As the final exam began, Eliya handed Judas a bracelet.
This was not an ordinary bracelet; it was one she had crafted herself using magic learned through exchanges with the Magic Tower.
It was an artificially enchanted item.
An artifact.
Eliya had made it specifically for Judas.
The condition for the artifact to activate was as follows:
When Judas was in danger.
And its effect would be to burn away all nearby threats while simultaneously sending a warning and coordinates to Eliya herself.
So she could respond immediately with a teleport.
This was the second arrangement Eliya had prepared to bait the Imperial Family.
In truth, it was more because she was just worried about Judas.
*
“…Eliya?”
I muttered that name absentmindedly.
Something cold flowed down and brushed my wrist.
Looking down, I saw that the bracelet Eliya had given me had shattered.
Clink! It fell to the ground.
The red gem in the middle of the bracelet had broken.
‘Come to think of it, that light that spread around me earlier… it seemed to be concentrated more on my left hand than my body…’
Eliya appeared after the fire spread.
The suddenly broken bracelet.
I had enough information to understand the situation.
‘An artifact?’
Eliya had given me an artifact.
As if she had anticipated such a situation.
“Oh.”
One of the opposing wizards spoke with interest.
“Aren’t you Lady Eliya? It’s been rumored that you’re an exceptionally talented wizard.”
Eliya did not respond.
With only her back visible, I couldn’t tell her expression.
From the way her head didn’t move, it seemed she was quietly staring at the opponent.
I scanned the surroundings while checking the position of the Sun Symbol.
Eliya stood facing off against the wizards.
And a distance away, on the altar, was the Sun Symbol.
‘Their goal must also be the Sun Symbol. Three Imperial Wizards, no less.’
The minimum condition to become an Imperial Wizard.
They must be capable of long-distance teleportation.
‘Those guys might grab the Sun Symbol and escape through teleportation if the situation goes south.’
I kept a wary eye on the adversaries and the Sun Symbol, alternating my gaze between the two.
It had naturally turned into a standoff.
Hazle and three Imperial Wizards.
And me, along with Eliya.
‘If there’s a silver lining, one of the wizards is missing an arm. He won’t be able to show his usual skill.’
Hazle. I needed to be cautious of him too.
The battle mixed with wizards and knights.
Unexpected situations always arose from knights.
Wizards couldn’t move violently to cast spells.
Thus, wizards were akin to stationary cannons.
On the other hand, knights could move freely.
Their bodies enhanced by mana could occasionally surpass a wizard’s casting speed.
‘Eliya will deal with the wizards. I need to handle Hazle and the Sun Symbol.’
Perhaps due to their numerical advantage, the wizards appeared relaxed.
“It’s a bit unfortunate that such important guests have come. We intend to take the Holy Relic with us.”
Eliya replied nonchalantly.
“Hmm. I didn’t grant you permission.”
“You didn’t seek it either—”
At that moment, I noticed.
The two wizards behind Hazle were exchanging glances, signaling each other.
Something was about to happen.
I gradually lowered my stance.
Preparing to spring into action when the moment was right.
“—so that’s none of your business.”
The moment the wizard finished speaking, Hazle lunged toward the Sun Symbol.
Simultaneously, so did I.
I sprang from a crouched position.
We reached the Sun Symbol at the same moment.
There was no time to stretch our hands out to grab it.
We raised our weapons to face each other.
Hazle swung his sword.
It was honest but elegantly precise, no frills to his attack.
The large two-handed sword came crashing down.
His attack was as brutal and heavy as its size.
Having faced it several times, I had grown accustomed to the motion.
But the results were different this time.
Crack! My sword shattered.
“!”
I barely managed to dodge to the side.
I almost got sliced.
Without a moment of rest, Hazle pressed the attack.
After switching to half-swording, he executed a thrust that was half a beat faster.
I avoided the strike with the broken blade and attempted to get closer.
‘If I can take it to hand-to-hand combat…!’
However, as if he anticipated it, Hazle forced me back with a kick.
