Banreung Expedition (5)

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁠⁠⁠⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁣⁣⁠⁣⁠⁠⁣⁠—Thud!

“Prrrrrrr!”

As the hippogriff roared and swung its forelegs, the dwarves were sent flying.

The blunderbuss soldiers, the gunners the dwarves boasted of, who had confidently declared that they could catch something like a hippogriff as much as they wanted, rolled across the ground without putting up much resistance.

“I-impossible! Why is this?”

The panicked blunderbuss soldier raised his gun and aimed at the hippogriff.

—Click!

The flintlock steel wheel spun, but it only slipped, and no sparks flew. Something reddish was stuck to the flintlock wheel, interfering with the ignition of the flint.

“Wh-what is this?!”

“Mercurial Blood. It is cinnabar blood magic!”

Mercurial Blood was blood magic developed at Banreung Academy, a spell that used cinnabar as a catalyst to emit mercury vapor that prevented ignition.

The mercury vapor produced this way clung to metal firearms and caused the parts to deform, and it was especially fatal to flintlock equipment.

The blood mage in Azadine’s group had cast that Mercurial Blood, made the blunderbuss soldiers’ firearms unusable, and launched the attack.

The dwarves hurriedly tried to fight with the bayonets attached to their blunderbusses, but….

—Slash!

The sword Niselda swung sent the dwarves’ heads flying. As a half-vampire who was not harmed within Mercurial Blood, she and the undead dealt with the dwarves.

As the dwarves had predicted, Bernard, who had studied at Banreung Academy, knew the dwarves’ specialties and tactics, as well as their weaknesses, very well.

The dwarves tried to face her with bayonets, but Niselda and Scott’s undead, along with the blood-magic spiders Bernard used, merely massacred the dwarves.

Azadine also did not enter the Mercurial Blood. He attacked the dwarves with arrows and finished them off.

The dwarves were easily annihilated without putting up much resistance.

“Hmm. Mercurial Blood. It is useful, but will the damage not spread to the surroundings?”

Azadine frowned as he looked at the mist containing mercury poison.

“It is all right. We did not use much cinnabar. Usually, it is a spell that cannot be used because it costs too much money. Fortunately, our specialty product is cinnabar.”

Bernard, who had cast this spell, said that as though it were nothing important.

Azadine fell into thought as he listened to Bernard’s words.

“Cough, cough. Should I not use it next time? If we use Mercurial Blood, we have to kill the enemy soldiers no matter what….”

“No, there is no need to spare it.”

Azadine gestured to Scott. Scott used necromancy to move the dead dwarves and check whether they had letters or orders, or if not, whether they had any other valuables.

After the inspection was finished, the corpses were gathered together well and moved into a crevice between rocks where wild animals would have difficulty eating them, then stones were lifted and used to block the entrance directly so that the corpses would not spoil.

They were leaving them behind for now, but it was so that the corpses could be recovered later and given funerals.

It was laughable to think of the dignity of corpses while using necromancy, but in order to arrange the corpses within Mercurial Blood’s mercury vapor without being poisoned, they had no choice but to use necromancy.

“We go to the next area.”

Azadine sent Arael’s Voice into the sky, looked around, confirmed the dwarves’ positions well enough, and then approached.

Knowing that the dwarves obtained information through ground vibrations, they flew the hippogriffs at low altitude, scattered Mercurial Blood around them, then charged in and annihilated them.

According to the reports of the surviving dwarves and soldiers, the number of dwarf blunderbuss soldiers Chashan’s group had brought to this area was about one hundred.

If that many troops were gathered in one place, it was a tremendous number capable of influencing even a large territory. However, Azadine effectively defeated them in detail.

The only damage so far was Niselda being hit a little by blunderbuss fire, but that wound was lightly healed when Niselda drank blood.

Considering the reputation of dwarf sorcerers known in the world, this was absurd.

“Hmm.”

Zebec, who had entered Azadine’s military command and was participating in battle for the first time, was admiring the extraordinary combat ability of Azadine’s subordinates, Niselda of the Chadra Five Ogres in particular.

The Banreung Kingdom had become a united kingdom of the dwarf dynasty and the Yaegas Divine Gods of the Eight Kingdoms because the dwarves’ abilities were so extraordinary.

Even in the past, when the Nagas had ruled this land, and even when the Yaegas God tribe had ruled, the dwarves had always taken their share.

To think they were dealing so easily with troops armed with the cutting-edge weapons made by those dwarves. The force Azadine had built up had high morale and excellent skill.

Even if some catastrophe came, perhaps Azadine could manage it. It was when he thought that.

“Come to think of it, it is about time for the villagers to light the fires.”

Azadine had demanded that the villagers of the village he had subjugated light bonfires and produce smoke so that they could not do anything else.

