Do Your Own Revolution

#018

Ku-kwa-kwa-kwang–!

A series of magical power collisions occurred in succession.

Unable to withstand the impact, the mansion’s roof was blown completely off.

“Hahaha…! I heard you were the master of ice magic, but you’re quite disappointing compared to what I expected!”

As Maximilien emptied his revolver of used bullets and said that, Lupeon who was watching ground his teeth.

“You lowborn scum, how dare you…!”

Though his anger boiled, he had to acknowledge it.

The attributes of his magic imprint ‘Rider of the Ice Prison’ were freezing and binding.

On the other hand, Maximilien’s magic imprint ‘Wings of Crimson’ possessed the properties of explosion and expansion.

Ice and fire.

One who creates prisons, and one who destroys them.

Whether considering magical attributes or properties, Maximilien’s magic imprint formed a perfect counter to Lupeon’s magic imprint.

It was as if someone had prepared this long ago specifically to bring about Lupeon’s downfall.

‘Currently, only the Empire’s Magic Corps can respond immediately, not the family’s Knight Order. However…!’

Though the Magic Corps stationed at the territory’s outskirts were hurrying here, even that couldn’t resolve the current situation.

The Revolutionary Army had appeared at the heart of the Elcidore mansion.

Emerging from behind, the Revolutionary Army had slaughtered the few knights remaining in the territory and quickly occupied the mansion.

And the Elcidore mansion was structured to function as a fortress in case of worst-case scenarios.

The Magic Corps, who had to enter the mansion from the outside, were now in a situation where they had to wage a siege battle against the Revolutionary Army occupying the mansion.

A perfect trap.

Without knowing his entire plan, it would have been impossible to even attempt such a strategy.

Without an internal betrayer, such an operation wouldn’t have even been possible.

‘Then who could it be…!’

There weren’t many suspects.

Knight Order Commander Burken wasn’t ambitious enough to pull something like this off, and he had personally beheaded the head butler.

The only one left was Ben, but that too was impossible.

He was the one who had been most strongly and longest subjected to the ‘Mark of Control’ that Lupeon had devised.

As proof, wasn’t it true that he had completely exterminated the Revolutionary Army that had infiltrated Belkers!

Just as his thoughts were about to continue, Maximilien’s reloaded revolver spewed fire.

Along with a boom more like artillery fire than a gunshot, magic circles spread out, and red flames blocked Lupeon’s view.

Lupeon gritted his teeth.

Now wasn’t the time to think about traitors.

An ice wall rose from the ground to block the advancing flames.

As the flames touched the cold ice wall, white steam enveloped the entire battlefield.

Neither side could see ahead in this situation.

However, this situation was an opportunity for Lupeon.

‘There you are!’

Dozens of ice chains spread from his feet like a spider web.

They detected Maximilien’s position and clearly showed what movements he was making.

Lupeon immediately created Ice Spears and launched them toward Maximilien.

“Kugh?!”

As expected.

As his hastily raised barrier shattered, Maximilien’s surprised face was revealed.

“This bastard…!”

“You thought you could catch the head of Elcidore inside the Elcidore mansion? What a fool!”

The gap created by the difference in magical power attributes.

What offset that was this battle’s location.

For a mage, their residence was a fortress prepared specifically for them.

Inside the Elcidore mansion, Lupeon could fight at optimal efficiency.

Detection spells spread throughout the mansion, auxiliary magic controlling the internal environment, and various items amplifying Lupeon’s magical power.

“Bind him.”

Lupeon could know Maximilien’s location even with his eyes closed.

He could hear his voice even with his ears covered.

Ice spikes sprouting from the ground entangled Maximilien.

The ice, glowing blue with Lupeon’s magical power.

They were spikes of death that would freeze skin on contact and cause tissue necrosis.

“Kuuugh-!”

Unable to dodge several of the dozens of spikes, Maximilien fell to one knee.

Inwardly rejoicing, Lupeon summoned Ice Spears and moved the ice spikes to attack Maximilien.

Maximilien’s barrier blocked the ice spikes and Ice Spears, but it wasn’t perfect.

One Ice Spear pierced his shoulder.

Maximilien’s face contorted in pain.

“Ha…!”

A cruel smile played across Lupeon’s face.

His opponent was fatally wounded and had lost momentum.

There was no time to waste.

Lupeon immediately gathered his magical power and created numerous spikes and Ice Spears.

“This is the end.”

Along with those cold words, Lupeon’s spikes descended upon Maximilien.

Dozens of death-bringing projectiles rained down toward him.

“Huu…”

However, instead of dodging, Maximilien opened the cylinder of his revolver.

“Ice Prison, huh? The more I see it, the less I like it.”

After removing the spent magic bullets, he inserted new ones.

Unlike ordinary bullets, these glowed red.

The wing pattern engraved on the bullet head responded to his magical power, glowing as if ablaze.

“Shatter.”

Aiming straight ahead, Maximilien spoke a short command and pulled the trigger-

Along with an explosion that shook the entire space, Lupeon’s magic shattered to pieces.

“Wh-What…!”

“You can’t beat a noble in their mansion? There’s no way to defeat a mage entrenched in their stronghold?”

“…!”

Facing the visibly shocked Lupeon, Maximilien sneered.

A doctrine that could be called common sense in magical warfare.

However, Maximilien lightly mocked that law.

“You nobles who spouted such things… What do you think happened to them all in the end? Hm?”

“You… bastard…!”

The magic used by the Revolutionary Army generally possessed the properties of flame.

This was because the original source of their magic imprints was Maximilien’s ‘Wings of Crimson’.

However, Maximilien had mixed his ideology with this fact, elevating it into the Revolutionary Army’s unique magical warfare doctrine.

