The horses carrying the British Royal Guild members galloped desperately. Their speed soared to their limits, causing the sound of their horseshoes to fill the artificially created passage.
The cavalry's charge unfolded like lightning.
Booom-I
A roar shook the passageway. Rachel looked behind her, finding dark red mana fluttering like a tongue seemingly trying to swallow the entire end of the line.
"Vice-captain!"
Seeping down, it then stretched upwards, melting both the ground and the ceiling. It liquefied the earth, causing it to flow like paint as the overwhelming heatwave tanned their skin red.
"Our rear is in danger!" Marcus exclaimed desperately.
"Get down!" Rachel pulled out Gallatin and swung it; the spirit in it released a blade of wind that pushed the mana back while providing a boost to their forces' speed.
It almost pushed their procession out of the passageway, but the mana storm still continued to crash through the sky. The wavelike mana was also persistently chasing after them.
"... Everyone, follow me!"
Rachel pulled on her horse's reins instinctively, thinking it was impossible to avoid the mana wave on the ground. Abandoning the long field, she led her steed to an empty cliff.
It was a quick but drastic decision.
"Get down!"
She felt her own body lean forward on her cry. The horse that carried her fell first, throwing her into the air. Distant darkness loomed in her vertically curved vision as she plummeted down a cliff with no end in sight.
"Windy-!"
Rachel hastily mobilized her spirit, allowing her to control the fall speed of her guild members by repeatedly creating ascending and descending currents. The miracle she performed defied the laws of nature; in turn, it consumed enormous power.
But the situation didn't solve anything.
Rumble-!
The mana waves were persistent and terrifying, chasing them relentlessly like a rampage of wild beasts crashing down from the skies. It burned dark red amid its storm, presenting its overwhelming majesty and destruction.
But Rachel didn't give up.
She squeezed out the last ounces of her strength until not a single drop was left in her body.
She wanted to create a shield out of wind and earth through attribute combination, which she hadn't progressed in even the slightest since she awakened her spiritual prowess. Shin Yeohwa, her teacher, warned her that if the spirits of different attributes collided and failed to harmonize, their summoner would be overwhelmed.
But Rachel didn't care about the dangers it presented.
She still had too much left to protect to live as a coward.
Clenching her teeth, she began syncing the chemistry of wind and earth through Gallatin.
Swooooosh...
A powerful gust blew out of her weapon, signifying the successful harmonization of two spirits with different attributes.
"Ah..."
With a single swing of her blade, it unleashed a strong yet gentle wind, forming a barrier to block the rampaging mana as if to embody her will.
Its adversary tried to advance further, but it endured against its might. The moment they collided, the force of their impact emitted a blinding brilliance, engulfing and bleaching the world instantly.
Eventually, the earth and wind spirits that protected them, the waves of mana that swept over them, and the glow that devoured the world all faded away.
Rachel felt as if her entire body crumbled into powder, the strange lethargy enveloping it seemingly dragging it down to the bottom of her consciousness.
... Amidst her daze, a figure came down and took her hand gently. As it pulled her in, she willingly surrendered her body.
"Good job." It said, its soothing voice a snowflake in a dream.
* * *
There was no harbinger of the attack.
The enemies appeared out of nowhere, numbering at least twenty. Nevertheless, this situation was quite advantageous for me. In this mana storm, I was the only one who could see clearly.
- Pour it all out. Melt the whole thing.
They gathered all of their mana and shoved it into the tunnel I had drilled, creating a wave simple enough to be ignorantly arrogant. They didn't even need a chant or a spell for it.
"Assholes..."
I immediately activated my helicopter's artillery system.
Since it was originally made for military use, weapons, including machine guns, were installed on the flanks of its fuselage. I also filled its cylindrical magazines with missile-like magic bullets.
Rat-at-ta-ta-ta-!
The magic bullets' flames ravaged the ground, their explosions sending soil scattering and winds roaring.
The unidentified raiders found me only after half of them had already been swept away by the artillery fire.
- ... Is that guy the mercenary?
They shot black, soccer-ball-sized fireballs at me. This time, they used magic that required a 'rite.'
