novelraw Chapter 159
Chapter 159
Chapter 159
The day of the deal had arrived.
We still hadn’t figured out the enemy’s intentions.
Yuria and I were hiding a short distance away from the meeting point.
“They’re coming.”
Two soldiers emerged from the Empire’s fortress and approached us.
Well-built men.
Their faces looked somewhat gaunt and uneasy, but their physiques were solid.
“Judging by their armor, they’re soldiers.”
“But something feels off~ Why do they have so much mana?”
“…That’s strange. It’s not Aura, it’s mana.”
Natural mana and Aura refined and stored within the body.
They were similar, but clearly different energies.
I had suspected they might be Knights disguised as soldiers due to the immense power I sensed—but what I felt from them was definitely mana, not Aura.
‘And those guys… they’re not even Imperials?’
Imperials had distinctly different appearances from Kingdom people.
You could tell at a glance.
These weren’t Imperials—they were Kingdom natives.
Probably conscripted soldiers from somewhere in Levelium.
Maybe they had voluntarily joined the Empire?
Since the Empire ruled over Levelium, it wasn’t strange for such soldiers to exist.
“Oh, it’s real. That’s the Divine Relic.”
“What? Really? Hey, wait—”
The soldier in front was holding the statue.
Even though they were still quite far away, Yuria was already certain it was the Fox Tribe’s Divine Relic.
The problem was—this woman immediately jumped out and revealed herself the moment she saw it.
It seemed her eyes had gone wild at the sight of the Divine Relic.
“…Here it is.”
The two soldiers arrived, but nothing happened.
In fact, as if it were natural, they handed over the fox statue.
It was the Fox Tribe’s Divine Relic—the Silver Fox statue.
Yuria’s sudden action startled me, but it didn’t seem like they intended to attack us.
“Hah… we finally got it back.”
Yuria grabbed the Divine Relic and wiped tears from her eyes, deeply moved.
Even though she hadn’t shown it, she must’ve suffered a lot because of it.
Seeing that, it was hard to blame her reckless behavior.
-From the beginning, wasn’t the Fox Tribe helping the Level Merchant Group because of that Divine Relic?
‘It was a pretty underhanded method.’
“Let’s begin.”
Now that the Divine Relic had been confirmed, there was nothing more to say.
I turned around to signal the operation through the Mana Communicator.
But then—
The Imperial soldier who had brought the Divine Relic stopped me.
“P-Please… take us with you.”
“…What?”
They wanted to defect to our side.
“I-I was forced to become a soldier, but I want to live. Please spare us.”
“Forced?”
“Yes. My family is being held hostage…”
“Where are you from?”
“Lucas.”
“…Ah, Lucas.”
Lucas was under Imperial control.
If their families were held hostage, it made sense they’d fight for the Empire.
And in a situation where the Empire was losing, defecting wasn’t strange either.
‘But something feels off.’
The Imperial soldiers likely didn’t know the true situation in Levelium.
Octosia wouldn’t bother explaining unfavorable circumstances to them.
So from their perspective, their families were still under Imperial control.
And yet—they were openly betraying the Empire like this?
Desertion was one thing, but outright betrayal like this would endanger their families.
Unless…
They were certain the Empire would be annihilated here?
Or perhaps they simply valued their own lives more than anything else.
“We don’t plan to advance to Lucas. What about your families? The Empire won’t let them go.”
“That’s…”
I probed them slightly.
Their hesitation made them even more suspicious.
It felt like they had acted without any real plan.
‘Or… they were ordered to do this.’
From the start, handing over the Divine Relic so easily was already strange.
-Flash!
While I was still thinking—
Both of them began glowing red.
More precisely, a red light was leaking from inside their armor.
Instinctively, I swung my greatsword and split their armor apart.
Since it wasn’t Knight-grade armor, it split easily.
“This is—”
“Ghh—! F*ck! It’s not time yet! That damned Regent bastard!”
What I saw first—
Dozens of fused Mana Crystals.
And an unfamiliar red ore.
The Mana Crystals and red ore were combined in a bizarre structure, emitting enormous energy.
Like a Mana Bomb on the verge of exploding.
“…Damn it. What is this, some kind of suicide attack?”
It was exactly like a suicide bombing.
Their physiques weren’t bulky for nothing—they had been hiding that inside their armor.
‘But Mana Bombs…’
In truth, Mana Bombs weren’t very effective against Knights.
Aura provided some resistance against mana explosions.
In fact, during the battle against the Boar Tribe, almost no warriors were harmed by Mana Bombs.
Most died when tunnels collapsed and crushed them.
Even Knights couldn’t withstand overwhelming physical force.
‘…Yuria.’
I could endure a Mana Bomb to some extent as a Master.
But Yuria couldn’t.
Shamans were mysterious beings—but I didn’t know if they could withstand mana explosions.
“Watch out!”
The moment I realized, I threw myself toward Yuria.
-BOOM!!!!!
A massive explosion engulfed us.
Fortunately, I managed to cover her.
If I endured it with my body as a shield, she would survive.
Her small frame fit completely within my arms.
“Ugh… what kind of explosion is this…?!”
But—
An overwhelming pressure struck my back.
This wasn’t the Mana Bomb I knew.
It was powerful enough to tear apart most Knights instantly.
If my body didn’t possess inhuman durability, I would’ve been severely injured.
‘And this fire—what is this?!’
After the initial explosion, a storm of flames followed.
And it wasn’t ordinary fire.
It was infused with mana.
I had seen something similar before—
During winter, when a Variant Crocodile attacked.
That same kind of flame.
‘That fire was a nightmare…’
Even when Irene was engulfed, snow couldn’t extinguish it.
We could only wait until the Phoenix absorbed it.
If this flame had the same properties—
It was extremely dangerous.
-This is bad.
‘Yeah… this is really bad.’
The idea of a Master being burned alive was absurd—
Yet here I was.
Thanks to Aura and armor made from Variant Crocodile hide, I was barely holding on.
But flames still surrounded me, trying to consume me.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
-Природа, посмотри на меня!
At that moment—
Yuria, held in my arms, began chanting.
A blue barrier formed around us.
It expanded, devouring the surrounding flames.
This was no ordinary Shamanism.
Having regained the Divine Relic, Yuria truly was a Great Shaman.
“How is it? Was I helpful?”
“…Impressive. It was worth retrieving the Divine Relic.”
“Hmph. This is nothing.”
-That’s +1 main wife point, right?
‘Seriously, now?’
Thanks to her, the flames gradually subsided.
It truly felt like we had escaped death.
“Damn those Imperial bastards… figures they’d know about Mana Bombs.”
Using Mana Crystals as bombs was unusual, but the concept itself wasn’t advanced.
The Empire, with superior magical development, would’ve researched it.
And this was the result—
An Imperial Mana Bomb far beyond ours.
‘The Empire really is something.’
Even I was shocked.
If that had exploded in the Cow Tribe camp, the damage would’ve been catastrophic.
Even I barely survived—ordinary warriors would’ve been annihilated.
‘So their target was the Cow Tribe camp.’
Their defection act was likely to infiltrate and plant the bomb.
Judging by their reaction, their mission was probably to hide it and escape.
But when things went wrong, they detonated it early.
Octosia must’ve triggered it remotely.
-But we survived, right?
‘Now it’s our turn.’
Their bomb was powerful—I’ll admit that.
But when it comes to bombs—
We’re not amateurs either.
“That’s not how you use a bomb.”
-BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A series of massive explosions erupted—
And the entire fortress began collapsing.