Chapter 40. Deputy Commander of Nemesis (4)
Two days had passed since finishing the Exemption Mission.
Enoch was walking down the corridor after finishing training.
As always when his training, which started at the crack of dawn, ended, evening was approaching outside again.
“Hoo.”
Enoch dragged his exhausted body down the corridor.
His body was heavy with fatigue from training without rest, but his mind, right after holding the sword, was clear.
‘There are things I learn as I repeat the training.’
He calmly assessed himself.
‘First, there are still areas lacking.’
As he handled the sword and regained Enoch's senses, there were several elements he clearly felt.
‘The inherited swordsmanship techniques. Their completeness is still lacking.’
─ Especially Form 2, 「Fire Wheel」.
He was still just mimicking it.
The sword path of the true Fire Wheel unleashed by the Empire's Last Sword Saint was faintly drawn in Enoch's mind.
‘Originally, Fire Wheel is a much faster and more precise series of strikes.’
However, he had only roughly matched the sword's speed.
Compared to the Sword Saint’s ‘original’ Fire Wheel, which controlled the sword freely amidst the onslaught of strikes, the difference in completeness was starkly evident.
The reason for this was also obvious.
‘True speed is the result of efficiency.’
Then what about efficiency?
Efficiency comes from the thorough establishment of fundamentals.
That was precisely what he had lacked until now.
‘It’s likely largely due to using the swordsmanship by roughly mimicking the Sword Saint, needing it urgently for actual combat until now.’
So far, he had merely hastily inherited and used the Sword Saint's techniques to survive immediately.
There had been no time to properly study them or build proficiency to increase basic completeness.
Therefore, the fact that the sword forms weren't properly completed like this was perhaps natural.
This was the biggest problem he had discovered.
‘I can’t leave it like this.’
Grip.
Enoch gripped the strap of the sword bag slung on his back.
‘I will inherit countless swordsmanship techniques in the future.’
Not just the Last Sword Saint he was currently inheriting from, but the memories and techniques of Sword Saints who existed in the past Empire.
Someday, he would inherit them all.
But what if he could only mimic them all, unable to embody them as truly completed techniques?
‘Leveling up specs is absolutely necessary. But right now, before that, I need to solidify the basics first.’
No matter how many swordsmanship techniques he inherited in the future, if he couldn't use them properly, it would be no different from learning a plethora of half-baked, incomplete techniques.
Messing around with those in actual combat, slipping up just once would obviously lead straight to the afterlife.
Naturally, he had no intention of doing that.
It wasn't too late even now; he just needed to fully embody the inherited techniques and learn their feel.
……Anyway.
Enoch stopped his thoughts there.
The splendid, vast fortress corridor he was walking through.
Enoch quietly reviewed the gazes he had been sensing from the surrounding crowd since earlier.
‘Blatant.’
He had noticed several gazes fixed on him since leaving the training ground.
He could tell clearly through his Sense of Mana.
Presences of ‘powerful mana’ distinctly felt here and there, including the corridors and balconies.
‘Knights of Nemesis.’
Several mages dressed in black uniforms with sophisticated gold decorations and formal caps.
They strolled through the fortress interior like others or leaned against walls and pillars, naturally blending into the crowds everywhere, quietly observing him.
‘And…’
Enoch slowly raised his head.
On the balcony far above, a neat female knight looking down this way caught his eye.
‘Deputy Commander, Teano too.’
Beneath the shadow of her pressed-down formal cap, Teano’s indigo eyes, resembling midnight amethysts, calmly watched him.
“…….”
Enoch’s dark blue eyes, meeting hers, briefly locked gazes through the corridor crowd.
‘I’m being watched.’
Enoch casually shifted his gaze away naturally.
‘I expected it to some extent… but it’s more serious than I thought.’
Yesterday, he had used the Underworld as an excuse, but that alone likely wasn't enough to resolve their doubts.
The opponent was Nemesis, after all.
He hadn't thought he could fool Teano, the Deputy Commander of the knight order called the elite of the elite, that easily.
The part they were suspicious about was actually obvious.
‘How did that incompetent direct descendant suddenly gain the ability to perform such great feats?’
Enoch Elsyde.
A non-mage who couldn't manifest magic until the age of thirteen.
The reason he had been despised until now and even faced disownment by the family stemmed precisely from that fact.
‘So, the idea that he suddenly started using magic now just doesn't add up.’
Of course, he hadn't actually manifested magic, but…
It was natural for ordinary citizens of the Magic Empire to think the power Enoch used was ‘magic’.
