The Border Fortress 12

A shockwave slammed into Petra’s body. She knew only one thing: the magical barrier she had erected had been broken.

“What in the—”

What just happened? Pushing down a wave of confusion, Petra glanced at Ben standing beside her.

“The barrier was broken.”

“A mage? Or a ‘northern immigrant’?”

They had both heard from Liliana that some of the “northern immigrants” were immune to magic. They had been surprised to learn that Gild was apparently one of them, but having one so close served as a convenient testament to the fact that it wouldn’t be strange for one to be on the enemy side as well.

“I don’t know,” Petra answered Ben’s questioning look. The only thing she was certain of was that she hadn’t sensed the presence of a spell to break the barrier, in other words, a dispel.

“Then it’s most likely a ‘northern immigrant.’ I’m worried about the margrave.”

“If magic really doesn’t work on them, it might be pointless for us to go. And if they broke this barrier, that means there’s a high probability that curses won’t work on them either.”

Petra muttered in frustration. But the idea that curses wouldn’t work on the “northern immigrants” was not theoretically strange. This was because current curses generated a power similar to mana. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the only difference from magic was whether or not the caster’s own mana was used.

Petra and Ben headed to the margrave’s side using a teleportation spell.

Even though the margrave had gradually recovered from the paralysis of his left side, he still couldn’t walk on his own without a cane. If he were to be surrounded by enemies in that state, he wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight. For that reason, two knights were by his side, but the chances of those two being able to completely protect him from the “northern immigrants” were fifty-fifty. If there were also enemy mages present, the chances of the margrave’s guards winning were almost nil. If there were mages, they had agreed to at least deal with them.

It would be even more reassuring if Liliana were here, but she was not directly related to this battle in the first place. They thought she was probably with Gild and the others, but it was uncertain whether she would notice the abnormality here. It was better to think of a sure way to defeat the enemy than to rely on a force whose arrival was uncertain.

Petra and Ben teleported, but since they couldn’t just teleport into the middle of a battle, they appeared in a place a little away from the room where the margrave was. Perhaps because it was a weapon storage in a remote location, there was fortunately no sign of the enemy around. The two of them opened the door of the dark room and peeked outside. While searching the surroundings with magic just in case, they hurried to the margrave’s side. They soon spotted enemy soldiers a little further ahead.

“Let’s conserve our mana for now.”

Petra, who had muttered softly, took out a tag with a curse circle drawn on it from under her robe. Ben smiled faintly.

“Time to show your true colors.”

Petra was also skilled in magic. But her true calling was curses. Curses required tools, and when she couldn’t carry those tools or had an insufficient amount, she used magic. But since she had known in advance that she was going to a battlefield, she had brought more than enough curse tools. The instructions from the Director of the Ministry of Magic alone would have been insufficient, but she was able to do this because she had received information from Liliana. Otherwise, she would have had no choice but to use magic while worrying about her own stamina.

“I’m curious to see if the curse formulas I went to the trouble of making will activate properly, you know? And I’m also interested in whether my curses will work on the people who are rumored to be immune to magic.”

Though curses were shunned in the Kingdom of Slibegrad, they were not completely unused. The power used by those few curses was just similar in nature to mana; Petra’s curses were different from the theory itself. A glimmer of hope remained that a curse made by Petra might be effective.

“Well, that’s true. It’ll be easier to deal with them if curses work.”

I know how you feel, Ben nodded. He, on the other hand, was better at magic than curses. He had also brought a specially made magic stone for when his mana ran out.

The two of them jumped out from behind cover at the same time and unleashed a barrage of spells at the enemy soldiers they had caught in their sights.

＊＊＊＊＊

Liliana Alexandra Clark let out a small sigh as she watched the ones who had broken through the highest-grade barrier that Petra Muirulainen and Ben Draco had set up. She had teleported to the border fortress just before noon just in case, but even then, she had thought there would be no need for her to intervene.

(So Gerulf’s target was here.)

She had assumed that the kidnapping of the descendants of Alvaldi was his main objective, and that taking the fortress was just a “side task” for him. It was understandable to think so, having heard the conversation between Gerulf and the enemy lord. But on second thought, it was possible that Gerulf had already been aware of her presence at that time. It was impossible for him not to have realized that she was a spy from the Kingdom of Slibegrad. In that case, feeding her false information and outwitting her—it was a basic of the basics in terms of tactics.

(How could I have been so careless?)

It was true that she had been agitated, but even so, she gnashed her teeth inwardly at how thoughtless she had been.

Magic did not work on Gerulf. But if she were to believe Gild’s story, there was a chance that the high-level magic she wielded would work on those other than Gerulf, who were not as high in special ability. But she didn’t know to what extent it would work.

