Foreigner Volume 7, Chapter 122

Volume 7 Chapter 122, Magic Sword ~ 30

　Several gazes looked at the battlefield where overwhelming power was unleashed.

「Wha. ......」

　The two men who were watching from the furthest distance with the naked eye could only shudder. A battlefield, they described it, but honestly, it was not a battle. What there was an insurmountable difference in power. It was almost like a massacre.

「I-In the blink of an eye, an army of nearly 500 ......」

　First of all, the army that spearheaded the charge was wiped out in an instant by sorcery that appeared to be a 【Scorching Sun】. The range and power of the sorcery were far different from that of the 【Scorching Sun】 that they had heard about.

　Next, the army was split into three, and as soon as the army that had gone behind them attacked with crossbows and arrows, they rushed in from three directions, but their bolts and arrows were blocked by sorcery that seemed to be a 【Storm Wall】 that blew up furiously, and the next moment, the 【Ice Storm Blade】 that was activated around the target almost wiped out the army... The few survivors were immediately pierced by numerous 【Ice Spears】 that were released.

　He did not keep count, but it must have been only about 2 minutes (8 minutes). Even Derek, who had fought many battles in the past, was speechless at the horrific tragedy. It was somewhat difficult to grasp the battle situation because he was peering through a telescopic tube, but all he could do was be stunned at the extent of the carnage.

「......the one who activated the sorcery attack is the 【Immortal King】, isn't it? Satoru just took out the commander with his greatsword.」

　Zelphys, a member of the Holy Sword Clan, who was watching the battle with the clan's secret art of 【Farsightedness】, muttered to himself and then sighed heavily. As he had said, he had rejoined Derek at the same time Derek was in a good position to keep watch. Sensing that the atmosphere was not just tired from exercising the art, Derek took his eyes off the telescopic tube and turned his gaze to Zelphys.

「What's the matter, Zelphys-san?」

「 ...... No matter how many times I see her, that 【Immortal King】 is still beautiful.」

「Huh?」

　Derek's eyes widened at the unexpected statement out of Zelphys' mouth. Derek himself has yet to see Leia Löwenstadt, the 【Immortal King】. She was a beautiful princess whose talent and beauty was so celebrated that they remained a fairy tale. It is not difficult to imagine that she must have been beautiful enough to steal the heart of the extremely rude Zelphys.

　Zelphys' voice was filled with trepidation as he murmured his deepest admiration.

「Hence, it is terrifying.」

　Zelphys, a member of the Holy Sword Clan, whom Derek does not think he can compete with at all, is trembling with fear. Derek was horrified even after all this time.

　If Zelphys were right now, the tragedy on the battlefield was almost entirely the work of the 【Immortal King】 Leia. Even that glimpse of power was so out of the ordinary. Zelphys had begged the head of the clan to defeat 【Immortal King】 Leia, but now, who was more dangerous, Satoru or her? Derek was not sure, either.

　Then something passed at the edge of his vision, and Derek ducked for cover. He stopped thinking when he recognized a woman in a long robe dancing just above the battlefield.

「Is that one of Satoru's people too ......」

　Derek tried to identify the figure with a telescopic tube and stopped in an instant decision. The next moment, about 15 fireballs danced around the woman floating in the sky. The fireballs were released beyond the battlefield as if they had a will of their own.

　There were the spectators released by the Senate of Ares and the patrols of the Academy of the Wise. Derek was even more horrified to see them destroyed with superb control and overwhelming power. It seemed that Derek and Zelphys decision to keep a longer distance than necessary to monitor the situation was the right one.

　Derek was still horrified by the fact that Satoru had a pawn on his side other than 【Immortal King】 Leia, who could use sorcery to such an extent. The 【Scattered Flames】 is probably an art that is impossible for sorcerers known in this world to manipulate as many as 15 fireballs as if they were still alive.

「......One missed. On purpose, that one.」

　Derek muttered to himself as he recognized the lone survivor crawling and struggling to escape behind the flames of the explosion. The woman flying in the air must have seen him, but there was no sign of pursuit. Rather, after confirming this, she returned to her companions. Fortunately, the distance between them was greater than necessary, and she didn't seem to have noticed Derek and Zelphys.