RUMBLE-!
I climbed up to avoid them. With the helicopter's fuselage hidden amid the mana storm, their spells were swept away, causing them to lose shape or divert off to a distant place.
Barricading myself in the storm, I grabbed my Desert Eagle. From a pistol, its barrel and muzzle elongated, turning it into a sniper rifle.
With my aim directed at my opponents on the ground, I pulled the trigger.
Clank-
The stigmatized bullet easily broke the barrier and pierced through the heart of one of them.
Nine enemies left.
Clank-
Eight.
Seven.
Six...
They lost their comrades one by one, forcing them to retreat.
- Back away!
They weren't organized about it, either. The raiders ran with their tails between their legs, vanishing as swift as they appeared.
Did they become dust and scatter, or did they become one with the wind? I wanted to know what kind of magic they used, but I had no time to ponder about it.
"Kyeeeeh-!"
A viper hovering in the sky had found me. Even in this harsh storm, it flew straight in, aiming at the helicopter.
I turned the steering wheel heavily to lower my altitude, but it persistently pursued me. Even as I was almost about to crash, it fearlessly nose-dived right behind me.
The road screeched when we landed.
"Geez, this fucking snakehead..."
As dust rose, the viper smashed the helicopter's fuselage, causing it to spiral down until I triggered the bullet countdown. The sounds of the propellers' rotation stopped as time seemingly slowed down.
Keeping a tight hold on my Desert Eagle, which had turned into a shotgun, I opened the helicopter door, finding the viper with its mouth wide open right outside of it. It tried to spit out poison, but I managed to pull out a grenade faster than it could projectile vomit. I tossed it into its throat, then fired my gun at it.
Boom-!
The explosion caused the monster to scamper away.
I aimed at it once more as it tried to escape, loading the bullet with Stigma mana.
Clank, bang!
Fragments of its body scattered in different directions as it painfully and slowly succumbed to death.
"Phew..."
With the bullet countdown over, I took the helicopter to the skies again and headed for where Rachel had fallen while dusting off my clothes.
The cliff was much steeper than expected. Fortunately, my worries were all for naught. Their condition wasn't serious, unlike what I saw through my Vision.
"... Amazing."
Eleven horses and eleven men were left hanging in the air. They slept soundly in the middle of the deep ravine, lying as if caught in a spider's web.
I jumped off the helicopter, leaving it hovering.
"The wind is strong."
It was incomprehensible, but I landed on nothingness as stable as the ground. Spirits had always been such mysterious beings. I approached Rachel without much thought but soon stopped to put on my gas mask. There was a chance she could wake up.
"... Looks like you overdid it a bit."
Blue veins covered her body, a side effect of mana exhaustion and spiritual energy overuse.
I slowly pulled her up and put her in the helicopter.
"Good job," I mumbled.
Rachel opened her eyes. Dimly focused, they stared right at me.
“…”
For a moment, my body stiffened. However, she only stayed conscious for a short while before her eyelids gently fluttered shut once more.
The rain had begun to fall.
Taking a deep breath, I calmed my beating heart. Afterward, I purposely checked my SP and the system logs.
[You have exhibited excellent pilotry skills with Young Dwarf's Dexterity.]
[’Young Dwarf's Dexterity' is influencing 'Sharpshooter.']
[A new synergy has emerged.]
[SP: 3305]
My SP was increasing bewilderingly. I looked at the other British Royal Guild members, thinking whether or not I would be able to learn spirit affinity just like Rachel.
Soon enough, my profusely beating heart turned cold.
Among them...
One had betrayed their Vice-captain.
* * *
Rachel saw a blond kid with plump cheeks smiling brightly in her hazy memory. At the time, the child wasn't yet aware of her responsibilities.
The world's most famous instructors visited London every day for her back then. When rumors that the world's savior was born in England circulated across Europe, they began watching her grow up.
But to the child, all of them were just annoyances, bad adults who insisted on making her do homework she didn't want to do instead of allowing her to go out, play with her friends, or ride a swing and a seesaw.
However, among them, one served as her shelter. Not the old butler or the nanny that raised her since she was a kid, though.
