“My subordinates are fine, but the humans are losing ground? That’s ridiculous. Isn’t that a tactic?”

[The number of enemies is considerable. It’s commendable that they’ve lasted this long with this many people. Apparently, that magic circle is some kind of summoning circle. If we don’t hurry up and destroy it, we’ll be wiped out.]

Cadel bit his lip at Kunra’s words. Even if the system hadn’t suddenly crashed, he and Mamil would have disarmed the magic circle by now, waiting for reinforcements from their allies.

‘So reinforcements still haven’t arrived?’

Granted, he hadn’t been in the Mountains of Silence for very long, but even considering that, reinforcements had been slow to arrive.

“Kunra, can you sense any mana? I need a count of the magicians.”

They needed to gather as many magicians as possible to join forces. To Cadel’s urgent question, Kunra gave an unexpected answer.

[There are no magicians here, not a single one left.]

“Not a single one……? That, that can’t be right.”

[They are gathered in the rear of the battlefield, far from here. I sense a great deal of mana there].

Not the front lines, but the back? There were magic circles to destroy and allies to protect. But why had the magicians retreated? Was there a solution to destroying the magic circle there?

He wasn’t easily convinced, but if all the magicians were gathered there, that meant Mamil was with them. It didn’t seem likely that Mamil would be wasting his energy on such a futile endeavor. And then he realized.

Boom!

A deafening blast rang out from far away. Cadel reflexively covered his ears and turned toward the source with a grimace.

“That’s……!”

A dome-shaped barrier of fire. Unusually large even from a distance, it was expanding as if it were about to burst at any moment. The explosion was coming from within. One after another, the booming sound faded away. With an inexplicable explosion, the barrier ceased to exist.

Mamil was there. Cadel realized instinctively and asked Kunra to fly.

‘I don’t know what the hell is going on, but Mr. Mamil is stuck in there, blocking something. Are the other magicians helping out, too? It looks too much like a barrier he made himself.’

Mamil had been exhausted since he first arrived here. Ever since he left the battlefield, he had to take care of his allies’ defense on his own. While Cadel was impressed that he was still able to create such a sophisticated barrier, a nagging worry crept in.

“Kunra, you go back and keep the monsters at bay, and if you can, tell my subordinates that I’ll be back soon and they should focus on the battle.”

[I guess you plan on using this one as a messenger.]

“You’re supposed to help me win, come on.”

Descending to the ground, Cadel tapped the disgruntled Scarlet Dragon on the bridge of his nose, and Kunra snorted powerfully, sending him flying away in a gust of wind.

Cadel watched Kunra depart, and then turned his back, hearing strange screams and sickening sounds from beyond. Taking a quick breath, Cadel sprinted in the direction of the sound. Soon, his vision cleared to reveal a bewildering scene.

“What the…….”

There were dozens of humans sprawled out on the ground with their hands bound. Huddled together in a circle as if in quarantine, they crawled on the ground, each moaning in agony. A man stood in front of them, watching over them like a prison guard. Cadel spotted the familiar figure behind him and rushed to his side.

“Mr. Mamil!”

“……What are you doing here?”

He sounded exhausted. Cadel hurriedly checked Mamil’s condition and froze in place, unable to speak.

His face was smeared with blood. His nose and chin were a messy clump of dried blood, and fresh blood was constantly trickling down his face. Even his red, bloodshot eyes were trickling blood from the corners. His face was a mess of red blood, hardly recognizable.

Mamil looked slowly back at Cadel, who didn’t answer.

“The magicians in front of you are reinforcements. All of them…….”

Mamil pointed to the group in front of him and stumbled slightly. Cadel, who quickly caught him and steadied him, swallowed dryly.

“I’m sorry, Master.”

He was mana-depleted. He hadn’t just rushed in, he’d obviously been squeezing mana long after he’d entered mana depletion. It was a life-threatening act, and there was no way Mamil, the archmage, could have overlooked the danger.

He was truly willing to risk his life to protect the kingdom, and the reason Mamil had to risk his life was himself.

Mamil cleared his ragged breathing as Cadel supported him, then spoke in a sharp tone.

“There’s nothing more useless than apologizing on the battlefield. Don’t be sentimental.”

“But…….”

“The magicians in front of us have all gone on a rampage.”

“……Pardon?”

“There was a trap set in the magic circle. The mana backflowed and they went on a mass rampage. I have to suppress the mana of these people who periodically run out of control here. They’re valuable manpower for other countries, so I can’t just kill them.”

So the barrier of fire Cadel saw in the sky was to protect the neighborhood from the mana of these magicians. At first glance, there were more than 50 of them. It was impossible for Mamil to control this much mana alone.

