Chapter 675
You Can Give It to Me. (1)
"Arghhh!"
Basilude, whose leg had been broken, collapsed onto the ground. Julien, who had been about to sever the Black Mage’s neck, suddenly halted his sword.
Drip.
A red line appeared on Basilude's neck as blood trickled down. Since Julien had stopped his sword just before the strike landed, Basilude’s head was still intact.
“Haah, haah!”
Basilude gasped in fear, panting heavily. He didn’t understand what had happened, but his opponent had spared him.
Ghislain placed his staff on top of Basilude's head and spoke.
“Looks like the fight's over.”
“P-please spare me. I’m a 6th-circle Black Mage. If you keep me alive, I can be of use to you.”
“For someone at the 6th circle, you're too weak.”
Ghislain’s assessment was blunt and honest. When Vanessa had been a 6th-circle mage, she had played a decisive role in turning the tides of war.
Even accounting for the fact that knights had protected her, her combat sense had been on a completely different level.
Vanessa never flinched at the enemy's attacks and always found the most efficient countermeasures.
Compared to that, Basilude’s use of magic in combat was utterly pathetic.
However, Basilude protested with a look of injustice.
“T-that’s because your fighting style is too bizarre…”
From a distance, he bombarded with magic so crazed it was impossible to concentrate. And up close, he swung his staff around like a madman.
Where else in the world could you find a mage who fought like that?
To Basilude, who had lived his life without a hint of physical training, it was an incomprehensible domain.
Ghislain let out a brief chuckle and continued speaking.
“First, get rid of all the undead.”
“A-alright.”
There weren’t even half of them left anyway. That was thanks to Deneb, Kyle, and the knights of Nodehill fighting so well.
Without support from the Black Mage, there was a clear limit to how much weaker undead could do against the knights.
When Basilude issued a command through spiritual means, all the undead collapsed. They wouldn’t move again unless Basilude reinfused them with dark mana.
Once all the undead fell, Deneb and Kyle finally sank to the ground.
They had been fighting while surrounded by hundreds of undead and their own allies completely exhausted.
The soldiers, who had been pushing the undead toward the center, also realized what had happened.
“Yeahhh!”
“We got the Black Mage!”
“We won!”
Everyone lowered their weapons and rejoiced. It was an astounding victory, with not a single casualty.
No one was more thrilled than Andrew.
After failing twice in subjugation, to win this easily—!
This confirmed just how powerful the Julien Mercenary Corps really was.
Basilude, hearing the soldiers' cheers, spoke in a desperate voice.
“L-let me go now. I swear I’ll never return to this estate. I’ll give you anything you want.”
Ghislain grinned slyly and asked,
“You said you’ve got some grimoires, right?”
“Q-quite a few. I’ve gathered a good number over the years... So that’s what you’re after, the grimoires? Then I’ll give them all to you. I’ll even teach you magic!”
Basilude thought it was a good offer. A chance to be taught by a mage of a higher circle, especially a 6th-circle mage was rare.
It was the kind of opportunity any mage would dream of.
‘That’s it! That’s why he didn’t kill me outright!’
Basilude smiled with a sense of elation. He saw a chance to survive but Ghislain responded with a disinterested look.
“I don’t learn from people weaker than me.”
“No! That’s only because of our fighting styles! My circle is higher than yours! At the very least, I know more advanced magic than you!”
Basilude assumed Ghislain was just playing hard to get. Otherwise, there was no reason to spare him but Ghislain ignored his words and asked something else.
“You’re a Black Mage, why were you trying to take over an estate?”
“T-to use it as I pleased.”
“What do you mean, ‘use it as you pleased’?”
“I-I’m a Black Mage. To get stronger faster, I need lots of test subjects.”
What set Black Mages apart from others was their ability to grow stronger quickly by sacrificing others.
If they didn’t take that route, they would have to spend a long-time training, like other mages. That’s why Black Mages were easily tempted.
Ghislain, who was well aware of that, asked again.
