The intruders erupted in hushed murmurs, questioning why the two young men before them remained unharmed.
"How?"
Yelled a knight in a sallet helmet
"Impossible!…"
Raged another in a great bassinet
"—Anyone not protected by the summoner should be as still as an oak tree…"
"Is it because of the magic advisor?" Inquired a shorter knight in a hornskull
"—Are these two just powerhouses that far exceed our expectations?"
Unease rippled through the knights like a silent wind.
Their leader hissed, "This complicates things."
Then came a soft chuckle.
"Then again… Why should it? I'll just adapt. Wouldn't be the first time a plan A didn't go smoothly."
Rohan stood frozen before the menacing black wolf—petrified not by fear, but by a supernatural paralysis that left his body rigid and his mind catatonic.
And he wasn't the only one.
Everyone—guards manning the gatehouse, archers on the walls, even the horses in the stables—stood trapped in that same haunting stillness.
Every living being as far as the eye could see.
Everyone… except the raiders— excluding the summoner, who noticeably fell victim .
"Rohan? What's wrong?" Calvin called out.
No response.
Concerned, Calvin moved to check on him—but hesitated, glancing at the raiders.
The lead knight laughed.
"No need to be wary. Check him. This should be a good learning experience." He paused, theatrically.
"We weren't expecting anyone to resist, but… this works too. Maybe even better than originally planned."
Calvin stepped toward Rohan. Elijah followed.
"Hey, are you alright?" Calvin asked, raising a tentative hand.
Rohan remained rigid. His arms refused to bend, his eyes forgot how to blink, and his muscles held the pose he'd struck before freezing. A faint rhythm pulsed in his chest—his lungs weakly called for air.
Elijah and Calvin pierced him with their gazes, trying to assess the situation.
Then came the distorted voice of the lead knight again:
"This man, and everyone in this kingdom, are now our captives. You will bring us gold… in exchange for their lives."
Hidden beneath his helmet, a smug smile slithered across his lips.
"Didn't I tell you? Your guards were as insignificant to us as horseshit." He gestured mockingly to the frozen defenders.
"Now look at them. If I'm careful, I can walk right past them. But if I'm not…" He twisted his foot into the grass, grinding it beneath his heel.
"I might just crush one beneath my boots."
Laughter erupted from the army—but it was lighter now, some stifled with doubt.
"So believe me when I say…" he continued,
"Refusing to act as our porters will only bring their deaths. Now—go get my gold."
Elijah and Calvin ignored him, focusing solely on Rohan.
Calvin spoke first.
<< Trapped in a moment>>
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Elijah raised a hand toward Rohan.
"That adds up. I can see it—ominous mana looping inside him."
'Disrupt the flow? I wonder…' Elijah began to think.
'If the wolf—an external force—can create and manipulate that loop, then maybe I can interfere… even overwrite it.'
He placed a hand on Rohan. His mana skin blocked direct contact, but then dissolved, reshaping itself until flesh finally met flesh.
'Here goes nothing.'
Elijah tried interacting with the mana swirling inside Rohan—tried forming a connection, hoping to wrest control.
It didn't budge.
'Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Think…'
Then—
A thought.
'Hmm? That might work…'
Instead of using the ominous mana already inside Rohan, Elijah opted for a different approach.
'If that mana is beyond my control, I'll just use mana that isn't.'
He tapped into his core and let his own mana flow into Rohan. To his surprise, the connection was… impeccable.
'What is this?'
Earlier, he'd been too focused on the corrupted mana to notice—
But now he realized: Rohan's mana pathways were nearly fully developed, despite lacking a core.
'These… mana veins. He has them too?'
Elijah stayed focused, increasing his mana flow bit by bit, gradually gaining control. Once he had it, he began filtering the corrupted energy from Rohan's body—like removing impurities from his own.
It didn't take long.
Rohan jolted away from Elijah's touch, confused as to how they'd gotten so close.
He opened his mouth to speak—then stumbled, as a wave of fatigue slammed into him.
"Are you alright?" Calvin asked.
After a moment, Rohan managed: "What happened? I feel… strange."
"Impossible!" one of the raiders shouted, as murmurs erupted among their ranks.
"He broke free?!" Barked another
Whispered murmurs boomed in the background
"That wolf had you under a trance," Calvin explained,
"But with our magic advisor… it was child's play."
He turned to the intruders.
Silence.
"You've directly attacked our kingdom. Not even a surrender will spare you from the backlash"
The knight ignored him completely.
"No advancements in magic, they said…" he muttered,
"Clearly, the rumors were false." He looked at Elijah.
"And the ones about the magic advisor… were gravely underestimated."
Still, he shrugged lazily.
"Nevertheless, we're leaving today—with pockets full of gold."
He scratched the back of his helmet.
"This ability is… sinister, you see. It's fueled by life force. Not the summoner's. No, no." He nodded toward sparrow beak.
"He pays his own price— being affected as well. As such, though his life force drains too, it's at a much slower rate. If I don't stop it, it will stay active—until every last person it's latched onto is drained dry. After your men die ,I'll save mine"
"Preposterous!" Rohan weakly protested. "Just as they saved me, we can save the others!"
"You poor, dumb knight," the invader sneered. "Calvin, enlighten him."
Calvin sighed.
"We're in check."
Elijah thought to himself
'We're indeed in a dangerous spot. Outnumbered. Running out of time. Either we drop everything and save as many lives as we can, giving them the opportunity to have their way—or we take the risk and try to defeat them first.'
'What's the right choice? No—what's the most efficient one? What will Calvin choose?'
Elijah glanced at Calvin, who stared unflinchingly at the knight.
"A kingdom," Calvin said slowly, "is more than its people. More than its gold. It's built on its principles. At least… that's what Alazard would say. Letting you do as you please would be an irredeemable stain on Richmond's name."
The knight's voice rang out again.
"Are you sure that's the right choice, boy?"
Calvin turned to face Elijah. The calmness of his voice subtly booming with authority and his golden eyes gleaming with determined resolve.
"Elijah. Magic Advisor of the Richmond Kingdom. Are you willing to die— to test your theory about the baby and the army?"
Sensing his resolve, Elijah raised his blade.
But his mind was in turmoil.
'Ah damn it, we're fighting after all! How am I gonna pull this off? Think, Elijah. The knights are rattled. We've pulled off enough impossible feats thus far to sow seeds of uncertainty in their minds. I might not be able to beat twelve but, if I destroy one bad enough the others might flee. I just have to put on a show.'
"No Richmond blood will spill today." Declared elijah firmly in response to Calvin.
And then—
FWWOOOOSSSHHHH!
Flames burst forth, engulfing his sword in wildfire. Its brilliance rivaled the midday sun, its heat as fierce as the forge that had birthed it.
Witnessing the impossible feat. The invaders took several staggered steps back, instinctively retreating. Three, turned and ran. Leaving the rest looking to their leader, uncertainty in their eyes.
Calvin turned to Rohan.
"Guard the entrance. No one passes unless it's over your corpse."
Rohan clenched his blade. "Yes, sir!"
Finally—
Calvin faced the knight.
"Right choice?" he echoed. "Who cares about that? I'll forge my own path. Whatever follows as a result… so be it."
Elijah condensed the flames on his sword. The wild fire was now replaced by a blade polished with flames.
A distorted voice boomed.
"So be it, I was hoping to save this incase we encountered one of the other two but whatever"
He raised a card of his own. A magic circle was imprinted on the back and an image engraved in the front.
"It's time to wipe out the Richmond kingdom"