The Arcadia Continent is brimming with countless legends.
The most famous one, of course, revolves around the many accomplishments of the first emperor who founded the Crescent Empire.
What feats did the first emperor accomplish? What treasures did they leave behind? Which monsters did they slay? And so much more.
Of course, there were plenty of other legendary tales as well.
And I happen to be quite fond of these “legends.”
Isn’t it all romantic and cool?
Turns out, after investigating, around 95 out of 100 legends were fake, but hey, the remaining 5 were real.
And among these countless legends, there were some stories that particularly piqued my interest.
Sword that absorbs the bl**d of dragons.
Mask that perfectly conceals your identity.
Gloves that nullify all magic.
“ROOAAR!”
BOOM!
“Hoohoo, impressive.”
The Landgar, who had been grabbed by the neck, escaped from my grip despite groaning in pain. I genuinely admired his feat.
I knew all too well the concentration required to cast a spell.
Yet, he was able to cast magic while having his neck in my grasp. Incredible.
I muttered to myself while watching Landgar move back and cough after performing a Blink spell, patting his neck.
I can’t even cast magic properly in a calm state without interruptions.
“Ugh… how…?”
I teleported in front of Landgar, thinking, ‘Do you really expect me to tell you?’
Startled by my sudden appearance, Landgar instinctively stepped back.
For a wizard, his reflexes weren’t bad at all.
WHOOSH!
“Huh?”
Thrown off balance by the sudden gust of wind, Landgar swayed. While mages generally need to compute spells in their minds, all I had to do was think, thanks to my skill.
This is the power of skills. I summoned a strong gust of wind behind Landgar, pushing him forward.
Just as I reached out to grab his neck again,
“EEEK!”
In came the dark mana tentacles speeding toward me.
This time, I didn’t dodge it.
Instead, I extended my gloved hand.
Zzzt!
‘This will work.’
The Black Shadow Sword couldn’t repel these attacks, but this glove could handle it. The legendary glove with the ability to nullify all magic.
Upon contact, the dark mana crackled and was deflected.
And thus, my attempt to grab Landgar’s neck failed, but…
“That… that’s impossible!”
“Hmm.”
Landgar couldn’t tear his gaze away from me with that shocked expression.
The flickering dark mana around him revealed his tension.
He must have realized instinctively that he’s in an unfavorable situation.
“You sure run away well.”
“Y-you b*stard!”
Zzzt!
Oddly enough, Landgar was the type who would fall for taunts. He fired off dozens of mana tendrils, visibly enraged by my minimal provocation.
But now I knew how to handle this.
Zzzt! Zzzt! Zzzt!
The tendrils striking my fists bounced off with crackling sounds. Frankly, punching them feels easier than using the Black Shadow Sword against these attacks.
BOOM!
With the constant threat of my counterattacks, I’ve gained much more room to maneuver. Enough to even find a chance to teleport right in front of Landgar.
POW!
“Arggggh!!”
The solid impact was immediately felt through my fist. Landgar took a blow to the gut, curled up, and almost dropped to his knees.
“Wow.”
Even after getting hit, Landgar managed to cast Blink, creating quite a respectable distance between us.
No wonder he was an academy vice chancellor.
Zzzt! Zzzt!
I easily swatted away the remaining tendrils flying from behind, walking slowly toward Landgar. With his hand clutching his stomach, his face was twisted in pain.
It must have been a long time since he last experienced physical attacks like these.
“Remember what we were doing here?”
“Urgh…? That’s my question.”
“Hmm. You need to be hit a bit more.”
“What?!”
BAM!
“Ugh…!”
This time, it wasn’t a light jab. Leaning forward and putting weight behind my punch, I unleashed a powerful uppercut. Piercing through his protective barrier, my blow struck his stomach.
The heavy impact reverberated through my hand.
Struck by my fist, Landgar flew backward, landing with a crash against a tree.
“GGggg!! Whaargh!!”
He fell lifelessly to the ground. His white robe had flown off and lay nearby.
“Normally, people talk after getting hit.”
“Uuuh… Ugh…”
I slowly made my way toward Landgar on purpose. The slower I moved, the scarier it felt.
“d*mn it.”
