Chapter 37: Mage of Blazing Fire (5)

There was someone Alicia had to find, no matter the cost.

The one who took everything from her.

And therefore, the one from whom she must also take everything.

“Mage, you…….”

Ironically, despite having everything taken from her by that mage, Alicia didn't even know the mage's name.

No, not just the name, but what the mage looked like, or where they primarily operated.

She didn't know anything at all.

All she knew was that the mage wielded the blazing fire as if it were their own limbs.

That was why Alicia went wherever stories of the mage could be heard, without exception.

She cast aside even the duties of an Inquisitor and dedicated her all to finding the mage who had stolen her everything.

But the trail was seldom found, and Alicia gradually became consumed by the anger and hatred within her.

“I’ll kill you…….”

At times like those, Alicia felt as if a demon, not God, was whispering in her ear.

【Do you… desire a contract?】

Of course, she knew.

That it was nothing but an auditory hallucination.

No, it had to be.

“Whoa? What’s with her?”

“I think she’s a crazy woman…….”

Without taking care of herself, she wandered and wandered throughout the Empire.

It was during that time.

She happened to hear a rumor about Winter Castle Kreutz.

“Hey, you know that story?”

“What story?”

At first, she intended to dismiss it as just another trivial story.

No, in the first place, she wasn't even paying attention.

“Remember that mage who was said to have been burned at the stake a while ago? The one who was captured by the Inquisitors in the plaza back then.”

Until the word ‘mage’ came out of their mouths.

“Huh? Oh! I remember now. That was a close call, wasn't it? A mage…… just thinking about it gives me the creeps.”

“They say that mage is at Winter Castle.”

“What, what? Is that for real?”

“Have you ever seen me spout nonsense? My friend who went along with the Pegasus Merchant Guild’s trade route this time said he saw it.”

“Wait, more importantly, why is the Pegasus Merchant Guild at Winter Castle?”

“Didn't you know? The Pegasus Merchant Guild regularly organizes trade routes to Winter Castle. There aren't many places as profitable as Winter Castle, are there?”

“Hmm…… that’s true too. By the way, what do you mean you saw a mage? How can a dead mage be at Winter Castle?”

“They didn't die.”

Alicia's body flinched without her realizing as she listened to the story.

It was because she felt like she had found a clue to the mage she had been searching for so desperately.

“Didn't die? Didn't you just say they were burned at the stake?”

“Did you see it? The mage being burned at the stake?”

“Well…… I didn't. But still, does it make sense for a mage to be at Winter Castle? Would the Order stand by and do nothing?”

“But they are doing nothing. What do you think that means?”

The man added.

“Where is Winter Castle? Isn't it a place rumored that once you go in, you can never come out until you die? What kind of soldier would voluntarily enlist in a place everyone avoids?”

“Do they go because they want to? They’re dragged there.”

“My goodness. Do you think soldiers dragged there like that would even fight properly? Yet, what do you think is the reason the front line with the Demonic Realm can still be maintained? The Empire and the Punishment Order made a deal. The Empire gives various special favors to the Order, and in return, they conscript the mages captured during the inquisition process.”

“Are you saying that Winter Castle is conscripting mages as soldiers? What a thing to say!”

Alicia felt the same as the man.

There was no blasphemy greater than this.

If Alicia had her way, she wanted to execute them on the spot for blasphemy, but at the same time, a question arose.

Because in fact, Alicia too had experienced not a few cases where a mage she was interrogating during an inquisition process was suddenly transferred elsewhere.

Only now did Alicia suddenly wonder where they had gone.

Where in the world did all those mages go?

Could it be that, as those men said, they were really heading to Winter Castle?

‘And perhaps, in Winter Castle, that mage is…….’

It was from that moment.

That Alicia, as if possessed by something, became a sinner herself to head to Winter Castle.

The reason was simple.

If it was Winter Castle where mages were forcibly conscripted, then perhaps, that mage might be there.

And the rumors were true.

Winter Castle was indeed secretly conscripting mages captured by the Punishment Order.

However, the emotion of anger towards the corruption of the Punishment Order no longer remained in Alicia.

All that was left was a blind hatred for the mage.

Only that moved Alicia, and so, Alicia boarded the prisoner transport wagon heading to Winter Castle.

Then, a man caught her eye.

Vell Blackwood.

At first, because he was a mage who used powerful magic, she started watching him out of a sliver of hope, but she soon concluded that he wasn't the one.

The nature of the magic he used was completely different.

Her interest in Vell Blackwood should have ended there, but this time, another aspect of him caught her attention.

It was his overwhelming growth speed that surpassed common sense.

At first, she had no particular interest, but as she watched Vell Blackwood's physical abilities develop outstandingly with each passing day, Alicia felt a certain curiosity arising, whether she liked it or not.

And then it happened.

One day, a sweetish smell came from Vell Blackwood, and as she was drawn to it, she found him tearing at beef jerky.

Vell Blackwood willingly offered the beef jerky to Alicia.

For Alicia, who had lived on the bland meals of the monastery and the meals at Winter Castle for the past years, the taste of the beef jerky was nothing short of shocking.

Therefore, she had no choice but to change her evaluation of Vell Blackwood a little.

‘……Well, he’s not a bad person.’

Daily life in Winter Castle was not easy, but she gradually got used to it.

