Chương 82: The First Attack

Elric had had a very busy set of days. He'd gone back to the demonic sect and subpoenaed more material concerning not just that summoning incident but any other demonic attacks that occurred around that time, as well as any investigations they'd had years prior and years after. The elder had stumbled and stammered and made a valiant effort against handing over the scrolls, but he couldn't hold out for long with Elric. Elric had personally gone to their archives and ensured that he'd gotten what he needed.

It was a lot of information to sift through, and part of it was obviously shielded, but Elric could guess as to the nature of the events from everything he'd learned so far. The sheer volume of memories he had to document was outrageous. He would probably be better off hiring someone to help him, but then he would be endangering them, too.

Because he was playing a dangerous game of cautious disclosures and even more careful investigation, trying to trap Yseult in the various crimes the sect had committed across the years. It was more than just the random demonic summon years ago. There had been a few unsuccessful attempts before that, by random villagers. Whenever they were caught, the accused would cry and claim that they had been coerced into doing it. They would, however, never disclose who had coerced them.

Whenever they were on the cusp of revealing it, they died. Elric thought that perhaps more than one of the Elders was involved. After all, it would make sense for the sect to want to summon demons, perhaps to gain some kind of forbidden power, and rather than use their own blood, they might use innocents. It was unconfirmed exactly who was behind it, but it had happened several times, and Elric had seen at least one image of people standing in a circle as a rift attempted to form.

So far, none of the summonings had succeeded except the one Vittoria had seen, but the fact that they had been doing it anyway was already a crime in and of itself, a crime that no one, not even the High Ascendant, could ignore. Yseult had not been a part of them, but he'd known it was happening and had done nothing other than attempt to shut it down, or ignore it sometimes. He had never disclosed it. Elric now had enough documented evidence on his side to present at the council meeting today.

He'd spoken to several other powerful mages, those he knew were not allied to Yseult in any way. He had also been very careful about sharing this information, letting them know a full disclosure would be automatically released in case of his death or disappearance. Yet, he knew that Yseult probably had something up his sleeve, too. The fact that he had not attacked yet was a testament to how thorough Elric's defenses were, and luckily, Elric didn't have many loved ones.

After the death of his parents, he purposefully tried his best not to form long-term bonds with anyone, especially the mundane people he helped. He knew that they could be used against him in moments like this. The only person with whom he had any sort of relationship at the moment was Arielle, and at least she was protected at the academy. He hoped. Although now that Yseult was involved, he wasn't sure whether that would be enough.

He was tempted to pull her out of the academy and put her into hiding, but he resisted the urge. Not only would Arielle hate that, but that sort of rash decision might endanger her even more. So he kept her in school, hoping that they could protect her while he did his job. He was tired, but hopefully, after today, Yseult would have a temporary or permanent mana suppression and imprisonment. Also, Elric was fairly sure that, while Yseult may not have participated, he was protecting someone involved.

It didn't make sense for him to know this much and not disclose it, especially after what happened at Khor. Speaking of which, Elric had returned to Khor and used [Cathedral of the Living Light] to reanimate the scene of moments before the attack. He'd scanned the image to check if there was any group of people standing in a circle motionless. Through the chaos, he saw one short man at the edge of the procession, another woman at the other end, and a man at the apex of the triangle they had formed.

He suspected they were the ones who caused the rift. He had tried to search for them, but they'd all disappeared into thin air. It seemed that two of them were guests and had gotten on boats leading away from the Island after the incident. The shorter man was the only one who was local to the town, but not much was known about him as he'd moved there recently and kept to himself. He only had one friend, a man who babbled about everything and nothing, but ultimately didn't give Elric useful information.

Elric thought he could find out more by talking to the demonic sect villagers, but they were all under a fairly powerful oath. He would request that Yseult lift them all today, and that will hopefully lead to the end of the investigation and the beginning of liberating the villagers from whatever it was the elder was planning. It would lead to a complete paradigm shift, a total structural change of the world of ascendants as he knew it.

