[V12C38] Modern Rebellion / In the Deep Dark Seas

Thick rose vines had overrun a majority of Sazandol’s central gate. The frightened citizens of the port town could only flee and watch from a distance.

The man controlling these plants was Raul Roseberg, the Fifth Thorn Witch. His left hand held a staff, but his right clutched the thorny vines, causing him to contort his face in pain.

The Rose Fortress sucked the mana out of others to supply itself, so only the activation of the spell required Raul’s mana. Afterwards, it was fueled by the mana absorbed from enemies. As long as there was prey to devour, the spell could operate almost indefinitely.

But the same did not apply to the dark mana covering Sazandol, which contained the power of death.

Dark mana was like a potent poison that withered all the roses absorbing it. Therefore, Raul needed to use his own mana to regrow and strengthen his roses.

His opponent was an ancient artifact that contained an unfathomable amount of mana. Even if Raul had the highest mana capacity in the country, he was only human. The odds were against him.

Until now, Raul had never been pushed to the brink of mana depletion. This new feeling filled him with anxiety and fear.

There was a cold, yet alluring voice whispering in Raul’s head.

——Just absorb the blood and mana of the humans. They will be the perfect nourishment for your roses.

(No way I’m doing that.)

Back in the time of the First Thorn Witch, the weak had to forfeit everything to those stronger than them. This was simply the norm of the era.

Raul was not going to denounce the people back then, or the actions of the First Thorn Witch.

However, that era was already long gone. Things were different now.

Raul flashed back to the voices of his grandmothers and great-grandmother, constantly telling him to be like the First.

(Sorry Grandma, but I’m a man of the modern era…)

Raul knew someone who always extended a hand to the weak and defeated, as if it was a matter of course. That man did his best to save everyone.

He would not approve of someone being trampled on, and even mourned the fate of the Gluttonous Boy King.

Whenever Raul watched him, he could not help but think, “…I want to be like that too.*”

(Rather than copying the First Thorn Witch, I want to do my best in my own way.)

Raul stabbed his staff into the ground to support his swaying body, standing firm with both feet.

His head was spinning, and his vision had grown blurry. Was this because of mana depletion, or maybe the blood loss? The roses were sucking him dry of both.

But it wasn’t enough. The man-eating roses were screaming at him for more.

Raul clutched his teeth and grunted.

“Listen up, Rose Fortress…”

The emerald eyes beneath his bangs stared daggers at the vines.

The Fifth Thorn Witch ordered his man-eating roses with a cold and emotionless expression, not unlike the First.

“You will obey me. I am your master.”

The man-eating roses came to an abrupt pause for a split-second, before suddenly undergoing an incredible growth.

The additional vines followed Raul’s command, devouring the darkness spreading throughout the port. The buds bloomed into black roses before ultimately wilting away.

But at the same time, the roses were signaling danger to their master.

(There’s something crawling on top of my vines…?)

Raul rubbed his blurred eyes and stared directly ahead. He noticed something moving on the surface of his rose vines, crawling towards him.

These were the shadows manipulated by Gluttonous Zoe.

Perhaps Theodore had noticed the threat posed by his Rose Fortress, and sent the shadows along the vines to take them down at the source.

(Crap, I don’t have enough roses for defense…!)

The shadows crawling on the vines extended into the air, transforming into slender spears aimed at Raul.

But those spears never reached him. They were caught in midair by a clump of vines covered in purple spots.

These ominous-looking vines did not belong to Raul. In fact, they had come from inside the gate.

Raul shifted his vines to the side to see the two figures responsible.

“You’re late, idiot brother!” Melissa shouted.

“…Showing up at the last possible moment?” Ray muttered. “You’re trying to steal all the glory, aren’t you? What a devious little…”

Raul exclaimed, “Sis, Ray!” with the light returned to his eyes.

Melissa and Ray both seemed to have exhausted a fair amount of mana, but they still looked energetic.

Especially Melissa, as she was kicking a man collapsed on the ground, entangled in her vines.

“Sis, you really shouldn’t be bullying civilians like that.”

“He’s a mage under Gluttonous Zoe’s control, not a civilian. Either way, this is just desserts for daring to oppose me.”

Kicking him while he was down seemed a bit rough, but Raul found himself stumbling before he could say that out loud.

He was reaching the limits of his mana.

“Sis, do you have candy for mana recovery?”

“Why didn’t you bring any yourself? Are you stupid?”