“So, you wanted to take over the estate to conveniently gather test subjects? Is that really your only reason?”
“Y-yes. What other reason could there be?”
“Zico told me. Someone came to see you a year ago. That’s when you started planning this. Who was it? What did you two talk about?”
“Zico told you that too?”
“Yeah. Are you going to start talking straight or not?”
“T-that is... I mean…”
“Julien, cut him down.”
Julien immediately raised his sword. Basilude clenched his eyes shut and shouted,
“I don’t know exactly who it was either! But I have a guess!”
“What is it?”
“I-I think... he was a priest from the Demonic Abyss.”
“What? The Salvation Church?”
Everyone who heard those words gasped in shock. A priest from the Demonic Abyss meaning the Salvation Church was a terrifying figure, even to them.
The never-ending turmoil across the continent was also their doing. Humanity had been fighting against them for so long that no one could be unaware of it.
Basilude hurriedly continued his explanation.
“He told me he was a Black Mage. But something was off. I’m not an idiot. The dark energy he used was similar to black magic, but it definitely wasn’t black magic.”
“Hmph...”
“There was an aura about him that I couldn’t even dare to approach. If I had refused, he would’ve killed me on the spot. That’s why I accepted his offer. In any case, it wasn’t a bad deal for me.”
“What did he want?”
“Chaos.”
“Chaos?”
“Yes. He simply said he wanted chaos in the world. And honestly, the more chaotic things are, the better it is for a Black Mage like me. It wasn’t a bad offer.”
“What did you get in return?”
“I received numerous grimoires, runestones, gold coins, gems... lots of rare items. Thanks to that, I was able to increase my mana much faster.”
Ghislain frowned. Even for a Black Mage, making a deal with the Demonic Abyss crossed the line.
“Do you not understand what the Salvation Church wants? If they win, all humans will die. You think you’d be an exception?”
“I-I know that. But claiming a small barony won’t affect the grand scheme of things, will it? If a real war with the Demonic Abyss were to break out, I planned to back out.”
Ghislain clicked his tongue and shook his head. This was the problem.
Just like Basilude said, a single small barony might not change the larger picture. But Basilude wasn’t the only one acting under the Salvation Church’s orders in this world.
It wasn’t just Black Mages, bandits and greedy nobles were running rampant everywhere.
All of them were probably living with the same thought: “What harm could I do, just one person?”
The Salvation Church was clearly exploiting that very mindset. The more chaotic the continent was before war broke out, the more it would benefit them.
Basilude, his face pale, spoke again.
“L-let’s talk in detail later. For now, please... treat me.”
One of his arms had been severed, and his leg was shattered. The pain was overwhelming.
While he had enough mana, he could suppress the pain with it. But now, it was unbearable.
Basilude trembled, drenched in cold sweat. The pain only intensified with time.
Ghislain raised his staff and struck Basilude’s remaining shoulder.
Crack!
“Aaargh!”
As Basilude screamed and collapsed, Ghislain grabbed his jaw.
“Look into my eyes.”
Ziiiing—!
At that moment, both of their eyes turned violet. Basilude’s expression went blank for a second before returning to normal.
“Ugh... ugh...”
Basilude winced in pain, his face contorted.
Ghislain clicked his tongue again.
“Thought so. It doesn’t work.”
He wasn’t like Zico. Mind control didn’t work on Basilude.
It made sense. Reaching the 6th circle required more than just talent, it demanded immense effort and deep understanding.
Basilude, for all his flaws, had still stepped into that realm of mastery. It was undeniably a remarkable achievement.
Though he was easily spilling the truth due to the pain, that was simply because of his weak will and character. The unconscious mental barriers he had built up over the years were bound to be thick.
Ghislain gave up on trying to use mind control. In any case, he possessed an interrogation technique just as effective.
Crack!
As he had done before, Ghislain took a knight’s sword nearby and shattered it into fragments.
Coincidentally, it was the same knight as last time.