Elric did not know what would happen after today, but he doubted the rest of the sect would have much self-governance from now on. He teleported an hour early to where the council would be convening. He appeared on the edge of the steps of the towering limestone building of Rittersaal, which was the main branch of the Ministry of Stoichiometry. Here was where the council most often convened, and where the most important trials were held.

Rittersaal was the city at the epicenter of the world, where most ley lines crossed and the most essences accumulated in a balanced fashion. It was a city where different mage cultures melded, stone fortresses mixed with tall glass lightbuildings, fiery volcanoes bordering the south, and dark, icy caves to the North. The styles of the people here were varied too, a true cosmopolitan metropolis. A few feet from him was a bustling market that had wares from all around the world.

It seemed to hold more people than usual. Hundreds pushed through rows of wooden stalls, populated with merchants crying out their prices, punctuated by the sound of bleating animals for sale. From here, he could smell the sweet roasted chestnuts and the hot meat pies. His stomach grumbled. He'd been spoiled by the shop close to his home, but he hadn't eaten all day, so he might as well try the one here, too.

But what really drew him to the market was the sight of a teenage girl in a sunny yellow dress, running by with obvious excitement, cradling a hair ornament in her palm. He immediately thought about Arielle and smiled. He'd never seen her wearing any hair ornaments, but he wasn't sure if it was because she didn't like them or because she couldn't afford them. Well, she could now, but perhaps she hadn'tthought of it yet.

It was funny that in all her instructions on how to disperse her ill-gotten funds, she had never made a request for anything to be bought for her. The only time she'd asked anything like that from him was to buy charm-making equipment, and she still tried to pay him back for those. She truly was not good at receiving gifts. Perhaps it made her uncomfortable to accept them. He often felt the same. Still, he found himself strolling to the market anyway, following the path the little girl had just come from.

"Hair pins! Bodkins! Gravoirs!" A vendor called out to the passing crowd, before her eyes zeroed in on him. They flashed with greed a second before she bowed.

"Good day, Archmage. Would you like to buy some hair clips for your lady?"

"My cousin," he clarified, wondering at just how naturally the lie flowed off his tongue now.

"Aw, how generous of you. How old is she?"

"Fifteen." He assumed she was still the same age as she'd been when they met. She hadn't mentioned a recent birthday. But he would have to find out when that would be.

"Oh, that's a very tender age for a young lady," the vendor said.

"The age when she begins to feel almost like a woman, with womanly cares and perhaps a suitor or two that catches her eye." She winked, and Elric frowned. He didn't like the sound of that, especially since Lord Wesley was determined to set Arielle up with one of his sons. He would have to talk to the Lord about that. Arielle was nowhere near ready for a suitor.

"This one," the vendor said, raising a slender pin with elegant violet stones arranged in clusters to form flowers.

"The Amethyst Rose. It is popular amongst noble girls her age. Gotten from the Thessault Kingdom many days' journey away, my Lord. But so very worth it. I can barely hold onto them very long." He eyed the gems with interest and said, "How much is this one?"

"Only twenty gold coins." He raised an eyebrow. That sounded exorbitant. Was he being scammed, or were female accessories truly that expensive? Well, it didn't matter. It wasn't like he was saving coins anyway. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Fine. Can you wrap that up for me?" She basically jumped and bristled with excitement.

"Of course, my Lord. And would you also like anything else?" He was about to say no, then his eyes caught the faint glimmer of an emerald in the corner, the exact color of Arielle'seyes.

"Wrap up that one for me, too." He gestured with his chin.

"Oh, good eye, my good sir. That one comes as a matching set." She beamed.

"With earrings and a necklace as well. Would you like those?"

"Sure," he said, palming his inner pouch. As he was passing over the coins, the rest of the vultures descended, sensing a carcass on dry land. Elric was instantly surrounded by different vendors shoving their wares in his face. They, of course, bowed and maintained a semi-respectable distance, but the crowd that had formed around him was still mildly oppressive. The vendor he was with tried to help by shooing them away, but they only moved back a bit and continued to shout and beg.

Eventually, he was coaxed into checking out what they had to offer as well. One was selling coats and scarves, made of rich, insulating sable and lynx fur. Another sold boots that were reportedly sewn by the best cordwainer on all the continents. Elric spent thirty minutes exploring different items and parting with many a gold coin, but truly, he didn't mind. He was enjoying himself. He'd not had to buy gifts for anyone in a long time.

