Chapter 332

“We really don’t know anything, please help us!”
A gaunt middle-aged man clutched his head. An hour ago, he had been the leader of the Black Scorpion Bandits, and in an instant, he had lost everything. Behind him, hundreds of his organization’s exhausted members shivered in the same pose.
“Ooh, we’re all going to die…why is he here—.”
“Boss…! Black!”
The sky was covered with thick clouds. A secluded spot on the edge of an archipelago, where a sliver of moonlight illuminated a ruined fortress.
The devastation, like an earthquake, was all the work of one man. Ronan asked nervously, twirling his sword once.
“You’re not blowing straight? You’re the biggest band of bandits around here, you should be spitting something out.”
“Well, by the way—! We have a thing called Sangdo, too. We only collect in designated areas, and we don’t go anywhere near the islands, believe me!”
“You’re so fucking good at collections. I’m proud of you, asshole.”
Bam! Ronan struck the leader in the head with the back of his sword. His balding head reverberated with a clear sound like a pounding on a wooden table.
“Black—!”
He gritted his teeth, humiliated beyond measure, but all he could do was choke back tears and shake. He shuddered as he remembered what had happened earlier.
‘Am I dreaming? They cut down the whole fortress.’
It took less than an hour for the four-year-old Black Scorpion Bandits to collapse. Ronan, a short man, barged in, asked if they knew anything about the recent rash of disappearances, and then proceeded to chop down fortresses and people alike. “Thump!” the leader cried out as his forehead hit the floor.
“I swear to God, we don’t know what happened. Help us!”
“Help me!”
The words were repeated by his men, their voices filled with fear. I had had enough. Prison or wherever, as long as I could get away from this monster, I would be satisfied.
“Shit, then who the hell is doing this?”
Ronan glared at the bandits and muttered a curse word. His expression and tone suggested he wasn’t lying. If this continues, someone will go missing somewhere else.
“Damn, it’s almost a month and I’m not making any progress.
As usual, he was on the hunt for the missing persons case. He was running around day and night, and his responsibilities as a husband and father were suffering.
At least these bastards were big enough to know better, but it was a waste. Ronan was groaning, wondering where he would sleep next. A familiar voice rang out overhead.
“Ro, Ronan, we’re in trouble!”
“Huh?”
Ronan looked up. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed the approach. Asel floated in the night sky in her pajamas.
His haggard face was unchanged from a decade ago, save for a few hollows. His fiery red hair hadn’t lost its shine in the darkness, and the bandits’ eyes widened as they recognized him.
“Great, great wizard—!”
Even his ridiculous outfit gave him away. It was Mage Asel, who had risen to the pinnacle of Mado after Lorhon. “A swordsman who cut down a star and an archmage?” Ronan asked, leaving the despairing bandits behind.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re white as a sheet.”
“Ooh, my kids are gone! Lance and Sechika—!”
“—What?”
Ronan’s face hardened. Asel sobbed and explained himself. The sudden disappearance of Lance and Sechika, the context of their disappearances so far. And the unidentified bloodstains left at the scene. Ronan, who had heard the whole story, spoke up.
“Is it Lancena Sechika’s blood?”
“Well, I don’t know about that, I just found out…Sita is flying in from the north right now.”
“Okay–that’s what happened.”
Ronan muttered. The bandits who had been watching them gasped, their bodies paralyzed. A life like he’d never known before surged up Ronan’s shoulders.
“Sue, I can’t breathe—!”
“Help me. Please, please.”
The life force was so intense that I couldn’t even breathe properly. I started sobbing and urinating.
The bandits, now more desperate than ever, pleaded for mercy. Ronan’s arm blurred for a moment, then returned to normal. A dull crack echoed through the air.
Before I could question what I’d done, the sky split open. The cloud-covered sky parted to the left and right, revealing a shower of stars overhead.
“Huh!”
The bandits marveled. The cloud’s cross-section, cut by the sword wind, was smooth and clean. Ronan’s empty hand was now clutching a lamancha.
A sword that had slain flying giants. Ronan spun it once, then turned his attention to the leader.
“Hey.”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“No long story. Turn yourself in.”
Ronan growled low. Facing a tiger would be better than this. Breathing heavily, the boss dropped his head to the floor once more and cried out.
“Moo, sure, I’ll turn myself in right away!”
“Piss off.”
Ronan declared coldly, and then he and Asel left. The bandits, utterly crushed, could not raise their heads even after their forms had vanished. It was a long time before the bandits rose to their feet, and with no one watching, they stumbled casually to the nearest guardhouse.
****
“Ewwww—.”
Groaning, Lance opened his eyes. His head was fuzzy, like he was drugged. He staggered to his feet and looked around.
“Where is…?”
All around me was darkness. I couldn’t hear the wind blowing, so I knew I was inside some kind of structure. What’s going on? Lance muttered to himself as he rubbed his forehead.
“What–what happened?”
My memories of last night are sporadic. I think I heard someone’s voice before I blacked out, but I couldn’t quite place it.
“So you leave the house—go into the back alley, and then—ah.
