Chapter 5: The Blood Flowing Through Eirlain

Eirlain was a hilly region along the shores of Lake Luxia, which bordered the province of Delphion to the west. The azure of the lake and the deep green of the trees were so gorgeous that if we hadn’t been in the midst of a war, it would have been tempting to go for a leisurely stroll.

We had pinned this area as a potential battlefield for a reason: when rain had flooded the lake and left behind a buildup of earth and grit, the fields that had once graced the land had been wiped away. The nearby woods had been burned away as part of a plan to recultivate the land, so trampling over the ground would have minimal consequences.

The one catch was what there were still fields not far from here. The swaying ears of wheat that had once grown there had been harvested in a hurry after the villagers received notice of our approach by messenger bird and post-horse. The goats and sheeps grazing in the pastures had been herded away as well.

Standing atop a hill that commanded a view of the whole region, we scoped out the distant sea of armor gleaming in the light of the sun. According to our reconnaissance, though their numbers had waned, the Llewynians were still 10,000 men strong. Perhaps Salekhard had stationed some of their men elsewhere, as we heard there were only 7,000 of them.

If the cutback on soldiers was any indication, this was where Isaac planned to lose.

“Good. We won’t have to fight him anymore,” I mumbled.

No doubt he was going to hurt a not-so-insignificant number of people to pull the wool over Llewyne’s eyes. Still, as long as we could make it through this one battle, we would never have to clash with Isaac again. As soon as this was all over, I was going to grab him by the scruff of the neck and give him a good walloping. I owed him one for rescuing me, but even taking that into account... I was never going to forgive him for that kiss.

Reggie’s troops moved into position at his command. The methodical formation only made my anxiety skyrocket—and here I thought I was used to this after going to battle so many times. Why did my legs feel like jelly now?

Together with a squad led by Reggie, I marched to the top of a hill just right of Lake Luxia. The wind blowing in from the lake felt a touch cold against my skin. It was a vast enough body of water that I almost could have mistaken it for a sea.

I turned my gaze frontward. The armies of Llewyne and Salekhard had once again resumed their march; we must have been within their sights. With the way things were headed, we were going to clash exactly where we’d predicted.

As I stood there gazing out at their ranks, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Reggie’s.

“Relax; there’s nothing to worry about. All our preparations are in place.”

Reggie was right. Between our military strategy and his magic, we had plenty of tricks up our sleeve that the enemy would never see coming. There was no reason to be so nervous.

“Thanks,” I replied, looking ahead with a newfound calm.

I was blissfully unaware of the meaningful looks Cain and Reggie exchanged behind me.

“What did they say?” Reggie asked.

“They left it up to you. It sounded to me like they’ve already given up.”

“Well, if we don’t want her getting upset, we’ll have to wait for the right opportunity. Now certainly isn’t the time.”

“Yes. Knowing too much is only going to hold us back here.”

At the time, I had no idea what they were talking about, so I assumed it was some mumbo jumbo about positioning the troops.

Before long, the enemy came to a halt. I summoned my golem at Reggie’s prompting. In hopes of conserving my strength, I made this one smaller than my usual fare—about eight mers tall. Formed with a chunk of copper ore I’d smeared with my blood ahead of time, the golem rose to its feet and stood on proud display before the troops.

Despite my golem’s appearance on the scene, the enemy didn’t appear particularly perturbed. Clearly this had become custom for them, too.

Both of our armies gradually resumed their forward march. Alan, who had been put in charge of the center troops, pulled ahead ever so slightly as he closed in on the enemy. One of his men waved the blue banner of Farzia high and proud—which served as our rallying cry.

I drove my golem straight toward the enemy troops. The left flank dove out of the way, leaving a huge gap where the soldiers had been. At a glance, it seemed like they’d finally mastered the art of dodging my attacks, but upon closer inspection, I saw a few soldiers getting caught up in the assault. Perhaps the charge had been faster than they’d bargained for.

I bit down on my lip. My golem didn’t slow down for them.

Soon enough, my golem collapsed with a loud thump, like it had lost the strength to keep itself standing. I could feel the moment its life was snuffed out, as if an invisible thread connecting us had snapped.

