Chapter 16

16. Ambush (1)

“Hold on for a moment.”

Karla, who had been darting through the thick fog, stopped and spoke. Taken aback by her sudden words, Ivan, who had been leading the way, also stopped and turned to look at her.

“Karla, what is it?”

“Who are you?”

Karla asked Ivan, glaring at him.

Her gaze was so intense that Ivan involuntarily shivered.

“What are you talking about? I’m Ivan. Ivan Cantadino. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Hah, so you’re saying you’re Ivan, is that it?”

Karla gave a sly smile.

The sticky, fleeting smile soon faded, and Karla turned serious again before speaking.

“You, your mana is different from Ivan’s. Do you really think I wouldn’t recognize Ivan’s mana? Now would be a good time to tell the truth. Or should I have to get my hands dirty?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Karla. Right now, the most important thing is to get out of here.”

With arms crossed, Karla glared at Ivan.

Ivan also faced her gaze, though the corners of his lips were slightly twisted.

“You think I don’t know Ivan? A guy I’ve been traveling with for ages—do you think I wouldn’t recognize his mana?”

In an instant, Karla’s foot swept past Ivan’s eyes.

Had Ivan not dodged, he might have been rolling on the ground by now. However, Ivan simply tilted his head back to evade the kick and chuckled calmly.

“Unfortunately, it seems my imitation of Ivan’s mana wasn’t convincing enough.”

Ivan smiled with an odd expression on his face as he spoke.

As he talked, the companions standing nearby chimed in with the same words all at once.

“The imitation was a bit awkward, wasn’t it? How did you pick up on it so easily?”

Then, the faces of Ivan and the rest of the group started to melt and drip.

Frowning, Karla observed the sight. In the place where their group had been, a white-haired woman with striking red eyes now stood.

“You look familiar.”

—Awaken. As Karla recited the incantation, waves of mana surged around her, wrapping her whole body.

The deep purple mana coursed through her entire being, and bolts of electricity crackled violently, awakening her senses with a powerful jolt.

“I also find you familiar—which is why I dislike you.”

At the same moment the red-eyed woman said this, she lunged at Karla.

Not only her eyes but her entire body was glowing red, and Karla instinctively stepped back. As she did, an explosion erupted from where the woman had been standing.

“You’re entirely predictable. Do you call yourself a mage with that level of performance? You’re an idiot.”

“Huh?”

“And your power—it’s weak. A direct hit might have caused some burns at most.”

“…Are you done talking? You annoying woman from the Cascata family.”

“If I’m not doing enough, should I get more time?”

As soon as Karla’s taunts ended, figures emerged from the fog.

One, two, three… surpassing dozens, there must have been hundreds of them.

They all looked exactly the same.

The woman Karla had faced earlier—the one with white hair and red eyes.

It was her form—

“…Really, you people try everything. When things don’t go as planned, now you’re trying to overwhelm me with numbers?”

Clutching her fists, Karla looked around at the figures just as a small bird-like doll wriggled out from her arms. The bird flapped its wings energetically and landed on Karla’s shoulder before speaking.

—Karla, are you okay?

“I’m still fine.”

—Good. I’ll get there as fast as I can. Avoid direct combat and prioritize not getting hurt…

At that moment,

Karla deflected a mana bullet flying toward her. However, another swiftly followed, narrowly grazing her shoulder and striking Albina’s summoning artifact, shattering it and causing it to vanish along with the doll.

“Tch.”

Karla clenched her fist and slowly raised her arm.

With a shoulder-width stance, her feet firmly anchored to the ground,

The lightning sparking from her fists carried the flow of mana—capable of delivering a fatal blow in one punch.

Karla’s fist crashed into the woman’s face, shattering it.

Her elbow drove up with enough force to pierce the chest,

Her kick tore the head clean off.

Yet, not a single drop of blood was spilled—it was as if she were destroying puppets rather than humans.

And because of that, Karla fought freely, without hesitation.

Karla, incapable of releasing mana externally, had redirected her training to enhance her physical abilities with lightning magic.

‘Maybe this is better after all.’

As she tore apart and destroyed the woman’s clones one by one, Karla thought to herself.

Her strength and endurance might have been superior with her former male body, but her current physique excelled in flexibility and speed.

While each body had its strengths and weaknesses, lightning magic aligned well with this body’s speed.

“Without exception…”

—Crash.

