Episode 658

“Ugh, ugh…”

One of the Luswena soldiers couldn’t hold back and started retching. It was the worst stench any of them had ever smelled in their lives. Even the smell of rotting corpses wasn’t this bad.

The soldiers covered their noses with their sleeves and took a step back, then another. Those who didn’t understand the situation urged them to stop retreating, but when they saw Lady Darsi, they hesitated and slowly backed away.

“W-why… why am I like this?”

“Lady Darsi?”

“Ahhh! Why is this happening to me?!”

“Ma’am! I beg you, please don’t come any closer!”

“Damn you! What did you just say?”

Lady Darsi clutched a handful of her thinning hair, glaring wildly. She looked like her entire body was melting away. Her scalp was soft and mushy, her hair slimy and rotten like decayed green onions, and pus oozed from various places, filling the air with a horrid stench.

She didn’t even realize her eyes had turned pitch black. The soldiers, seeing her resemble some kind of monster, kept their weapons trained on her and maintained their distance.

“Oh, heavens… why… why is this happening…?”

Suddenly, Lady Darsi felt something strange about her hands—they reminded her of Vitor’s. The mage who had used forbidden magic to burn Hielo.

“…Why? Why is this happening?”

Her hands trembled uncontrollably, and the puppets connected to her stood motionless.

“Th-there! A mage is coming!”

“It’s Bariel the mage!”

At that shout, Lady Darsi whipped her head around.

It was Tommy. Without hesitation, he charged straight at her. Startled, she tightened the puppet strings that had slackened.

KRAAASH!

Tommy’s magic-enhanced fist unleashed a relentless wave of heat.

The Luswena mages, caught off guard, reflexively conjured protective barriers to shield Lady Darsi, but Tommy pushed forward, trying to break through.

ZZZZZZ!

The barrier trembled and glowed as it met Tommy’s fist. Through the crack, Tommy caught the vacant, empty look in the Luswena mages’ eyes and frowned.

“Puppeteer of Toolun!”

“Grrr… I’ll tear you apart!”

“Shut up! You worthless brat! How dare you!”

Lady Darsi shouted, twisting her face in frustration.

Moving the puppets wasn’t a problem, but with her flesh melting away, controlling them was exhausting. She gripped the puppet strings tightly, guessing—

‘Is this because of the forbidden magic?’

If not, there was no other explanation. Someone else had triggered the forbidden magic, which was taboo.

It made no sense. To Lady Darsi, the mages were just puppets. Whether their flesh was cut or torn, she felt no pain at all.

They were connected by nothing but thin strings—so how had the side effects of the forbidden magic spread to her?

“Damn it! Aaaah!”

She shouted and yanked the puppet strings fiercely. The Luswena mages crossed their forearms instinctively, strengthening their barriers.

No more forbidden magic. After only two uses, she was already in this state. She had no idea how much worse it would get if she used it a third time.

SWOOSH!

The Luswena mages standing at the edges stopped maintaining their barriers and charged at Tommy. They decided it was more efficient to take him down than to waste energy in a stalemate.

Tommy shrank back as mages rushed him from both sides.

But then—

SWOOSH!

A familiar robe fluttered beside Tommy.

With the scent of tobacco in the air, Captain Hale appeared, flanked by his magic corps comrades. They surrounded Tommy and doubled the protective barriers.

ZZZZZ!

“Captain! Everyone…!”

“Ugh, what’s that smell? Tommy, are you okay?”

“Not really. Isn’t it already too late?”

“This guy’s got the same attitude as his bodyguard. Nakina said the same.”

“What about you, senior?”

“Idgal got beaten up and is resting.”

“…What?”

“Focus!”

As the mages chattered, Hale barked an order. They immediately fell silent and each took a Luswena mage to confront. Just moments ago they were on the defensive, but now the tide was turning. It was time for a counterattack.

With the battle shifting, Lady Darsi’s lips trembled as she shook the puppet strings wildly.

“That’s the puppeteer.”

“Hey! What’s with that look? Is she a monster?”

“Calling a person a monster? But she does look like one. Are you a monster?”

“Shut up, filthy Empire scum!”

“Oh, she talks. Not a monster then. Take her down, take her down.”

“Captain Hale, should we capture her alive?”

“No! No capturing! She must be killed! She’s dangerous—using forbidden magic!”

Grinding his teeth, Tommy boosted his magic power, trying to break through the Luswena mages’ barriers.

The mages supported him by adding their own magic, but with the portal still open, they couldn’t exert their full strength.

Martin assessed the situation and gave orders.

“Idgal archers! Dragons and black-armored soldiers, move to the upper flank!”

“They’re coming.”

The soldiers moved with military precision like an ant swarm to trap Bariel the mage. Armed with Idgal arrows and spears, they closed the distance, while dragons pressed from above, leaving no escape.

‘I’ll make them regret coming in such numbers.’

Martin waved his baton, commanding the front flawlessly. There could be no mistakes. This was a golden opportunity to take down the mages in one strike.

“Keep the magic swordsman pinned down! Don’t let him through! Everyone, prepare to fire!”

“Ready to fire!”

“Spearmen, forward! Charge!”

Lady Darsi’s eyes darted wildly. The battlefield had become chaotic in an instant.

She calculated desperately. While the Luswena soldiers and dragons held Bariel, she would focus on taking down Ian Hielo.

