Ch.616Episode 22 – The Kazinsky Test

# Born in human form, a group that refused to live as humans melted into the darkness. The black curtain concealed the watchtower overlooking the earth, completely covering not only their bodies but also their taboos.

The reason rain soaked their shoulders was because they hid themselves under the eaves like criminals.

The reason murky blood stained their feet was because they chose to become criminals by covering their own eyes and ears.

A city bathed in the faintly tilted moonlight.

The insolent group hiding in pitch-black darkness began to move in packs somewhere, cutting through the rainwater.

To maintain their long-standing blood-bound solidarity, following the moon’s guidance.

Countless lycans moved. And countless eyes followed them, with innumerable silences trailing behind.

Some felt primal fear.

Some didn’t want to get involved in unnecessary fights.

Some displayed pointless chivalry but met unfortunate ends.

Everyone had different reasons, but the result was clear. They advanced smoothly, gathered, and completed their preparations.

For their new leader who guided them.

But one person.

Only one person did not overlook this.

Being the most powerful, there was no reason to feel fear.

Having led the charge in unnecessary battles, there was no reason to avoid fighting.

Having burned with conspicuous chivalry and achieved great military feats.

Mere werewolves, whose tactics had been figured out hundreds of years ago—

The Grand Magician, one of only two in the world,

Could erase most of those approaching her disciple with just a few gestures.

## Episode 22 – The Kazisski Test

Fenrih was observing his situation with emotionless eyes. His once domineering attitude remained, but the fierce, wave-like offensive had long since ceased.

“……”

The sound had stopped.

The thunderous footsteps that had been heard from afar had somehow disappeared. All that remained were desperate screams, the pitiful struggles of leather and claws, and the final breaths of fading lives.

The exceptional senses that humans could never match were making the lycans aware of the clear facts. These facts pointed to the uncomfortable truth that their kind was being slaughtered somewhere.

Fenrih could see the sky brightening like a mirage in the eastern alleyway. The blue flames from ancient times, passed down through legends of the great human mage’s art. The flames that once devoured the detestable servants of the celestial gods were now ferociously consuming the city.

…No. To be precise, the city was intact.

The flames were burning not buildings but only his kind. So this could not be called an attack or a battle.

A hunt, perhaps.

“Impressive magic.”

Words of admiration born from pure appreciation were conveyed to everyone through Fenrih’s voice. He was genuinely admiring the Grand Duchess’s magic.

How could human magic control such precise magical power?

He had never encountered a human who could use magic as casually as playing with sand from such a great distance.

The sight of lycans burning to death was horrifically tragic, yet Fenrih couldn’t help but feel admiration welling up from deep within his heart.

Perhaps because he too was a seeker of truth before considering his species.

“Your pack is being roasted, and here you are, the supposed leader, making carefree remarks.”

“Not all of them are dead.”

“Not all dead *yet*, you mean.”

Alexandra Petrova dismissed Fenrih’s words with an indifferent tone.

Conversation is a privilege granted only to those with intellect and who understand reason.

In other words, the Grand Duchess couldn’t even imagine chatting and laughing with a wild beast that merely knew how to speak human language.

-Swoosh.

The Grand Magician suddenly removed her coat, shifting her gaze from Fenrih who was watching the eastern side. The fabric flowed down her slender shoulders, stopping around her elbows.

“Take it.”

“Eh?”

“What are you doing? Get out of here.”

Alexandra Petrova handed her coat to Camilla as if tossing it and began urging her to disappear. Camilla blinked in confusion, not understanding what was happening.

Tsk.

The Grand Magician clicked her tongue and added while casually rotating her shoulders. Her attitude suggested slight annoyance.

“I don’t know where this ruffian came from, but he’s beyond your ability to handle. Not bad for a sorcerer trained in the German method. I’ll deal with him, so take the child and go handle the stragglers.”

“What? No, that’s too much…”

“Shhh.”

What should I do about this?

Camilla rolled her bewildered eyes and looked to Veronica for help. Should she retreat now?

