Chapter 12 : Chapter 12
Chapter 12.
The mountain summit disappeared.
What remained in its place was a massive molten cross-section, smooth as a mirror.
Along the edges of the cut surface, crimson magma flowed downward, and rising smoke dyed the sky a dark red.
Everyone around the train, whether the guard soldiers or the noble merchants, stared up at the forcibly flattened mountain peak with completely blank minds.
Logaris West descended from the sky.
His steps were slightly unsteady.
His face looked somewhat pale, clearly showing that the spell he had just used consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
Logaris West glanced at the completely melted mountain peak.
He confirmed that the target had been vaporized very thoroughly.
Only after confirming this did Logaris West shift his gaze back toward the other battlefield on the plain.
With the sniper threat gone, Sylvia no longer had any restraints.
The Anti-Magic girl Lilith had not yet recovered from the dual visual and psychological shock brought by that artificial sun.
Her mind froze for one second.
For battles at their level, one second meant life or death.
“It is over.”
Sylvia’s voice rang out.
She poured all the remaining strength in her body into her twin swords and transformed into a silver torrent across the wilderness, charging straight toward her target.
[Silver Judgment].
At the final moment, Lilith’s pupils shrank as her body instinctively tried to dodge backward.
But it was already too late.
The immense force wrapped in silver light slammed directly into her body.
The impact fully erupted the next instant.
BANG!
Lilith’s entire body was sent flying backward.
She rolled across the ground more than ten times before finally stopping.
Meanwhile, Sylvia appeared behind the position where Lilith had been standing, maintaining the posture of her forward-slashing charge while breathing heavily.
“Cough… cough…”
Lilith coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
Taking advantage of the brief moment while Sylvia was regulating her breathing, one of Lilith’s hands quietly reached into her clothes.
There lay her final trump card.
A treasure-grade spatial scroll originating from the Elven Royal Court, Starrealm Walk.
It could randomly teleport the user hundreds of kilometers away regardless of any form of blockade.
As long as she could activate it.
As long as—
Her hand searched through her clothing.
But she grasped nothing but emptiness.
Lilith froze.
It was gone.
The scroll she had hidden close to her body was gone!
“Are you looking for this?”
A calm voice came from above her head.
Lilith stiffly raised her head.
At some unknown moment, Logaris West had already appeared in front of her and was looking down at her.
Between two of his fingers, he held a scroll made of special material.
Mithril patterns glimmered across its surface, radiating waves of spatial energy.
“The structural design is fairly ingenious, but the core activation spell is far too outdated.”
“It can be easily reverse-analyzed and blocked.”
Logaris West spoke as if he were casually evaluating a failed artifact excavated from an ancient tomb.
When had he taken it from her?
The intelligence report had only said that this professor from Saint Arcadia Academy was a research maniac.
No one had ever mentioned that he was also a top-tier thief.
A fatal information gap.
Lilith looked at Sylvia, who had already recovered and placed her twin swords against Lilith’s neck.
Then she glanced at Logaris West, who had drawn a Magitech Gun and aimed the dark barrel directly at her forehead.
She decisively abandoned all resistance.
The terror and unwillingness on her face instantly vanished.
In its place appeared a sweet and innocent smile.
She raised both of her hands high, hands stained with blood and mud, and performed an elegant French-style military salute.
“I surrender!”
“My lords! I swear I am only a mercenary working for money! Please, do not kill me!”
“I know information about the employer. I will tell you everything. I am very useful! Please spare my life!”
Her seamless shift in attitude made Sylvia, who had been about to deliver another strike, pause slightly.
Logaris West exchanged a glance with Sylvia.
Logaris West took out a small crystal bottle from his formal pocket and tossed it in front of Lilith.
“I can spare your life. Drink this.”
Inside the bottle was a viscous green liquid.
It was bubbling slightly and looked like anything but something safe to consume.
Lilith’s smile froze.
“M-My lord… what is this?”
Logaris West pushed up his glasses and spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Your physique is very special. Conventional magic sealing techniques are ineffective against you.”
“So drink it, or I will have Sylvia cut off your limbs. Your choice.”
Sylvia cooperatively flexed her wrist.
The twin swords in her hands emitted crisp ringing sounds.
Her posture looked as though she was seriously considering whether it would be easier to start cutting from the arms or the legs.
“I will drink it! I will drink it right now!”
The color drained from Lilith’s face.
She grabbed the potion bottle, closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and gulped it down.
The moment the potion entered her mouth, a warm current spread throughout her entire body.
Then she felt the power within her body leaking away like air from a punctured balloon.
Within just a few breaths, she felt her entire body go limp.
She no longer had the strength to even lift a single finger.
