Chapter 27

The three knights behind the Saintess pulled out their swords in unison, the shring sound of steel swords leaving their scabbards could be heard ringing and echoing inside the cave. The knights did not say anything, not even a grunt, but their expressions clearly showed that they were serious, and their stances shifted, readying for battle.

“What do you think you are doing, Saintess?”

Master Elara's voice turned cold, her eyes narrowed. The tension in the air felt so sharp that it could actually cut skin. I looked beside me, at Lirael.

Lirael froze.

Her shine was no more, and her three sets of wings looked frayed and shabby. She was out of strength. Lady Arianrhod's remaining power inside this cave had been completely used up, so she had no way to defend herself. We have known each other for not long, but we did fight that Dark Mage together, and honestly, without her, the Dark Mage would have already killed me when he found me hiding in this cave. It's not an exaggeration to say that I owed my life to her.

“Archmage Elara, you fully know the stance the Church has. Spirits are heretical beings, they're an affront to the one true God and must be purged.”

“Yeah, I know fully well what you lunatics believe. But so what? I don’t even believe in your faith, you think I care about your God?”

“Shut your mouth, heathen!”

“You dare blaspheme God!?”

“Who do you think you are!?”

The three knights behind the Saintess were yelling at Master Elara one after another. The Saintess held up an arm to quiet the knights, only to be met with a clearly hostile intent from the Archmage.

“Quiet down, worms.”

Fwooosh.

The air turned chilly and heavy. The three knights started dripping cold sweat, their pupils trembling as they tightened their jaws and their grips on their swords. One of the knights even had his legs slightly shaking. Understandable, not many can keep a straight face facing Master Elara’s killing intent. The Saintess still kept a calm face, though. Maybe because Master Elara was still holding her hostility back, but even then, for the Saintess to still keep her calm is quite praiseworthy.

“Lirael, get behind me.”

“Hum.”

Feeling the tension getting even sharper, I whispered to Lirael to hide behind me. I can’t do much right now, being out of mana, stamina, and with miasma still poisoning my body, but at least I can use my body to shield her. I promised, after all, that I would do everything I could to help her until she found someone she could make a contract with.

“Archmage, it's not like you have known that spirit for long. Are you seriously going to risk conflict with the Church for strangers?”

“Doesn’t matter. She helped and even saved my disciple’s life, that’s enough of a reason.”

“Do you think the Association will let you off for inciting conflict with us?”

“Hah! That’s my line. Do you think just because you’re the Saintess that old Pope will let you off for threatening me?”

What an arrogant thing to say. While the Saintess was threatening Master Elara using the Church’s authority as a big organization and a religious institution with strong political power on the continent, Master Elara was threatening them with only her name. I guess that’s just how Master Elara is, her arrogance was as high as the heavens, but for some reason, I did not doubt that her arrogance was not misplaced.

“Enough.”

The Saintess said, looking as calm and serene as ever. She looked Master Elara in the eye.

“I don’t have any intention to antagonize you, Archmage. But surely you know the treaty between the Mage’s Association and the Church.”

“Mages under the Mage’s Association must not interfere with the Church’s duties, and likewise, the Church must not interfere with the Mages under the Association.”

“Purging spirits, servants of false gods, is our duty. Surely you know that?”

“Tch!”

Master Elara knew that. The Church and Mages had fought each other for hundreds of years, and around three hundred years ago, the Mages gathered together to form the Mage’s Association so they could fight back against the Church more effectively. Two hundred years ago, the Association and the Church signed a non-aggression treaty that basically stated, “Leave us alone and we will leave you alone.” Other than combating Dark Mages and Demons, the Association and the Church stayed away from each other.

I don’t know the details of the treaty, but based on Master Elara’s reaction, it seems that purging spirits was included as one of the Church’s duties.

‘This is bad. As amazing as Master Elara is, she’s still a mage under the Association. Regardless of her own personal opinion, she’s duty-bound to follow the treaty, especially because of her position as an Archmage, Tower Master, and also the Head of the Royal Arcane Bureau under the Royal Family.’

Master Elara is a very important person. Her decision could affect a lot of people under her, even her own country. She still looked like she didn’t want to back off, but there’s really nothing she could do unless she prepared herself for the consequences of breaking the treaty.

‘What should I do?’

Lirael was shaking and trembling behind me, watching the situation unfold.

Seeing that Master Elara had gone quiet, the Saintess smiled.

“I know you can be reasoned with, Archmage. That’s the right choice. It’s fine that you don’t share our beliefs, but you are duty-bound to follow the treaty.”

Snap!

“Take the spirit away.”

Following the Saintess’s order, one of the knights walked past Master Elara, approaching Lirael, who was hiding behind me.

“Move, boy.”

I stayed still, keeping my body between the knight and Lirael.

“I refuse!”

Glaring at the knight, I kept shielding Lirael from him.

“Oh my, it looks like your disciple is quite slow on the uptake. Did he not listen to our conversation?”