He was just a knight protecting Buckingham.
"You're hiding again."
The man's soft voice was light-hearted, joyous. From the grasses she hid in, the child revealed herself, trembling. She looked at him and crossed her arms, her expression confidently saying, 'I'm willing to deal with you, at the very least.'
"Yeah~ I ran away because I didn't want to study."
The man shook his head at her brazen remark, but there was already a smile on his lips.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I don't lie. As I said, I ran away."
"You're honest. That's good. Keep going. Where did you want to go?"
She laughed, seemingly having predicted his reply, then began walking. He followed her.
The child's small feet and legs swung vigorously through the forest. The sports and magic that she had learned thus far proved to be a great help to her cheerful adventures.
Eventually, they reached a small hill.
Laying on the grass on the hillside, she rested her hands on her chin. The knight sat beside her.
"Isn't this place pretty? It's great here~" She murmured as she looked down at the landscape below, her eyes twinkling.
Following her gaze, his sights dawned upon a naturally formed flower garden. Colorful flora bloomed on each small branch, attracting butterflies and bees with their pollen and nectar. Looking at it seemed to put his heart at ease.
"It is."
"Right? When I grow up, I want to live in a place like this, growing flowers and trees. Oh, I want to raise a cat too~"
"... That wouldn't be bad."
The man didn't say much. He just watched her quite happily.
"Ah, look, look!"
How much pride this lovely princess would bring them in the future. But more importantly, how much responsibility would she have to bear alone...
"Hey, there's a squirrel too~ Look, squirrel~"
Watching her bright curiosity over the cute little lifeform, Alex Edmund Lancaster softly muttered.
'... God save the princess.'
Rachel opened her eyes, finding the sky half-obscured. In between the gaps of the clouds, the crescent moon shone.
She was still of this world, apparently.
She got up and looked around, immediately noticing her subordinates sleeping side by side.
She looked at them for a moment, then sighed.
"... It was you, wasn't it?"
No answer came back, but she already knew.
It was only for a moment, but she saw him when she opened her eyes, albeit only a faint silhouette of him.
"If you don't want to talk, fine," Rachel grunted. She looked down at her sword, finding the spirits still swirling in it.
However, she couldn't quite remember what she had done on the cliff.
'Did I save my comrades with this? What exactly did I do and how?'
- Normal wind and spirit wind are different. Spirits allow you to manipulate nature with more power. Harmonizing the earth and wind causes the latter to become stronger, leaving nothing capable of stopping it.
Xtra spoke through the crystal ball, seemingly giving her a hint.
Convinced he had some knowledge about spirits, she refrained from accusing him of not knowing anything. He might just be an elemental swordsman like her but didn't reveal his identity to the public.
- You will arrive at the Hall in two days. Are you in good shape?
Rachel checked her condition. Her magic core had seemingly hardened, considering no mana flowed in her, and her body had no strength. It wasn't serious, but she was definitely exhausted.
"I will get better."
- I'll find herbs to help with your exhaustion soon.
All she could do was blink. She wasn't used to receiving help like this. It was impossible for her to refuse, though, making her feel as if she had sinned.
At that moment, she remembered.
"Oh, what happened to the raiders? Who were they?"
- I've eliminated more than half of them. The rest ran away. I'm sure you already know who they are even if I don't answer."
"... I see."
She quietly nodded.
"Thank you."
- No need to thank me. Anyway... No, it's nothing.
He had been seriously thinking about how to deal with the traitor. Upon finding any evidence pointing to their betrayal, he planned to deal with them immediately. There was no room for Rachel to intervene in that.
- Take a rest for now.
At some point, Xtra's tone of voice changed to that of an old-fashioned teacher. She was unfamiliar with it, and yet it was comfortable.
"You too."
She laid on her back.
Her physique felt devastated, but her heart didn't feel as bad. Rather, she felt more proud than ever. The fact that she had defended the members with her own strength brought her great happiness.
"... Huhu."
Rachel looked at each of the ten members lying on the ground.
The moonlight lit their faces as they slept soundly.
"Thank God..."
She smiled brightly, recalling how fortunate it was that all of them were safe.
