The magician was male, judging by his voice.
As Jared moved his aching body and stood on his own two feet, his vision filled with more figures.
Two behind the man who had spoken, and two behind Jared and his companions. They found themselves surrounded by five magicians.
“What have you done with my soldiers?”
He had ordered them to search for and defeat the ghouls off the main road, but he hadn’t sent all of his men. It was impossible that none of the Ducal Family’s soldiers were present.
“We’ve cast a simple barrier here, so non-magicians cannot find us. They probably see you as having vanished.”
“That sarcastic tone… You’re Magician Supremacists, aren’t you?”
“We are Magician Supremacists, but I dislike that term. We are an organization founded to ensure magicians are truly magicians in this country—the Orthodox Magician Army.”
“Hah, makes me laugh. You call yourselves an army—you fools!”
He didn’t understand what gave them the right to call themselves “orthodox,” but if they wanted to call themselves that, so be it. Regardless of how they named themselves, they were still enemies who had tried to harm Duke Rüdiger’s territory.
“Now, Jared Murphy, Court Mage. We’ve indulged you with this time-buying act. It’s time you accompanied us. You can move now, can’t you?”
*What a sarcastic man,* Jared thought inwardly as he stood before the Duke.
“Jared, don’t push yourself.”
“Thank you. However, I’ve recovered some of my magic power, so I can fight if I need to.”
“Oh, you intend to fight us? You, who have expended a great deal of magic power and are wounded?”
“I’ve got this. If you want to kill me, bring another hundred magicians.”
Putting bravado into his words, he made a motion as if cutting his own throat with his thumb. It was a taunt, but his opponents weren’t biting.
“We will kill you?”
“If not, you wouldn’t be attacking me while I’m dealing with ghouls.”
“Precisely. More to the point, we decided to kill you because you interfered with our plan.”
“I don’t know how you gathered the ghouls, but was it your doing that they were sent towards Duke Rüdiger’s territory?”
“Correct.”
In response to the man’s reply, Hugo threw a knife from his pocket. However, it was easily deflected by his barrier.
“Because of you, my territory residents were injured and died! What is your objective? You must have a significant reason!”
Hugo’s outrage was palpable. He was like a fire; ignited by anger, one could never tell when he’d charge at the magicians with just a sword. He was an individual worthy of admiration, and Jared didn’t want to see him injured at a time like this.
“Very well—Hugo Rüdiger, you are also a target of ours. I’ve changed my mind. We’ll kill you now as well. However, you have the right to know before you die, so I shall tell you. Our plan is to—eradicate non-magicians from the Wethered Kingdom.”
“—What?”
Jared cried out at the calmly and indifferently spoken words, while the Duke was left speechless.
“Eradicate? You don’t mean… you intend to kill everyone who isn’t a magician?”
Considering they had unleashed a horde of ghouls, there could only be one answer. As Jared asked in a trembling voice, the magician’s mouth, visible to some extent, curled upwards.
“YouBastard—!”
“Wait, Duke! —Damn it!”
Jared followed Hugo, who charged forward driven by his rage. To protect the Duke, who had become the vanguard, he conjured countless obsidian spears, surrounding him.
“That is futile. Duke, no matter how skilled you are as a warrior, you cannot defeat us magicians.”
The instant he waved his hand, a streak of light, weaving between the obsidian spears, attacked Hugo like a whip.
“To your left!”
“Hmph!”
Following Jared’s voice, who had seen the attack, the Duke responded to the strike from his left, but—
“My magic is not so gentle that it can be dealt with by a mere sword.”
*CRACK*—The Duke’s heavy body was sent flying, crashing into the trees lining the road. Hugo hit his back and stopped breathing.
“Damn it! —Duke Rüdiger!”
While hearing the sound of his spears, thrown without aim, being blocked by the barrier, Jared rushed to the Duke.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah, ah, I’m fine. Them—those who killed innocent territory residents, please.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Th-thank you.”
Hearing Jared’s words, he checked the breathing of the unconscious Duke. Reassured to know he had merely fainted, Jared knew they were not out of danger yet. They would likely all be killed by the magicians if things continued like this.
The numbers were overwhelmingly against them. As far as magical ability was concerned, only the leader speaking seemed exceptionally skilled, but the other four felt they had less magic power than the average Member of the Royal Mage Corps.
If they were overwhelmed by numbers, it would be over, but if they could handle them one by one, there was still a chance.
“…Using Petrify Magic twice has backfired.”
“Are you going to fight?”
“Naturally. I cannot die, nor will I let Duke Rüdiger be killed. Therefore—you will be the ones to die.”
“Very well. If you wish to die in agony, be our guest. —Attack.”
Simultaneously with the man’s command, the four magicians kicked off the ground. Each was a magician of wind, fire, water, or earth. It was infuriating that he had meticulously gathered subordinates of different attributes.
“Die and become the foundation of our glory!”
Wind blades, fireballs, water spears, and stone projectiles assailed Jared all at once.
