Chapter 67

“After them! Haste!”

Kasha led two 3rd Circle mages in hot pursuit of Baek Jun-woo and Fel.

Their desperate struggle was quite annoying, but also somewhat adorable.

“Ha, seeing it in person makes me want it even more. That’s a relic, isn’t it? Summoning thirty relics at once?”

Greed dripped from Kasha’s wine-colored eyes.

“We’ll catch them within five minutes!”

She made this promise as she ran with all her might. The <Haste> spell permeated her legs, making each stride pierce through the air like an arrow.

But then,

Brrrrr!

Kasha’s protective talisman began to vibrate wildly. Not just hers—the talismans of both mages accompanying her started vibrating as well.

Ziiiiing!

Criiiiing!

The talismans wailed with increasingly higher pitches.

“…Why…?”

The protective talisman Kasha used was meant for high-ranking mages. It wasn’t made from peach branches but carved from a fist-sized black jade. Taking out the talisman from her chest, Kasha looked behind her.

A protective talisman vibrates in only two cases.

When it’s interfered with by magic,

And… more commonly, when a calamity is nearby.

“Wh-what is that!”

Kasha’s pupils dilated in shock. Fear seeped into her wine-colored eyes.

+ – + – +

I turned my body on the disc.

I saw a skeleton draped in pitch-black rags pouncing on Kasha’s group.

The calamity targeted mages with high aggro levels first. Thanks to that, the Jack Caravan members who were being slaughtered could hurriedly cross the Sky Bridge.

Things were turning out better than I had expected.

“Fel? Can you see that?”

“Just a moment… Wizard Eye!”

Perhaps sensing something from the smile on my face, Fel quickly turned around and activated a memorized spell.

“Ah…”

Fel’s eyes trembled. He must have seen the caravan members escaping.

“Thank goodness… truly thank goodness.”

He seemed happier about the caravan members surviving than concerned about the horrific calamity on our tail.

After watching each member crossing the Sky Bridge with tearful eyes, Fel only mentioned the calamity once he felt they had secured relative safety.

“Black robes… a skeleton body. Could that possibly be a lich? Why would a calamity usually only seen in the Tower of Covenant be here…?!”

His voice trembled faintly.

Night Calamity-Lich.

According to Fel, mages of 5th Circle and above occasionally revived as calamities after death. That’s why mage organizations made it a principle to cremate high Circle mages and thoroughly crush even their bones when they died… but liches like that were born from mages who died while secluded in research.

A lich’s power was proportional to its ability during life, ranging from B-grade to A+ grade, and they were characterized by possessing a certain level of intelligence. Powerful liches could even communicate using telepathy magic.

“So, a lich is at least B-grade, right?”

“Considering it descended directly without going through a gate, that one must be B+ grade or higher.”

“…Will the city be alright?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Even if the lich sees through the city’s concealment, calamities of A-grade or higher can’t stay in the wilderness for long. Lanciel City’s barrier is B+ grade. Either the barrier will defend against it, or the lich will leave the wilderness within half a day.”

That was fortunate.

“By the way…”

Suddenly Fel glared at me and changed the subject.

“Mage Baek Jun-woo? What exactly is your Circle level? Such monsters don’t appear just from fighting Lightning Calamities or from a 4th Circle mage showing up. You seem to be the variable here…”

He already seemed convinced.

I decided to answer honestly.

My heart felt heavy with the feeling that all this catastrophe was my fault.

“I’m 2nd Circle.”

“No. That can’t be…”

I cut off his words and continued.

“And I’m 3-star in blood channel magic.”

Fel clamped his mouth shut. His trembling eyes questioned me.

“Wh-when did you first become a mage?”

“…Less than half a year ago. Since becoming a Mana User.”

Fel was silent for a moment, then,

“Are you insane! Raising your level so quickly! Do you have a death wish?”

He suddenly burst into anger.

So it was because I raised my level too quickly that my aggro increased?

Still, I had my excuses.

“Well… when we stopped at the Shadowed Mountain Crossroad, my permitted stay time was about four days. It’s short, but Sena School Nomad also had four days. I thought that level of aggro was manageable enough to live with, but…”

But hearing my explanation, Fel became even more aghast.

“The entire Saharan Plains region is devoid of calamities now. That means the barriers bear less burden. These days, normal stay times of two months have increased to eight months.”

