-Cont…… smoothly… can’t… Enter status……!
-Targ……found……did.
Just as expected.
The situation worsened when Louivid reached the third lair. Jarga, Anastasia, and Black Wings Knights were taking care of the scene with complicated faces.
The entrance was sealed off by magic, and there was a roar of wounded people.
Feeling responsible, Jarga bowed to the Duke’s entrance.
“I’m sorry, sir. The situation was bad, so I ordered the retreat first.”
“Stand up. The interrogation will come later. Let’s find a solution first.”
It was not his fault that the report could not be smoothly handed over due to loss in communication. Jarga stood up and explained what he found out one by one.
“A deformed species of Munraken has been discovered. It seems to have evolved stronger and faster than the normal variant. In addition, it showed a slight increase in activity during the day.”
“Damn it. What is the reason?”
The Duke narrowed his brow by touching both hands on a blade on the floor. This time Anastasia reported.
“It is believed that the salt cave that Madam Soliaphe was talking about may be the cause.”
They knew that Munraken had evolved because of the mana condensed in the salt, but the problem was that no mutants were found in other dens.
‘The environment must be the same. This is strange.’
The Duke deduced as such and gently pressing his temple, he said
“Then why don’t the others have a mutant form?”
She couldn’t answer that question either.
“Other than that, what else?
When the Duke asked such, a scout, who had explored the topography, said,
“It has been identified that there is groundwater flowing from the salt cave to the third cave.”
“Then did those who drank the water transform faster?”
“It is very likely, but…….” (Jarga)
As Jarga was about to answer, one of the wounded, a knight who passed out from an injury, shouted as he woke up after receiving treatment.
“…I,… S-Sir. I saw a strange light in the cave.”
“A light? Can they use fire?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“They don’t know how to use magic or tools.”
Hearing Jarga and Anastasia’s reply, the Duke moved closer to the knight.
“Tell me more.”
“Yes……It was just as I was being attacked by Munraken and was collapsed on the ground, and for a moment, I saw a bluish mass of light. And soon the light disappeared, I lost consciousness.”
“A lump of bluish light……? Has anyone else seen such a light?”
The Duke asked the others, but no one answered and the gloomy atmosphere prevailed.
Somehow, anxiety was creeping in. If they just spend time like this, they would not move from the spot.
“…… How many variants are left inside?”
“It is estimated that there are three or so.”
After hearing Jarga’s answer, the Duke drew a conclusion.
‘Let’s see how strong they are.’
“Let’s end it before it gets dark. Anastasia remains to cover and directs the people. Only the most elite warriors, one wizard, and three swordsmen will follow me.”
“Yes, sir!”
As soon as the order fell, the elite knights, including Jarga, popped out.
The Duke branded his sword, when he took the lead his cloak flapped with the wind. The Black Wing Knights closely followed from behind.
Louivid was confident that he could handle it even if he went in alone, but if he moved like that, his subordinates would backlash.
I need a minimum of safety…….
“Don’t attack until I give you a signal.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Duke’s blood-red eyes flashed at Munraken, who dared to take away his men. With a sword in one hand, he began to gather mana.
Whether it was a sword or magic, he was going to use it without hesitation.
* * *
It was starting to get dark.
Soliaphe waited and waited, biting her lip. It was already two hours after Louivid left.
Communication in the third lair was completely cut off, and her anxiety reached its peak. During that time, she would have circled the barracks several dozen more times.
The subjugation of the rest of the den was successfully completed, and she was able to hear the situation from some knights who have returned.
“……It’s a variant of Munraken?!”
“Yes, groundwater flowing in from the salt cave seems to be the cause….”
Soliaphe cut the knight’s words, shaking her head.
“No, it wouldn’t be…….That groundwater has been around since the past, and no matter how much salt was mixed in, the concentration of mana would not have increased significantly due to the amount of groundwater. There must be another cause……”
Then the driver who was returning came back with a woman on his horse.
“On the way back, I found this woman in the valley. There was only one person who was breathing, and the other two are already dead.”
The survivor, who was soon brought into the hands of the knights, was a fainted woman with empty wide-open eyes. Soliaphe doubted her eyes.
It was a familiar face. She was Rita, one of the members of the Freedom Guild subjugation squad.
“Oh, my God. Rita?! Hurry up and prepare treatment!”
Paah.
As soon as the healing magic of the wizard who rushed in, reached Rita, she regained consciousness with a gasp.
“……Oh-Oh my god. They were all sucked to death…dead…It’s not Munraken, it’s…It was there!”
“What’s there…What do you mean? Calm down. Rita, it’s me. Can you recognize me?”
Soliaphe grabbed Rita and tried to shake her, but she already seemed unable to control her mind.
Besides, her pale complexion and shriveled face looked like a corpse.
It was then. A sudden scream came from near the barracks.
“Argh-!”
“What is it? Go find what’s happening.”
“Madam, please go into the barracks.”
Soliaphe refuted the words of the knight covering for her. She couldn’t hide by herself.
“But…!”
“If you don’t go, the Duke will kill us.”
“I get it.”
It was Louivid who cared so much for her.
‘This time, I promised to him to do what he asked of me.’
She went into the barracks with a bitter mouth. It seemed less than a few minutes, but it was quiet everywhere. Approaching the large communication port installed in the barracks, Soliaphe eventually raised her head in a strange sense of incongruity.
