Necromancer Of The Black Bible (160)

Hyro, having left the Valbern Marquessate, flapped his wings desperately.

Under normal circumstances, he would have flown easily with the power of mana, but this situation was, quite literally, an emergency.

Two scout mages, including Estella, were struck by lightning and vaporized in an instant.

The only one who barely survived was Miles Heizen.

As a mage of the Metal school, he swiftly transformed his body into metal when the lightning struck and deflected the attack.

Without that measure, he would have turned to ash like the other Fire-school mages.

-Can you bear it, Miles?

-Yes, this is nothing.

A smile appeared at the corner of Hyro’s mouth.

That was just like the steadfast Metal school.

They were insensitive to bodily pain and did not easily show their emotions.

They were very different from Fire-school mages, who snapped first when things went wrong.

That was exactly what Hyro liked about them. And he thought that was also why Miles had survived.

-In the end, only you remain.

-I am ashamed. -Why

-Of not being able to protect my comrades.

-Ridiculous.

Hyro gave a snort of laughter and continued.

-Be ashamed of that only after you’ve truly survived.

-…….

The tender heart of someone inexperienced.

It meant he was pure, but such a mindset was poison on the battlefield.

At any moment, it could endanger not only himself, but his comrades and the unit as well.

-We still have some distance to Edelmund. If we stop to rest in the middle, we won’t be able to render first aid in time, and you could end up crippled.

-…I see.

-So keep your head straight. And don’t forget that if you hastily cast healing magic on a burned wound, only the wound itself will close.

Hyro reminded him once again of the basic guidelines.

Miles was still conscious, but there was no telling when shock might set in.

-For now, focus on flying with me.

-Understood.

As befitted a Metal-school mage, Miles agreed without complaint.

Hyro drew up his mana and increased speed.

Having taken two fatal attacks, his condition was far from normal as well.

The shield he had created by expending a vast amount of mana had now grown faint.

If even a pursuer caught up, he could not guarantee victory.

‘If it’s that Elementalist bastard, then my luck ends here too.’

A bitter smile appeared on Hyro’s lips.

He had been too careless.

He had not known whether their movements, as they watched from afar and withdrew, would be detected.

But reviewing the situation so far, he should have realized that it was entirely possible.

‘No battle ever ends in such a simple annihilation.’

Humans are beings that feel fear.

That is why it is hard to fully accept approaching death.

It might be possible for a few elite warriors, but for ordinary soldiers it is impossible.

Even when only a hundred gather, some desertion is natural; to have been wiped out in a battle on the scale of tens of thousands means something was there.

‘They were killed before they even had time to feel fear.’

Moreover, if they had an intelligence network so extensive that even Hyro himself could sense it, then they would have been able to catch the fleeing ones easily as well.

‘Even so, this isn’t easy.’

As the mana circuit overloaded, his heart began to ache. At the same time, he felt his mental strength rapidly weakening.

‘I have to hold out a little longer.’

Now Edelmund had come into view.

At the very least, they had to reach the Mage Tower to avoid Miles being crippled.

-Miles.

-…Yes.

-Are you still alive?

-…Yes.

-We’re almost there, so hold out just a little longer.

Miles could not answer.

He was that exhausted.

But they were flying quickly, and thanks to that the Mage Tower came into view.

With its barrier gone, the Empire’s Mage Tower Regio Magnus looked more shabby than before.

Still, a Mage Tower is a Mage Tower.

As Hyro and Miles approached, something indeed flew out from the tower.

Seeing the flapping robe and broom, Hyro knew who it was.

‘Clara….’

Clara, the Mage Tower’s head of general affairs.

When Hyro confirmed it was her, his eyes closed in relief, and soon Clara’s protective magic enveloped them.

‘We finally made it.’

It was a return after as long as four months.

Clara, having taken care of Deputy Towermaster Hyro and scout Miles, was receiving a post-treatment report from the Mage Tower’s head of healing magic.

“Your Deputy Towermaster’s condition is fairly good. The Mana Ring rotation has returned to normal, and the heart’s movement is within the normal range.”

“”What about Miles?”

“We are in the process of regenerating the disintegrated right arm. Since the Deputy Towermaster administered proper first aid, he won’t be crippled.”

“I see.”

Clara signed the report.

Then she looked at the head of healing magic and suddenly asked,

“Have you heard anything about the rest of the scout team?”

“Ah, about that….”

After hesitating for a moment, he continued with a dark expression.

“A mage who was anesthetizing the scout member Miles did ask some questions.”

“What did he answer?”

“He said that they had vanished…. That was his answer.”

Clara bit her lip.

They had sent some of the elite among the elite from the Tower, and yet there were casualties.

It was a result she could not easily accept.

“Who on earth could eradicate our mages?”

Clara’s question echoed emptily through the office.

But no one answered.

Because above all else, everyone acknowledged the skill of the scout team leader Estella.

Clara asked the head of healing magic again.

“Did he say whose doing it was?”

“Yes. He said he didn’t know. I pressed him further, but he replied that Lord Hyro would know the details.”

