novelraw Chapter 52 : City of Fanatics (13)
Chapter 52 : City of Fanatics (13)
Chapter 52: City of Fanatics (13)
Fwoosh—
As soon as Nike reached the place where he felt a sinister presence, the space split open on its own. A rippling gap in the barrier invited him inside.
From within came waves of dangerous energy.
Vigo and Rowen were still alive, though their presence had grown faint.
Nike grasped the situation quickly and nodded. From the beginning, whatever existed beyond the barrier had been targeting him, had prepared an inescapable trap, and once he stepped into Banyaksenir, there would be no fleeing.
The choice was simple. Fight here and win, or be caught as their “sacrifice.”
That was all.
And of course, there was nothing to deliberate.
“I want meat!”
Nike stepped forward.
Whoosh—! The very air changed.
Not even in the dens of monsters had the stench been this foul or the air this heavy. The killing intent prickled his skin, and the blood-drawn magic circle spread across the cavern floor.
Undoubtedly, the source of it all was the woman before him, Magis, leader of the Third Order of the Golden Dawn.
‘Dangerous meat.’
Nike measured Magis with his reason and his instincts. She was stronger than he’d realized the first time they met.
‘But she isn’t a witch. Strange.’
For some reason, the woman didn’t give off the eerie aura unique to witches.
He hadn’t met many witches yet, but still, he tilted his head.
‘She isn’t like Morgana.’
Magis’s aura was heavy with that witchly stench, but there was a subtle difference that was hard to explain.
“You appeared just like a savior.”
Magis smiled faintly and lifted her head.
“Nike—! Run! Don’t look back, just return to the Order!”
Rowen, wounded nearly to death, screamed out loud.
Smack—! Magis slapped Rowen’s cheek, with her eyelids trembling.
“Quiet— be quiet… Sigh, maintain your manners.”
She looked as if she was on the edge of a seizure, barely restraining herself.
“Go back!”
“Nikeeee! Hurry!”
Even at death’s door, the hunters shouted. Even if Magis killed them here, they would see Nike escape for the sake of the future.
They didn’t yield even beneath the oppression of an absolute power.
“Silence—!”
“Noisy meat.”
The moment Magis’s reason threatened to snap, Nike raised his hand to stop her.
Magis had been about to explode Vigo and Rowen’s heads with a spell. Nike blocked the motion with telekinesis.
The spell was forcibly stopped. Magis’s eyes twitched.
‘What? Magic?’
Her face showed confusion. She didn’t understand why her hand wouldn’t move.
Nike acted swiftly. He tore Vigo and Rowen away from Magis and placed them behind him, safely.
“Nike…!”
“Run… now.”
“A hunter doesn’t run from prey!”
“It’s not the time to say that…”
Nike parroted Vigo’s teaching in defiance.
Vigo pressed his hand to his forehead. There was no path of escape now. Magis wouldn’t allow it.
“You mean to fight?”
“Of course. I want meat.”
To Nike, there was no entry for the word “flee.”
Only hunting, only slaughter.
“...Now you’re speaking in a way that lets me save my reputation. Heh.”
Objectively, Nike was far from a complete hunter. His opponent was one even Vigo couldn’t defeat. His odds were low.
But the sight of the novice hunter standing before two veterans inspired a trust that went beyond strength.
‘…If it’s Nike.’
He wasn’t just an ordinary witch hunter after all.
“Listen carefully. That woman is probably Sin. Something about her feels off, but the aura matches what I faced thirty years ago.”
“Sin?”
“You learned in training. One of the first three witches…”
“Hah!?”
Nike twisted his face. He knew she was dangerous, but this was far beyond what he expected.
“Let’s run!”
And just like that, the word “run” entered Nike’s vocabulary.
“...Nike, go alone.”
Rowen gave a bitter smile. And still, Nike spoke words that could have been courage, foolishness, or jest.
His unchanging self gave Rowen a strange sense of relief. Vigo, coughing blood, laughed.
With difficulty, Vigo said,
“…Rowen. Take Nike and get out. I’ll make the escape route.”
“Master! Stop talking like that, you’ll die!”
“Kgh… Go… listen to me.”
“Shut up!”
Nike grabbed both of them by the scruff of the neck. Like dolls, they were dragged and leaned against the wall, bleeding so heavily they looked like discarded corpses.
“...In my whole life, I’ve never been treated like this.”
“Same here.”
“Rest now!”
Nike wiped his bloody hand on his clothes and stood. His back shouted, No one dies today.
“That thunder-headed fool turned out to be reliable after all.”
Vigo, on the edge of death, chuckled faintly. He thought he could close his eyes with trust in this boy.
“…Nike. Be careful.”
Rowen, knowing there was no escape anymore, nodded with effort.
“Done with your farewells?”
Crack—
Nike’s knuckles popped.
“That’s my line!”
The fight was imminent.
The silence was heavy with war.
A small shift made Magis scowl and twist her head.
Her killing aura pressed down on Nike. The pressure was immense, worse even than Vigo’s.
