Episode 44
The Purifiers of the Red Tower. From atop his horse, Dale estimated their numbers to be around a dozen. These ‘Purifiers’ were channeling their crimson magic, their intent to kill burning fiercely.
“Raaaargh!”
Alongside them, hundreds of orc riders pursued Dale’s cavalry, which numbered around three hundred.
It was a dire situation.
Charging a cavalry line against the mages of the Red Tower was tantamount to suicide. It was like inviting them to bombard the area with their overwhelming firepower.
The true strength of knights lay in their tactical prowess, derived from strict organization. The terrifying aspect of the Red Tower was its ability to disrupt that very organization. The Red Mages weren’t called the ‘Gods of War’ for nothing.
Yet, scattering to avoid them would only leave them vulnerable to the pursuing orc riders.
“This is a real mess,” Dale thought, just as he was about to turn his attention to the ‘tentacles’ constricting his heart.
“Dismount, Dale.”
The voice of the elf mage, Sephia, came through, calm and composed as ever. Dale didn’t hesitate at her words. He understood the significance of what a 6th-circle elf mage was suggesting.
Following Dale’s command, the cavalry scattered, and he dismounted, accompanied by his loyal knight, Charlotte.
“All remaining cavalry, follow my orders!”
Dale shouted to the cavalry, who were unsettled by their commander’s sudden dismount. Immediately, the orc riders and Purifiers charged at the now vulnerable ‘Black Prince.’
“Ice Crystals.”
As the enemies closed in, Sephia spoke softly.
Amidst the blessed lands of the Saxon family, as a Snow Elf and a 6th-circle water mage, she resolved to protect her disciple and face the enemy.
“Unleash.”
Sephia’s voice rang out, clear and pure. It was an unparalleled, pristine resonance.
In that moment, the world froze.
From beneath her feet, a storm of ice crystals erupted.
Whoooosh!
The hundreds of wolves and orc riders charging at them were caught in the swirling vortex of cold at Sephia’s feet, freezing solid as if trapped in an icy fossil from the Ice Age.
All except a few Purifiers, who shielded themselves with ‘Flame Armor’ against her cold.
“Take your young knight and go, Dale.”
Amidst the storm of cold, Sephia spoke again.
“But I have a duty to protect Dale…”
Charlotte, understanding the implication, tightened her grip on her sword.
“Charlotte.”
Dale shook his head gently.
“It’s an order from your lord.”
”…”
After a moment’s hesitation, Charlotte nodded.
“Get on the horse and don’t let go of the reins.”
With that, Dale helped Charlotte onto his horse, entrusting her with an important task.
“Retreat to the designated crossing point and inform my father of our situation.”
“Understood.”
Charlotte nodded, fully aware of the weight of the command she had been given.
As Charlotte rode away, the ‘Flame Shadows’ emerged from the storm of cold. Standing on two legs, they were clad in blazing flame armor. Twelve Purifiers of the Red Tower—a formidable number.
Meanwhile, Dale’s cavalry, now scattered, was finishing off the orc riders.
“Why is the Red Tower working with the demons?”
Dale asked.
”…”
The Flame Shadows remained silent.
Purifiers.
Fanatics who worship the flames of the Red Tower, unhesitant to burn themselves in their zeal. Their sole purpose was to incinerate the enemies of the Red Tower.
For Purifiers, the study of magic was solely about how to burn their enemies, and any magic not intended for killing was a luxury.
They were truly deserving of the title ‘Knights of the Red Tower.’
While individually, their magical prowess couldn’t compare to Sephia, the elder of the Blue Tower, their true value lay in their collective organization, much like their moniker ‘Knights of the Red Tower’ suggested.
The Flame Shadows extended their arms. The blood-red magic swirling from their hands combined, creating a synergistic effect.
They aimed to unleash hellfire to obliterate Dale and Sephia in one strike.
“Resonate.”
But Sephia snapped her fingers again.
A clear, yet unsettling harmony accompanied her action.
”…!”
The hellfire that should have rained down on them fizzled out like a fleeting candle flame, lost amidst the swirling sleet.
It was immediately apparent. The Blue Tower’s specialty was defense and disruption.
Nullification… Dispel magic.
Countless particles of blue magic emanated from Sephia’s hands, scattering in all directions.
The particles disrupted the formation of magic, breaking its structure and nullifying it at its source—a specialty of the Blue Wizards.
《Blue Dissonance》.
