23 Full Scale War (4)
"Haw, Haw, How….?"
The tower lord still had enough energy to battle.
However, he did not prepare any magic.
It seemed that he had already lost the will to fight.
"No way, there is no way….."
There was a sense of embarrassment, but he realized that it meant nothing.
He resorted to the ultimate means, the black magic that burned off hundreds of human spirits.
He believed that even the 6th class sorcerer would not be able to resist. After all, even the tower lord, who was a 5th class master, had been helplessly afflicted by it. However, it didn't work. Not against that Ian Page.
"Hugh."
Ian walked towards the tower lord with heavy footsteps. Irrespective of the outcome, he pressed his forehead, indicating that the moaning and pain that he had just suffered were real.
"My lord."
The reason why the black magic did not work on Ian.
The reason was more complicated than thought. First off, the difference in the basic ability was enormous. The gap between what the tower lord had estimated for a 6th class and a true 6th class was much wider. It meant that the massive quantity and high quality mana is shielding both the body and the mind.
"And you were profusely denying that it wasn't black magic."
The second factor was the 'queen's amulet', which was given to Ian by Oliver, as a payment for accepting his request for 5 years of sparring. It was known to have the power to clear one's mind, and the effect was as described. It had thoroughly filtered the force of magi that was attempting to infiltrate his mind.
"Do you know what this is?"
"…..?"
The third and the final reason.
It was the great black magical weapon, pink colored light powder, which Ian had taken some time to prepare before leaving for the tower lord's residence. One fistful of the powder was kept inside a pouch.
"It is called the fairy dust."
"Fair, fairy dust…..?"
"It is the queen's dust, among them."
Fairy Queen's Dust.
That was the most important factor of the day.
"Perhaps, you may know, the fairies are known to possess eyes that penetrate evil. Even able to filter them. Or annihilate them all together."
The fairy queen referenced 'magi' when she first saw Ian. As she did not see that magi, she had relieved her people from any anxiety. The eyes that see through or the power of filtering wickedness or magi was the 'power' that had been endowed upon the fairy race as the descendents of the dragon.
"That is nonsense……"
Other words, there was a good reason that gave him confidence in attempting a raid all by himself. The innate power and the artifacts' help, and even the fairy queen's power, also known as the god's method. Ian, in his present form, is none other than a 'nightmare for the black sorcerers'.
"You were too hasty."
The tower lord wanted to take advantage of Ian's naïve judgment. However, it was Ian, who took advantage of incoherent judgment skill against his adversary. From the tripartite agreements to the rise of a 6th class sorcerer, the many days filled with Ian's every accomplishments that came like a storm made the tower lord anxious.
"If you were in your usual tower lord's mindset, you may not have attempted such a bad move. You must have been quite anxious."
The tower lord took those words as ridiculing him.
In fact, it was ridiculing.
"Bastard!"
Was it due to being mocked, the tower lord began his last stance after recovering from his sense of loss. Wielding his staff, the tower lord gathered the life energy and mana from the humans confined in the steel cage.
"Decay!"
Soon, the malady energy fiercely attacked Ian like poison. Of course, Ian did not even blink an eye. There wasn't even any counter magic. All that he did was spread a small amount of the fairy queen's pink light powder into the air.
Whooooo-!
However, the effect was incredible. As the fairy queen's dust spread, it comingled with malady energy and burned in golden fire. The black magic's evil was being burned off.
"Your studious ability is dwindling."
"Argh….!"
"You are the tower lord, after all."
There was nothing even a tower lord could do. The adversary was a 6th class sorcerer. The basic elementary magic will not even provide a 1 percent chance of winning. The only chance that he may have was to use a discernible black magic. At least, it was the only way according to the tower lord's assessment.
"Let the curse of pain be….!"
At the moment of the tower lord was, again, about to chant a black magic spell.
"Blink."
Blink allows instantaneous transport within a short distance.
Through it, Ian has reached the tower lord's back.
"Dispel."
Dispel spell was the nexus.
It was the magic that blanks out the adversary's technical ability to calculate for a few seconds.
"Mana drain."
Ian's magic did not stop. He even began to absorb all of the tower lord's mana. Ian was about to make the tower lord impotent to battle. Only then he can accomplish what he had hoped to accomplish.
"Auuuugh…..!"
The extra mana was being quickly disappearing. Any sorcerer would definitely feel the pain. The tower lord was not an exception. In fact, being a 5th class sorcerer would cause him to feel even more extreme pain.