Even though she’s a Grand Magician, this opponent is dangerous. Shouldn’t they fight together? She was the one who started this, and if the professor got hurt for no reason…

Her confused thoughts were jumbled when suddenly—

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !!

The water droplets pooled on the ground began to swirl. Like a violently pulsating heart, the droplets converged into a point in an instant, transformed into a solid form, then shattered into sharp fragments that flew toward the three people.

“Oh no-“

“Until the day I return home, protect me in the darkness. I have already seen the light.”

Camilla sensed the suspicious movement of magical power and struck down the ice fragments with flames, while Veronica quickly completed her prayer to deploy a protective barrier against the sharp pieces that weren’t blocked in time.

Alexandra Petrova went even further by demonstrating a higher level technique.

A skill that can only be used when employing a higher-level formula than the opponent or investing overwhelming magical power.

In modern military science terms: Counter-Magic.

And in the old way the Grand Duchess remembered:

“-Meteorísmus.”

Dispel.

The magical power that spread out with Alexandra Petrova at its center engulfed the area.

The fiercely burning flames, the sharply rising ice whirlwinds. Everything.

Even the sacred protective barrier that seemed to barely maintain its form was useless before the magical power that swept like a storm. Under the relentless magical power that pounded like fragile glass about to break, Veronica’s prayer was crushed like paper in the blink of an eye.

“What is this old hag trying to kill… Huh?”

The saint who was about to raise her voice in surprise after being hit by a bombardment-like attack at close range without warning.

“……”

“What.”

Veronica, realizing she was still alive and intact despite being caught in the violent whirlwind, blinked a couple of times as she met the gaze of the Grand Duchess who was looking at her with a sullen expression.

Then suddenly! She picked up Camilla like a sack of rice and shouted:

“I apologize, Your Highness!”

“Wh-what are you d-doing—!”

“Quiet!”

“Gyaaaak…!”

Camilla flailed her arms and legs, raising her voice to ask Veronica to put her down. Of course, Veronica had not the slightest intention of setting her down gently.

Alexandra Petrova, who was staring at her disciple being carried like luggage, let out a deep sigh.

“When will that senseless child ever grow up?”

“Heheh. Why? It’s fun.”

“Just keep maintaining the veil, Zeynab.”

“Yes, yes~”

Today again, the master who scolded her frustrating disciple delivered a light rebuke to her annoying friend.

Of course, that smile on her face wouldn’t disappear no matter what.

After exhaling a short breath that might have been a sigh or a lament,

The Grand Magician put her hands in her pockets and slowly turned, gazing at her opponent with tired eyes.

“I must have been in seclusion for too long. To think I’d be ambushed by someone like you.”

“……”

“Did you think you’d have a chance if you attacked by surprise?”

Fenrih stared at the Grand Duchess without saying a word.

As if revealing something hidden, he pulled out his hand that had been tucked inside his coat.

The leader who had taken the lives of his kin and usurped the pack takes his stance. The pitch-black darkness followed him as if protecting him.

A chill that penetrated to the bone gathered at his fingertips, and claws that had moved away from human form displayed distinct sharpness.

The lycan spoke.

“Do not be so arrogant, immersed in the glory of a bygone era, Grand Magician.”

“…Ha!”

The Grand Magician’s lips curved gently.

“Arrogant?”

Did he say arrogant?

-Whoosh~!

One step.

As the Grand Duchess took a step, blue flames followed her footsteps.

“Listen carefully, wolf who failed to become human.”

Her mysterious silver hair fluttered in the wind.

The remains of flames that dissolved into the air burned intensely blue.

Like the countless lives that had faded away beside her.

Like the countless lives that had disappeared before her.

“I didn’t withdraw from the battlefield because I grew weak.”

Like an overflowing vessel unable to contain excess water, the blue flames crawled low across the floor.

The flames that started from bloodstain-like footprints climbed up her legs vigorously.

The sparks flowing from her fingertips met with them, connecting into a single line.

As the crude line gradually recalled its original form imprinted in the mind,

It creates a sharp blade and nestles into its owner’s hand.

“It was because there were no more battlefields left for me to stand on.”

