Chapter 21
Black Druid (2)
Metal Spear.
A razor-sharp spearhead formed instantaneously in Kaspar’s hand.
Gerfert had been a wonderful teacher. Every spell he had unleashed to shatter Kaspar’s Shield had become part of Kaspar’s precious legacy.
Thank you, Gerfert.
Offering inward thanks that would have made Gerfert clutch the back of his neck, Kaspar swept the spear sideways.
The face of the corpse wolf that had lunged at him with its forepaw outstretched was sliced cleanly away.
Kaspar put more force behind the swing and severed the bloodsucking root that sprang up beside him.
Slash!
Red blood—whose, no one could say—spilled across the ground.
After drinking it in, a fresh root sprouted and aimed for Kaspar’s neck.
Magmalite.
But the situation was not that simple.
More and more corpse beasts continued to appear within the village.
There were so many that it made him wonder whether the Eternal Forest itself rested upon a foundation made of corpses.
The bloodsucking roots were no different. Even now, they writhed over the palisade, pierced the mercenaries’ bodies with their tips, and sucked out their blood.
Sizzle—
The bloodsucking roots burst into flames the moment they touched the surface of the lava stones. Even the blood stored inside them was incinerated without a trace.
At this point, it no longer seemed as if the roots had merely been summoned from the palisade. It was more as though Huntingville itself had been built atop a colossal colony of roots.
“Kaspar!”
Kaspar scattered Magmalite in every direction, incinerating the roots and corpses.
Fortunately, Sael’s summons don’t appear to be particularly durable.
Kaspar thought this as he scorched everything around him with lava stones.
It was Zrek. He was covered in wounds from his recent battle against the enormous corpse bears.
“This will never end! Unless we take out the source, none of this will matter!”
The sheer power of their numbers was overwhelming.
The waves of corpse beasts were relentlessly driving the mercenaries back. When they killed one, two more attacked. When they killed two, three more sank their teeth into them.
At this rate, it was obvious that they would eventually be swallowed by a tidal wave of corpses.
“Kyahaha! Take me out? You’re going to take me out? How dare you? Me, Sael, the Seventh Branch? You can’t even withstand a fragment of the great magic housed within this body without being smashed to pieces!”
Sitting atop the head of the colossal giant made of roots, Sael clutched her stomach and laughed.
“Oh, that was hilarious. Big mister, you’re sooo funny.”
Her lips were covered in a blatant sneer.
The Fallen Throne, having read Sael’s inner thoughts, answered.
“It certainly appears that way.”
Kaspar and Rude cast their spells simultaneously.
A devastating explosion swept through Huntingville. The summons that barely escaped the blast were cut down by the mercenaries’ blades.
…And then roots and corpses filled the empty spaces once more.
An endless cycle.
“Yaaawn.”
“The Seventh Branch?”
[It’s her rank within the Black Druid Order. The Seventh Branch is a fairly high-ranking officer. Though it seems like too lofty a position for someone with such a childish and immature personality.]
Sael lay sprawled atop the giant, watching the battle below with her chin propped up as she yawned.
“This is boring. Aren’t you misters supposed to be mercenaries? Why are you all so weak? At least try to entertain me.”
She picked at her ear with one finger, openly displaying her boredom.
Rude’s flame spell and the furious mercenaries’ arrows flew toward Sael, but the root giant seized them in its enormous hand with a crunch, crushing them effortlessly.
Sael looked down at Rude and the mercenaries with an indifferent expression.
“Is that all? Fine, then. I’m ending this now.”
Sael slowly spread her hands to either side.
The entirety of Huntingville began to tremble faintly.
Soon, two enormous palms made of roots rose from either side of the village, sending clouds of dirt billowing into the air.
Rumble—
“My God.”
Allen let out a strangled groan. He had realized what Sael intended to do. Rude and the mercenaries caught on soon afterward and unleashed a barrage of attacks, but the palms did not budge in the slightest.
“Get crushed flat like a cookie!”
Sael clapped her hands together playfully.
With a deafening rumble, the giant palms closed in to crush Huntingville.
Shield.
The enormous palms rose above the palisade. Huntingville was trapped between them, and the mercenaries could only stare blankly at the sight.
A clear defensive barrier expanded from Kaspar’s body with a resonant hum.
Sael burst into laughter when she saw the translucent force field.
“Aha? How clumsy, Kaspar. Do you really think a mere Shield can stop my magic… Huh?”
Sael’s expression turned to astonishment when she saw the barrier pushing the palms back.