His parents had died before he could truly spoil them, and it wasn't like he was close to any of his various half-siblings and cousins. This was the first time he got to enjoy the gift of purchasing gifts. He hoped Arielle liked them. For the cloaks and the boots, he'd tried to pick the dark colors she seemingly preferred, but he had also selected a couple of 'fun' ones with ruffles and frills just in case she wanted to try something new.

After all, according to Heidi, the cloak merchant, Arielle was at the age where she might seek to experiment with her style. Nevertheless, Elric wanted to respect her comfort level. Once he was done and had a pocket full of jewelry and a basket full of garments, he finally went to the meat pie stall and bought one to enjoy. It was not nearly as good as the shop by his home–the spice blend was too alien for his tastes–but it was passable.

He planned to explore more of the market since he still had thirty minutes until his meeting. However, he'd only taken a few steps from the meatpie stall when he heard the unmistakable whoosh of a teleport along with some gasps behind him. Before he could turn around to investigate, someone grabbed his wrist. He turned to see a gasping mage, blood streaked over his face and down his robes, sweat sticking the brown curls to his scalp. He was stooped over to brace himself on his knees.

Underneath the blood and grime, he looked familiar. Germaine. Elric remembered suddenly. A warrior-mage from Yvoirren who received a royal title and widespread acclaim for single-handedly saving a village from a troll attack. He nearly lost his life to save others.

"What happened?" Elric demanded as the man stumbled forward, and Elric caught him before he fell.

"Monster…." he gasped.

"In Yvoirren, near the lake of Isabeau."

"Shit." Yvoiren was in Archmage Lenore's territory. It was a high-risk area, and Lenore was likely missing in action due to her frequent interdimensional travels. Darn.

"I was sent there to investigate a possible border weakness," the mage gasped even as Elric began to heal him.

"But when I got there, a rift formed quickly, and monsters escaped. They have almost gotten into the village. My companion is dead. We need help."

"What type of monsters?" he asked.

"How many?"

"At least five behemoths. Level 2000."

"Behemoths?" Those were demonic giants. Elric took a second to watch the man. He used [Empath Sense], which suggested that the man was being truthful. Germaine did not have any association with Yseult, to the best of Elric's knowledge, and his injuries were genuine. It was just suspicious that this was happening now. It was suspicious that a demon attack occurred when Elric was on his way to the ministry, and that Germaine had appeared here and called Elric of all people. It could be a trap set by Yseult.

But to what end? Elric's death would not stop the investigation. If anything, given the people he had told, it would make Yseult appear more suspicious. So what was the intent here? Above all, he couldn't ignore people in need while he stood here and deliberated on whether it was a trap or not. He couldn't let them die.

"Stay here and get help," Elric said, dropping his basket at the meatpie stand.

"The Council will convene at the Aula soon, but go to the Ministry first and get whoever you can." He personally activated the emergency response in the system quest menu that alerted all qualified mages of the emergency at Yvoirren and told them he was attending to it. He could hold off the behemoths while he waited for their arrival. He then got the exact coordinates and teleported near the site, observing from afar at first. There were signs of a clear demon attack.

The grass was stained black and red, the mixture leaking into the shining lake. He didn't see any dead bodies yet, but they were probably somewhere around. It was evening time here, the usually calming twilight now seedy and ominous. Then he heard the roar. He saw the first behemoth, a giant rampaging beast of mass destruction reminiscent of trolls. It had no skin, only striated muscle atop bone and dark voids where its eyes should be.

They did not cast spells, but they were stronger and angrier than trolls with the horns of a bull. Like most demons, they were above Level 2000, thanks to how much damage they could cause, and they were remarkably harder to kill. There were five of them in the distance, running for the row of huts over the hill. Elric held out a hand, and pieces of earth burst from the ground, trapping the beasts' legs.

They had enough strength to break through it, but Elric repeated the spell and stacked even more of the earth, causing it to climb up their bodies, compressing and rendering them immobile.