The legendary sword that, according to legend, was presented by the dwarves of the underground kingdom nine centuries ago to aid the emperor’s quest to subjugate an evil dragon.

Yongrin.

Born in flame and steel, it once slew the ruler of the skies in the hands of a dragon slayer.

Awakening in the midst of war and bloodshed, it once built an empire from atop a monarch’s horse.

Unfolding the final page that would adorn the age of knights and magic, it once made clerics tremble in fear beside the imperial princess.

The most splendid and cruel flower bloomed on the battlefield once more.

Alexandra Petrova gently grasped her beloved weapon, summoned after decades. The unrusted longsword seemed to possess a charm that mesmerized just by looking at it.

The weapon, awakened from its long slumber, welcomed its owner with a slight tremor, and the Grand Magician smiled slightly as she lowered the sword.

“Though I find your intention to target my disciple’s neck despicable, I commend your courage for not fleeing at the sight of me. Fenrih, was it? Good. I’ll give you ten exchanges, so attack me as you please.”

“……”

“But know this one thing. On the eleventh exchange, you will die by my hand without fail.”

It was clearly a provocation, but there was no reason not to accept it.

Avoiding a fight that had been initiated was not the lycan way.

A frost-like chill swirled under the tilted moonlight. It was an excessively high and lethally powerful strike.

It was a sight reminiscent of a frozen waterfall in a perpetually frozen land.

And,

A languid voice cut through the wind that shook like a typhoon.

“One.”

*

Legends about the Grand Magician’s martial prowess continue to be discussed by many people today.

Sometimes through historians’ books, sometimes through the joking remarks of magic enthusiasts, sometimes through the assessment reports of officials wary of the Empire.

Some explained:

While one cannot deny the greatness of the achievements of the hero who put an end to the age of barbarism, there are many questionable backgrounds that are difficult to verify based on objective historical materials.

Too many sparks of war have destroyed too many historical records, and the Vatican’s solemn secrecy has concealed too many historical facts.

Some argued:

While it’s true that the brilliant martial prowess of the great magician struck fear into the Inquisition and the Knights Templar, she was ultimately just a human.

The transience of time, which cannot be resisted, has softened the sharpness of magic and spells that were once honed on the battlefield, so just as rusted weapons disappear from the battlefield, the Grand Magician had no choice but to withdraw following the natural order.

Some evaluated:

Although the Northern Grand Duchess is a person of concern who can single-handedly turn the tide of the front line, she is not someone who has the freedom to act unilaterally, ignoring the international order of the Nastasiya Treaty and her status as a Grand Duchess.

Those with power are inevitably assigned corresponding responsibilities.

A giant’s stride may be the same yesterday and today, but to humans passing beneath, it could be a disaster.

As a Grand Magician who took up the sword for the peace of the magical society, if her misconduct were to break the Nastasiya Treaty, it was all too clear that the Inquisition would point the blade they had hidden for 100 years at the magic tower.

They said that the Grand Magician, who once commanded the battlefield, must now be content with the task of defending the northern border, having withdrawn from the front lines.

Of course,

No one would know the truth.

No one in their right mind would dare ask the Grand Magician why she had secluded herself.

Naturally, even within the Empire, even within the Chancellor’s Office and the Imperial Court, no one knew why she had left the battlefield and entered a long period of seclusion.

This was a truth unknown even to the officials of the Imperial Guardian Office, who were privy to the Empire’s weaknesses, making it a secret that the Grand Duchess had kept for a long time.

Since the keeper was human, it boasted security more impenetrable than any ordinary cipher.

However.

There was one more secret that neither the Imperial Chancellor, who had supported her nephew the Emperor throughout his life, nor the head of the Imperial Guardian Office, who possessed the most confidential information, knew.

That no one knew how she truly fought.

Only three people knew.

The friend who smiled naturally from high above in the sky,

The eccentric celestial practitioner with whom she once fought fiercely without mercy but never reached a conclusion,

And the young man from the Inquisition who had read the 100-year records that hadn’t been burned.

“……!”

Fenrih parried the attack flying toward him with wide eyes.

Was it an ambush? No, not an ambush.