The Llewynians fell into formation around the resulting mountain of dirt. From behind them, another unit began advancing toward the hill where we stood.

Alan’s troops slashed their way through the enemy forces. Nonetheless, the Llewynian squad pressed on, as if we were the only thing in their sights.

Situated at the very center of the unit was Lord Credias, riding high upon his horse. Around him, one group of soldiers limped forward, while more followed along behind him with steely expressions.

“Just as I expected.”

This was the first part of Reggie’s strategy in action: by putting ourselves on full display, we would draw the attention of Lord Credias and his defective spellcasters away from the rest of the troops.

Predictably, this configuration had drawn strong objections during the strategy meeting. Putting both the prince and the spellcaster—who likewise made quite the attractive target—on the front lines seemed like a terrible idea. Even knowing that we had lightning magic at our disposal and a scheme in mind wasn’t enough to keep everyone from arguing.

Fully prepared to meet with this dissent, Reggie had boldly declared, “My aim is to take out Lord Credias straightaway, and this is the only way to do that.”

The most serious threat throughout this war had been the defective spellcasters under Lord Credias’ control. Rather than going on a rampage and destroying themselves from within, they could lock on to the target of their attacks, making them significantly harder to contend with.

“So you want to lure him in with Kiara. Are you sure that will work?” Alan had asked.

“In the last battle, he ignored the entire rest of our army to go after her. I assume he wants to drag her back with him at all costs, or else simply settle the score with her once and for all. Taking our spellcaster out of play would go a long way toward defeating us, too.

“Last time around, however,” Reggie had gone on, “his actions resulted in significant losses for Llewyne. No doubt he’s been reprimanded; I don’t think he could afford to focus all his efforts on Kiara again. That’s why I need to go with her. If they see a chance to take out the spellcaster and enemy royalty in one fell swoop, no one will bother to hold him back. On our end, killing Lord Credias at the outset would put Kiara back at full strength, which puts the odds in our favor.”

If I could just cast my magic without issue, it would be easy to turn the tide of the battle. Reggie had instructed each province’s respective armies to hold their ground until then. Perhaps they couldn’t come up with a better plan themselves; reluctant as they were, the generals had accepted his orders without any further fuss. The remainder of the battle strategy had been left in Alan’s hands.

Now, just as Reggie had predicted, Lord Credias was heading our way. Cain and the royal guard, who had formed a protective circle around us—as well as the Évrard and Azuran troops under Reggie’s command—wore faces drawn with tension.

There were far more defective spellcasters than we had bargained for.

“I was prepared for about twenty or so,” Groul lamented.

“I thought our most pessimistic estimates had been fairly high,” Cain said, “but this exceeds even that.”

A mere ten defective spellcasters had left Cain and I with our backs up against the wall in Liadna. Even assuming that the viscount would bolster his forces, we had predicted that there would be twenty defectives at most.

And yet, nearly thirty defective spellcasters were lined up in front of Lord Credias as he marched forward. Plumper than ever, he looked like some kind of demon controlling a horde of zombies from the shadows.

He was accompanied by about a thousand regular Llewynian soldiers, but perhaps for fear of getting caught in the crossfire—or perhaps because he had ordered them to stay back—they were all assembled in the rear.

Amid all the panic, Reggie smoothly commented, “At the very least, this is a clear sign of friction within the Llewynian army. That is, perhaps, the one aspect of this in our favor.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Llewyne has been turning their soldiers into defective spellcasters as a means of punishment. Considering the numbers they have lined up there, they’ve started to go after even the pettiest of criminals—the ones they had left alone until now. It’s a punishment equivalent to the death penalty, so I’m sure Llewynian morale has taken a significant hit. In which case, the number of soldiers who will desert at the slightest hint of a disadvantage should be higher than ever.”

“So if we can just take out Lord Credias...”

If the Llewynians lost hope of victory, more and more soldiers would desert, spelling the end for their army.

“Exactly.” After nodding in response, Reggie peered into my face. “If the strain gets to be too much, make sure to say something, Kiara.”

“I’m doing fine, actually. Maybe it’s because of this.”

I was referring to the contract stone the Thorn Princess had given Reggie, which was currently hanging from my neck. Each time I could feel my mana start to run wild, the cool of the stone would quell the magic forces within me.