“I, I’ll take care of it, Master, you should take care of yourself first.”

“Your subordinates are doing a good job of keeping the monsters at bay, but at this rate, we’ll eventually have to give up our last bastion. Destroy the magic circle. I know it’s too much for you to do alone, but it will take time for the rest of the reinforcements to arrive. You have to do it.”

“But if you keep stopping the rampage here, Master……!”

He might die. It wouldn’t be strange if Mamil collapsed and was on the verge of death. As Cadel stumbled to his feet, Mamil silently laid a hand on his head. After stroking it a few times, he spoke in a cracked voice.

“I have a future I swore to protect. It is not my future. It is the future of my beloved homeland, of the youth who live there, and yours.”

“Master…….”

“I don’t die easily. So don’t worry, go. You have people to protect, too.”

Mamil was a major NPC in the game. He didn’t know how Mamil ended up in the main story, but he would never die. If the merchant in the game died, how would players be able to trade items?

So it was okay. Mamil would never die, he would survive, and he would be there for him as his mentor until the end. He had to think of it that way, otherwise, he couldn’t leave Mamil behind.

“Hurry up. We don’t have much time.”

Mamil gave Cadel a light shove to steady himself. How much strength did he have left, how much longer could he keep his wits about him. His body was already beyond its limits. The scent of death was unfamiliar, rumbling in his throat. Mamil knew that if he did not stop the magic now, he would not see the sun tomorrow. Still, he chose to let Cadel go.

He was his beloved friend’s precious flesh and blood. And his one and only disciple. No master in the world would turn his back on his disciple. At least, he didn’t want to survive that way.

“I’ll send the magicians here as soon as they arrive, and I’ll…… come back as soon as I can, somehow, some way, to help Master.”

“Alright.”

Priorities were clear. If he took care of Mamil here and dealt with the rampaging magicians, the knights on the front lines would die. If they were pushed back, it would be the turn of the Mainue Kingdom next. Eventually, Cadel had to turn and walk away, leaving Mamil behind.

“You can’t afford to fall.”

“……Really, you’re asking too much.”

Cadel turned back to check on Mamil one last time before he disappeared from view completely. Mamil closed his eyes tightly, feeling the ripples of mana begin to spread once more.

“……Jenga.”

Mamil clenched his fists and lifted his eyelids, repeating the nostalgic name like a mantra. A clear glow formed over his bloodshot eyes.

“I am not yet.”

He could not fall yet. Until he saw the future he had protected blossom. Until then, he would withhold his meeting with his old friend. Resolved, he swiped at the taste of steel in his mouth.

* * * 

“Guys!”

The group quickly traveled to the garrison through a nearby traveling gateway. When they arrived, they found the garrison in ruins, with more than half of the barracks destroyed, flames burning, and anguished screams.

As Cadel shouted for his subordinates, something fell from the sky and enveloped him.

“Where have you been, Cadel?!”

It was Lydon. Cadel could feel his heart thumping against his chest. Cadel hugged him tightly around the waist, apologizing.

“Thanks for holding on without me. What about the others?”

“I don’t know.”

“Lydon.”

“You’ll find out!”

He retorted irritably, pulling himself away and searching every inch of Cadel’s face. No injuries, no tears. Lydon, who’d been examining him carefully, glanced across at him with a scowl.

“Commander!”

“Knight Commander!”

Van and Garuel, followed by Lumen and Yozen, appeared. Surrounded by his subordinates, who had rushed to his aid, Cadel scrutinized their condition. None of them appeared to be seriously injured, but there were some minor cuts and scorch marks. Garuel would not have been stingy with his healing powers, so this was evidence that they had been in for quite a fight.

“I’m going to focus on destroying the magic circle from here on out, and I’m going to send all the other magicians to Mamil’s side, even if they come to back up, so Lydon, you’ll be in charge of protecting our allies. Garuel, I need you to prepare an AoE healing spell.”

He wished he could offer a false explanation for his absence to his worried subordinates, but unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of time. Cadel ordered Yozen to serve as his personal escort, and Van and Lumen to continue their work with the Blue Blood Knight Order.

Taking a breath, he glanced up to the sky, where the three High Demons still alive were pursuing Kunra, unleashing a furious assault.

‘I need to recover Kunra’s power soon, so that I can combine it with my mana to speed up the destruction of the magic circle.’

If Kunra was unable to bind the High Demon, the burden would fall squarely on his allies. But he had to hold on. He had no choice but to hold on in order to protect the Mainue Kingdom.

‘I hope the next reinforcements arrive in time…….’

With parched lips, he hurriedly dug into the magic circle. First, he had to spread a large amount of mana covering the magic circle, then he had to figure out the location of the core, which should be somewhere.