The horses carrying the British Royal Guild members galloped desperately. Their speed soared to their limits, causing the sound of their horseshoes to fill the artificially created passage.
The cavalry's charge unfolded like lightning.
Booom-I
A roar shook the passageway. Rachel looked behind her, finding dark red mana fluttering like a tongue seemingly trying to swallow the entire end of the line.
"Vice-captain!"
Seeping down, it then stretched upwards, melting both the ground and the ceiling. It liquefied the earth, causing it to flow like paint as the overwhelming heatwave tanned their skin red.
"Our rear is in danger!" Marcus exclaimed desperately.
"Get down!" Rachel pulled out Gallatin and swung it; the spirit in it released a blade of wind that pushed the mana back while providing a boost to their forces' speed.
It almost pushed their procession out of the passageway, but the mana storm still continued to crash through the sky. The wavelike mana was also persistently chasing after them.
"... Everyone, follow me!"
Rachel pulled on her horse's reins instinctively, thinking it was impossible to avoid the mana wave on the ground. Abandoning the long field, she led her steed to an empty cliff.
It was a quick but drastic decision.
"Get down!"
She felt her own body lean forward on her cry. The horse that carried her fell first, throwing her into the air. Distant darkness loomed in her vertically curved vision as she plummeted down a cliff with no end in sight.
"Windy-!"
Rachel hastily mobilized her spirit, allowing her to control the fall speed of her guild members by repeatedly creating ascending and descending currents. The miracle she performed defied the laws of nature; in turn, it consumed enormous power.
But the situation didn't solve anything.
Rumble-!
The mana waves were persistent and terrifying, chasing them relentlessly like a rampage of wild beasts crashing down from the skies. It burned dark red amid its storm, presenting its overwhelming majesty and destruction.
But Rachel didn't give up.
She squeezed out the last ounces of her strength until not a single drop was left in her body.
She wanted to create a shield out of wind and earth through attribute combination, which she hadn't progressed in even the slightest since she awakened her spiritual prowess. Shin Yeohwa, her teacher, warned her that if the spirits of different attributes collided and failed to harmonize, their summoner would be overwhelmed.
But Rachel didn't care about the dangers it presented.
She still had too much left to protect to live as a coward.
Clenching her teeth, she began syncing the chemistry of wind and earth through Gallatin.
Swooooosh...
A powerful gust blew out of her weapon, signifying the successful harmonization of two spirits with different attributes.
"Ah..."
With a single swing of her blade, it unleashed a strong yet gentle wind, forming a barrier to block the rampaging mana as if to embody her will.
Its adversary tried to advance further, but it endured against its might. The moment they collided, the force of their impact emitted a blinding brilliance, engulfing and bleaching the world instantly.
Eventually, the earth and wind spirits that protected them, the waves of mana that swept over them, and the glow that devoured the world all faded away.
Rachel felt as if her entire body crumbled into powder, the strange lethargy enveloping it seemingly dragging it down to the bottom of her consciousness.
... Amidst her daze, a figure came down and took her hand gently. As it pulled her in, she willingly surrendered her body.
"Good job." It said, its soothing voice a snowflake in a dream.
* * *
There was no harbinger of the attack.
The enemies appeared out of nowhere, numbering at least twenty. Nevertheless, this situation was quite advantageous for me. In this mana storm, I was the only one who could see clearly.
- Pour it all out. Melt the whole thing.
They gathered all of their mana and shoved it into the tunnel I had drilled, creating a wave simple enough to be ignorantly arrogant. They didn't even need a chant or a spell for it.
"Assholes..."
I immediately activated my helicopter's artillery system.
Since it was originally made for military use, weapons, including machine guns, were installed on the flanks of its fuselage. I also filled its cylindrical magazines with missile-like magic bullets.
Rat-at-ta-ta-ta-!
The magic bullets' flames ravaged the ground, their explosions sending soil scattering and winds roaring.
The unidentified raiders found me only after half of them had already been swept away by the artillery fire.
- ... Is that guy the mercenary?
They shot black, soccer-ball-sized fireballs at me. This time, they used magic that required a 'rite.'
