Chapter 228: Side Story 20

Chapter 228: Side Story 20

"......!"

Sabina staggered and barely managed to regain her balance by leaning against a nearby tree.

Her gaze was inevitably drawn to one place.

A massive flame, wrapped in a searing red band so bright it hurt the eyes even in the thick darkness, had swiftly overturned the sky.

'Could it be, the wolf knew that an explosion was going to happen...?'

From the detached palace where Grand Duke Valentine was said to be trapped, thick black smoke rose incessantly, covering the sky.

It was an ominous sight she had never seen before in her life.

'Grand Duke Valentine has gone berserk.'

She didn't know why he was trapped in the detached palace, nor why he was confined within several layers of barriers.

And she hadn't even tried to find out.

But at this moment, Sabina could no longer pretend to be ignorant.

Grand Duke Valentine was in a state too dangerous even for the mages to handle, and there was no way to control him now...

'No, no, that can't be. There are several layers of barriers in the detached palace, so the Grand Duke shouldn't be able to get out.'

The mages of the Magic Tower are famous, so they should be able to prevent an explosion like that.

And even if the barrier was broken, he could be subdued and imprisoned again.

"It's okay. There's no need to worry. If I run away now..."

Sabina turned her back.

She gripped her bag strap more tightly and moved forward.

No, she wanted to move. Right now.

She clenched her teeth.

It was rather a blessing in disguise. In this chaos, there would be no one to chase after her as she fled.

And if there was a problem with the Duke's barrier, maybe the mages had lifted the barrier magic on the mountain side.

Focusing all their efforts on stopping Grand Duke Valentine.

After all, even if she returned to the castle, nothing would change.

Even though the Grand Prince Valentine was currently away, and he had taken the Black Hawks as his attendants, and even though there was a need for one more person to stop the Duke...

Still, they could somehow hold on until the Grand Prince Valentine returned.

However.

"Damn it."

She couldn't seem to take a step away.

Sabina recalled Dana's kind smile.

She had told her to have a good dream.

But it turned not only into a nightmare but also the last one...

'If I go back, I might not have another chance to escape.'

Even so, Sabina was already running.

She knew that the Grand Prince Valentine would return soon after hearing the news.

But if they lost their lives in the brief time when both Sabina and the Grand Prince Valentine were absent, wouldn't that be the end?

It wasn't just Dana. There were many people in the Grand Duke's castle who didn't fit the infamous name of Valentine.

'What a fool I am.'

She had finally gotten a chance.

Sabina gasped for breath as she ran down the slope.

When she thought she couldn't get any closer no matter how much she ran, as the wolf had left her so far away.

When she lifted her head, gasping for breath, she saw the detached palace engulfed in huge flames from a considerably close distance.

The old castle, with its walls collapsed and turning black, looked like the remains left after a meteorite had fallen.

And in the center of the pieces of bodies caught in the explosion stood Grand Duke Valentine....

As if submerged in a red sea made of fire and blood.

The reality was more horrific than she had imagined, making it feel almost unreal.

"Damn, stop it somehow!"

Sabina heard someone's shout.

"The Grand Duke must not be allowed to escape from the castle!"

"But Sir Gerald, there's a limit to maintaining the defense magic! The mana stones are almost depleted!"

"Bring in the Diamont! We have no choice now that it's come to this. The Grand Prince Valentine would also condone it!"

Of course, he would condone the unauthorized use of Diamont, a part of Valentine's assets, but he would never overlook their incompetence in letting the barrier be broken.

Knowing this fact better than anyone, Mage Gerald shed tears of blood in his heart.

Then, a boy standing at a distance muttered as if to himself.

"If only Brother Calin were here..."

"Don't even mention that guy! Surely you're not still in contact with that irredeemable person, are you?"

The boy, startled by Gerald's unnecessarily sharp hearing, responded in a flustered tone.

"Master, is that really the issue right now?"

"You're in contact with him, aren't you! I've told you over and over to think of that kind of person, who has abandoned both human decency and faith, as if he were dead..."

Kwa-gwang-!!

It was the second explosion.

The massive defensive wall encircling the detached palace in a semi-circle shattered helplessly.

