[V12C33] Blooming Roses

The gate unleashed a flood of darkness upon the world. The sight was like a geyser of blackened water spurting from the ground.

The cloud of darkness spread in all directions, ignoring the wind and blocking out the sun. The early morning harbor was dyed in the colors of night.

Cyril was overcome by a powerful nausea. As someone who once suffered from mana hyperabsorption, this was a familiar sensation: the early symptoms of mana poisoning.

Not even his contract for transferring mana to Thule was enough to stop the dizziness.

There was a short delay between his body absorbing the mana, and the contract sending the mana to Thule. The mana was simply so dense that the brief period gave him light mana poisoning. Cyril would have collapsed within seconds if not for the contract.

Cyril examined his companions. Thule and Pikeh seemed fine, being magical creatures, but Glenn was resisting the urge to throw up. The unconscious Monica also looked paler than usual.

Inhaling the dense mana was corroding their bodies from the inside out. Cyril could tell that they would succumb to mana poisoning sooner or later.

He knelt on the ground and drew a magical formula in the air with Sophocles, while holding onto Monica with his left hand. This created a defensive barrier covering all five of them.

Next, Cyril looked in Isaac’s direction. Silas had apparently erected a hemispherical barrier to protect himself and Isaac… But something seemed off.

The keen-eyed Glenn quickly pointed out the reason.

“Dragon Slayer Mage-san! His right arm is turning black! Did he get hit by one of the shadows…!?”

“How can this be…!”

They had successfully sealed Gluttonous Zoe, and the artifact was safely in Glenn’s hands.

But somehow, Theodore was effortlessly manipulating shadows on his own. Not only that, he had successfully summoned the Spirit King of Darkness.

This resulted in a dense mana polluting the land, and at a faster rate than Cyril’s estimates.

At this rate, it would contaminate the entirety of Sazandol, resulting in countless casualties from mana poisoning.

Even worse, this mana would flow to other regions through the underground leylines… The largest dragon disaster in history was about to be unleashed upon the world.

(We need to close that gate. But how…?)

The ice spell from earlier was only effective because Theodore tried to hole up inside the shadow cage. Now that he could simply escape outside the pillars, the same trick would not work again.

Cyril panicked as the darkness grew thicker with every passing second.

At this point, Isaac and Silas, as well as the surrounding scenery, had all been obscured from view.

With the sunlight blocked, the only source of light was the dimly glowing ring on Cyril’s finger. He could barely even make out Monica, who he held in his arms.

This reminded Cyril of a story he read in his childhood, about a man who fell into the underworld.

It described how the world of darkness made him keenly aware of the presence of death. Those who let go of their consciousness would never wake again.

Darkness instilled the fear of death in the hearts of all living beings. Once he was plunged into the blackest night, the despair swallowed him whole.

Cyril clenched his right hand and dispelled this fear.

He could feel the warmth of Monica in his arms. The warmth of a living human being.

(I won’t let them die…!)

Cyril had sworn to protect Monica. He had come here to help Isaac.

“Glenn Dudley, throw a fireball near the gate for illumination! Make the power low, and the duration long.”

“Got it!”

Glenn chanted and invoked the spell. Rather than exploding, his fireball stopped in mid-air and illuminated the gate on the ground in a faint light.

“Pikeh, help me block it with an ice wall!”

“Okay.”

Cyril performed a rapid chant, putting as much mana as possible into his spell.

“Freeze!”

The ice wall created by Cyril and Pikeh managed to cover the entire gate.

But soon enough, the outpour of darkness melted through the ice as like scalding hot water. The sturdiest wall they could make had crumbled away in a matter of seconds.

Even so, Cyril refused to stop chanting. He worked with Pikeh to block the gate with additional ice walls, taking turns to cover up the other’s holes.

(I’m the weakest one here. I lack both experience and power.)

Cyril knew he needed to buy time for the others to find a breakthrough. At the very least, he had to hold the line until Monica woke up.

