Chapter 604
"That’s enough, as long as we caught a lot." (3)
Ghislain, who had been staring blankly for a long time, asked with a baffled expression.
"How did Alfoi manage to catch so many?"
It wasn’t just anyone Alfoi had achieved an astonishing feat. He had caught more than Ghislain himself, the master of pursuit.
A slave understands the heart of a slave, and only a runaway knows the mind of a fugitive.
"……."
Now that he thought about it, Ghislain had never been a slave, nor had he ever run away out of fear.
Even in his past life, the only times he had ever retreated were strategic withdrawals. Even if the situation forced him to flee, he had always focused on figuring out how to kill his pursuers afterward.
Unlike Alfoi and his companions, he had never purely run away with the sole goal of escaping.
"S-So, what exactly did he do?"
Even Ghislain, who rarely got surprised, stammered in shock at Alfoi's exploits.
Dark spoke in an exasperated voice.
— At first, they just spread rumors while messing around.
"What kind of rumors?"
— That Vanessa, the 7th-Circle Mage of Fenris, was also fleeing. That they were forming their own Magic Tower around Vanessa to resist the Duke of Fenris's tyranny.
"……."
— Then they spread the word everywhere, calling people to join them, saying they should unite their strength.
"……And the mages actually believed that and came?"
— Alfoi and Vanessa gave speeches in the square. Showed off some magic. Anyway, the rumor spread like wildfire that Alfoi’s words were true.
"Didn’t anyone think… that it might be a lie?"
— Vanessa only did it because Alfoi told her to, but Alfoi was dead serious. Ahhh!
"What? What’s wrong? What happened?"
Suddenly, Dark’s voice grew urgent as he reported the situation in real-time.
— Just now, Alfoi led the mages and actually started a real rebellion!
"……."
— Vanessa and the knights successfully suppressed it! Alfoi is currently tied up with the mages!
"……."
— There are too many mages for Vanessa and the knights to keep watch over alone. They’ve had to bring in city guards and even more knights to monitor them all.
"……."
— Alfoi is still inciting them! A second rebellion has started!
"……."
— They managed to suppress it again, but a third one might be impossible to contain! For now, Vanessa has gagged Alfoi!
"……Who’s the closest pursuit unit?"
— Julien.
"Tell him to get there immediately."
Even Vanessa would struggle to handle 200 5th-Circle Mages alone. That was practically national-level power.
Of course, not all of them would be 5th-Circle Mages. Their disciples were likely included as well.
But even so, it was an overwhelming force. Julien and the knights needed to hurry and reinforce them.
— Ah! Another mage just arrived. We caught them immediately. The exact count is now 229.
"……."
— This place is now rumored to be a sanctuary for mages. More are coming every day.
"……."
It seemed necessary to send additional personnel. No matter how skilled Julien was, there was no way he could subdue so many mages without injuring them.
Ghislain pressed his fingers against his eyelids with a fatigued expression. Catching a lot of them was good, but the way things were unfolding was incredibly strange.
"Something’s off. Did Alfoi really come up with this plan?"
Alfoi was never particularly dumb. If he had been, he wouldn’t have even been considered as a successor to the Magic Tower.
If anything, he had a knack for cunning schemes. The problem was that he had spent most of his time around people immune to trickery.
But ever since he had come to Fenris, doing nothing but hard labor, he had become… well, not exactly dumb, but definitely simpler. There was no way a guy like that had come up with such a brilliant way to lure in mages.
Dark, who had been with him, knew the reason.
— Vanessa pressured him into confessing. Claude secretly tipped him off before leaving for Norbagen.
"……."
— He said only Alfoi could execute this plan sincerely. If anyone else tried, it would be obvious that they weren’t genuine.
"……."
— It’s weird, but… well, it worked.
"……."
There was no denying it. Claude’s scheme had worked yet again.
Most likely, he had just thrown the idea out there on a whim, thinking, "If it doesn’t work, whatever." The fact that he only shared it with Alfoi proved that.
And Alfoi had pulled it off brilliantly.
"…Fine. Either way, we caught a lot, and that’s what matters."
It was frustrating, and it bruised his pride, but the results were undeniable. He had no choice but to accept it.
Ghislain assigned additional personnel to Alfoi’s area. More mages would likely continue gathering there.