I had a feeling this was part of the same stone she had given to me way back when. As the very gem I’d used to become a spellcaster, its effects were particularly potent—enough to even lessen Lord Credias’ sway over me.

All the same, I could feel a fever gradually building within me. This time around, he was putting his all into shutting me down.

Hold out just a little longer, Kiara.

In hopes of luring him as close as we needed him, I made a second golem. I positioned it to serve as a shield for us.

“It won’t be much longer now, Kiara,” Reggie reassured me.

I nodded. He was the one in charge of the timing. My confidence that I could leave the decision in his hands drove it home that we were finally, truly fighting alongside each other. Even through the pain, newfound courage welled up within me.

Just 500 more mers... 450 more mers...

The cavalry crouched low as the advancing defective horde shot gusts of air our way. The wind fanned incoming tendrils of flames, which snuffed themselves out as they brought my golem to the ground.

It was then that the defective spellcasters broke out into a run.

“Kiara!”

I answered his call, placing both hands on the ground. Not a second later, I crumpled on the spot, assailed by the familiar feeling of weakness. For my efforts, the soil began to writhe underneath us, seeking to burst forth. Hands of earth reached out to snatch the ankles of both the sprinting spellcasters and the soldiers in the rear.

Lord Credias hadn’t anticipated that I could cast such a huge spell under his constraints. Despite his shock, he managed to pull back so as to evade my attack.

In turn, that weakened his control over his defective spellcasters. The zombies that had been barreling straight for us suddenly scattered every which way. When the defectives whose feet were caught began blindly shooting spells, the soldiers in the rear made to retreat, bumping into the men lined up behind them in the chaos.

Though we couldn’t get too close with all that magic flying everywhere, this had given us the perfect chance to strike.

“Now!” Groul commanded, and the soldiers in the front row began hurling their spears.

Rooted to the spot, the defective spellcasters were skewered one after the other. The whole reason we had taken up position atop a hill was to boost the hit rate of those spears. Launching them from above gave us an advantage in both range and power.

Unfortunately, some of our projectiles were blocked by wind and flame, leaving a good amount of defectives unscathed.

The cavalry galloped forward. Leading the charge were the Évrard soldiers most accustomed to dealing with defective spellcasters, along with the soldiers who had fought them off alongside Lord Enister and lived to tell the tale. There were Azuran soldiers in the mix, too.

To account for the long range of the enemy’s magic attacks, we were fighting from a distance. With this strategy, we had already managed to take out ten mages already.

Before long, Lord Credias wrested back his control, and the defectives’ movements regained some uniformity. Heedless of their own safety and unafraid of catching their allies in the crossfire, they worked to burn our soldiers to ash. Still, the situation wasn’t as bad as it could have been, seeing as their feet were still fixed in place. There was only so much ground they could cover.

While I watched the battle unfold, I occasionally summoned walls to protect our soldiers from the incoming flames and ice.

Eventually, I heard Reggie call out, “Here I go.” After flashing me a tiny smile, he took a step forward.

As the commanding officer, Groul couldn’t leave his position. He thus left Reggie in the hands of Felix and the rest of the knights accompanying him, though he didn’t look too happy about it.

Cain stuck by my side, following Reggie with his eyes alone. I didn’t move to stop him either, of course. The only thing left to do was pray.

“Be safe. Oh, please be safe!”

Please don’t die, I silently implored. But no matter what, we had to beat Lord Credias. Otherwise, there was no telling how many thousands of soldiers we would lose to his defective spellcasters. All I could do, however, was keep my own magic going and wait.

“Nothing to do but have faith in him. It doesn’t make sense to pull out a secret weapon right at the start, and your prince already decided he was going to make the most of it,” said Master Horace.

I chewed at my lip. Reggie may have gotten his hands on lightning magic, but he could only bring it out when it really counted.

The ideal scenario would have been for him to take down those defective spellcasters and Lord Credias all in one hit. But going with that plan meant we’d be screwed if the viscount had a way to dodge the attack. Reggie would be sluggish after casting his magic, and meanwhile, I’d be paralyzed by the viscount’s power over me. If we both ended up frozen before the enemy, it would be a huge burden on the ones tasked with protecting us.