Ah… so that’s how it was?

No wonder people at the crossroad looked at us like we were carriers of plague when our stay time showed four days.

It meant that by previous standards, our aggro level would have allowed us just one day to stay.

Fel looked at me with eyes mixed with frustration and concern.

“And raising your level too quickly not only raises your aggro level but also affects you… Sigh, let’s talk about this later.”

He barely shook off his shock and asked me:

“Right now we need to worry about survival. How do we shake off that calamity? Do you have any ideas?”

Fel reminded me of the lich rampaging behind us.

But I didn’t have any brilliant solutions either.

I just knew one gamble.

“I do have a place in mind… but I can’t be sure what will happen when we get there.”

“Can’t be sure what will happen? Where is this place?”

I looked Fel straight in the eyes and answered.

“A calamity’s stronghold.”

Fel couldn’t respond for a while.

Did he not believe me?

Or did he not understand?

I had called it a ‘calamity’s stronghold,’ but I wasn’t sure how to explain it further. A relic site created by the demons who created calamities. I couldn’t have imagined such a thing existed until I explored Arsenal #7.

But Fel’s response was unexpected.

“Are you referring to… a demon’s relic site?”

I stared at Fel stupidly.

You know about them?

Seeing my expression, Fel replied bitterly:

“Haha, a demon’s relic site… how did you find it? Is it nearby?”

“Ah, yes…”

“Then let’s go there. Given the situation, it would be better to enter the Tower of Covenant through the demon’s relic site. The lich won’t be able to detect us inside the Tower of Covenant.”

“We can enter the Tower of Covenant from there?”

“Every relic site connects to the Tower of Covenant. Whether it’s a god’s relic site or a demon’s relic site.”

And so our destination was set.

As we flew toward the relic site, we watched the desperate battle and escape unfolding behind us.

“Now all we can hope is that they hold out as long as possible.”

Hearing Fel’s earnest voice, I slowly observed the lich.

A skeletal body, moved by magical power.

Bizarrely transformed Circles and magical power lines that extended to its limbs like blood channels, wiggling.

And mana, contorted like tentacles, connecting the magical power to the skeleton.

Wasn’t it fascinating?

A dead body moved by magical power.

Even possessing intelligence.

Perhaps it could be called a magical power life form.

It might sound crazy, but,

‘Isn’t this the perfect research material for studying gods and demons?’

Between my guilt for bringing the calamity and the sense of crisis from having my life threatened… my research desire flared up like a flame.

My throat went dry. I swallowed hard.

+ – + – +

At that moment, 4th Circle mage Kasha felt like she was in a nightmare.

‘Why did a lich descend? Why?’

She had won numerous duels throughout her life.

But those fights had always been magical battles against people; this was her first time fighting a calamity.

For the first time in her life, she felt she could understand the emotion of despair.

Her title was ‘Iron Blood Mage.’

Her specialty was manipulating magical iron using blood as a medium.

“Iron Mark!”

As she recited the spell, she recalled her glorious ‘victory pattern.’

<Iron Mark> was a magic that created a small wound on the opponent’s body and injected seeds of magical iron that grew by feeding on blood.

It was a needle-like magic that concentrated power on just one point very discreetly, so even mages specializing in magical defense couldn’t block <Iron Mark>.

From there, everything proceeded systematically.

Once a small hemorrhage began, control of the blood gradually passed to Kasha. Then she would add the <Worsen Wound> spell to increase the bleeding.

After increasing the amount of bleeding, she would use <Iron Binding>. The magical iron seeds previously planted were already ready to grow by absorbing the opponent’s blood. The moment the spell activated, sharp metal spikes would grow, piercing the enemy’s blood vessels.

That would be the end.

She had never even needed to use her trump cards, <Blood Explosion> and <Iron Blood Sword>. All the 4th Circle mages she had dueled died easily. Though they had acted arrogantly, they died appropriately to their true worth.

Thus… she had prided herself as being among the strongest combat mages at the 4th Circle level… she had even secretly thought she could defeat a 5th Circle mage if she caught them properly…

Ting!

But the lich was different. When hit with <Iron Mark>, only a small groove was carved into its bones.

Since there was no blood in its body, she couldn’t use a small wound to create a larger one. The magical iron wouldn’t grow.

‘And it’s also B+ grade…? Damn…’

It was already a formidable opponent, and the matchup was the worst possible.