Actually, Raul had made a considerable amount of the mana-restoring candies, but he ended up giving all of them to Louis, Rutherford, and the other mages in the capital.

The spells for shadow removal and raising people out of their comas were very advanced. Only a few mages could cast them, and they consumed a significant amount of mana. Thus, Raul had prioritized the mana recovery of those mages over himself.

“I never thought I’d run out of mana,” Raul replied.

“Hah, good thing you’ve gained such a valuable experience then.”

Despite Melissa’s sarcastic remark, she also threw a piece of candy at Raul, who promptly caught it with his mouth and crushed it with his molars.

The rose syrup contained inside the candy filled his mouth, and a warmth enveloped his entire body. His mana had started recovering.

(As usual, the candy she makes is way better than mine. I can tell the difference right away.)

Raul possessed far more mana than Melissa, but Melissa was more skilled in imbuement magic, especially when it came to potions. As a result, her candies provided quicker recovery.

(Now I can keep fighting.)

Raul tightened the grip on his staff.

The mana contamination was spreading. In other words, the summoning gate was likely still open.

“I’ll contain the mana contamination with my Rose Fortress,” Raul said.

“…Then I’ll focus on cursing and devouring Gluttonous Zoe’s shadows,” Ray muttered.

“I’ll keep my roses around here for defense. You better handle the shadows properly,” Melissa followed, lining up beside Raul and Ray.

Ray infused purple curse marks into Melissa’s vines, and the curse-boosted vines darted forth to capture the approaching shadows. Then, the immobilized shadows were quickly devoured by the curses crawling along the vines.

Ray’s curses had limited range, but this weakness could be overcome by using Melissa’s vines as a medium. In addition, the cursed vines gained monstrous strength and durability.

This combination technique was only possible due to the balance of power between Ray and Melissa.

If Melissa’s roses were too weak, then they would succumb to the curses and wither away. Conversely, if her roses were too strong, then Ray’s curses would be unable to take root.

Ray and Melissa had reached a perfect balance because of their similar mana levels. Raul was unable to do the same thing due to his much higher mana.

To be honest, Raul secretly envied this fact.

The Man-Eating Rose Fortress was an uncontrollable technique that could hurt his allies. As a result, Raul avoided using it while cooperating with others.

(But not anymore.)

Now, he had two trustworthy comrades at his side.

The feeling put a smile on Raul’s face.

(I can fight alongside them.)

It wasn’t just Ray and Melissa. Monica and Silas were in Sazandol too, not to mention his friend Cyril.

Raul swallowed the last remnants of the candy in his mouth, then shouted in cheer.

“Monica and Silas are still fighting in Sazandol, right? In that case, leave everything to the Four Young Sages! We’ll take care of this in a snap!”

For some reason, hearing that caused Ray and Melissa to flinch slightly.

Ray’s pink eyes were swimming, and Melissa wore a grim expression.

“Moni-Moni is…”

Melissa trailed off without finishing that sentence, widening her eyes at what appeared in the direction of the harbor.

“No, no…! That’s…!”

＊　＊　＊

The cloud of darkness and the rose vines trying to devour it were battling for control of Sazandol’s harbor.

The source of this darkness was the summoning gate for the Spirit King of Darkness, which was on the ground in an open area a short distance from the sea. A seemingly endless amount of darkness was gushing out of it.

That said, the sunlight had returned thanks to Raul’s Rose Fortress. Cyril quickly scanned the surroundings and reassessed the situation.

The gate was about a dozen paces away. Theodore was standing next to it, and a majority of his body was stained in black shadows and red blood.

Isaac and Silas were a bit further away, and as Glenn said, Silas seemed to have injured his right arm.

The positions of Cyril, Theodore, and Isaac formed a distorted triangle, with Cyril and Isaac being closer to the shore, and Theodore being closer to the city.

(We need to close that gate as soon as possible…)

Cyril was holding Gluttonous Zoe and had confirmed the artifact’s seal, which meant that Theodore was the one maintaining the gate.

In other words, the gate would lose its power source if Theodore runs out of mana or loses consciousness.

Raul was currently doing his best to limit the mana from the gate, but he wouldn’t be able to do that forever. They needed to go on the offensive and take Theodore down.

However, Cyril noticed something strange.

(…Why is Theodore simply standing there?)

Cyril reasoned that the summoning gate for the Spirit King of Darkness was equivalent to the gate of the underworld. Thus, he speculated that Theodore’s goal was to revive the dead.

