Chapter 285 – Suppression (1)
It was once a function embedded in the [Robe of the Wanderer], gifted by the Duke Riviant, but the robe was completely destroyed during the magic battle with the Administrator, a fragment of the Demon King.
However, at present, Verden was a Magus who had surpassed the 5th rank and reached the 6th.
Moreover, in the grand city of the Estiria Kingdom, at the great library of Rines, he had borrowed magic tomes and learned a considerable number of enchantment spells up to the 5th rank.
He no longer needed external aid to conceal his form and presence.
'...There you are.'
Verden crossed over the city.
Soon, he halted in midair, his gaze fixed forward.
Taking advantage of a gap where no one's eyes reached, a shadow of a man entered the underground sewer's entrance.
A figure in a green robe, the same mysterious person he had encountered several times today.
'Are they tracking my movements?'
The ones who burned down the Rainbow-hued Inn and massacred the lower-class forces were the lord of the autonomous territory and the two magic towers.
If it had been one of them, then naturally they would have gone straight to report to their superiors, not slipped into the sewers.
In that sense, this pursuer was quite different.
Their actions made it impossible to discern which faction they belonged to.
On top of that, their ability to trail him so naturally, to the point that even Verden himself found it difficult to notice, was remarkable.
Who in the world was this person?
He would waste no time finding out now.
Verden gradually lowered his altitude.
Once again, he moved into the darkness of the underground sewer.
***
A strange figure loomed in the air of the underground sewer.
When the person wearing the green robe pushed back her hood, a youthful face, appearing to be in her mid to late teens, was revealed.
A girl, Rebecca, shook her emerald-colored bobbed hair as she frowned.
"Haa, seriously..."
It was a sigh, more like a lament.
She rubbed at her eyes and muttered softly.
"Living in the autonomous territory was already so stressful. And now, to end up in a sewer like this. No matter what, this is just─── ugh?!"
As she went deeper, an indescribable stench struck her nose.
Though she belatedly pinched her nose hard, it was useless. The first shock of the stench that struck her senses had already seared itself into her mind.
Without realizing it, tears welled in her eyes.
"I, I should've made Ethan handle this instead…!"
Rebecca's mission was to watch over Asher.
To uncover and keep in check the intentions of the new ruler of Roafra, who had appeared without warning and stirred up the autonomous territory of Midros.
For it was possible that he might greatly hinder the mission entrusted to them.
Rebecca was an outstanding mage, and she possessed unusual stealth.
Born with talent and further honed by her master's harsh training, her physical and magical abilities were exceptional.
It was hard to precisely say what level she stood at, but she far outclassed the three knights of the territory and the two mages of the magic tower who had been trailing earlier.
Because of that, she had managed to pursue her target without being detected until now.
'But of all places, the sewer!'
Rebecca bit her lip and wiped at her damp eyes.
Dozens of many-legged insects crawled along the walls, and filth floated on the shallow current of water.
Visually, it was the worst.
For someone who loathed filth, the shock was nearly despair.
If not for
Why had the king of the underworld entered the sewers?
She had never met him face-to-face, and it had been her own decision to trail him, but she couldn't help feeling resentful toward this man called Asher.
Just then, a forked path appeared.
Left or right? Instead of worrying, Rebecca extended her left hand.
The sapphire gem set in her ring glowed.
[Retracing Wave]
A magic item that could read the past flow of currents.
As the blue light seeped into the murky water, traces left by someone appeared. A faint ripple stirred.
'The direction is right.'
With this ring and the water's flow, there was no chance of getting lost.
Exhaling a small sigh, Rebecca resumed her pursuit.
As time passed, the sewer's scenery became gradually familiar.
Her weary sense of smell no longer picked up the stench. Even the bile that had risen from her stomach settled down.
It was a most unpleasant kind of adaptation.
Before long, she reached her destination.
A damp chamber where dozens of rotting corpses floated.
"What is this...."
Her hair stood on end without her noticing.
But her surprise lasted only a moment. As repulsive as it was, it wasn't as though she hadn't seen dead people before.
Such things were normal in this world.
She observed the corpses carefully.
By combining what she saw with the information she had gathered since arriving in the territory, she could easily guess that these were the remnants of the lower-class forces.
The presumed culprits behind the fire at the Rainbow-hued Inn.
Looking closer, some of the corpses didn't appear to be vagrants or beggars, but still...
'Most likely the work of those bastards.'
Extremely dangerous individuals backed by the lord of the autonomous territory and the two magic towers.
The very group Rebecca and Ethan were staying in the territory to track down.
The possibility was high.
They had been eliminating those touched by the Bohemirn Magic Tower within Midros territory, such as the Mamentus Merchant Guild.
The Rainbow-hued Inn had been no exception.
She had never expected to see the missing faction like this, but she wasn't particularly shaken.
Whatever the case, there was no useful information here about the group she and Ethan were pursuing.
If anything, it only raised more questions.
'Why did the king of the underworld come here?'
How did he even know about the corpses?
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't find an answer. The more she tried to follow it, the deeper she felt herself sinking into a mire.
Frustration constricted her mind.