RUMBLE-!
I climbed up to avoid them. With the helicopter's fuselage hidden amid the mana storm, their spells were swept away, causing them to lose shape or divert off to a distant place.
Barricading myself in the storm, I grabbed my Desert Eagle. From a pistol, its barrel and muzzle elongated, turning it into a sniper rifle.
With my aim directed at my opponents on the ground, I pulled the trigger.
Clank-
The stigmatized bullet easily broke the barrier and pierced through the heart of one of them.
Nine enemies left.
Clank-
Eight.
Seven.
Six...
They lost their comrades one by one, forcing them to retreat.
- Back away!
They weren't organized about it, either. The raiders ran with their tails between their legs, vanishing as swift as they appeared.
Did they become dust and scatter, or did they become one with the wind? I wanted to know what kind of magic they used, but I had no time to ponder about it.
"Kyeeeeh-!"
A viper hovering in the sky had found me. Even in this harsh storm, it flew straight in, aiming at the helicopter.
I turned the steering wheel heavily to lower my altitude, but it persistently pursued me. Even as I was almost about to crash, it fearlessly nose-dived right behind me.
The road screeched when we landed.
"Geez, this fucking snakehead..."
As dust rose, the viper smashed the helicopter's fuselage, causing it to spiral down until I triggered the bullet countdown. The sounds of the propellers' rotation stopped as time seemingly slowed down.
Keeping a tight hold on my Desert Eagle, which had turned into a shotgun, I opened the helicopter door, finding the viper with its mouth wide open right outside of it. It tried to spit out poison, but I managed to pull out a grenade faster than it could projectile vomit. I tossed it into its throat, then fired my gun at it.
Boom-!
The explosion caused the monster to scamper away.
I aimed at it once more as it tried to escape, loading the bullet with Stigma mana.
Clank, bang!
Fragments of its body scattered in different directions as it painfully and slowly succumbed to death.
"Phew..."
With the bullet countdown over, I took the helicopter to the skies again and headed for where Rachel had fallen while dusting off my clothes.
The cliff was much steeper than expected. Fortunately, my worries were all for naught. Their condition wasn't serious, unlike what I saw through my Vision.
"... Amazing."
Eleven horses and eleven men were left hanging in the air. They slept soundly in the middle of the deep ravine, lying as if caught in a spider's web.
I jumped off the helicopter, leaving it hovering.
"The wind is strong."
It was incomprehensible, but I landed on nothingness as stable as the ground. Spirits had always been such mysterious beings. I approached Rachel without much thought but soon stopped to put on my gas mask. There was a chance she could wake up.
"... Looks like you overdid it a bit."
Blue veins covered her body, a side effect of mana exhaustion and spiritual energy overuse.
I slowly pulled her up and put her in the helicopter.
"Good job," I mumbled.
Rachel opened her eyes. Dimly focused, they stared right at me.
“…”
For a moment, my body stiffened. However, she only stayed conscious for a short while before her eyelids gently fluttered shut once more.
The rain had begun to fall.
Taking a deep breath, I calmed my beating heart. Afterward, I purposely checked my SP and the system logs.
[You have exhibited excellent pilotry skills with Young Dwarf's Dexterity.]
[’Young Dwarf's Dexterity' is influencing 'Sharpshooter.']
[A new synergy has emerged.]
[SP: 3305]
My SP was increasing bewilderingly. I looked at the other British Royal Guild members, thinking whether or not I would be able to learn spirit affinity just like Rachel.
Soon enough, my profusely beating heart turned cold.
Among them...
One had betrayed their Vice-captain.
* * *
Rachel saw a blond kid with plump cheeks smiling brightly in her hazy memory. At the time, the child wasn't yet aware of her responsibilities.
The world's most famous instructors visited London every day for her back then. When rumors that the world's savior was born in England circulated across Europe, they began watching her grow up.
But to the child, all of them were just annoyances, bad adults who insisted on making her do homework she didn't want to do instead of allowing her to go out, play with her friends, or ride a swing and a seesaw.
However, among them, one served as her shelter. Not the old butler or the nanny that raised her since she was a kid, though.
