Chapter 40: Confrontation (1)

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[What should we do about the boy, Lord Claude?]

[Leave him be. The commotion in the square is already big enough. We’ve drawn too much attention.]

As one crow spoke, another crow answered.

In a space filled with such crows, a single man stood.

Their master. The one speaking through the crows. Claude, the apostle of the Shadow Order.

Once, out of curiosity about the children Louveci was so invested in that she delayed her retirement, Claude had secretly conducted an experiment.

Since the children’s movements could be tracked from the sky through the crows, he observed them. One day, he noticed two of them entering the underground sewer—a perfect opportunity for his experiment.

He dropped a “fragment” as the focal point.

How would they fare? If they died, that would be the end of it, and Louveci’s lingering attachment to life would fade. If they survived, they would be worthy talents.

Then, in an instant, the signal from the fused entity was cut off. It vanished without a trace.

Given the circumstances, it was likely the boy who had dealt with it. Since he always headed to the underground sewer, Claude had expected him to have some strength. But not knowing how he had done it, Claude decided to hold off.

For now, dealing with Louveci and the girl took priority.

“…”

Claude opened his mouth, recalling that day.

.

.

.

[I acknowledge the potential of the children. But Louveci, time is running out. He is waiting for you.]

The crow spoke.

Perched on the shoulder of one of the black-clad figures, it spoke in a rough voice.

Sugar remembered. Fragments of her past life’s memories surfaced. She had seen scenes like this in the game a few times.

The apostle who commanded crows and was well-versed in human anatomy and medicine.

Louveci was annoying, but it was hard to call her completely evil. If she were, she would have dragged Sugar to the religious order long ago, regardless of Sugar’s wishes.

However Claude could truly be called a villain. While all the apostles were unpleasant, he was particularly detestable.

‘The apostle who directly destroyed the senses and vocal cords…’

It made her blood boil.

Amidst this, Louveci calmly spoke.

“Claude, why are you in such a hurry? Is someone chasing you?”

She smiled as if asking if he had eaten, maintaining her usual demeanor.

[He is waiting for you. Do not divert your focus.]

“Did He specifically call for me? Did He say time is running out? How dare you distort His will?”

[Calling interpretation a distortion leaves me speechless. Should I take that as a sign of disobedience?]

“It’s wrong to package your personal will as His.”

[Personal? Does this look personal to you?]

The followers of the religious order surrounded Sugar and Louveci.

[Everyone is waiting for your wretched breath to reach Him. Why do you keep delaying? Months have passed. A year has already gone by. If that’s not disobedience, what is?]

Having declared her retirement but failing to return, Louveci was labeled a disobedient. Using this as justification, the religious order had mobilized. Louveci subtly adjusted her grip on her cane.

“I, too, wish to rest by His side as soon as possible. But that’s not the end, is it? Even if I disappear, the religious order will continue. I want to prepare for that. Can’t you understand?”

[And months have passed. If it were me, I would have brought those children in long ago.]

“If it were you, you would have forced them. That’s something that should never be done.”

[Hah. It’s pitiful to hear you say that. You claim it’s for the religious order, yet you refuse to force even that? It makes no sense, you disobedient fool.]

“Um…”

“You’re too hasty. Stubborn, even. It’s as if you’re being chased by something. Are you desperate to do something but can’t because of me?”

[Enough with the baseless assumptions.]

“Excuse me…”

“Let’s lay it all out now. Are the other apostles watching? What exactly are you all planning? What are you hiding from me? You’re the ones who are truly disobedient—”

[Louveci. Retract your statement immediately.]

“I said it with full resolve. Will you stop this just because I take it back? Now that it’s come to this, I’ll see it through to the end.”

[It seems you’ve been waiting for this moment. Fine, if that’s what you want.]

Louveci steadied her stance. Just as the followers began to draw their weapons—

“Excuse me!”

Sugar’s voice rang out at the perfect moment.

In that instant, the crows, Louveci, and the followers all turned to look at Sugar.

“Ah… well.”

This is awkward. Sugar cleared her throat and spoke.

“…Isn’t it a bit much for a kid to get caught up in adults fighting? Can I just leave? I have no intention of joining you. Just pretend you didn’t see me.”

Scratching her head as she spoke, Louveci responded.

“She’s right. Let the child go.”

[…Then, since the child you were supposed to bring is gone, shall we proceed with the retirement ceremony right away?]

“That’s not it, Claude.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely not it. You’re being completely unreasonable.”

As Sugar chimed in from the side, the crow let out a sigh.

[This conversation is going nowhere.]

No sooner had the words left its beak than the followers launched their attack.

As if perfectly synchronized, they moved as one.

Whoa, whoa, whoa—just as Sugar was panicking, Louveci stepped in front of her.