How could such a pathetic spell possibly resist the palms of her giant?
“…”
Kaspar did not show it, but he was inwardly surprised as well.
The pressure was even greater than Gerfert’s attacks had been.
“So there was an unexpected present hidden here?”
The anticipation that had vanished from Sael’s face returned.
“And you still haven’t revealed your full strength.”
Her voice brimmed with certainty.
Druids distanced themselves from civilization and communed with nature. Inevitably, their senses were far keener than those of ordinary people.
As a Black Druid, Sael could clearly tell that Kaspar was not struggling in the slightest.
“What?”
This was not even his full strength?
No way…
Rude’s eyes trembled when he saw Kaspar’s calm expression. Just how massive was the mana core he possessed? He had unleashed attack spells one after another, then erected a barrier like this immediately afterward—yet he was not even breathing heavily.
Sael turned her head and looked behind her, where nothing but forest stretched into the distance.
Then she looked back at Kaspar.
She applied more force through the palms, but the Shield remained firm. She poured her strength into it for quite some time, yet its resistance was far sturdier than she had anticipated.
This is…
The reaction came from Rude.
He had been staring blankly at the enormous Shield enveloping the entire village when he suddenly jolted in alarm.
As things refused to go her way, Sael began to grow anxious.
“This is taking longer than I expected…”
She nervously chewed on her fingernails.
She could certainly break a mere Shield, but it would take far too long.
That’s the problem.
She had been pretending to be relaxed, but the position of Seventh Branch was not nearly as comfortable as it appeared.
From the First Branch to the Ninth, they were all locked in constant intrigue and competition to become the Primordial Branch.
What if she were delayed by a few dozen mere mercenaries?
It would utterly disgrace the Seventh Branch. The others would undoubtedly make her a laughingstock.
Worse still, there was another person making Sael anxious.
“O Radiance, take pity upon your wounded lambs and grant them the light of healing.”
Light poured from Priest Miley’s hands.
“Ah… Ahh! The bleeding… It’s stopped.”
“Thank you, Priest! I can move my broken arm again!”
Sael’s lips stiffened.
He has a face like a pig, yet he’s getting on my nerves.
Ugh, what a headache. Such a terrible headache. I hate anything that makes my head hurt. Why do I have to worry about something like this?
Wasn’t this supposed to be an easy mission? All I had to do was offer a feast adorned with human blood and flesh to the forest in the name of the Black Druid Order. So why do these weirdos keep popping up and getting in my way?
Isn’t there an easier method? Some simple way to dispose of them? Ah!
Sael’s troubled expression transformed into a triumphant smile.
She rose to her feet and looked down at the Imperials gathered below.
“Hehe. Don’t think you’re safe just because you’ve all huddled together inside that Shield like a nest full of baby birds. You’re in for a nasty sur—”
“I’ll come out.”
Sael, who had been preparing her decisive spell, flinched when she saw Kaspar step outside the Shield.
Has he lost his mind? He’s coming out without any protection?
Reading Sael’s expression, Kaspar shrugged.
“It seems it’s about time for my turn.”
“Huh? Your turn? Don’t make me laugh. There’s no such thi—”
Metal Spear: Extension Form.
Liquid Metal Thorns Form.
Magmalite Shard Form.
“—ng…?”
Sael screamed in horror.
“Y-You’re insane!!”
Rude recoiled in horror as well.
It all happened in an instant.
Before Sael could even finish speaking, three spells erupted from Kaspar’s position in rapid succession.
Liquid metal seeped from the crown of the giant’s head and transformed into sharp spikes that attacked its ankles.
Lava stones dripping molten metal became razor-edged shards and hurtled toward the giant’s body.
Finally, the spearhead created in Kaspar’s hand extended across the horizon, driving toward the giant’s neck.
Liquid metal seeped from the crown of the giant’s head, transformed into sharp spikes, and attacked its ankles.
The lava stones dripping molten metal became razor-edged shards and shot toward the giant’s body.
Finally, the spearhead created in Kaspar’s hand extended across the horizon, driving toward the giant’s neck.
“Y-You’re insane!”
Three metal spells assaulted the root giant simultaneously. In desperation, Sael summoned every oak shield she could, each one as large as a house, and wrapped them around the giant’s body.
These oak shields embodied the essence of druidic defensive magic.
They were so sturdy that even a giant could strike them a hundred times with an axe without leaving a single scratch. The shields successfully blocked the Metal Spear and Magmalite.
But that was as far as they went.
