Chapter 2 — 사자(獅子)
Part 2 Chapter 23
Lion
‘Cromhel’s fiancée is the Golden Lion’s daughter?’
The Golden Lion had said it was for his daughter.
And Cromhel’s wedding was already set.
Once the thought reached that far, everything clicked.
Even why the Golden Lion, who never listened to the imperial family, had come here in person.
Which meant there was no way to talk him down.
‘This is insane.’
While Elick ground his teeth, the Golden Lion moved for the first time.
* * *
‘As expected. It’d be a waste to kill him.’
The Golden Lion studied the man before him.
There was only one reason he thought so.
The man’s skill was far beyond his years.
‘Just from his voice, I’d have said he was still young.’
At most, his twenties.
Pushing it, his early thirties.
But the skill the man in the frost mask had shown would rank among the top not only in the Mage Tower, but even in the Lion Ducal House.
‘He’s not bad up close, either.’
When was the last time someone had rattled ‘the Lion’s First Claw’ in his hand like this?
And—
More than anything, there were several things that piqued his curiosity.
Like that demon he’d just shown. Or the way he bent both divine power and mana to his will.
‘I feel like I heard about someone similar.’
He vaguely recalled some incident out east, but nothing more surfaced, so he let the thought go.
He was never one to fret about outside affairs.
‘I’ll just grab him and ask.’
Given what he’d shown so far, he wouldn’t come quietly. So he’d take him and peel back his identity at leisure.
The moment the Golden Lion stepped forward—
Kwoooooom!
‘Oh?’
Elick surged to his feet, a tremendous force roaring off him.
‘He still had enough left to fight?’
On top of forcing his body past its limits, he triggered the same spell again.
His mana circuits bucked like they were about to char, and his vision began to spin.
He’d already wrung his abilities to their limit; his body simply couldn’t withstand it.
“Kh…!”
Elick fought to steady himself, trying to clamp down on the tremors wracking him.
“You’ve lost your mind!”
“If you push any further…!”
Nahatram and Mia’s voices rang out at once.
Elick didn’t care; he hauled up his divine power.
Crackle—
The ground under his feet splintered as his hair streamed upward.
As if defying gravity, the laws of physics shivered within a wide radius, and bits of stone floated weightless into the air.
‘If nothing else, I have to buy time!’
Having crossed blades with the Golden Lion, he knew.
At his current level, stopping the man was impossible.
But stalling him—he could manage that, at least.
‘That should let the others run a little farther.’
Bzzzzzt—!
Elick poured the divine power he’d raised into his spear.
And then—
BOOOOM!
He exploded forward, rocketing at the Golden Lion.
Watching him come, the Golden Lion let out a low sound of admiration.
“You’ve still got more to show at this point. Hm! It really would be a shame to kill you. However.”
He nodded once and clenched his fist.
“If you can’t tell when to charge and when not to—”
Before the words had finished, Elick was already in front of him, driving his spear.
Whoosh!
The Golden Lion tilted his head a hair, letting the thrust slip past, and shot out his fist.
“…!”
KRAAASH!
Elick had no time to react.
Something flashed—and when his mind caught up, he was buried in the dirt.
At the same time, he felt the strength flood out of him.
Magic, divine power—everything hit empty all at once.
“Gah!”
Skreeeeee!
That was when the baby dragons showed themselves.
As if to avenge Elick, the little ones spewed breath and hurled themselves at the Golden Lion.
“Now dragons too? Ha!”
Even within the radius of Dragon Fear, the Golden Lion was unbothered.
If anything, he looked mildly tickled.
“I was just wondering what to take as a trousseau gift for my daughter. This will do nicely.”
He reached a hand toward the hatchlings, and under a crushing pressure they all rolled their eyes back and crashed.
“Damn…!”
“Stay down.”
The Golden Lion started toward Elick, who was gritting his teeth and trying to rise, intent on pinning him completely.
Crack!
With his mana spent, the mask on Elick’s face crumbled to dust.
“Hm?”
The Golden Lion’s steps halted.
For the first time his brows drew together, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
“You…!”
He studied Elick’s features and spoke, baffled.
“Blond hair… green eyes… Don’t tell me—Merbinger?”
A reaction Elick hadn’t expected at all.
“That’s—!”
He opened his mouth to confirm.
Thud!
Suddenly his heart went berserk, pounding so hard he couldn’t speak.
Thump-thump-thump-thump!
Blood raced through his body. His vision blurred.
‘What the hell…?’
As he wondered what was happening—
Fwoooosh!
His sight flipped, and in an instant his inner world unfolded.
Looking around, he found Mia and even Damir wearing shocked expressions.
“Your body—are you all right?”
“How could he be all right! After yanking that much power! You maniac. You may be like Otto Han, but—! Pick your resemblances. How could you pull a stunt like that there…!”
“Everyone, out.”
Mia wedged herself between Damir’s sigh and Nahatram mauling the back of his head with nervous fingers.
“At this rate. Truly. Dangerous.”