"Please rest. So, I can take care of business."
The tower lord's body fell slowly.
He was conscious, but his body was the problem.
It was the after effect s of acute loss of mana. The after effects were felt greater with older age.
"Light."
Ian started up the light spell instead of night vision. Night vision requires consuming of large quantity of mana. In addition, it causes the entire world to appear in green, so the basic application was for different purpose.
"Indeed."
Ian did not inspect the people in the steel cage. Instead, he inspected the artifact displays and many storage boxes first. Of course, he will rescue the people. Ian wasn't particularly a saint, nor was he an evil fallen one like the tower lord, who turned his back on humanity. There was a reason for it. The reason for him to come to this place all alone.
"I knew it."
Ian showed a faint smile.
He wanted to verify it for himself with his own eyes.
The doubt that he had from the previous life.
That doubt was, in fact, now been verified to be true.
"It was hidden, so just couldn't be found."
The previous life's tower lord was highly acclaimed in many ways.
He had paved the way for the unification of the continent as the Ivory Tower's tower lord.
The Lord of the Ivory Tower was always kind and courteous.
He was the Ivory Tower Lord, who was known for being frugal and praised for integrity.
The last thing was what had bothered Ian for a long time.
"What integrity, how much has he laundered."
After the previous life's tower lord had died, even without any family members, the wealth that he had returned to the empire was negligible. Others had believed him for his words, but Ian had traced it until the end. He searched for the enormous private wealth that the tower lord may have hidden away, somewhere in the world.
"I had failed then."
He wasn't able to locate them at that time.
He now realizes why he couldn't find them.
It's because they were hidden away in a secret location beyond the portal.
'It's enormous."
The number of artifacts that he was possessing was already overwhelming. That implies that the number of artifacts hidden here will be many more than the number of registered artifacts at the Ivory Tower. Gold and silver were also similar. How and why did he securely hide so much wealth and not even spend them? That is, until he dies and disappear.
"Were you planning to take them to the afterlife?"
Ian asked the tower lord, who was flabby, yet collecting his breath. He seemed to have recovered somewhat from the after effects. It's only that his old body could not follow his will.
"Are you coveting them?"
"A few of them."
Ian did not hide his inner thoughts.
In fact, he was planning to set aside several items.
Especially set aside the book that opens this portal.
"I command your honesty."
"It is you, who kept them hidden away too much, my lord."
After investigating the artifacts displays for a while, Ian, once again, approached the tower lord. Slowly, he wanted to keep things in order. Definitely organize them as how Ian wanted them to be.
"Then let's finish."
"Well, wait!"
Was the tower lord in fear as Ian approached, or did he think that Ian will not finish him off in a normal fashion. He shook both hands as he made a proposal.
"I am not sure what your intentions are, but nothing, good, will come out in the way of harming me! You could come to fervently regret it."
"Regret?"
"Do you truly believe Marco is the only one? No, of course not! My many servants are out there. They are even more useful than Marco."
"And?"
"Haaa! Do not play dumb, my child. They should be already on the move. Unless I give a signal, they will never stop. I have implanted an instruction in them from the beginning. To target only two things."
The 'two things' the tower lord's servants will target.
It was too obvious what he was implying.
"The family and the crowned price."
"Well. Do you wish to negotiate?"
The tower lord's eyes flashed in grand fashion.
It appears that he had found an escape hatch.
"My proposal is simple. We both forget about what had occurred today. If this portal is not uncovered, there isn't any evidence for me. You will not be able to bring me down with only a few words."
The yellowish eyes of the tower lord were fixated on Ian. The desire to keep everything alive was wiggling inside him.
"I reject it."
However, Ian's response was not what the tower lord had expected. Moreover, there wasn't even any hesitation. If there was even a smear of uncertainty, such definite response would not have been possible.
"Then only when your mother and the crowned prince die…!"
"Do try if you can."
"What….?"
"I said, do try."
Ian laughed as if it was absurd.
There was an aura of confidence in his continence.
(Do you dare the powder of this body….!)
The pink colored roof of a grand mansion.
There was a light pink colored furry cat, leisurely sitting in the middle of the roof. Actually, it wasn't really in leisurely fashion as its posture shows. It's only that Vanessa is showering the cat with extreme love, and the cute cat that came here to escape the torture from Douglas.
(Ah, my fate. I lived much too long.)
On top of that, there was an order to be cautious of the surroundings. And the order was from none other than the kid, Ian Page. That was what was bothering the most.
