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Chapter 10
“A guy overflowing with mana acting so petty just because I borrowed a little of it. And this is… well, as you can see…”
Mirea had been speaking confidently but suddenly trailed off. Aris followed her gaze and looked up. The beasts covered in divine power, which was now pouring out from the purification spell, were either vanishing or fleeing.
Aris stared blankly, puzzled. From what he saw… it looked like the mana was amplifying the divine power, and the amplified divine power was then amplifying the mana—a continuous chain reaction in an endless loop.
There were several mana-based formations set up throughout the forest. When they connected like a spider web to form a path, the divine power traveled along them, concentrating instead of dispersing. The intensified divine power was affecting the beasts, and the mana was forming barriers that prevented them from escaping.
Is this even possible?
As far as Aris knew, he had never heard of such a spell.
“I mean, technically, this is supposed to be confidential… I really shouldn’t be showing this kind of thing in public, but I didn’t have a choice. Right?”
Aris had no idea what she was trying to explain or why she was seeking his agreement, but that didn’t matter. He slowly shook his head.
“This is insane… What on earth is going on right now…?”
“To put it simply, the forest is being purified, the land is being restored to its original state, the beasts are being burned or repelled by the divine power thanks to the purification, and the corrupted sanctuary is recovering… that kind of situation.”
“No. Even if just one beast or a bit of corruption remains, it’ll revert to how it was.”
He had never heard of a corrupted forest being completely purified before. If that had been possible, they wouldn’t have sat by helplessly as lands were corrupted and monsters ran rampant.
Beasts corrupt the land. Corrupted land attracts beasts. It’s a vicious cycle—where there are beasts, there is corruption, and where there is corruption, there are beasts.
“The mana flowing along the formation is continuously holding onto and amplifying the divine power, which is melting the beasts.”
Just as Mirea said. The divine power, though its source was cut off, wasn’t just bound by a basic sealing spell.
“How is that even possible?”
Mirea shut her mouth tightly, indicating she couldn’t say any more. Her eyes nervously darted away.
“Like I said, it was originally a secret… but it’s the result of a secret magi-engineering research project we’ve been working on.”
As cold sweat dripped down Mirea’s face, a bat-like beast, trying to avoid the divine power, suddenly lunged at them. Aris, sensing the presence, casually raised his hand. But before he could react, one of the beast’s wings was blown apart, followed by a bullet piercing its head, destroying both its brainstem and core.
As the beast turned to ash, they both looked in the direction from where the bullet had come. A small airship hovered in the distance—barely big enough to hold four or five people. A figure had precariously leaned out of the cabin, aiming a sniper rifle in their direction. The shot just now had come from him.
“I have a visual on Mirea Janeaster. And… the Black Wing as well.”
From the cockpit, Layla reported to Paulo, who was sitting behind her.
“Our little puppy is in the arms of another man, just as expected. She’s with the Black Wing, and they look quite cozy, boss.”
Xio, who had fired the shot, frowned slightly as he observed Mirea and Aris through his scope. But Paulo was glaring fiercely at the intricate web of divine and mana flows that Mirea had triggered.
“What the hell was she doing? Who told her she could activate the circulator?!”
Mirea, completely ignoring Paulo’s exploding temper, floated in the air and began shouting at the top of her lungs. Paulo focused a telescope on her, and judging by her mouth, she was clearly swearing. He gave Xio a cold smile.
“Shoot her down too.”
“More importantly, Your Grace, the young lord is glaring at us like he wants us dead. Shouldn’t we shoot him first if we want to live?”
Paulo sighed deeply and ruffled his well-kept blond hair. Mirea’s voice didn’t reach them due to the airship’s engine noise, but she continued to shout with all her might.
“You’re late! I said you’re LATE! What were you even doing?! You let me run around risking my life and now that everything’s over, you casually stroll in?!”
Mirea bit her tongue mid-sentence—because Aris descended to the ground, half-dragging her with him. He dropped her unceremoniously. She landed on a rock and rubbed her sore butt while yelling at Aris’s retreating back.
“Where are you going?”
“Running away.”
Mirea hurried after him.
“I told you to at least listen to me!”
“Didn’t we already help each other in a tough situation?”
“I’m not trying to say anything bad!”
Their bickering was interrupted by the airship landing in front of them. Aris squinted as dust blew in the wind. Even before the ship fully touched down, a blond-haired man jumped out and made a beeline for Mirea.
“Ow!”
Mirea grabbed the top of her head where the sword hilt had struck. Paulo had swung his greatsword—one that normally needed both hands—with full force. His eyes bulged in rage.
“You damn brat…”
“Paulo! You’ll kill someone if you hit them with that!”
“I want to kill her. But wait your turn.”
Aris looked around at the three people now surrounding him. One was the sky-blue-haired youth with the sniper rifle. Another was a small-framed woman with short, light pink hair. The third—whom Mirea had called Paulo—was likely their leader: a handsome man with blond hair and blue eyes.
Despite the chaotic arrival, all three remained tense, ready to act instantly. Aris could feel their alertness, and it didn’t sit well with him.
“Ludekias Reminna Ryu Phanidrau.”
Hearing that name, Aris grimaced. Paulo pointed at Mirea.
“First, tell me how far your conversation with him got.”
Aris glanced between Mirea and the other three, then spoke.
“You people are from the Rashvalen Association. And your objective is to take me with you.”
“…”
As silence followed, Aris added nonchalantly,
“That’s it.”
“You didn’t explain a damn thing, did you?! What was that about going ahead first?”
Mirea replied in an aggrieved voice,
“How could I explain anything in that situation?! The cult bastards started attacking as soon as night fell. I couldn’t wait for Paulo! And how could I sit him down and explain everything when we were busy trying not to die?! Why did you show up so late? Can’t you see I got shot here?”
“So instead of waiting to explain, you just activated the circulator?”
“It was made to be used, so I used it. What’s the problem?”
“As a magi-engineer, I am pleased that the output exceeded expectations and I can collect more data…”
As Paulo and Mirea continued arguing, Layla looked over the ritual now spreading through the forest and murmured,
“Even considering you’re a Dercaid, this is…”
She looked delighted as she smiled and spoke to Aris. He had seen that kind of look before—one that masked curiosity as cold calculation: how useful might this person be? But the pink-haired woman’s expression felt more like that of a child eager to take apart a toy insect. It was terrifying.
The sky-blue-haired man gave Aris a slight smile when their eyes met—but the rifle in his hand never wavered.
Paulo, grinding his teeth, continued.
“I told her to go on ahead and check the situation. When I saw the circulator gone, I nearly passed out.”
“But it worked perfectly, activated right on time, and everything went smoothly, didn’t it?”
“How did you know the outer perimeter work was finished? What if there had been a delay?”
“That’s your job! You’re the one getting paid to manage that. If you can’t even keep schedule, you should resign!”
At that, Paulo grabbed the back of his neck.
“I shouldn’t have… sent you…”
He looked like he wanted to strangle her, but Mirea spoke unfazed.
“Of course, it would’ve been best to sneak in and extract him quietly, but the situation didn’t allow that. Besides, who has the best mobility here? Me! Who can respond flexibly in emergencies? Me! Who can use the circulator? Me! I was clearly the best choice. So your decision was perfectly reasonable, Paulo.”
Though she was complimenting him, it felt like condescension. Paulo finally grabbed her by the collar and shook her. She groaned dramatically as she continued.
“The ones who messed up the village were the cult bastards. They tried to kill Ludekias too. If the knights had gotten involved, someone would’ve died. And if one of them had died, that would’ve been a nightmare. We don’t want to deal with a mess we didn’t cause, do we?”