When she had infiltrated the enemy castle under the guise of scouting the enemy’s situation, no one other than Gerulf had noticed her, who had been invisible. But there was also a possibility that this was not because of the difficulty of her mana and spell, but simply because it was not a spell that would harm them.

At this stage, where it was unclear whether her own magic would work on the enemy, she couldn’t carelessly conduct an experiment. If she were to make a mistake, she could end up involving her allies.

At that moment, she felt a large amount of mana. Recognizing the familiar presence, Liliana knew that Petra and Ben had rushed to the margrave’s side.

(As expected. That’s quite a bit of power.)

They were probably also using curses, but even for two people, it should have dealt a considerable blow to the enemy.

(If they weren’t descendants of Alvaldi, that is.)

However, she added mentally, and headed in the direction where she thought Ben and the others were.

It wasn’t confirmed yet, but there was a possibility that Ben would lose his life in this battle. As for the margrave, there was no way to judge, since neither his face nor his age appeared in the game. It was the same for Petra. Her name had not appeared in the game or the art book. So not only Ben, but she didn’t know if the two of them would be able to survive this battle.

(How much I should intervene is also—a difficult question.)

Liliana grumbled to herself. Her ultimate goal was to avoid the ruin that her game self had met, but she couldn’t judge to what extent the people who didn’t exist in the game and the events that didn’t happen would affect her future. But if she were to let people she could save die, it would be morally wrong. And even if she had no emotions, it didn’t feel good to have people she had been close to die because she didn’t save them.

(Oh, there you are.)

It was then that Liliana finally spotted Ben and Petra. As expected, the two of them were fighting the enemy soldiers who had infiltrated, as if to protect the margrave. But the battle was not going well. The two knights who had been protecting the margrave were covered in wounds. The number of infiltrating enemy soldiers was not that large.

But compared to the enemy soldiers who had been fighting the knightly order along the river, their skill was like night and day. It could only be thought that a small elite force had infiltrated the fortress.

(A mage, a knight, and—they are probably the descendants of Alvaldi.)

Liliana, hidden in the shadows, observed the enemy.

It seemed the enemy had decided on a formation: knights in the vanguard, mages in the rear, and the descendants of Alvaldi as skirmishers. Considering their abilities, that method was certainly effective.

Ben and Petra were focusing on weakening the mages, but the descendants of Alvaldi were getting in their way. Ben and Petra couldn’t afford to injure the margrave and his escort knights. But the mage could wield magic freely as long as they didn’t injure the knights in the vanguard—because magic didn’t work on the descendants of Alvaldi. But the curses Petra was wielding were slightly weakening the descendants of Alvaldi.

(Even if normal curses don’t work, Petra’s curse system can have some effect, can’t it?)

But it was only “some.” The descendants of Alvaldi who were being hit by Petra’s curse attacks grimaced in annoyance, but they didn’t seem to have taken much damage. At the very least, their attack power and physical abilities had not decreased at all.

On the other hand, the two knights protecting the margrave were bravely defending him from the vanguard knights. But it seemed they were reaching their physical limit. They were covered in wounds, drenched in blood, and their breathing was ragged. Ben and Petra were dealing with the mages with one hand and attacking the descendants of Alvaldi with the other, but their main strength lay in magic and curses. They didn’t have the combat power to help the knights.

(<Scythe Wind>)

Liliana decided to deal with the knights first. If the margrave were to be captured, it would be a complete loss for them. That had to be avoided at all costs.

Using magic while hidden in the shadows, a sharp blade of wind danced through the room and sent the enemy soldiers to the ground. The two guards, who had been covered in wounds, stared with wide eyes at the enemy soldiers who had been trying to take their lives just a moment ago, now turned into silent corpses in an instant. The margrave, who had been holding his staff at the ready, was also speechless.

But the descendants of Alvaldi did not miss that opening.

One of them leaped, aiming for the margrave’s neck, and jumped over the heads of the two guards. Liliana, who had tried to capture that man, grimaced slightly in the next moment—offensive magic did not work on the descendants of Alvaldi.

Instinctively, Liliana teleported the margrave. The moment the knife held by the man who had flown through the air was about to catch the margrave’s neck, the margrave’s body disappeared from there. The man’s figure appeared behind the wide-eyed man. From the man’s perspective, it must have looked as if the margrave had displayed astonishing physical ability and moved in an instant.

(—I made it.)

Liliana let out a sigh of relief. It had been a close call. Since it had been an instinctive decision, she hadn’t been able to teleport the margrave to a definitely safe place—for example, the mansion in the margravate. If she had teleported him in a state of lacking concentration and had failed, it would have been a disaster. It would have been better if the coordinates had been slightly off, but if she had sent him to another dimension, it would have been irreversible.

