“Impossible! Aelius?! It can’t be…” The fearful voice of the wild noble reached Vincent’s ears.

With a cold glare, Vincent brandished his sword and rushed towards his enemy. Vincent hopped over the roofs, almost as if he were flying, with only one thought. ‘I’ll finish this fast.’

Viscount Essen gnashed his teeth together in his frustration. He knew running would be the greatest favor he could do for himself, but he couldn’t leave things as they were now. Reluctantly, Viscount Essen spat on the ground and took a stance as a red glow shone from his clenched fists. In the blink of an eye, Vincent had appeared right in front of him.

Like falling lightning in the night sky, the light sword Aelius came crashing down. Vincent swung his arms and pierced through the Viscount, but stopped halfway through as the Viscount’s body turned into smoke and disappeared. A few meters away was the real body of the Viscount with his face wrapped into a tight frown and drops of blood dripping from the top of his head.

“Hah, neat trick,” Vincent smirked before vanishing from sight.

There were no flashes of lights or waves of destruction as Vincent’s attacks cascaded on the relentlessly cloning Viscount Essen. Vincent’s only purpose was to strike him and only him down.

The two engaged in a game of cat and mouse as the Viscount popped up all over the roofs and Vincent cut each one down before they could fully materialize. Sensing the futility in his actions, the Viscount jumped far back away from Vincent.

“You bastard! What in the world are you? How do you have the Aelius?” Essen roared.

Instead of answering, Vincent left his stance and raised his chin at the Viscount, as if nothing he did would even bother him. As important as it was to take down an evil noble, it was also important for Vincent to figure out the extent of the noble’s abilities and origin.

With a grunt, Viscount Essen raised his arms high. Red mana surged from him as an enormous magic circle took form in the air. “In the name of our great God, I, Larsen du Macolly Essen, call upon our offerings to end this blasphemer! [Sacrificial Magic: Apostle’s Expropriation]!”

The air itself stopped in its tracks. The nigh dome of red mist came to an abrupt halt. With the Viscount’s cackle as a cue, the dome started shrinking upon itself. A stream of murky red mana erupted from the dome and whirled around the Viscount.

“Kahaha! You scared me in the beginning, but it’s all over now! Our god has heard—”

A loud whistle interrupted the Viscount. “Wow,” Vincent said. “You sure do know a lot of tricks. Can’t you start a solo circus at this rate?”

The haughty smirk on the Viscount’s face turned into a frown once again. “You bastard. It’s futile to converse with a monkey that can’t even understand the situation it is in. Why don’t you try and cut this!”

The red mana surrounding the Viscount trembled in the air, they spread apart and gathered into hundreds of spears and lances. In the blink of an eye, the murky red mana disappeared as hues of all colors took over the spears. From blue to green, pure mana ingrained with various properties began its onslaught on Vincent.

“Well, this sure is impressive. I should respond in kind,” Vincent made an offhand remark and lowered his stance again. The light sword Aelius gleamed as Vincent’s eyes narrowed and a soft voice, akin to a mumble rang out.

“[Monochrome World]”

There was nothing anyone could do against an attack like this. No one person could stand against the energy being collected by thousands of people. The Viscount was sure that his foe was done for when he lowered his stance in front of the first wave of spears and lances.

Vincent brandished his blade and jumped forward. Like booming thunder, he shot towards the Viscount. The lances and spears of yellow and green mana approached him with great speed when he swung his sword… and cut them down with the same properties they had been infused with.

Aelius gleamed the hues of the many spears approaching it, cutting down each attack with one of equal power.

“Wh-what! This is impossible!!” Viscount Essen’s eyes widened as he unconsciously stepped backward. How could one person use these many different properties in their mana? This went against common sense. No, it went against nature itself!

“I-it’s just a trick!” He shouted and waved his hand. The magic circle above the Viscount turned fiercely as the dome of red shrank further and further. Using all the mana it had collected, Viscount Essen covered the entire sky with his weapons.

But it was useless.

Without even them a glance, Vincent only swung his sword as he steadily approached the Viscount. Each swing of his blade would cut down dozens and dozens of the spears. Behind an obstacle or a wall, even if the spears came from his back or underground, they would all wither away as if they never existed.

A chill ran down the Viscount’s spine as he processed the sight in front of his eyes. What were just meters away was not a person, but death itself. Viscount Essen stammered back and let out an awkward yelp. Afraid, he turned to run when Vincent appeared in front of him.

“A-ah, y-you… what…”

“Shh now,” Vincent said as he raised his finger to his lips. “You should try a little harder next time, clown.”

—Thump

The Viscount’s consciousness cut off and he fell limp on the ground.

Vincent glared at the evil noble with cold eyes. Sheathing his sword in an elegant white sheath that suddenly appeared around his waist, he grabbed the evil noble by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along. He had a lot to ask the clown about.

Before leaving to meet up with Ophelia, Vincent observed the fading magic circle and the dissipating dome of red with greatly narrowed eyes.

“This spell… Just where in the world did this come from?”

**

A swarm of people had gathered outside the abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of Frucht. From tall Giants to young children, everyone was afraid of the scenes they had witnessed mere moments ago in Essen.

Away from the crowd, Junior transport magician Truss was in a daze. Standing next to him was the cheery Luka and across them was a handsome brunette in full armor.

