CHAPTER 32……………
“Woooooo!”
Hog charged forward with his shield raised; he ran like a cart with no horse.
“Move! Get out of the way!”
“U-uaaah?!”
“W-what…?!”
The elite fighters who were in the middle of battle saw Hog charging and split to either side to make a path.
The Snowworm that tried to block Hog’s path—
“Krr— Euk—?!”
—was struck by the shield and flew off to the side.
“Waaaah!”
Hog kept screaming and ran forward, and forward only.
Gardner and the rest of the combat squad looked flustered by Hog’s unexpected, reckless action.
“What is he doing…?”
“Ronan, do you know— uh?!”
“I’ll go out.”
Ronan, who had coordinated with him beforehand, calmly did what needed doing.
“You’re going out?! Where?!”
“If we go out, close the gate!”
Ignoring the senior officers calling to him, Ronan ran along the path Hog had smashed open.
Screech— skreek—?!
He stabbed at the Snowworm that had been flung off by Hog’s shield and threw spears, helping to clear the way as he ran.
Still, there were too many Snowworms blocking the way.
Kyeek—!
They couldn’t stop the ones that charged from beside the path Hog was running down.
But they didn’t have to force a stop.
When a thorn-like arm of a Snowworm snapped at Hog’s shoulder,
kkagak— the sound of metal scraping— and the blow slid off to the side.
All that remained on Hog’s shoulder was a red mark.
His skin hadn’t even been torn.
It was the magic I’d inscribed on Hog as his second sigil.
The effect of .
A second sigil meant to redirect the force that kept increasing because of .
Normally, enhancement magic is the sigil most commonly engraved when making an artifact, but it’s a type of magic that shouldn’t be inscribed on humans.
A reinforcement spell created with a circle uses up all the mana put into it and naturally expires.
But when etched as an inscription, it continually charges mana and keeps activating the magic.
Instead of the sigil storing mana, the effect of kept going.
That’s why Hog’s strength increased without him even noticing.
And to deal with that, I engraved the magic .
An inscription must follow the nature of the first magic engraved.
So the only thing you can engrave on top is another enhancement spell.
I implemented it to draw off the overflow from .
Like creating a sluice gate on a dam to gather the overflowing power, then opening it at the needed moment to trigger .
And the result:
“Hrgh!”
Hog, who had single-handedly plowed through dozens of Snowworms, now had skin so hard that not a single wound appeared.
『 The contractor casts a spell. 』
A blue light flashed and a “magic” unfolded in one hand.
I grabbed the book and leapt from the watchtower.
Vroom.
I used the levitation spell to descend slowly toward the ground.
Ronan, running along the path Hog had opened, started running beside me.
“Close the gate!”
We shouted to the crew holding the winches as Hog, who had already burst outside the fortress, passed through the huge iron grille.
“B-but—”
“You want to die?! Close it now!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Only after being scolded did they start cranking the winch to release the chains.
Clank, clank—the iron grate fell quickly.
Kwang.
The great iron grate slammed down behind us and the fortress gate was shut tight.
Outside the fortress were just the three of us: me, Ronan, and Hog.
Meanwhile—
Kkiggikik—!
Lying beyond were hundreds upon hundreds of Snowworms.
They opened their round mouths wide, aiming at us who had run out of the fortress.
“From now on we’ll kill every one of those things ourselves.”
I patted Ronan’s shoulder and walked forward.
“You can do it.”
We took our positions behind Hog’s solid shield.
“You— you trust me?”
“Of course!”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Hog answered loudly without a scratch, and Ronan replied indifferently as he reset his grip on his sword.
“If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have come out here in the first place.”
“You always have to add one more line, don’t you?”
“Shut up.”
Sss.
Ronan extended his sword in front of him.
“Cast your spells before they charge.”
“Who does he think he is—my master…?”
I snorted and began to spin mana in the circle.
“You haven’t forgotten, right? You’re not killing them — you’re protecting me, you hear? Protect me only.”
I held out my hand, which glowed faintly blue, and urged him.
“Then we’ll win.”
Ronan didn’t answer.
All his senses were already focused on the Snowworms coming from all directions.
In his head he was already charging forward, swinging his sword at them.
But he waited.
“<Lightly, lightly, run, Haste.>”
“<Hard and sturdy, cover, Hardskin.>”
“<Sensitive and agile, feel, Sensor.>”
“<Sharp and keen, be honed, Sharp.>”
“<Clear and vivid, look, Vision.>”
Esric’s enhancement spells streamed on without pause until they were complete.
Kriiik—!
Of course, the Snowworms didn’t wait.
They lunged with wide-open maws to bite and swallow the three of us.
But Esric didn’t stop chanting.
Ronan didn’t raise his sword.
Both of them trusted Hog.
“Haaap!”
Hog swung his shield at the charging Snowworms.
The Snowworm that had thrust its maw was smashed by the shield.
Another Snowworm stabbed with a sharp arm like a spear.
Smash— but even that couldn’t pierce Hog’s shield.
Kiii— Eek—!
The Snowworm let out a pitiful, painful cry as its arm snapped off.
“Don’t pass! Going through!”
Hog protected the two of us safely from the Snowworms charging from all directions.
Despite the overwhelming numbers, he didn’t let a single Snowworm pass behind him.
Because of that, the long series of enhancement spells finally neared their end.
“<On scorching, burning flame, on the keenness of a honed blade, gather like dew and flow.>”
At last, Esric imprinted the final enhancement spell onto Ronan’s sword.
“<Enchant.>”
Sizzle.
A crimson flame rose along Ronan’s blade.