“The rotting firewood scattered in the underbrush is our shelter, and the barren wilderness our battlefield.”

The Revolutionary Army’s mages don’t create strongholds.

They were always invaders who attacked other mages’ traps and conquered their established defenses.

They were forced to fight in disadvantageous environments, and they had always emerged victorious.

The result was the creation of ‘magic bullets’.

These were crystals of condensed surplus magical power, which when fired, directly injected massive amounts of magical power into the magic circuit.

“Magic bullets. You insane third-rate mage…!”

“Third-rate mage, you say.”

The Empire’s nobles who had mastered magic called Revolutionary Army mages third-rate.

Magic bullets were unstable items that overloaded magic circuits and wore down magic imprints in exchange for providing explosive magical power.

It was a short-sighted method of trading a mage’s future for immediate power.

Magic nobles spent long years training in magic and ultimately inherited their family’s magic imprint.

To them, those magic bullets were an abomination they could never accept.

“Then watch carefully from the afterlife.”

However, mages who had experienced even one battle with the Revolutionary Army couldn’t help but acknowledge it.

“Watch how these third-rate mages you despise bring down this empire.”

That abomination devised by vulgar third-rate mages had now become the most efficient weapon for killing magic nobles.

When Maximilien pulled the trigger, the thick steam instantly burst into flames.

Pulling the trigger again, an arrow of flame concentrated into a single point mercilessly shook Lupeon’s barrier.

“Kuuugh-!”

Compatibility and output.

As he began to lose on both fronts, a look of dismay crossed Lupeon’s face.

‘What on earth is the Magic Corps doing! Are they having this much trouble dealing with mere Revolutionary Army rabble?!’

Even considering it was a surprise attack, the Revolutionary Army that had infiltrated the mansion numbered only about a few hundred.

It made no sense that the Magic Corps, which outnumbered them more than tenfold, still hadn’t entered the mansion.

Even though the Elcidore mansion was fortified, this was an incomprehensible amount of time.

Why weren’t they coming?

Had something happened outside?

What about the Knifehead?!

What on earth was happening outside…!

In the midst of these thoughts and calculations.

That irritating characteristic sound of loading came from right in front of Lupeon.

“Looking away while I’m right here, did you really think so little of the Revolutionary Army, noble sir?”

“…!”

A fatal mistake.

While he was preoccupied with the external situation, Maximilien had closed in to point-blank range!

“This is the end.”

There was no time to dodge or defend.

The hammer of the revolver aimed at Lupeon’s chest struck the primer of the loaded magic bullet and.

The flames that erupted from the muzzle crushed Lupeon’s chest.

Revolutionary Army Leader, Maximilien de Lascol.

Empire’s Magic Noble Third Seat, Lupeon Elcidore.

In the battle between these two absolute beings, victory belonged to the Revolutionary Army’s leader.

***

“Huk…! Heuk…! Kuhk…!”

Both hands trembled from the magic bullets’ aftereffects.

The overloaded magic circuit felt like it would burst into flames at any moment, and the magical power circuit formed in his right arm was torn to shreds.

“Damn… bastard…!”

The number of magic bullets used in this one battle was sixty-three.

Considering his daily limit was twenty shots, he had expended an impossible amount.

He was in such a critical state that even a slight touch could make him collapse.

Nevertheless, Maximilien’s mind was filled with nothing but satisfaction.

“An achievement comparable to… assassinating the Emperor.”

The significance of this battle wasn’t simply eliminating one of the magic nobles.

Elcidore was a massive family holding the third seat among the Empire’s 12 magic nobles.

They had engaged such a massive family in direct combat and killed their leader.

Moreover, the one they had killed was from the notorious Elcidore family.

Known by the alias “Emperor’s Hunting Dogs,” they were villains who had persecuted countless innocent imperial citizens under the pretext of ideological verification.

“With this… the Revolutionary Army’s reputation will be firmly engraved in the imperial citizens’ minds.”

The Revolutionary Army, standing over Lupeon’s corpse, would become the vanguard of the Empire’s liberation, and numerous talented individuals would knock on the Revolutionary Army’s door.

Now all that remained for the Revolutionary Army was to escape this mansion.

The fact that the Magic Corps hadn’t stormed in meant that their comrades were still outside.

“The head of Elcidore who persecuted imperial citizens, Lupeon, is dead!”

Maximilien, bursting through the mansion doors, shouted while displaying his trophy in his right hand.

What he held was Lupeon’s right arm.

The arm with Elcidore’s magic imprint, ‘Rider of the Ice Prison’.

“Comrades! The operation was successful! Quickly retreat…!”

Maximilien, trying his best to keep his back straight despite his condition, said this while looking at the mansion’s outer walls where battle had continued and.

“…Huh?”

Seeing the sea of blood spread before his eyes, he realized something was terribly wrong.

Everyone was dead.

The Revolutionary Army who had followed him here, the Magic Corps who were trying to push into the mansion to stop them.

The maids, servants, butlers, messengers.

Even the Knifehead members who should have attacked from behind.

They had all become brutally mangled corpses, dyeing the mansion red.

And in the middle of that red pile of corpses, there was a girl.

A girl biting the neck of a red-haired girl in assassin’s attire she had caught.

“What, what is this…?”

The moment Maximilien took a step forward to try to understand this horrific scene even slightly.

“Wings of Crimson, Rider of the Ice Prison. And even sacrifices to raise Irene.”

A familiar boy’s voice came from behind.

“Eu, gene…?”

The moment Maximilien spoke the boy’s name, seeing his face covered in blood.

“The plan is successful.”

The dagger in the boy’s hand pierced Maximilien’s heart.