Since Julien and Gillian were the closest, they immediately headed toward Alfoi’s location.
"Sigh, they could’ve just quietly captured them and brought them in."
That way, they could’ve caught even more. That guy was truly high-maintenance.
Still, thanks to Alfoi’s (questionable) exploits, they had managed to capture a significant number of runaway mages.
While the other pursuit teams only caught those who had fled to neighboring kingdoms, Alfoi’s rumors (?) had drawn in a much larger number than expected.
For nearly a month, almost two months, they had been running non-stop, chasing fugitives across the region. By now, everyone accompanying Ghislain was utterly exhausted.
"It’s time to head back."
It still didn’t feel like enough, but they didn’t have the luxury of dragging this out any longer.
The pursuit teams that had scattered in all directions regrouped in the Kingdom of Sardina. In the meantime, the captured mages from various kingdoms had also been brought in.
As expected, the other kingdoms had been slow to respond and failed to capture many. Some had only managed to bring in two fugitives.
There were also mages who had been caught too late and had yet to arrive.
Upon returning, the first thing Ghislain did was check on the situation in the Kingdom of Turian.
"What's the status?"
"Monsters have started appearing sporadically."
"I see… It won’t be long now."
The Monster Wave had not yet begun, but the monsters were already displaying unusual behavior.
The creatures from the Shadow Mountains had been wiped out during the last wave while fighting the Riftspawn.
Now, monsters that had remained hidden since then were slowly beginning to resurface.
"We need to organize the mages first. We must leave for the Turian Kingdom immediately."
The total number of captured mages was about 800. Among them, around 300 were 5th-Circle Mages or higher. The rest were their disciples, who had served as attendants.
The group that had captured the most was the pursuit team led by Alfoi.
Dressed in a filthy white robe, Alfoi was dragged in with his hair in complete disarray.
"Let go! I said let go! This was all part of the plan! Why don’t you idiots understand?!"
"……."
"This was Claude’s idea! It wasn’t my fault! The rebellion was just an act!"
"……."
"Damn it, I’m telling you the truth! The mission’s over now, so let me go! I deliberately incited them to keep luring in more mages!"
Alfoi continued to spout excuses that made absolutely no sense.
During the third rebellion, if Julien hadn’t shown up, they might have actually failed to suppress it. Just as the rebels were on the verge of victory, Alfoi had shouted boldly for all to hear:
— I’m free now, you bastards!
"Lord! Lord, you have to believe me! I’m Alfoi! I caught the most, just like I promised!"
The problem was that he had gotten captured along with the very fugitives he was supposed to catch.
Seeing Alfoi on the verge of tears, Ghislain shook his head.
"Let him go for now. We need every 5th-Circle Mage we can get. Besides, this is just how he is. We’ll deal with his punishment after the battle against the Dragon."
Hearing those words, Alfoi beamed with joy.
The people around him sent him looks of utter disdain. Vanessa's expression, filled with disappointment, was enough to make even an onlooker’s heart ache.
And yet, Alfoi stood tall among them, looking as if he had done nothing wrong, just a man who had achieved great success.
Perhaps it was exactly that shamelessness that had kept him alive all this time.
Besides the captured mages, quite a number had already arrived beforehand.
"Your Highness, the Grand Duke, have you been well?"
The one who appeared with an awkward smile was none other than Hubert.
He glanced at Alfoi and frowned. He had already heard the rumors.
‘Sigh… What the hell happened to him? This is embarrassing.’
The last time he saw him, Alfoi had seemed quite competent. But now? It was obvious something was off.
Hubert immediately felt the need to strip him of his Magic Tower successor title as soon as possible.
Regardless, he had responded to Ghislain's request for reinforcements, bringing along the elders of the Crimson Flame Tower and their disciples.
And they weren’t the only ones. Every Tower Master and their apprentices from Ritania had also joined the battle.
There was no refusing Ghislain's command, he wielded absolute power.
Seeing them, Ghislain greeted them with a welcoming smile.
"Welcome. In the end, no matter what happens, home is where the best people are. You've all been briefed on what we’re fighting against, right?"
"Ah, yes…"
Hubert and the Tower Masters gave strained smiles. Truthfully, none of them wanted to be here.
‘But there’s nowhere else to go… nowhere to hide…’
‘Who could’ve guessed he’d take control of the entire continent…?’
