I was overthinking it. These idiot mages didn't know how to lurk properly. Triggering the alarm would exhaust whoever set the traps.
He landed on the ground, smirking at the steel cages tucked in the corner. If I hadn't run back then, I'd be locked in there right now, contemplating my miserable existence.
Melina appeared beside him before Throne could say a word. She glanced around, her curiosity piqued.
"Such rich glintstone deposits. Does Raya Lucaria Academy really need this much?"
"Deposits are never enough. They use it for staves, experiments, and worst case, they turn it into glintstone lamps to sell. Come, this way."
Throne turned left, walking a hundred steps before spotting kerosene lamps hanging on the rock wall. Further ahead, a wooden door stood. This had to be the living area—where the mages guarding the mine rested.
He peered through the crack, catching sight of shelves, wooden barrels, and a room built of cut stone.
The door creaked as he pushed it open gently. Something dark lunged at him from the corner. He jerked back, blade flashing, slicing it clean in half.
"Just stinking rats." Throne spat on the ground. A huge, fat rat lay twitching. He stepped over it, blade still in hand, heading deeper into the house.
The cave was eerily silent, no signs of life or magic traps. When the guarding mages evacuated, they must have moved the traps outside. The water vat was still full, crates stocked with food, bedrolls left behind.
"These people fled in a hurry."
Throne sheathed his blade, letting out a mocking laugh. Everyone's a living person—why would they stay in this dark, sunless cave waiting to die? Even if the academy hadn't ordered it, they'd have bolted. The Lands Between is chaos. Mages are in demand everywhere.
"Throne, the warning barrier is over here." Melina's voice echoed from outside.
He stepped out, spotting a small cave at the end of the rest area, its entrance covered by a shimmering blue light barrier.
"Wait." Throne stopped Melina as she prepared to spirit-travel through. He pointed inside. "Don't rush. This is a double safeguard. If we go in, we'll alert the enemy."
The magic professor was thorough, even using psychology. Even if someone slipped past the barrier, they wouldn't expect the trump card waiting behind it.
"Who could stay squatting in this hellhole? Don't they need to eat or drink?"
"You said it yourself—no person can endure the loneliness. But it's fine as long as it's not a person."
Throne shook his head, rubbing his chin, uneasy. Behind the barrier were two Crystalians—creatures that didn't rely on human senses, always alert. If we triggered the warning barrier, all our efforts would be wasted.
Crystalians aren't overwhelmingly strong, but they're incredibly hard. They don't eat, drink, or relieve themselves, making them perfect for guarding vital points. We'd have to kill them instantly, before they could react.
But their defense is high, and using magic would make too much noise. Throne frowned, weighing the options.
Crystalians aren't things you can kill just by slashing their throats; ordinary knights would only be "scratching" them if they encountered one.
"Fortunately, I already know their weakness."
Throne drew his Golden Battleaxe. Its weight and size made it a brutal blunt weapon.
"After we go in, you pin down one, and I'll take care of the other."
"How do you even know how many are inside?" Melina bit back the question, fingers tightening around Throne's wrist. His palm was warm, calloused.
"Then let's begin."
Her voice barely carried over the hum of the barrier. Passing through would drain her—every step, every breath—and she'd have to seize control the instant they crossed. Retreat wasn't an option. Never had been.
Azure light bled from her skin, swirling around Throne like mist. He heard her breath hitch, ragged and close. No time to hesitate. He stepped forward.
The barrier shattered like glass.
Hollow space yawned before them, two figures frozen in eerie stillness—deep blue monsters carved with grotesque precision, their crystal bodies pulsing faintly. Statues. Until they weren't.
Joints cracked like snapping twigs as the creatures turned. One clutched a staff, the other a spear. Magic seals flared. They lunged, movements stiff, almost laughable.
"Go!"
Throne's axe was already in motion, Bloodhound's Step carrying him straight at the spear-wielder. Steel met crystal with a sound like shattering glass. The recoil numbed his fingers. Hard. Brittle. Perfect.