"ARGH!!" The beasts roared and tried to rip out of their bonds, but Elric held on with gritted teeth. His powers were not well-suited for combat. They were suited for containment, and that was exactly what he focused on as he waited for help to come.

"[Area Control]," he said, and the spell spread out, setting the magical boundaries for his given area. Nothing would be able to escape, thereby trapping him with the beasts, who were very obviously very angry that he'd halted their advance. They fought against the earth, their straining creating fissures and cracks. Elric held on.

He used his mana detection and balancing spell to scan the nearby village for signs of more demons, segmenting and locking down areas that were safe, just in case another rift happened, or in case the demons broke his hold. Those shields were adamantine and would eat up his mana, but they would not fall until he was dead. He held those spells simultaneously, but was distracted by a hiss that alerted him to a sudden missile from the sky.

He quickly threw up a shield, but the eruption still rattled him, and it loosened the reins of his rocky enclosures. Three of the behemoths broke free and charged at him. He opened the earth underneath their feet." Argh!" They snarled as they fell in, and he drove the two sides together, hoping to smash them in it. The Earth broke around their bodies instead. He gripped it hard, adding pressure, compressing them while they screamed in pain. The ground cracked outwards, up to where he stood.

Then, without warning, the earth changed. The hard rock he'd been holding onto became soft loam, a mudlike texture. What the hell is this? Even the soil beneath Elric's feet turned slippery. The effect spread quickly within the limits of the boundary, and as he levitated, he tried to see where the spell could have come from. Only an Archdemon or an Overlord, a powerful demon caster, could have done that. However, what would they be doing here?

They were typically reserved for mass invasions and superior warfare, not for some random attack on a village on the edge of Yvoirren? But Elric didn't have time to think about it because another missile was launched at him from a different direction, seeming to fall out of the sky arbitrarily. Elric shot out of the way, but then the environment changed again. Localized wind and rainfall tossed him off his path, and lightning nearly struck him before he fell.

Elric avoided the third blast and redirected the magical lightning with a shield into the second behemoth, frying and killing him instantly. The problem wasn't with the kill. The problem was what came after. Demonic souls were extremely resilient, so even after one death, they could resurrect over and over, depending on their level. For example, a level 2000 could resurrect as many as thirty-five times. Behemoths, while lacking the usual intelligence of a demon, were more resilient than most.

That meant that he had to kill them multiple times and fast enough to ensure that they stayed dead. As the one recovered, the remaining behemoths broke their bonds and thundered over. Elric hit them with every single spell in his arsenal. Density manipulation. Stoning. Using the hailstorm that the Overlord triggered. It had to be an Overlord, because the change in environment actively interfered with his spells, negating the effects. Using sudden gusts of wind to blow away his stones.

Turning hard earth to mushy mud. But Elric continued to fight, killing a few demons just to watch them respawn and have to do it again. Suddenly, he felt a pinprick in his ankle, followed by heat. He looked down to see a tiny, ugly, horned red thing at his feet. Holy Sentinel. How had he missed it? An imp had snuck up on him. It smiled as he crushed it in the ground But the prick hurt. Probably poison. It also got his thoughts racing. Three different races of demons attacking together were unusual.

The Overlord being here was even more unusual and extremely unfortunate. The most unusual thing was that help had not yet arrived. He was sure that the man who had summoned him should have gotten someone by now. Even if he hadn't, the alert should have called people to him. Where the heck were they? Why were they not responding to the emergency? Why could he no longer teleport? A setup. He had known there was a chance that this was a setup, which was why he'd personally filled the system alert himself.

But at the same time, it was absolutely ridiculous for this to be a set-up. He'd expected Yseult to attack him, but not with anything as obvious as this. An attack right before his meeting with the council? Not to mention he'd been seen by so many in the market, and the man who led him here would probably be investigated. And he'd told enough people and left enough clues that if he died, all the information would still come out anyway, and Yseult would be incriminated in his murder, which was a serious thing.

Why would Yseult do this? Unless he didn't. Unless there was someone else he'd ignored in all his theories. As Elric battled beasts in changing terrain, and the heat spread up his leg, he only wished that he had given presents to Arielle earlier.