As if being soaked in the inertia of this place.

And though she almost lost sight of her purpose for a moment, Alicia did not forget.

「“It hurts! It hurts!”」

「“Water! Water! Someone please put out the fire……!”」

The screams and cries they had let out. And all the emotions of hatred and sadness that still squirmed within her.

As her daily life continued, a new mission came to the 4th Special Task Force.

“What kind of mission is it? A demonic beast subjugation?”

“It is a subjugation, but not of a demonic beast. We will be subjugating a mage.”

The moment she heard the words ‘mage subjugation’, Alicia felt her heart pounding without her realizing.

As if being led by fate.

Perhaps, that mage might be the one I am looking for.

Such a thought came to her strongly.

Sure enough, what greeted the 4th Special Task Force at the destination they finally arrived at was a blazing fire being shot from somewhere.

The Mage of Blazing Fire.

The one who burned and took away everything.

Alicia finally came face to face with that mage.

Alicia moved, feeling the hatred and anger that had been withered until now burn once more.

In order to kill the mage, no matter the price, she charged forward without any regard for her own life.

The fight was one-sided.

The Mage of Blazing Fire was too strong, overwhelmingly so, and not only Alicia, but even Vell Blackwood and Edric could do nothing but be beaten helplessly.

Nevertheless, Alicia did not give up.

Because if she gave up now, her life up until this point would have no meaning whatsoever.

“Uwaaaaaah!!!”

Blazing fire poured down from all sides.

Even while facing the blaze that was closing in on a radius she couldn't possibly escape, Alicia pushed forward steadfastly.

“Mage, you──!”

Even as her whole body burned, and the blazing fires gnawed at her entire body as if they were alive, Alicia did not stop.

But the result was disastrous.

In the end, Alicia's sword did not reach the Mage of Blazing Fire at all.

Every time she tried to swing or thrust her sword, the blazing fire that shot up in front of her protected the mage terribly.

All magic requires a price.

The more powerful the magic, the greater the price it demands, so a mage who could wield this level of magic so freely was unheard of for Alicia.

I hate the mage.

I want to kill the mage.

The mage…….

Alicia let out a scream, endlessly chewing on her hatred.

“Ugh, uwaaaaah──!”

But it didn't reach.

She hated the mage and wanted to kill them, but what was even more unforgivable was her own powerless self, unable to do anything even with the one she wanted to chew up and swallow right before her eyes.

“Oo, ooohoo…….”

Screams, despair, grief, hatred, anger.

All those emotions mixed together and flowed out of Alicia's mouth as an unintelligible sound.

“Oooohwaaaaaah……!!”

“More, more, more! What a beautiful symphony of hatred and grief this is!”

The mage burst into maniacal laughter, completely soaked in madness.

“Ah, aheua……”

Alicia, who had suffered third-degree or worse burns all over her body, gasped for air and pleaded earnestly.

To the being that was once her everything.

Oh, God.

Oh, Goddess of Punishment, who does not forgive the sinful.

Just once, just once is fine.

Please, at this moment, show me your miracle…….

Unfortunately, what came to Alicia was not a miracle from God, but a piece of the blazing fire scattered by the mage.

God did not listen to her prayer.

No, perhaps, such a thing never existed from the beginning.

The world is dyed red.

Everything is dyed red.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…….”

At the very last moment, Alicia apologized for the last time to those who were her comrades-in-arms, colleagues, family, and friends.

Because she was so sorry for her own feeble strength, Alicia could not close her eyes even at the last moment.

In that moment when she thought everything was over.

Fwoooosh──!

Alicia, in her fading vision, saw a miracle happen.

Literally, it was a phenomenon that could only be described as a miracle.

Shwwiiick─!

She didn't know when he had arrived in front of her, but Vell Blackwood, who had appeared at some point, had blocked the blazing fire.

And he did so, by cutting the blazing fire with the dagger in his hand.

“How, could……?”

Alicia, who witnessed that sight, couldn't help but lose her sense of reality.

Cutting a blazing fire with a dagger?

And the blazing fire wielded by that Mage of Blazing Fire?

Alicia knew Vell Blackwood's swordsmanship skills well, and she knew that his swordsmanship was definitely not at a level where he could cut flames.

That was why this was a miracle.

A miracle that bloomed not from the hands of God, but from the hands of Vell Blackwood.

“Hmph.”

Every time Vell Blackwood swung his dagger, the blazing fire poured out by the mage was literally cut.

Vell Blackwood, having cut through the blazing fires one by one in that manner, soon reached right in front of the mage.

“Watch out─”

The Mage of Blazing Fire possesses a very powerful magic that protects themself.

Wasn't it because Alicia herself was blocked by that barrier of blazing fire that she had been unable to inflict any wounds on the mage until now?

However, Vell Blackwood cut through even that barrier of blazing fire with his dagger, as if mocking it.

Shwwiiick!

The figure of the mage, who had been protected by the barrier of blazing fire until now, was revealed as it was for the first time.

“Nice to meet you, you bastard.”

Soon after, a savage smile formed on Vell Blackwood's lips, and a blue halo of light arose from his left hand.

Alicia knew better than anyone the power of the magic that Vell Blackwood had deployed so many times before.

Click─

With a familiar metallic sound.

KWAAAAAANG!!!───

A thunderous roar echoed all around.