“Thank you very much, Sir Wizard Truss,” said the knight with a deep bow. “You have saved the lives of many citizens. The Essen estate and our Roaring Lion Knight Order owe you.”

“Ah, um. Yes, of course,” Truss replied. Hellbent on leaving with the two kids he was responsible for, Truss did not know how he became a big benefactor of the people of Essen.

“Please forgive my teacher for this display of tardiness,” Luka spoke up as he returned the knight’s bow with a knights’ salute. “Making a portal of this scale so soon has unfortunately drained him a tad too much.”

“No, no, I apologize for my lack of tact.” The knight immediately corrected himself before breaking into a smile. “You too, young apprentice. If you had not conveyed your teacher’s identity and intentions like you did, we might have suffered a big loss. We owe you a great deal too. I swear as the Vice-captain of the Roaring Lion Knight Order, I will repay you both with utmost sincerity.”

Yes, the knight was correct. This little devil spawn named Luka Kirsche was the main reason why Truss was in this position.

Just when he had suggested they leave using the portal, this boy had stolen his identification issued by the great empire. As if that wasn’t enough, he walked right up to the knights and claimed to be the student of High Wizard Truss, a rank this junior transport mage couldn’t even imagine having without being afraid of instant execution. He told the knights his master had made a portal right now to guide people to safety and convinced them to evacuate the citizens there.

Truss didn’t mind helping people. In fact, he was glad he could save so many souls. But the sense of accomplishment and fulfillment dulled in comparison to the consequences of botching an undercover mission.

Truss stealthily gritted his teeth into fine dust as the Vice-captain of the knights continued. “If I would be so rude, Sir Wizard Truss, I would like to cross back over the portal to Essen along with a few of my knights.”

“Why?” Truss asked. He completely skipped over all formalities, but the knight accepted it as if it were only natural.

“I am afraid the Viscount and the captain of our order are still in Essen.” The knight’s words brought Truss back to reality.

“Still there? Is there no emergency escape?” Truss asked. The sudden vigor in his voice and the gestures of a prideful wizard in his movements surprised Luka.

“I am afraid not, Sir Wizard. While I am sure he is safe with the captain of our Roaring Lion Knight Order, it is our foremost duty to ensure his safety.”

“I understand. Do as you please.”

“Yes, you have our deepest gratitude. Once we are back, I would love to meet and hear the stories a great wizard as yourself has in our estate.”

The handsome knight bowed respectfully once again before saluting and leaving. Once he was out of sight, Truss exhaled a long sigh. Luka stared at the magician with a skeptical grimace.

“What?” Truss asked.

“What you! What was that at the end?”

Truss sighed once again and grabbed his head. “Not only did I just get booked for interrogation with a knight, but he also said the viscount is not out yet… We might just be inside a deep and dark hole.”

“I-is that so?” Luka said. There was no empathy or understanding in his voice but he was creeped out by the sudden change in his magician friend's attitude.

“Yes, young sir. We came here because word from the theocracy was that someone in a rather high position might have connections to evil cults. What kind of noble doesn’t place priority on his safety? The one with a plan kind of noble!” Truss started scratching his head and whinging before sighing once more and plopping down on the floor. “It’s possible that the Viscount himself is an evil-cultist… This stuff is way beyond my pay grade.”

Luka stared at the overwhelmed Truss on the ground for a short while. “So, um… why is it a big problem if the noble is the follower of an evil god?”

As Luka posed his question, Charlotte too came up to them from the crowd. “Oi, Luka!” Charlotte exclaimed. She nervously looked around before continuing in a whisper. “Did you say there is an evil noble here? That is impossible! All nobility in Rileth has to swear fealty to the twin sun gods.”

“Really, I don’t get it. Why are you guys freaking out so much?”

“Tsk, you brat.” Charlotte smacked the back of Luka’s head. “Evil gods have a special spell they use to achieve their goals in the mortal plane. They create a perfect pawn for themselves with their brainwashing and make that pawn an apostle of the evil god. The fear and loathing people have for not just the god, but also the apostle powers them up.”

Luka stopped rubbing the back of his head and turned to Charlotte with widened eyes. “You mean, the more people hate the god and their apostle, the stronger they get?”

“Yes, young sir. That is exactly the case.” This time, it was Truss who answered. “That is also why an evil noble is such a big problem. Just imagine a lord in control of your lives, they could do all kinds of things to make you hate them and keep getting stronger.”

Just the thought sent a chill down Luka’s spine. He was about to ask more when a thought surfaced in his mind. “Oh no…” he muttered. “I heard many people say this has to be a rebellion.”

Truss and Charlotte snapped towards Luka. People suspecting a rebellion was clear proof of dissatisfaction with their ruler. Suddenly, the possibility of the Viscount being an evil noble didn’t seem so off anymore.

“Ahh!” Truss screamed. “I am just a junior transport mage! I don’t want to be involved in all this~!”

The two siblings ignored Truss as they turned towards the portal with grim faces. Luka reached out and grabbed the edge of Charlotte’s sleeves. “I hope Astolfo and mum and dad come back soon.”

“Yeah.” Charlotte nodded. “Don’t worry. They’ll be here in no time.”