She checked Elick’s pulse, muttering in a voice laced with annoyance. She rarely showed her feelings, but Elick’s reckless display had clearly pushed her too far.
From her, this much meant she was furious.
“…I’m sorry.”
Watching Mia take his pulse, with Damir heaving deep sighs and Nahatram scratching irritably, Elick couldn’t bring himself to meet their eyes.
A moment later, Mia exhaled in relief and continued.
“Still. Thankfully, you’re not. Going to die.”
The aftereffects would be brutal, though.
Elick knew the words she wasn’t saying.
It could easily be months—no, maybe years—of focusing on nothing but recuperation.
“Then… why did you call me in here, all of a sudden?”
He knew time in the inner world flowed very differently from the outside.
But you couldn’t stop it completely.
In a moment this urgent, letting his attention drift could be disastrous.
Especially when facing a monster like the Golden Lion.
“If we’d left you, you’d be dead.”
“For now, you need to retreat.”
At Damir and Nahatram’s words in place of Mia, Elick fell silent.
He knew it too.
The gap between him and the Golden Lion was beyond imagining.
But he answered, firm.
“…I can’t.”
“What?”
“If I pull out now, the people of Huillan will have nowhere to go.”
Damir folded his arms and asked in a low voice.
“Then you mean to lay down your life for them?”
“That much is… hard…”
Trailing off, Elick continued.
“But at least—I want to protect what my grandfather protected.”
When he finished, the retainers’ eyes met.
‘A Merbinger is a Merbinger, after all.’
‘Right on script.’
Long ago, the Otto Han they had served had been much the same.
Always seeming playful, yet deeper and more earnest than anyone.
He hadn’t hesitated to risk his life for what he sought to protect.
Elick said he wouldn’t go that far—but they knew.
He only said it.
If the moment came, he’d be the first to throw himself in.
The fight with the Golden Lion had shown as much.
Elick had dragged up power until his body broke just to face him.
Even if it cost him his life.
Mia sighed, helpless, and spoke to him.
“Come.”
“…Huh?”
“I said, come.”
Elick got up and followed her.
“But outside, I—!”
“There is. A solution. So.”
Just follow me.
Elick’s eyes widened a fraction.
Was there some arrangement he didn’t know about?
“Where are we going?”
“The Abyss.”
That was all she said, sealing her lips as if she couldn’t say more.
* * *
“Aaaagh!”
“Help! Please, help!”
“Is anyone there? Anyone at all, please…!”
At the edge of Huillan, Tasha stared blankly toward the town.
“What in the world…!”
She had no idea what she was seeing.
She’d hurried, pushing the coachman because she had a bad feeling—
But nothing like this.
If hell existed, would it look like this?
The entire village was on fire, and the townsfolk were in a blind panic, at a total loss.
The sight made Tasha’s chest tighten.
A cry for help rang out nearby.
“Please, help us! My daughter… my daughter’s trapped in there!”
She turned to see a woman on her knees before a house collapsing in flames, sobbing her heart out.
Tasha’s affinity was fire. Without a thought, she sprinted over.
Whooosh!
With a flick of her hand, she swept the flames off the house and into the sky, then plunged into the crumbling building.
“Waaah! Mom!”
Before long she found a little girl, singed and trapped in a room.
“It’s okay. It’s okay, don’t be scared.”
Tasha pulled the child out safely and placed her in her mother’s arms.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
The woman bowed again and again, then hurried off to evacuate with the others.
“What on earth is happening?”
She exhaled in relief, but the knot in her chest wouldn’t loosen.
Shring!
With the hiss of steel, a dagger touched her throat.
When had someone gotten behind her? Even in a crisis, she should have sensed it—but she hadn’t felt a thing.
Tasha’s face went hard. The presence behind her was no joke.
“…Who are you?”
“From the way you cast, I’d say you’re with the Empire. Am I right?”
Who was this?
Tasha gathered mana at her fingertips and answered slowly.
“And if I am?”
“Then.”
The voice turned to ice.
“Die.”
The revolutionary assassin moved to drive the blade into her neck.
“Miss, duck!”
The shout came from the side. Tasha dropped fast.
A ball of fire came screaming in.
BOOOOM!
She saw the assassin hurled back.
“Nice one, Hanabi!”
She threw a rare compliment to her secretary who’d finally been useful, and triggered her magic.
Blue fire rose from her fingertips and, in a blink, took the shape of a great bird.
The king of flame spirits—the one who had earned her the honor of the Three Divine Stars.
Screee—!
Wreathed in blue flames, Tasha leveled her spell at the assassin, who still clung to life.
“…Your sorcery’s not bad.”
He brushed off the fire trying to catch on him and smiled coldly.
And in doing so, showed his face.
Scarred from gods knew how many battlefields, an eyepatch covering one eye.
Tasha’s expression hardened at once.
She knew instantly who he was.
One of the highest-ranked among the Empire’s designated public enemies.
“…‘Blue Eye’ Jeff.”
The Free Revolutionary Army.
Among the so-called “rebels,” as the Empire named them, one of the few legion commanders had arrived.
The Mage Who Devoured Talent