The Grand Duchess was calmly holding her position. With the tip of her sword firmly fixed on the rooftop, she shifted her weight as if standing on one leg. She even had one hand in her pocket, merely narrowing her languid eyes.

“……”

As Fenrih stared at that figure, he suddenly felt a burning sensation. The familiar scent of blood tickled his nose. It was coming from the nape of his neck.

At some point, a deep groove had been carved into the leather around his neck.

As Fenrih wiped the red life fluid with his fingers, he momentarily fell into contemplation, wondering if she had launched a counterattack while dispelling his magic.

That’s when it happened.

“It was split by an ice fragment.”

Alexandra Petrova tapped the ice fragments on the ground with her longsword.

“Did you think I would cut your neck? Don’t worry. Even without your begging, I’ll personally drop it after nine counts.”

“…Ha. Haha.”

It was leather that had never been penetrated even by the most powerful lycans.

A smile appeared on Fenrih’s face.

“I didn’t see it. What a curious martial art.”

“It’s not martial arts, it’s magic.”

“Of course, indeed.”

The exploratory phase was over.

Fenrih stomped the ground, and Alexandra Petrova slowly took her stance, shifting her weight downward.

The concrete and tiles were pushed aside and crushed, soon firmly supporting her body.

Yongrin and the wolf’s claws began to collide fiercely, emitting thin, high-pitched screams.

*

At that time.

Camilla and Veronica, who had been driven off the rooftop, descended via a slippery drainage pipe and landed in the back alley.

– ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !!!

A fierce explosion was heard.

Liquid, whether from melted ice or last night’s raindrops, poured down like a bomb. Both of them screamed in unison.

“Gyaaak! Professor, what are you doing!”

Camilla was jumping up and down frantically, looking up at the rooftop with the appearance of someone who had just cleaned a chimney.

She had no idea what was going on, but the Grand Duchess was firing magic in all directions. Had she finally gone mad?

“She’s going to kill everyone around at this rate! Veronica, I need to go back up and stop her!”

“Wait.”

As Camilla tried to climb the drainage pipe to stop the Grand Duchess, Veronica, with her gaze fixed upward, gestured to restrain her actions.

Her attitude was very calm.

When an urgent Camilla asked “Why?!”, the saint silently pointed to the sky with her chin.

There was a carpet there.

Veronica pointed to that carpet, or more precisely, to the protagonist riding on it, and began to provide a kind explanation.

“Look around. Don’t you feel something like a barrier?”

“Oh? Now that you mention it…”

Indeed.

She had been too preoccupied to notice, but an unfamiliar energy filled the area. Camilla, being a magician, instinctively recognized this as a type of sorcery, specifically one specialized in separating spaces.

And as far as Camilla knew, magic or sorcery capable of controlling space hardly remained in the current era.

This was because most arcane techniques related to it had been lost in the aftermath of the last Magic Tower Independence War.

But there were two exceptions.

The magician and the sorcerer who had lived through that era.

“…High Priestess!”

“That’s right.”

Zeynab Eskander, who was riding on the carpet, seemed to have heard Camilla’s voice and looked down, flashing a bright smile. Even at that moment, the sorceress’s lips were constantly moving as if reciting something.

Veronica glanced at the priestess with half-disgusted eyes.

“I heard the barrier and veil that the Grand Duchess used in the Zamria Federation weren’t much different from modern sorcery… Indeed, the priestess seems exceptional since sorcery is her main profession. The title of matriarch of the sorcery world wasn’t just for show.”

How on earth did they deal with these old folks when they were young?

The saint inwardly grumbled as she loaded her gun and crossed over a shadowy puddle.

Although it was a peaceful era, religion and magic were at opposite ends like two sides of a coin. Even Veronica, who was in the clergy, though not a magician, had some knowledge about magic.

And the Grand Magician and Grand Sorceress were the individuals most guarded against by the Inquisition.

It didn’t take long for Veronica, as a saint, to understand the nature and properties of the barrier that Zeynab had deployed.