Landgar muttered to himself while reaching into his robes.
Did he have some sort of trick up his sleeve?
“Hm?”
He took something out with shaky hands and put it into his mouth.
This scene felt strangely familiar.
Glug!
His neck moved as he swallowed whatever it was. I remembered the potion Cain Hover had taken when he attacked me before.
“Ah, so that drug really did come from here.”
The moment I saw Landgar drinking something, I was certain. It was the same suspicious drug I had given to Cain and Cynthia.
“All the better.”
Now I could uncover the identity of the organization responsible for creating and distributing it.
“Ugggh!”
After hearing my words, an aggrieved groan mixed with anger escaped from Landgar’s mouth.
Then Landgar stood up, emitting an entirely different level of dark mana than before.
‘I’ll need to focus here.’
“…Emily.”
“…Yes?”
“I’ll tell you the full details later.”
“…Eh?”
WHOOSH!
Yuria, who had been holding Emily in her embrace, shoved her back immediately after speaking.
Surprisingly bewildered, Emily stumbled backward and almost fell over as something flew between them.
CRASH!
“Ah!”
At the same moment Emily fell on her behind, Yuria stepped in front of her, raising her mana.
An icy chill filled the air around Yuria, freezing it almost completely.
“Th-this aunt?”
Emily just stared at Yuria’s back in shock, unable to even get up.
The back of Yuria, dressed in a dress, hadn’t been seen by Emily for years. She was momentarily lost in memories.
Or rather, she tried to.
“Heh. Sharp as ever.”
“…And here they come.”
“Who could’ve guessed I’d meet Yuria Prisis like this.”
Emily was startled by the sound of a man’s voice emerging from nowhere. Despite feeling no presence around, the voice seemed nearby.
Quickly regaining her footing, Emily clung tightly behind Yuria.
Then she saw him.
A mysterious figure in a white robe standing in front of Yuria.
“What happened to my Wyvern?”
“Hm? What’s that?”
“Don’t play dumb. Right now, you’re the only one who can handle an Undead Wyvern around here.”
“…Ah.”
Yuria seemed to understand what the stranger was referring to as she smiled faintly.
The unknown man looked increasingly irritated.
“Alright, you d*e too.”
“How direct.”
SQUEAL!
A black something shot swiftly from the man’s hands.
Instinctively, Emily ducked her head behind Yuria’s back, watching as the attack approached.
Solid.
It had been a while since she had felt this kind of reassurance, that no matter what happened someone would protect her.
SNAP!
“Now you’re openly using Black Magic? Did the organization’s management decide to go all out, exposed or not?”
“…”
Sure enough.
As Yuria moved her hand, a massive ice barrier appeared in front, freezing the projectile.
“d*mn.”
The man muttered under his breath, furiously waving his hand.
“Over there!”
SNAP!
Before the man’s movement even finished, Yuria acted first, raising her hand toward him.
An intense cold spread along the trajectory, freezing the area within seconds.
ZIP!
The cloaked man narrowly dodged to the side. However, part of his robe got caught in Yuria’s magical radius and froze solid.
POOF! FLUTTER!
“Hm. Good reflexes. You would have become a popsicle if you stood still.”
“sh*t.”
The man quickly shed the freezing robe, revealing his face in the process.
“Remember that face? There’s a witness here.”
Yuria extended her hand back and grabbed Emily’s hand.
A long-haired man with his bangs covering most of his face glared at Yuria with burning anger.
“Whatever, I knew I’d probably get caught by you today. But seeing you using necromancy openly, you’re not exactly low-tier, huh?”
“Hmph.”
This time, the man acted faster than Yuria.
Before she could lift her hand, he jumped.
WHOOSH!
As he leapt into the air, dark mana sprayed from his hands toward the ground.
It was beyond Yuria’s defense range.
“Do you really think you can catch me so easily, Niguel?”
“Oh, you know my name. Thanks for that, Niguel.”
“…You crazy b*tch.”
No matter how angry Niguel got, Yuria just kept smiling.
POW!
But Yuria couldn’t maintain her smile for long.
Something was emerging from the ground.
No, not something.
Somethings.
“Imo (Aunt)! It’s the undead…!”
The undead were clawing their way out from the ground.