He maintained distance, refusing to give me any advantageous position.
‘Did I let my guard down and become flustered? I should have been more cautious.’
Only then did I properly observe Hazle.
A huge two-handed sword.
It was different from any weapon I knew.
The shape was similar, but…
‘Is it a special weapon prepared just for today…?’
I had assumed it was a regular weapon, so I got complacent and lost mine.
In that brief clash that had passed in an instant.
While I pondered how to resolve the situation, suddenly my surroundings distorted.
It wasn’t dizziness or an illusion.
Like a thick fog, a hemispherical barrier enclosed Hazle and me.
“What is…?”
Unlike me, Hazle was calm.
He watched me while glancing at the barrier.
‘A barrier?’
A screen that obstructed internal and external elements.
I knew what this was.
‘A magic disturbance barrier?’
The casters were obvious.
Those three wizards.
They had isolated me and Eliya.
Hazle leveled his sword at me.
“Quite luxurious for a grave, isn’t it?”
The difference in armament.
A broken sword versus a whole one.
And the difference in rankings.
I was second in the training camp, while Hazle was first.
They had completely eliminated the knight amidst the chaos of wizards and knights.
‘They are certain Hazle can defeat me.’
Likewise, the three wizards must have faith that they could defeat Eliya.
But my thoughts were slightly different.
First, there was no way they could defeat Eliya in her current state.
Then what about me?
“……”
It was silent.
A complete disconnect between the outside and inside.
Even sound was absent.
Inside the barrier, it was genuinely quiet like a grave.
“Well…?”
Anyway, I had no intention of retreating.
Do I have the confidence to win?
What are my chances?
Honestly, I couldn’t be sure.
If I could get close somehow with my broken sword, I might win in grappling.
‘The problem is, Hazle likely knows that too. He’ll do everything to keep that distance from me.’
There’s only one certainty.
There’s no place to retreat.
So even if I lose, I’ll charge straight ahead.
“Who’s grave it will be, I still don’t know.”
*
Eliya observed the semicircular barrier formed along one side of the corridor.
A space-disrupting barrier with a magic disturbance feature.
Judas was trapped inside it.
With a traitor of the Imperial Family named Hazle.
‘Did they induce a magic battle that excludes mobility?’
In a confined space, a chaotic melee would be disadvantageous for a wizard.
Thus, they excluded both knights from the battlefield altogether.
“Was it Judas’ name?”
One of the wizards said.
“That candidate you cherish, Lady Eliya.”
Eliya did not respond.
Magic required intense concentration.
Therefore, when wizards fought closely, petty provocation often occurred.
This was to disturb concentration and mental focus.
While provoking, they couldn’t let their own concentration slip, necessitating a delicate balancing act.
“I’m curious who will see whose corpse first.”
Eliya did not entertain that provocation.
“Not particularly…”
She didn’t think her knight would lose.
In terms of losing to them, she couldn’t picture such a scenario.
Despite her outward calm, she felt unpleasantly twisted inside.
How dare they talk about whose corpse would be seen.
“It would have been better to trap me instead.”
“We were curious too.”
Wizards are rare and precious talents.
There’s hardly any place to compare their abilities through a proper match.
“The famous genius wizard; is she merely a rumor-filled vessel, or is she truly worthy of being called a reincarnation from the myth age?”
Although she didn’t disclose her identity, Eliya knew which faction they belonged to.
The Imperial Wizard Order.
One of the two largest wizard groups.
The other being the Magic Tower.
‘That means they have a degree of confidence in their skills. They’ve likely been validated through various experiences.’
Therefore, it was a sign of their confidence to deliberately isolate Judas and Hazle.
‘Using conversation to buy time, they quickly set up a disturbance and completed it. Not just their individual capabilities but their teamwork is impressive.’
Confidence based on evidence and objectivity.
Had their opponent not been Eliya herself, it might have been a different story.
“Well then, let’s see…”
The three wizards pointed their fingers at Eliya.
Their hands were excellent body parts to assist the directional focus of magic.
