Volume 8, Chapter 7 – With Crushing Force

A dark silhouette, nearly blending with the sky, slanted down toward the city upon the land of eternal night. “Descending” felt inadequate. “Diving” was more appropriate.

The instant she learned of Estelle’s peril, Fia had used transmission magic to reach the Fire Cat territory. Finding neither Nola nor Ying, she briefly noted the Syris family’s location on the map, then sped toward the land of eternal night with [High-Speed Flight].

Anastasia, Liti, and the others remained within the Fire Cat territory, under Claire’s protection.

The massive castle—its windows and corridors alight—now filled her field of vision. Fia’s ruby eyes sharpened. At this distance, she would reach it in two or three seconds.

The question was how to proceed once she arrived. Estelle’s fate was unknown. Fia must act with caution, assuming Estelle still lives.

Erin Slate had relayed the message. That meant intelligence passed through Twilight Flower, which possessed long-range communication capabilities. Thus, she had learned of events only hours after Nola. Rough estimates placed Estelle’s disappearance within the last twenty-four hours. By this world’s standards, even if Estelle’s attackers fled without rest, they could not have escaped the Land of Eternal Night far.

No. Those who harmed Estelle likely saw no need to flee. The soldiers who escaped to the Fire Cat territory for aid were slain by vampires. The guards Estelle brought to her main family were almost all seasoned fighters. Even elite brigands could not have bested her. Both facts point to one conclusion: the masters of this Land of Eternal Night moved against Estelle herself.

Four great families rule this land. Which one is responsible…? No. First, find the Syris family head. She has lived five hundred years yet retains the youth of a woman in her twenties. A vampire’s maximum lifespan is five centuries. If longevity grants knowledge, she should be my first target.

But if she herself is the culprit, seeking her out openly would be like beating the grass to startle the snake. Setting aside the possibility of them taking Estelle hostage—if cornered, they might kill her outright. Then all would be lost.

Should I create chaos first?

Fia frowned.

Vampires feared holy water and sunlight. A sixth-rank spell, [Weather Manipulation], could change the skies and let sunlight pour in. That would sow immense confusion across the Land of Eternal Night. She could then exploit the disorder to act. A feasible plan—but sunlight was like branding irons to lesser vampires. Collateral deaths among innocents would be unavoidable.

Is there a more suitable spell? If I can pinpoint Estelle’s location, everything else becomes manageable.

To avoid alarming her quarry, Fia slowed her dive. Her mind raced through the results of her recent immersion in the library and forbidden archives.

[Life Echo]? No. That only searches for living things. I need to locate Estelle specifically, not triage survivors amid ruins.

[Boundary of Illusion and Reality]. That spell could certainly pinpoint Estelle swiftly. But its labyrinthine nature would envelop the entire city. Unfamiliar with its use, I could not guarantee the maze’s monsters would not harm her. If Estelle fell to some powerful beast within, the cost would outweigh the gain.

Wait. On my first day, I studied a spell called [Seeker’s Enlightenment].

A flash of insight.

By holding the target’s image in mind, one can search for them within a certain range. A second-rank spell, mostly used to track monsters or gather herbs. Its effectiveness on people is limited. But if I cast it—I should manage.

Fia landed firmly in the castle’s first-floor courtyard. Though many guards and servants surrounded the area, she ignored them, concealed by [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea]. She produced her staff and drove its butt into the flagstones.

“—[Seeker’s Enlightenment].”

She began with a chanted form, then immediately canceled. After less than a second’s wait for [Hyper-computation]’s enhancement, she released [Seeker’s Enlightenment] without incantation, Estelle’s image cycling ceaselessly through her mind.

Instantly, from [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea] at its center, a brilliant blue corona—visible only to Fia—surged outward like ocean waves. Everything it touched shed its original color, becoming gray 3D forms outlined in bright blue. When the blue tide washed over the entire castle, its above-ground structure presented itself in Fia’s mind as a near-three-dimensional diagram. She could even see servants moving through the corridors.

Many details were omitted. But for finding Estelle, it sufficed.

Estelle is not in the castle. But on the top floor, I see a black ribbon—its outline blinking red. I recognize that ribbon. It is the large bow Estelle uses to tie her golden hair.

This spell keys on Estelle. So objects connected to her are marked on the map? Why only the ribbon, then? Her other garments?

Estelle would not abandon her ribbon here without reason. I have come to the right place.

Now, enter the castle. Find the Syris family head.

“Who’s there?!”

“An elf’s scent—that’s elven magic!”

“There, by the raised flagstone! Careful—likely a magic chanter using illusions. Bring water!”

Before Fia could act further, four vampires vaulted down from the courtyard walls. Their shouts alarmed every servant within. Fia could see soldiers summoning reinforcements.