Lance’s complexion paled as he searched through his memories. The person who should be there was nowhere to be seen. He looked around impatiently and cried out.
“Sechika!”
His voice echoed in the darkness. But no answer came. Lance, his hand curled over his mouth, called out again.
“Answer me if you’re alive, Cechika!”
Again, no answer came. Lance’s breathing quickened as he realized the worst. SHUAAK! Lance’s body, which had been looking around, suddenly shot into the air as if carried by the wind.
“What, what?!”
Something invisible was clutching at him, a pressure that was vaguely familiar. Soon, a familiar voice came from behind Lance’s frozen form.
“Don’t make a big noise. You’re an idiot, you’ll get caught.”
“You—!”
Turning his head, Lance’s eyes widened. Sechika watched him, arms crossed, and she, like him, floated in the air.
“Cechika.”
His clothes were a little dirty, but he didn’t seem to be hurt. The tension in the air eased. Lance’s mouth dropped open and he swept her into a hug.
“La, lance?”
“You’re alive, thank God.”
“Da, of course, what do you think this Sechika sister is… Can you let go of this for now?”
Sechika’s face flushed, and Lance, realizing what he had done, hastily broke the embrace. The two coughed in vain as their backs were turned to each other.
“Hmmmmmm–well, sorry.”
“Oh, no, I might if I’m too happy to see you.”
“Thanks for understanding. So…where am I?”
“I don’t know, I just woke up. But maybe–I don’t think it’s a normal space.”
Sechika frowned. With her keen mana sensitivity, she had noticed that this was a strange place from the moment she opened her eyes. Lance cocked his head.
“What do you mean it’s not a normal space?”
“Everything is warped. I’ve seen something similar in my dad’s books before—a subspace artificially created by a being with very powerful magic.”
“Subspace?”
“Yeah. A dimension that shouldn’t exist. Who the hell created this?”
Sechika muttered, her eyes now adjusted to the darkness and she could see her surroundings. Sure enough, there were several oddities that stood out.
The space reminded me of the cavity of a giant cave. Voices echoed, even when spoken low, and there were no walls or ceilings in sight. Everywhere I looked, shadows, darker than the darkness, drifted in a miasma.
He had certainly never seen anything like it. Taking a deep breath, Lance closed his eyes and concentrated. He had inherited his mother’s heightened senses, and he could sense things that others could not see or hear.
Lance, who opened his eyes shortly afterward, pointed to the center of the darkness.
“I hear something over there.”
“Really? I don’t hear anything.”
“No. I’m sure. Is that the sound of water—no, is that footsteps?”
“Hmm, I’ll know for sure when I get there. I’m not motion sick anymore, am I?”
Lance gave a thumbs up at Sechika’s question. Smirking, Sechika recited the spell.
SAAAH… The wind manifested from her fingertips gently wrapped around the legs and feet of the two. It was a haste spell that increased their speed.
An attribute purely her own, not inherited from Asel. Lance marveled as she felt a distinct lightness in her body.
“You’re more skilled.”
“It’s basic. You heard the sound, so lead the way.”
Lance did so. Sechika could cast telekinesis and wind magic simultaneously, so the two of them glided through the air toward their destination.
They had been traveling for about ten minutes when a darkness of indeterminate depth washed over them. Lance spotted something and shouted at the top of his lungs.
[Stop!]
“Ugh—!”
Sechika, who was following, came to a screeching halt. With a sweep of his hand across his face, Lance extended his index finger and pointed to the floor.
[Look over there].
“——!”
Head bowed, Sechika clamped her hands over her mouth. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people were lying in rows and rows of bodies. They were young and old, but there were a disproportionate number of children, and all of them were staring blankly into her eyes. Barely able to compose herself, she opened her mouth.
“Shi, they’re the missing people–it’s clear.”
“—is he dead?”
“Uh, I don’t think so, and by the way, my mana is being drained from my body—.”
Sechika stuttered. She could see the mana draining from their bodies in real time.
The flow of mana was all centered in one place, and I slowly moved my gaze along it. At one point, a new scream escaped Sechika’s mouth.
“Kaaaaaah!”
“What the hell, what’s wrong–hurrrr!”
Lance’s eyes widened as he looked in the same direction. In the distance, in the darkness, a white lion, larger than most dragons, slept with its head held high.
“—What is that?”
I couldn’t believe my eyes. Frostbite scars covered half of its slippery body. Lance was about to say something more. A voice rang out from behind him.
【You’d better not mess with his mind. Unless you want to get eaten right now.
“What the—!”
[After all, he was once the head of the Fist of Fate].
Lance turned reflexively. A man had appeared out of nowhere, staring down at the two of them from behind.
He was a handsome young man, but his face and exposed limbs were covered in ugly marks that reminded me of a stuffed animal.
“La, Lance…”
“Who are you?”
Lance growled, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword as he stood in Sechika’s way. The shimmering air currents from the alleyway floated around the young man. The young man’s silent mouth slowly opened.
My name is Dharman. I am the remnant of the great Nebula Clazier, and I was once killed by your father.