‘Yeah… there's no way he'd sit still and do nothing…’
They had seen firsthand during the Ritania Civil War just what kind of person Ghislain was.
Resisting him was pointless. If anyone defied him, he would relentlessly hound them until he got what he wanted.
So it was simply better to comply from the start.
Unlike the mages from other kingdoms, the ones from Ritania had all submitted to Ghislain, making them much easier to control.
"Let’s see… This should be enough to fight, at least."
In the end, they hadn’t managed to gather 1,000 mages of the 5th Circle or higher. However, with the addition of their apprentices, they had amassed a large number of low-circle mages.
On top of that, several hundred mages from the United Army had already arrived.
With everyone combined, they would just about reach the required mana threshold.
Of course, it was still frustrating. If they had managed to gather every mage on the continent, fighting the Dragon would have been much easier.
"Nothing we can do about it. The ones who ran away… we’ll just have to track them down and punish them after this is over."
In kingdoms farther away, quite a few mages had successfully escaped.
They had eaten their fill while doing no work, only to run away? That was unacceptable.
But sooner or later, they would crawl back, trying to make themselves seem useful again. There was no way those mages could endure living like beggars forever.
When that time came, Ghislain would round them all up and make them pay.
The mages captured from distant kingdoms were still on their way. They could only hope they would arrive before the Dragon appeared.
"Then let’s go. We’ve already wasted too much time."
Ghislain felt a growing sense of urgency.
Across the fortresses of the Kingdom of Turian, sporadic battles with monsters had already begun. A large-scale Monster Wave was imminent.
He had sent troops ahead to prepare, but capturing the mages had taken too long. They needed to reach the Turian Kingdom as soon as possible.
The pursuit teams moved immediately, without any time to rest.
And behind them, a massive number of mages followed.
All the while, they kept a close eye on each other just in case someone tried to slip away and flee.
* * *
Deep within a cavern in the Shadow Mountains, Arterion sat with his eyes closed.
This place was trapped in a distortion of time. Unless he invited someone in, no one could find it, let alone enter.
In a way, it was the safest and most comfortable place in the world. And there, Arterion found himself reliving an ancient nightmare.
"…The Adversary."
Despite all the sacrifices, they had failed to stop the Adversary’s resurrection.
Instead, their entire race had been wiped out by the Adversary’s Curse.
The Goddesses had not protected them from that curse. No they had chosen not to.
Even though they had risked their lives to defend humanity, the only thing they received in return was utter destruction.
A seething rage burned in Arterion’s chest, impossible to contain.
Vengeance.
That word consumed his thoughts, his spirit, his very existence.
"I will find you… and I will erase you…"
His power was nothing compared to what it had once been. But Arterion had no intention of waiting until he regained his full strength.
The longer he delayed, the stronger the Adversary would become. The fact that he had yet to reveal himself was proof of that.
The best time to strike was now while both of them were still weakened. If the Adversary reached his full power, even Arterion’s former strength might not be enough to defeat it.
Slowly, Arterion opened his eyes. The brilliant blue they once held was gone, replaced by a burning crimson-black glow.
Grrrrr…
A low growl rumbled from his throat, echoing through the mountains, carrying with it an eerie, unnatural magic.
The moment his voice spread, the monsters within the Shadow Mountains went berserk.
Kyaaaak!
Kraaaaagh!
Grrrrr…
Every single monster turned to face one direction.
Their gaze was locked onto the Kingdom of Turian.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Eyes glowing red, saliva dripping from their jaws, the creatures began marching in unison.
Goblins, orcs, ogres, trolls monsters of every kind moved as one.
No longer did they fight amongst themselves. Their differences no longer mattered.
Their hatred, their rage every ounce of it was directed at one place.
The Kingdom of Turian.
Arterion closed his eyes once more. Controlling the monsters had drained a vast amount of his power. He needed time to recover.
But that was fine.
Time was running out anyway.
Before the final moment arrived, he would send as many monsters as possible to weaken humanity’s forces.
Shhhhh…
Without warning, one of the black chains that bound him dissolved into dust and vanished.
Another chain cracked, the fractures spreading, its very existence teetering on the edge of breaking.
His quiet whisper filled the cavern.
"So tragic… our fate…"