I simply had to believe in him and wait, just as Master Horace had said. That was easier said than done, of course. But now that I was on this side of the equation, it finally dawned on me how much I’d been asking of Reggie all this time.

Reggie had thrown himself into a free-for-all battle because there was something only he could do, and I’d always stepped up because I wanted to protect him. There was nothing wrong with any of that. I knew it was what needed to be done. Still, realizing how tough this had been on both of us only made it harder to bear.

Practically on pins and needles, I watched Reggie go. He and his knights marched forward, helping out their fellow soldiers by felling the defective spellcasters in their path. While the rest of the men stood by—no matter how accustomed to this they were, they couldn’t get too close if they wanted to avoid the flames and wind—the squad stormed ahead, taking advantage of whatever openings they saw.

Scared to watch, I couldn’t help tensing up, but Reggie and his knights simply breezed on by. If this were an RPG, I’d have to chalk it up to an insurmountable difference in attack stats.

As Reggie charged, adding more soldiers to his entourage for each enemy he deftly struck down in his path, he caught the attention of Lord Credias. Even from a distance, I could tell the viscount was glaring.

That was when Cain murmured, “It’s time, Miss Kiara.”

I nodded, dropping my spell at last. Thanks to the efforts of our brave knights and soldiers, the defectives’ numbers had dropped into the single digits. We’d taken a considerable amount of casualties in the process, but the fight was getting easier now. The Évrard soldiers quickly got to work luring the newly mobile defective spellcasters toward enemy lines.

Cain held out a hand and helped me to my feet. Using him as a crutch, I went on the move.

After slaying all those defective spellcasters, the front lines had moved slightly farther down the hill. Meanwhile, the Llewynian soldiers who had been keeping their distance, perhaps afraid to get near the defectives, were now trying to cut around from behind us. Groul dispatched soldiers to the rear to deal with them.

With Cain there to protect me, I made my way over to Groul’s side. From there, I was able to hear Lord Credias and Reggie’s conversation.

“His Highness going solo? My, Farzia must really be low on manpower,” Lord Credias jeered, drawing back just enough to use some of the ordinary soldiers as a shield.

“Our spellcaster is too valuable to leave unprotected from, say, a man so obstinate that even after taking a wife, he would continue to chase down the one girl who ran from him.”

The smile didn’t fall from Reggie’s face even as the soldiers came slashing at him. Felix and Cyrus made quick work of the attackers, and Reggie skewered another man through the throat, not a flinch in his expression.

“You treated our spellcaster to some real hospitality, from the sound of it. Why, when I heard what you did to her, I was overcome with the urge to give you the same death I just gave him.”

“Can you really act so high and mighty after seducing another man’s fiancée? I highly doubt a sheltered girl like her could have made it to Évrard all on her own. I think it’s safe to call your hand in it a kidnapping.” Lord Credias’ cheeks twitched in outrage.

“Kidnapping? What a ridiculous accusation. Forced into a marriage, and with no hope of appealing to an adoptive father who had never loved her, what options did she have but to lament her fate? But she wasn’t that weak. Even if she hadn’t met us along the way, she would have made it on her own. You have it backward; she is the one who saved us.”

His last words nearly brought me to tears. No—perhaps my weakened state had left me extra emotional, because my vision really had started to blur. When I rubbed at my eyes, Cain clutched my shoulder in support.

Drawing closer to the viscount, Reggie smiled and said, “To allow Kiara a peaceful life, and to have you pay for the treason of welcoming Llewynian troops into Farzia, prepare to be slain right here and now.”

“You little brat!” Beside himself with rage, Lord Credias’ full attention was on Reggie now; I could feel his restraints on me loosening. I hastily pressed my hands to the ground to cast a spell.

“Reggie!” The moment I called out his name, I set the earth into motion.

A myriad of earthen pillars sprang up between Lord Credias and Reggie. The columns then fell down like dominoes, breaking apart into piles of dirt as they neared the viscount.

Reggie and Felix plunged straight into the cloud of dust hanging through the air. If they could take advantage of the smokescreen to kill him right then and there, we couldn’t ask for a better outcome. And if they couldn’t pull it off, at least blinding Lord Credias would give them better odds of dodging his spells.

