Chapter 284.
Delta asked in a trembling voice, "Are, are we supposed to deal with a great madosa level monster whose abilities are similar to our teacher-nim? Are you crazy?"
When Delta questioned Malecia’s mental state, Malecia replied with a smirk, "If you can say those exact words in front of Master, try it. After all, I’m doing this because Master told me to.”
Delta flinched and stepped back. "That’s not what I’m saying!"
Delta disheveled her hair in distress and cried, "How can we deal with that person with just us!?"
Malecia spoke casually, "Why are you worried? You said two years ago in the Alps that you five could face him.”
"What? Senior! Did you really say that?”
When Beta looked at Delta in surprise, she blushed and said, "That’s only possible when the other person is off guard, and we use a surprise attack! What magician would have their guard down in the middle of a war! No, and of course, I was bluffing a bit when I said that!"
At Malecia and Beta’s gaze, Delta turned away. "And at the time, we had teacher-nim, so it wasn’t impossible if he helped a little!"
"Oh, so then, you could have made a real attempt." Beta nodded, convinced, and he asked Malecia, "So, is the great madosa siding with the empire the Glacial Devil, Arpen Fendria? Or is it the Alchemic Grandmaster Mirpa Ainsmall?"
Malecia handed over the documents he had received. "Both guesses are wrong."
“It’s neither of them?”
Malecia nodded as Delta stared inquisitively. "Delta, you’ve met him before. Apparently, he was the one wearing that strange helmet in the ancient castle in the Alps."
Delta was astonished. What? The magician who wore that black helmet was a great madosa?"
"Hey, Mercenary King? I think the document is wrong."
Beta was examining the documents he received from Malecia, and, pointing to the section on the list of people to watch out for, he spoke. "Why is someone who’s supposed to be a great madosa in between his late teens to mid-20s?"
"The great warrior of the Green Mane tribe says he’s Bloody Blade’s nephew. As far as I know, his nephews should be around that age."
Beta and Delta couldn’t believe this, their jaws hanging open.
"If he’s a great madosa at such an early age, just when did he break through the wall of Mado?"
"Wait, if it’s Bloody’s nephew, then isn’t he the son of that ‘monster’?" Delta spoke with a pale complexion as if she were reluctant to mention him.
"That monster? Oh, perhaps you mean the chief of the Crow tribe, Doomstone Blade...”
"Don’t just say that name!" When she heard Doomstone’s name, Delta shouted as if she were having a fit.
At the sudden outcry, Beta looked at Delta in bewilderment. Likewise, when Malecia saw Delta, he looked fed up, and he asked, "You, by any chance... were you in that society?"
"Hiik! No! Save me! I don’t want to die!" Delta panicked as if Malecia saying the word ‘society’ was a trigger.
When Delta started hyperventilating, Beta covered Delta’s mouth and cast sleeping magic. This magic wouldn’t have been easy to cast on her under normal circumstances, but the panicked Delta fell right asleep.
"This is the first time I’ve seen Senior become so frightened. And regarding that society, I thought none existed for curse magic?” Beta asked while laying Delta on the sofa.
Malecia answered with a sigh. "It no longer exists, to be specific. Well, at your age, you wouldn’t know of it. Originally, there was a society for curse magic."
"I’ve never heard of it.”
Beta looked at Malecia, interested in the information he was never aware of. Malecia sighed and continued speaking, "It was home to a disaster so horrendous that it gives me goosebumps just by mentioning it.”
"Disaster?"
At Beta’s reply, Malecia nodded and said, "About 18 years ago, Doomstone Blade suddenly stormed into the Curse Society. He told them to bring out all the information regarding curse magic while emitting killing intent.”
"The chief of the Crow tribe? I thought he didn’t know magic."
Malecia shrugged. "I don’t know what happened either since I wasn’t there. Anyway, the great magicians and madosas there all refused to comply with Doomstone’s request."
Beta nodded. "Of course. Even if your opponent is not a magician, you can’t give him valuable research."
"Then, Doomstone said he’d take it by force, and all the magicians in the society attacked Doomstone. As a result, every madosa there perished. And, all the great magicians, except for a few who became disabled, died as well."
Beta couldn’t close his mouth, and he inquired tentatively, "How many madosas... were there?"
"I don’t know, but I heard that there were more than 50 madosas and over 400 great magicians. For your information, I remember that Master was lamenting that there were three madosas who were on the verge of reaching the great madosa level.”
"That, that’s not a person. How can 50 madosas and 400 great magicians all at once...” Beta’s astonishment grew until it became amazement.
"Thanks to that incident, the curse magic that was in its prime due to Master’s existence fell tremendously, making the number of curse magicians even less than black magicians."
The reason why the curse magicians did not go extinct was also because of the Great Madosa Aries. So many high-level people were exterminated that, if Aries weren’t around, there would have been no one to pass down the teachings of curse magic. In this incident, it wouldn’t have been strange if the root of curse magic schooling had perished.
"So you’re saying that Senior was in that society?"
"There isn’t much else that would make Delta overreact like that. Well, during the time when Doomstone was active 28 years ago, there were quite a few of those incidents, so it might also be due to something else."
