[V10C27] Shattered Jade

The Starseer Witch, Mary Harvey, was reviewing her celestial observation records in the Jade Chamber, a room only accessible to the Seven Sages and the king.

She would normally perform such work in her office directly beneath this room. However, Mary’s office was currently being used for Carla’s repose.

The Jade Chamber had pillars of jade in each corner to amplify the power of its protective barrier. Currently, Mary was utilizing these pillars to strengthen the barrier she had set up in her room directly below.

The royal palace of Ridill was the most heavily guarded place in the country. Not only was there a significant number of guards, but the palace itself was covered by defensive enchantments.

Not to mention how the Jade Chamber had these pillars for additional protection. It was no understatement to say that the Jade Chamber was the safest room in the entire country.

(However, just sitting back and reinforcing our defenses won’t solve anything. Carla-chan’s condition is worsening day by day, so we must capture Theodore Maxwell as soon as possible…)

Thus, Mary had been conducting stargazing sessions day after day.

But unfortunately, the lively capital city was well-lit even during the night, making it a less than ideal location for stargazing.

Therefore, Mary had enlisted the help of multiple observatories throughout the country, gathering their observational results and cross-referencing the data.

(I can’t discern the star indicating Theodore Maxwell’s fate… but I can vaguely make out the fate brought by Gluttonous Zoe…)

By comparing the observational results, Mary noticed that the ominous star indicating loss was gradually spreading its influence across the country.

In other words, this loss would eventually become a calamity involving the entire nation.

Before that happened, Mary wanted to identify the specific locations and individuals involved.

Of special interest was the ominous sign flashing across the Seven Sages as a whole.

The nationwide omen and the omen of the Seven Sages. Upon alternating between the two, Mary realized something.

“This is…”

The two sets of observational results overlapped perfectly. And once she noticed this overlap, the flow of destiny became visible.

Mary discovered the location and person most likely to be connected to the star of loss, as well as…

“A dragon…? There, of all places…?”

As she furrowed her brow, a scream echoed from the floor below. It came from one of the Roseberg witches.

Mary’s heart wavered. This was an emergency——precisely why she couldn’t leave this room.

(I need to prioritize maintaining the barrier above all else.)

The frustrated Mary bit her lip and hastily scribbled the observational results onto a piece of paper in preparation for the worst-case scenario.

＊　＊　＊

“Ugh, Grandmother, why do I have to work with you even in the palace… I want to see Frieda.”

“Hee-hee-hee, your reluctant face is delightful to me. I just love seeing youngsters in distress, you know.”

While crafting curse tools in his office, the teary-eyed Ray continued muttering about how he wanted to see Frieda.

Sitting across the table was a plump, elderly woman with purple hair——Ray’s grandmother, the Second Abyss Shaman, Adeline Albright.

For some time now, Ray had been cooped up in the palace, spending his days with his grandmother in this office. Such were the orders of the Starseer Witch, Mary Harvey.

(Even if there were ominous omens for the Seven Sages, does it warrant going this far?)

The Starseer Witch, the Artillery Mage, the Barrier Mage, his own grandmother, and the witches of the Roseberg family were doing something in secret. Ray had noticed them conspiring on multiple occasions.

Since they had yet to tell him and the remaining Sages, it was clearly a big deal.

“…Grandmother, what the heck are you old folks scheming? It’s about time you told us.”

Ray scowled at his grandmother, who stopped moving her quill and glared back at Ray with her pink eyes.

“…Wait for the return of the Silent Witch and the Dragon Slayer Mage. Mary is currently handling the information disclosure procedures.”

The mention of disclosure procedures only emphasized how serious this matter was. This was a national crisis, and one that could potentially bring the entire Kingdom of Ridill to its knees.

Ray gulped and muttered under his breath.

“Then at least tell us this much. What is the Starseer Witch hiding in her…”

At that moment, a scream could be heard. The scream of an old woman——one of the witches from House Roseberg?

Adeline clicked her tongue and stood up.