He was just a knight protecting Buckingham.
"You're hiding again."
The man's soft voice was light-hearted, joyous. From the grasses she hid in, the child revealed herself, trembling. She looked at him and crossed her arms, her expression confidently saying, 'I'm willing to deal with you, at the very least.'
"Yeah~ I ran away because I didn't want to study."
The man shook his head at her brazen remark, but there was already a smile on his lips.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I don't lie. As I said, I ran away."
"You're honest. That's good. Keep going. Where did you want to go?"
She laughed, seemingly having predicted his reply, then began walking. He followed her.
The child's small feet and legs swung vigorously through the forest. The sports and magic that she had learned thus far proved to be a great help to her cheerful adventures.
Eventually, they reached a small hill.
Laying on the grass on the hillside, she rested her hands on her chin. The knight sat beside her.
"Isn't this place pretty? It's great here~" She murmured as she looked down at the landscape below, her eyes twinkling.
Following her gaze, his sights dawned upon a naturally formed flower garden. Colorful flora bloomed on each small branch, attracting butterflies and bees with their pollen and nectar. Looking at it seemed to put his heart at ease.
"It is."
"Right? When I grow up, I want to live in a place like this, growing flowers and trees. Oh, I want to raise a cat too~"
"... That wouldn't be bad."
The man didn't say much. He just watched her quite happily.
"Ah, look, look!"
How much pride this lovely princess would bring them in the future. But more importantly, how much responsibility would she have to bear alone...
"Hey, there's a squirrel too~ Look, squirrel~"
Watching her bright curiosity over the cute little lifeform, Alex Edmund Lancaster softly muttered.
'... God save the princess.'
Rachel opened her eyes, finding the sky half-obscured. In between the gaps of the clouds, the crescent moon shone.
She was still of this world, apparently.
She got up and looked around, immediately noticing her subordinates sleeping side by side.
She looked at them for a moment, then sighed.
"... It was you, wasn't it?"
No answer came back, but she already knew.
It was only for a moment, but she saw him when she opened her eyes, albeit only a faint silhouette of him.
"If you don't want to talk, fine," Rachel grunted. She looked down at her sword, finding the spirits still swirling in it.
However, she couldn't quite remember what she had done on the cliff.
'Did I save my comrades with this? What exactly did I do and how?'
- Normal wind and spirit wind are different. Spirits allow you to manipulate nature with more power. Harmonizing the earth and wind causes the latter to become stronger, leaving nothing capable of stopping it.
Xtra spoke through the crystal ball, seemingly giving her a hint.
Convinced he had some knowledge about spirits, she refrained from accusing him of not knowing anything. He might just be an elemental swordsman like her but didn't reveal his identity to the public.
- You will arrive at the Hall in two days. Are you in good shape?
Rachel checked her condition. Her magic core had seemingly hardened, considering no mana flowed in her, and her body had no strength. It wasn't serious, but she was definitely exhausted.
"I will get better."
- I'll find herbs to help with your exhaustion soon.
All she could do was blink. She wasn't used to receiving help like this. It was impossible for her to refuse, though, making her feel as if she had sinned.
At that moment, she remembered.
"Oh, what happened to the raiders? Who were they?"
- I've eliminated more than half of them. The rest ran away. I'm sure you already know who they are even if I don't answer."
"... I see."
She quietly nodded.
"Thank you."
- No need to thank me. Anyway... No, it's nothing.
He had been seriously thinking about how to deal with the traitor. Upon finding any evidence pointing to their betrayal, he planned to deal with them immediately. There was no room for Rachel to intervene in that.
- Take a rest for now.
At some point, Xtra's tone of voice changed to that of an old-fashioned teacher. She was unfamiliar with it, and yet it was comfortable.
"You too."
She laid on her back.
Her physique felt devastated, but her heart didn't feel as bad. Rather, she felt more proud than ever. The fact that she had defended the members with her own strength brought her great happiness.
"... Huhu."
Rachel looked at each of the ten members lying on the ground.
The moonlight lit their faces as they slept soundly.
"Thank God..."
She smiled brightly, recalling how fortunate it was that all of them were safe.