However, her response to the "society extermination" made it clear that the fear towards Doomstone was carved into her. At Malecia’s words, Beta stuck his tongue out. "Senior did a good job surviving."
"No, normally, the Crows say they aren’t interested in the weak, so she probably managed to avoid Doomstone because she was weak at the time."
Delta was an up-and-coming rising star back then, but it was not enough compared to great magicians and madosas. Thanks to this, it allowed her to avoid Doomstone’s attention to survive unnoticed.
"When Delta wakes up, avoid mentioning it as much as possible, and if you need to refer to it, say ’a disaster from heaven’ or ‘a Crow of death.’"
Doomstone had dozens of nicknames, but they were all hideous.
"I’ll have to. By the way, considering he could face the curses of 50 madosas and 400 great magicians before killing them with brute force, is it impossible to curse him without the legendary magic tool, the Curse of the Giants?"
The Curse of the Giants was a legendary magic tool that every curse magician dreamed of using at least once. It was a magic tool of fantasy whose existence itself was uncertain, being created by the Giant Tribe during the Giant-Holy War about 500 years ago.
"Well, I was wondering if that’s even something a person can handle." Since Malecia had assisted Aries for so long, Malecia was well-versed in information about magic tools and magic.
"That’s true. It’s also unclear whether it truly exists or not." With Beta’s affirmation, Malecia nodded and reached into his bag, pulling out a map of the fortress along with a map of its surroundings.
"Now then, we’ll have to figure out how to deal with that great madosa.” Malecia sighed as he looked at the map. To gain command of the fortress, Malecia wouldn’t face any difficulty in obtaining this with the achievements and authority of the great madosa, Aries.
The question is, how do I defend our troops until Aries arrives?
* * *
I sighed and looked at the map of Shellen Fortress. Based on my analysis of the photos taken by the disposable satellite five days ago, there were more than 10,000 troops stationed in the fortress. Among them, there were about 1,000 people dressed as magicians. This number of magicians was far too large for a fortress that was somewhat far from the border.
Perhaps most of the magicians were mercenaries. But even if they were a mercenary, a magician is a magician. It would be difficult to lead them without a distinguished commander or a magician with overwhelming skills.
"It’s a good thing we plundered the enemy’s magic supplies.”
The opposing magician force wouldn’t last long because most of the enemy vanguard’s magic supplies were prevented from being taken back when they retreated. The issue here was that we also had to take the fortress before the enemy’s main force arrived.
At my murmur, Yvain and Ovain asked with a playful smile.
"What? Did we do a good job? Crow Prince?”
"Really? Did we do a good job? Prince Crow?”
I patted the twins’ hair because they looked like puppies searching for compliments and said, "Yes, good job."
Then, the twins gave each other a high five, and Ovain asked, "By the way, where is Prince Crow going?”
I smiled faintly and pointed to a prison where the prisoners were temporarily detained.
"Prison? Prince Crow, you’re going to interrogate them yourself?" Yvain looked at me as if he didn’t understand why I would want to interrogate the prisoners myself.
Certainly, it was better to leave this type of work to a professional interrogator, but there was no time. We had to depart by this afternoon to buy enough time to attack the fortress. And we can’t take prisoners on the march.
"I haven’t learned how to interrogate someone, but I can tell if they’re lying or not."
If it was someone who mastered Elder Weger’s 1,000 things like me, I could reveal the truth without needing to resort to torture.
I went into the tent where the enemy soldiers were held.
"Loyalty!"
I raised my hand in response to the guard’s salute and looked inside the tent. The tent was divided by simple wooden bars. The prisoners behind these bars were restrained depending on their level of strength. Their restraints ranged from simple handcuffs to their whole body being chained. For some, even their movements were sealed by magic.
"Hi, have you been well, Striped Cat?”
The one I was looking for was the most tightly bound of all. His animalization was undone, and so he looked like a muscular man, but the wounds he had suffered from Mac were still present in the same locations. In addition, I sealed his movements myself, so I could recognize him at a glance.
"How many times do I have to say I’m a tiger?" At my greeting, the Hunter great warrior growled.
"Did you say your name was Gentamet?” I flicked my finger gently and released the seal.
As his body suddenly became free, the prison guards were flustered and pointed their spears in nervousness.
It wasn’t just the guards who were surprised; the Striped Cat asked, "Why are you releasing me?”
"It doesn’t matter if you run away. Either way, you’ll be caught in no time.”
Gentamet smirked. "But don’t you think I might be able to escape?”
At the petty provocation, I grinned and warned, "If you try to escape, I’ll kill you."
Gentameta noticed my warning was sincere, and he started sweating nervously. "You. You must be stronger than that young Crow warrior.”
Gentamet, soaked in a cold sweat, spoke as if he had seen something ridiculous. "No, it’s not just strength... Crazy. How can this be at such a young age....”
I put my finger on my mouth and smiled. "Shh. Just like an animal, your senses are quite developed.”
Gentameta knelt down and held out both palms facing upwards. "I... have lost. I won’t even think about running away. Spare me."
I licked my lower lip as Gentamet surrendered. "How boring."
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