The constant incantations left him gasping for breath, and the intense mana consumption made him dizzy.

Suddenly, Cyril noticed something falling at the corner of his vision.

(White flower petals…?)

Why would there be flower petals here? Was this a fatigue-induced hallucination? …However, his doubts were quickly erased by the appearance of rose vines crawling along the ground, with blooming white flowers.

Once those vines spread across the harbor, the surrounding darkness grew a bit thinner. Meanwhile, the white roses turned black and wilted. They were absorbing the dark mana from the air.

There was only one person in Ridill who could create roses that absorbed mana.

Cyril watched in astonishment as the white roses were dyed a vibrant crimson.

＊　＊　＊

The Fourth Thorn Witch employed her magic to clear the gate of debris, but that did not mean the gate was back to normal. The combination of stranded merchants trying to enter and fleeing townspeople had resulted in a traffic jam.

In the midst of this crowd, a certain man dismounted his horse and glanced towards the harbor with a frown.

There was a black smoke-like substance billowing into the sky from that direction. He recognized it as highly concentrated dark mana.

“Was I too late…? No, I can still make it.”

The man took some seeds from his pocket and poured them onto the ground. Then, he plunged his rarely used staff into the earth and began an incantation.

All the seeds sprouted into rose vines simultaneously, extending past the gate and crawling through the streets of Sazandol.

Everyone who saw these vines screamed and ran for their lives.

…To them, the grotesque roses were a far more concrete threat than mysterious darkness.

This was only natural. Any citizen of Ridill had heard the story at least once in their childhood. About the wicked Thorn Witch and her Man-Eating Rose Fortress.

This man was clearly Raul Roseberg, the Fifth Thorn Witch, as indicated by his Sage robes and staff. He put on a wry smile at the reactions of the crowd.

(Yeah, I know. I’m scary.)

The Rose Fortress was a weapon of mass destruction. One that could easily trample them down with overwhelming might.

That’s why all the stories described it as “man-eating”.

(But that’s okay. I’ve made some friends who aren’t scared. They accept me.)

Raul lifted the corners of his mouth into a confident grin, backed by the enchanting beauty he inherited from his ancestors.

“So I don’t need to rely on the First anymore… I’ll accept myself too!”

Raul could sense that his roses were withering upon reaching the epicenter of the dark mana. They had succumbed to the very mana they absorbed.

Dark mana contained the power of death, so it was only natural that absorbing too much would kill them.

(…I won’t let my friends die.)

Raul poured in his vast reserves of mana, said to be the highest in the country, to empower the roses.

His roses were still dying one after another, but Raul sent more and more to replace them.

“If you need mana to resist, I’ll give you mine.”

A portion of the Rose Fortress started flailing, trying to escape Raul’s control. The ferocious man-eating roses clamored for not only mana, but also flesh and blood.

Leaving one hand on the staff, Raul grabbed the closest vine with his other hand.

“If you want blood, I’ll give you mine.”

He let the thorns pierce into his palm and absorb his dripping blood. A few of the white roses changed color into a brilliant red.

Eventually, the vines powered by Raul’s blood and mana devoured the darkness covering Sazandol, allowing the sunlight back in.

The Fifth Thorn Witch puffed out his chest and raised his staff in triumph.

“Bloom in glory! This Rose Fortress is mine and mine alone! “

＊　＊　＊

Cyril watched as the white roses turned black and red, then scattered to the winds.

The darkness enveloping them faded away, and sunlight illuminated the harbor again.

It was as if Raul’s roses had summoned the sun.

“Uh… Does this mean we prevented mana contamination?” Glenn asked, optimistic.

However, Cyril could only shake his head.

Raul’s Rose Fortress was absorbing a good portion of the dark mana, but there was simply far too much of it.

It was impossible to prevent mana leakage, especially since a portion had flowed into the sea, where the Rose Fortress could not reach.

“There are a few areas in Sazandol’s waters that are connected to the leylines,” Cyril explained. “The mana contamination will spread to other regions from there.”