“Mary should be in the Jade Chamber… Where are the other Sages right now!?”

“T-Those old guys are in a meeting with the Noble Council in the main building’s conference room… Raul is probably somewhere in the garden.”

Additionally, the former Sages were in a separate branch, participating in various meetings and salons.

Deepening the wrinkles on her face, Adeline scowled and rushed into the corridor. The bewildered Ray followed suit.

This floor housed the offices of the Seven Sages. All of their doors were closed, aside from the office of the Starseer Witch.

Two old women lay collapsed in the corridor. Both witches from House Roseberg.

Neither of the old women moved a muscle. They didn’t seem to be bleeding, but black marks resembling bruises were visible on the exposed skin of their faces, necks, and hands.

“Ray, we’re buying time until the fighters get here,” Adeline mumbled, readying her staff.

Meanwhile, the confused Ray only shouted, “W-What the hell is going on!?”

“I’ll be honest, this was completely unexpected. We’ve been blindsided, too focused on external threats. To think we would receive an attack from within.”

Like the slow flow of muddy water, a black liquid-like substance poured out of the room. It resembled the mass of shadows that manifested when Ray invoked his curses.

Following that liquid, a woman emerged from the room. She had reddish-brown hair and was wearing nightclothes. Ray knew her face and name.

“…Starspear Witch Carla Maxwell?”

Like the witches of House Roseberg, Carla also had black marks on her skin.

This dark mass of shadows was spilling out from those marks.

Carla stared at Adeline and Ray with vacant eyes. Her mouth mumbled something——an incantation.

Upon hearing that incantation, Adeline gasped in realization.

“Oh, damn it all!”

Cursing, Adeline began an incantation of her own. A purple curse mark appeared at the tip of her staff, flying towards Carla. This was a curse for sealing the target’s movements.

However, her curse mark was engulfed by the swelling shadows before it could even reach Carla.

Not only that, but the shadows then started distorting in the air like kneaded clay, transforming into cone-shaped thorns. About a dozen of them. They rained down on Ray and Adeline like a downpour.

(What the hell is going on!?)

As Ray stood stupefied before the rain of thorns, someone forcefully pulled on his arm.

“Ray! Adeline-sama!”

Ray and Adeline were dragged backward into the corridor, both falling on their backsides.

And while on the floor, Ray witnessed it. His fiancé had shielded him, and was pierced through the shoulder.

“F-Frieda…!”

Frieda’s left shoulder had been impaled by several black thorns.

Those shadowy thorns eventually receded, and there was no bleeding. However, the area around her left shoulder was saturated with a sticky black substance, as if covered in black ink.

And that stain gradually spread, dyeing Frieda’s arm and neck in black like a spreading pool of blood.

Frieda frowned and picked up Adeline’s fallen staff, readying herself.

Having fallen to the floor like Ray, the trembling Adeline stared at Frieda.

“Frieda, why did you…”

“Your fangs are for protecting your family——the teachings of my grandfather.”

Frieda skillfully parried the rain of black thorns using Adeline’s staff.

However, her movements were noticeably awkward, especially on her left arm, which was hardly moving.

Meanwhile, the black stain continued to spread from her left shoulder. Once the stain reached her chest, Frieda exhaled painfully and fell to her knees.

Presumably, the stain had reached her heart. Still, Frieda refused to stop.

The woman inheriting the blood of the War Wolf swung the staff as she howled.

“A woman of Valmbelk doesn’t hesitate to take up arms to protect her family!”

＊　＊　＊

The sight of Frieda wielding her staff left Adeline Albright speechless.

(Ah… she truly is the granddaughter of that man…)

For the granddaughter of a man she once fought on the battlefield to mention Adeline as family——how ironic!

What’s more, Frieda was swinging her staff with the same eyes that her grandfather displayed on the battlefield.

The man who had taken up the blade to protect his homeland and family, charging in on the frontlines. The fierce War Wolf of Valmbelk who had once captivated the young Adeline!

