Chapter 143. Rampage
"Are you injured anywhere?"
Mikhail first checked on Blair's well-being.
Blair blinked in surprise at Mikhail's unexpected appearance, then nodded.
"Thanks to you. But how did you know to come here?"
The knights, who had been on guard at the stranger's appearance, relaxed their vigilance upon seeing Blair's gesture that she was fine.
Mikhail glanced at the magical beasts moving in packs toward Nerha, then opened his mouth.
"I was on my way to Nerha. I was avoiding the magical beasts' path, but I came to check because there was an area nearby where they were lingering. I'm glad I could help just in time."
"To Nerha? Even after seeing that?"
At Blair's question, Mikhail smiled bitterly instead of answering.
On the day he had confronted Gerard, Mikhail was also buried under the debris of the destroyed villa.
Having sustained fatal wounds from his battle with Gerard at the time, he had survived by gathering his remaining divine power to deploy a barrier just before being crushed by the debris.
However, having exhausted all his divine power in manifesting the barrier, he could not heal his wounds immediately and lost consciousness right then. It was Anna and his subordinate who had saved him.
Mikhail, who had been wandering the border of life and death due to his fatal wounds, was only able to heal himself using divine power after his vitality had recovered to some extent.
It took a full two days for his vitality to recover and for him to barely heal.
The first thing he asked upon barely regaining consciousness was the life or death of the subordinate who had gone to the villa with him.
Anna hesitated for a moment before answering.
'Sir Frederic could not be brought back.'
He, who had been waiting on the ground, lost his life buried under the building's debris, and Gerard, unaware that Mikhail's subordinate had come along, mistakenly assumed Mikhail was dead.
Another reason had emerged for why he had to finish off Gerard with his own hands.
After recovering for a few days, Mikhail immediately came to Nerha.
It was obvious what kind of havoc the man, who had even summoned the undead to induce Hordin's rampage, might wreak, and that Blair would be put in danger in the process.
Looking at her, safe and sound before his eyes, Mikhail answered.
"Because there is something I must take responsibility for and finish."
He answered with a smile, but his eyes held an unyielding resolve. That figure overlapped with Hordin's appearance when he had declared he would end his toxic ties with Gerard.
She was curious as to what reason he had to risk his life to go to Nerha, but Blair had no right to ask.
Because the line she had drawn against him was clear.
"Anyway, where are you heading, Madam?"
"I am heading to Libren. Nerha seems dangerous."
"A wise judgment. But, where is His Excellency?"
At his question, Blair's expression darkened.
"He is... still in Nerha. Because he, too, has something to finish."
Mikhail frowned.
Gerard, who had summoned the undead to induce Hordin's rampage, and Hordin, who had evacuated Blair in advance.
Knowing all the circumstances between the two, Mikhail immediately realized what 'that thing' Hordin had to finish was.
"...That doesn't seem like a very wise judgment."
He knew Hordin was the only one who could stand against Gerard. But it was too reckless.
Right now, his imprint with Blair had not been severed.
If he accidentally exceeded his limits and went on a rampage in the battle with Gerard, Blair, who was connected through the imprint, would be the one in danger.
He regretted not telling her and Blair about the imprint only now.
However, unlike what Mikhail knew, Blair, who already knew about the imprint, was worried not about herself, but Hordin.
'If Hordin goes on a rampage...'
She was someone who had been tormented by fear her entire past life, wondering if she would be caught up in that rampage and die.
A rampage only ends when one of the two dies.
If nothing is done, Blair, whose mana would be drained, had a higher probability of dying.
What choice Hordin, who would know that fact better than anyone, would make just before going on a rampage was all too obvious.
"I think I need to hurry to Nerha."
It was when Mikhail was about to turn around with a stiff expression.
"Ah..."
Feeling as if something was draining from her body suddenly, Blair, whose vision swam, leaned on the carriage seat.
"Madam!"
Mikhail urgently caught Blair as her legs gave out and she collapsed, her face turning pale.
In his eyes, checking her condition, he saw a vivid magic circle shining on Blair's collarbone.
The imprint had started to react, and Blair's mana had begun to flow into Hordin.
Sensing that, Blair intuited it.
'Hordin... is in danger.'
It was the very situation she had been so worried about.
* * *
Miela, who had lost consciousness, struggled to open her eyes. As soon as she regained consciousness, the back of her head and back hurt as if they were breaking.
After blinking a few times, her blurry vision returned, revealing the scene inside the room.
The antique-style room was filled with the corpses of knights.
"Gasp..."
Miela gasped at the gruesome sight before her. With the intake of breath, the memories from before she lost consciousness resurfaced.
The knights of Nerha rushed at Hordin, who blocked their way. The first one he eliminated was Miela. Because leaving a priestess with healing powers alive meant she would just keep healing the dying knights.
Struck by a suddenly flying spell, Miela was defenselessly thrown into the wall behind her and lost consciousness right there.
As Miela barely regained consciousness and surveyed the room, she caught sight of a knight falling with a dying scream.
The knight collapsed lifelessly, revealing Hordin drenched in blood behind him. Those eyes, terribly calm even after killing so many people, did not seem human.
At that moment, the man she had loved so much felt so alien. Her heart sank.
Now, the only living people in this room were Miela and Hordin, just the two of them.
Miela, who was exhaling rough breaths, froze the moment she locked eyes with Hordin, who was looking at her.
Hordin, who was looking at Miela, stepped over the corpses and approached her. Uncontrolled mana was fluctuating from him.
