Ep 119. Scream All You’d Like. (1)

Ep 119. Scream All You’d Like. (1)

Ep 119. Scream All You’d Like. (1)

No sane man would think one would intrude an armed keep with an army of five – or two, as it has turned out. The soldiers had thought it a careless mistake, the encounter a mere chance entertainment in their otherwise idle standby time.

Hence, none quite suspected the supposedly-careless mage pair to be destroying their army with spell after spell.

‘...Especially that...raven.’

The success of Light’s initial strike was mostly attributed to the surprise it carried; once the soldiers were wary of her capabilities, they had no problem defending themselves with their antimagic gears. Compared to what they’d been equipped for, a mage in training wasn’t anything to write home about.

But Karas was a different story altogether. His spells would weave and curve to find their target from all sorts of unexpected angles; even with their specialized gears, blocking the professor’s spells was nearly impossible.

“Kh...! Archers! Fire!”

On command, waves of arrows rained down upon the two: arrows that were supposed to destroy spelled barriers. If they couldn’t block the professor’s spells, taking him down was the best alternative.

But strangely enough, the jagged walls of stone Karas erected were deflecting the projectiles all too easily.

“Care not to waste your mana, Light. Their weapons seem to destroy magic.”

“...Really? Why’s your spell fine then?”

“This isn’t a spell.”

“...? It isn’t?”

Karas smirked as the layer of dirt and stone over their head protected the two. Not a single arrow was getting through.

- ‘Magic replaces the work, not the materials.’

Or so an archmage had told him once.

“...It’s a trick I learned from Mr. Lairaff.”

Quickly grabbing a hold of his student, Karas then proceeded to dash out of the half-dome he’d created. The layer of stone soon collapsed where they’d been standing, demolished under the weight of a hazel greatsword.

“...Tsk.”

“...”

Backing into the rampart’s corners, Karas gently placed Light back down. Standing in between her and the approaching swordwielder, the professor protectively held his hand over the half girl.

“You’re...?”

“Heritch.”

“...”

“Need I say more?”

Actually, he did need to say more.

While Heritch sounded like the two intruders would recognize his name at once, neither of them had any clue who this man was – other than the fact he owned a big sword.

But it soon became apparent who he was when Heritch raised his hand to signal the army behind him.

“Lancers, forward. Casters, side.”

Soldiers immediately reorganized themselves on command. In mere seconds, rows of pointed pikes were aligned and aimed at Karas and Light, while a hundred spellcasters stood at the ready from both ends of the enclosing lancers.

‘Ironic. Nostalgic, even.’

One hundred years ago, Karas had been the one moving them.

And he’d promised never to return to those days. If he ever did, she’d beat him back to his senses.

‘...I wonder if you still will?’

The professor took a brief glance at his student behind him. He then hovered his eyes over her eyes, blocking off Light’s vision.

“? Professor, what’re you doing?!”

“I’ll be just a minute. Close your eyes and cover your ears.”Cheêck out latest novels at novelhall.com

“I don’t want to! I can handle it!”

“Shroud.”

Ignoring his student, dark streaks of light ruptured forth from the professor’s hand to encase Light in a layer of pitch-black veil.

Confirming that the spell was in place, Karas then turned to face the approaching army – specifically towards the commander that stood behind the row of lancers.

Sighing, Karas spoke towards the Akeian commander.

“...I don’t suppose you’d let us go?”

“Foolish. The empire offers no mercy upon its intruders.”

“Let go...! LET GO! RELEASE ME AT ONCE!!”

Eerie laughters were the only answers Heritch received to his pleas. Soon, he found himself collapsed unto the ground before the black, feathered figure.

The commander’s tear-filled eyes met the monster’s before him. Shuddering in fear, Heritch scrambled on the ground to back away what little distance he could.

“You...you’re no mage...this is no magic. You’re a necromancer...!”

“Hm.”

Karas took a step forward to close the distance Heritch had scrambled. Kneeling on one knee to meet their eye level, the monster stared into the human’s eyes with a benign, gentle smile.

“I’d rather you call me a mage still – though, I suppose that’s insufficient to describe all that I am. As you pointed out, what I’ve used is not magic. But it is not necromancy, either.”

After all, necromancy was just another branch of magic. And it was nothing more than controlling physical, tangible corpses by manipulating the mana they yet carried.

In that regard, the mist that had been unleashed upon Telberk wasn’t even close to necromancy.

Karas’ claws slowly reached towards the trembling commander. The tip lightly touched upon Heritch’s forehead as the professor spoke his next words.

“This mist is simply what I am.”

When Karas jerked back his hand, a thin strand of light was torn out of the Akeian commander to rest within his grasp. It was soon absorbed into the feathered figure, forever to remain a part of this nightmare.

Heritch’s body limply collapsed onto the ground afterwards, robbed of its former occupant.

“...”

Karas rose to his feet, holding his hand outwards. The spectral mist filling Telberk churned in response, beginning to flow back towards their source.

“Your time is done. Return.”

The spirits were rapidly drained of form and color. Maddening laughter and pained wails grew faint and distant, and the mist quickly cleared away.

When they had all but disappeared, the dawning sun was illuminating the keep – as well as the soulless bodies littered within it.

After a small sigh, Karas turned around to undo the spell shrouding Light, though he still held his hand above his student’s eyes. The professor then wrapped his other arm around his student, turning her away from the eerie scene to instead urge themselves towards the direction Ilias had gone.

“...Professor? What’re you doing, what happened? What about all the...the enemies?”

“They’re gone. No one’s here to threaten us anymore.”

“...Why’re you still covering my eyes then?”

“Because the sun is too bright.”

Karas hurriedly left the scene with Light, as if nothing had happened. At all.

Though, truth be told, the professor was still torn on actually bringing the half girl to where the dragons were. While he would gladly help them in challenging Lavnore, he found it difficult to see the merit in bringing Light as well. Though, he couldn’t exactly leave her alone, either.

But then, as if to solve his inability to decide, a friendly voice chatted up the professor from his side.

“Aren’t you being a little too confident in the dragonlord? You of all people know those two younglings can’t defeat Lavnore by themselves. If their lord’s otherwise compromised, those two will die without your help. Besides, the half girl will be much safer with four protectors than one. I’d hurry there if I were you.”

Karas slowly nodded in response.

“I suppose that’s a fair point.”

“Huh? What’s a fair point, professor?”

“? What he just said, of course.”

“What who said?”

“...?”

Karas blinked in confusion as he processed Light’s words. He then turned his head to face the source of the strange, friendly voice that had given him the suggestion.

A familiar man was floating in the air as a translucent image, arms leisurely crossed behind their head. He clicked his tongue in greeting, winking at the professor who’d finally spared a moment to look at him.

“Why, hello. Hope you haven’t forgotten who I am.”

“...”

Karas uncovered Light’s eyes. He needed to rub his own.

But no matter how much he rubbed his eyes, there they were, floating in the air before the professor’s eyes. And Light quizzically stared at her teacher, frowning at his odd actions.

“Uh...professor, are you okay? Is the sun really that bright for you?”

“...No, Light. It’s just...um...”

“? It’s what?”

“It’s...”

There were loads of words Karas could finish that sentence with. None seemed appropriate.

‘Reaper’ was one of them.