Chapter 50

Ultra Long-Range Magic

When Isaac knocked on the church’s main doors, an old priest slowly opened them.

The heavy, massive doors parted just enough for him to peek his face through.
It was clear he did not welcome visitors at such a late hour.

“Come back at dawn.”

“I fear the night. I came to seek the Lord’s peace.”

As Isaac spoke, he handed over two silver coins.

The priest’s expression softened instantly.

“The Lord does not turn away those who seek Him. May His peace be with you.”
“Thank you.”

***

Isaac and Bill entered the chapel and pretended to pray.

“So, what now?”

Bill whispered.

The priest stood at a distance with his hands clasped.
As long as he remained there, there was no choice but to quietly continue the act.

At least the large pews—befitting the biggest church in the city—made sitting possible.

“Wait.”

Isaac answered briefly.

Bill wondered if Isaac had learned some kind of dark ritual.
Or perhaps his faith was so strong that prayer alone could bring divine punishment upon someone.

But he soon shook his head.

From Bill’s perspective, Isaac was far from devout.

He had killed Niers instantly and tamed a massive Hell Wolf.
No matter how one looked at it, the creature resembled a hound of hell more than anything else.

If there were a place prepared for Isaac, it would likely be hell—not heaven.

Time passed pointlessly.

Lost in idle thoughts, Bill began to nod off.

Even the priest, who had been lingering nearby, yawned and eventually left the chapel.

Only then did Isaac quietly open his eyes.

He didn’t bother waking Bill.

Bill was sprawled across a pew, fast asleep.

The two silver coins had effectively paid for his lodging.

Isaac began climbing the bell tower.

The spiral staircase stretched endlessly upward.

As he ascended, mana repeatedly condensed and dispersed at his fingertips.

For a knight, it would be like warming up the body—
loosening the flow of stiffened mana circuits and reaffirming the basics of spellcasting.

Normally, such preparation was unnecessary for Isaac.

But tonight—it was better to be thorough.

Jonas had said that chess was 99% tactics.

That might not always apply in reality—

But for this particular game, it did.

For Isaac, who knew fragments of the future, this situation resembled a chessboard with defined rules.

His victory condition:

To dismantle the forces attempting to claim autonomy over Bern,
and to secure their intended gains for Goethe in a stable and sustainable way.

There was flow. There was strategy.

The strategy was to break their alliance—
to shake them by introducing an unexpected variable.

That beginning would be the death of Mayor Varis, the central pillar of Bern.

And now—

The important part was tactics.

Varis had to die.
But there must be no trace linking Isaac to the act.

Carlson would deliver a note bearing Isaac’s name—
yet no one should be able to find any real connection between Isaac and the assassination.

At the same time, Varis’s death had to feel incomprehensible—
something that instilled fear.

The kind of fear that made them think:

We could die anywhere, at any time.

That fear would bind the marquis, restricting his movements,
and create an opening for the next step.

***

‘For that… this spell has to succeed.’

Isaac’s chosen tactic was magic.

Not using Carlson as an assassin.
Not hiring a skilled archer.
Not poisoning through a chef.
Not bribing guards.

Magic.

The very thing he had devoted most of his past life to—
the reason he endured his painful existence.

It was a spell he had always wanted to attempt, once he overcame his abnormal condition.

Though he had never imagined he would use it like this.

***

A fierce wind howled at the top of the bell tower.

Three massive bells, made of bronze and copper, hung from metal beams.

Isaac removed his hood.

From here on, not just magic—but his senses—would be critical.

Temperature.
Humidity.
Wind.

All of it had to be felt, calculated, and incorporated into the spell.

His eyes shone with a bright golden glow.

Without the Wolf King’s heightened senses, he would never have even attempted this tactic.

***

Mana surged into his right hand, glowing faintly in the darkness.

Crack—

At last, an ice crystal formed at his fingertips.

Crack—crack—

Unlike when he had killed Niers, Isaac layered the crystal repeatedly with freezing magic.

But perhaps due to excessive cooling, it soon crumbled like powder and scattered.

“I’ll need a core…”

Muttering to himself, Isaac searched the area.

He gathered dust, straw, and small bits of debris from a corner—

Then used them as a nucleus.

Once more, he cast freezing magic in succession.

Moisture in the air clung to it like a magnet, freezing instantly.

A small, bead-sized ice crystal now floated steadily at his fingertips.

But Isaac did not act immediately.

Instead, he sat on the edge of the tower, overlooking the city lights.

The bell tower—fitting for the largest church in Bern—was incredibly tall.

The streets below were swallowed in darkness, far beneath him.

For Isaac, it was the perfect vantage point.

From here—

He could see Varis’s mansion.

Though it was over a thousand steps away in a straight line, that distance posed no problem.

The Wolf King’s senses allowed him to perceive distant objects clearly, regardless of light.

But to enhance his vision, Isaac had to focus entirely.

He maintained only enough concentration to sustain the ice crystal—
and poured everything else into his sight.

The faintly lit mansion appeared as clear as if it were right in front of him.

As Bill had said, guards surrounded it.

