Upon seeing Thulenigo’s figure vanish in the passage, unrest spread amongst the members of 『Phoenix’s Eyes』.
「S-she’s gone!」
「That Thulenigo vanished just like when she appeared before us! She’s planning to ambush us!」
Kreuz tried to raise his subordinates’ vigilance.
The soldiers calmed down upon hearing Kreuz’ reminder. All of them then raised their swords.
Thulenigo used ageing sorcery.
The most terrifying fact about this sorcery was obvious from the corpses of the children who died prematurely in the passage.
Thereupon, Kreuz noticed something.
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「I see, those corpses just now…」
Even Kreuz felt that something was amiss.
Why did Thulenigo specially prepare the corpses in the corridor, revealing her sorcery, if she wanted to ambush them?
「It’s to disturb our chain of command… to cause unrest among us!」
It might have been powerful sorcery, but it was still meaningless if the spell didn’t hit the target.
Although the other party was hiding in the dark while aiming her spell at them, she would eventually lose due to the difference in their manpower.
And to prevent that situation, she planted the fear of her sorcery in them, and to do that, she deliberately showed the corpses of the children.
「That heretic…」
「You’re just half correct, mithril helmet. The rest is wrong. You guys are by no means a threat to me. Thus, such a roundabout plan is meaningless.」
Thulenigo’s voice resounded inside the passage.
Her voice resounded haphazardly due to the effect of a spell, thus giving the other party a hard time guessing her position.
The soldiers of『Phoenix’s Eyes』 felt like an invisible death god was casting its eyes toward them.
「I did it since I wanted to enjoy your reaction. That’s why I specially brought along the samples. In fact, I wanted a show, but… I just don’t have that kind of patience… Thus, I ended up killing everyone in the end. And that’s where you make a mistake. The correct part is about me being a heretic.」
Thulenigo’s laugh resounded again in the passage, which was followed by silence.
「Peekaboo!」
Thulenigo suddenly appeared from nowhere in that silence. Her appearance was followed by a multi-layered magic circle.
Countless black lights rained down incessantly in the narrow passage.
「I’ve made some adjustments after the first attack. I mean, it’s going to be boring if all of you are annihilated at once! Now then, I wonder how many of you can dodge that in this narrow passage?!」
Lambert stood in the front, swinging around his greatsword and erasing the incoming black lights.
「How amazing! Well, until you’re tired, that’s it…」
「In this narrow passage, being careless of your back is a great mistake.」
Lambert replied with a plain, cold voice.
Hearing that, Thulenigo’s laugh resounded once again in the passage.
「HAHAHAHA! Stop playing tough. But still, you’re strong. Interesting, your fear must be warped. I can never forget Reynoal’s spirit of inquiry. And then…」
Thulenigo’s eyes opened wide.
「When did… you come this close?」
Lambert advanced slowly toward Thulenigo’s location while striking down the black lights.
As if that wasn’t surprising enough, none of her spells managed to hit Lambert. All of them were struck down by Lambert’s greatsword.
「It seems that ageing magic is useless… Yeah, I thought that I was only fighting against a group of kingdom soldiers, but who would expect that a monster like you would be mixed in amongst them. I guess I have to go all out now.」
Thulenigo threw the golden apple in her right hand into the air.
「This magic tool is something that was obtained by my ancestor. I completed the research about it after my family was destroyed and I joined 『Devil’s Piper』… The strongest magic tool like no other, my pride.」
The apple stopped in front of Thulenigo’s face and shone brightly.
「『Paradise Apple』 works in conjunction with 『Demise Skull』 as an auxiliary tool for magic invocation… I amplify my power by sucking the mana of the target with 『Demise Skull』, which causes rapid ageing. But that’s not the only function. I can store part of the mana sucked out by 『Demise Apple』.」
『Paradise Apple』 shone even brighter. It was akin to the dazzling sun in the dark passage.
「And then, upon unleashing the stored mana inside, it can temporarily raise its user’s mana! The number of people that I have killed with ageing magic so far is 3766 people!」
The members of 『Phoenix’s Eyes』 who were standing behind Lambert were startled upon hearing that number.