「Perhaps. She probably left it there to tell them of the folly of opposing them.」

　At Zelphys' head nod, Derek glanced at Zelphys and then looked again at the battlefield. The smoke that had been billowing up had cleared, and Derek could probably see the targets, Satoru and the others if he looked through a telescopic tube, but he did not want to see the countless corpses through a telescopic lens. Besides, when he thinks of the power of the enemy that transcends common sense, he doubts whether they are really safe or not.

「......It's not safe to stay here too long. We're going to retreat slowly.」

　Derek deliberately stayed off the road, watching the battlefield through the trees from a spot about two miles away. It was a tough road to take by horseback, but it was worth the effort.

　Satoru and the others moved faster than he had expected. He had seen the army and thought that if things continued as they were, it would be tomorrow or the day after, but he had no idea that it would be on this day. At that rate, it would probably take two more days or less for Satoru to get out of the valley of Horwood.

「If we don't report back soon, it will be the same thing over and over again.」

「Indeed」

　Zelphys also responded to Derek's mutterings, which contained a great deal of concern. The magical power of 【Immortal King】 Leia is even more dangerous and troublesome than the legend has told them. The result of an ordinary army, even if it numbered a thousand or ten thousand, would be the same.

「...... Oi, Zelphys-san」

「What is it?」

「Can you and the head of the clan win against that thing?」

「We can win. If it is Leia Löwenstadt, there's no problem.」

　Derek's question, with cold sweat pouring down his back, was met with a very matter-of-fact response from Zelphys. He shudders to think that a member of the Holy Sword Clan would say that Leia, the 【Immortal King】 who manipulates such vicious magical power, is not a problem.

　However, Derek accurately detected that he was reluctant to continue his statement. He silently urged his on with a look.

「I just ...... don't know what Satoru and the others are up to yet. That's what worries me.」

「I see.」

　If you ask me, that's true. Satoru just knocked off the general of that army with his greatsword. They have not seen even a glimpse of his ability.

　In a battle, the first and foremost priority is to get information on the enemy's strength. Zelphys did not tell Derek, but his own comrades were defeated by Leia's sorcery without being able to touch or even get close to Satoru. So the operation to uncover Satoru's strength as much as possible ended in failure. The fact that there are so many mysteries about the enemy's abilities can be a disadvantage in battle.

　Both Derek and Zelphys sighed heavily at the fact that they were still left with a sliver of uncertainty.

　Unbeknownst to the two, there was another person who was watching the battle. He was the one who was watching the battlefield from afar with a bird's eye view, making full use of the sorcery of 【Distant View】.

「Oh ...... oohhh ......, it's nothing short of amazing!」

　He is Count Edel Kraut, the head of the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of Ares.

　He is also a talented sorcerer with a high level of rijutsu and is one of the few people who can use 【Transfer】, although it requires the help of a magic stone. Because of his convenience and cleverness, he is the trusted advisor to the current king of Ares.

　He is also a competent agent and has several safe houses not only in the territory of Ares but also in each of the 13 city-states. From his hut at the foot of the mountain that forms the valley of Horwood, he observes the war using the art of 【Distant View】, using the spectators dispatched by the Senate as landmarks.

「Baron Dantes would have had no choice in the matter.」

　The spectators seemed to be watching the battle from a good position, neither too close nor too far away, and Count Kraut was able to get a good grasp of how the battle was going. However, he could not see who was using the sorcery. He thinks it was probably Satoru, the target of the battle.

　But even so, the sorcery was so overwhelmingly brilliant. In the past 15 years, Count Kraut has worked as King Ares' right-hand man and has seen many places, but he has never seen such sorcery that has the range and power to wipe out tens or hundreds of people with a single blow.

　If you expand the range of magic, the power decreases, and if you want to increase the power, the range narrows, and that is the nature of sorcery. It has higher offensive power than weapons such as swords, bows, and crossbows, and in some battles, a sorcerer is more useful than a swordsman. The reason why the profession of swordsman still exists is that the cost is low and the swordsman does not have to make do with the limited vessel of the soul.