“S-So we failed to stop the large-scale dragon disaster then…?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

Cyril and Raul had anticipated the worst-case scenario, where Theodore successfully summoned the Spirit King of Darkness.

Thus, they formed a contingency plan which mobilized a number of Ridill’s forces, including the Sages remaining in the capital.

“In fact, Raul’s efforts should limit the number of affected regions.”

Cyril recalled the map in his memory.

He made sure to memorize which regions would be affected by the spread of mana contamination.

“By now… the other Sages should have already arrived at their posts.”

＊　＊　＊

A large warship of the Ridill Navy was anchored in the waters to the north of Sazandol.

In contrast to the busy crew, two staff-holding mages were casually chatting on the deck.

“You know, Serendia Academy is currently on an extended vacation. I was supposed to be relaxing at home right now.”

“I’m aware.”

“But I couldn’t refuse Rutherford-kun’s request. Oh right, have you seen Rutherford-kun nowadays? He got so small. I was completely stunned.”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

The first mage was a short old man with bushy white eyebrows that practically covered his eyes. He was William McRegan, the instructor of the Basic Magecraft course at Serendia Academy, also known as the Waterbite Mage.

The taciturn man next to him had well-combed ash-brown hair speckled with white. He was Bertrand Verde, a former member of the Seven Sages known as the Aquamancy Mage.

Both were famous as Ridill’s foremost practitioners in the field of water magic.

“The other day, I saw the shrunken Rutherford-kun riding the shoulders of his disciple, Louis-kun. My first thought was ‘They’re getting along now?’ but it turns out he was just strangling Louis-kun with his feet.”

“…”

“Oh right, Louis-kun is your daughter’s husba—”

“Waterbite Mage-dono. I believe it’s time for us to perform our jobs.”

The sea sparkled beautifully under the morning sun. However, use of detection magic revealed that this region was contaminated with mana.

“I’ve confirmed a rise in mana concentration,” Bertrand said, raising his staff. “I’ll begin the purification procedures now.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of the water dragons then. Good luck on your end.”

The two mages began their incantations.

First, Bertrand cast a spell to purify the contaminated seawater. At the same time, he used another spell to manipulate the underwater currents, driving all of the water dragons into a single location.

The Aquamancy Mage was famous for preventing a storming river from overflowing, saving countless people from a potential flood. He had no equal when it came to manipulating water currents.

Once all of the water dragons were clumped up, McRegan raised his staff.

“O Queen of Farewells. She who weaves the song of transience. Heed my call, and reveal a glimpse of your power.”

Particles of blue light gathered at the surface of the sea, forming a large gate. The nearby water bubbled up, as if in anticipation for what was about to occur.

“In the name of the Waterbite Mage, William McRegan… Open the gate. Surface from the murmurs of froth, Spirit King of Water, Luluchera.”

The water surrounding the dragons took physical shape, transforming into a dozen or so spheres. Each had the diameter of an adult man’s arm span, and they were split down the middle, revealing watery spikes as sharp as the teeth of a dragon.

“Now bite.”

The spheres opened their spiky mouths and clamped down on the heads of the water dragons, ruthlessly crushing their foreheads.

When it came to water dragons, the Waterbite Mage boasted the highest subjugation count in history. No one else even came close.

The fallen dragons began sinking to the bottom of the sea. Meanwhile, Bertrand manipulated the currents to ensure that their carcasses did not collide with the ship.

McRegan turned towards Bertrand and muttered, “Youngsters sure are thoughtful these days, huh.”

“I doubt I can be called a youngster at this age.”

“Is that so?”

“I do have a granddaughter, after all.”

McRegan stroked his white beard and replied, “Oh? Nice, how about we have a grandchild boasting contest later?”

This caused Bertrand’s tense atmosphere to soften slightly. He returned a slight smile under his mustache.

“Bring it on.”

