“Huff, huff! Senior! H-How much more do I need to move?”
“Hmm…”
At the question of Aiden who was drenched in sweat as if it were raining, Jun hesitated for a moment. He was unsure how to respond.
“Until I say it’s enough?”
“Ah, understood!”
It briefly reminded him of his military days.
Why did the face of the senior who had worked him to the bone suddenly come to mind?
Jun turned away from that thought.
Aiden’s really putting in the effort.
Boom! Boom boom!
Thanks to Aiden’s hard work, countless magic cannons were firing and significantly reducing the number of paladins breaking into the fortress.
But even that would have its limits.
“Alright, everything’s ready now.”
Of course, Jun hadn’t just been standing around watching Aiden struggle.
“There’s an old saying. The greatest enemy of a mage is time, and the greatest ally is also time.”
Jun smiled as he looked at the intricately drawn magic circle on the floor.
“The highest-grade magic stones. When else would I ever get to use something like this so freely?”
The preparations for the spell to counter the looming crisis were complete.
***
Meanwhile, Weyrn and his comrades had split into pairs. They were scouring the fortress like they were searching for lice, but they had found nothing of note.
“Where on earth are those bastards hiding?! There wasn’t even a decent place to take cover in all that chaos!”
One of the bounty hunters shouted in frustration.
It was understandable, as this was a matter of their honor.
Despite their boastful promises to the villagers, they had nearly been overwhelmed by the enemy and even had to accept help from the mercenary group they had looked down on.
And yet, they still hadn’t been able to capture even the two who had fled.
“Say something, man!”
Even at the words of the bounty hunter Bernard, Weyrn remained silent and seemed lost in deep thought.
“Ah, sorry. My mind wandered for a moment.”
“Hoo! Wasn’t this all your idea? You were the one who said we’d teach those damned politicians a lesson!”
“Hmm. I did, yes. They turned out to be stronger than I expected. Though I never thought they’d be wiped out by just one spell.”
“The honor of the Blackguards has been dragged through the mud!”
“There’s nothing we can do. We just have to do our best with what’s in front of us. There’s nothing more foolish than giving up just because things aren’t going well.”
“Ugh…”
The knight was stubborn and risked his life for honor, but he was also quick to agree when he heard something sensible.
However, there was still no progress on the task at hand.
Bernard stared down at the empty ground and wiped his face in frustration.
“This is really strange. There’s no way those guys are outside.”
Judging from the traces of the enemies they found in the cabin and the time of death of the corpses, it hadn’t been long since they left.
Moreover, there were signs of movement in and out of the cabin, but no visible tracks leading outside.
“Wait a minute. No tracks leading outside…?”
Bernard suddenly raised his head as if something clicked.
“Weyrn! That’s it! They’re still inside the cabin!”
“What are you talking about? There’s no place to hide in the cabin. Besides, didn’t the mage constantly use detection magic?”
“A secret passage!”
“Huh?”
“You’ve grown dull! There’s a secret passage leading underground in the cabin!”
It might have sounded like a wild idea, but when Bernard was part of the Blackguards, cases like this weren’t all that rare.
“The fact that we’ve searched this thoroughly and found no trace is proof! From the start, those guys seemed to know a thing or two about this place. The clue must be in the cabin!”
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Perhaps it was Bernard’s confidence that was so infectious, but Weyrn also began to ponder before nodding his head.
“Indeed, it seems like a wiser approach than wandering around aimlessly like we are now.”
“Alright then, let’s hurry!”
The two of them quickly started running toward the cabin.
***
A Level 2 adventurer, who begins to enhance their body with magical power, is considered to have surpassed the limits of an ordinary person.
After all, they could split large boulders with their swords and run faster than most carriages.
But that didn’t mean they were completely beyond the bounds of humanity.
“Damn it, this thing’s heavy!”
“Who the hell hides magic stones in every nook and cranny like this!”
“Less complaining and more running! If you don’t, those fanatics outside will come swarming in!”
Colton and his mercenaries were shouting and working. They couldn’t even wipe the sweat dripping down their faces as they moved.
It was only natural, considering they were hauling dozens of magic stones, each the size of three human heads combined.
“Huff, huff! But that woman, she’s hidden well, right?”
“She better be! She has to be! We’re busting our asses out here!”
The woman they were referring to was Maya.
Maya had been excluded from this labor. Since she’d be the one leading the fight if the remnants of the Heavenly Church attacked, she needed to conserve her strength.
To throw them off guard, Maya hadn’t shown herself from the start.
Even though they were scouring the entire city for magic stones,
She still hadn’t appeared.
Colton broke into a cold sweat and a creeping sense of unease settled over him.
“She’s… hiding, right?”
She was surely hiding well.
Damn Heavenly Church bastards. Once you show yourselves, Maya will tear you apart, so be prepared.
Trying to calm himself, Colton hoisted the heavy magic stone pressing down on his back and ran through the city.
***
Contrary to Colton’s hopes, Maya was in a place completely unrelated to them.
“That makes five.”
She muttered in a familiar tribal language while looking at the material in her hand.
Before the operation began, Jun had given Maya a separate mission.
He had ordered her to gather “certain materials” scattered throughout the city.
“Now all that’s left is… three.”
The last one was supposed to be in the cabin, so practically, only two were left.
However, Maya soon faced an obstacle.