Eight were visible from Isaac’s angle—likely more on the opposite side.

The mansion’s windows were made by a skilled craftsman—clear and pristine.

Thanks to that, he could see inside.

Varis had no idea—

That the expensive glass he had installed would help bring about his death.

***

Varis was enjoying dinner.

Servants moved in and out frequently,
and a middle-aged woman—likely his wife—often blocked Isaac’s view.

Several times, Isaac hesitated—

Should he release the ice crystal now?

It hovered in the air, never leaving his hand.

***

This was his only chance.

To achieve the intended tactical effect, failure was not an option.

And this—

Was a spell he had never once practiced.

Even in the future Isaac knew, there was no recorded case of magic hitting a target from over a thousand steps away.

This was something beyond the known boundaries of magic.

Ultra long-range magic.
A spell that required not only exceptional magical ability, but also finely honed physical senses.

He had to be careful.

A spell that did not exist—
one he had never practiced—
had to succeed in a single attempt, without error.

And tonight didn’t seem like the kind of night where such an opportunity would come easily.

“...Hoo.”

Isaac took a deep breath.

He had pushed his vision too far—his eyes stung, his head throbbed.

He relaxed his focus slightly, observing only the general layout of Varis’s mansion.

Instead, he concentrated on the ice crystal.

He applied phase transformations to it, twisting its trajectory in the air again and again.
He imagined the ideal moment of impact.

What Isaac wanted—
was for the ice crystal to pierce precisely into Varis’s vital point, ending his life.

And beyond that—

To melt inside his body and mix with his blood.

At most, an examiner might find trace amounts of dust and straw inside him—
but they would never understand why they were there.

To achieve that, the condition of the ice crystal was crucial.

It couldn’t be overcooled.

But if it wasn’t cooled enough, it would lose its destructive force while cutting through the air.

There had to be balance.

He also needed to confirm—

How long the crystal would maintain itself after leaving his hand,
and how much its trajectory would be affected by the wind.

Isaac continuously moved the crystal through the air, observing every change.

At the same time, he never stopped watching Varis’s mansion.

Fully immersed, he lost all sense of time.

The only thing that mattered—

Was minimizing the margin of error between the starting point—the bell tower—
and the endpoint—Varis’s vital point.

Before he knew it, dawn began to break.

His calculations, though not perfect, were nearing completion.

Having pushed himself all night without rest, Isaac’s mind grew hazy.

His body felt numb—
as if it no longer belonged to him.

This was far from the ideal condition for landing a spell from over a thousand steps away.

But—

Opportunities never came when everything was perfect.

Then—

A man in a robe staggered into the courtyard of Varis’s mansion.

Isaac sharpened his vision.

The pot-bellied man wore a satisfied smile, as if he had enjoyed the previous night.

He sat at a tea table in the garden.

Soon, a servant brought tea.
A teapot and cup were placed before him.

The man lifted the cup and savored the aroma.

It was Varis.

***

Isaac knew—

A better opportunity would not come.

Varis wouldn’t move for a while.

The calculations weren’t perfect.
His condition wasn’t perfect.

He could fail.

But—

It was better than doing nothing.

Even if there were alternatives, none would be as effective.

“...Sss… Hoo…”

Isaac inhaled and exhaled slowly, like in meditation.

Through the wind brushing his cheeks, he gauged the temperature, humidity, and direction.

He layered the ice crystal with one more layer of freezing magic.

It might not melt instantly upon impact—
but it was better than lacking the force to kill.

Varis gazed toward the rising sun.

The sky turned pink.

Mana surged violently through Isaac’s six circuits.

Normally, using one phase transformation in a single circuit was enough to hit a target.

But now—

Isaac used four circuits simultaneously.

Swoooosh—!

His hair whipped wildly.

Not from the wind—

But from the recoil of the ice crystal being launched.

The crystal instantly left his control.

Isaac clenched his fist unconsciously, pushing his vision to the limit as he watched Varis.

A fleeting moment passed.

According to his calculations, the crystal should have struck Varis’s head by now.

But—

Varis still calmly held his teacup, enjoying the dawn.

***

In that instant, dozens of thoughts raced through Isaac’s mind:

Did I miss?
Did the swordsman notice?
Where did it go?
Did it deviate completely?
What went wrong? The wind? The force…?

***

Then—

Varis’s head suddenly twisted to the side.

His body lost balance and collapsed.

The chair toppled, and he fell to the ground.

A startled servant rushed forward.
Guards quickly surrounded him, scanning the area.

Isaac forced out the last of his concentration to observe.

Varis’s eyes were wide open, his body trembling violently.

The servant panicked, unsure what to do.

The convulsions gradually subsided.

***

Varis continued staring into empty space.

Not toward the rising sun.
Not at the sky.

At nothing.

As if he could no longer see anything at all.

***

His body went limp.

From Isaac’s angle, the side of his face finally became visible.

His eye socket—

Was empty.

***

A chill ran down Isaac’s spine.

Goosebumps spread across his body.

For a moment, he thought it was the cold dawn air.

But it wasn’t.

It was—

Thrill.

***

The ultra long-range magic had succeeded.