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 enter a mere tertai in their otherwise idle standby time.

  Henone quite suspected that the supposedly-careless mage pair would soon be destroying their army, spell after spell.

  ‘…Especially that…raven.’

  The success of Light’s initial strike was mostly attributed to the surprise it carried; ohe soldiers were wary of her capabilities, they had no problem defending themselves with their antimagic gears. pared 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 ued angles; even with their specialized gears, blog the professor’s spells was nearly impossible.

  “Kh…! Archers! Fire!”

  On and, waves of arrows rained down upowo: 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 defleg the projectiles all too easily.

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

  “…Really? Why’s your spell fihen?”

  “This isn’t a spell.”

  “…? It isn’t?”

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

  - ‘Magic repces 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 yer of stone soon colpsed where they’d been standing, demolished uhe weight of a hazel greatsword.

  “…Tsk.”

  “…”

  Bag into the rampart’s ers, Karas gently pced Light back down. Standing iween her and the approag swordwielder, the professor protectively held his hand over the half girl.

  “You’re…?”

  “Heritch.”

  “…”

  “Need I say more?”

  Actually, he did o say more.

  While Heritch sounded like the two intruders would reize his oneither 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 whech raised his hand to signal the army behind him.

  “Lancers, forward. Casters, side.”

  Soldiers immediately reahemselves on and. In mere seds, 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 ncers.

  ‘Ironiostalgic, even.’

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

  And he’d promised o 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 g his student behind him. He then hovered his hands over her eyes, blog off Light’s vision.

  “? Professor, what’re you doing?!”

  “I’ll be just a minute. Close your eyes and cover your ears.”

  “I don’t want to! I ha!”

  “Shroud.”

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

  firming that the spell was in pce, Karas then turo face the approag army – specifically towards the ahat stood behind the row of ncers.

  Sighing, Karas spoke towards the Akeian ander.

  “…I don’t suppose you’d let us go?”

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

  “If you’re insistent on harming us, then I’ve little choice but to retaliate. Are you certain you’d like to tinue?”

  The ander scoffed at the professor’s nont attitude.

  “Bold words for a ered dog. You should know by now it’s poio protect your ally with magic. Our oroy all spells.”

  “…Ah, you misuand. The spell isn’t necessarily to protect her from you and your men. It’s to protect her from myself.”

  “…?”

  Frowning at the professor’s nonsensical answer, Heritch struck out his raised hand. Lancers charged forth in unison at the signal, and casters released elemental arrows of all sorts towards Karas.

  The professor took a deep breath before the oning attacks.

  Karas had nht to judge whether one deserves to live or not.

  From birth, he was an outsider to society – he’d merely mimicked mankind’s s. His most trusted principle had always remaihe same at its core.

  Only the fittest survive. That had always been the case, wilderness and society both.

  Following suit, Karas gazed into the distah forlorn eyes. Despite the oning wave of soldiers and their spells, his focus lying elsewhere entirely.

  Souls of the dead were filling his vision. Some who had died minutes ago, some years ago – some, decades ago.

  g!

  Numerous pikes were jabbed forth, g against each other as they tested to strike the feathered figure. But none would reach their target.

  The forefront ncers struggled to push their spears further, going as far as to emp themselves with mana. But their ons only madly trembled in pce, uo push forth or pull back.

  And finally, one ncer dared to look up at their keep’s feathered intruder again.

  Coating the onster was a tra shade of blue and green. The colors shifted about like living beings, spreading outwards and ing themselves around the ncer’s on to hold it in pce.

  “S…co…us…”

  “…?”

  One by ohe soldiers came to be entranced by the faint, mesmerizing voices eg throughout. It was as if the floating colors were speaking to them.

  As the colors dispersed, an ominous aura encroached upon the surrounding atmosphere. But Akeia’s soldiers found it impossible to take their eyes off of the faded images before them.

  They mixed and verged, danced and beed. The colors began to form mist-like figures, resembling that of living people.

  The images gradually cleared to be dised by the naked eye.

  “e…”

  What followed their wake was an explosion of harrowing screams, signalling their plete release.

  “E, E WITH US!”