＊　＊　＊

At the Kerbeck domain in eastern Ridill, a young man entered the study of Count Kerbeck.

This man was Hugo Galletti, an intermediate mage with curly brown hair tied up behind his head. He was the disciple of the Artillery Mage, Bradford Firestone.

After a polite bow, Hugo held up a document in the hand opposite his staff, then began reading it.

“Um, I have a report. We’ve confirmed an increase in mana concentration near the Worgan Mountains of the Kerbeck domain. In addition, there are traces of several lesser dragons.”

Azule Norton, the Count of Kerbeck, had white-streaked black hair and a mustache. He returned a nod while marking the map spread across his desk.

Despite Count Kerbeck’s seemingly gentle disposition, Hugo sensed a strange pressure that resembled his master, the Artillery Mage.

(He’s certainly not as aggressive as my master… but there’s something about him that’s hard to describe. Like his aura, maybe…? Well, I guess he is a high-ranking noble after all.)

Hugo made a conscious effort to hold in his stomach. He knew about his bad habit of slumping backwards in the face of pressure, which would be a bit embarrassing.

“Um, right. My master… erm, I mean Bradford Firestone the Artillery Mage, is on standby right outside of town. Could you please advise the residents to evacuate in a safe and orderly—”

“No problem.”

Hugo was interrupted by a voice from behind him.

He turned around to see an orange-haired young lady entering through the door. She was Count Kerbeck’s daughter, Isabelle Norton.

A well-bred lady like her should have been among the first to evacuate at the sight of dragons, but for some reason, Isabelle’s eyes radiated a powerful determination rather than fear.

“We have already evacuated the residents,” Isabelle continued. “In addition, this mansion and the surrounding facilities have been temporarily opened to shelter them.”

“Huh, already!? Isn’t that a bit too fast…!?”

Huge could not help but let out a gasp of surprise, so Isabelle began explaining with a solemn expression.

“Three years ago, the land of Kerbeck was struck with a disaster: the Black Dragon of Worgan.”

“R-Right, and the Silent Witch defeated it?”

“Indeed. We have since designated that day as ‘Silent Witch Day’, which is set aside to conduct evacuation drills for dragon disasters, as well as express our eternal gratitude to the Silent Witch.”

While it was not uncommon for regional lords to set local holidays, this was the first time Hugo had seen one under the name of a Sage.

Hugo suddenly noticed something. The Black Dragon of Worgan incident occurred in early summer three years ago… and it was currently early summer.

“Um… About that Silent Witch Day… Could it be that it happened relatively recently?”

“That’s right. Our very first Silent Witch Day was just last week! Our evacuation drills turned out to be useful very quickly. Hehe! Once again, we must express our gratitude to Onee-sama… I mean, Silent Witch-sama!”

The history of Kerbeck went hand-in-hand with the land’s countless dragon disasters. Many say that their knowledge of dragon ecology and expertise in anti-dragon combat rivaled the Dragon Knights.

Furthermore, they even engaged in projects to support victims of and those orphaned by dragon disasters. Isabelle, who graduated from Serendia Academy this year, was apparently involved in those projects.

(Oh… I think I understand why this father-daughter pair is so intense…)

They had been fending off dragons since the time of their ancestors, so they possessed far more resolve than the average noble.

Count Kerbeck put on a bold smile and looked out the window with his daughter.

“The dragons that dare to threaten our land shall know the might of Kerbeck! Fuhahaha!”

“Yes, Father! Let us prove that Kerbeck stands firm against any dragon disaster! Ohohohoho!”

But why did they sound like such villains when they laughed? Hugo couldn’t help but wonder.

The strangling incident mentioned by McRegan:

“Master, do you need help reaching that bookshelf? Perhaps I should give you a lift up?” (Louis)

“…Sure. Let me ride your shoulders.” (Rutherford)

“Oh my, what a cute request. Up you go… Mrgh…!! D-Damn you geezer…!” (Louis)

What a heartfelt exchange between master and disciple.

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