Chapter 1903 – 1903. Dark Moon
I arrived at the outskirts of Neo London, an area without even a name. For the sake of secrecy, I had walked the rest of the way.
It was already deep into the night. The only sounds were the rustling of grass in the wind and the faint, irritating buzz of insects.
*Tick! Tick-tick-tick!*
There was a cheerful sound. It was the sound of the bugs that were swarming towards me and Yuria being electrocuted to death. I hadn’t used magic. I had simply enveloped my body in an electromagnetic field using lightning. I could use lightning even without magic. It was a kind of special ability.
“Master, it’s that way.”
With Yuria, finding the way wasn’t difficult. If she hadn’t been here, I would have gotten lost quite a bit. I tend to get lost often in places I’ve never been before.
Leaving the forest, we arrived at a ruined village. A village in ruins with barely one or two intact buildings. A place where people had stopped visiting, and where public officials, knowing it was unprofitable, had abandoned it without even cleaning it up. It was the perfect place for smugglers to take refuge.
‘There are no lights coming from anywhere. Is he hiding it with magic? Or has he set up shop underground?’
I couldn’t immediately pinpoint the house where Gillian was staying. I didn’t have that level of detailed information. I had to find it myself.
‘I can’t use search magic. He’s a mage too. It would only tell him that I’m coming to attack him.’
This was his hideout, a mage’s workshop. It’s common knowledge that a mage is at least 30% stronger when they’re in their workshop.
So, there are two effective ways to raid a mage’s workshop. One is to somehow lure the mage out of the workshop, and the other is to attack the workshop itself with powerful firepower. I was aiming for the latter.
My plan was to unleash Thunder Break, the most powerful electric-type attack magic I could use right now, on his workshop and start the battle. It was certain that the workshop would be destroyed, and if I was lucky, there was a chance he would be killed instantly.
‘If I use mana, I’ll be detected, so I have to figure it out with my eyes. Let’s see… If I were him, where would I set up my workshop?’
First of all, not in the center of the village. That’s too obvious, and it’s open on all sides.
‘If it were me, I’d set up my workshop at the edge of the village. But if there’s something special in the workshop that assists with magic, the story changes. Let’s start by checking the outside of the village slowly.’
But the plan went awry. There was an eyeball embedded in a broken wall. The embedded eyeball was staring directly at me and Yuria.
-I heard that lightning-fast, aggressive electric-type mages are on the rise these days… I never thought one would come looking for me so soon. I’m glad I prepared just in case.
Gillian’s voice echoed throughout the entire village.
‘Could this entire village be his workshop?’
It’s a natural principle that the larger the workshop, the more power a mage gains from it. I was mistaken for a moment. He didn’t set up his workshop here just to make smuggling easier. If you set up a workshop of a certain size or larger, the council will impose sanctions. He set it up here to avoid those sanctions.
“Yuria, prepare for battle. It wouldn’t be strange if enemies popped out from anywhere.”
“Yes, Master.”
Yuria gripped the sword she had brought. It was the first time I had seen her holding a sword, but she also had a knight’s license, so there was no need to worry.
‘If I’m already exposed, I’ll use detection magic.’
[Electric Detection]
It was a modified and enhanced version of the second-grade search magic, Detection, tailored to my needs. It was a magic that searched for enemies by scattering electromagnetic waves in all directions. Right now, I could search up to a radius of 300 meters.
Electromagnetic waves spread out in all directions, scanning everything around them. A massive amount of information entered my head directly.
“……”
“Master?”
Yuria tilted her head and asked, seeing my serious expression. I sighed.
“There are over 300 life signs detected. Even if he used decoys, that’s an absurd number. He’s already fully prepared. It looks like we’re in for a rough night.”
As soon as I finished speaking, a person appeared on top of a particularly tall, ruined building. It was Barbara, a mercenary-turned-maid, holding a long spear in one hand.
“I saw you again during the day. How lucky. Actually, I didn’t like either of you from the moment I saw you. Especially you, yes, the silver-haired maid. I wanted to tear apart that face of yours that thinks you’re so high and mighty!”
She quickly took a stance and threw her spear. The spear flew directly towards Yuria.
“I’m fine.”
Faster than I could use magic, Yuria stepped forward and swung her sword.
*Clang!*
The spear, colliding with the clean sword strike, spun in the air before embedding itself in the ground. Barbara took out a skewer smaller than her palm from her pocket. The skewer grew bigger and bigger until it became a spear.
‘A magic spear. If a spear can grow like that… it could get longer even during battle.’
It was a habit from my time in the military. When I saw an opponent’s weapon, I analyzed it first. That way, I could reduce the variables that occurred during battle.
*Grrrrrr.*
With the sound of beasts growling, animals appeared from all directions. Coyotes, wolves, owls, eagles, squirrels, rabbits, and more, of all kinds. I wasn’t surprised. I had already detected these guys hiding everywhere.