Llewynian soldiers forced their way into the gap to defend the viscount.

“Protect His Highness!” At Groul’s command, the Farzian soldiers likewise jumped into action.

In the meantime, a few other soldiers had decided to throw themselves at Farzia’s spellcaster, so I couldn’t get closer to Reggie to see what was going on. Fretting all the while, I had Cain step in to protect me while I fired off a few tiny spells to defend myself.

Suddenly, a huge flash of light blew away the gradually settling dust.

“Did he pull it off?”

Was that Reggie’s lightning? Or did Lord Credias use some sort of spell?

The answer to my questions soon became clear. What I finally saw when the dust settled was Reggie holding a smoking sword, and Lord Credias standing a short distance away, part of his uniform singed black.

“Damn you!” Lord Credias muttered.

Reggie had conjured up his lightning sword for sure. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to have managed a critical hit. When I looked down at the viscount’s feet, I saw a defective spellcaster crumpled on the ground whom he had presumably pulled in to shield him. A few seconds later, the man turned to sand and crumbled away.

More than shocked, the look on the viscount’s face was oddly... resentful. “Even the prince has become a spellcaster now?!” he moaned bitterly while the soldiers who had drawn back for fear of the light once again resumed hostilities in the background. “It’s not fair... Even the prince knows offensive spells?!”

The way Lord Credias was gnashing his teeth and mumbling to himself had me confused.

Well, he seems to be under the mistaken impression that Reggie became a spellcaster... but why does that make him so mad?

While I was wondering that, Master Horace murmured, “I see now. So this viscount was an anomaly of a spellcaster.”

“What do you mean?”

“He doesn’t have any offensive spells to use. No doubt it ties into the way he can control these defective spellcasters. Heeheehee! My best guess is that his specialty lies in absorbing mana. He can ingest a bunch of different contract stones and manipulate defective spellcasters, sure, but he doesn’t have any magic he can project himself.”

That would explain why he never showed up to battle in the RPG. The player never had to fight hordes of defective spellcasters; what that probably meant was that he hadn’t had a consistent source of contract stones. And if he went into battle without his human shields at his disposal, he’d be dead in an instant.

He did have that this time around, which was why he was standing here before us. In lieu of me, he’d gotten his hands on another mage in the form of Ada, but perhaps cycling through disposable spellcasters was more his style.

I’d assumed Ada would be fighting alongside Lord Credias, but I didn’t see her anywhere. Part of me felt relieved, while part of me worried she might be off clashing with Alan’s troops instead. If she did any more damage to the Farzia than she already had, she would lose any chance of Alan or Reggie stepping in to pardon her.

“Why did it have to be the prince?! If I had that power, I could have shred Annamarie to pieces with my own two hands!”

His grudge against his ex-wife really is something.

Considering the way he always likened me to her, no doubt he was hellbent on slaughtering me once and for all today.

Lord Credias took a step forward. While Reggie brandished his sword, the brown-haired Cyrus stepped out ahead of him.

At first, I thought the viscount was going to summon another defective spellcaster, but he showed no sign of it. Nevertheless, he took yet another step forward, followed by another—stepping over the sandy remains of the defective he’d sacrificed as he did.

I don’t get it. If he doesn’t have any offensive spells, why does he keep moving forward? Is the anger clouding his judgment?

Reggie unleashed another bolt of lightning. He couldn’t summon much power all on his own, but he was close enough to the viscount to hit him regardless.

Another defective spellcaster dove between Lord Credias and Reggie to take the hit, disintegrating into sand moments later.

All of a sudden, Reggie sprang back as if he’d just caught on to something. In the same instant, another Llewynian soldier who had dived in to protect the viscount let out an anguished scream, dissolving into dust and dying.

Why? I wondered. Not a second later, Master Horace came to a realization of his own and shouted, “You need to get farther away from him!”

Stunned as they were, unable to believe whatever they were seeing, Reggie, Felix, and Cyrus all managed to fall back.

“Master Horace, what’s happening?!”

He replied with distaste, “I bet that viscount can give mana to whoever he touches, too. Give anyone too much mana and they lose their form. The magic will run amok through their body until they finally turn to sand.”

