Chapter 16

In recent months, the Kingdom of Elsida has been at peace.

This is because the Empire has stopped provoking this country. Having lost Fiona, a crucial combatant, they have lost the means to invade.

However, reports have come in that the Empire is showing suspicious movements again. It is said that dozens of magicians have crossed the border into our territory from the north and east.

Several knights from the First Knight Regiment, including Matthias, and half of the First Magician Regiment have headed north, while several other knights and the remaining half of the First Magician Regiment have gone east.

Fiona, who doesn't want to fight her former comrades, has been left behind.

Without her, the Imperial Magician Regiment is no match, and they should be easily defeated.

After seeing Matthias and the others off, the remaining Fiona was doing some voluntary training at the training ground.

After running, she sparred with Luke, who was just hanging around, using only her bare hands. However, even against non-combatant Luke, she was thoroughly defeated.

"Fiona, without magic, you're just a shrimp. I'm surprised."

Luke smiled wryly at Fiona, who was lying on the ground.

Covered in dirt, she struggled to her feet and sat down weakly.

"Ugh... I've improved a little, you know."

"Really?"

"Really."

After being thrown to the ground by Luke repeatedly, they did a light sparring session using magic.

Though he can't fight, he can nullify an opponent's magic at close range. Fiona drew magic arrays in the air, and Luke sent sealing runes to nullify and erase them.

"Luke, you're amazing. I've never met anyone who can erase magic arrays like that."

"Sure, I'm the best rune caster in this country. But if Fiona fills the air with magic arrays, I'll be erased before I can erase them all."

He laughed heartily and released several black patterns from his fingertips, making them swim in the air.

After the sparring session, they sat down to rest when a knight came running up in a panic. He whispered something to Luke, and the smile faded from his face.

"...Really?"

He muttered in a heavy voice, looking at Fiona seriously.

"Fiona, it's an emergency. Can you lend us your strength?"

"Something happened?"

"I'll explain later."

They followed Luke as he ran towards the castle.

They passed through the gate and descended the dimly lit stairs leading to the underground, where a small lamp was lit.

At the bottom, there was a door locked by magic. Luke unlocked the door and entered.

At the end of the corridor was another door with several locks. He unlocked all of them and entered the room.

The room, which looked like a storage area and was a bit dusty, had several large shelves lined up, with boxes and bags placed on them.

"Fiona, we've received a report that the Empire is using a magic tool we've never seen before. Thanks to it, they seem to be able to cast large-scale magic attacks without running out of magic power."

While saying this, Luke took a small box from the back of a shelf at the end of the room.

"Matthias is in the north, destroying the magic tools and gradually forcing them to retreat, but the east is in a bad situation. That's where this comes in."

He wiped away the black pattern on the box with his hand, and it disappeared. When he opened the lid, a golden bracelet wrapped in a shiny cloth appeared.

"I know it's hard to fight your former comrades, but can you do it for us?"

Luke frowned and held out the box to Fiona. Without hesitation, she reached for the bracelet and put it on her right hand.

"Of course. My important comrades are everyone here now."

Her eyes showed no hesitation, only strong determination.

"Please, Fiona."

"Sure, leave it to me."

Fiona hurried to the stables. Several healers in white robes had gathered, and they rushed east on horseback together.

＊＊＊

Leila had cast a wide magical barrier for the umpteenth time and was desperately holding on. Surrounded from both sides, she couldn't retreat.

Behind her, Muriel, who had been injured in the abdomen, was receiving healing, but the healer seemed to be at the limit of their magic power and could only stop the bleeding.

The kingdom's knights, magicians, and healers were all reaching their limits in terms of physical strength and magic power.

The enemy consisted of only seven magicians. On their side, there were ten magicians and twenty knights. Yet, they were being cornered, presumably due to the magic tools they were using.

Each of the enemy magicians held a large black staff embedded with several magic stones, allowing them to cast large-scale magic repeatedly.

Although their attacks stopped periodically, suggesting they couldn't use them continuously for long periods, the kingdom's side had no more options.

"Damn..."

Graham knelt on one knee, his hand on the ground, his teeth grinding. He had only enough magic power left to cast one more barrier.

Despite this, the relentless attacks continued, and finally, Leila's magic power ran out.

"I can't do it anymore!"

"It's okay, you can do it. Hold on with all your might."