“…A mirror image reflected on a plane, laterally inverted from a vertical perspective. Isomerism that doesn’t overlap. Today is a waning half-moon, and she repeated the rhythm of sacrifice six times, so it’s double. Ah, that barrier.”

“Could you not mutter about topics only you understand?!”

“The priestess has separated the space. She’s split this place where we are now from the external real world.”

“What? Is that even physically possible?!”

How can you divide the world in two? That doesn’t make sense.

Despite expressing such thoughts, Camilla’s argument was refuted by Veronica with a short, thick statement.

“It’s sorcery. Why are you, a magician, talking about physical laws? That’s funny.”

“But still, there should be limits.”

“And the priestess is a priest before being a sorceress, you know? Not just any priest, but a high priest leading an entire religion. Whether she splits the world in two or splits the earth, it’s not strange at all.”

Veronica added calmly, as if stating an obvious fact.

“Anyway, there’s no need to doubt the effectiveness of this barrier. The number of city watchmen and inquisitors who have died trapped in here exceeds six digits at least.”

The purpose of deploying the barrier is obvious. It’s to create an environment where the Grand Duchess can unleash her attacks freely.

In other words, as long as the priestess’s barrier that divides this space in two is maintained, there’s no reason to worry about civilian casualties.

So what Camilla and Veronica needed to do was clear.

“Find the werewolves that are still alive, quickly!”

“Let’s do it!”

The two began searching for werewolves with breath still in them while navigating through the barrier. Since the werewolves involved in the terror had gathered here and were trapped in the barrier, they needed to find and subdue as many as possible while the barrier was maintained.

The problem was,

“…There are so damn many!?”

There were too many.

It was true that the Grand Duchess had beaten down the werewolves approaching Camilla, but the werewolves scattered throughout the city were a quantity that even the Grand Duchess would find challenging to handle.

If given enough time, the story might have been different.

But for the Grand Duchess, confirming her disciple’s face was more urgent than carrying out a massacre, so instead of slaughtering them, she chose to beat them up with moderate magic and then proceed to Camilla.

Therefore.

The werewolves, born with tenacious vitality, took advantage of the gap before the barrier was deployed to ambush a small number of humans,

And after the barrier was deployed, they succeeded in gaining vitality by taking the bodies of their dead comrades.

In other words,

“This old fart can’t do anything right!”

“If you have time to insult the professor, shoot your gun, Veronica, behind you!”

“Damn it, Father in heaven!”

What the two faced was not the remnants of dying werewolves.

It was a large group of werewolves who had not only regained vitality but had also formed ranks.

The fortunate point was that the barrier had been deployed in time, resulting in relatively few victims. This meant the werewolves also had relatively little opportunity to tend to their wounds.

But that was that.

What was annoying remained annoying.

“Kaaaak-!”

“Where do you think you’re going.”

Veronica dispatched werewolves by firing silver bullets in all directions. A wolf that was crawling on all fours to exploit an opening leaped like a projectile with the help of its swollen muscles, but the revolver, surrounded by a holy light, pierced its forehead without the slightest error.

“Kyeng, kyekyeng!”

“Stay still, stay still!”

Camilla threw a fireball that sent a group of werewolves flying into the air, then grabbed the muzzle of an unnamed werewolf lying on the ground and began beating it mercilessly.

Was it because of the heat from the flames surrounding her? Or was it because her blows were truly painful? The human-turned-wolf was whimpering without dignity, showing signs of pain.

The stock made of solid cherry wood struck the sensitive nose, making the werewolf’s mind reel.

Though it didn’t leave a trajectory of flames like her master’s, a fierce kick shattered the werewolf’s solid skull in an instant.

Meanwhile, in the distance, ice and spear-flames were creating a magnificent epic.

It was the epitome of chaos.

“Haak… Haak…”

Camilla took deep breaths as she stood back-to-back with Veronica.

No matter how many they caught, there seemed to be no end.

“Damn it.”

“Are you hurt anywhere, Veronica?”

“Not yet.”

No injuries, but her stamina was depleted. Veronica vaguely felt the weight of her leather pouch, which had become much lighter than before, and felt the urge to throw away the increasingly useless piece of metal.

Damn it.

