Chapter 139
TL/Editor: raei
Schedule: 5/week
Illustrations: None
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Accidents are called accidents because they happen unexpectedly.
Neither Walter nor Ian imagined they would encounter a hostile wizard in such a manner.
After all, Walter was just collecting amber, and Ian was merely passing by.
If Ian had been an ordinary noble or a common priest, nothing would have happened.
They wouldn’t have obtained any information from seeing Walter.
Walter was the kind of guy who, if labeled a ‘wicked wizard’ by the Empire’s people, wouldn’t feel any injustice; he was genuinely evil.
But do bad guys walk around with ‘I’m a villain’ written on their foreheads?
Walter, being of noble birth, had a neat appearance.
If you didn’t know he practiced demon magic, most would just exchange pleasantries and part peacefully.
But Ian was different.
With his keen wizard senses, he detected the malevolent aura surrounding Walter.
Walter immediately noticed Ian’s suspicious gaze.
And he attacked without hesitation.
Naturally, it was to kill Ian and keep him silent.
For Walter, killing was a routine matter, so he felt no guilt.
“Heh... Ice magic, huh? Interesting choice.”
Walter openly mocked Ian.
In the Empire, ice wizards were treated like circus performers.
Wow! Look over there! It’s a ice wizard!
In summer, they’re useless; in winter, they’re the ones freezing ice on the streets!
But what do they do with ice in winter? (Seriously, no one knows.)
Even when treated like this, ice wizards couldn’t say a word in their defense.
They were just considered unfortunate souls who made a brief mistake in life...
While Walter belittled Ian, Ian looked at Walter with contempt.
“That monster... Did you create it with transmutation?”
“Oh ho. You know your stuff?”
For a rookie wizard, Ian had a good eye.
Walter slightly raised his evaluation of Ian.
Conversely, Ian thought of Walter as an even more dreadful wizard.
Transmutation.
Literally, magic that alters and distorts forms.
It’s extremely dangerous and requires exceptional knowledge to handle.
But Walter had mastered transmutation.
How did he learn it?
A great mentor? Insights from the ever-changing forms of nature?
Neither.
That bastard was a demon wizard who must have harmed countless people.
So the answer was simple.
Human experimentation.
The experience required to create a chimera through transmutation must have all come from live humans.
“Heh heh. I don’t know where you’ve come from, but give up on leaving here alive!”
Walter shouted, waving his hand.
“Crossbows! Fire the crossbows!”
“...”
Ian, tense, prepared a defensive spell immediately.
But Belenka quickly whispered.
“They won’t be able to fire.”
“... Why?”
“Because it’s raining.”
Belenka’s judgment was precise.
The Empire's crossbows often used glue made from fish, which dissolved in rain or heat.
A slight mishap could just snap the bowstring.
Indeed, the mercenaries couldn’t fire their crossbows.
Walter shouted in frustration.
“Can’t you hear my orders?! You idiots!!!”
“But, wizard! The weather...!”
‘He doesn’t seem to care about his subordinates.’
Ian sharply observed Walter and the mercenaries.
The mercenaries didn’t appear particularly loyal to Walter. Their relationship seemed contractual, or even less than that.
Ian decided to sow discord between Walter and the mercenaries.
“Who dares to cooperate with an evil demon wizard?!”
As Ian leveled up as a wizard, his voice projection had definitely improved.
It might seem funny, but wizards here thrived on their ability to speak forcefully...
When Ian shouted, his voice rang out loudly, causing the mercenaries to freeze in their tracks.
“Well, uh...”
“The Great One in the heavens is watching! How can you collaborate with a demon wizard?”
Ian’s voice was indeed intimidating.
The mercenaries didn’t dare approach him, clearly unsure of what to do.
“Pathetic scum.”
Walter looked at the mercenaries with contempt.
Yet he did not wipe the sneer off his face.
“But wizard, it’s pointless. These men know I’m a demon wizard and they still cooperate.”
“...”
Walter shouted at the mercenaries.
“If you understand, kill that man! Before the rumor spreads that you cooperated with a demon wizard!”
Ian glared at Walter.
“The real scum here is you.”
Not only was Walter unashamed of being a demon wizard, but he also used it to threaten the mercenaries!
Ian could easily deduce the relationship between Walter and the mercenaries.
Walter had subdued them with demonic power, and they followed him out of necessity.
‘I'll need to verify the details later.’
For now, it seemed the mercenaries were not deeply involved with the demon wizard.
If they were, they would have already drawn their swords and attacked.
“Alright! This insignificant ice wizard! I’ll crush you with my thumb!”
A sinister energy began to swirl around Walter.
The mercenaries, terrified, retreated.
If Walter killed Ian here, the mercenaries would forever be slaves to the demon wizard.
But Ian had no intention of going down quietly.
Ian knew nothing about demon magic.
He also believed he had no talent for it.
Controlling demons required a fundamentally psychopathic and sadistic personality, and Ian wasn’t wicked enough to handle demons.