And still, Nike smiled calmly and faced her with hostility.
At last, Magis’s lips curved.
“…So the Order did something to you.”
“Hah?”
“You used magic just now, didn’t you, sacrifice?”
Sweat ran down Nike’s cheek as he spoke.
“No!”
“How can a sacrifice… I never heard this…”
A twisted smile spread across her face. She was truly displeased.
“I should have killed you all at Sinain. How dare they tamper with the sacrifice.”
Magis’s lips quivered.
“If there’s even a scratch on the sacrifice… what then…”
Her malice turned toward the fallen Vigo and Rowen. The humiliation and rage made her tremble.
“I give you one last warning. Don’t interfere with the descent ritual again. I don’t want to incur the wrath of the Ascendant.”
“What…”
Ignoring Vigo, Magis turned her hand toward Nike.
“Sacrifice, come quietly with me.”
“No!”
“Why? From the start, we’ve protected you. You’re just coming home now.”
“I don’t listen to those weaker than me!”
“…”
Her eyes turned cold. She no longer saw a reason to talk.
“Is that so—”
Before the words ended, Magis raised her finger and pointed.
Zap!
From her fingertip, a red beam shot out. Nike threw out his arms and conjured a shield of magic.
The beam warped, curving backward.
Zzzzt!
Where it struck the cavern walls, stone sizzled away. Nike held against it, his feet gouging lines in the floor.
“Stronger than I thought huh…”
The sacrifice was wielding magic better than expected. He was supposed to be only a vessel for mana, yet he could shape it this well?
Whip!
Magis traced magic circles with her fingers.
Chains of blood shot out from every direction, ensnaring Nike.
“Grah!”
Nike leapt high, but the chains tracked his movement. One snared his arm.
Clatter!
The chains were fast like lightning, but he slammed them to the ground.
“Get off me!”
With a shout, Nike shattered them with telekinesis. At once, blood burst from his nose. Every time he unraveled her high sorcery, immense strain wracked his body and mind.
“Stop resisting.”
Her dead eyes glinted as she began her next spell. Her dress whipped in the wind, her foul mana rising.
‘If that hits, I’ll die!’
Then break it first.
Nike thrust his hand down, lifting broken rocks into the air with telekinesis.
Boom!
They flew at her with a sonic crack.
But as soon as her eyes touched them, they crumbled to dust.
“Hah!?”
And in that instant, the ritual was complete.
Flash!
Boom!
A lightning bolt speared through Nike faster than a blink.
“...Agyahh…”
His body was charred black. His head snapped back, eyes rolled white, smoke rising from his mouth.
“Gaaaah… Ah! Revival!”
He jerked upright again. His heart had stopped for an instant, but his regeneration pulled him back.
“Heh heh~”
He stuck out his tongue and taunted.
“…What are you?”
Magis was aghast.
He was nothing like the sacrifice she’d been told about.
He was showing traits no one could miss, the traits of a witch.
“Ahhh! Die!”
Nike charged in.
The fight defied logic.
Windstorms and blasts of mana shook the cavern. Space warped, lightning cracked everywhere.
Even as he fought, Nike guarded Vigo and Rowen.
It was impossible. The fight was unwinnable even with no burden, and with two to protect, it was hopeless.
Because of that, Nike’s battle was desperate.
Magis at first struck without killing blows, and now she was toying with him.
“…Ugh.”
One arm was gone. His legs were sinking under an unknown curse. Blood poured from his broken skull, covering his demonic eye.
“...Fall already.”
The gap was unimaginable.
Magis hadn’t even used half her power.
Nike hadn’t scratched her. He was utterly defeated.
But even Magis was not unscathed.
Her skin was necrotic, it was the side effects of her power.
“Hah, huff…”
Still, Nike rose. Blood pooled at his feet, but his eyes never left his prey.
“Stop! Please, stop…! Run, Nike! Please!!!”
Rowen screamed and begged. She couldn’t bear to see him sacrifice himself for them.
Fwoosh! Crash!
Magis flicked her hand and hurled Vigo and Rowen aside who was getting on her nerves ever since before.
Nike darted and caught them. Rowen’s heart froze as she saw him. His eyes had gone dark. He had surpassed his limits and he was unconscious, yet he still shielded them.
“…”
Even breathing was hard in the mana-thick air.
Vigo clutched Rowen’s shoulder. She looked and saw him nod.
“…Rowen. There’s no other way.”
Tears slid down her cheeks. She swallowed hard and gripped her knife.
It was a total defeat.
Not even the great hunters, not even Nike, could beat Sin.
Humans could not defy transcendent beings.
The truth was merciless.
“I’ll reclaim the sacrifice now.”
The blood circle activated to bind Nike.
Rip—
But just then, Rowen seized Nike’s head and slashed his throat with her knife.
“…What are you?”
All a frail human could do was struggle feebly.
Even if it was pathetic, dishonorable, betraying and killing a comrade.
“W-What the hell are you doinggggggg—!”