“Then… we must wait until Lord Hyro wakes.”

Clara sent the head of healing magic away. Then she went into her office and sat down.

“Hoo-”

A deep sigh escaped her.

The past four months.

Clara had been gathering information about this bizarre war unfolding in the Empire and about Towermaster Leopold, whose whereabouts were still unknown.

The information she had gathered so far was meager, but every time she found relevant information, one thought kept coming into her mind.

‘Necromancer.’

The appearance of intelligent undead.

That meant Necromancy. At first, she did not pay it much mind, since it was a technique dismissed as nothing more than a tale from legends and myths, but as she investigated the scout team’s periodic reports and the vanished Eckhart family, related facts kept accumulating.

At first, when an undead army was mentioned, she had thought it was Necroturgy, but reports about the phantom knight and the information on the new undead soldiers that later appeared in Brandstein Castle pointed to the fact that it was not Necroturgy, but Necromancy.

‘If a Necromancer has really appeared, if he raised an army through Necromancy and came to the Capital, how are we supposed to stop them?’

The first thing that came to mind was fire.

The draconic-word Fire magic that was the Eckhart family’s secret art.

That magic should be able to counter them.

But now that Towermaster Leopold had disappeared, it was hard to count on that.

Coincidentally, Leopold vanished just before the territory of Grovebern was occupied.

The appearance of the undead legion and Leopold’s disappearance.

At first, she had not wanted to connect the two events, but now she had no choice but to connect them.

No matter how freely Leopold had acted until now, the imperial order had always sensed it like a ghost and appeared at the proper time.

But not this time.

Up to now, not a single person had seen Leopold in this capital.

Clara picked up a pen and wrote in her notebook.

-If these two events are connected, was Leopold eliminated?

-If so by whom?

-No way….

When she had written that far, new words began to appear in the notebook.

-Your guess is correct.

A familiar handwriting.

The moment she saw it, Clara realized it was Hyro’s handwriting.

With feelings of both delight and surprise, Clara wrote a reply beneath it.

-Lord Hyro? Have you awoken?

-As expected of you, your eyes are sharp. But my condition isn’t very good. I think I’ll need to rest for about three more days.

-Then for now….

-I used a bit of technique because there is something you need to do.

Clara’s eyes shone.

It was because she had a feeling Hyro definitely knew the truth.

-If you’ve investigated this far, you must have noticed at least some of it. The appearance of the undead legion and Leopold’s disappearance. Those two events are connected. I also suspect that that Necromancer eliminated Leopold.

Clara was glad that Hyro was thinking exactly the same thing as she was.

So she smiled brightly and wrote back.

-As expected. So the Deputy Towermaster thought the same. If that’s the truth, we need to inform everyone. Did you happen to find any evidence?

The appearance of a Necromancer or the death of a Towermaster was no ordinary matter.

So if they mentioned it without clear evidence, they would certainly be punished severely.

Hyro must have thought the same, because a reply was written immediately.

-Unfortunately, I haven’t secured any evidence.

-That’s a bit disappointing.

-Still, both facts will be uncovered little by little. First, we need to deal with the most urgent matter.

-The most urgent matter?

Clara’s eyes went round as she stared intently at the notebook, and soon Hyro’s handwriting slowly appeared.

-Graneum Castle has fallen into enemy hands.

-Huh?

Clara blinked.

Graneum Castle had already fallen.

For her, who clearly remembered that the Margrave of Valbern’s letter had arrived just yesterday, it was truly unbelievable news.

-I saw its end. We were struck because we stayed there for too long.

-Then what should I do?

-Go to the Imperial Palace immediately and inform them of this. And….

After a brief pause, Hyro soon wrote again.

-Also tell them that the enemy’s identity is a Necromancer. You must tell them that a simple army alone is not enough to fight these people.

-Will they… listen to me?

Clara’s worry was reasonable.

In the Imperial Palace, her role was in fact only that of a reporter.

Making judgments was not something her assigned position allowed.

Clara waited quietly, and soon Hyro’s handwriting appeared in the notebook.

-Tell them that I will personally request an audience in three days. And if you find the Towermaster, tell them I presume he has been eliminated.

-Me?

-Say that I presume it.

Clara nodded.

As if he had seen her reaction, Hyro’s writing no longer appeared.

Clara closed the notebook and stood up.

Then she headed to the Imperial Palace.

Clara completed her report exactly as Hyro had instructed.

She had feared a barrage of questions from the Emperor, but fortunately he asked her nothing.

He only asked about Hyro’s condition.

“He is in good health. If he rests for about three days, he will fully recover.”

Clara’s role ended there.

After that, the Imperial Palace was thrown into chaos.

Since the Emperor had also been secretly searching for Leopold, Hyro’s message that he thought Leopold had been eliminated was accepted without much difficulty.

From that day on, the Emperor could not sleep well at night.

The appearance of the Necromancer and Leopold’s death.

These two pieces of news meant that the Empire’s very existence was in jeopardy.

In the end, the Emperor summoned the ministers and continued holding meetings every day, and thus three days passed.