Chapter 47
By evening, the town had resumed its daily routine.
The brigade combed through every corner and after making sure everything was safe, they allowed people to come out of the temporary shelter.
Apparently, the monster was spotted in a nearby village and a man came to ask for help from the town as knights were stationed here.
But the monster followed behind as well. The knights decided to ask for help and sent a request to North Castle. And to prevent a frenzy, they made a shelter with a Grade 3 water mage Knight acting as center and fortifying the defense.
The monster had only been around for a few hours and the town gate was locked, so it couldn't get in.
They could only wait for help while hoping that it didn't have the strength to break through — otherwise a bloodbath would follow.
Apparently, according to the villager, it had already killed a significant number of families. He managed to escape as he was out of town in the forest and after seeing the situation immediately fled.
But the monster followed after some time as well.
There was a short meeting going on in the town hall, which acted as a temporary shelter.
For confirmation of the villager's report, they had sent out a short reconnaissance team of 5 members since the monster was already taken care of.
The magic crystal in the middle of the table currently showed an image of a village being ravaged by monsters — completely destroyed. Even corpses weren't left behind intact.
The initial estimate put the monster count at least above 300. And most of them were middle grade monsters with grotesque physiques.
They destroyed everything indiscriminately in their path and were continuing to spread out towards the forest side.
There were grim expressions on everyone's face.
The Margrave family had sent 25 knights with 5 grade 2 magicians and 2 grade 1 magic knights.
And the North Castle had only dispatched 12 people.
Their number was nowhere near enough to take care of things swiftly, and there was also the possibility that this wasn't the only place under attack.
Sebastian suggested in a rye tone.
"I think we should send reinforcements immediately. 5 people are nowhere near enough to take care of all the monsters and clean up."
"But we don't know if other places are under attack as well. We need to first check the numbers of areas affected and then divide our forces accordingly. With our current numbers, we can't afford to waste a single person."
Doris interjected.
"Then what about sending Ainsworth with some knights over there first? We need to ensure our comrades' safety first. My suggestion is to swiftly take care of the situation at hand and after regrouping we can check for other areas as well."
a short paused followed.
"Our initial report estimated at least 3 sightings of monsters in the Northwest front.
I am afraid we need to give priority to other areas as well. If we only focused on this area, I am afraid it will take a lot more time to take care of it even with all the manpower. And by the end of it everyone will be exhausted. We won't have enough hands to deal with the overall situation. In the end , it's because we are outnumbered severely. And don't forget the students."
Doris tapped the armrest and veins could be seen on his forehead.
One could surmise how much pressure he was facing given the circumstances. But there was no good solution.
Sebastian looked behind him. 5 students were sitting in the hall in a corner. This was supposed to be a leisure trip, but they had ended up in a ditch as well.
Suddenly the door burst open and the villager tried to break into the meeting hall.
"You have to listen to me, you have to....."
He shouted at the top of his lungs.
He was the same person who had reported the monster sighting and came to ask for help.
The knights at the door immediately restrained him and kneed him to the ground.
Doris looked towards the guards.
One reported.
"Since the start of the meeting he had been acting strange, asking for participation in the meeting as well. We shooed him away but he kept pacing around and suddenly tried to break through the door."
"Let him go," Doris said.
The knight retreated and the man on the ground stood up.
"Care to tell me, sir, what is this all about?"
"You have to help the villagers that survived. You have to open the gate so they can come in."
He said.
Doris nodded his head and asked.
"And where are the people that survived the assault located?"
"They are hiding in the forest. I will go and bring them here if you send some people with me. We need to rescue them first."
Doris looked at him straight in the eye.
Azek stood up slowly.
"Well , I guess if there are some civilians in the forest , we need to prioritize their safety first."
Doris commented.
Azek stood behind the villager.
The villager looked behind him as many people had cast a glance there.
He came face to face with Azek, his eyes looking straight at him.
Azek slowly lifted his hand, put it on the man's chest, and said.
"Your act is convincing but not completely."
The man's eyes went wide and before he could say anything,
sparkles flickered
and excited mana seeped into his body.
He immediately put his hands forwards in an attempt to attack Azek.
But Princess Lyanna who was closely observing Azek the whole time was faster.
She cast an intermediate spell without missing a beat and his four limbs were
bound.
But black smoke started gathering around man at an alarming speed.
Metal chains started surrounding him, spikes directly piercing through his limbs and black blood seeped out.
Margrave Sebastian, knowing of Azek's ability, didn't delay even for a second.
The man grimaced and still tried to struggle, but Azek didn't let go of his mana and dove into his circle.
And it left him speechless.
His core was completely black.
He was what you would call a black mage.
He hadn't seen this type of core before, and the amount of strength he put into his spell increased.
A small pin entered the core
and excited mana dove into magic core.
Puck—
A small sound came out of the man's mouth.
Black blood now started dripping from the corner of his mouth.
The holy priest accompanying Doris's team cast holy fire around the man.
Black veins bulged throughout his whole body.
Sebastian swung his axe and cut off his head with an axe.
Azek continued to pour mana into his core, eliminating as much life force as he could.
They had learned it recently.
Black mages after death were capable of using their bodies to convert into a high grade monster. But that was the extent to what had been taught in class.
Experiencing it firsthand was a total different matter because only magic tower dealt with black magic cases.
He didn't let his guard down while Lyanna ripped off all four limbs.
Doris cast a high grade fire spell, burning the limbs and body.
Crackle, crackle—
The mage's mana circle was undergoing a heavy current and it threatened to explode.
This wasn't what he knew.
His core was undergoing a different type of change.
Mana started getting compressed in to core thrashing.
"Damn it."
Instead of converting to a monster, it had a different spell cast over it.
It was a most likely a bomb.
A magic bomb.