"...For now, I should withdraw."
Thinking alone was just wasting time.
It was more important to meet her disciple, Ethan, and discuss it. And she also hated lingering in this dreadful sewer any longer.
Just as Rebecca made her decision.
"Wha...?!"
All of a sudden, she felt a presence.
Instinctively, she turned her head toward the entrance of the chamber, and there, a man both unfamiliar and familiar stood suspended in midair.
It was Verden, who had just released
His eyes glowed blue in the darkness as he fixed his gaze upon Rebecca.
"Who are you?"
His cold voice echoed.
Rebecca froze as if paralyzed. Then, slowly, her pupils widened and her small lips parted.
And then,
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A sharp scream rang out through the underground sewer.
***
Rebecca was a refined mage.
No matter what anyone else said, she thought of herself that way.
Perhaps due to genetics, or perhaps because of her environment.
Her growth had stopped early, leaving her with a youthful appearance, but she had long been an adult, and her magical experience was as abundant as the days she had lived.
She had even gone through life-and-death ordeals.
That was why Rebecca was confident she could stay calm no matter what happened.
But now, she could not help but be aghast.
"T-the king of the underworld, w-why is he here…?!"
She was so shocked she could not even speak properly.
Her mind faltered, and she lost balance in
Cold sweat dripped from her forehead to the tip of her chin. Her heart pounded violently.
Verden narrowed his eyes.
'Definitely not from the magic tower.'
The magic towers were groups that pursued profit above all.
Of course, not everyone was like that, but any mage holding an important position in a tower acted with cold rationality.
Because that was efficient and logical.
On the other hand, the girl in the green robe... her reactions and gestures showed traces of humanity.
Not the closed atmosphere of a tower, but something freer.
Nor did she appear to be part of a third faction opposed to the Bohemirn Magic Tower...
'So, a fourth faction, then.'
An unplanned variable had entered the stage.
But it seemed unlikely she was completely unrelated to the incidents happening in the autonomous territory. After all, she had been secretly trailing him.
Naturally, letting her go was not an option.
Verden spoke.
"I will ask again. Who are you?"
"?!"
Rebecca flinched.
She swallowed hard, then carefully opened her lips.
"If I said I was a lower-class dweller living in the sewers... you wouldn't believe me, right?"
"Believing that would be even stranger."
A young girl with clean skin.
She didn't fit in the slums at all. If anything, she looked more like a noble.
"...I'm sorry, but I can't tell you who I am. Not that I intend to make an enemy of you. So, let's just pretend we never met, and, could you let me go...?"
"You followed me all day, and yet you have plenty to say."
Verden activated his mana circuits.
His stance clearly showed he had no intention of letting her go, and Rebecca lowered her head deeply.
"Haa, I figured as much."
Rebecca clenched her fist tight.
"But I don't intend to get caught without a fight!"
With her mana flaring, she thrust her arm upward.
The nearly stagnant water in the sewer stirred, and two surging torrents exploded forth, rushing at her opponent.
Verden surrounded himself with a mana barrier.
The water pressure crushed in from both sides, but it was meaningless. A mana barrier strengthened with Arcane was impervious to such low-tier magic.
Of course, Rebecca had no way of knowing that.
"A mana barrier? Even if you are the pinnacle of Roafra, it seems you've underestimated me."
Rebecca computed her spells, concentrating her mana.
Clearly, she intended to break through the barrier at once with a stronger spell.
He could let her exhaust herself, but wasting time like that was unnecessary.
He had a way to subdue her without leaving a scratch.
Verden's mana flared.
Fwoooosh!
A storm of mana surged forth.
An intangible pressure, now stronger than ever since reaching Quasi-Transcendent. Against an opponent judged to be beneath him, resistance was impossible.
At that moment, a light burst from Rebecca's necklace.
A thin, translucent green veil enveloped her whole body, completely blocking Verden's mana pressing from every side.
Rebecca smirked.
"That won't work on me!"
Triple casting.
Two tidal waves and a massive spear of water rushed toward Verden.
Immediately after, her presence split into several within the water. At once, Verden drew in his mana, and a crimson glow formed around him.
Flash!
A burst of flame erupted.
The three spells shattered under the heat and shock, while a blazing glare flooded the chamber in an instant.
With sharpened focus, Verden instantly locked onto her position.
"...?"
But the presence wasn't in front, it was behind.
Turning his head, he saw the girl with emerald hair flying away.
Even though Verden had been blocking the entrance.
'Mado?'
Judging by the aura, it wasn't her own Mado.
That meant she must have learned Mado adapted into tiered spells. Most likely, she had a highly skilled magus as her master.
A mage who learned spells derived from another's Mado.
On top of her talent and training, enough to perform triple casting, she possessed a special magic item that prevented external interference.
'She's no ordinary figure.'
His curiosity grew.
Who exactly was this girl? And from what organization had she been dispatched?
Verden summoned Orient from subspace.
If possible, he would have preferred to make her surrender quietly or incapacitate her without injury. But her ability to escape was too exceptional.
'Then I have no choice.'
He would have to suppress her, a little more roughly.
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