There was no way to stop Walter’s magic.
So, Ian decided to attack before Walter could complete his spell!
Without hesitation, Ian summoned the fastest and most destructive skill card he had.
[Fire Magic: Spear of Flame (Lv4)]
[Throw a spear made of enormous flames. The spear will incinerate the impact point and turn the surroundings into a sea of fire!]
“[Spear of Flame!]”
“...!”
As soon as Ian finished chanting, a massive spear of flame appeared.
The mercenaries, and even Walter, were astonished.
The mercenaries were shocked purely by the terrifying sight of the spear.
Despite the pouring rain, the spear burned intensely!
It was a typical reaction of the ignorant mercenaries.
On the other hand, Walter was shocked for much more academic and complex reasons.
‘What the hell is that?!’
Right now, rain was pouring down everywhere.
The water element was strong, and the fire element was incredibly weak.
Even a three-year-old child could tell you that.
But...
Ian had summoned a spear of flame in a place filled with the water element!
‘How?’
Walter forgot that Ian was his enemy, his mind filled with pure curiosity.
How had Ian summoned the essence of fire, and how had he managed to wield such powerful fire magic?
Especially on a rainy day!
Walter would never understand.
He didn’t know that Ian had a unique magic that surpassed medieval understanding and was aided by the Goddess of the North...
Without knowing this, Walter could only mutter in disbelief.
“Archwizard...?”
Since Maronius, no wizard had been honored with the title of Archwizard.
There had been those called Masters, but not Archwizards.
Walter’s wizardly instincts whispered that Ian’s magic concealed something beyond just fire.
‘I want to know...!’
Walter was captivated by the magnificent, no, the beautiful magic Ian displayed.
He had pursued power his entire life.
How could one summon a spear of fire in the air with just a word?
But Walter’s curiosity would never be satisfied.
The flaming spear Ian summoned was flying straight at him.
‘Ah.’
[Why hesitate? Name the sacrifice for me! Summoner!]
Walter couldn’t finish his demon summoning.
Ian’s magic had completed and flown too swiftly and perfectly.
Boom!
“A-Aaaaah...!”
With a blinding flash of flame, Walter’s body ignited like a torch.
For a few seconds, Walter writhed as a living flame.
His scream lasted only a moment.
The fierce flames quickly incinerated his lungs and muscles.
“Wow...”
“What... is that...”
A man burned to death before their eyes.
None of the mercenaries could speak, staring at Walter’s charred corpse.
A person burned to death in the pouring rain...
Gulp.
Someone swallowed dryly.
So this is... the magic they had only heard of!
‘I’d better be damn careful...!’
The sensible mercenaries vowed never to approach Ian.
They didn’t want to mess with someone who could freeze monsters with his bare hands and throw spears of flame!
The sensible ones, that is.
But among them...
There were also not-so-sensible mercenaries.
“W-Wizard!”
‘Oh, sh*t.’
‘I’m screwed...!’
The leader of the Jubal mercenary band, Jubal.
Traits: Became mentally impaired after a childhood fever.
“You, what have you done to our wizard?!”
Jubal stammered, rushing toward Ian.
The other mercenaries nearly lost their minds...
Ian spoke in a low voice.
“Are you a demon worshiper?”
Ian was merely weary, but his cold, steely gaze made the mercenaries tremble with fear.
They felt another person might burn to death!
The atmosphere was tense, but Jubal, being simple-minded, didn’t notice.
He shrugged his shoulders and answered.
“Demon worship...? I don’t know about that... But you shouldn’t kill our wizard...”
“What do you mean by ‘shouldn’t kill’?”
Jubal started to sniffle, his nose running.
Seeing a man nearly two meters tall crying made Ian feel awkward too.
Wait, why is he crying?
“Excuse me...”
One of the mercenaries approached and spoke.
“Our leader... well, he’s not all there.”
“Did he fall from an apple tree as a child?”
“What? No. He got sick, and that’s how he ended up.”
Ian nodded.
Many modern people forget, but childhood illnesses were very common before modern medicine.
Diseases that could be cured with common antibiotics or antipyretics often resulted in permanent disabilities.
Ian looked up at Jubal for a moment.
Given his large frame, if his mind had been intact, he might have been a renowned warrior.
“Even so, he’s the leader?”
The mercenary answered with a grin.
“Well, if you’re strong, you’re the boss.”
“...”
Hmm. Strangely, that’s hard to argue with...
"Actually, we’re quite uneasy ourselves."
The mercenary spoke submissively.
Commoners had no choice but to be deferential when dealing with a wizard.
Ian briefly thought of the Rabbit Foot Company people he had traveled with before.
Having dealt mostly with nobility, the reactions of commoners felt strangely unfamiliar to him now.
“What makes you uneasy?”
“That wicked wizard showed us a demon. He said, ‘Your souls are in my hands, so if you try anything funny, you’ll fall into hell.’”
“Hmm...?”
Ian now understood why the giant was crying.
He's worried about going to hell...?
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