“Shall we check?”
Magic emerged from thin air.
Unlike the one cast on Judas, it was quite high-level magic.
A huge dark cloud charged with lightning began to form.
Hundreds of sharp stone fragments rose, aiming at Eliya.
And roots shot up from the ground, pinning her down.
Eliya stood still, with her hands in her pockets.
Watching her, the three wizards grinned wickedly.
They were sure it was over.
However.
Kiiing—!
With a sharp sound, a light flashed above Eliya’s head.
A stream of golden light illuminated the surrounding area.
Blinded, the wizards couldn’t help but close their eyes.
When they reopened them moments later, the chapel was silent.
Only a small bead, the size of a fingertip, sparkled above Eliya’s head.
“Uh… what?”
The spell prepared by the three had vanished without a trace.
While they were dumbfounded, the golden bead floated down towards Eliya’s palm.
It resembled a small sun.
Eliya looked down at the sun in her hand and spoke nonchalantly.
“Is this all?”
Just as they were curious, so was Eliya.
Opportunities to fight against capable wizards were incredibly rare.
Compared to Balak, she realized her own experience was woefully insufficient.
Though she had accepted this encounter for his sake, it was indeed disappointing.
‘Better than Bolse, but pathetic.’
The three pathetic Imperial Wizards.
Eliya confirmed one thing.
The Emperor did not fully trust the information she leaked.
If he believed there would be a Sun Symbol, he wouldn’t have sent warriors merely of this caliber like these wizards and Hazle.
‘He’s here because of the infamous rumors swirling about the Holy Relic, but he’s being cautious, even beyond expectations.’
There were deeper questions too.
The Emperor’s intent behind the Sun Symbol.
Conditions required to activate it.
And whether the Emperor knew those conditions.
Lastly, how Judas had found this place.
Though less important than the previous matters, it was far more critical to her.
In a brief moment, many thoughts raced through her mind.
Meanwhile, the three Imperial Wizards remained in a daze, muttering.
“What the hell is going on…?”
“Magic absorption…? No way, could it be that she did it to us…? Ugh?!”
The three wizards collapsed, spitting blood in unison.
They seemed to clutch their bellies in distress.
“Keuhk—!”
“Cough, cough…!”
One wizard looked up at Eliya, spewing blood.
“W-What is this…?! Ugh!”
The reactions of the other two wizards were varied.
Some rolled on the floor, vomiting blood, while others clawed at the ground, screaming.
“Well…”
Eliya didn’t feel the need to explain painfully.
It was simply that, while they were preoccupied with their antics, she hadn’t remained idle.
She had slowly ignited flames within their bodies.
Adding a pain-relieving spell ensured they’d realize the agony later on.
She never imagined she’d be employing healing-type magic learned for Judas in such a manner.
“I’ll only tell you one thing. Who your enemy is. And who it is you dared to try and harm.”
Eliya approached the fallen wizards.
Click, clack.
The sound of her heels echoed coldly in the ruins.
There were numerous thoughts to consider, but there was only one issue to address now.
With a light toss of the bead in her hand, a small sun reappeared.
Magic surged forth from the bead.
A dark cloud charged with lightning filled the chapel ceiling, and hundreds of sharp stone fragments floated, aiming for the three wizards.
She had absorbed the spell cast by them and released it again.
But this time, it was significantly larger.
And rising from the ground were whips of golden flames, not roots.
The whips bound the three’s limbs to the ground.
“I should at least give you a chance to apologize. Just answer my questions honestly.”
Eliya gazed coldly at the three wizards of the Imperial Family.
Her eyes shone with an unusual color.
Within the red irises, orange flames swirled, and her pupils glimmered like a bead of light.
Since arriving here, her eyes had been burning with an insane fire.
Judas and Yuel had almost gotten hurt.
The perpetrators trying to invade her territory lay before her, helplessly collapsed.
The anger she felt toward them was coolly refined and brought back out.
“As compensation, I’ll grant you a painless death.”
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