His next swing sent the Crystalian crashing to its knees. He didn't wait—his gauntleted fist smashed into its face.
Crack.
Shards sprayed. The creature's twisted visage cratered the ground. No scream. No pain. Just the spear retracting, thrusting. Throne jerked his head aside, felt the wind tear past his cheek, then grabbed its waist. Gold flashed in his eyes.
"Up."
Muscles coiled. He hurled the half-ton monster skyward, twisted, and unleashed Gravity Magic.
"Down."
The Crystalian plummeted. It hit the earth like a meteor, joints screeching as it tried to rise. Throne's axe fell—a woodsman splitting logs.
"Slash."
Crystal exploded.
Panting, he glanced sideways. Melina danced between strikes, incantations spilling from her lips. Her blade couldn't pierce the Crystalian's hide, but her spells staggered it, bought seconds. The creature recovered, staff whipping toward her skull. She rolled, barely dodging—then froze.
The Crystalian raised its staff. Crystal Burst glowed at its tip, point-blank.
Clatter—
A spinning axe buried itself in the monster's side. Shards erupted. The force nearly cleaved it in two, sent it skidding across the ground. Starlight flickered. Throne was on it before it could move, fists sheathed in glintstone.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Glass on glass. Relentless.
Melina staggered upright, staring. The man she knew—calculating, controlled—was gone. This was something else. Something wilder than Highland barbarians.
Drip. Drip.
Throne stood. His crystal armor lay in ruins. Blood streaked his knuckles. The Crystalian didn't rise. Just fragments.
Damn. He flexed his hand, wincing. "Glad I never ran into these back then. Would've had to fight like hell just to flee."
A dry laugh. "Too damn hard."
Blunt weapons could counter the Crystalian, but you'd need raw strength to do it. Otherwise, you'd shatter your own bones before breaking its crystalline shell.
"One minute to solve it," Throne muttered, shaking his head. "Barely passable."
He stashed the great axe and picked up the staff and spear. These were rare finds, harder than the Crystalian's body. Throne moved deeper into the chamber, where an elevator stood waiting. He didn't step onto it. Instead, he drew a pair of sharp thrusting swords.
"What are you doing?" Melina approached, her brow furrowed.
"For safety," he said, "we can't take this elevator."
He stripped off his armor and cast Gravity Magic on himself, lightening his body. He flashed her a grin. "I'm planning to climb up."
"Climb up? From here?" Melina tilted her head back. The elevator shaft stretched into darkness, fierce winds roaring down from above.
"Stop spacing out," Throne said. "Hurry back to me. If I carry you, there's a good chance we'll fall and turn into paste."
Melina blinked at him, finally understanding why this man always charged ahead. Combat wasn't just his skill—it was his instinct.
......
Far away, in Caria Manor, Ranni held the rear. While Throne fought through rivers of blood, she waged war from thousands of miles away. Every Carian Knight wore a Calling-Sound Mask, allowing her to micromanage the battlefield from her magic tower.
She wasn't some overbearing headmaster, nor did she need a scapegoat. Her orders were strategic, leaving tactical decisions to the commanders on the front lines. No one would hear bizarre commands like, "Move three meters to the left."
The witch stood in the tower's center, her four arms wielding charcoal pencils. She marked the map swiftly, filling it with arrows and symbols, then fell into deep thought. In this moment, she was focused, wise, and utterly majestic. Her deep blue eyes scanned the battlefield, a million troops marching in her mind.
"Everything's going smoothly," she murmured. "The Cuckoo are dead. Only a handful of Kaiden Mercenaries remain, harassing the edges. Nothing stands in Allen's way."
A red arrow streaked north, clearing obstacles and seizing the bridge leading to the academy. Ahead lay a desolate town, defended only by a few puppet soldiers.
"The Albinaurics attack the academy from all sides, dismantling the puppet soldiers stationed on the lake."
On the southern front, a dozen small red arrows infiltrated, coordinating with Adula to burn the puppets to ash. The feints diverted the academy's attention—Caria didn't need to storm the main gate.