  Harrowed spirits exploded outward from the feathered moheir spectral mist flooded every er of the visible world, and swimming within them were tless illusory lights, screaming and cag in a maddening cacophony.

  Dead, hollowed eyes gazed over Telberk’s every living soul in a deathly glow. Rotting hands madly cwed from the mist to doom the living to the same fate they had suffered.

  Soldiers gasped and yelped, falling unto the ground as their limbs were held by intangible phantoms. They cwed at the ground to no avail, dragged away into the depths of the darkening mist.

  Screams of the dead were followed by screams of the living.

  “…Men, steady! Hold your positions!”

  Despite Heritch’s orders, the soldiers were long thrown into disarray; their ander’s orders amouo little before the livihat had been summoned before them. Soldiers watched in horror as their rades were dragged into the deadly haze by what they could only describe as haunted spirits.

  Before long, the soldiers dropped their ons in horror, fleeing as fast as they could.

  As his men fled, Heritch was forced to stand against the spectral onsught by himself. His hands tighteheir grip around his greatsword in an attempt to calm the ander’s shaking.

  With a desperate battlecry, the Akeian ander charged forth, swinging his on downwards. As frightening as they were, all spells could be cut down by the empire’s equipment – he held no doubt that the entire illusion Karas had summoned would disappear in one ssh.

  But his bde pointlessly sshed across the mist, burying itself into the ground. The supposed illusio lingered, resulting in nothing but an explosion of haunted, mog ughter.

  “…No. No…how?!”

  Once again, the Akeian ander roared in desperation, sshing at the air – this time strohan before. He reinforced himself and imbued his on with magic, madly attag the deathly haze that was encroag upon him.

  Nothing worked. Nothing at all.

  Heritch raised his eyes. A pair of glowing red eyes were staring into his soul from beyond this hellish mist.

  And soon enough, the soldiers that had been swallowed into this nightmare returo greet their ahe spirits eerily ughed in unison, rotting bodies dang in the air arouch.

  “…This is a dream.”

  Heritch madly sshed at the phantoms of his own soldiers. But no matter how thinly their images were cut, the mist would immediately restore their broken figures back to shape.

  Eventually, one soldier would their arms around the ander’s leg. Another would climb unto his back, and several hugged Heritch’s prized greatsword. They pushed and pulled, all towards a single dire – towards the source of the hell they’d found themselves in.

  As the spirits began t Heritch towards the feathered figure beyond, a siear rolled down from his eye. The ander’s own horrified screams joined into the madness as he desperately tried to break free.

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

  Eerie ughter were the only answers Heritch received to his pleas. Soon, he found himself colpsed unto the ground before the bck, feathered figure.

  The ander’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 neancer…!”

  “Hm.”

  Karas took a step forward to close the distance Heritch had scrambled. Kneeling on one ko meet their eye level, the moared into the human’s eyes with a benigle smile.

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

  After all, neancy was just another branagid it was nothing more than trolling physical, tangible corpses by maniputing the mana they yet carried.

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

  Karas’ cws slowly reached towards the trembling ahe tip lightly touched upoch’s forehead as the professor spoke his 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 ao rest within his grasp. It was soon absorbed into the feathered figure, forever to remain a part of this nightmare.

  Heritch’s body limply colpsed onto the ground afterwards, robbed of its former oct.

  “…”

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

  “Your time is done. Return.”

  The spirits were rapidly drained of form and addening ughter 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 ed his other arm around his student, turning her away from the eerie se to instead urge themselves towards the dire 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 c my eyes then?”

  “Because the sun is tht.”

  Karas hurriedly left the se 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 gdly help them in challenging Lavnore, he found it difficult to see the merit in bringing Light as well. Though, he couldly leave her aloher.

  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 fident in the dragonlord? You of all people know those two younglings ’t defeat Lavnore by themselves. If their lord’s otherwise promised, 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 fusion 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 translut image, arms leisurely crossed behind their head. He clicked his tongue iing, winking at the professor who’d finally spared a moment to look at him.

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

  “…”

  Karas uncovered Light’s eyes. He o 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 as.

  “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 senteh. None seemed appropriate.

  ‘Reaper’ was one of them.