It was as if death was walking toward her.
Was it because of the extreme fear of having death before her eyes, or because her feelings for him were truly love?
Even at that sight, her heart raced.
Miela, who had been trembling with fear, had become unnervingly composed by the time Hordin reached her. Because of that, she actually looked bizarre.
Hordin looked down at her with cold eyes as she still gazed at him with admiring eyes, then thrust his sword at her neck.
Since priests belonged to the temple, punishing and executing them was only possible with the temple's approval.
Furthermore, since she was the very mastermind who had driven a wedge between them and Nerha, keeping her alive would allow them to prove the starting point of the entangled diplomatic issues.
However, for Hordin, whose emotions had begun to be swayed by his surging mana, no reason remained to consider such things.
Just as Hordin's sword was about to slit Miela's throat.
"It is sad that I ultimately couldn't save Your Excellency, but still... I am glad I can die for you."
Her words stopped him.
Miela's eyes as she said that were terrified, but at the same time, filled with faith in her convictions.
For me.
The sight of her blurting out such words was sickening.
Seeing her justify her actions with the same words he had spoken to Blair made him laugh.
Was this how Blair felt about him?
Hordin, who laughed like a madman with a blood-splattered face, withdrew the sword aimed at Miela. Soon, the smile disappeared from his face as if it was never there.
"No, you can't die this easily."
She was a woman who had lived half her life being revered as a priestess.
She would have believed that she was good, and that all her actions were right.
The moment those who revered her all turned their backs, and that belief was completely shattered by someone else, would be more like hell than death for her.
At Hordin's unexpected verdict, Miela's expression, who had been ready for death with a sense of relief, distorted.
"Your Excellency."
Ruth, who had just finished preparing to leave and came to find Hordin, paused at the gruesome scene in the room.
Hordin looked back at Ruth and pointed at Miela with his chin.
"Tie this woman up and put her in the carriage. She is a traitor."
Ruth tied Miela up and put her in the carriage as Hordin ordered.
It was when the remaining servants, a few knights, and Hordin, who had mounted his horse, were about to leave the mansion.
"Stop!"
The knights of Nerha blocked their path.
"You must have sent knights to attend the Duchess, did you not meet them?"
At the knights' questioning, Hordin let out a low, annoyed sigh. Since he killed them all, the bothersome problem of having to explain the situation with his own mouth arose.
"I did."
"Where are they?"
"I killed them. For breaking faith and attacking first."
Threatening mana flowed from Hordin's body as he spoke nonchalantly, as if devoid of emotion.
At his appearance, which was clearly unusual at a glance, the knights of Nerha grew angry but could not respond hastily.
What broke the volatile atmosphere was the sound of hoofbeats.
"Captain!"
A knight who had hurriedly returned from outside the mansion delivered the news with a pale face.
"Magical beasts have appeared in the village."
At that news, not only the knights of Nerha but also Hordin frowned.
"'Magical beasts'? How many?"
"M-many..."
As if adding to his explanation, the roar of a building collapsing and screams were heard from afar. The knights who were about to go to the village hesitated, looking at Hordin standing behind them.
To that, Hordin said in a cold voice.
"Are you going to die fighting me?"
"..."
"Or, will you go save your families?"
The captain of the Nerha knights, who pondered for a moment, soon shouted at his subordinates.
"Everyone, to the village!"
The Nerha knights scattered quickly to get their horses. Hordin, looking at the cleared path ahead, immediately mounted his horse.
"Let's go."
* * *
As soon as they headed out to the village, a worm-like magical beast attacked Hordin's group. Hordin, who quickly shattered the beast's core and killed it, surveyed the city.
The situation was much more serious than expected.
Magical beasts filling Nerha were ruthlessly attacking humans. Their numbers were so excessive that they couldn't pass through without eliminating the beasts.
In that brief moment of assessing the situation, the magical beasts that discovered them attacked. Hordin cursed and used magic to kill the beasts.
At that moment, he felt his heart drop with a thud, then it started to beat fiercely. At the same time, an uncontrollable killing intent surged.
'This feeling...'
The mana overflowing in his palm began to fluctuate.
It was the precursor to a rampage.
"Your Excellency, what do we do now... Your Excellency?"
Ruth, who was staring blankly at the desperate situation with no breakthrough in sight, looked back at Hordin.
Hordin alternated his gaze between reality and his physical condition, then clenched his fist as if he had made up his mind.
"...I will open the way, so don't think about fighting back and run at full speed."
"But..."
At Hordin's command, Ruth tried to argue but closed his mouth.
If everyone got off the carriage and fought the beasts, they would not be able to escape this place and would become food for the beasts. For now, Hordin's judgment was the most rational decision.
"There is no time. Hurry."
Ruth, unable to withstand the urging, boarded the carriage.
Hordin stroked the dagger in his inner pocket. He had prepared it before the battle with Gerard, just in case.
To kill himself and stop the rampage should the time come that he lost control.
While Hordin was lost in thought for a moment, the magical beasts discovered them and began to attack.
He used wide-area magic to kill the beasts and advanced, opening a path. Every time he used magic, the mana inside his body violently surged. Hordin gritted his teeth.
Not yet.
Just a little more.
But no matter how much he pushed through the beasts, there was no end in sight. In his consciousness, which was gradually becoming saturated with uncontrollable killing intent, only one person remained.
'...Blair.'
He could now truly feel that not much was left of his limit.
Hordin used his last wide-area magic and drew the dagger.