At the same time, several mages turned pale, sweating profusely, then bent over and vomited blood.

"Cough!"

"Master!"

The boy, shocked, rushed to the staggering Gerald.

Yannick, the direct disciple of the Archmage, had never seen his master so helpless.

'What the...'

The boy, with trembling eyes, turned to look at the detached palace.

The Grand Duke seemed unharmed even after rendering several mages incapacitated.

'He's even barehanded.'

He had no weapons that could be considered threatening, not even a sword.

Yannick, who had thought the Valentine lineage manifested their powers through swords, was inevitably bewildered.

'Was the sword just for show?'

While the boy had this realization, Gerald, after vomiting blood, immediately resumed casting defensive magic.

"We can't keep this up forever with defense alone!"

"Yikes, you fool. Are you suggesting we attack the Grand Duke?!"

"We can't stop him even if we attack! The best chance of survival is to abandon the castle and flee!"

At that moment, several people who spotted Sabina approached in shock, swallowing hard and then rushing towards her in panic.

"My goodness, why are you out here? This place is dangerous. Please, get to safety."

"You there, what are you doing! Hurry and escort the lady to a safe place!"

Among them were mages, knights, and servants.

Most were unfamiliar faces, but some were known.

"Sir Bart."

Sabina called the name of the blonde knight.

"Bring the most available mage who can explain the situation. Someone who can be spared for a moment in this serious situation."

In other words, she was asking for a junior or an assistant, as she hadn't been formally introduced to the mages yet.

"Didn't you hear what's going on? Your life is in danger, please flee..."

"I'll decide whether to flee or not. In this situation, where the Grand Duke is berserk and the Grand Prince Valentine is away, whose word should you listen to?"

Sir Bart remained silent, then spoke a beat late.

"It's the Grand Princess."

Neither the title of Madam nor Grand Princess pleased her, but that was none of her concern.

Having given up on fleeing and coming here, Sabina had to resolve this crisis no matter what.

Otherwise, she would regret not having fled.

"Uh, wait a moment!"

Bart obediently followed Sabina's command and brought the Archmage's assistant.

It was the youngest among them, Yannick.

Sabina asked bluntly.

"Are you available?"

"Do I look like it?"

The young boy, dragged into this precarious situation, snapped back.

"Then I'll ask. Even though the opponent is a Valentine, why can't such mages from the royal palace do anything?"

The mage's assistant hesitated for a moment upon hearing Sabina's words.

It was then that something seemed to strike the boy, and a light flashed in his eyes.

"You must have heard of the curse passed down in the Valentine family."

"Of course."

"Then this will be quick."

He glanced nervously towards the detached palace, then added without delay.

"It's the malice of a demon."

"The malice of a demon..."

"Not just power borrowed from a demon, but the malice of the demon itself."

Sabina couldn't precisely understand what that meant.

But she had a rough idea.

The difference between power lent by a devil and the power of the devil itself was incomparable in magnitude.

"A mage uses mana, right? Mana can be said to be energy obtained from the life force of all living things on the earth."

The life force of this land and devil.

Sabina realized what Yannick was trying to convey.

"So, they're opposites?"

"It's more of a predator-prey relationship than being opposites. It's unilateral consumption."

"Then..."

Sabina decided to speak candidly instead of holding back her words.

There was no room for consideration in the current situation.

"Then, doesn't that make the mages of this castle useless?"

Yannick seemed quite struck by Sabina's words.

"But you're right... We mages are useless!"

"No, why go that far..."

Sabina, trying to dissuade the self-deprecating boy, asked,

"Is there no other way to suppress this 'malice of a devil'?"

"Of course, there is. We call His Holiness the Pope."

The Pope.

There was no time to go to Garcia in a situation where they could die at any moment.

It would be faster for the Grand Prince Valentine to return from the royal palace.

"In the same sense, a high-ranking clergyman with strong divine power would also be effective."

"Any other methods?"

"...A shaman."

"What?"

"We call a shaman."

That was what Yannick had wanted to say from the beginning.

"You need to call Brother Calin, who was excommunicated from the magic community."