There was nothing Sael could do about the third spell. She had no time to cast another spell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The giant’s ankles were pierced by the metal spikes.
Crack—
Kaspar did not possess the skill to accurately cut down a person falling from such a great height—much less aim precisely for the neck.
The keen edge of the Metal Spear narrowly missed Sael’s neck and merely sliced through her hood.
Flutter—
The giant lost its balance and collapsed.
“Huh?”
…!
Sael’s body tilted sideways. Kaspar did not miss the opportunity and swung his Metal Spear for a second attack.
Sael clenched her teeth.
I can’t dodge it in this position. In that case…
She hurriedly leaped from the crown of the giant’s head and landed on the ground. Her physical abilities did not appear to be particularly impressive compared to her enormous magical power, as she rolled several times and ended up covered in grass.
Fortunately for Sael, Kaspar was not especially skilled at wielding weapons.
It might have been a different matter if it had been Allen or Robens.
Freed from the stuffy hood, her brown hair fluttered in the cold northern wind.
Kaspar looked surprised when he saw Sael’s fully exposed head.
“…You were a woman?”
Sael recovered and readjusted her stance. When she heard Kaspar, she stared at him in disbelief.
“What? ‘You. Were. A. Woman?’ Have you seriously thought I was a man this entire time?”
Remarkably, Kaspar remained silent.
Sael’s mouth fell slightly open in utter disbelief.
Are his eyes merely decorative?
Even more remarkably, the watching mercenaries were thinking much the same thing as Sael.
No, you could tell she was a woman just by looking at her face and figure beneath the hood.
“Hmm, no. I did suspect it. Or rather, I thought there was a possibility. I mean, after seeing your face, it seemed entirely plausible that…”
Kaspar stumbled over his words.
He resembled a broken wind-up doll.
Apparently offended by something, Rude huffed angrily and cast a spell.
Grayish-white roots sprang up in front of Sael.
The gnarled roots, bulging like well-developed muscles, released a viscous liquid when the fire spell struck them and smothered the flames.
“Don’t interrupt our conversation, flame mage.”
Sael replied coldly.
She seemed about to launch into a tirade, but after a moment, she sighed instead.
“Do you not have any friends?”
“Excuse me?”
“Every emotion shows plainly on your face, you’re terrible at reading people, and you’re also an absolutely awful liar. It feels as though you haven’t spoken to many people in your life, you know? If I combine those three things, I can only conclude that you probably don’t have many friends—”
“You bastard! I’ve heard enough! Do you think you can say whatever you want just because you have a mouth? Fire Breath!”
“Please continue.”
“…What?”
Sael’s eyes widened slightly at the unexpected response.
Kaspar shrugged.
“I’m not particularly interested in having a conversation.”
Then he opened his hand.
Magmalite.
Liquid Metal Form.
Metal Spear.
The first was Magmalite.
Lava stones radiating a scorching heat, as though they had just been scooped from a furnace of molten iron, floated silently before Kaspar’s eyes.
They brightly illuminated the dark forest, hanging in the air like ghostly flames.
Next came Liquid Metal Form.
A metal spear pierced the sphere of lava.
Hiss!
The lava sphere emitted a violent burst of steam. But instead of reaching the end of its life and dissipating, it was reborn as a new spearhead for the Metal Spear.
Drip… Drip…
The blade of the Metal Spear, coated in molten iron, looked like a blade forged from lava itself.
The next spell enveloped the lava stones. Following the mechanism of the magic, they melted smoothly and merged into one.
Even the smallest fragments within them were reborn as part of a rippling sphere of lava filled with terrifying heat.
A miniature sun created through magic.
Last came Metal Spear.
Everyone in Huntingville stared at Kaspar’s magic as if enchanted.
Even Sael.
At last, Kaspar swung it.
“Aaaaaah!”
A piercing scream rang through the air.
Roused by the scream, everyone saw the upper half of Sael’s torso, severed diagonally, slowly topple to the ground.
Did he… defeat her?
But Kaspar did not dispel his magic.
Still holding the Metal Spear as lava dripped from its blade, he looked around in search of something.
“Ugh…”
Astonishingly, a new Sael sprouted from a corner of the village.
Just like the other summons she had created.
Naturally, the mercenaries turned their gazes toward the place where Sael had been standing moments ago.
Instead of Sael, a willow scarecrow of the exact same size lay on the ground, its torso split diagonally.
The Fallen Throne’s voice sounded beside Kaspar’s ear.
“A Wicker Man?”
[It’s a creation of the ancient druids. An extremely useful tool with many different applications.]