The sticky remains from slashing and stabbing Snowworms until now were consumed by the flames.
The blade was clean and gleamed sharply, the flames dancing quietly along it.
Kwak.
Sensing the moment, Ronan readjusted his grip, pushed off the ground, and dashed forward.
Kkiggikik—!
He charged at the Snowworms that lunged for Hog.
Sliding like water beneath Hog’s raised shield, he drew his sword in a wide arc.
The flames that ran along the blade traced the path.
Kraaaah—!
They burst forth powerfully.
Not only the charging Snowworms but a dozen standing behind them were swallowed by the blaze.
Kieeeek—!
A piercing scream rang in my ears.
Everything sounded clearer, sharper than ever.
Thanks to the countless enhancement spells stacked on him, every sense felt as if it had just awakened—strangely vivid.
His body felt not merely light but weightless.
Paang.
The moment he pushed off the ground his body floated.
He leapt far above countless Snowworm heads and dropped right into their midst.
Spinning, he made a wide circular slash with his sword.
Sizzle.
The flames along the blade trembled—
Fwoom—!
—then burst outward in a circle around Ronan.
In an instant, several Snowworms were consumed by the flames.
Trampling the writhing, burning Snowworms, Ronan ran forward swinging his blade.
His body, made unbelievably light, moved faster than he’d thought possible.
He was incredible.
He had received enhanced magic before a few times, but never had his body been this swift and buoyant.
Maybe those times had been practice; perhaps this was full power… or not, since Esric might already be preparing the next magic, so maybe it wasn’t even full power yet?
…That madman.
Ronan spat an expletive of admiration toward Esric and swung his sword at the Snowworms surging toward him.
The flaming blade cut them down without hesitation.
No sticky gore or flesh clung to it.
The sword remained razor-sharp and the flames burned more ferociously.
All Ronan had to do was keep swinging until the enhancement ended.
More…
He pictured Siruela from last winter: the pale green aura that grew outward like tree branches.
Faster…
He knew the enhancement magic wasn’t his own strength.
But even enhanced, he couldn’t compare to Siruela.
Stronger…!
Ronan moved without rest to carve open the path he needed to go.
In the darkness that had fallen beyond the horizon, only Ronan’s sword shone brightly.
“Wow…”
“What is that…?”
“He’s insane, seriously…”
The mages on the fortress walls and watchtowers stood with their mouths open, all in admiration.
In the darkened battlefield the only thing visible was Ronan’s sword, blazing and throwing fire in all directions.
And Snowworms burning away in that fire.
Gardner and the combat squad below pressed close to the iron gate, watching.
“Captain… what, what is that?”
“That’s Ronan… right? Yes?”
“I… I don’t know…”
Even Gardner stood with his mouth agape as if spellbound.
“What the— what is that!”
“Move aside! Let us— see!”
“Hey, hey, don’t push! It’ll collapse! It’ll fall!”
Several combat squad members, unable to contain their curiosity, rushed up to the watchtower.
Far below Ronan swung his flame-wreathed sword.
Fwooom—!
Flames rose along the blade’s arc.
Sparks flew in all directions, the fire raging and sealing off the advancing Snowworms.
Tommy, a combat squad member on Hagen’s watchtower, let out an awed “woah” as he watched.
“But why can’t those bugs pass through that flame? When you cast magic, they used to pass just fine.”
“That’s not it.”
Hagen clicked his tongue and said.
“They can’t pass because Ronan is there.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you think Snowworms had some kind of reason, some intelligence, when they attacked us?”
“That’s… not it.”
“They were just attacking because we were in front of them. If they had even a bit of reason or intelligence, with that many heads they wouldn’t have failed to cross the ice wall all this time. So even now they’re just… ”
“…attacking whoever’s in front of them.”
Tommy, understanding Hagen’s words, nodded in greater awe.
He wasn’t the only one amazed.
All the troops watching Ronan fought were filled with admiration.
Everyone knew he was special.
His history as an impostor of the royal family aside, the fact that he had been personally taught the sword by Siruela was notable.
The combat squad had seen Ronan’s swordsmanship improve greatly over the past year.
They knew it, yet still—
“That crazy bastard…”
“He seriously looks like the captain, doesn’t he?”
“This is unreal…”
They looked at Ronan as if they couldn’t believe it.
But Hagen bit his lip anxiously.
“…”
Ronan was outstanding, that was true.
But that power wasn’t entirely his.
When Esric’s enhancement magic ended, Ronan’s flames would die down.
Could he kill all those Snowworms before that happened?
And what about the clusters that would follow?
Would they leave the next masses to Siruela to handle?
Unease and questions twisted together in Hagen’s mind.
“Um…”
Beside Hagen, Barent quietly raised a finger.
“Captain, why aren’t you activating any spells?”
“…What? What spells?”
“You’ve been constantly chanting. I can… feel it. Mana leaking out of you…”
Barent pointed with his finger toward a place swallowed by thick darkness.
In the faintly glittering blue light, the large back of Hog and Esric moving his lips without pause could be seen.
“There’s clearly mana still flowing out…”
Barent, who had made circles, could sense mana’s movement—unlike Hagen, who had the sigil engraved—so he was puzzled.
“Why is nothing activating?”
“It’s not that nothing is activating.”
Hagen, though he couldn’t sense mana, had gained more magical knowledge from the books and from Esric.
The knot of questions in his head unraveled cleanly.
“It’s active, but it’s not taking effect.”
“…Why?”
“Because the power of the magic isn’t enough.”
Hagen looked at the faintly shimmering blue light with eyes full of expectation and said,
“It’s not enough to kill all those bugs.”
