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As soon as I received the call from Senior Lyudmila, I woke up our party and headed straight for the headquarters. Luckily, thanks to the Imperial Army dispatching magicians, we arrived in less than 20 minutes.

The first words from the military government executive who greeted us, after we cut through the December cold wind between cities, were brief and intense.

“A demon has appeared.”

I asked him, “When and where?”

“At around 23:39, the first alarm rang in Orventzku. Communication is bad, so we can’t connect with the field unit, but we certainly received reports of the alarm.”

Orventzku. A familiar name. It was the place where I battled the demon alongside Lucia.

The talisman rang out in the besieged city.

There was no time to think deeply.

“Let’s leave right now.”

We have to catch it.

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician in History

Orventzku is a massive northern city. With a population of 330,000 five years ago, its area is comparable to Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province.

The problem lies in the distance.

Orventzku is located about 380 km northeast of Novo Nikolayevsk, where the military government headquarters is situated. Simply put, it means we would need at least three to four hours of non-stop driving at a speed of 100 km/h to reach it.

In a race against time, there couldn’t be a worse situation.

However, the military government solved the problem by installing a teleportation magic circle connecting Novo Nikolayevsk and Orventzku.

Generally, military facilities are prohibited from having teleportation magic circles, but this wasn’t the time to worry about such regulations.

Commander Mikhail used his authority to connect Novo Nikolayevsk and Orventzku.

“We’ve arrived.”

We instantly moved 380 km and entered Orventzku.

“Did everyone arrive safely?”

“Lucia and Francesca are here! And so is Saint Veronica!”

Unlike the warp gate, due to its nature, the teleportation magic circle couldn’t accommodate too many people at once. So the only ones who could use it were me, Camila, Lucia, Francesca, and Veronica—just five of us.

But that wasn’t a problem.

The military government had stationed troops between cities, and they had coordinated to be ready to support at any moment when communication came through.

Furthermore, Orventzku, under siege, had troops stationed along the city’s borders. Since it was a city where battles against demons had occurred, Veronica had specially dispatched forces from the Inquisition, and the Magic Tower sent combat magicians here as well.

In other words,

“Let’s start gathering the troops. Go call everyone from the cult and the Magic Tower!”

“What about you, Colonel?”

“I will open the checkpoint first. I’ll meet the commanding officer over there.”

Fortunately, the troops had already prepared for battle before we arrived. The Imperial Army battalion commander we met at the checkpoint was fully geared up and ready in his vehicle.

“We were prepared as soon as the alarm rang. The residents living near the collapse site have been fully briefed by the division, so there’s no problem engaging in combat.”

“Have you not deployed yet?”

“The unit in charge of initial response entered 20 minutes ago. Some knights and magicians accompanied them. They should be arriving on the scene now, so we should get communications from them soon.”

—

The bizarre allied forces comprised of the Empire, the cult, and the Magic Tower entered the city to hunt the demon.

I crammed our party into the remaining vehicle and took the wheel.

“According to the battalion commander, the forward teams that departed first are handling the initial response. Communications haven’t come through yet, but some knights and combat magicians went along, so it should be fine. The division troops stationed on the outskirts are also moving in.”

Thanks to the absurdly bad weather in the north, communications were especially patchy today. As the snow falling from the sky touched the window, our convoy crossed the dark city.

“Is the radio out of order?”

Camila, who was lying down, frowned.

Following the original plan, she should have been resting in the cathedral by now, but somehow, she ended up here. I brought her along, but others were so busy getting ready that it felt like she joined by accident. Honestly, there wasn’t even enough time to think about the oddity of it all.

Since it was cramped for five people, Camila was lying across Lucia and Francesca’s laps in the back seat.

“Something feels off.”

“Don’t say that. I’m too nervous as it is.”

I pressed the accelerator, trembling like a sick dog due to an inexplicable sense of foreboding.

They say words can become reality.

As soon as we broke through the snowy field and arrived at the collapse site, I instinctively knew that my bad feeling was correct.

Imperial Army vehicles were parked everywhere at the collapse site.

The engines were running, but the driver’s side windows were stained red, and the soldiers, priests, and magicians deployed for initial response lay on the snow, staring blankly at the night sky, while strange fragments were scattered around the collapse site.

“…”

As I stepped over the bodies and got closer to the collapse site, I finally recognized the identity of those fragments.

They were broken silver stakes and shattered magical tools.

—

“Establish a communication link! Report to the regiment, you bastards!”

“We’ll disembark and secure the area. Report if you find any survivors.”

“Where’s the magician? Find out when the combat magicians from the division will arrive. Quickly!”

Those faced with the scene of devastation were thrown into chaos. Reactions varied, but the commonality was that everyone was half out of their minds.

I pressed the communications squad leader, but the radio showed no signs of working.

It wasn’t necessarily good news, but fortunately, the priests and magicians were managing to keep their wits about them.

However, the real problem lay elsewhere.

“…Why are all of them broken?”

“…”

“Veronica?”

“…Dammit.”

The barrier of the binding had shattered into pieces. The Magic Tower’s defenses, totems, and rune stones prepared for the second phase were also completely destroyed.