She also needed to secure the “egg” that Frederick had mentioned, but what should she do now?

“……”

“……”

Camilla and Veronica glared at the werewolf pack that was gradually surrounding them.

Despite their numbers being significantly reduced, these creatures with tenacious strength and vitality maintained the same spirit as before. Their combat power was also unchanged.

I really hope that’s just a bluff.

Just as Camilla was wiping away sweat trickling down her jawline and trying to gather her wits,

– Kwaaaaaaang ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ ̶ !!!

A wall collapsed.

It was a sudden collapse. Both werewolves and humans had to hastily retreat to avoid the debris—it was an enormous sound and impact.

What now?

Amidst the coughing, someone’s irritable voice could be heard sharply.

“The sound of fierce dogs barking. The noise pollution of an uneducated, empty-headed neighbor.”

“…Oh.”

In the swirling dust, a massive figure loomed like a shadow, then walked out steadily to appear before everyone.

With a familiar voice:

“The peculiar stench of wolves. Meat that tastes like shit even if you drain the blood using tribal traditional cooking methods.”

Camilla’s blue eyes widened in surprise.

A physique that solved all of life’s problems with muscle power instead of logic, like something out of a manga.

Robust and delicate muscle tissues that looked like they could shatter pillars and burst out at any moment—truly a blessing from Mother Earth.

“But.”

The man standing amidst the collapsed ruins looked down at the werewolf pack, twitching his bloodshot eyebrows.

“Dumplings made from wolf meat. Very excited to see how juicy they will be.”

“Akande!”

Camilla greeted the familiar face with a raised voice, and Akande responded by revealing his snow-white teeth. They were still large and sharp, reminiscent of a beast.

That wasn’t all.

Behind him, more familiar faces appeared one after another.

“I was worried when communication became sparse, but I didn’t expect you to cause such a grand incident already.”

Pure white fascia and sudan allowed only to adults. A mace that punishes unholy beings. A cleric who bestows blessings on patients and judgment on heretics.

“I suspected something when the priestess came hugging a rampaging old lady… I really have no idea why you committed something you can’t handle.”

Alchemical solutions swirling in colorful flasks. A rune sword engraved with ancient characters that scatter subtle light. The prodigy of the magical society in this era and the descendant of the great magician whom she respects immensely.

Lucia and Francesca were looking at the two with eyes that said “this is ridiculous.”

They also looked slightly disdainful.

Of course,

“…You guys.”

“…Ugh!”

For the saint who found her younger siblings endearing, and the magician who viewed her companions as something like the Rohan Cavalry, even that was gratifying.

Anyway.

-Thud!

Akande, who had landed forcefully on the ground, began to slowly turn his neck while flexing his tremendous muscles.

“I, mother’s great warrior. Received mother priestess’s call. Inquisition begged for help. So arrived here.”

“If you call a request for cooperation begging…”

“Go!”

Interrupting Lucia’s words, Akande turned his head toward the werewolves. Lucia wore an expression that said she couldn’t take it anymore as she slung her mace over her shoulder, and Francesca patted her shoulder comfortingly.

Regardless,

Akande revealed his gleaming teeth and smiled like a beast.

It was at that moment that the black tattoo engraved on his shoulder blade flashed with light. The large figure dissolved into darkness in an instant, and as a confused werewolf looked around, Akande appeared right in front of it, spread his arms wide, picked it up in a bear hug, and began to crush it.

It was truly a horrific sight.

The sound of bones cracking and breaking could be heard vividly. Skeletal structures that shouldn’t protrude were constantly writhing beneath the skin layer.

Akande simply stood still, hugging the werewolf that was screaming and struggling as if it were a teddy bear. And only when the screams stopped did he gently release the werewolf, which had gone limp like a corpse.

A chilling silence descended.

The growls of werewolves with veins bulging in their necks echoed from all around.

Facing these werewolves, Akande took a step forward and kept wiggling his hands.

“Everyone here. Now I will hug you tightly with my broad chest. Come in one by one in order.”

Still with a smiling face.

With a face full of such a warm smile.

“Or I will come to you.”