NOVEL NEXT chapter 39
39 – Checkmate
After crossing the wall, they hid behind a tree.
They weren’t caught by the knights. It was because the mansion was too large and not within their line of sight.
“They didn’t even notice me.”
He was confident that he wouldn’t be detected by the observation magic as long as he didn’t infiltrate the mansion.
“It would be a waste of mana.”
Lucion used to be a lord guarding the border in the past.
The guards were only stationed at the entrance, the back door, and the warehouse. There were only places that didn’t require guards.
For the efficiency of magic, it was efficient to sound the alarm when an intruder entered the building. There was no need to use magic outside the building.
“The food storage will be dangerous.”
Lucion gestured to Lucia.
Follow me.
Lucia nodded her head. She carefully tied up her long hair and tucked it into her outer garment to prevent it from fluttering.
Even in the dark night, Lucia’s pupils were filled with a blue light.
The two intruders moved quickly, keeping their waists low.
The surrounding area was not tightly packed enough for complete concealment.
The mansion of a great sorcerer, who had been around for a while, had a garden designed with intruders in mind.
There were wide pathways scattered throughout, preventing anyone from running straight. It was not only to make it easy for people to walk, but also to prepare for intruders, a fact known only to Lucion.
Lucion knew this because he had seen the blueprint of the castle where he used to reside.
Looking down from the top of the building, the situation in the garden was clearly visible. However, Lucion knew the blind spots better than anyone else. The garden was not a place where gnats could hide, but it had many hidden gaps.
Unless one looked down directly from the terrace of the mansion, it was not easy to observe the situation in the garden from inside the room.
“As long as I’m careful with the view from the terrace, I can approach the mansion.”
Remembering this, Lucion continued to gaze towards the mansion.
It was still early in the night, but there were a few rooms with lights on.
“It’s actually a good thing.”
It wasn’t complete silence.
Lucion could completely eliminate the sound of his footsteps, but Lucía couldn’t. Because there were still people inside the building making noise, the intrusion of Lucion and Lucía would not be considered a quiet affair.
“It’s because the early night is more vulnerable than the complete night.”
A rustling sound.
But the noise inside the mansion was louder than that.
Lucion quickly jumped over the open passages, heading towards the back of the mansion. The black cloak of the Black Thorn subtly helped with the intrusion.
In fact, Lucion didn’t know the layout of Dara Han’s mansion.
Nevertheless, Lucion could roughly guess the location of the warehouse because Dara Han’s mansion was built in almost the same shape as the castle where Lucion had stayed.
“The same designer.”
There aren’t many people in the world who can build castles or mansions. Individuals can never build them, and usually they just reuse the same blueprint to create the same thing in different places. There may be some local modifications. Skilled enough to touch the blueprint of a castle, there are only a handful of people in the world.
Moreover, keeping the basic framework intact was advantageous for both the designer and the user.
There are things that users naturally accept.
When you go somewhere, there is a bathroom, and when you go somewhere, there is a restaurant. The same.
The food warehouse, among the warehouses behind the mansion that Lucion saw when he arrived, was the easiest place to access from the main back door. Among the six warehouses, the third and fourth ones. One of them must be the food warehouse.
When Lucion drew his sword, he felt that he became the target of magical perception.
The operation,
begins.
“If you set fire, the three scavengers that were in the building will appear. Just focus on defense.”
“Got it!”
Lucia tightly clenched her fists. There was nothing in her outstretched hands.
“Hold the staff. And surround it with divine power, then you can use the thorns like a sword.”
Tristan’s thorns are different from regular staffs. Although it is a staff, when surrounded by divine power, it can be used as a weapon stronger than a sword.
It can be used as a weapon to kill the scavengers when they approach.
Lucia confirmed that she was holding the staff. Lucion drew his sword from his waist.
“Now! Surround with buffs. Only for Sia.”
“Got it.”
Lucia didn’t ask any further.
It was also part of the operation.
It was necessary.
Aggro management is the basis of combat.
The scavengers eliminate the weak ones one by one.
I will not attack Lucia, who is buffed with divine power, first.
Above all, Lucion intended to shed some blood.
Even if Lucia sheds tears, she must show the brutality of battle.
That was the path for Lucia.
#
Hwaryuk-!
The sword was set ablaze.
And then it was shot straight towards the warehouse.
Darahhan’s defensive magic was activated.