To them, magic, the foundation of the Atlas Magic Empire that unified this vast continent and enabled its dazzling prosperity, was omnipotent.
The only power capable of countering magic was magic itself.
Therefore, it wasn't strange for them to harbor suspicions that Enoch had started using magic.
If so, how could Enoch, who was a non-mage, suddenly awaken magic like this?
And furthermore, speculating whether he had colluded with Vendetta wasn't strange either.
Or perhaps even ‘worse’ speculations were possible.
Enoch calmly organized his thoughts.
‘Then, what options should I consider?’
It was certain he was already under suspicion.
If so, he needed to consider the future possibilities that would soon approach as important choices.
And tracing the context, that likely wouldn't be too difficult.
‘Ultimately, the point is to resolve the public suspicions directed towards me in some way.’
Then the options to consider going forward would also be limited according to the objective.
- First. Reveal the talent for the sword to a trustworthy few within the family, ensuring absolute secrecy.
- Second. Set up a stage and act as if possessing magic talent myself.
Both of these were methods that could be taken to primarily erase the suspicion directed towards him.
Both carried risks, but if executed, he had sufficient foundational knowledge on how to proceed roughly.
Of course, that didn't mean these were the only two options.
‘There’s one other option too.’
Enoch, passing through the corridor, briefly looked at the notice posted on the family’s central hall bulletin board.
Written there in elegant yet concise script was content he knew very well.
[Nemesis Knight Order: 1st Entrance Examination Notice]
-That right there is the third option.
Passing the upcoming ‘Nemesis Knight Order 1st Entrance Examination’ would also be one way to erase suspicion towards him.
Because he would be directly assessed on his capabilities by none other than ‘Nemesis’, the institution representing thorough neutrality within the family more than anyone else.
At the very least, methods like these would be sufficient options for quelling external suspicion.
‘It’s quite a dilemma.’
Regardless, whichever of these three options he chose had its own pros and cons.
Either way, he would just need to respond appropriately according to the flow of events unfolding ahead.
Step.
Just as Enoch was organizing his thoughts and climbing the landing of the stairs at the end of the corridor.
He sensed several figures stopping before him, looking this way.
“…What a coincidence.”
And among them, a familiar voice suddenly spoke to him in a sharp tone.
“For you to be wandering around a place like this.”
Dionil Elsyde.
A boy perhaps only one or two years older than Enoch, but his eyes held a subtle resemblance, as if proving they were brothers.
He stood on the stair landing with his Follower Family, looking down this way with an insolent air.
“Seeing your face quite often lately.”
Enoch glanced at him and continued walking up the stairs.
Gazes from the surrounding corridor and balconies overlooking the fortress interior were shooting towards him intensely.
“The feeling is mutual.”
Dionil’s expression twisted at Enoch’s short reply. But Enoch continued walking calmly.
Perhaps the meeting between him and another direct descendant was also another topic of gossip for the family members.
In any case, drawing attention wasn't what he wanted. Ignoring him like last time would be best.
However, as if reading his calculation.
Dionil spoke in a sneering voice.
“Seems you want to assert your innocence so badly, wandering the corridors freely like this.”
“…Innocence?”
“Yes. About you, a non-mage, suddenly gaining power right before disownment.”
Enoch paused his steps briefly.
Dionil continued sharply.
“I hear everyone within the Elsyde Fortress is currently wondering about that illogical fact.”
The place they stood was the upper corridor landing.
Along with the crowd in the corridor, countless bridges and balconies crisscrossing the fortress's lofty floors.
Family-affiliated mages who had stopped there and were watching him could be seen looking down.
Dionil swept his gaze over them once and added.
“Wondering if you, cornered at the cliff’s edge, perhaps dabbled in ‘dark magic’ for power.”
Dionil’s voice echoed in Enoch’s ears.
「Dark Magic」
A taboo strictly controlled even within the Empire.
A general term for ‘forbidden magic’.
A concept referring to magic unanimously deemed extremely dangerous, unethical, and capable of causing social chaos.
Since dark magic is a comprehensive concept, its scope is quite broad, but all were dangerous magics that could easily spiral out of control.
Simply put, magics capable of bringing great disaster upon individuals, including the caster, or society.
For example, all types of magic that forcibly rob someone of their free will, easily destroying or dominating their values and mind.
Also, magics commonly called ‘curses’, clearly designed solely to inflict malicious pain upon people, ‘disregarding even minimal ethics’.
Or cases involving ‘contracting with unknown entities whose identities haven't been clearly identified yet’, summoning powers or beings uncontrollable even by the caster themselves—these are collectively termed 「Dark Magic」 in the Empire.