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「T-three thousand?」
「So much… and this kind of sorcerer is still lurking in the kingdom?」
Kreuz raised a despaired voice.
After all, this case was only for the underground research facility in Tetomburgh.
Although he had somehow prepared for hearing the worst, he realized that he still underestimated the other party.
「For me, ageing magic is just like a meal. Only now have I truly drawn my sword. My true forte is close combat with the body which was enhanced by my sudden increase in mana. Actually, I wanted to use another spell, but the scale is way too big for this cramped place!」
Mana was a life force that existed in every living being.
It was the energy that was used by sorcerers to fuel their spells, and some martial arts also wouldn’t be able to show their true strength without the backing of mana.
Thulenigo threw the 『Demise Skull』 high up in the air.
The skull suddenly stopped in midair and stayed still right there.
After confirming that, Thulenigo bent forward, hands touching the floor as she looked at Lambert.
…Yes, just like a predator when they were about to rush toward their prey.
With her abundant supply of mana, it was the most efficient stance to overpower her enemy and beat them with brute force.
「To be honest, it’s been a while since I borrowed mana from 『Paradise Apple』. Now then, let’s enjoy this slugfest to our heart’s content! Let see how many seconds you can last!」
After saying this, Thulenigo kicked the ground and rushed toward Lambert at breakneck speed.
She stepped on the ground the moment she entered the range of Lambert’s greatsword.
And the next moment, she was already standing behind Lambert.
「You can’t even react to that. Next, I shall crush that armour of yours with my hands.」
Thulenigo raised her hand, pointing toward Lambert’s back.
「That trick is too naive.」
Lambert’s greatsword suddenly wedged itself into Thulenigo’s flank.
「…EH?」
Thulenigo’s body spun in midair, scattering blood and entrails in the passage and stopping after her back crashed against the wall.
「AGH, GAH, HAH!」
Thulenigo then fell to the ground, coughing up blood as she groaned in pain.
「W-what… just happened?」
As color drained from her face, Thulenigo tried to crawl on the ground.
「OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…」
At that moment, a voice that invoked disgust resounded in the passage.
When Thulenigo looked at the source of the voice, she saw how easily Lambert crushed the 『Demise Skull』 with his greatsword.
As if expressing its fear toward Lambert, the remaining jaw part of the skull was rattling.
Lambert trampled the remaining jaw underfoot, destroying it for good and stopping the eerie voice.
「S-STOP!! THAT’S MY EVERYTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!」
「Three thousand people, eh. I guess that’s the limit of a small trinket like this. You can’t even beat a first-rate swordsman with this small trinket. Good grief, Belfis Kingdom really did waste their resources and time just for these small trinkets.」
Following that, his greatsword crushed the 『Paradise Apple』 that was rolling on the ground.
「Y-YOU IDIOT! DO YOU REALIZE JUST HOW VALUABLE THOSE MAGIC TOOLS ARE?! THAT’S THE PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF OUR REYNOAL FAMILY WHICH HAS BEEN ERASED FROM HISTORY, THE PROOF OF OUR EXISTENCE! THAT’S…!」
As if ignoring Thulenigo’s wail, Lambert mercilessly swung down his greatsword, crushing the golden apple.
「As long as evil sorcery from the Eight Kingdoms Unification War era is used, I shall not overlook it. I will rip it out at its root.」
「I-I CURSE YOU! I ABSOLUTELY WON’T FORGIVE YOU! I’LL CURSE YOU FROM THE OTHERWORLD! REMEMBER THIS!! I WON’T LET YOU DIE IN PEACE!」
「I’ve already passed that road though.」
Lambert’s greatsword beheaded Thulenigo as soon as he finished his words.
He swung his sword to the side to get rid of the blood sticking on its blade.
「Let’s get going.」
The members of 『Phoenix’s Eyes』 who could only watch nodded at each other.
「Kreuz-sama… aren’t we actually just… a hindrance…?」
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