Valenciaunos first visited Sererassie, not Tenitia or Rudi.
Although she was a research mage rather than a combat mage, she was often mistaken for one, generating an atmosphere similar to that of knights due to her proficiency in powerful offensive spells among the top ranks of the Imperial Magic Guild.
Using the authority of a Great Lord, Valenciaunos extracted Sererassie from her laboratory, and she grimaced with an irritated expression.
“I really don’t understand why mages are so interested in swordsmanship and training.”
“Hmm. Why don’t you take an interest in it too, sister?”
Valenciaunos suggested this while inwardly recalling the combat mage Sererassie before the return.
“Then I won’t be able to give you this kind of gift. Do you know how difficult it is to engrave spells on every droplet of liquid metal so that they maintain their efficacy when combined?”
With this sharp retort, she fell silent.
“Okay, fine. I apologize. But have you really already reversed-engineered and productized it?”
“The magic circle has already been completed, and we have the items it needs, right? It’s just a matter of transferring them, so what’s so difficult about it?”
While Sererassie said this, she wore a proud smile.
Her differently colored eyes shone with her self-esteem.
Decoding the ‘Blur’ spell and ‘Diffuse Reflection’ spell engraved on the silver plate brought from Gremoryus and embedding them into the liquid metal armor ‘Aquatech’ was a task that would be considered a lifelong masterpiece for a typical mage, if they succeeded.
Sererassie accomplished this in less than a month and made four prototypes in total: one for Valenciaunos, one for Rudi, one for Tenitia, and one to show to Jeilliris.
“In any case, if you apply this to your uniform and infuse it with mana, you will be able to move stealthily, as if wearing a transparency potion or cloak. Of course, it won’t be as effective as those, but the duration will be much longer.”
Valenciaunos spoke with an unusually serious tone.
“Thank you. Really.”
Her golden eyes gleamed with sincerity, and for a moment, a pure smile returned to her previously haggard yet arrogant face, reminiscent of a young boy.
Sererassie replied with a spirited demeanor, shaking her yellow and blue hair.
“What are you thanking me for? You really won’t do anything stupid with this, will you? The Emperor should at least acknowledge Sererassie’s contributions.”
“Of course. Once I can shake the Eastern White Shark, half of that credit will go to you, sister.”
Sererassie made a disgusted expression.
“Why are you suddenly being so agreeable? Did you do something wrong to me? …Or are you going to do something wrong?”
Valenciaunos’s innocent expression was tainted with a heavy flaw.
His bright, smiling eyes sank into a hollow look, and his boyish, pale cheeks returned to those of a ruffian.
“This is why… I dislike perceptive mages.”
Sererassie turned pale, frustration painting her face with shades of blue and red.
A normally proud expression was now tinged with unusual desperation, causing her golden and blue hair to tremble.
“Brother. I don’t know what you’re planning to say, but you aren’t going to do it. Can you hear me? Brother?”
“No one must know that this was my doing. Lady Trentia already has spies disguised as servants inside the Imperial Palace. The knight accommodations are relatively poorly guarded. Removing them would be meaningless. If the spies disappear, the knights and their wards will realize something is off.”
“And Rudi? Doesn’t he have a few elites with him? He’s incredibly agile, right? Besides, I got him a magic tool!”
“Rudi needs to be on guard at the palace with the magic lance.”
Sererassie let out a deep sigh.
Her proud face was overwhelmed with despair.
It was no longer surprising for her reckless brother, who had once abducted a saint and taken only six people to confront the imperial court, to engage in another reckless act.
“Yeah. If it’s a covert operation that requires powerful firepower, then you must find a mage.”
“No, we don’t need strong firepower. It’s a stealth mission. And we’ll likely need to camp out for about two days, which will require quite a bit of walking.”
Valenciaunos didn’t even lower his voice out of shame.
Sererassie sparked with irritation, causing him to fall to the ground once.
“Using a mage for a stealth mission is a peculiar idea, but how many kilometers do we have to walk?”
Valenciaunos thought for a moment before replying.
“At least 50 km?”
Sererassie sparked again.
The two boarded a merchant’s ship and made their way through the canals, heading toward the Eastern Union’s stronghold across the pathless plains.
The army of over 60,000 soldiers was made up of elite troops raised by the high nobles.
Both Valenciaunos and Sererassie could sense a significant amount of mana within their bodies.
While they weren’t mana users who can manipulate mana at will, they were superhumans capable of cracking a person’s head with a single punch.
Such men were fully armed, led by outstanding knights and officers, and were setting up their tents like clouds.
The engineers and mages had erected fences using tree and earth magic that resembled those of Saturn, while mages and observers kept watch from towering observation towers. Sentinels were stationed outside the fence.
About 100 meters outside the fence was neatly cleared, and scouts were concealed within the grass about 500 meters away, keeping watch of their surroundings.
Sererassie lamented as she observed this scene with observation magic.
“Brother, please reconsider once more. No matter how much of a genius mage I am, the mages over there must also be impressive.”
“Those impressive ones have all gone inside the capital along with the escort. Don’t worry. Just cast the spell of Silver Mana.”
“Don’t you know? Silver Mana breaks when mana is used. I’m not sure how many alliances are involved, but judging by appearances, there must be at least 15 direct households gathered. While I might discreetly burn one line, I have to burn the remaining 14 in a situation where I can’t conceal my mana. Do you really believe that’s possible?”