Master Elara stood still, not even looking back at me.

“…I’m sorry, Hwi.”

I could feel heat rising from my stomach as I clenched my jaw.

“I refuse!”

I kept shielding Lirael from the knight while glaring at the Saintess with murder in my eyes.

“Hwi, was it?”

The Saintess addressed me directly.

“It seems you still don’t understand the situation, so I will make it easy for you to understand.”

“If you keep getting in the way of our duty, it will be within our right to put you down. But we did not want to do that, you see?”

“We would rather not have a hostile relationship with Archmage Elara and Veynes Magic Tower. But if you keep interfering, we will have no choice.”

“What do you think will happen if we do that?”

The Saintess looked me in the eye, with her usual smile still plastered on her face.

“The Association would most likely just let the fact that we killed you go. Then Archmage Elara’s relationship with the Association will grow strained. With her standing, it’s possible that she will break away from the Association and many will follow her, knowing her influence.”

“Then she will make another mages’ organization with the people following her and cause another bloody conflict between mages and the Church, and another war will begin.”

“Surely, you don’t think that the life of one spirit is worth causing another war where thousands will die, do you?”

That’s a very far-fetched scenario she described. Actually, is it that far-fetched?

It hasn’t even been a year since I met Master Elara and started training under her, so I couldn’t say I knew her well. But based on what I had seen during the time I knew her, there was a possibility she would do just that. She often acted eccentric, after all.

But I also knew that Master Elara was a very responsible person based on the time we spent in the Cheon Clan and also after she brought me to this country.

Based on what everyone in the Magic Tower said about her, she was actually very popular, and many mages joined Veynes Magic Tower because they wanted to be directly taught by Master Elara.

It seemed that her status as the youngest ever to become an Archmage was one reason, but the fact that she was known to often modify higher-tier magic and simplify it so that lower-tier mages could use it was also an important factor.

But the most important factor behind Master Elara’s popularity was that she was very combat-oriented and one of the few mages who could fight in close-quarters combat and go toe-to-toe with a knight.

The rule of thumb was that mages were weak in close-quarters combat. If a melee fighter managed to get close, they could easily take out a mage.

Why? Because magic needed time to cast. The stronger the magic, the more time was needed to cast it. That’s why mages like Master Elara, who could hold her own in close-quarters combat, were very rare, and many young and hot-blooded mages wanted to learn that from her.

“So, what will you do? Will you protect that spirit behind you, get struck down, and let us take the spirit anyway while risking a war, or will you let us take her peacefully?”

I could not answer.

I don’t know what the right thing to do was.

I’m out of mana and stamina, and the miasma is still poisoning my body. I feel like I’m going to pass out at any moment. Even if I were in my top condition, I doubt I could take on the knights when each of them felt like a First-Class Martial Artist. There was also the Saintess, who could probably provide support.

“Hm. It seems that you understand. Good. Take the spirit away.”

The knight approached again and leaned down, trying to grab Lirael.

“Hwi…”

I could feel Lirael trembling behind my back. Her tone of voice clearly showed that she was afraid.

I don’t know what the right choice is.

I’m weak, not only as a mage but also in status. Realistically, there’s nothing I could do to help Lirael.

But is that it?

Can I just let them take her away simply because I can’t do anything?

No.

If I let them take Lirael away like this, I know that I will not be able to forgive myself. It will haunt me until the day I die.

While I don’t know what the right thing to do is, I know what I must do.

I made a promise, and I need to keep it.

Whatever it takes.

I grabbed the wrist of the knight who was reaching for Lirael. He stopped and looked at me.

“Let go.”

“No.”

“You want to die, boy?”

“…Die? No. I don’t want to die.”

“There’s still a lot of things I want to do and achieve in my life.”

“But if I just let you take Lirael away, there’s no difference from dying.”

My grip around the knight’s wrist tightened. I felt energy rising from my stomach. It was hot, but I paid it no mind.

“I owe my life to her.”

“I also made a promise. I promised that I would help her in any way I could until I found someone she could make a contract with.”

“Guh!?”

My grip around his wrist tightened even further, and the knight let out a pained voice.

“I don’t fucking care about your fucking faith, rules, or that fucking treaty.”

Fwooooooossh!!

The air around us suddenly turned biting cold and heavy.

This is the first time I have felt like this.

I grew up in a Murim family. Killing people was something I had already accepted as normal when I lived as a martial artist of the Cheon Clan. When martial artists fought for real, there would be casualties most of the time. The Clan had already educated me about that.

Still, this was the first time.

The first time I wanted to kill another human being so badly.

Faith? Rules? Treaty?

None of them mattered.

These bastards were doing whatever the fuck they wanted without even caring about what kind of person Lirael was.

So I would respond in kind.

I would do whatever the fuck I wanted.

Crack!

“GUH!”

I could feel the knight’s wrist break.

While still holding his wrist, I looked at him and then at the Saintess.

“Just try harming a single strand of her hair…”

I tightened my grip.

“You’re fucking dead.”