The Rebirth Of The Hero’S Party’S Archmage [EN]: Chapter 48

Brienne moved through the crowd, keeping her presence hidden. Using skills she’d honed in the Thieves’ Guild, she carefully scanned the faces of passersby.

‘Searching for dangerous individuals, huh…’

Walking through this district, you see all sorts. From merchants energetically hawking their wares to male and female prostitutes dressed to entice customers.

‘Honestly, searching for dangerous individuals here feels pointless.’

Where is this, anyway? Isn’t this practically the headquarters of the five Thieves’ Guilds that dominate the Empire?

In an emergency, the Thieves’ Guilds would dispatch their five master thieves, the Obungyeong [Five Shadowy Figures, a term for elite assassins].

And it was also the place where she learned her skills as a child… As she recalled vague memories, a strong smell of blood drifted from somewhere.

“……?”

Kicking off the wall and climbing onto the roof, she saw the source of the commotion. A group of about thirty thieves was surrounding a pair of men and women.

─Those guys, that’s them!

─Those bastards have some nerve. Do they even know where they are, causing trouble here?

To the captain’s question, a woman in an ominous dark blue robe smirked.

─A place where I can kill a lot of trash like you?

─This bitch…….

The next moment, the thieves, who were no amateurs when it came to security, were… Brienne couldn’t believe the nightmare unfolding before her eyes.

─A, a, aaaaaaack!

─S, s, save me… Kuaaaa!

It was unbelievable. How could so many people be killed so quickly… Just as she was about to return to her group to warn them of the danger, a blood-soaked hand suddenly emerged from her chest.

“Sorry. All witnesses must be eliminated.”

How did this guy… Something hot and cold spread throughout her body.

As the man in the dark blue robe pulled out his arm, her heart, feebly twitching in his grasp, was torn away with long strands of blood vessels.

Brienne collapsed into a puddle of her own blood. Before she died, vitality coldly faded from her unseeing eyes.

* * *

The chaos began with a piercing scream, around the time a soldier arrived with good news.

“You found it?”

Hirpien looked incredulous. The soldier nodded vigorously.

“Yes! I’m sure of it. It was old, but the inscription was definitely engraved on it.”

“In what way? Embossed? Intaglio [engraved into the surface]?”

“Intaglio.”

Hirpien covered her mouth with both hands, overwhelmed with emotion, then kissed the soldier who brought the good news on the cheek before looking at Bardwell.

“Let’s go right away, Bardwell!”

“Of course, Miss.”

As Willis and Rain exchanged smiles, someone rushed over from the side.

“Y, you can’t go that way!”

It was the mage Yanar, who had been supporting the group from the high ground. But his face was covered in cold sweat. His breathing also seemed rough.

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Right now, there are crazy people over there… I saw a gold-rank adventurer die in one hit!”

What nonsense is that? Willis chuckled, telling him not to joke around, when a scream that seemed to tear the eardrums echoed throughout the underground city.

─K, kuaaaaaaaaa!

And the moment he turned to look, a scene that made his mind go blank was reflected in his eyes.

Dozens of people were floating in the air as if caught on invisible hooks, then being indiscriminately crushed.

As ribs protruded from the squashed fatty flesh, entrails and vomit poured down like rain.

The underground city instantly turned into a scene of madness and chaos. People, seized with terror, began to scream and run away.

‘That’s…….’

Rain swallowed hard.

His heart pounded like crazy. Countless pieces of information were chaotically intersecting in his mind.

‘Telekinesis? No, no… Telekinesis with such brutal murderous intent added to it is…….’

The answer had already been determined the moment he witnessed its power, but the conclusion was delayed by his denial.

‘Black magic(黑魔法) [dark or forbidden magic].’

Did a black magician come after me? They watched during the Queen’s incident, so why now? Did they wait for me to move away from the capital?

“No, it’s incredibly dangerous over there!”

“That’s why I’m saying I’ll go alone. Bardwell, take all the guards and retreat first. I’ll go and come back quickly.”

“No, Miss. Please allow me to stay by your side until the end!”

“Don’t say that! I don’t want to put everyone in danger because of my stubbornness. And moving together will only make us more conspicuous and dangerous.”

When he regained his senses with a deep breath, the group was arguing amidst the crowd moving in the opposite direction. Hirpien puffed out her chest, telling them not to worry.

“Who do you think I am? I’m someone who rose to the bronze rank on my own. Don’t worry.”

“Do you think the guards will just say, ‘Yes, I understand,’ and leave? If the Miss dies, those guys might all be beheaded by the family.”

Willis sneered. The commotion was so intense that communication was impossible without shouting.

“If that’s the case, I’ll go.”

He opened his mouth, taking a breath. In an instant, everyone’s attention focused on Rain.

Willis gave him a reproachful look, as if asking why he was ruining things, while Hirpien seemed moved by the appearance of a strong ally.

‘Don’t look at me like that. The one who wants to go the least is me…….’

But Hirpien had bought him a seven gold coin book, hadn’t she? Saying it was an investment in connections. He had to pay the price… Anyway, he was just repaying a debt.

“I’ll go alone. If you come with me, to be honest, you’ll only be a hindrance.”

He only needed one soldier who knew the location of the music box to accompany him. But Hirpien shook her head.

“I have to go too.”

“It’s dangerous. Just give me the money.”

The merchant might have already run away, but he might have to pay the price.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s my stubbornness. But I have to go because I need to confirm whether it’s real or not.”

What shone in Hirpien’s eyes was a determination not to back down… It seemed like a waste of time to try to persuade her.

“Okay, then follow me carefully.”