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I concealed myself with [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea]. Even the Despair Demon General could not find me. How could these vampires—none even second-rank—detect me? Scent?

Fia found her answer instantly.

Vampires were exquisitely sensitive to the scent of blood. Standing in the open air, the wind carried her odor to them. [Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea] only merged her with her surroundings—it was not true invisibility.

Even as she thought, one of the vampire soldiers chanted [Torrent], splashing water everywhere. If water outlined Fia’s form, they could pinpoint her location precisely.

This will only backfire. They seek the intruder’s position to fight it. I am plainly beyond their ability to handle.

Since she was already exposed, she decided to finish the job quickly. .

Dismissing her concealment and [Seeker’s Enlightenment], Fia materialized before the vampire soldiers—black hair, crimson eyes.

“[Wailing Wind]”

A flash-freezing gale crystallized the air into white mist. The water hurled at Fia froze mid-flight into ice sculptures, then was driven back by the even fiercer winds behind. Colossal ice formations became a sweeping wall, rolling over the vampire soldiers.

Courtyard trees snapped at their trunks, caught in the ice wall’s path. Soldiers, swept up in the freezing tide, screamed as they were crushed against the opposite wall—only those who had time to scream at all.

Only the foremost leader survived. The ice wall, as if guided by eyes, parted around him. Of all the vampire soldiers, he alone stood solitary amid the surrounding carnage.

“Wh–what… happened…”

Even the most clueless person could now grasp that Fia’s power vastly exceeded their imagination. But his mind could not process the situation so swiftly. A groan—nearly a sob—escaped his throat. His legs trembling, he backed away step by step. His face contorted. When his gaze met Fia’s, it held only terror.

“D–don’t come closer!”

Clutching his weapon, his voice cracked with tears. But this did not stop Fia’s approach. He gathered all his remaining strength and thrust his spear at her. The weapon halted against an invisible wall. The recoil shuddered through his body; he nearly collapsed onto the ground.

Then an unseen hand seized his collar and lifted him.

“Where is Estelle?”

“Est–Estelle? I don’t know her!”

The soldier dared not meet Fia’s frigid crimson gaze in the darkness. But the air pressed him from all sides, immobile. Even turning his neck was forcibly restrained.

“You don’t know her? A golden-haired vampire with one wing came to your castle. And you claim not to know her? I will give you one final chance.”

Fia’s eyes flicked to a corner of the courtyard. The vampire soldiers first struck by the ice wall had not died instantly. Their agonized cries and pleas for help now filled the air. Blood-spattered, hellish—the sight further twisted the soldier’s features. Tears of terror leaked from his eyes.

Then.

[Intimidate]

Fia radiated an even mightier sense of pressure. In an instant, the soldier’s will to resist evaporated utterly. His subconscious told him that offending the reaper with crimson eyes before him was far more terrifying than whatever punishment the clan head might later inflict—being crucified under the sun. His voice cracked as he wailed.

“I’ve seen her! I have! She left by carriage yesterday, then Lord Ryan and the other lords went after her! After that, I know nothing more!”

Fia gave no response. The soldier cried out again, pleading more desperately.

“It’s true!”

He does not seem to be lying.

Fia’s expression remained impassive as she considered.

But when life hangs in the balance, one cannot rely on uncertain terms like “seems.”

[Art of the Sage]

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Amplify [Intimidate] with [Art of the Sage]. I will question him again—

But the soldier’s eyes had already rolled back. His body went limp. He appeared to have lost consciousness. And bladder control.

The spell may have been too strong.

A miscalculation.

Still, I have confirmed that Syris family members pursued Estelle. That simplifies matters. The likelihood that they are the perpetrators is now nine in ten.

Fia released the soldier suspended midair by [Telekinesis] and discarded him. She turned directly toward the castle. Even though she had chosen to land on its less conspicuous flank, soldiers from other directions must have noticed the disturbance by now.

No time to lose. I cannot allow those within the castle to flee.

First, seal the exits with vines.

[Vines]

[Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea] touched the ground once more. The courtyard’s flora seemed to spring to life, extending wildly like venomous serpents, crawling from all directions toward the castle.

Yet matters did not proceed as smoothly as Fia had envisioned.

Two serpents of fire descended from the rooftop terrace above. One struck at the countless vines coiling toward the castle. The other—a flame serpent over ten meters long—lunged directly at Fia, its gaping jaws seemingly intent on swallowing her whole.

Using fire against the Witch of Calamity Flames?

Even Fia found her opponent’s conduct almost amusing. She did not even raise her staff. Another [Wailing Wind]. This time, the white ice-mist manifested not as a current, but as a far more violent blizzard—an explosion of frost threatening to seal the entire world in ice. The instant the fire serpent touched the frigid mist, it became a burning ice sculpture, frozen mid-lunge in grotesque, agonized suspension.