Seeing this, Dale didn’t hesitate.
“Knights of Saxon, now is the time!”
With complex magic blocked by ‘Sephia’s Dissonance,’ there were few options left for a mage facing a charging cavalry.
“Charge!”
Thus, the Saxon Black Cavalry regrouped and began their charge.
At that moment.
Orcs were relentlessly attempting to break through the ford, while the main forces under Duke Saxon’s command engaged in fierce combat.
The heavily armored knights formed a wall, and the orcs desperately tried to break through.
The Black Duke and the elders of the Black Tower watched from a distant slope, accompanied by numerous young necromancers of the Black Tower.
“Eris.”
“Yes, Tower Master.”
The Black Duke spoke quietly as he observed the battlefield.
“Send the children to the crossing point where Baron Kennet and Mercenary Captain Yones are commanding.”
He pointed to a relatively pressured area under the orcs’ assault.
“Understood, Tower Master.”
Eris, the Black Tower Master’s secretary, nodded silently.
‘The children.’
The young black mages of the Black Tower, who had been silent, began to move. For the mages of the Black Tower, the battlefield was an unparalleled place of learning. Death was omnipresent, and truth always lay within death.
As the lords gathered under Duke Saxon’s name fought fiercely, and the battle reached a certain intensity.
”…It’s time.”
Finally, the Black Duke spoke. He turned to the Empire’s foremost black mages, the Black Council, cloaked in pitch-black robes, ready to bring the battle to a close.
He was about to give the order.
“Your Grace, Duke Saxon!”
It was then that the young knight Charlotte arrived with Dale’s message.
The cavalry began their charge, and in response, the twelve Purifiers sprang into action.
They surged forward, flames scattering in all directions.
It was a swift, spontaneous incantation unaffected by the Blue Dissonance. Yet, it was more than enough firepower to deal with the charging cavalry.
”…!”
Flames erupted from the Purifiers’ flame armor, engulfing the cavalry. Dale and Sephia quickly erected a wall of ice to block the attack. Though the sudden ice wall halted the cavalry’s charge, it was preferable to losing lives.
Two water mages, on this blessed land, had crafted an ice shield. It was reinforced to withstand the Purifiers’ heat, with rapid cooling formulas added—and Dale further enhanced the ice wall with fragmentation and shattering formulas.
The cavalry charge was merely a ruse.
Shard Magnum.
The massive ice wall exploded, sending countless sharp ice shards scattering like shrapnel. They flew towards the flame armor surrounding the Purifiers.
Yet, the ice projectiles melted away before reaching the blazing Flame Shadows.
’…!’
Flames are the result of the combination of heat, fuel, and oxygen… Heat is a measure of the intensity of molecular motion within a substance.
Coldness refers to the reduction of molecular motion, approaching a state of rest.
Yet, the flame armor melted even the ice crafted with Sephia’s formulas.
‘This can’t be possible.’
They’re not fighting on the scorching sands of a desert. Could they really conjure flames so intense they could melt the ice created by the elder of the Blue Tower, even in the frozen lands of Saxony? How on earth?
It didn’t take long to find the answer.
As the ice wall protecting the cavalry vanished, twelve Purifiers scattered in all directions. Most of them were left exposed to the charging cavalry of Dale, and a few managed to break through the encirclement, closing in on Dale and Sepia.
And then it happened.
“Shadow Bullet.”
A ‘bullet of shadow’ that no flame could melt pierced through, and one of the Purifiers fell, riddled with holes.
Right in front of Dale.
The robe slipped off, revealing a face that was little more than a living pile of ash, skin scorched and bones melting away.
”…What is your purpose?” Dale asked the kneeling, fallen Purifier.
“Heh, heh heh.”
He hadn’t really expected a coherent answer.
“Soon, the whole world will burn…!”
Of course.
“The world will burn, and from the ashes, they will descend…!”
The twisted smile and mad ramblings continued.
Boom!
At that moment, an explosion erupted, powerful enough to engulf everything in the vicinity.
‘A self-destruct spell!’
Dale realized it instantly. It all made sense now. They weren’t wearing armor of flames.
The Purifiers of the Red Tower here had been burning themselves from the start. Not armor, but their own flesh, blood, and bones.
The realization sent a chill through Dale’s veins.
The fiery blast swept over everything within range, including Dale’s cavalry, and even Dale and Sepia themselves were not spared.
And that was just one of the twelve explosives.