Margrave Kennys, who had been holding his sword at the ready to defend against the enemy’s attack, looked surprised at his sudden change of location, but his expression instantly returned to impassive. Thinking that Ben or Petra had used some kind of spell to protect him, the margrave glanced at the two of them, who were dealing with the mages from a distance.

Liliana, without completely letting her guard down, cast a spell on the two guards before the enemy could target the margrave again.

(<Heal, Recover>)

The wounds on the two men’s bodies disappeared in an instant, and their complexions improved. The two of them were astonished, but they quickly turned their serious gazes back to the enemy soldiers. It seemed they didn’t understand why their wounds had suddenly healed and their stamina had recovered, but they had decided that it was more important to defeat the enemy before them. At the knight-like quick change, Liliana smiled.

Magic did not work on the descendants of Alvaldi. In that case, she had to have the two knights do their best with their sword skills. That way, while they were fighting, she could support Ben and Petra.

(Ben Draco and Petra also look quite tired.)

Glancing at the two of them, Liliana also sent a recovery spell to Ben and Petra. Their complexions immediately improved, but unlike the knights, they didn't look surprised at all. Perhaps they had already sensed her magic.

(<Magic・Nullification>)

Liliana cast a spell on the enemy mages. The offensive magic the mages had been casting instantly vanished. The frowning mages tried to cast another offensive spell, but Liliana had already wrapped a barrier made of a magic nullification spell around their bodies before they could. Though theoretically possible, it was not a feat that could normally be performed. A barrier was something that was set up at a certain distance from the body, not something that was made to cling to it.

That was why the mages didn’t know what had happened to their bodies. Even if they knew there was a spell that could nullify a cast spell, they didn’t know of a spell that could prevent them from casting magic in the first place. Strictly speaking, they were casting magic, but the nullification spell was erasing the offensive magic before they could even see it. As a result, they were in a strange situation where they had the feeling of casting a spell but couldn’t. A situation that was normally impossible.

They stared at Ben and Petra with pale, fearful eyes. It seemed they thought the two of them were responsible for their inability to cast magic.

Ben and Petra did not miss that opening. Without even a glance at each other, they grinned and moved at the same time. Both of them had realized that the phenomenon before them was Liliana’s doing.

They quickly restrained the slowed-down mages and put a curse tag on them so that they couldn’t escape even with magic. Now, the only remaining enemy soldiers were the three descendants of Alvaldi. Only one of them was attacking, but there was no guarantee that the other two would continue to watch. In fact, it was highly likely that they would start to move now that the knights and mages had been defeated.

“Tch—!”

A sharp curse reached Liliana’s ears. When she turned her gaze in that direction, it was the descendant of Alvaldi who had been relentlessly attacking the margrave and his two guards. It wasn’t Gerulf, but he also seemed to have exceptionally high physical abilities. And probably—no, definitely, his special ability was also high.

The man was glaring at Liliana, who was invisible and hiding in the shadows. He bared his teeth in an intimidating manner, and Liliana unknowingly trembled. This was the first time she had been hit with pure killing intent head-on. She had faced assassins several times, but they never let their killing intent leak out. They were a completely different kind of person from knights and mercenaries.

“—Kill them all.”

The man growled in a low voice. His body swelled a size larger. It was the same as when Gild had transformed into a wolf. But the man did not become a wolf. His fangs grew, and his arms turned into large scythes.

“—Hmph!”

One of the guards gasped. The fact that he didn’t scream “monster” was solely a testament to his reason. But his hand holding the sword was trembling from the overwhelming aura.

(—What should I do?)

What should she do? Should she teleport to Gild and forcibly bring him here?

Liliana thought desperately. But she knew instinctively. There was no time to teleport. In the meantime, that man would kill everyone here. Liliana would be fine, but the margrave, of course, and Ben and Petra would surely lose their lives here.

(Ah, I see.)

Liliana suddenly understood. In the game, too, Ben Draco had died here. Petra might have lost her life here too, or perhaps she, who had been injured in the monster attack three years ago, couldn't go to the front lines and had heard of Ben's death in the capital.

Petra had not hesitated to say that she was in the Ministry of Magic because Ben was there. If the her in the game had thought the same way, then she would have had no business in the Kingdom of Slibegrad, where Ben was lost. Thinking about it that way, it was understandable that her figure did not appear at all in the main story of the game, whether she had participated in the battle in the Kennys Border Margravate or not.

“You, the one over there, come out. I’ll start with you.”

The man growled in a low voice. Everyone’s attention turned to the hiding Liliana. Liliana gasped.

If she was going to be killed here, she might as well try one last thing.

(In the world I lived in before, it was said that of the thirty-six stratagems, running away is the best.)

She had no experience teleporting with so many people at once. But if she didn't, everyone would die. Liliana steeled herself and dispelled the spell that had been making her invisible. And the moment she stepped out from behind cover—the man’s eyebrow twitched.

—-

ToC

Chapter 177