Logaris West then took out a bundle of specially crafted ropes engraved with runes and tied her up tightly like a piece of merchandise ready for storage.
Sylvia looked at the potion bottle with curiosity.
“When did you develop something like this?”
“I just made it recently.”
“It is specifically designed to suppress the cellular activity and neural responses of high-tier knights and certain extraordinary creatures.”
Logaris West explained casually while checking the firmness of the bindings.
“Do you have some knight enemy you needed this for?”
Sylvia asked, puzzled.
Logaris West did not answer.
Instead, he activated Fixed-Point Translocation and vanished from the spot.
A moment later, he reappeared.
In his hand was a strangely shaped massive longbow.
It was the spoils taken from the sixth-tier magic archer Falk.
“Interesting.”
Logaris West ran his fingers across the cold metal surface of the bow.
Reflections of incomprehensible streams of data flashed across the lenses of his glasses.
“The enchantment techniques and material application of this bow are not the kingdom’s style.”
“They resemble the craftsmanship of imperial military industry.”
“It is worth studying.”
At that moment, the nobles and wealthy merchants who had survived the attack finally regained their courage after the overwhelming shock.
Supporting each other, they walked over cautiously.
The way they looked at Logaris West and Sylvia had completely changed.
That was not the gaze used for nobles or powerful individuals.
It was the gaze of mortals looking up at gods.
A fat merchant, who had previously been hesitant about investing in Sylvia’s Northern Territory development plan, was the first to rush forward.
He bowed ninety degrees deeply toward Sylvia.
“Your Highness the Princess! You and the lord beside you are gods who have descended upon the mortal world!”
“I, Mars, swear upon my family’s honor that I am willing to double my investment in Your Highness' grand enterprise in the Northern Territory!”
“No! Twice that! I am willing to offer my entire fortune!”
Just what kind of power was this?
One move had evaporated an entire mountain.
If they followed these two individuals, who were destined to stand at the pinnacle of the continent in the future, then even if they were asked to reclaim the barren Northern Territory, or even wage war against the Valeria Empire immediately, they would feel confident of victory.
Seeing this, the other merchants immediately reacted.
They no longer cared about their disheveled appearances and rushed forward, scrambling to express their loyalty and willingness to increase their investments.
“Your Highness! Our Green Family is also willing to double our investment!”
“And me! I am willing to establish a merchant caravan for Your Highness to open up trade routes in the Northern Territory!”
“Your Highness' enemies are our enemies! Please allow us to serve you!”
Sylvia looked at the chaotic and fervent scene before her.
There was not much emotion in her heart.
Sure enough, in this world, displaying strength was always more persuasive than reasoning.
Across the wilderness, the damaged Magitech Train lay like a stranded steel beast.
The guards had established a security perimeter around it.
The surviving passengers gathered together in lingering fear, yet the way they looked at Logaris West and Sylvia was now filled with awe and fanatic admiration.
“The power core is overloaded. Seventy percent of the connection matrix has burned out, and three transmission shafts are broken. However, the main structure is intact, so it still has high repair value.”
After inspecting the train, Logaris West gave his professional conclusion.
He turned to Sylvia.
“I still have some spare parts and high-strength alloys in my Spatial Ring.”
“Give me six hours, and I can make it run again. The speed may be slower, but reaching Frosthold Fortress will not be a problem.”
Sylvia’s adjutant, Akash, immediately stepped forward with a suggestion.
“Your Highness, we must immediately use magical communication to report this vicious attack to the royal capital! This is an open provocation against the royal family!”
“No need.”
Sylvia was bandaging the wound on her arm.
Her movements were steady, and so was her voice.
“Until we reach Frosthold Fortress and secure our position, do not report anything to the royal capital.”
“We will handle this ourselves.”
Akash looked into the princess' unquestionable gaze and respectfully lowered his head.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Silence returned inside the carriage.
Sylvia leaned against the cushions and closed her eyes to rest.
Yet her attention kept drifting toward the opposite side.
Logaris West had already begun his work.
Various complex parts and tools floated around him, assembling and disassembling themselves with pleasing precision.
Not far away, Lilith was tied up like a dumpling with the special ropes and thrown into a corner.
She blinked her innocent-looking eyes as her pupils rolled around, clearly plotting something.
Inside the carriage, Logaris West suddenly stopped his repair work.
All the floating parts instantly returned to their places.
He did not look up.
He simply spoke calmly, his voice not loud but clearly reaching everyone’s ears.
“Now, you can speak.”
Logaris West finally raised his eyes.
His gaze passed over a pile of complex mechanical parts and precisely locked onto the prisoner in the corner.
“Who sent you?”