——I’ll cast a nasty curse on you, War Wolf of Valmbelk! No matter how many women you embrace in the future, you’ll always remember me first!

(And that kiss I gave him while saying that——I’ve never seen someone look so genuinely disgusted!)

Adeline chuckled to herself, then removed her earrings.

There were once three witches who sealed the ancient artifact known as Gluttonous Zoe: the Third Thorn Witch, the Second Abyss Shaman, and the Starseer Witch.

And now, the Third Thorn Witch had passed away. The remaining two were Adeline and Mary.

That was why they made sure to stay in what was supposed to be the safest area in the country, the Jade Chamber. But this turned out to be a grave miscalculation.

Adeline was practically cornered, and Carla’s power was more than enough to breach the Jade Chamber.

In the current situation, Adeline’s top priority was to stop Carla’s incantation or ensure her own safety.

(Frieda has been tainted by the shadows. She’s beyond saving.)

In which case, her role as the Second Abyss Shaman was to abandon Frieda and run.

Even so, Adeline Albright chose to cast aside her mission and stay in this place, standing next to Frieda Blanquet, the granddaughter of the man she had once loved and cursed.

“Ray, take this and run,” Adeline said, throwing her two earrings at Ray.

The earrings were made of exquisite goldwork with deep purple crystals at its center. Contained inside those purple crystals were preparations for if the seal on Gluttonous Zoe was ever broken.

“W-Wait, Grandmother! I’ll help Frieda too…!” Ray shouted.

The determined Adeline stood next to Frieda, who continued fighting bravely despite her injury.

Ray glanced alternately at the two and began pleading with teary eyes, but Adeline told him off.

“There’s nothing for you to do right now. Your job comes after.”

——There was no stopping Carla’s incantation anymore. The only thing left they could do was minimize the damage.

“Third Abyss Shaman Ray Albright. It’s time for your generation to seal Gluttonous Zoe,” Adeline continued.

A radiant spear appeared in front of Carla, long enough to reach between the ceiling and floor.

This was the Starspear, the light-aspected spell that had become the namesake of the Starspear Witch, Carla Maxwell.

In an empty voice, Carla uttered the last verse of the spell.

“Pierce through, Starspear.”

Her target was the room directly above, the Jade Chamber.

While the Jade Chamber had a sophisticated and multi-layered defense barrier, the Starspear could easily pierce through all of it… along with Mary inside.

This would devastate an entire branch of the palace, resulting in massive casualties.

“Emerge from the abyss, and curse all miracles into distortion!”

The curse marks engraved all over Adeline’s body crawled out from the gaps in her clothes and floated in the air.

This was a technique for activating all of the curses carved onto her body——an uncontrollable curse overload. Since curses possessed properties similar to dark magic, they could counteract the light-aspected Starspear to some extent.

The shining white Starspear was entangled by the purple curse marks. Dazzling white clashed against the deep abyssal purple, creating an explosion.

“Grandmother, that’s…! No, Grandmother…! Frieda!”

The curse overload was a sacrificial technique that a shaman could use only once in their lifetime. The First Abyss Shaman was said to have unleashed the curses across his entire body too, resulting in himself succumbing to the curses and perishing.

With Ray’s cry of despair as the background, Adeline shouted in a hoarse voice.

“I, Adeline Albright, the Second Abyss Shaman, command you. Let the lamentation of all creation resound here!”

＊　＊　＊

The Barrier Mage, Louis Miller, noticed the commotion and flew to the scene right as the Jade Chamber was covered in an explosion of white light.

He recognized the source of this light.

(This is Carla’s Starspear…!)

Which meant only one thing. Louis quickly understood that the situation had taken a turn for the worst. They had vastly underestimated the power of Theodore Maxwell and Gluttonous Zoe.

The explosion sent debris flying everywhere. Louis began the incantation for a defensive barrier, but before he could finish, a mass of water intercepted the rubble and suspended it in midair.

Louis turned to see the Aquamancy Mage, a former Sage, heading to the scene via flight magic from a different branch of the palace.

