Chapter 12: The Masked Swordsmage
Nunemund, 5th day, 217th known year.
The night passed quickly as the enemy mages were escorted to the fort’s prison compound, and the unit rested for the night. Draego woke up earlier than usual the next morning, well before dawn, and headed to the military camp to the east of Gerud.
He found the camp relatively quickly and saw a few soldiers preparing to depart for some sort of a journey. The fort was still about a dozen kilometers from here, so the noise and ruckus should not have been particularly noticeable. As such, with their lethargic watch-keeping, the camp had yet to figure out what had happened last night.
Following the same logic, the other camps and Gerud should also not be aware of the happenings last night. However, that was not something they needed to worry about as of now. To begin with, even if they noticed that their command unit was missing, the members of Gerud’s defense force already had a system in place to continue defending the village.
Draego didn’t wait for the group of twenty to finish preparing for their trip. He let out a mana net, letting the mana threads wrap around the soldiers’ legs before moving up to their necks. Then, even as they shouted in panic, Draego used the threads to slit their necks. The Amateur mage appointed as the captain of the force, along with his two Novice mage helpers were roused awake by this noise.
They walked out into the open, holding their weapons, but not clad in any armor. Fools. Draego almost felt some sympathy for the soldiers working under these leaders. These people probably didn’t have an inkling of what happened over at the western camp.
Without wasting any time, Draego reinforced his body with mana and shot into the camp. He was spotted almost immediately by the mages he was aiming for. However, this was a forest clearing, not an open bridge or fort. Even though he was spotted, he was merely a couple of meters away from his target.
As a result, Draego’s sword had already cut off the Amateur mage’s arm by the time he circulated mana through his body to respond. The other two mages, shocked by the speed and decisiveness, stiffened for a brief moment. Draego’s blade went to work, making large cuts on their bodies almost immediately afterwards.
Soldiers streamed out of their tents as the Amateur mage crumpled to the ground, holding the stump of his arm and crying out in agony. Draego left him for the time being and started fighting his soldiers. However, it couldn’t really be called a ‘fight’ anymore. Back when he first arrived at the bridge, he had to fight each of them personally.
That was because he didn’t have enough mana to be able to slit people’s necks using mana threads. Now, he did. His mana threads moved freely, a portion siphoning mana from the three mages around him while the rest sought out enemy necks. Anyone who came within striking distance from Draego was slashed down with simple counter-attacks.
Within half an hour, Draego had drained the mages of their mana and the camp of its soldiers. He purposely let a few soldiers flee, so that they spread the news of his power to the other camps. If the other two camps left there and then, his task would be complete and he would finally be able to return home. If not, well, he’d kindly ‘persuade’ them.
Draego left the bodies as they were, and made his way directly to Gerud. The guards on watch immediately recognized him as the leader of the Dragonhand mercenaries, and opened the gates. At the same time, one of them ran off into the depths of the village, perhaps to call his squad members.
“Sir,” One of the soldiers, coincidentally Trisha, approached him. “Her ladyship and the command unit have been absent since last night… Any news about them?”
Draego nodded.
“We attacked the fort.” He replied. “They’re resting there for now.”
An expression of relief and joy replaced Trisha’s worried one upon hearing Draego’s words. Tristan, often seen by her side, let out a sigh of relief himself.
“Gather two squads,” Draego went on. “I destroyed the eastern camp on the way here. I need help stripping them for loot.”
Trisha blinked, a bit taken aback.
“By yourself, sir?” She asked. Draego nodded.
“Since the camp was on the way.” He replied, as though he hadn’t wiped an entire camp of intruders, but just stopped by a souvenir shop on his way back. Trisha and the soldiers behind her gave a wry laugh hearing this. Draego pointed towards the inside of the village.
“Squads. Stripping. Now.” He said before turning around to go back the way he had come. Trisha and Tristan exchanged a glance before Tristan ran into the depths of the village, while Trisha started shouting orders for the squad on guard duty.
Draego left the village as it was and headed back towards the fort. About another hour later, just as the sun started rising, he found himself in the middle of the morning ruckus any military camp would have. Soldiers were brushing, cleaning up, making breakfast and changing shifts in a chaotic medley of noises.
Draego ignored most of the noise and made his way directly to Cessa. Cessa herself was in the keep in the middle of the fort. The keep was designed to have four rooms facing outwards with a staircase running around a central pillar. Cessa was in one of those rooms. The room was a small one, with only just enough space for a desk, three chairs, a fireplace and a small wardrobe.