Clank. Clank.
The distinct clatter of steel boots echoed from the alley nearby.
Maya quickly concealed herself in the nearby shadows, blending in with the surrounding atmosphere.
She had always employed this method to catch her enemies off guard since the time she was on the level 5 field.
Step.
The figure that emerged from the alley was a knight whose mere presence radiated a sense of divinity.
Just from his aura alone, it was clear he was on a different level than the bounty hunters.
Maya silently watched the knight from within the shadows.
Dangerous.
He was strong.
Though their blades had yet to clash, Maya instinctively recognized him as a powerful opponent.
To think she would encounter someone so strong on the level 2 field, someone even she couldn’t guarantee a victory against.
Still, as long as she remained hidden, there would be no issue—
“……!”
Whoosh—! Crash!!
She instinctively broke her concealment and dodged. The knight’s hammer struck the spot where she had been standing.
That single blow sent shockwaves that brought down the building right behind her.
“How…?”
Her concealment had been discovered instantly. Though she was briefly puzzled, Maya quickly shook her head.
This was Blackout.
It was a place where unexpected dangers could arise at any moment.
Having lived her whole life here, Maya quickly regained her composure.
“You dare interfere with our sacred ritual.”
Though the language was unfamiliar, Maya understood what he was saying.
It wasn’t unusual in Blackout, so she didn’t bother responding.
“……..”
After staring at the knight for a moment, Maya let out a faint killing intent but soon turned and chose to flee.
There was no point in fighting someone she couldn’t defeat, and even if she could, her goal wasn’t him.
Maya was always radiating killing intent, so one might think she lacked composure, but in reality, she was always cold and calculating.
It was the only way to survive in her environment.
As she moved, another strike from the knight’s hammer came crashing down behind her.
Even though she had widened the distance, the chain of the hammer stretched unnaturally and was aiming straight for her back.
Boom――!!
***
Jun and Aiden spotted a cloud of dust rising in the distance.
“S-Senior? What was that sound just now?”
“Looks like the pursuer has finally made an appearance.”
“Pursuer…?”
“Think of it like the enemy tunneling underground. But it’s not something we can deal with, so focus on what we’re doing.”
“……Understood!”
If Jun said so, there had to be a reason behind it.
Aiden quickly went back to placing magic stones into the pipe.
However, despite his efforts, changes began at the entrance.
The Paladins finally started to push their way in.
“Hmm…”
The pursuer appeared inside the city and the paladins arrived at the entrance.
It was clear that the dungeon’s second phase had begun.
“They’re faster than I thought. Well, the number of people is different from the original plan, so there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Originally, the bounty hunters were supposed to be handling artillery over there, but their pride wouldn’t let them accept that role.
Letting them move freely had also been part of Jun’s plan.
“Alright, nothing out of the ordinary so far.”
Though it was still unclear how the members of the Heavenly Church would act as a variable, for now, this side needed his attention.
At the entrance, the paladins continued to press forward steadily, even through the barrage of attacks.
Behind them, crusaders followed in with their shields raised above their heads.
Realistically, they should have been stopped long ago by the arrows of the archers that looked like ballistae and magic bombardments. But the enemy neutralized most of the attacks by surrounding themselves with divine power.
It was an absurdly cheat-like ability.
However.
Even that divine power, which seemed capable of blocking any attack, had its limits.
And the divine power of the Erbonach Church came with several restrictions.
If it’s just a matter of buying time, I can handle this alone.
Jun channeled his magical power into the magic circle drawn on the ground.
The magic circles, made from the highest-grade magic stones scattered throughout the city, reacted to his magical power and the stored spells were activated.
“Let’s see if I can enjoy being a mage again for a while.”
The first strike would be lightning magic.
[Lightning Call: Transformation – Thundercloud]
Dark storm clouds gathered in the sky, and soon energy began to converge within them.
Perhaps the enemy had sensed the change.
The moment the gazes of the paladins that were protected by divine power turned to the sky, the wrath of the heavens struck down.
Boooom—!!
The thunderbolt that had wiped out the Heavenly Church members.
This time, its size was nearly double.
“Normally, it would be difficult to attempt this because of the risk of overheat, but…”
Now, he had supplemented his magical power with magic stones.
Thanks to that, the amount of magical power Jun had to handle was nothing more than the activation energy, which was a mere speck.
This was the terrifying aspect of being a mage.
With enough time and resources, a mage’s potential skyrocketed.
“Phew, the performance is solid.”
The result was brutal.
In the spot where sparks still crackled, only the charred remains of the Erbonach Church’s forces were left.
With a single spell, dozens of paladins and crusaders had been wiped out.
That’s the weakness of the Erbonach Church.
The holy defense of the Erbonach Church was so formidable that, given the right conditions, calling it invincible wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
However, those conditions were strict.
It took considerable time for the divine power dedicated to defense to adapt to different forms of attack.
Because of this, the magic cannons and arrows that had been effective at first were suddenly being blocked.
“But magic is different.”
Dozens of magic circles were scattered across the ground.
Jun had anticipated this situation, so he had drawn ten magic circles for each spell.
“I could fight all day.”
Jun flashed a cold smile as he watched new reinforcements recklessly charge in.
***
“Damn it, there are so many of them!”
One hour later.
When the third phase began, Jun decided to retreat.
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