Simultaneously, the entire castle wall behind her sheathed itself in half a meter of white ice. The courtyard’s flora froze instantly.

“What?!”

The bone-deep chill invaded Ryan’s body, forcing him to shudder violently. His poised landing faltered; he nearly collapsed. The purebloods following close behind fared no better. The noblewoman-types, comparatively weaker, had already fallen.

Who is this?

Ryan scrutinized the black-haired, crimson-eyed elf before him, frowning. He had never left the Land of Eternal Night. He considered all outsiders barbarians and held not the slightest interest in the world beyond. Observe the beastmen: the moment he stood before them, they meekly submitted, offering tribute. Even elves passing through this Land of Eternal Night were the same. Outsiders endlessly praised elves might, but before him, they were craven weaklings who begged for mercy the instant he sharpened his tone.

Thus, the power Fia now displayed—instantly freezing his flame magic—astonished him. The sensation was akin to an ant possessing strength enough to threaten him. More than fear, this was an affront to his dignity.

Yet such exquisite features… She would make an excellent blood source. A fine slave to fight for me. He even considered, mid-battle, going easy on her.

“Oh? Ten purebloods at once.”

Fia remained unmoved. [Wind of Exploration] told her that even all ten purebloods combined could not match her household’s junior division. The highest-ranked among them barely reached fourth-rank.

She lifted her chin slightly.

“Which of you is Ryan?”

“I am. What of it?” In that instant, Ryan felt an invisible weight press against his chest, stealing his breath. Yet his siblings—and niece—stood behind him. He forced himself to puff out his chest, maintaining his contempt for outsiders. “A mere elf dares run wild on Syris land? Kneel before me now. Submit. I may yet spare— Ghk?!”

Thud.

Ryan’s sentence remained unfinished. His body was already embedded in half a meter of solid ice. The tremor through the ground beneath their feet told the assembly plainly: this impact carried strength enough to inspire dread.

Something just flew past.

This was the thought of every pureblood present. None had even seen what struck Ryan before he was driven into the ice wall. Fia alone knew it was merely the most ordinary [Spatial Hand].

Fia’s frigid gaze locked onto the next pureblood—the fan-holding noblewoman.

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“Where is Estelle?”

“I… I don’t know—”

Thud.

A second thunderous impact. This noblewoman-vampire proved far frailer than Ryan. Every listener heard the crisp, successive snaps of shattering bone, and—a heartbeat later—a piercing, earsplitting shriek of agony. The noblewoman slid from the ice wall. Flesh and blood indistinguishably mashed, she writhed and curled on the ground like a salted slug, howling.

As if she had observed nothing, Fia’s gaze moved to the third target. The remaining purebloods were already broken. Never had they encountered an elf of such overwhelming power. Even as they retreated step by step, their breath quickened, their hearts raced.

“Wh–who are you?”

“An elf this strong doesn’t exist! Estelle… yes, that woman from yesterday! She really is under the Fire Cat Holy Son’s protection?!”

“Then this elf must be the Fire Cat Holy Son’s retainer! Who else could she be?!”

“That damned Ryan! Of all the enemies to make, he chooses the Fire Cat Holy Son?!”

Rapidly reaching a consensus, every pureblood—male and female alike—adopted fawning expressions. They kept their distance from Fia even as they hastened to placate her.

“We don’t know where Lady… where Estelle is! Truly!”

“You know Estelle’s name. You know her connection to the Fire Cat Holy Son. Yet you claim not to know where she’s gone?”

Fia’s eyes narrowed. The chill and pressure radiating from her intensified. Outwardly merely a girl of fourteen or fifteen, the pressure she exerted upon these purebloods surpassed Debir’s several times over.

Some of the female purebloods lost all capacity for movement. Their legs gave way; they collapsed to the ground, tears of desperation spilling from their eyes.

“We genuinely don’t know where Lady Estelle is! True, we tried to stop her yesterday—”

“Shut your mouth!”

A young, richly-attired male pureblood screamed. What greeted him was an invisible javelin—heard but not seen.

Fia condensed [Telekinesis] into an unseen spear and drove it through the male pureblood’s collarbone, pinning him to the ice-sheathed castle wall.

“Eeek!”

Fresh blood. The sight of their comrade’s ruin. This was the finest catalyst. Without needing Fia to press further, the noblewoman who had fallen earlier confessed everything, down to the last detail. The other noblewomen scrambled to offer their own intelligence, each desperate to speak before the others—fear that hesitation meant death.

“Yesterday—yesterday Ryan and the rest of us tried to stop Lady Estelle, but we couldn’t capture her! Just when we were about to succeed, another group of vampires suddenly appeared and snatched Lady Estelle right in front of us! So we truly don’t know where she is!”