It was the same fate as caving under a contract stone’s power and dying. Nobody could get any closer to him like this.

Perhaps Reggie’s retreat had given the viscount time to collect himself; the surviving defective spellcasters were starting to reorganize. When they began hobbling toward us shooting spells, I blocked their flames and wind with an earthen wall.

The moment Lord Credias stepped closer, my wall came crumbling down. Encouraged by this development, the Llewynian soldiers clashed against the Farzians with newfound enthusiasm.

“Let’s move back,” Reggie said. Now that he and his knights had made it all the way to where I stood, he took me by the hand and dragged me away.

“Heheh... Are you quite pleased with yourself, you thieving prince?” Lord Credias chuckled, drawing ever closer.

Excuse me, but I was never yours! I wanted to shoot back, but somehow I doubted he cared about what I had to say. Besides, I was soon distracted by his next puzzling remark.

“Oh, but part of me does feel for you, Your Highness. How very pitiful you are. Not only was your mother offered up as a sacrifice behind your back, but you weren’t even there to witness her final moments!”

“My mother? A sacrifice?”

This was clearly the first Reggie had heard of it, too. He stared the viscount down with incredulity.

Still... a “sacrifice”? Where else have I heard that word recently?

Before I could remember who had said it, Lord Credias sent even more defective spellcasters our way. Cain and Felix darted off to either side of us. Weaving their way around incoming flames and swords of ice thrust their way, they ran their spears through the defective spellcasters before quickly withdrawing once more. Engulfed in flames and pillars of ice, the defectives lost their lives and turned to sand.

“Reggie!”

At this range, Reggie’s power alone wouldn’t be enough to bridge the gap between us and the viscount. When he noticed me holding out my hand, he nodded back. As Lord Credias watched me nestle close to Reggie, one hand on his shoulder, he let out a howl of rage.

Under the assumption that he could still attack from a distance, Cyrus flung his spear at the viscount, but it turned to sand before it could reach him.

Reggie pointed the tip of his blade at Lord Credias.

“Kiara.”

As soon as Reggie said my name, I started channeling my mana through the hand on his shoulder.

Only the slightest of grimaces passed over Reggie’s face. The light that subsequently poured from his hand transformed into electricity and crawled up the length of his sword, then shot straight for the viscount with a mighty, vibrating roar.

Just as it was about to strike him down, however, the lightning evaporated.

“Why?!” I blurted out. Beside me, Reggie furrowed his brow.

Master Horace muttered, “Did he fight mana with mana?”

“He can do that?”

“If he can discharge enough mana to break anything down, surely he can do the same thing to magic spells. Take a look at that; seems like he used up a little too much of his reserves. Eeeheehee!” Cackling, Master Horace pointed at the viscount with one of his stubby hands.

“He... lost weight?” Reggie marveled.

Indeed, the viscount’s rotund body appeared to have deflated. The flesh of his face had thinned out, and his uniform was suddenly a size too big for him.

“Storing up all that mana makes his body puff up, and discharging it makes him shrink. That’s the only ace up his sleeve he’s got, so no matter how ugly it looks, or no matter how much it slows him down, he’s got no choice but to keep it that way. Heheheh!”

While Master Horace was busy cackling, the viscount had started charging toward us. If we tried to run, however, there was a chance he would turn his attack on our allies fighting the rest of the Llewynians.

“If you can get him to use up all his reserves, you win, but he’s going to turn tail and run the second he knows he can’t beat you.”

“Then how’s this?”

Taking Master Horace’s advice into account, I placed my hands on the ground and summoned two new golems. One of them charged right toward Lord Credias. As soon as he destroyed it, I felt the backlash. It felt like he’d chipped away at the power inside of me, causing me to moan in agony. For my next move, I just flung a block of rocks at him instead. That swiftly turned to sand and sprinkled to the ground, of course, but it had been the best way to draw his attention toward me and make him believe he was going to win this.

“Ugh! Hrk!” I coughed, strapped for breath. It probably didn’t help that I’d inhaled some dust, either.

“Don’t push yourself too hard, Kiara.”

I’d gone and made Reggie worry about me. Still, all that mattered to me right now was taking down Lord Credias—and severing this awful tie engraved so deep in my memories. It was hard to come out and say that, though.