And perhaps from that perspective, rumors might be circulating that Enoch, seeking to avoid disownment, dabbled in such ‘dark magic’.
Because other possibilities couldn't be fathomed.
Most dark magics had their records or existence erased through strict punishment by the Empire since the past. Thus, they are no longer passed down.
However, occasionally, its lineage was secretly carried on by those who manifested ‘Unique Magic’ related to dark magic, or by some mages seeking to reproduce past records.
Therefore, interpreting his sudden acquisition of power in that way roughly fit the narrative too.
“If everyone is this curious, shouldn’t the subject of the rumor at least provide confirmation?”
Meanwhile, Dionil smirked and added.
“At this rate, if your capabilities can’t be assessed even when undertaking the next mission… everyone will be troubled.”
Enoch passed Dionil and said curtly.
“Don’t worry.”
“…What?”
Enoch’s deeply set black eyes glanced past Dionil as he added.
“You’ll find out soon enough, even if you don’t want to.”
Perhaps an unexpected answer, Dionil momentarily looked back sharply with a slightly bewildered expression.
But Enoch was already stepping onto the stairs leading to the next floor beyond the landing.
‘It must be around this time.’
Recalling the contents of Tantalus’s research journal received from Omen, Enoch thought to himself.
‘The timing when the incident that will trigger the next mission occurs in the southern Empire.’
***
Southern Elsyde Domain
Empire.
The rocky canyon nestled within the vast sandy desert was dyed in the dim colors of dawn.
And a single mage, gasping for breath, staggered across it.
“Huff, huff….”
The black robe he wore bore the white crest symbolizing affiliation with the Elsyde family.
But that crest was already stained with his dark red blood, its shape barely recognizable.
“Keok!”
The wound sustained in the battle just moments ago was deep.
Clutching his spilling intestines with his hand. He somehow gripped his magic gear with blood-soaked fingers.
Emergency hemostatic agents were long used up.
Yet the bleeding wouldn't stop.
Dragging his already broken leg, he moved forward solely on sheer willpower.
Most bodily sensations were already gone. Consciousness was dim. It felt like time was flowing slowly towards death.
Sensing his own life was short, he repeated only one thought.
‘…Must report to the Main House.’
How much further did he walk, dragging his ruined body?
The limit wasn't far off, tightening its grip on his breath.
“Huff.”
His badly torn lungs could no longer supply oxygen, only gasp.
He sensed he couldn't move any further.
Confirming there was no sign of pursuers nearby for now, the Elsyde mage dragged his bloodied body against the massive cliff of the rocky canyon to catch his breath.
Then, gripping his magic gear, he squeezed out his last remaining mana to deploy communication magic.
-Crackle.
A faintly glowing magic circle rotated and activated.
Near the mage’s bloody mouth, a geometric circular pattern made of mana floated up, initiating voice transmission to the designated target.
“…Reporting to the Main House.”
He clung to his hazy consciousness and continued the communication.
“This is Southern Elsyde Domain. Dispatch Team 3.”
The mage forced his bloodied lips open, relaying the situation he witnessed here.
“…Some of the Beast-kin here have colluded with the dark mage organization called Vendetta.”
He spoke again into the crackling communication magic circle.
“Furthermore, numerous signs have been captured indicating the Beast-kin are currently planning to revolt against the entire Empire.”
As long as his remaining breath allowed, he had to report.
“Currently, Vendetta is moving to persuade the entire Beast-kin tribe. We attempted to stop them, but our strength alone was insufficient.”
-Step.
And at that moment.
-Step.
Above the rocky cliff where he was briefly taking refuge, the familiar presence of pursuers echoed.
“We must urgently stop the Beast-kin rebellion!”
Shouting urgently, the mage reflexively looked up at the sound from above.
-Step, step.
Beyond the towering rocky cliff.
Several silhouettes, backlit by the breaking dawn, were approaching him.
People no different from ordinary folk.
Except for the pair of beast ears sprouting from their heads.
And the tails moving behind their backs were the only difference.
And lined up behind them, Vendetta-affiliated combat mages wearing robes.
Glaring at them silhouetted against the sunset’s backlight, the Elsyde-affiliated mage gripped his magic gear alone.
“…Repeating one last time! The situation is urgent!”
Crackle.
Towards the other side of the fading communication magic amidst crackling noise, he shouted one last time.
“Requesting large-scale support for the 「Beast-kin Village」 in the Southern Elsyde Domain!”