“Damn it! Retreat! Retreat! Pass the aggro to those guys!”

Kasha shouted, pointing at Baek Jun-woo’s group quickly fleeing.

She had completely abandoned her plan to capture Baek Jun-woo alive and extract the secrets of the ancient relic.

Nothing could be more important than her own life.

“Fatal Wound!”

The lich descended like the grim reaper. Kasha launched her Gift [Fatal Wound] at it. The cruel power that cut through and expanded anything sliced through the lich’s bones.

-Kieek. Kik.

‘Did it… laugh?’

But like an illusion, a nerve-grating laugh echoed, and the lich’s severed bones mended themselves as if time were flowing backward.

“Arrrgh! Blood Explosion!”

Finally, Kasha used her <Blood Explosion> spell for the first time in ten years. It was her ultimate measure that increased physical abilities more than fivefold and amplified magical effects more than twofold for a day. However, she had been reluctant to use it because of the terrible pain that persisted throughout its duration.

Pop pop boom!

Kasha’s body heaved like an internal combustion engine. Her eyes bloodshot, thin streams of blood flowing from her ears.

She launched herself forward with a scream, “Arrrgh!” from the boiling pain. Each time her foot touched the ground, she shot through the distance like a cannonball. Baek Jun-woo’s group, which had been getting farther away, suddenly seemed within reach.

‘I’ll grab them one by one with <Blood Binding> and drop them! That will buy me time!’

Kasha stretched her claws toward the petite girl she saw first. Her bloodshot eyes gleamed with predatory intent.

“Blood Binding!”

The leather pouch at her waist untied, and a sticky blood substance extended from it like a snake. <Blood Binding> quickly cut through the air and tightly wrapped around Yuria, the blue-haired girl at the rear of the formation.

A distorted smile appeared on Kasha’s lips.

‘That’s one.’

That blue-haired girl was undoubtedly Baek Jun-woo’s companion. She might even be able to catch Baek Jun-woo with this.

But…

“Escape!”

Yuria’s clear voice rang out, and the white coat she wore fluttered. Her body slipped out of <Blood Binding> as if greased.

‘Ah… that’s Han Se-hoon’s…’

In her haste, she had overlooked something obvious.

“Ugh! No!”

As she reached out to cast another spell, a chilling voice reached her ears.

-Where… are you trying to go…

<Curse of Slowness>

The lich’s magic, extended from far away, grabbed her ankle. Her speed suddenly decreased as if she had hit an invisible wall.

Kasha struggled to increase her speed further.

But the lich’s magic was like a swamp that wrapped around you when you tried to escape and pulled you deeper when you tried to stand.

It felt like slowly drowning.

She glanced back. Fortunately, there was still distance between her and the lich. The mages who had followed her were buying time by desperately fighting for their lives. The lich had merely ensnared her in advance.

‘Still! I can still survive!’

Kasha ran toward salvation at her reduced speed. She desperately tried to catch up with Baek Jun-woo’s group, growing more distant bit by bit. Her whole body felt like it was on fire due to the <Blood Explosion> spell detonating with each beat in her blood vessels.

“Stop right there!”

Kasha shouted.

“It’s a calamity! Isn’t it a mage’s duty to deal with calamities when encountered? Are you fleeing like cowards?”

She made such unreasonable demands as if she had forgotten the massacre she had just committed.

Had he heard her? The white-haired boy, Baek Jun-woo, looked back at Kasha.

“Yes! You! Help me! Are you going to turn tail and run from a calamity? Are you that afraid of calamities?!”

Kasha, her face brightening with hope, taunted until the end.

Baek Jun-woo stared at Kasha expressionlessly, then,

Swish!

Without warning, he shot an arrow. The arrow’s speed was abnormally fast, and strange magical power swirled around it.

“Ki cultivation?!”

Startled, Kasha waved her hand to deflect the arrow, but the impact pushed her body back slightly. That much farther Baek Jun-woo’s group got from her, and that much closer the pursuing lich came.

She saw Baek Jun-woo, flying away without looking back, raising his middle finger behind him.

Kasha couldn’t understand the meaning, but… an inexplicable rage welled up inside her.

“Aaaaargh!”

As Kasha ran with a shriek of fury,

-Kik. Kiiiik kik.

Behind her, the lich’s laughter, like metal being scraped, followed closely.