139th Episode
“…?”
Luna, who had visited the Dinor region with Ropheiren for some business, turned her head toward the distant sky.
She could sense Ray moving at a rapid speed, heading towards the Sigini Mountain Range when she calculated his direction.
Luna furrowed her brow.
Ray still hadn’t fully recovered and needed rest. Though he had been more energetic lately, just yesterday he was still getting around in a wheelchair.
Suddenly speeding off towards the Sigini Mountain Range made her worry that something had happened.
Knowing that standing by wouldn’t resolve anything, Luna immediately materialized the high-ranking spirit Karga.
Luna bowed slightly to Ropheiren as she mounted Karga’s massive body.
“…I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Yeah, go take care of it.”
Zwaaak!
The high-ranking spirit effortlessly took off into the sky with Luna aboard.
Ropheiren waved goodbye calmly, having grown accustomed to such sights.
*
Jimmy, Matthew, and the knights were greatly flustered upon seeing Ray captured as a hostage.
That Elf girl really lacked judgment in assessing people, they thought, but now Ray had started causing trouble again.
Jimmy, Matthew, and the knights exchanged glances before each taking a step back from the Elf.
Miner, having taken Ray hostage, was somewhat surprised at how smoothly things were going.
‘What’s his background?’
Miner looked down at Ray curiously. Who could this boy possibly be if even Graduates and knights dared not approach easily?
Then Ray shouted towards Jimmy.
“Father!”
“…?”
“Ignore me and cut her down, sir!”
Upon hearing Ray’s solemn shout, Jimmy trembled violently and responded with the anguish of spitting blood.
“A-Ah son…! I cannot lose you…!”
Jimmy’s face contorted like a demon’s.
Anyone could see it was the worried and angry expression of a father fearing the loss of his beloved child.
Seeing Jimmy struggle with the agony of a torn chest, Miner finally understood the situation.
“So that’s how it is.”
Now it made sense why the knights couldn’t act recklessly when someone so precious to a Graduate was captured.
Feeling emboldened, Miner pressed the dagger closer to Ray’s neck and shouted.
“If you make any sudden moves, you’ll never see your son again!”
It was an offer too good to refuse.
For a brief moment, Jimmy hesitated but quickly regained his composure and continued the act.
“Ah, I understand. What do you want?”
“Send a horse over here.”
The knights glanced at each other and sighed deeply.
Though reluctant to comply with such demands, they decided to play along with Ray’s performance since reversing the situation would be awkward now.
A knight sent two horses towards Miner.
Miner swiftly lifted Ray onto one of the horses.
After a short deliberation, Miner mounted the same horse as Ray and slashed the remaining horse.
The horse screamed in pain as its leg was severed and collapsed.
“Don’t follow us.”
With a cold warning, Miner spurred the horse towards the Sigini Mountain Range, leaving behind a trail of dust.
The knights watched with troubled expressions as Miner disappeared.
While they didn’t care much about Ray being captured, they regretted the injury to the horse.
Knights’ steeds were not animals easily replaceable.
As the knights grumbled, Matthew asked nonchalantly,
“Shouldn’t we chase after them?”
“We should follow at a safe distance.”
In case of emergencies, it was wise to maintain a supporting distance.
When Jimmy, Matthew, and the knights felt they had created enough distance from the Elf, they kicked off the ground.
Knights rode horses to conserve stamina, not because they were slower than horses.
With their heavy armor clanking, the knights sprinted forward.
*
Ray lay slumped on the galloping horse, pondering.
Why had this strange Elf appeared in Phillip’s County?
Given the recent chaos caused by Jenkins and Didier in Osiris Countdom, it seemed likely she was a scout sent by another noble family.
‘Was I caught off guard and exposed to Jimmy?’
The Elf must not have anticipated encountering a Graduate casually walking the streets of Phillip’s County.
If she concealed herself at an Expert level, there was no way she wouldn’t have been detected by Jimmy.
‘…I’ll hear the full explanation later, but first, I need to consult with Count regarding how to handle the aftermath of capturing this Elf.’
Ray waited patiently for the horse to reach the Sigini Mountain Range.
Even though he played the role of a hostage, he hoped to achieve some results, but judging by the Elf’s actions, it was clear she intended to dispose of him as soon as they reached the mountains.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Even if nothing came out of the hostage drama, Ray had no regrets.
He was satisfied just enjoying the role briefly.
Although it was a somewhat dangerous game, Ray was confident he could subdue not only the kidnapper Elf but also any accomplices who might show up.
Ray’s assumptions were mostly correct.
However, Ray hadn’t anticipated that as soon as he and Miner rode towards the Sigini Mountain Range, Luna would use a wind spirit to chase after them immediately.
By the time Ray and Miner reached the entrance of the Sigini Mountain Range,
a shadow briefly passed overhead before vanishing, followed by a thunderous roar.
Aiiieek!!!
Sensing the anomaly, Miner instinctively reined in the horse.
From above, a powerful aura filled with wind descended.
Kuung!!