When I lifted my head, I saw that Lord Credias was darting toward us from beyond the dust with newfound agility—perhaps because of all that weight he’d lost. I rushed to get out of his path, but for some reason, Reggie took a step forward.

Right as Reggie swung down his sword, the weapon crumbled away into sand.

That assured Lord Credias of his victory. He reached out a hand, his sleeve flapping loosely around it. Reggie attempted to dodge his grasp, but it was too late—the viscount had already grabbed hold of his left arm.

I was pretty sure I was screaming, but my voice wouldn’t come out. Still, my throat burned all the same.

In the next moment, however, there came a flash bright enough to leave me blinded. Once the light had died down and I could finally see again, I gasped.

Lord Credias was the one crumpled on the ground—and Reggie was the one standing over him. Small sparks danced in his hand, the leftover remains of the blast.

A few seconds later, it finally dawned on me what had happened.

All Lord Credias had done was expel his mana. It was on the arm he had grabbed that the Thorn Princess had engraved the path for Reggie’s magic to flow through; thus, the viscount’s mana had simply passed right down his arm, transforming into lightning and coming back to bite the man himself.

Most likely, Reggie had been counting on that. He had botched his escape on purpose, allowing the viscount to grab hold of his arm. If anything went wrong, that would have been the end of him—but he’d taken that risk.

For a few seconds, everyone just stood stock-still, as though they could hardly believe their eyes.

Reggie was the one to finally break the silence. “The spellcaster of Llewyne is dead! Wipe out the remaining enemy forces!”

At his command, the knights and soldiers snapped back to their senses and descended upon the remaining enemies. Given how many of them Lord Credias had used as a shield, the number of defective spellcasters had been culled significantly, and the remaining two were slain in no time at all.

Amid the raging battle, we stared down at Lord Credias from a short distance away. The fact that he hadn’t turned to sand meant he wasn’t dead just yet. We couldn’t let our guard down.

But all he did was mutter, “Annamarie... Of course you’d betray me,” his unfocused eyes gazing off into the distance.

I’d known full well that Lord Credias had never gotten over his ex-wife. At the end of the day, what had truly mattered to him was neither the war nor his own life; it was simply winning back the heart of his late lover.

Being a man who knew naught but how to take his resentment out on others, no matter how many replacements he found for her, he’d never once managed to win even an imitation of her love.

A memory suddenly flooded back to me. It was an image of the viscount clinging to my feet and wailing, screaming about how his father had called him a waste of a spellcaster. Seeing as he couldn’t wield ordinary black magic, his father had never stopped berating him even after he’d become a mage.

In the dream, I was aware that his “father” wasn’t his parent by birth. The man had taken in several children and raised only the ones who became spellcasters as his sons, all to keep his family line of mages afloat.

None of that had made me sympathetic toward him, of course. I wasn’t enough of a saint to value the feelings of someone who constantly punished me for things I had nothing to do with, and who wasn’t even interested in treating me like an actual person. Who in their right mind could hear, I went through some hard times, so please don’t blame me for trying to kill you, and think that was a reasonable request?

Lord Credias reached out to strangle me, his hands damp with tears. All I could think was how wonderful it would be if this killed me.

The vision only lasted an instant; soon, the battlefield once again spread out before my eyes. Moments later, I was able to witness Lord Credias quietly dissolving into sand.

“You don’t have to watch,” Reggie offered as I lapsed into silence.

“It’s fine. I need to burn this into my memory. That’s the only way I can be sure this nightmare is over for good.” With a shake of my head, I turned my eyes back toward the viscount’s disintegrating form.

And then, somehow... it finally clicked into place what these mysterious visions really were. Perhaps I’d been reborn into this world once already after being born and raised in Japan—and I was now repeating that second life all over again.

To put it another way, I had lived and died once as “Kiara Credias,” and I was currently in the process of doing that life over. Something told me that was the answer.

That would certainly explain why these memories were interwoven with such personal emotions. What I didn’t understand was where the Thorn Princess came into the picture.

With how deep I’d fallen into my own thoughts, I didn’t even notice the dark cloud that fell over Reggie’s face when I said the word “nightmare.”