Valenciaunos replied with a grin.
“Of course. Do you know who I am?”
“I… don’t know. Do as you please, live or die.”
With a resigned expression, Sererassie cast the Silver Mana spell on Valenciaunos.
He smiled and vanished into the foliage.
His ornate white uniform melted into the darkness of the night, becoming translucent.
Sererassie prepared the ‘Lightning Spear’ and ‘Flash Step’ spells in both hands for a possible situation.
“I’ll toss it at the commander and then swoop down to take care of my brother. It’ll likely sting, but it’s better than being caught and killed, right? …What on earth is he thinking doing something like this? If those guys aren’t fools, they’ll unite even more against the imperial court. They’ll probably demand grain next. Hadrian has definitely heard we’re short on food.”
Suddenly, she thought that even if she knew the truth behind the magic, she wouldn’t understand Valenciaunos’s intentions.
“…Could he be doing this casually because he believes otherwise?”
Boom—!
Within an hour, numerous fire pillars shot up into the sky.
Sererassie hardened her normally proud expression as she observed the pillars dyeing the starry night orange.
“Delayed activation? It’s not impossible to cast everything in advance and recite the activation command later, but… For that, the amount of mana and control must be immense.”
Raising her head too high caused her pointed hat to fall off, and the incoming gust of wind tousled her long, dark hair.
“He said he could use magic once without being detected. So he gathered mana using an incantation that time. Yes, as long as an incantation is used, both quantity and control are not an issue. Of course, a regular mage might not be able to endure…”
“Hahahaha! Sister, let’s go! We did it! Prepare to starve to death, you shark herd!”
Before long, Valenciaunos suddenly sprang from the bushes.
He erupted with infectious enthusiasm.
Due to the side effects of holding such immense mana, his hands and face were covered in burst blood vessels and bruises.
Translucent dark-red scales were beginning to disintegrate and fall away, and a horn had sprouted from his head before breaking off.
Sererassie held Valenciaunos tightly without saying a word.
“…When we return, you’ll be using Flash Step to fly, right?”
“Wait. Until then, I’ll be—”
“You’ll fly, right?”
“Hurry back and drink a potion. You look like it hurts.”
*
It goes without saying, high nobles were not fools.
They did not genuinely believe the Asenorta family had really burned all their carts except for their food carts.
Those who possessed the intelligence to believe that would not be able to survive in noble society.
They merely shouted such claims because it was advantageous to do so.
“Compensate us!”
“Did you think this would go unnoticed?”
“I will lodge a complaint with the Imperial High Court!”
They had already sent word to the merchants of the capital to dispatch supplies as soon as they received the reports early in the morning.
Of course, they suffered financial losses and would likely need to extract something from the imperial court in the future, but for now, it was more advantageous to pose as innocent victims.
“My soldiers are going to starve without fighting!”
Such a scenario would have been unimaginable in the East.
If the seven fleets of the Asenorta family did not provide protection for the harbor, their trade port would become merely spawning grounds for the Undersea People.
But this was the Central Region, and it was perhaps the last moment where they held a relative advantage over the Asenorta family.
The Eastern sharks did not hesitate even for kin cannibalism.
Bloodthirsty sharks, hungering for flesh, clung to the tail fins of Summerlin, the White Shark, as she approached the meat.
“…”
To this, Kariosa, the foremost sword mage of the East and the second-best in the Empire, the descendant of the monstrous White Shark ruling the eastern sea, responded.
“It seems you haven’t brought many of your escorts. A bad habit, thinking someone will protect you.”
Stop your juvenile play and get lost.
Kariosa stood atop the seven stairs.
With each step she took down, the surrounding direct-line high nobles took a step back.
“Lord Daizel!”
“Call in your escorts. I’ll hold them off for 3 minutes.”
“Are you threatening us, Lady Cariosa?”
Her gray-blue irises and vertically slit pupils scanned the viscount who asked the question from top to bottom.
“Did it seem like I was threatening you?”
“What kind of madness is this…!”
“Viscount Testudo, double next year’s harbor defense budget. If you refuse, you will have to muster your own fleet to protect your territory.”
“!”
After a careless remark, the viscount’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if he had been smacked with a doubled bill.
“…Do you not realize I attended your birthday celebration?”
“When a child tries to challenge her own territory, does that mean you’ll confess your incompetence by just watching it happen?”
The high nobles gathered in the hall and their escorts gritted their teeth, letting out muffled sounds.
The opponent was a sword mage capable of fighting alone against an army.
Kariosa seemed to be both angry and amused, sneering at the many gazes directed at her, before exiting the hotel hall.
The noble with the blood of a hunter despised those daring to challenge an impossible prey.
“This could summon death. However, since I’m in a good mood today, I won’t shed blood.”
“Your Excellency, where are you going?”
A knight from the Asenorta family rushed up and asked.
Kariosa grinned sadistically as she replied.
“Have the whole army stand by. I’m going to the Imperial Palace. My fiancé should be there.”
“Are you speaking sincerely?”
“They say that among sharks, some species will bite their mates during copulation.”
Kariosa thought as she mounted her carriage.
“I thought it was bait, but was it a lure? Fine. Let’s see if you can ensnare me. I will show you some real skill.”