The time when they had to light those bonfires and raise smoke was approaching. No, in truth, it had passed a little while ago.

Of course, since no one had a proper clock, they had to allow some leeway before and after… but the deadline was now soon approaching.

“Hm?”

At that moment, smoke rose from the village.

A great amount of red smoke was rising into the sky.

“No, Boss. Did you scare them too much? What on earth are those people burning for smoke of that color to come out?”

Normally, white smoke or black smoke was usual, but the smoke rising now was mixed with red, black, and even green flames.

And the smoke took the form of a demon, writhed in the sky, and exploded.

“…Boss?”

It was not only this village. Smoke also rose from another village to the north. Smoke mixed with the same blackish-red and green colors rose one after another along this Chadra-Banreung Ridge.

“Sir Azadine.”

“…Change of objective.”

Azadine had tried to capture Chashan as quickly as possible, but now that something like this had happened, he had no choice but to change his objective.

“We have to go to the nearest village and find out what happened.”

Azadine said that and turned his mount around.

By the time they reached the nearest village, the sun was setting. Azadine got down from his hippogriff and looked around.

The survivors remaining in various parts of the village were stunned as they put out the fires that had spread to the houses.

“Y-you are?”

“We did nothing wrong.”

They knew Azadine was the warlord from the Chadra Plateau who had come to fight Chashan, so they surrendered first.

Azadine stopped them as he watched people whose eyebrows had been burned off while putting out the fire bow down in order to survive.

“Enough. I did not come to oppress you.”

“…….”

Azadine gave a bitter smile as he watched the villagers distrust him.

Of course, anyone would say that. Dwarven Arrow had also said they were liberators who would free them from poverty while forcing the villagers to cultivate narcotic crops.

“What happened?”

“A person suddenly caught fire.”

“Caught fire?”

“Over there….”

Azadine looked at the place they pointed to. There were human remains inside the building, and the entire body had been petrified.

“…….”

It was Elemental Wailing.

A powerful storm of magical energy had burst out around the person whose Elemental Wailing had rapidly manifested, burning everything it touched.

But until now, Elemental Wailing had been a disease where part of the body turned into magic stone and caused suffering, so why had these people’s entire bodies and spirits suddenly transformed into magic stone in an instant like this?

—Crack.

“Hm?”

Azadine heard the sound of a magic-stone corpse moving inside the flames. Stones began to sprout from the body of the Elemental Wailing victim.

And those stones began to crack. The victim was moving.

“…Were they alive?”

Azadine was flustered as he watched humans who had suddenly developed Elemental Wailing on the farm and turned to stone move inside the burned house.

[Aaaah….]

They opened their mouths and screamed. Not only the corpse Azadine was watching, but all the corpses screamed at once.

And a hot wind rose from them.

“Get away, Sir Azadine!”

“Ugh!”

Azadine immediately used the technique of Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon and escaped that place.

The Elemental Wailing patients began exploding all at once. One person transformed into a massive pile of magic stone, and the volume swelled to over a hundred times larger.

One person became a giant stone pillar, their volume expanding and smashing everything around them.

Originally, Elemental Wailing patients suffered continuously as part of their body turned into magic stone and then died.

The magic stone that emerged that way ultimately amounted to far more than the body of a single human…. But this time, it seemed as though all that magic stone had been poured out in one burst.

“What in the world is happening?”

Azadine looked in the direction where the magic-stone pillars had exploded. The swollen magic stones had all grown in one direction.

Seeing them grow toward the northeast like thornbushes, it seemed as though they were pointing somewhere.

“But with this, well.”

Just because a single arrow was drawn on a road did not mean one could fully find the path. Signposts had to continue for the path to be known, and… if Elemental Wailing patients increased enough to become signposts, that would mean the destruction of humanity.

“The magic stones….”

“What will you do, Boss?”

Bernard asked Azadine. Since people had turned into magic stones, if they harvested those magic stones, they would be useful in many ways.

Even simply selling them would likely bring in considerable income. However, Azadine shook his head.

“This does not seem like the time to be greedy for magic stones. Elemental Wailing may not be exploding only here. If that happens….”

The price of magic stones would collapse.

But that sounded like a remark converting human lives into money, so Azadine trailed off.

“First, hold funerals for them.”

“Yes? F-funerals?”

“Yes. Console the spirits of the dead and pray that they rest under the guidance of the Three Great Archangels… It is all right. If the Rescue Knights Order’s funeral is performed in abbreviated form, it does not take that long.”

Azadine held abbreviated funerals for the dead and left.

“A person who uses necromancy while holding funerals. Our boss truly is impossible to figure out.”

Bernard found it strange as he watched Azadine, as a holy knight, hold funerals for the dead.

Because of that, some time was wasted, and now the sun was setting.