Draego knocked on the door and waited a moment for a response before entering. The crimson haired girl was seated on the only chair behind the desk, her head nestled in her arms folded on the table. Does she actually like sleeping in this posture? Draego pondered for a brief moment before taking his own seat on one of the two chairs opposite her.
He reached out and gently shook Cessa’s shoulders.
“Mmm… Two more minutes, Tania…” Cessa mumbled in her sleep.
“I am not Tania.” Draego replied impassively. Startled by the voice, Cessa shot upright in her seat. Her teary and glazed eyes squinted and blinked a few times before regaining their focus. Seeing Draego she let out a sigh of relief and rubbed her weary eyes.
“Not trying to maintain your dignity anymore, huh?” Draego asked impassively.
“You’ve already seen me at the village, so it’s fine.” Cessa replied, plopping her head back into her folded arms on the desk.
“… Do you actually like sleeping in that posture?” Draego finally asked.
“No, I like beds, like normal demons.” Cessa replied. “And you? Do you actually like peeping on sleeping girls?”
“Stop putting it like I’m some pervert.” Draego replied, completely unshaken.
“… Y’know, sometimes I wonder if you’re actually just wearing a mask.” Cessa said with a short giggle, raising her head and resting it on a hand instead. “So? Is there something or did you just come here to play a prank on me?”
“I destroyed a camp.” Draego replied.
“I see…” Cessa muttered sleepily. A moment later, her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. And then, her eyes shot wide open.
“You what?!” She asked. Draego nodded, apparently satisfied by her reaction, and started pouring water from a jug into a copper tumbler.
“I let a couple of soldiers run, so a platoon or two should be trying to ‘reinforce’ the fort, or make an escape through here anytime now.” Draego added. Cessa shot to her feet at his words, and rubbed her face with both hands. Draego handed her the tumbler of water. Cessa drank half of it before pouring the remainder onto her face.
“Let’s gather the others and prepare an ambush.” She said, as she picked up her sword resting in a corner of the room. Draego nodded as he too rose from his seat and the two made their way outside again. With just one loud call, twenty one Novice mages, three Amateur mages and a pseudo mage gathered in front of the two of them.
“Draego destroyed another platoon.” Cessa said and continued before a buzz could even spread. “The other platoons might try to retreat through the fort. We’ll ambush them on the passes and devastate them once again. The enemies have only a couple of mages at best, show them the difference between their strength and yours.”
“YES MILADY!!” A chorus rang out as the mages saluted pretty much in unison. At this point, Draego brought his face close to Cessa’s and whispered something in her ears. Cessa nodded in response.
“Stephanie,” She called out. “Return to Gerud and ask for two squads to prepare for aiding us in collecting our loot once the battle ends.”
“Yes, my lady.” Stephanie knelt in acknowledgement before immediately darting out of the fort. They had no idea how long it would take for the enemy to come, but the squads should be prepared as quickly as possible. The mages dispersed into various squads, to discuss their own placements, positions and roles.
At this point in time, Draego took a seat next to the door to the keep. Cessa watched as he took his seat, and rested his back against the wall before starting to breathe deeply. She knew from prior experience that Draego wasn’t asleep right now, but just expanding his mana pool.
Indeed, while wiping out the platoon, Draego had expanded his mana pool significantly and found himself on the cusp of his eighteenth spell. He marveled at the efficiency of siphoning mana during combat. It far surpassed peaceful methods of gathering mana. Countless tens of thousands of mana threads floated in the air around him.
My control’s getting better. He realized. The minimum thickness of threads he could control was smaller than before. That meant the number of threads was larger. Which in turn, meant the amount of mana he got per cycle was incomparably larger than before. And, as he had expected, he managed to earn his eighteenth spell just a few cycles later.
Draego opened his eyes, raised a hand and glanced at it. He let out some mana and appreciated the increased density and quantity. He was now only two more spells’ worth of mana away from the peak of the Novice rank. After that, he would be able to start working on his mana sea.
“Congratulations.” He heard a soft voice next to him. “You’ve finally become a Class 9, huh?”
Draego nodded.
“Wow,” Cessa let out a laugh. “It feels just like yesterday when you were a Class 4 Novice.”
“It was just a day before yesterday.” Draego replied impassively. Cessa turned her gaze towards the sky, with a beautiful smile on her face.
“Congratulations.” Draego said after a while. Cessa let out a short laugh.
“You noticed?” She asked. Draego nodded in response. Cessa herself had finally broken through to the level of a Class 3 Novice. Her progress was a far cry from Draego’s, but it was still worth mentioning.
“Let’s go.” Draego said, as the mages started gathering their essentials, having decided on their own plans for the ambush. Cessa and Draego got up and went over to Luke, who had dealt with the details on their behalf this once.