The Aquamancy Mage was Louis’s father-in-law, and as his alias suggested, he was unparalleled when it came to the precise manipulation of water magic.

Louis decided to leave the handling of debris to him, then landed in what used to be the fourth floor of the building.

The walls and ceilings of the hallway had disappeared, and the jade fragments strewn across the floor were the remnants of the jade pillars maintaining the barrier around the Jade Chamber. These were magical tools of the highest caliber, imbued with the mana of past Sages. Louis shuddered at the immense power of the Starspear, which had destroyed them so utterly.

In addition, Raul’s vines could be seen crawling among the jade fragments.

“Ray… Ray, I’m so sorry… If only I hadn’t brought Frieda…” Raul sobbed.

Raul was the only person standing in the hallway. In front of him was the crouched Ray, who was sobbing while clinging to the collapsed Adeline and Frieda.

Louis suppressed all of his emotions and spoke in a brutally calm manner.

“Thorn Witch-dono, report on the situation.”

Raul lowered his bangs and covered his teary eyes with a hand before speaking.

“The Starspear Witch was manipulated by some sort of black shadow, and invoked the Starspear. Adeline-sama tried to neutralize it with a curse overload… but it wasn’t enough to completely nullify the explosion.”

Apparently, Raul had arrived after the Starspear was already cast. He hurriedly called upon his vines to hold it down, but even his quickly regenerating plants did little aside from weakening the Starspear ever so slightly.

Louis turned to observe Adeline and Frieda, who were lying on the floor. Both of them were covered in black splotches, the same symptoms as Carla when she was discovered.

Two witches from House Roseberg were also collapsed a little distance away, with similar-looking black splotches.

Swallowing his internal fury, Louis calmly contemplated the simulation.

There were currently four confirmed victims. All of them were comatose and their entire bodies were covered in black spots. Since they exhibited the same symptoms as Carla, was it possible that they, too, could be manipulated by the enemy?

“I will cast a restraining barrier to block magical interference for all victims. Abyss Shaman-dono, please step back to avoid being caught in the spell. Thorn Witch-dono, use your vines to search for other victims.”

The cold words from Louis prompted Ray to raise his tear-stained face, looking at Louis as though he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Why…? Restraining barriers are meant for criminals… Why would you do that to Grandmother and Frieda…?”

“Because there is a possibility that they may be manipulated like Carla was. Use your damn head.”

After letting out a portion of his anger towards the end, Louis cast a restraining barrier on each victim. Transparent membranes enveloped the bodies of all four, and they were wrapped in a golden chain-like pattern.

Ray simply watched this scene in a daze. There was nothing a shaman like him could do in this situation either way.

Ignoring Ray, Louis asked Raul another question.

“Where did the Starspear Witch go?”

“Sorry, I didn’t see. She probably used flight magic to escape in the confusion of the explosion… Ah!”

Raul raised his head and rushed towards the nearby pile of rubble.

“We have a survivor!” Raul shouted, sliding his vines through the small gaps in the pile.

After surrounding the survivor with vines to ensure their safety, Raul let out a grunt and used his vines to push away the debris.

Silver hair and a glimpse of Sage robes emerged from beneath the rubble.

“Mary-san!! Thank goodness… You’re alive…” Raul muttered.

That said, Mary was completely still and covered in black spots, so she had met the same fate as the other victims. Nevertheless, simply being intact after receiving a direct hit from the Starspear was nothing short of a miracle.

It seemed that the desperate efforts of Raul and the Second Abyss Shaman had not ended in vain.

“Huh? Mary-san… There’s something in her hand? A note?”

As Raul mentioned, Mary was clutching a crumpled piece of paper in her right hand. Louis apologized with a brief “excuse me”, taking the note and carefully unfolding it.

“This is…!”

The piece of paper contained her prophecy, in the form of two hastily written lines.

——Sazandol, Silent Witch, Black Dragon

——The worst dragon disaster in history

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