‘They’re definitely not ordinary animals. Gillian is a mage who can also create chimeras. They may look ordinary on the outside, but the insides will be completely different. Like their muscles, for example.’
Chimeras are synthetic creatures. They’re all alive. Even if they’re just small animals, Gillian’s ability to control 300 of them at the same time is something to acknowledge.
“I’m going to kill that bitch! Got it?!”
-That maid over there is from a knight training academy, right?
“So what? She’s just a half-wit who couldn’t become a proper knight, isn’t she? Logically, if the path to becoming a knight was open, would she be working as a maid?”
In Neo London, maids were indeed an elite profession that was treated well. But they weren’t on the same level as knights. Knights were the ones who symbolized Neo London’s military power.
-Alright. I’ll take care of the mage. I didn’t like that guy either.
The beasts that had been glaring at me and Yuria turned their heads and glared only at me.
“Yuria, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Yes. That woman won’t be able to interfere with Master.”
As a mage, a skilled vanguard was a nuisance. And if there was a mage behind them? The battle would be twice as annoying. Just having Yuria take care of Barbara made things several times easier.
I opened the mage’s spirit, the Astral. Mana filled the 52 mana roads connected to the Astral. I processed the mana running through the mana roads into a spell and cast magic.
[Electric Detection]
It was different from before. This time, I added depth to the magic. The electromagnetic waves scanned the surroundings more thickly. I carefully observed the life signs, excluding the beasts that had revealed themselves.
The center of this village.
I could sense a presence that was presumed to be Gillian.
Using telekinesis, I floated my body into the air and flew towards the center. Over 300 beasts followed closely behind me. I ignored the beasts. There weren’t any beasts that were dangerous enough to kill right away.
‘It’s easier to lure these beasts and deal with them all at once. Or kill the mage controlling them.’
There was a gloomy building in the center of the village. It was so dilapidated that it wouldn’t be strange if a ghost came out. I could sense Gillian’s presence from the basement.
‘Alright, then. Shall we say hello?’
I stretched out my hand into the air.
A rock larger than a human body appeared in the air.
[Gravity]
The amplified gravity pulled the massive rock to the ground.
• • •
Barbara threw her spear at Yuria. Yuria easily deflected it again. Throwing spears was meaningless. Even though she knew that, Barbara continued to throw spears.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Spears littered the area around Yuria. Some were embedded in the ground, and others bounced far away and rolled on the floor. The moment all 30 spears had fallen to the ground, Barbara leaped and landed in front of Yuria. She held a long spear in her hand.
“I’ll teach a well-bred young lady what a mercenary’s fighting style is like.”
“I don’t think being raised roughly is a good thing.”
“Right. Even in this situation, your mouth is still alive, huh? I wonder if you can still talk like that even after your arm is sliced off.”
Barbara lightly swung her spear. A light blow, as if testing the waters. Yuria stepped back slightly and dodged it.
*Bang!*
A shockwave struck the back of Yuria’s head. She staggered forward, and a spear thrust came straight at her. Yuria twisted her falling body to the side, dodging the spear blade, and stood up unscathed. *Drip, drip.* Blood flowed from her forehead.
“Oh, what’s this? You’re not flustered? Judging by how you were hit, it doesn’t seem like you expected it. You seem to have some real combat experience?”
Barbara grinned. Yuria calmly scanned her surroundings with her eyes. There was no way the shockwave that suddenly hit the back of her head had occurred for no reason.
“…One of the spears behind me is missing. Did it turn into a shockwave?”
“Oh, yeah. My master made it. It’s a spell that summons a shockwave instead of holding a spear. Or something like that. Honestly, I didn’t understand half of it, but it’s surprisingly useful?”
“The essence of summoning magic is a contract, so it’s natural to pay a price. It’s probably not just shockwaves that can be summoned.”
“Wow, you’re smart. But smart guys don’t survive long on the battlefield. No matter how smart you are, there are things you don’t know. Even if you figure it out, it’s already too late. Your head hurts like hell, right? You’re bleeding like crazy?”
Yuria was a genius. She could understand Barbara’s fighting style after seeing it once. But this world was full of things she didn’t know. The common sense and knowledge she had accumulated were fundamentally from another world, making them useless.
If you don’t know, you get hit. That applied to Yuria as well.
“Are you perhaps worried about me?”
“This is too easy. Why don’t you get some first aid? I’ll wait.”
Barbara’s words were 100% lies. Yuria touched the back of her head. Her hand was covered in blood. It was annoying, but it wasn’t life-threatening. Her thoughts were still clear, so her brain was fine. She could fight just fine without first aid.
Yuria gripped her sword and took a stance of the Yeongcheon style.