The set up for the ambush was simple. A handful of mages specializing in close-combat would lie in wait near the gates. A scout would be on the forefront, watching for movement using a mana net. As soon as the enemy was detected, he’d return and the force would wait for the enemy to get closer.
Once they did, the archers and ranged mages would let loose with their spells. So would Cessa, despite being a close-combat mage. Draego’s role would be identifying and killing the enemy commanders. Luke would lead the other melee mages to wipe out the soldiers during the commotion caused by the initial attacks.
About half an hour after having organized the ambush, a platoon of close to a hundred soldiers emerged from the forest edge, about two hundred meters away from the fort. Targets in plain view and mages concealed, the unit of elite mages descended upon about a hundred enemies.
A first volley of fireballs and exploding arrows was shot when the enemy reached about fifty meters from the fort. At the same time, the gates were opened and seven hand-picked fighters emerged. Draego let out a mana net, immediately locking onto the three enemy mages. His next set of actions completely astonished soldiers on both sides.
Draego shot well past his comrades, having cast Body Reinforcement already. He dove into the midst of enemy soldiers even as spells blazed around him. He ducked, stutter stepped and leapt over the clumsy attacks aimed at him by the soldiers around him as he raced towards the enemy commander, a Class 2 Amateur mage.
The Amateur mage, being an ax wielder, raised his massive battle axe, ready to split Draego in two. Yet, less than three meters from him, Draego accelerated yet again, speeding past him in an instant, his sword drawn. At the same time, a crimson splashed into the morning sky. The Amateur mage crumpled to his knees, both his arms slashed elbows down.
Draego’s mana threads mercilessly pierced the mage’s body, searching for mana to steal. However, the mage hadn’t activated any spells recently, and Draego could only retrieve his threads as he failed to recover any mana from his target. Immediately, he beheaded the mage before turning his impassive red eyes to the next one.
The soldiers and mages had barely overcome the shock from the first mage’s death when he locked blades with his second one. His ability as a Class 9 Novice, and his unrivalled mana control were shown for all to see as he crippled yet another mage in no more than three strokes of his sword, and just one burst of mana.
First he used a quick diagonal slash to throw his opponent off balance. Next, a burst of mana to throw his opponent’s circulation of mana in turmoil. Then, two strokes to slice off both his arms. By the time the soldiers around him noticed their leader needed help, their leader had collapsed to his knees. Draego silently started siphoning mana from the mage and scanned the soldiers around him.
Cessa’s red eyes reminded one of fire, hot and bright. Draego’s red eyes reminded one of blood, cold and dark. And the fear of death gripped the soldiers that met his indifferent, inexpressive gaze. The soldiers within a five meter radius around him fell to the ground, forgetting even how to stand or speak, much less how to fight.
Even his own allies were left stunned by what they saw. Cessa, who stood on the ramparts, couldn’t help but let a fierce grin form on her face. This is his true fighting style. One sharp slash to cut through both the enemy’s body and will.
“Wipe the enemies!” She called out, her slender, elegant finger pointing towards the group of enemies. “Or are the lot of you planning on making Draego do all the work by himself!”
Even as she spoke, a fiery orb coalesced around her pointed finger. Then, with her final word, it shot into the group of soldiers like a bolt of crimson lightning. In an instant, a dozen soldiers screamed in pain, their bodies alit with a crimson blaze. Almost in conjunction with it, Draego’s blade danced, leaving a brief trail of crimson wherever it passed.
A dance of crimson was performed on a stage burning with crimson flames. Draego almost effortlessly beheaded the last mage, who was trying to defend against Cessa’s bolts of flame. Cessa herself used only five spells, but caused around forty deaths in the enemy lines. Luke and the other close-combat mages didn’t even get a chance to enter the fray.
The only mage whose contributions outstripped hers was Draego, who killed three mages and over twenty regular soldiers. The next highest was a brunette mage who used explosive arrows to hunt down close to a dozen soldiers. None of the other mages killed more than three soldiers, feeling quite useless.
Draego started returning to the fort right after killing his twenty fifth soldier. As soon as he reached the ramparts, Cessa, flushed with mana exhaustion, leapt down the ramparts. Part puzzled and part amused, Draego caught her in a princess carry, and she let her consciousness fade out as it was, much to Luke’s distress.
Draego, on the other hand, maintained a completely impassive expression throughout the cheering and teasing by the soldiers. He simply carried Cessa into the keep, opened the door to the bedroom, and laid her on the bed inside before coming back out. His unchanging aloof expression throughout the series of events earned him the nickname, ‘Masked Swordsmage’.