Droplets in the air condensed and swallowed Lucion’s flames.
It was prepared for fire.
“I knew it would happen.”
Lucion swung his sword again.
This time, he slashed from the inside to the outside with a follow-up move.
The ejected sword energy was coated with mana of fire attribute and divine power.
The ordinary sword energy, enchanted with the “Baptism of the Flame Sword” frequently used on the battlefield of slaughter, transformed.
The enhanced area-of-effect attack, “Flame Sword,” imbued with the will of the gods, changed into the judgment sword that annihilates evil.
Even if it’s a defensive magic of an archmage, it cannot simply block Lucion’s sword energy coated with divine power.
Unless the archmage himself intervenes.
Once again, water tries to extinguish the flames, wrapping it in a barrier.
However, it erupted fiercely as it evaporated neatly in the warehouse.
It’s not just a mere fire.
The sword emits a striking force.
And divine power has the nature of spreading out when it receives a shock.
CRACK-!
It sweeps away the walls of the building.
The displaced wall melted slightly and haphazardly into the food storage room.
The food inside the building begins to burn.
There are approximately 600 people staying in the mansion.
When the food stored for those people starts to burn,
“Who’s there?”
Like this.
Sekera appears.
#
Sekera is a demon.
Demons chase after magic.
Just as humans chase after money, when magic is produced in large quantities, their bodies are drawn towards the area where magic is generated. And the higher the rank of the demon, the more they are obsessed with magic. They are fixated on promotion.
Coincidentally, Lucion understood the principles of magic formation.
Understanding the reverse principle of the generation of divine power.
The moment the attribute of [destruction] and [elimination], concepts opposite to creation and generation, are activated, magic is generated.
In flames or the moment something disappears, such as a wall being destroyed, magic is triggered.
Thus, in furnaces, coal power plants, or battlefields, magic was rapidly forming.
The sight of Secara flying in the sky above the battlefield was soon to become a common scene in the near future.
Lucion had caused an extreme manifestation of magic by burning down the granary.
The reason the target happened to be the granary was that food contained sanctity. When sanctity is extinguished, magic is even more likely to occur.
Furthermore, the act of cooking with fire is referred to as ‘extracting magic from food.’ It involves extracting negative magic and consuming the positive.
The granary of the mansion, which accommodates the most people in this place, burning down resulted in the most magic occurring in the Panaçia region.
Those appearing here were all highly likely to be Secara.
The method to confirm was simple.
Right,
‘Tear the cloak.’
# # #
It wasn’t considered a gamble.
The long experience on the battlefield gave Lucion confidence.
‘As it gets later, it spreads to bigger things.’ That’s what he believed.
It wasn’t even a single certainty.
Secara indulges in luxury.
If you were to name the wealthiest place in the Panaçia region, it would be the mansion of the Archmage Daraan.
However, to capture and kill all of Secara at once, they had to be gathered in one place, and Secara is a species with a strict hierarchy.
The one who can have the most magic is the strongest leader.
The first to appear in the explosion of the food warehouse was someone Lucion had never seen before in his entire life.
Judging by the wearing of armor, it seemed not to be a direct descendant of Darahan. Darahan’s family marked their belts instead of wearing armor.
The newcomer was quite large in stature.
‘A knight’s physique.’
Shevat, in charge of the mansion’s defense.
“Shevat.”
‘That name was in the booklet I saw when I received the mission.’
Shevat was stoic.
With a composed expression, he alternated between looking at the food warehouse and Lucion.
Lucion immediately flew towards Shevat, thrusting his sword towards the cloak.
Shevat took a step back, merely uttering, “Kill him.”
Attacking the cloak meant there was no need to hide his identity any longer.
There was no longer a head on Shevat, who soared into the sky. The cloak on his back was already torn. It was not avoided, but rather hit by Lucion’s sword.
“Make sure to kill him.”
Lucion responded to Shevat’s words.
“Who would say such things.”
A chillingly laid-back voice.
Thud!
Lucion kicked the ground and flew towards Shevat.
Shubat attempted to make an evasive maneuver hastily, but Lucion’s approach speed was faster.
To be precise, Shubat was unable to move. He flapped his wings, but there was no response.
In the midst of this, Lucion’s sword swiftly approached.
“【Did you think you could escape?】”
There was already a significant disparity in skill, to the point where evasion seemed impossible.