“Sugar, stay back for a moment.”

“Huh? Wait—”

“Illusion.”

With the activation word and a tap of her cane on the ground, another world unfolded before Sugar.

Blazing sunlight. The chirping of birds.

Looking around, she was high up in a tree. A place so high that reaching out might touch the clouds. Yet, it wasn’t cold. Louveci, the followers, the crows—they were all gone.

Sugar pinched her cheek.

It hurt.

A spell of this scale… Even Sugar, who didn’t know much about magic, could feel the extent of Louveci’s power.

At the same time, a question arose.

‘Such a beautiful scene…’

Magic is, after all, imagination.

How did she, who cannot see, conjure up such a scene?

“…And how do I wake up?”

While Sugar was bewildered in the illusion.

Louveci was facing off against the followers who had stopped moving.

The followers trembled, each seeing their own terrifying illusions.

Louveci, who had subdued them in an instant, looked at the crow. Though she couldn’t see, it was a courtesy to the one she was speaking to.

“It’ll be a bit difficult to undo. Or would you like to undo them one by one yourself?”

Once, she had taken to the field herself, but at some point, her colleague had started observing from afar and only giving orders. When she posed a question with an obvious answer to such a person, the crow silently spread its wings and rose into the air.

Caw—it let out a powerful cry, and the followers who had been seeing hallucinations all opened their mouths.

Aaaaaah, kyaaaaah, gruuuuh—

They screamed in unison.

And as before, it ended in an explosion.

This time, instead of crows, flesh and blood splattered everywhere. The smell of blood filled the air.

“Ah… I really don’t like this kind of thing…”

Sacrificing precious followers like this. Louveci made a pained expression. Regardless, the crow flying in the sky spat something out from its throat.

A pitch-black gemstone-like fragment fell to the ground. Using it as a focal point, pieces of the corpses began to gather.

[It is a sacrifice to stop the disobedient. It must be accepted with reverence.]

“Do you think you can capture me with this?”

[Of course not.]

The golem made of corpses rushed toward Sugar, who was sitting quietly. Despite its heavy, slimy body, it was fast.

Louveci stepped in front of it and chanted a spell.

“Explosion.”

Just before it exploded, the fragments scattered into the air. Half were caught in the explosion and burned, but the other half safely escaped the blast range.

Just then, the crow dropped a second gemstone fragment. It fell above Sugar’s head.

Louveci quickly chanted a defensive spell.

“Protection.”

A thin barrier of magical energy enveloped Sugar.

The second gemstone fragment became the focal point, and the gathered corpse pieces formed a massive lump of flesh that bounced off the barrier.

At that moment, it scattered again and lunged at Louveci.

The direction was bad. Earlier, she had her back to Sugar, but now she was facing her. If she chanted “Explosion” now, Sugar would also be caught in it.

‘Of course, I’ve already cast Protection…’

It’s better to play it safe.

Louveci leaped backward in a wide arc.

“…Ah!”

The ground she landed on had a groove, as if prepared in advance for someone who couldn’t see. Louveci’s posture faltered, and she steadied herself with her cane.

When she hurriedly looked ahead, a wall of magical energy had already been erected.

Of course, only Louveci could see it that way; in reality, it was a wall of corpse fragments blocking the way.

Realizing her mistake, she tried to leap sideways, but the crow was already diving sharply toward Sugar.

‘No…!’

As she ran, a low voice came from behind.

“Explosion—”

Startled, she turned around to see a human head falling.

The head, with hollow eyes, was the medium through which Claude chanted the activation word. A wand was stuck in one of its eye sockets.

All the conditions for casting the spell were in place.

Sugar had been the bait.

Even if she realized it now, it was too late to chant a defensive spell. Instinctively, she focused her magical energy on her vital points.

A violent explosion engulfed Louveci.

“…”

The acrid smell stung her nose.

But it wasn’t time to stop. Her body wouldn’t die from something like this.

‘The injuries…’

As she focused to check her condition, strangely, there was no pain.

“…?”

It wasn’t hot or painful. Her body had been thrown to the ground, so her buttocks and back stung a little. Something heavy had collided near her stomach, leaving her feeling numb, but that was all.

When she cautiously opened her eyes, she saw a small flow of magical energy surrounding her.

“…Sugar?”

“Wow… That person… is really vicious… No matter what… they’re on the same side…”

Sugar, who had gathered her magical energy in an instant, gasped for breath as she spoke.

From there to here. She had leaped in an instant. She had thrown her body to save Louveci from the explosion.

It was like a feat of teleportation.

“No, how…”

“The illusion magic? I just kept… using ‘Dispel’ over and over… Huff… and it came undone…”

“…What did you say?”