The knight thought to himself,
‘…Please, just stop breaking my sword already!’
In such turbulent times, swords were incredibly expensive. Given his modest pay, he felt like crying.
Andrew, the lord, placed a hand on the knight’s shoulder and spoke with a sympathetic expression.
“I’ll make sure you get a better one. For now, just follow the mage’s lead no matter what.”
At this point, he looked like he’d believed Ghislain could pluck stars from the sky.
“…Thank you.”
The knight answered with a noticeably more cheerful expression, now relieved. If it meant getting a new sword, he didn’t care what happened to his current one.
With preparations complete, Ghislain began stabbing the fragments into Basilude’s body.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Alright, are you hiding anything else?”
“No! I swear, nothing!”
“Relax, just try to remember anything.”
“What do you mean, ‘relax’?!”
“Did he say anything about meeting again or something like that?”
“H-he said he’d return once I took over the estate! He promised to give me more support!”
“In what way?”
“I don’t know! That’s all he said! Aaaaargh! There’s really nothing else!”
Ghislain continued the interrogation a bit longer. But Basilude kept repeating the same statements.
At this point, even if he was hiding something, Ghislain figured he’d done enough. He stopped the interrogation and stepped back.
Then, he subtly signaled to Julien.
Shhhk!
At Ghislain’s cue, Julien swiftly severed Basilude’s neck in one strike.
Caught completely off guard, Basilude died without so much as a struggle.
Just as planned, Julien spoke in a deliberately low voice.
“The Black Mage... is dead.”
Wooooaaaahhhh!
The soldiers erupted in cheers once more. Lord Andrew wore an expression of deep emotion.
The ending had been a bit abrupt, but regardless, the Black Mage who had terrorized the estate was dead. Everyone rejoiced, repeatedly shouting the name of the Julien Mercenary Corps.
“Julien Mercenary Corps is the best!”
“They’re so strong!”
“Just four of them fought a 6th-circle Black Mage and hundreds of undead!”
The more they thought about it, the more incredible it seemed. All they had really done was surround the undead and push them toward the center.
Hiring such a powerful mercenary corps was perhaps the best decision the new lord had made in his life.
Sitting on the ground, Kyle grumbled with a dissatisfied expression.
“We… fought harder, didn’t we? But those two are getting all the praise.”
“True. Still, it’s a relief we won without any losses.”
Deneb beamed. She didn’t care who got more credit.
What mattered was that they had vanquished evil and saved lives.
Amid the people’s cheers, Julien looked a little shy. But thanks to Ghislain's firm guidance on maintaining dignity, he tried his best to appear composed.
Ghislain glanced at Julien and thought to himself.
‘Every time I see him… it still surprises me.’
When helping others, he seemed so gentle like a pushover, even. His heart was surprisingly soft.
But in battle, he transformed. He never hesitated, cutting down his enemies without a second’s delay.
Ghislain had never once seen Julien falter or act indecisively during a fight.
‘That’s… no easy feat.’
It couldn’t be just because of Ghislain’s influence after all, from their first encounter, Julien had slain bandits without batting an eye.
For someone at his level, in both skill and experience, it was rare to see such contradictory qualities.
‘Hmm… well, it’s nice not having to teach that part...’
Ghislain wasn’t too concerned. There were others out there who could do what Julien did from the start.
In fact, he should be praised for not hesitating in critical moments.
And Ghislain had no intention of leaving things unchecked. He planned to continue observing while teaching him various things.
‘Because he’s going to be the Hero.’
Yes, the Hero who would save the world alongside the Saintess. He needed to watch over him carefully.
So far, there had been no issues. Julien had endured the harsh training well, and was making great efforts on his own.
His character had been faultless so far, too. Ghislain’s confidence stemmed partly from knowing the future, but even without that knowledge, he would have believed Julien capable of saving the world.
‘But then why…’
Why had Ereneth and Asterion of the future upon seeing that face called Julien the Adversary?
Every time Ghislain recalled that thought, a small weight settled in his heart.