With a full army advancing and distractions on all sides, how could a few hundred mages hold out? Ranni nodded, satisfied. She was about to initiate the third phase when her psychic connection flickered. Someone was reporting.
Throne—had he succeeded?
She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she climbed into her high-backed chair, straightened, and cleared her throat.
"Throne," she said, her voice deep and formal, "what is your report?"
"Your Highness," he replied, "is anyone around you? Why do you sound so serious, like you're in a military meeting?"
Ranni glanced at the empty magic tower, her voice unchanged. "Hmm. I'm arranging for someone to contact the Eternal City, to have the Nox launch a counterattack and pin down the Tarnished. By the way, why do you sound so tired?"
"It's nothing," Throne said. "I just climbed from the foot of the mountain to the top of Raya Lucaria Academy."
Throne gasped continuously, his body swaying back and forth from the fierce wind pouring in from above. Below was a bottomless abyss, and above, he could finally see the gray sky. The walls were smooth, without even a place to set foot. Unless one could fly, even top-tier heroes wouldn't be able to complete this "extreme sport."
Throne had just taken a shortcut.
"Hey, can't you report after you climb up!" Melina's short sword was stabbed into the rock wall, her other hand holding the man, her hand gripping the sword already starting to shake. Fortunately, Throne was very light right now, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to hold onto him at all.
"If you're tired, return to me and rest; we have to continue in a moment."
Melina, her whole face flushed red, couldn't bother to protest and immediately turned into particles and disappeared. Throne's body suddenly sank, and he stabbed his thrusting sword into the rock wall again. After recovering a little stamina, he just climbed up slowly like that.
This was another little trick using "Melina-wood," making her constantly switch between solid and ethereal to act as a stepping stone.
Ranni was very smart and immediately heard what he was doing, and couldn't help but be stunned on the spot.
"You really entered from the Crystal Cave? And didn't alert anyone?"
"Should be."
"What do you mean 'should be'? Don't you know that once you go up, it's a dead end? If others are prepared, they can kill you on the spot! Is that Melina an idiot? How could she agree to cooperate with such a reckless action!"
The voice fell silent for a second. Just as Ranni's heart hung in suspense, thinking something had happened to Throne, she heard a teasing voice.
"Ranni, thank you for being so concerned about my safety. But in battle, how can you win without taking them by surprise? Also, Melina is just slow-witted, not stupid."
"Who is concerned about you? I am just, just..." Ranni rolled her eyes, her voice instantly steadying: "It's just that under my command, such reckless actions are not tolerated, and you deviated from the original plan!"
The original plan was to blossom at multiple points, from the Carian Army to the Nox, constantly applying pressure to cause internal chaos in the academy, and then Throne would launch a fatal strike to act from the inside out.
"I didn't expect the academy to be so 'cooperative' either, actually withdrawing the guards from the Crystal Cave. Opportunities must be seized when they arise." Throne's voice remained calm; he was the type to strike immediately once he spotted an opportunity, without any hesitation.
"But this is too dangerous."
"Dangerous as it is, it can resolve the battle before the enemy reacts. Once the arrow is shot, there's no turning back; I can't climb back down, can I?"
Ranni took a deep breath, suppressing some annoyance.
Since things had reached this point, she could only let him do as he pleased.
"How do you want me to cooperate?"
"Have Allen launch the attack as soon as possible to create an opportunity for me to infiltrate. Being blown by the wind on the roof is no fun at all."
Hmph, you know that too. Ranni thought to herself that this wasn't just "no fun," it was a huge target. Even if she were to use Thopss Barrier, it would be impossible to block the covering attack of hundreds of mages.
"I understand. I'll give you the result in one day."
She cut off the connection directly, leaving someone scratching his head, not knowing which sentence had offended the Princess.
"Is that guy Throne acting recklessly again?"
War Counselor Iji was leaning by the window. He had originally come to listen for the next orders, but instead saw the witch lose her composure, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his withered face beneath the mask.
Her Highness seems to have become much more lively lately.