“I’ll protect you from the side too… Because that’s what I contracted to do.”

As Yanar stuck close to Hirpien, the spearman Willis sighed, scratched his head in annoyance, and stepped forward.

“This is bullshit! This just makes me the bad guy. Fine! Let’s go, let’s go! We just need to grab the item and get out quickly, right?”

After breaking through the madness to some extent, a gloomy silence descended.

The terrified soldier led the way with rough breaths, and Willis ran ahead, reading the enemy’s presence and choosing detours.

And when they finally turned the last corner that the soldier pointed to… brutally butchered corpses were scattered on the street. Flies were already buzzing around them.

“Ugh…….”

“Is this the place? Is this it?”

Rain silently watched Hirpien’s eyes darken with despair. Then Willis kicked over one of the corpses.

“This guy is still alive.”

It was stained crimson with blood, but the appearance was clearly that of a Dialle family guard. Hirpien gasped and ran towards him.

“What, Jackie. Are you okay?”

“Ah, Miss… I, I’m sorry…….”

And with a trembling finger, he handed Hirpien what he had been holding precious in his arms.

“When, when the owner ran away… H, how I barely managed to get this… But my blood got on it too much…….”

Rain could see the dark blue venom wriggling from the deep wound on the guard’s chest, corroding the surrounding flesh black.

A product of black magic, dark poison.

Since the heart was beginning to be consumed by the dark poison, that guard… couldn’t be saved no matter what. Hirpien began to sob as she received the music box.

“Hey, there’s no time to cry!”

Willis tore his clothes and quickly wrapped them around the soldier’s wound, then lifted him onto his shoulder. At that moment, a thick shadow loomed overhead.

“What, there are still this many left?”

It was a woman’s voice full of playfulness. But the power of magic mixed in that voice was… Rain instinctively stepped in front of the group.

“I’ll take care of this, so get out of here.”

“What are you talking about, let’s─”

“─I’ll take care of it, so go quickly!”

His heart began to pound. As if engraving the last traces of his life, clearly and intensely… Now, a single mistake would lead to death.

It was a long time since he had felt the murderous intent of magic so close, as if a knife was right in front of his eyes.

It would be quite difficult for Rain’s current body to fight while protecting someone against such a monster. The woman’s eyes curved like crescents.

“You’ll take care of it? I can hear everything. Is the kid underestimating me?”

A moment of intense silence, the distance between the two was about 12 meters. Cold sweat formed on Rain’s forehead.

At that moment.

The dark blue venom condensed into the shape of a scythe in the woman’s grasp, and she swung it wildly with a laugh.

“Oh ye who are the karma of aid wandering in the atmosphere, oh name of the tower. By my name, Libeni, dance the dance of slaughter here and now.”

High-speed incantation of a 2-star spell……!

The witches of the Republic, who use spells, created miracles by using incantations to bestow the power of runes upon all things.

Jing, the runes of aid and tower floated in the air, 뿌리며 [scattering] light, and the next moment, they rushed in with a wave of intense power.

“Magic circle construction, 2-star.”

The shapes of the magic circles are square and triangular.

The runes to be engraved are vortex and di(阧) [a measure of volume, here implying a surge].

Combination of earth attribute magic and fire attribute magic, 부여한다 [bestowing] the qualities of ‘vortex (渦 : swirling)’ and ‘di(阧 : soaring)’.

‘Huh, ultra-fast calculation of 2-star magic?’

The moment Libeni’s eyes widened with curiosity and bewilderment.

Kugugugugugu────!

The ground seemed to 솟구치 [surge] like a barrier, and then flames swirled around it.

The wall of fire, 격돌한 [colliding] with the wave of magic amplified by black magic, screamed sharply and caused a storm. The surrounding ground cracked, the glass windows shattered, and the skin was torn by the storm.

In that storm, the scythe made of venom and the staff 강화된 [reinforced] with magic clashed a dozen times, 吐하며 [emitting] grating metallic sounds.

As the fog cleared from the reverberation of the successive impacts, Libeni and Rain stared straight at each other, blinking as if they were amazed.

‘Osarius-style staff technique…… Is he a follower of Osarius?’

‘This guy, the way he uses the scythe…… is exactly the same as my staff technique.’

Is he affiliated with the Osarius school but ended up learning black magic?

No, if that’s the case, he should be using magic instead of spells… Anyway, what’s 확실히 [certainly] proven is that there’s no chance of 승산 [victory] in close combat.

I can only suppress him at best, but if I get hit even once by that guy’s scythe…… That’s the scary thing about black magic.

“You’re incredibly strong?”

The woman named Libeni said as if she was amused.

Rain took a deep breath.

Concentrate. He could feel the throbbing power of the rune in his bandaged left hand.

‘If I use the power of this 심상 [mental image/construct] here, I can 확실하게 [certainly]…….’

Just as he was about to take the opportunity to take off the glove on his left hand, Libeni threw back her hood. The moment he saw the face revealed inside, his 사고(思考) [thought process] stopped.

“Uh……?”

The plain dark brown curly hair was much longer than he remembered, but the common features and the freckles scattered around her nose were exactly the same.

‘No, how could this be…….’

It was really impossible to explain, but to put it simply, that girl’s appearance…… was too similar.

To the old me…… that is, ‘Rin’.

To be exact, it was exactly the same as the 모습 [appearance] when Rista and Friede 강제로 [forcibly] dressed me up as a woman.

‘Hallucination……?’

No, right now, the light of Bel Sedias is connected to perception. That’s an undeniable entity. His mouth 멍하니 [blankly] muttered on its own.

“Me, as in……?”