11

Each time a spell was cut apart, the anti-magic sword emitted a pale blue glow.

“An anti-magic sword, and footwork specialized for dealing with magic… Don’t tell me—you’re one of those ‘country bumpkins’?”

Fiddling with the staff in his hand, Corbelli spoke with a half-smile.

Country bumpkin.

The word carried its literal meaning, but it was also a slur used by the fearless to mock the Silver Snow Knights, whose lands lay far from the royal capital.

“You dare insult the Silver Snow Knights!?”

“Hah. Country bumpkins or knights lying around anywhere—it’s all the same. A bunch of brainless muscle-heads.”

“And yet that magic you’re so proud of is being cut down right now by this so-called muscle-head.”

“This is all because of that cursed Eternal Witch! She scattered copies of the Original Canon across the world and handed nothing but twisted cleverness to worthless apes without power! Even that anti-magic sword of yours is a crystallization of that vile cleverness!”

Spitting as he shouted, Corbelli increased the number of Fire Lances.

“You—don’t tell me you’re one of the ‘Next-Era Luminaries’?”

Seeing the volley of Fire Lances, Sophia moved again.

“That’s right! We are the Next-Era Luminaries. We have fully inherited the Original Canon of Ains of Silver Snow, and we simply carry out what must be done!”

“Hmph. That explains your warped ideology.”

“Shut up, you country ape! —Formal incantation: ‘The alchemist deceives. Sand becomes gold, white becomes black, and thus the sheep reap profit.’”

Corbelli completed a full spell incantation.

Sophia listened carefully, word for word.

‘I’ve never heard of this spell… So this is the troublesome magic Laika-sama mentioned.’

Even if it was an unknown spell, there would be no problem if she dealt with Corbelli before its effect manifested.

Rather than relying on footwork that introduced distance loss, Sophia chose to intercept the Fire Lances with her anti-magic sword and dive into his guard along the shortest path.

‘Setting Ains-sama aside, once you enter sword range against a mage, victory is assured.’

Just a few more steps.

Just a few steps from her killing range, Corbelli moved.

“‘Running is a loss.’ Stop, you damn ape.”

It wasn’t a spell incantation. There was no mana infused in the words.

And yet, Sophia’s legs suddenly stopped running.

“—!”

There was no time to dwell on the shock. The Fire Lances were already upon her.

With her legs forcibly halted, the concept of shortest distance no longer mattered. The immediate problem was dealing with the Fire Lances before her. Because of the forced control over her movement, the distance was no longer one where she could swing her sword and handle them all.

Sophia leapt sideways, avoiding a portion of them.

“‘Getting up is a loss.’”

Corbelli’s voice followed.

Sophia, having dodged midair, was unable to rise where she landed. No matter how much strength she put into her arms or how fully she engaged every muscle in her body, it was as if something powerful were pressing her down from above, preventing movement.

“Guh!”

While immobilized, she was struck by a Fire Lance and sent tumbling violently backward.

“Abbreviated incantation: ‘Fire Lance ×20.’”

Corbelli summoned even more Fire Lances and fired them.

Sophia rolled across the ground several times, then took a breakfall and pushed herself upright. The anti-magic sword never left her right hand.

“‘Swinging a sword is a loss.’”

Her right arm refused to move as the Fire Lances closed in. It was as if the anti-magic sword were being gripped by an invisible hand, locked firmly in place.

Certain she would be hit, Sophia threw herself backward to disperse some of the impact. Even so, she was sent rolling violently across the ground once more.

“In the end, you’re just a country ape. Before my sorcery—having reached the domain of a true sorcerer—your petty tricks mean nothing!”

Spreading both arms, Corbelli laughed loudly.

Wiping blood from the corner of her mouth, Sophia stood. She had been struck by mid-tier magic, unable to fully breakfall, and now felt pain in several parts of her body.

“…I see. A sorcerer of restraint. How troublesome.”

Laika was already running among the allied knights, clutching the leather pouch she had received from Sophia.

The pouch itself was small, with a narrow opening. Even crammed full, it should have held at most three potions.

“Potions! Recover now, while Sophia-san is holding them back!”

She handed potions out one by one. Despite the pouch’s size, bottle after bottle emerged without end.

“So this is an item box too… To think Ains carries national-treasure-class items like this—just who is he?”

He had said he made the ring-type item box himself. If so, perhaps he had also created this pouch-type item box.

That would mean he was a mage capable of producing national-treasure-class items.

“What is this!? This is incredible!”

“I’ve never seen a potion like this!”

Voices like that rose from the knights receiving potions.

Laika turned back to confirm—and saw wounds across entire bodies vanishing instantly after a single drink. Even those pale from blood loss regained healthy color.

Deep wounds that reached the bone regenerated flesh in an instant, completely healed.

“…These aren’t normal potions. High Potions?”

This healing power rivaled that of High Potions.

High Potions were so expensive that even noble households possessed only a few.

And yet there was no sign of them running out from this pouch.

Did Ains possess the wealth to stockpile this many? No—Laika suspected he had created these High Potions himself.

“This isn’t the time to be thinking about that! I need to hand them out faster!”

Amazed cries continued to rise, but Laika focused single-mindedly on distributing High Potions to the knights and spellcasters.

“Those who are recovered, intercept the bandits! With the mage’s troublesome magic suppressed for now, they’ll be easy to deal with! This is our counterattack!”

Spurred on by Laika’s call, the recovered fighters sprang to their feet one after another.

Running, Laika checked on Sophia.

The battle that had once been tilted in Sophia’s favor had been completely overturned the moment Corbelli began using that eerie magic.

Even a knight of the Silver Snow Knights—versed in magic—was currently helpless against Corbelli’s restraint sorcery.

“…Ains, hurry up and get here.”