It was hard to believe, yet it was reality.

And reality was harsh.

We had to accept the truth now. The seal was broken, and the demon had escaped. Although there were degrees of disparity, the situation was already spiraling toward the worst-case scenario.

“Veronica, Francesca.”

I quickly regained my composure and called the two of them over.

“Release the people and search the area. Right now.”

The Saint and the Alchemist mobilized the forces of the Cult and the Magic Tower to initiate the pursuit.

The Knights and the Inquisition Officers burst into the nearby buildings, while the Magicians soared into the night sky to search for traces of the demon. Thanks to the evacuation carried out by the army, there were currently no civilian casualties.

As the situation escalated, the Imperial Army snapped into action and began to respond. The commanding officer immediately sent a messenger to relay the situation to the regiment and nearby battalions, moving troops to track the demon. Heavily armed Imperial soldiers advanced northward.

In the meantime, Veronica pulled a shotgun from the passenger seat of the vehicle, slung it over her shoulder, and examined the revolver, looking at the cylinder.

“Let’s spread out. I’ll head east with the Knights. Colonel, you take our siblings and go west.”

She meant she could handle the demon alone, so we should stay together and move separately.

She added to signal if we discovered any signs of the demon, casting powerful spells or divine light into the sky.

“What if something goes wrong?”

“Then, Colonel, you’ll probably die in my place, right?”

“Be careful, Veronica.”

Veronica nodded.

“You too, Colonel.”

*

The forces of the Empire, the Cult, and the Magic Tower scattered in all directions, searching for traces of the demon. The Combat Magicians from the Empire and the Magic Tower monitored from the air, while soldiers and Knights stormed into buildings, searching every nook and cranny.

“It seems like the demon’s power is stronger than we thought.”

The seal and barrier around the Sacred Horse’s resting place had been broken. It appeared that the demon broke the seal itself, slaughtered all the surrounding forces, and escaped.

Francesca assessed the demon’s strength in a calm tone, but a hint of tension slipped through her lips.

Lucia added, “It’s strong. Deceitful too.”

“Can we capture it?”

“I’m not sure. But we can’t just stand by while people’s lives hang in the balance.”

Under the deep azure sky, the forest of buildings in Orventzku spread before us.

We began racing through the dim, gray city cloaked in darkness. With the party in the vehicle, I silently sped down the road.

Even with it divided into quadrants, searching a city the size of Goyang isn’t easy. Moreover, our opponent is a demon. No one knows what means it might use to evade our watch.

“Have the talismans in this area activated?”

“No.”

Lucia responded from the back seat, examining the map. The faded parchment map was one of the Cult’s relics, a navigator’s map. It was the very map we used to locate the demon alongside the remains of Saint Balthazar.

“Not just nearby, but the talismans over the entire city are quiet.”

“……”

While the map was silent, the city was the complete opposite.

The sudden appearance of the military was more than enough to wake the sleeping citizens. Despite the lockdown order and blackouts, the residents of Orventzku began to trickle outside or peek out their windows to see what was happening.

To control the citizens, the soldiers repeatedly broadcasted messages from loudspeakers mounted on armored vehicles, urging them to refrain from going outside.

The military’s street announcements echoed, spreading throughout Orventzku. Citizens who woke up in the middle of the night were bewildered and returned to their homes.

When are those people planning to evacuate? Surely, they can’t engage in combat in this state.

As I turned the wheel and shot down the road, Camila, who was sitting in the passenger seat with a tense expression, suddenly blurted out in surprise.

“Huh?”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“No, that person’s condition seems a bit off… It feels weird.”

“Who?”

“That person over there.”

Her slender finger pointed sharply at the window. Her finger indicated toward the dark night sky. There flew a certain magician.

The magician was riding a broomstick.

“What’s unusual about that—”

At that moment, the flying magician suddenly changed course.

Gliding in a straight line while scanning the surroundings, the figure paused mid-air, then shifted its direction and began to glide erratically, as if riding a bicycle down a steep slope with no feet on the pedals.

In other words, they were descending.

For some reason, the magician urgently altered their course and lowered their altitude on the broomstick.

Despite gaining speed and rapidly descending, the magician did not stop.

Passing the tops of buildings,

Zipping by the mid-levels of apartments,

They continued their descent.

The small dot that was a magician steadily approached closer. The dot transformed into a human figure and the silhouette of a long broom, revealing the fluttering cape and ultimately, the magician’s clothing and features became discernible.

The magician, hanging onto the broomstick, raced across the city against the dark backdrop of the night sky.

At the moment when the figure riding the broom disappeared among the concrete trees.

-Thunk!

The magician painted the asphalt red and finally came to a stop. It was merely a few meters away from where we had halted on the road.

“……”

Silence fell.

Lucia covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide open. Francesca, without making a sound, cautiously grasped the hilt of the rune sword beside her, and Camila swallowed hard.

The awkward silence was broken by the clattering sound of the joystick spinning in the air.

“Get out of the car immediately.”

I took my rifle and opened the driver’s side door.

 

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