This seems like the last consecutive release.^^ As you suggested, I think it would be better to leave finding errors to the readers.
I ask for your active participation. As before, I will diligently correct every part you point out. So even if there are many errors in the online version, please understand... Dark Mage is a work being created not only by me, but together with you, the readers.
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As expected, not even Winterdale’s shadow could be found inside the cave. Damon rested his hand on his chin and sank into thought.
“Just where on earth is he hiding? Judging by how clearly he understands the situation, he must be observing me through a familiar or some other method……”
If he did not drive the man out, he could not claim the cave. Since there was no telling when he might appear and launch a surprise attack, it was a problem that absolutely had to be dealt with.
“What a headache. I’d love to just kill him outright.”
But Damon knew all too well that such a method would not work. Then a good idea occurred to him.
“That’s it. His familiar must surely be watching me from somewhere inside the cave……”
Damon’s eyes flashed as he carefully examined his surroundings. He intended to find the beast that the man might have made into his familiar. But the situation was not so easy. There were, by a rough estimate, hundreds—no, thousands—of species of living things inside the cave.
The corpses had vanished, but an enormous number of insects still swarmed over the rotten water pooled on the floor. Even on the high ceiling, small creatures such as bats and house centipedes clung densely without fail. The problem was that he had to find the hidden familiar among them.
It was clearly no easy task. However, Damon decided to solve it simply.
“I can just wipe them all out. His familiar is bound to be caught among them.”
He once again began the work of drawing in mana and rearranging it. Though he had already cast magic several times, not the slightest sign of fatigue could be seen on Damon. Having gathered sufficient mana, Damon smiled faintly.
“It’s been a while, so I suppose I’ll use one of Gedenhide’s specialties.”
The magic Damon had in mind was Horrid Wilting. It was the spell Gedenhide favored most, a terrifying magic that instantly evaporated the moisture from the body of anyone it struck, bringing them to death. Damon resolved to deploy it across the entire cave.
“Winterdale can’t be allowed to die, so I’ll have to alter it and use it in spray form. Across the entire cave, that is.”
He said it as if it were very simple, but modifying magic was by no means an easy task. Deploying three or four spells mixed together required truly tremendous calculations and comprehensive knowledge.
Of course, it could maximize the spell’s effect and significantly reduce the mana consumed, but it was an advanced operation most mages could not even imagine attempting. To Damon, however, it was not particularly difficult……
“If I mix Horrid Wilting with Air Spray and Stinking Cloud, that should settle it easily.”
The thought was brief, but the action was carried out in an instant. Dazzling light formed in both of Damon’s hands. In one hand, a blue so bright it stung the eyes. In the other, a shimmering pale pink light. The two lights merged into one in the blink of an eye.
Flash.
With Damon’s body as the axis, dazzling light exploded outward. The light, a blend of pale pink and blue, covered the cave walls in a straight sweep. Then, by means of the Air Blast that followed, even the places cast in shadow were brightly illuminated. Not a single part of the cave was left untouched.
Papapapat.
An astonishing thing happened. The corpse-rotted water that had been pooled thickly across the floor vanished in an instant. More precisely, it had evaporated. Along with it, the maggots and flies swarming in the bloody pus dried up instantly. The bats and insects on the cave ceiling were no exception.
Thudududuk.
Dried-up insects and bats fell like rain. The living creatures inside the cave were annihilated all at once by Damon’s single blow. Living beings necessarily require water. If more than a certain amount of water leaves the body, death is inevitable. After all, metabolism becomes completely impossible. The cave floor was so covered with the corpses of dried insects and bats that there was nowhere to step. Naturally, there was no way Winterdale’s familiar could have escaped unscathed amid all of that.
“Kuaaaak!”
Damon’s gaze turned toward the place where the scream came from. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
“You. So you were hiding under the floor.”
He lightly stamped his foot. When a hollow resonant thump rang out, the smile on his face deepened. The necromancer had been hiding deep beneath the floor. He bent at the waist and searched the floor thoroughly. But no handle was visible at all.
“It seems it can only be opened from the inside. It looks like a fairly thick iron plate……”
But it was no problem for Damon. When he gathered mana into his hand and rotated it in a circle, part of the iron plate disappeared in an instant. A high-level Eighth Circle spell that shifted a portion of an object entirely to the far side of space. This, too, was magic that not just anyone could deploy. A hole roughly one meter in diameter had been punched clean through the thick iron floor, and Damon descended through it.
“He’s completely gone mad.”
Damon silently looked down at Winterdale, who was twisting his entire body. The sight of him with his eyes rolled back and foam at his mouth could only be described as madness. Damon had already realized the reason.
“Well, since all his familiars were wiped out, he couldn’t help but be shocked. Still, did I go too far?”
Looking at the insane Winterdale, Damon kept tilting his head. He did feel somewhat sorry for driving a man who had clearly claimed the place first into such a state. But he had no time to delay. Strengthening the Death Knights was a matter of utmost urgency. Along with the Dullahan he had happened to obtain as well.
“There are only ten years left until the dragons awaken. I have to build up sufficient strength during that time.”
Damon quietly renewed his resolve. He had a mission to extract mana from the Sealing Sphere by any means necessary. Solely for the sake of taking revenge on the dragons.
“They’re here!”