According to Isaac, the Theodore in front of them was not the real Theodore, but a black dragon that devoured and assimilated Theodore Maxwell. Even so, he had gone through so much trouble to open the gate. It was still reasonable to assume that he wanted to revive someone.

And yet, Theodore remained completely idle. The only thing coming out the gate was the never-ending stream of darkness. There was no sign of the person he was trying to revive.

Theodore was staring straight ahead with a somewhat vacant expression on his face… right at Cyril.

Their eyes met. Cyril stared into those golden eyes, the whites of which had turned black.

Theodore parted his blood-stained lips and muttered, “We made a promise.”

(A promise? …With who? About what?)

“Promises need to be kept…”

Theodore took a step forward with his eyes fixed on Cyril.

A chill went down Cyril’s spine, all the way to his toes. His entire body felt numb.

(This doesn’t make sense. I must be overlooking something. But what? What did I miss?)

Cyril held Monica close with his left hand, then looked at the ring on his right middle finger. They were still covered by Sophocles’s barrier, which was incredibly durable.

(We need to attack now, while Raul’s Rose Fortress is still active…)

Cyril tried to chant, but Theodore suddenly disappeared… Or rather, his body turned into a black mist that melded into the surrounding darkness.

His golden eyes still sparkled bright from the human-shaped cloud of mist.

Then, the mist transformed into the shape of a creature with a massive body and wings. He grew honed claws and bulky limbs.

The mist cleared to reveal the glossy black scales covering his entire body.

——The Black Dragon, a legendary beast classified as a First-Class Dangerous Species.

The dragon’s deafening roar left Cyril’s ears ringing.

“It’s coming! Run!!”

Sophocles shouted right as the dragon unleashed his breath.

It was a flame colored in the purest black, as if created from the compressed essence of the dark mist flowing out of the gate.

The flames went right above Cyril’s head, just barely licking Sophocles’s barrier. That was enough to melt the barrier into nothingness.

The breath of a black dragon contained the flames of the underworld. A single touch was enough to turn anything to ash.

Luckily, only the barrier had touched the flames, so Cyril managed to survive. However, his relief was short-lived.

The black dragon suddenly spread his wings and took flight, dropping his shadow upon the city of Sazandol.

“Cyril! Run!”

“Vice President!”

Isaac and Glenn noticed Theodore’s intention and warned Cyril at the same time. He was the target.

After a short turn in the sky, the black dragon swooped down on Cyril.

Why was the dragon targeting him? Because he was next to Monica, a wielder of magic powerful enough to slay a dragon? Because of the potent barriers of Sophocles? …No.

(…Because of this!)

Cyril was still holding the sealed Gluttonous Zoe in his right hand.

Presumably, Theodore was trying to take back the artifact. He could have easily burned Cyril through the barrier, but he deliberately aimed the breath to hit only the barrier.

That said, Theodore had already succeeded in summoning the Spirit King of Darkness, and could control the shadows all by himself.

Cyril didn’t understand why Theodore wanted Gluttonous Zoe, but he knew one thing—he must not hand it over.

“…Cy…ril-sama?” said a feeble voice from his arms.

Cyril looked down to see Monica stirring ever so slightly.

Her eyes were slightly open, but they remained hazy and unfocused.

(I promised to protect you.)

Cyril pulled Sophocles off his finger and placed it on Monica’s left index finger.

Meanwhile, Monica was looking up at Cyril with a groggy smile. Perhaps she was still half-asleep.

After tightening his embrace of Monica for a brief moment, Cyril stood up and shouted, “Dudley, Sophocles! I leave Monica to you!”

Cyril handed Monica to Glenn and held Gluttonous Zoe to his chest. Then, he ran off as fast as his legs would carry him.

(I need to keep running until Theodore runs out of mana! We still have a chance…!)

As expected, the black dragon flew past Monica and Glenn, swinging his claws down on Cyril.

Cyril barely managed to avoid the attack by hiding in a dense patch of mist behind Raul’s rose vines.

However, that was his first and only success.

“You fool!”

“Cyril!”

“Don’t go that way!”

Sophocles, Thule, and Pikeh shouted simultaneously.

The heavy mist resulted in poor visibility, so Cyril failed to notice his proximity to the water. He didn’t realize that he was no longer above solid ground.

Along with a loud splash, Cyril fell into the sea, with Gluttonous Zoe still in his hands.

Right into the dragon-infested harbor dyed black by mana contamination.

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