“That commoner…”

—Smash!

“You will…”

—Snap!

“I will surely kill you!”

With every clone she destroyed, she spat out a few words.

“Commoner? You’re talking about Ivan… Why would you…?”

Though curious inside, Karla did not let it show.

Showing curiosity would only invite the opponent to toy with her.

Although not exactly powerful, there was definitely something unsettling about the situation.

“To me, it’s a relief to have an appropriate punching bag appear. Let’s see—it’ll be interesting to see if you run out of clones to create, or if my mana runs dry first.”

No matter how many clones there were, Karla was destroying them faster than they could regenerate.

After tearing apart a clone and wiping away the sweat from her eyes, a red-eyed woman stepped into her line of sight.

“Karla della Cascata.”

“When calling someone else’s name, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first? Did you not receive proper upbringing? It certainly seems that way.”

“…Venere. You seem slightly different from the others?”

“Coincidence. I’ve heard that a lot.”

“—Hmm, annoying remarks. If you hadn’t been so arrogant, you might’ve become a great Archmage someday. The commoner’s death or survival is none of your business. It shouldn’t have come to this. Foolishly interfering…”

At that moment, a fist flew toward Venere.

Boom! With a loud crash, Venere’s head exploded, and she collapsed to the ground.

Sensing a chilling presence from behind, Karla quickly created distance—

“Did you think my clones were all there is to me? What a pity.”

Venere was right in front of Karla, her face almost touching hers.

Her hand tightly gripped Karla’s left wrist, and an unusual heat began gradually spreading up her left arm.

“Corrosion.”

With an unfamiliar incantation, a streak of black smoke enveloped Karla’s left arm.

Reacting to the warmth, Karla struck Venere in the face, and her jaw flew off.

Still, with only her lower jaw remaining, Venere mumbled something inaudible.

Repulsed, Karla unknowingly clenched her fists and punched Venere’s abdomen.

—Explosion.

With a gaping hole in her abdomen, flames erupted from Venere’s body.

The putrid smell accompanied by infernal flames engulfing her body faded as another laugh echoed through the fog.

“Did you think that was my true form?”

“…”

Karla silently looked down at her left arm.

Gradually, the black aura resembling flames began creeping up to her elbow.

It felt like her magical circuits were being invaded, perhaps even corrupted.

“My power isn’t just that. How dare you meddle with me—you’ll suffer a painful death.”

With those final words, the presence disappeared.

The pain started to grow in her left arm, and Karla felt an internal sense of unease.

‘Too confident.’

This was not something she should have done, despite her calm exterior.

“Does it hurt?”

The voice came from behind.

As soon as Karla heard the voice, she turned around and swung her fist.

However, her lightning-powered mana wouldn’t move under the influence of the black aura, and her bare fist flew toward Venere.

“Still full of energy?”

Instead, the dagger in Venere’s hand struck Karla’s fist.

Pahk! It felt like electricity had surged through.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Karla reached out with her other hand and grabbed Venere’s face.

“[Electrical Current]…!”

Lightning surged into Venere, burning her—within that, Venere’s form disappeared.

‘Damn… She mentioned ‘corrosion.’ This feels like a curse.’

Karla suspected this to be more than mere human sorcery. It was probably a highly advanced curse that could even damage her magical circuits.

As the pain in her arm grew like it was being scorched, Karla gritted her teeth and knelt on her left knee.

Regulating her rough, rising breaths, Karla glared at Venere and asked.

“Are you, by chance, a heretic who worships the Three Evil Deities?”

“Could be yes. Could be no. While I appreciate your curiosity to know more about me, I’m afraid I can’t tell you more besides my name?”

Venere.

Upon closer inspection, Venere was the second star that shone in the night’s constellation.

But no one with such a name would unleash this kind of curse—it was undoubtedly the power of an evil deity at play.

“…Even if I die here, I’ll curse you until the very end.”

“Oh my, how frightening.”

Venere approached Karla, her red eyes gleaming.

Confident of her victory, Venere’s hand now revealed an enormous blade glowing deep red.

“That much I’ve already accepted, woman of Cascata. Right now, I’m just going to enjoy myself. Whatever happens later is of no concern.”

Karla glared at Venere with bloodshot eyes.

A mana-filled greatsword soared high into the air, and as it finally descended—Karla faced it head-on with an unwavering gaze.