The towering high-ranking spirit Karga landed atop the Sigini Mountain Range.
At the moment Karga revealed himself, the air split apart, and surrounding trees began uprooting themselves.
Harnessing all his power, the high-ranking spirit Karga became akin to a condensed typhoon.
Overwhelmed by the unexpected appearance of a high-ranking spirit, Miner was left stunned.
While all of Miner’s attention was focused on Karga, a wolf-like intermediate spirit approached stealthily.
Miner belatedly noticed the presence of the intermediate spirit, but it was already too late— the wolf-like spirit had grabbed Ray and was fleeing.
“Coomy.”
The hostage was lost.
Miner realized her mistake too late and tried to regain focus.
But it was futile.
A calamity surpassing even high-ranking spirits had emerged.
Wooong-!!
Pure mana currents covered the sky.
Even with a high-ranking spirit right in front of her, Miner had no choice but to look up at the heavens.
Where Miner’s gaze fell, a single mage floated in mid-air.
A girl with flowing blue hair looked down impassively with silvery eyes.
Without asking any questions, Luna began casting magic.
Whoosh!!
Energy that had been pre-condensed and stored in A-Space was released.
The energy unleashed from five different A-Spaces began to rampage uncontrollably.
Luna gathered the rampaging energy chunks into one by creating a new A-Space.
The highly compressed energy mass writhed as if it were about to tear the A-Space apart at any moment.
Luna pointed her finger at Miner.
The curved A-Space prepared to focus the unruly energy into a single point.
Realizing the situation too late, Ray shouted.
“Luna, don’t kill her!”
Anyone hit directly by that would surely leave no flesh intact.
Hearing Ray’s words, Luna’s finger shifted slightly to the side.
The stage for canceling the magic had passed, so it had to be fired.
“Judgment.”
Zzzzeng!!!!!!
A pillar of white light engulfed half the mountain.
Being a space-type magic that concentrated all the energy pre-fixed in the A-Space and fired it, its power far exceeded ordinary high-level magic.
Part of the mountain evaporated, leveling down like a plain.
The aftershock of the magic accompanied by an earthquake reverberated through the mountain range.
Caught in the aftershock, Miner tumbled quite a distance before barely managing to stop.
Even though she wasn’t directly hit, just being swept away by the aftershock caused blood to gush from her mouth.
“Keuhk…! Keuk…!”
Miner laughed bitterly while coughing up blood.
Experts, Graduates, and then a high-ranking spirit running rampant—now a magic comparable to the highest extermination spells was deployed within moments.
Even if preparations for the spell had been done beforehand, it was absurd.
According to Miner’s understanding, deploying such a grand-scale magic would require several high-ranking mages.
“Do you have… some secret rebel command post of the Empire here?”
Stumbling and muttering nonsense, Miner scanned her surroundings.
To have even a slim chance of escaping this incomprehensible territory, she needed to reclaim the hostage.
The reason the mage could unleash an extermination spell without hesitation was because Miner had lost the hostage.
After desperately scanning the area, Miner managed to locate Ray under the protection of an intermediate wind spirit.
Their distance wasn’t too great.
As Miner approached, Ray picked up the fallen dagger and stood up.
“Try continuing?”
Tsuk!
A sword aura manifested on the dagger Ray held.
Wide-eyed, Miner realized she had been deceived from the start and grimaced.
“You despicable human bastards…!”
“Elf, that’s not for you to say.”
Twisting his lips, Ray brought the dagger imbued with sword aura to Miner’s neck.
*
“Two horses and a mountain…”
The Count gave Luna and Ray a look of reproach as they returned after capturing the Elf at the entrance of the Sigini Mountain Range.
The cost of this brief entertainment was far too great.
The horses the knights needed weren’t cheap, and the budget required to restore the damaged mountain was enormous.
This time, Ray had no rebuttal and obediently bowed his head.
Suppressing a sigh, the Count called together those involved in the incident.
After Matthew recounted his experience, the Count understood what had transpired.
“Jimmy, Matthew, you both must know about ‘Titi.'”
While Jimmy and Matthew didn’t know Titi’s exact identity, they were aware that she was cursed by the World Tree and chased by her own kind, the Elves.
The Count continued, unable to hide his frustration.
“Titi’s curse spreads if any of her kin get too close. That’s why she was completely abandoned by her own kind.”
If the curse wasn’t contagious, some Elves would have cared for Titi.
However, the World Tree’s curse didn’t allow even that, which led to her being entrusted to a human hero.
The reason the Phillips Countdom settled in such a remote area was related to this curse.
They chose a place where Elves were rarely found to avoid situations where Titi might come into contact with other Elves.
Listening to the story, Ray sighed deeply.
The World Tree sure had a nasty temperament.
Regardless, the reasons for the Elf suddenly revealing herself in front of the orphanage and reacting excessively afterward were somewhat explained.
Understanding the situation roughly, it was now time to interrogate the detained Elf.
They needed to find out who sent her and if she had any accomplices.
However, no matter how cooperative the Elf might be, it would be difficult to release her alive.
Meeting (4)