Two mages had already used forbidden magic. She had to use that to her advantage. Nothing was more certain to turn the tide than cutting down Hielo.

SWOOSH!

She manipulated the two mages soaked in forbidden magic. Ian’s cold gaze fixed on her—not on the mages, but on Lady Darsi herself.

Realizing this, she trembled violently, forcing her fingers to twitch stiffly. Then, with a voice hoarse and strained as if about to tear, she shouted:

“Attack!”

Two forces clashed. In the chaos of life and death intertwined, Lady Darsi lamented, staring up at the sky.

“Oh, God, why do you put me through this trial?” Her eyelids drooped and cracked, exposing the raw flesh beneath.

ZZZZ—

At that moment, a surge of energy coursed through her body. It wasn’t just her who felt it—Bariel, the mages, and even the soldiers sensed it.

Finding the source wasn’t difficult.

“…Ian?”

Ian, facing the two forbidden mages, clasped his hands and then opened them lightly. Mystical energy spread like mist, followed by dozens, then hundreds of concentric circles glowing brightly.

Usually, Ian simply commanded magic, but now he was drawing and controlling the magic circles himself.

“Nakina!”

She called out, but Ian didn’t look back, continuing to draw the circles.

Something was off. It was too complex, too vast to be just one spell.

‘Could it be…?’

Was he trying to cast two spells at once?

Nakina watched Ian’s back as his robes fluttered in the wind.

Then, a faint shadow split from his body. Though translucent and filled with sky-blue light, it was unmistakable. Nakina gasped and covered her mouth.

“Clone.”

A spell that splits the body in two. Not only separation, but controlling the clone is said to be nearly impossible.

Even if one succeeded, each clone only had half the original’s power, so the full strength couldn’t be used.

“…”

Ian’s clone opened its eyes, stretched its translucent limbs, and smiled joyfully.

“W-what—”

Nakina was shocked to see Ian smile like a child. Her disgust faded briefly as the ‘real Ian’ reached out his hand again. This time, she recognized the spell.

“Channel.”

A magic that temporarily borrows power from one’s future self when strong force is needed. Ian had accidentally triggered it during the Klipoford War, causing him great trouble.

‘In the future, I won’t exist anyway.’

In the distant future—after he returned to the world he came from—there might be no Ian Hielo in Bariel. Even if there was, he’d be a god, so this burden would be nothing.

Ian drew power from his future self through the Channel spell and shared it with his clone.

ZZZZ! ZZZZ!

The halved power surged back, effectively doubling Ian’s strength.

The translucent clone smiled and took a battle stance against the forbidden mages.

“Let’s go.”

At Ian’s muttering, his doppelgänger nodded.

They shared thoughts and will as one. The two of them simultaneously tore apart to the left and right, lunging at the forbidden mage. Then, a light brighter than the sun exploded, erasing everything in an instant.

Kugugung! Kwang!

“Ah.”

Nakina turned her head and closed her eyes.

This was madness. Using two high-level spells at once—and combining them—was beyond anything she could comprehend. The true meaning of Ian’s existence struck her in sudden, fleeting moments like this.

“Ugh—”

Tommy, Hale, and the other mages squeezed their eyes shut against the blinding light. The fierce magical aftershocks and vibrations made it nearly impossible to move.

Captain Hale frowned and barely opened his eyes, then froze.

‘What the hell?’

Mrs. Darcy, presumed to be a puppeteer, stared blankly at the sky. The light was so intense that even opening her eyes should have been difficult, yet she remained utterly still, not blinking once.

“—nida…”

She muttered something under her breath, whispering as if praying. Something was very wrong.

Hale tapped Tommy on the shoulder and nodded toward her.

“Let’s wrap this up.”

“Yes, Captain. But—”

“Ahhh!”

Mrs. Darcy screamed, throwing her hands up. Her head was stiff, her waist bent unnaturally—like a puppet strung on invisible wires.

“…No! It can’t be! It can’t!”

“What’s wrong with her? Captain, this is bad.”

“Your Majesty, please spare me! It really can’t be!”

“…Your Majesty?”

There was only one person she could be addressing that way: the King of Toorun. Her hands trembled as she grabbed a puppet, and Tommy instinctively understood what she intended.

“…Forbidden magic.”

“What?”

“Damn it!”

As Tommy charged forward, Hale and the other mages hurried after him.

Mrs. Darcy showed no sign of trying—or being able—to stop them. Bariel, a mage, brushed past them, but the Luswena mages just stood there, dazed.

“Your Majesty! Please spare me!”

Mrs. Darcy screamed, yanking on the puppet’s strings. Another forbidden spell flared from one of the Luswena mages. Hale and the others froze in shock at the unprecedented sight.

“Ahhh!”

A scream soaked in agony.

In that moment, a horrifying thought flashed through Hale’s mind.

‘Could it be…?’

What if the king watching from Toorun had ordered all the Luswena mages to be ‘forbidden’?

But Mrs. Darcy had refused, suffering side effects that made her skin melt away, and in the end…

Hale shouted as his thoughts locked onto a single point.

“Fall back!”

Shaaah!

“…!”

Mrs. Darcy’s body melted away in an instant, still alive. Only one half-melted eye blinked rapidly, as if crying out in pain.