the operation team.

-‘No injuries reported.’

“Anything unusual?”

-‘Undead in the form of dogs have appeared. They seem related to the undead you encountered in the village that you reported earlier, sir. As the senior analyst supporting the operation team predicted, Martinez and his group appear to be necromancers.’

Undead. New magician. Necromancer.

Just a month ago, such a report would have terrified me, but my reaction was indifferent. The same was true for the other Royal Intelligence paramilitary operatives listening to the report.

As Pippin continued his analysis, I passed through a gloomy alley and blurted out:

“They fired a grenade?”

-‘Yes.’

Pippin said.

-‘The field team fired a grenade from above right after the protection spell activated. The gas was successfully dispersed.’

“Did they inhale it?”

-‘None of our field team members inhaled the gas. They evacuated immediately after it was dispersed. But Martinez and Ahmad definitely inhaled it. They stayed at the scene for nearly a minute, so they must have breathed in at least a small amount.’

“…Is that so?”

I nodded and removed my finger from the button.

“Then they’ll die soon.”

The radio, now turned off, blinked its green light and ceased operation. With radio silence initiated, there was no risk of the Imperial forces tracking our position.

Emerging from the alley, I suddenly looked up at the sky.

In the midst of the intense darkness, sparkling white snowflakes tickle the bridge of my nose.

The gloomy sky of the north, with snow falling.

As clouds swirl like an approaching typhoon, filling my vision, I gently close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“……”

I can see the end.

*

“…It’s over.”

As his laboriously raised gaze emerged from the end of the long tunnel, it was a snow country.

Looking at the world covered in pristine white snow, Martinez recalled the snow country.

The fluffy snow piled up thickly forms fields.

The vast land stretches like an endless prairie to the horizon. The piles of snow on top of it glow white in the darkness.

The snow wasn’t the only thing that shone.

Like morning dew flowing down delicate leaves to moisten the earth, tiny snowflakes sparkled as they fell to the ground.

That sight. The starlight flowing over the snow field. The scenery etched into his eyes.

It was so beautiful.

“……”

A railway running across the empty snow field.

Martinez, who had been walking along the straight railway that extended far before entering the tunnel, collapsed onto the snow.

“Ha….”

Captivated by the magnificent scene, he instinctively clutched his chest and exhaled a trembling breath.

His chest hurt, and his breathing was labored.

With each inhalation, his inflated lungs screamed as if being pierced by thousands of needles.

The chest pain felt like needles stabbing between his ribs into his muscles and lungs, making him want to tear open his chest and rip out his lungs if he could.

The pain that had persisted since meeting Ahmad showed no signs of subsiding.

At first, he thought he might have been injured somewhere from being hit by a car and rolling on the road, but after examining his body with what little magical power he could muster, he realized the pain in his chest was definitely not from external trauma or impact.

His lungs were completely damaged. Except for some minor cracks, his ribs were fine, but his lungs were bleeding.

Why?

He questioned himself, but no answer came.

Then, one hypothesis crossed his mind.

Long ago, during his adventurer days, he heard a story from a soldier from the Mauritani continent during a monster subjugation operation. They said there was a weapon developed to kill magicians and clergy.

The soldier claimed he had never seen it himself and had only heard rumors circulating among officers, but similar rumors had spread among magicians as well.

Rumors that the Imperial army possessed a poison that was impervious to both magic and divine power. That just a small inhalation would cause a coma, that it would completely destroy the lungs, that even divine power couldn’t detoxify it unless wielded by a bishop-level or higher cleric, that it would take one’s life the moment magic was used.

The rumors weren’t limited to the Empire. Magicians from Abas, Fatalia, and the Lushan Federation had shared similar stories.

He had thought they were just baseless conspiracy theories.

“…Damn it.”

Martinez, who had been staggering along, sat down heavily to rest. Unaware that his trouser hem and cape were catching on sharp pebbles, he crawled along the ground and barely managed to lean against the tunnel wall.

The situation had gone awry.

The plan had failed, and the operation had collapsed.

A plan that had taken a full 20 years, perhaps his entire life as a magician, had crumbled to pieces.

The best strategy he had prided himself on had failed due to the unexpected appearance of the hero and his group. The silver bullet of the detestable saint had pierced the demon’s heart.

Perhaps when the Grand Duke had granted permission for the Inquisition to be stationed. No, even earlier, when the inquisitors who had noticed the demon’s existence visited the northern village, failure might have been foretold.

For two weeks, he had tried to devise an alternative with his subordinates, but this too had failed.

Before they could formulate a specific plan, his subordinates lost their lives to intruders, and he found himself in this fleeing state.

“…Haa.”

As soon as he swallowed the hot liquid rising from his lungs, a sigh of either regret or indignation escaped him.

Forgetting the pain that made his nails twitch, Martinez rose by bracing himself against the wall and hastened his steps, moving his legs that refused to cooperate.

The plan had failed, but it wasn’t over yet.

Even if his name was erased from the school’s roster, even if he was expelled from the magic tower, even if the magic battalion pursued him, even if the cursed Inquisition’s army combed through the entire continent. There was still a chance.

As long as he survived, he could rise again.

So while he still had strength, he needed to leave the north as quickly as possible.

Amid the vague thoughts that might be excuses or obligations wandering through his mind, Martinez, who had barely risen to his feet, moved forward, bracing himself against the wall.

Towards the end of the tunnel where a ray of light entered.

Then, just as he thought a shadow had fallen across the tunnel, he raised his head with difficulty, and an unfamiliar sight unfolded before his eyes.

“……”

It was a snow country at the end of the long tunnel.