　Baron Dantes was fighting the wrong strategy ― Count Kraut thinks so, too: he should have divided his forces into platoons of ten men, which he attacked one after the other in waves, without pause. The brilliance of the sorcery that slaughtered the army is indeed extraordinary, but there is a limit to the magic power. There was no way someone who could use that sorcery could repeat that level of the offensive spell so many times. It is a basic principle of anti-sorcery to aim at the opponent when their magic power runs out, but he failed to do so.

　However, some aspects can't be helped. In the first place, Baron Dantes had no experience in leading an army, and Count Kraut saw Satoru's figure through the 【Mind Image】 art, and no matter how he looked at him, he appeared to be nothing more than a crude warrior. The High Mentor claimed that he was the one who caused the explosion that occurred in the suburbs of the Dark Green Forest, but nothing but sorcery could have caused that much damage. Even Count Kraut did not believe that a crude warrior could have caused that much damage with sorcery.

　In fact, it was indeed impossible to confirm whether it was Satoru who used the art that destroyed the mercenaries that Baron Dantes prepared, but Baron Dantes also thought Satoru was a warrior, and his countermeasures against sorcery were thin. That is not to be blamed. In fact, Count Kraut has information about Satoru and Minerva, but no other information.

　The battle was over after a few minutes. The spectators also begin to withdraw. Just as he was about to break his 【Distant View】, a strong light appeared behind Count Kraut's eyelids.

「Nuogghh!?」

　Count Kraut remembers the sensation now. The 【Distant View】 art was physically blocked. He was just about to lose consciousness when the light flickered in his eyes, but if he had remained tightly connected, his eyes might have been burned out, and the shock sent shivers down Count Kraut's spine.

「I never thought that my 【Distant View】 would be destroyed.」

　Count Kraut had the 【Distant View】 art applied by having a spectator hold a charm and use it as a landmark. The fact that the 【Distant View】 was destroyed meant that the spectator was also defeated. The spectator was watching from a spot at least half a mile away from the battlefield.

「Fu, fufu.....With this kind of power, no matter how powerful the High Mentor and the Holy Sword Clan are, they cannot win.」

　Count Kraut does not know the strength of the Holy Sword Clan. But even so, when you're dealing with someone who can handle that much magic so easily, a High Mentor is certainly not going to be able to handle it. The way Count Kraut thought the Academy of the Wise works is that the High Mentor blocks the sorcery and the Holy Sword Clan takes care of it, which is true in a general sense, but from the looks of it, Count Kraut doesn't think the High Mentor can control Satoru's sorcery either.

「Hm, if it is the case that ...... I'll have to add a few more rewards.」

　Stroking his chin, Count Kraut muttered. As long as they are of this world, no one will not change their mind if you offer them a large sum of money. Count Kraut believed so. Every once in a while, a romantic who pretends to be a military man says beautiful things about loyalty, but even then, some of the people around him will fall for the money. All you have to do is to bribe them.

　Satoru and others have enormous power, but if he calls himself 『Foreigner』, he is an exile. If Ares can offer him a large sum of money that he has never seen before, he will surely take over the position of High Mentor after Coogan's death. It may be a little difficult to give up the woman, but it can be done if you have the money to pay for it.

　Count Kraut left the small room and ordered his men to prepare a carriage with 20,000 gold coins. It was too large a sum of money, but it was something that Count Kraut, who had the king's confidence and a large amount of money for his operations, could handle. Besides, if Satoru and the others follow him, he will be able to get back the 20,000 or so gold coins in no time.

　Count Kraut grinned, oblivious to the fact that he was counting the cost of his own success. Count Kraut's only job was to find the right moment when Satoru is in a good mood after taking care of the obstacles in his way.

　The man who is wielding a sharp sword in the pocket like King Ares's sword was thinking about the rosy future that was about to arrive.

　Of course, such a fool's dream will never come true...

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