“Then… that last attack was wasted.”
Kaspar alternated his gaze between the second Sael and the Wicker Man that had been the first Sael.
He had gone to all the trouble of combining those spells, only for them to have no effect.
[That isn’t true.]
The Fallen Throne spoke as though reassuring him.
[Judging by the situation, that druid left her real body somewhere else and sent only that scarecrow here. Destroying it alone must have placed a considerable burden on her true body. Your attack was far from meaningless.]
[A Wicker Man. How appropriate for a druid.]
Is that so?
“I’m not sure…”
Other than sweating profusely and panting for breath, Sael did not appear to have changed much.
As Kaspar folded his arms and lost himself in speculation, Sael forced an awkward smile while pretending to remain calm.
“Ha… Haha! I! I like you, Kaspar. I like you very much.”
“Me? Why?”
Sael looked exactly as Kaspar had described her.
Her initial relaxed and arrogant demeanor had vanished without a trace. She now stared at Kaspar with a thoroughly sickened expression, unable to take her eyes off him.
[It was carefully adorned with all manner of enchanted objects and spells. She probably created it by pouring her magical power into it over a very long period. Destroying it carries tremendous significance. Imagine a knight watching his cherished legendary holy sword shatter into pieces. Does that make it easier to understand?]
“This is my first time meeting someone my age like you. I’d like to come here in my real body and play with you properly, but I have circumstances of my own. Hmm, yes—the circumstances of an officer in the Order. What a shame.”
“An officer’s circumstances?”
Sael wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Unlike before, her movements were strangely stiff and awkward, producing a distinct sense of incongruity. It appeared that she needed time to adjust to her second body.
“Ah.”
Kaspar quickly accepted the explanation and prepared his next spell.
What kind of spell should he combine this time?
Should he mix Ignite with Magmalite? Or perhaps fuse Ferrous Stream with Dust Eruption?
“Hmm.”
“Don’t try to learn too much, Kaspar. We only met for the first time today, remember? Let’s save this lingering disappointment for our next meeting.”
Rather than respond to her pointless joke, Kaspar continued preparing his next spell.
“Hehe. It’s a shame, Kaspar. I’d like to live up to your expectations, but I have no intention of fighting any longer.”
“But I want to fight.”
“You’re surprisingly violent for someone who looks like you.”
Sael extended her hand.
With fingers trembling from unfamiliarity, she barely managed to complete her spell.
An attack?
Kaspar immediately strengthened his Shield, but the energy that emerged from Sael’s hand did not travel toward him.
Instead, it flew behind her and vanished into the forest.
“…What was that?”
“Bye-bye, Kaspar. Let’s meet again, Kaspar—if. You. Survive.”
Instead of answering, Sael giggled.
The trembling of her body grew increasingly violent until she finally dissolved into a scattering bundle of roots.
[You look as if you have a lot to say. Why? Did you take a liking to her?]
“No. I simply thought she had a rather memorable personality.”
[Ah.]
“How should I put it? She was extremely…”
[Childish?]
Kaspar nodded.
“I always thought druids had this profoundly mysterious quality, but she was somewhat… disillusioning.”
[Mysterious, my foot. That’s what they’re normally like.]
“Excuse me?”
Rude belatedly unleashed a barrage of spells while swearing furiously, but it was already pointless.
Kaspar watched him briefly.
Then the Fallen Throne’s face abruptly appeared at the edge of his vision.
“Hmm.”
She raised a finger and stroked her lower lip.
[There are individual differences, but most druids are broadly similar. They’re extremely emotional and do whatever they please. Distancing themselves from civilization also means distancing themselves from civilized education. Compared to civilized Imperials, traits such as calm reason, careful restraint, and enduring patience are all relatively underdeveloped in them. If I had to choose the closest equivalent among Imperials, I suppose it would be artists.]
After explaining at length, the Fallen Throne suddenly thrust her face toward Kaspar as though she had just realized something.
[Kaspar. That isn’t the problem right now.]
The Fallen Throne’s previously calm voice suddenly became urgent.
Despite all the chaos, she climbed atop the village’s still-intact sacred pole and stared beyond the village.
When she descended a moment later, her face bore a severity Kaspar had never seen before.
“What’s wrong?”
[That druid girl has done something rather troublesome.]
“Something troublesome?”
[She awakened a minion sleeping deep within the forest.]
[A minion filled with a sinister and vicious aura.]
[We must warn everyone.]
[Tell them to prepare for battle immediately.]
[It is coming this way.]