The fluffy snow piled up thickly covered everything. The world was filled with brightly shining snow.

A snow field stretching like a vast prairie to the horizon.

A railway cutting straight through the land covered with piles of snow.

At the end of the tunnel, bathed in faint moonlight, a woman stood tall.

As Martinez, who had raised his head with difficulty, saw her face, a breath escaped between his trembling lips.

*

The woman’s eyes opened at the small sigh that escaped between his teeth.

A pair of violet eyes like violets.

Standing on the railway, Francesca opened her eyes and looked at Martinez.

Francesca’s gaze toward Martinez was infinitely cold. Her eyes, colder than a winter river, shone as intensely as the moon that had emerged from behind the clouds.

A voice as chilling as her gaze followed.

“While Ahmad is fighting to the death, the one who started all this is here.”

Martinez’s cheek twitched at Francesca’s blunt words.

Unlike his usual self, where emotions rarely showed, he was now distinctly emotional.

The same was true for Francesca.

Francesca, who usually greeted everyone with a bright smile, now wore an expressionless face. Her expression, devoid of a smile, combined with her cold gaze and chilling voice, made her resemble a lifeless figure in a watercolor painting.

“…Did you know?”

“I had my suspicions.”

“…Since when?”

“Since I realized you were hiding something from me.”

Her voice, no longer gentle, was hard and wooden.

Martinez’s expression hardened at Francesca’s demeanor, so markedly different from her usual self.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Speak, Lady Ranieri.”

“That day.”

December 31st. The day the demon revealed itself to the world.

“Magicians flying over Orbentsk died. The security department said the magic that killed them was from the Protection School.”

“……”

“Was it you?”

Martinez remained silent. His silence was his answer.

Breathing heavily, Martinez let out a sigh mixed with a slight cough.

“Did you also know why I’m doing this?”

“……”

There was no response. The silence was her answer.

At this, the magician stepped forward and appealed to the descendant of the great magician.

“Independence is what everyone in the magic tower wants. It’s the long-cherished wish of all magicians.”

The magic tower is located in Nastasiya City in the southern part of the Empire.

Long ago, the previous emperor, concerned for his sister who had joined the war against the church, became a patron of the magic tower. That sister is now the Grand Duchess of the North.

Thanks to this, for the past hundred years until now, magicians from around the world have been able to establish residence in Nastasiya City in the southern part of the Empire.

However, after the previous emperor died of illness, everything changed when a member of the imperial family staged a coup, claiming regency due to the current Emperor Nikolai VI’s young age.

The Empire, which had been a patron of the magic tower, turned its back. The regent who usurped the throne did not recognize the magic tower as an official state and signed the Nastasiya Treaty with the Pope.

Even after the grown Nikolai VI staged another coup with the military to reclaim the throne, purged officials, and consolidated imperial power, the situation remained unchanged. The emperor denied all the regent’s achievements and policies except for one: the hardline policy against the magic tower.

“The Empire has betrayed us twice.”

“……”

“We’ve been treated like parasites for the past hundred years.”

“…So?”

Francesca blurted out.

“What does that have to do with this incident?”

“…What do you mean,”

“I don’t care what you do. Whether you make contracts with demons, corner the Empire, or antagonize the church. I don’t view your opinions positively, nor do I share your intentions.”

Martinez stared at Francesca with a blank expression. Her calm voice continued.

“If you had told me the truth, I would have informed Oracle that you were a necromancer, but I wouldn’t have come to confront you myself. But you deceived me.”

“That’s…”

“Then you used me as a means to achieve your goal, didn’t you?”

His lips sealed tightly at her blunt words.

Francesca’s lips parted.

“Not for the wish of magicians.”

Her cold voice concluded.

“But for your own plan.”

A butterfly flies into Martinez’s field of vision as he tightly seals his lips.

The butterfly, fluttering gracefully like wind racing across the wilderness, circles around before landing on a blue blade.

Magical power flows into the blade inscribed with strange characters, turning it blue.

“Whatever your purpose. No matter how important it is. The fact remains that you deceived me, killed magicians, and fled alone to save your life.”

Francesca raised her rune blade, which emitted a cold blue light.

Behind her, floating gears rotated rapidly, drawing in surrounding pebbles to form a body.

In her hand that emerged from her bosom was a vial containing a brightly glowing poison.

“Except for wars between nations and legitimate duels, it’s a grave sin for a magician to take another magician’s life. Regardless of the reason.”

But there is one exception.

Even Oracle does not condemn the killing of a renegade magician.

“And you deceived me, made a contract with a demon, and killed magicians.”

The descendant of the great magician, raising her ancestral sword, spoke to the necromancer.

It was a declaration.

“You should know why you die.”

Green magical power penetrates the spell drawn in the air.

A green curtain fills the vision.

A giant fist shakes the barrier, and viscous liquid corrodes concrete and steel.

As the precariously fluctuating magical power disperses with the butterfly’s flutter.

The blue blade cuts through the air.

A world covered in pristine white snow.

The fluffy snow piled up thickly forms fields, and the piles of snow on the land stretching to the horizon glow white in the darkness.

Small snowflakes sparkle as they fall to the ground.

The starlight flowing over the snow field is captured in two eyes.

Blue magical power, flickering like embers, scatters in all directions, filling the vision.

Martinez closes his eyes to the beautiful sight that captivates him.

The moon, caught in the clouds, falls toward an upside-down world.

*

-‘The deaths of Karim Boumediene, Ahmad bin Rabani, and Juan Pablo Martinez have been confirmed.

Personnel deployed to the scene should move to designated points, destroy equipment and documents, and prepare for withdrawal.

Thank you for your hard work.’