A look of delight appeared on the old man’s face when he saw a group of people entering the village outskirts. The people he had been waiting for had finally appeared. Most of the party, which seemed to number around ten, were knights clad in armor. The beautiful young woman wearing a blue robe was undoubtedly a mage. As if there was nothing more to think about, the old man went out with the villagers to greet them.
“Have you perhaps come from the Crossen Empire?”
When he saw the old man welcoming them gladly, one among the group stepped forward. He was a knight of middle age with extremely sharp eyes.
“That is correct. I am Elcain, the leader of this group.”
“Welcome. I am the chief of this village. We welcome you all.”
At those words, a smile appeared on the face of the middle-aged knight called Elcain.
“Thank you for your hospitality. We are a punitive force dispatched from the Crossen Empire at the petition of His Majesty the King of Antros. I am a member of the Royal Guard Knights, and these are trainee knights, so you need no longer worry about the wicked necromancer.”
“T-Trainee knights, you say?”
A somewhat uneasy look passed over the village chief’s face. The middle-aged knight Elcain smiled as if he understood exactly what the chief was thinking.
“Though they are trainee knights, they belong proudly to the Crossen Knight Order. Their abilities are more than sufficient, so you need not worry.”
“However……”
“I was a member of the punitive force that came last time. Though we failed to capture and dispose of him, we did determine the level of that wicked necromancer’s magic, so please do not worry. With me and these men, capturing him will be more than enough.”
Only then did the village chief show signs of acceptance.
‘Well, they say even an ordinary knight of the Crossen Knight Order is comparable to the Royal Guard Knights of other kingdoms……’
Hiding his inner thoughts, the village chief guided them.
“Please follow me. We have prepared a farewell banquet in the village.”
At those words, Elcain hastily waved his hand.
“No. Could you take us directly to his dwelling? As you know, we have a great deal of work to do……”
“If that is what you wish.”
The village chief turned and began guiding the knights of the punitive force to the necromancer’s dwelling.
As Elcain followed behind the chief, there seemed to be no particular trace of worry on his face. That was only natural, for when he had been dispatched as a member of the punitive force, he had already gauged the necromancer’s abilities. According to the mage who had accompanied them, the opponent was merely a low-level necromancer, no more than a Fourth Circle Expert. As he recalled that fact, a sneer appeared on Elcain’s face.
“If he is that pathetic, I can easily dispose of him by myself.”
This time, he was certain he would complete the mission. In any case, Elcain was a fairly skilled Sword Master, and the anti-magic armor he wore could perfectly block attack magic up to the Sixth Circle. To someone like him, a Fourth Circle necromancer could not even be called an opponent.
‘You bastard. Last time, we failed to catch you because we were unprepared, but this time you won’t get away. We have prepared a scroll that can perfectly detect the presence of black magic, so no matter how deeply you hide, this time you’ll have no choice but to show your tail.’
In truth, compared to the previous punitive force, the current party could be said to be pitiful in both scale and ability. First of all, aside from himself, the only Sword Master, there were only two Paladin-class knights, and the rest were all apprentice knights. Moreover, there was only one mage, a sorceress who was a Fifth Circle Master.
For a force ordinarily sent to subjugate a necromancer, it was truly meager beyond measure. However, Elcain was confident that this operation had a one hundred percent chance of success.
‘Last time, not knowing his ability, we brought a truly tremendous fighting force. But we had to return without even finding his shadow. This time is different. We have made all preparations, including the scroll, so we can capture him without a single sacrifice.’
Ordinarily, if a necromancer had earned such an infamous reputation, one had to assume he was a mage of tremendous ability. With ordinary skill, it would be impossible to make such a name for oneself. Therefore, upon receiving the report, the Crossen Empire had dispatched many skilled knights in order to minimize casualties and handle the matter perfectly. With two Sword Masters, ten Paladin-class knights, and three high-ranking Sixth Circle mages, it could be asserted that it was an astonishing force indeed.
However, despite having come such a long way, they unfortunately had to leave empty-handed. They did find the man’s dwelling, but the problem was that they could not see the necromancer. Only the rotting corpses filling the cave welcomed them.
“How can such an atrocity exist in this world……”
Looking at the horrific corpses strewn throughout the cave, they had vowed to catch and kill the wicked necromancer no matter what. Even if they had to wait for days on end. But the corpse poison wafting from the bodies was so terrible that they could not endure for long. There was a limit to purifying the air with magic, and burying the corpses was not feasible, so they eventually decided to withdraw. Since they did not know when the man would return, they had no leisure to remain camped there any longer.
That was the reason the first punitive force had failed. After many twists and turns, Elcain had been selected for the second punitive force, and this time he was determined to capture the man without fail.
As he followed behind the village chief, Elcain asked about the village’s circumstances as if the thought had just occurred to him.
“Is he still slaughtering the villagers in great numbers these days?”
But when the village chief turned his head, there was a look of incomprehension on his face.
“N-No, that is not the case. Recently, there have been almost no deaths among the villagers. Of course, the people who approached his dwelling returned half-dead, but in the past year, one could say no one has died.”
“Is that so? How surprising.”
Elcain let out a long whistle as if astonished. That was not the only thing he could not understand. In truth, there was something they had been told in advance when they were dispatched here.