At that moment, a bluish mass of light crept into the barracks, like a creature who moved by free will.
‘It broke the barrier of the barracks……?’
At the same time they were all astonished by it, a mass of light that was so dazzling that couldn’t even be directly seen approached with a strange sound.
Woo woo woo!
A dizzy sound that seems to cause a headache in everyone near it.
“What…is that?”
Startled, she tried to step back, but her lower body was stiff. A strange ring of red light wrapped around her lower body.
Soliaphe branded her sword, she slashed the mass of light with the sword with great difficulty.
“……!”
But the body, made of light, was not hit by the sword. Then, the red ring slowly ascended, paralyzing her upper body, and soon began to grasp at Soliaphe’s heart.
“Argh!”
A lump of light began to absorb her blue mana.
‘Oh, no……my mana!’
Even in her dying consciousness, her expression was distorted at the consequences of losing her mana. Soon after, she could not hold any longer and collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, the barracks cloth entrance rolled up and Louivid, whose eyes were turned over, cast a spell towards the mass of light.
“Dispel!”
It was a spell that forcibly dispels the opponent’s magic spell. At that moment, the red ring that had wrapped around Soliaphe’s body disappeared.
“Soliaphe……!”
Holding the fallen Soliaphe in his left arm, the Duke immediately began to redesign the shield around him.
Whoo!
The magic circle of pure white defense radiated light like an explosion, and a transparent and hard film to protect the two of them was put in place.
Woo woo woo!
The mass of light moved again and tried to do cast magic, but was blocked by the shield. Louivid murmured at what he had found.
‘Is that Will o’ the Wisp?’
Also called ‘whisp’ for short.
It was a very rare monster that was created when a dead body came in contact with strong magic.
Normal weapons could not inflict damage, and it was only possible to kill them with magic weapons or magic. Moreover, considering its size, this one had very strong magical power.
Even without the ongoing subjugation, it was a dangerous monster that should not be left alone. Besides, he was the one who tried to harm Soliaphe.
Louivid chanted a low-pitched spell, a blue chill appeared over the sword he was holding.
The ice-enchanted blade began to pierce Wisp’s body as it was. A strong shield was laid on the monster, as if it would be pushed away if the sword was less powerful.
What the heck made it so big?
He continued to thrust the sword with a distorted face.
Squeak! Squeak!
Snap!
Shasss.
Then, the great light gradually faded and shattered into pieces.
―Save me, ah! Someone help!
―I will definitely kill you!
Countless horrifying screams were heard. This one was probably the result of thoughts from the humans that had been eaten by Munraken.
Mana came into contact with Louivid’s skin through the small beams of light scattered in the air. He soon realized that it was the mana of the people the wisp had absorbed.
‘It’s ironic to think that the resentment of the dead actually harmed other people.’
Come to think of it, it seems that the blue light that a knight witnessed earlier was a Wisp. Louivid made a guess by looking at the large communication area.
‘Did the Wisp move here in response to the magic of communication or the mana of the people?’
As the Wisp disappeared, Louivid quickly ran out of the barracks holding Soliaphe. There were fainted people all over the place.
Fortunately, only the mana was sucked and no one died.
Soon, the knights returned from subjugating Munraken, including Jarga and Anastasia.
His wedding ring flickered red as Louivid was killing the variants of the third lair. It was a signal that Soliaphe’s life was in danger. Thanks to that, he was able to come right away to rescue her.
“Your Grace! The subjugation was completed without further difficulty. But what’s going on?”
Jarga asked while looking around the ruined surroundings with a stunned face.
“The situation will be explained later. I will return to the castle with Soliaphe first, so the two of you will organize the soldiers and return with the remaining knights.”
“Yes!”
* * *
“Little Madam! Little Madam!”
Rose, who frantically ran without catching a break, delivered the news.
“It is said that the master and the madam have returned from subjugation! However, the madam……unh.”
“What about mother?”
“I heard that her mana was taken by a monster and she collapsed. Fortunately, the Master rescued her right away, but it seems like she is in critical condition.”
“What, mana……? Nonsense.”
Luciel was about to jump from her seat but then fell down. The anxiety that had been felt for the past few days became a reality.
Manaris was a disease that dried up mana and led to death. If Soliaphe was deprived of mana to the point of fainting, she might die.
‘I can’t stay like this.’
“I need to see mother first.”
Luciel went straight to Soliaphe’s bedroom. When she ran into the attending doctor on his way out, she carefully asked him.
“Excuse me, how is mother?”
The doctor hopelessly shook his head.
“She has been very stable until recently, but it seems that the Madam has been excessively deprived of her mana by the monster. There is very little mana left in her body. At this rate….”
“Has the condition of Manaris worsened?”
The doctor nodded his head.
“I see that you also know of it. It did get worse. In the meantime, I have been closing my mouth at the request of the Madam, but……”
“Did you tell anyone else?”
Luciel cautiously asked.
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“It was still a concern if I should or not, but now I have to tell then. The rest of the family also need to prepare their hearts.”
“Come on, wait a minute. That……Can you leave it to me?”
“The time…is not much. It may be a few days at most.”
“Yes……I understand.”
Luciel entered the room with a heavy heart. The Duke, Evelyn, and Kizef were sitting there with gloomy faces.