“After seizing that bastard child, they ran toward the castle! But they certainly aren’t Syris family!”

“We begged the clan head to go after that woman, but she wouldn’t listen to us! She said she was just an outsider—if she disappeared, so be it!”

“Such a shame, with a face that pretty…”

When the clamor of conflicting accounts finally ceased, all eyes turned to Fia. What they saw was a blue blade of light—unknown meters long—piercing the clouds. Not [Overload]. Simply [Enchanted Blade]. With Lævateinn as her medium, Fia could extend [Enchanted Blade] to terrifying lengths.

Fia’s expression remained cold. These purebloods’ honest confession earned no reprieve.

If this pack had not intercepted Estelle, she would have already reached the border. She would not have been seized by unknown vampires appearing out of nowhere. And even if—to play devil’s advocate—these people had captured her, her fate would still have been grim. I read Erin Slate’s report long before Estelle ever reached this castle.

Knowing what their daily existence was like, I advised Estelle not to harbor imaginations. I never imagined these vampires would prove even more revolting than Erin’s investigation suggested. Purebloods may only unite with purebloods. Given their family’s promiscuity, their reason for preventing Estelle from leaving territory became sickeningly clear.

They meant to keep her here forever—a breeding machine to propagate their bloodline. They acted even after Estelle declared she had the Fire Cat Holy Son’s protection. No room for mercy remains.

Tiny, burning embers swirled in the air between Fia and the purebloods. The hopeful expressions on their faces slowly congealed. They scrambled backward on hands and feet, pleading incessantly. When their voices reached the extremity of terror, their appeals curdled into furious hysteria.

“We–we’ve told you everything we know! That should be enough!”

Rеαd οn ΚαtRеαⅾiոɡСαfе

“Don’t push your luck!”

“A mere elf dares offend us vampires?! Our kind will never forgive this!”

As if coordinating with the seven remaining purebloods, Ryan—having somehow extricated himself from the ice wall—crept up behind Fia. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth; his eyes bulged with fury. His sword was raised high. He had tasted Fia’s power, yes. But anyone—even his mother, Debir—could be hurt by a surprise attack. And he was no fool. He knew a universally acknowledged principle.

Magic chanters are abysmally weak in close combat. Once you close distance, even a seventh-rank forbidden-spell caster can be felled by a single blow to the head.

Night is the vampire’s domain. She cannot possibly track my movements.

Yes.

I had seen through her weakness.

Why did she fight solely from afar, with magic? Because her close-combat ability was negligible!

His sword was already swinging toward the back of Fia’s head. Triumph blossomed on his face. Rage and exhilaration roared from his throat.

“Get close, and you’re dead!”

Contrary to his expectation, the sword halted twenty centimeters from Fia. This was not mercy. Something had seized his blade—and its strength vastly exceeded his own. The sword would not budge.

Then he saw Fia’s eyes as she turned. Those terrible, deep crimson orbs held no mockery. Only the disdainful one shows a mosquito. A triviality.

“I merely wish not to soil my hands. You are unworthy.”

“Y–you—!!”

Fia’s words inflamed Ryan beyond reason. Blood suffused his eyes. With his sword trapped by Fia’s [Telekinesis], he released the hilt and swung both fists at her with enough force to shatter teeth. His fists fared even worse than his blade. He could not approach within a meter of her. Each blow crashed against [Bee Shield Forcefield], producing crisp, successive cracks. In mere moments, his fists were shredded, bloody ruin.

Leave one as a guide. Not a single one of the rest escapes.

Filthy vermin.

Fia’s gaze hardened. The embers encircling her erupted instantaneously into raging flame. A pillar of scorching, resplendent fire—pure enough to purify all—shot heavenward.

[Flame Storm]

BOOM!

A thunderous roar, like a meteor striking earth, shook the sky. The castle erupted in a horrific breach. Half the roof collapsed. Surging flames and billowing smoke rose as if from magic cannon bombardment.

“Haah.”

Fia exhaled softly and dismissed her cloud-piercing [Enchanted Blade]. She had expected such a commotion to draw out some hidden power—her investigation had missed.

It seems I was overthinking.

Now to find this clan head, Debir.

She turned toward a noblewoman sheltered amid the rubble beneath [Aegis of the Firmament]. Before she could take two steps, a fiery figure descended swiftly from the black sky.

Nola?

The thought had barely surfaced before the Fire Cat girl, diving diagonally from the heavens, flung her arms around Fia’s neck. Her warm, supple body pressed tightly against Fia’s. Excited, affectionate, she rubbed her cheek vigorously against Fia’s, emitting constant sniffing sounds.

“Fia! You came!”

The new arrival was Nola, her cat tail held high.