Nina, who had taken over the barrier from Leila, was crying and shouting, while Jonas, who was already out of magic power, tried to encourage her. Graham cast a barrier to cover the parts Nina couldn't.

"Ugh, I can't... I can't..."

As Nina looked up, she saw a large magic array almost complete. They didn't have the power left to stop it.

The array was almost complete. Just one more pattern, and it would be over. It was hopeless...

Just as she resigned herself to death, large magic arrays surrounded them and glowed gold in an instant. It was a color they had seen many times before.

"...Ah."

Nina's tears of despair turned to tears of joy. A thick, dome-shaped ice wall appeared, enveloping the kingdom's people and protecting them. The imperial magicians' attacks couldn't even make it budge.

While the imperial magicians were distracted by the continuous lightning strikes from above, Fiona and the others dismounted their horses and entered through a gap in the ice wall.

The healers immediately began healing the fallen.

"Everyone, are you okay?"

Fiona ran to Leila and the others.

"That was close. Thank you for coming."

"It was really close."

"Fiona!"

Nina, crying, hugged Fiona. Everyone was battered and bruised, but they seemed to be alive, and Fiona was relieved.

"Leila, those black staffs are magic tools, right? Should I destroy them all?"

"Yes, it would be best if you could destroy them to the point where they can be recovered and reused, but can you do it?"

"Yes, leave it to me."

Fiona answered firmly and stepped out of the ice wall.

The imperial magicians were all familiar faces, her former comrades.

But she had no intention of holding back.

She released several flames to surround them, and while they were focused on defending themselves, she cast large-scale magic at the thick defensive walls protecting the magic tools.

In the instant when small holes appeared in the walls, she channeled her magic power into them and drew small magic arrays. She drew them to cover all seven magic tools, targeting the magic stones embedded in them.

The magic stones, hit by the flames, cracked and lost their function.

With their magic tools rendered useless, the magicians' attacks stopped, and Fiona used the wind to lift all the tools and bring them to her.

Deprived of their main attack, the imperial side was forced to retreat and began to flee.

Fiona watched them go, not pursuing unless they attacked.

With this, she could breathe a sigh of relief. She dissolved the ice wall, and the mission was successfully completed.

"Ouch."

Suddenly, a sharp, electric-like pain shot through her chest. She wondered what it was, but since it was just a momentary thing, she tried to head back to her comrades.

However, her feet stopped moving and wouldn't budge.

"Fiona."

A faint voice carried on the wind and clung to her ears. The voice she hated the most in the world echoed loudly in her head.

It was disgusting. She didn't want to hear it. She pressed her hands to her head.

"Fiona, come to me."

As she tried to resist the voice that echoed in her head, her heart felt hot and constricted.

She fell to her knees, clutching her chest.

"Fiona, don't resist. Come back to me."

The voice, clearer than before, completely dominated her movements. She stood up and began to walk slowly.

The voice of the person she hated the most, which she had heard for years, spoke to her gently in her head.

She didn't want to go. She didn't want to.

But she couldn't resist at all, and she walked with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong? Where are you going?"

Graham, noticing Fiona's strange behavior, ran over despite his fatigue and grabbed her arm.

"Graham, no, it's dangerous—"

"Reject that man."

Following the command, Fiona blew Graham away with the wind.

She was then ordered to create a large wall of earth behind her, separating her from her comrades.

Tears streaming down her face, she walked to a man with lustrous black hair.

With a smile on his ruby-red eyes, Prince Gilbert of the Empire stood with his arms open, waiting for her.

"Don't resist. Don't use your magic anymore."

Unable to resist, she walked straight to him. She didn't want to go, but her feet wouldn't stop.

"Welcome back, Fiona. Come here."

She obeyed and threw herself into his chest, where he hugged her tightly.

—Disgusting. Don't touch me. I hate you.

She had the freedom to think, but her body wouldn't listen to her at all, and she couldn't resist.

"Let's go back, Fiona. You can sleep all the way there. Good night."

With those words, her eyelids grew heavy, and she began to doze off. Her head became fuzzy, and she couldn't think clearly.

"No... I don't... want to go..."

She wanted to resist, but she couldn't fight the drowsiness. Her consciousness faded, and she slowly closed her eyes.

Fiona, who had lost consciousness, was carried away by the prince and taken back to the Empire.