(Why did they grant the power of kinship to humans…..?)
It was not understandable no matter how hard it was tried.
To borrow the human's vulgar expression.
(Telling me to go screw myself?)
The cat thought like that for a while, no, the fairy queen transformed herself back into her natural form and shook her head wildly.
(What, what am I thinking about now….!)
It's impure. It's extremely impure and vulgar. How could, I, their greatest descendant, could speak in such vulgarity? This is all human's fault. I must have been tainted by vulgarity since I've been with the vulgar entities.
"Who is it?"
It was at that time.
A voice was heard from beneath the roof.
It was the voice of Vanessa, Ian's mother.
It was when it rediscovered herself as the startled fairy queen gave a sigh of relief. It looks like a human guest has come.
(…..Uh?)
The fairy queen glimpsed over at the guests beyond the gate. Through her clear eyes, she saw a conspicuous mist. The eyes that can see magi, the ability to see the truth has kicked in to action.
(They are…..)
The reason that Ian had ordered to be cautious about the surroundings.
It appears as if those exact reasons have come.
With such dark and abhorrent magi in their hearts.
(They've no fear.)
How dare they come to the residence of the fairy queen, the queen of the fairy race that sees and chases away magi? Only a magi's underling?
(OK. I shall welcome you today!)
As a matter of fact, it was looking for an opportunity to find ways to relieve stress. There was much embarrassment and stress derived from this irritating cat act, and isn't it about the time to release all these emotions all at once?
Krrrrrrrr……!
Dark clouds came in the skies over the residence.
The lighting's energy has also slowly gathered around.
The 'wrath of the gods', which will remain a mystery of the empire throughout the hundreds of years to come, is about to commence with the start of the fairy queen's emotional release.
Kkkk-kwa-kwang! Kwang! Kwang! Kkkkk-kwa-kwa-kwang!
"Aaak!"
The great lighting and loud thunder shook the entire capitol. As a result, the crowned price, which was on his first secret inspection mission, was startled to his core.
"My lord, are you okay."
"What, what is this sudden thunder and lightning?"
Immediately leaning on Oliver, the crowned price looked up in the sky. No matter how long he looked, it was just dark, not necessarily in condition to create lightning. This is what one calls bolt of lightning out of the blue sky?
"My heart just about stopped."
"The god's anger seems severe. Please return to the castle."
"What? Already? No, nothing was accomplished,"
"But, my lord."
It was after a long consideration that the crowned prince had undertaken this secret inspection mission. Not too long ago, there were only praises for Ragnar, no matter where he went, but now his popularity has reached a new height. It seemed to be the right time to explore.
"However, now. I am curious about one thing."
"Please issue your order, my lord."
"Well, that is…. That is."
After a short pause, the crowned price continued.
"Is it possible for me to learn sword fighting?"
"By sword, do you mean."
"Nothing too fancy, just for self defense…… is it too late even for that? Then just to be fanciful. Like skills to draw the sword from its casing in great form, perhaps….."
Cheee-ing!
Was it a demonstration of how to draw a sword in great form.
Or was his ego been rubbed in a wrong way as a knight.
Oliver suddenly drew his sword.
The force was as if he was about to slash something.
"No, I didn't mean to teach me right now….."
"My lord."
"I will learn diligently for once."
"Please, stand behind me."
"What?"
Oliver fixed his treasured 'Mundile', the sword artifact that he had received from the emperor. Even the crowned prince was startled by that. Oliver never draws the Mundile sword as the first choice for a weapon. However, it was different this time.
"2nd knights of the emperor, protect the lord."
Immediately following the command, plain clothed knights gathered from all around and surrounded the crowned prince.
"Show yourself."
Oliver was quietly growling in low tone of voice. Then there, a woman in black robe slowly appeared. Except Oliver, the other knights could not even feel any entity's presence. It was definitely magic.
"It was you."
Oliver recognized the woman in black robe.
It was a very famous and familiar face.
Once the hood has been removed, it was even more certain.
"Lady Helene, high ranking sorcerer of the Ivory Tower."
Oliver's eyes have sunken deep.
She was, at one time, the 2nd highest ranked sorcerer of the Ivory Tower.
Displaying a murderous intent, she was approaching.
It did not matter what the reason was.
Helene is an assassin.
"Why did you obstruct my lord's passage?"
She did not reply.
But, that was enough to draw a conclusion.
The moment of life or death has come.
As a swordsman that combats sorcerers.