Chapter 36: Kerman’s death

The fiery ropes of the Tail of Inferno spell, cast simultaneously by five people, bound Baal’s neck, arms, and legs like shackles.  

The supreme-rank mages, certain of their opportunity, swiftly closed in.  

But Baal, as if mocking them, sprayed bodily fluids toward those approaching, thoroughly defending its vital points.  

“Get out of the way!”  

Floria’s voice rang out, accompanied by the sound of something slicing through the air.  

As Sercia, who had been grappling with Baal, turned her body, a massive golden arrow shot forward, hurtling toward Baal’s head.  

This time, it has to hit, Valery thought, smirking confidently.  

But then—  

“What the…!”  

Baal twisted its head at a grotesque angle, dodging the attack with ease.  

The bizarre movement left everyone speechless.  

In that brief silence, Rita was the first to snap out of it.  

“Now’s not the time to stand around!”  

Gripping a spear of flame conjured by her Piercing Flame spell, Rita leaped into the air, aiming to strike Baal’s head.  

But at that moment, Baal’s neck extended like a turtle’s, lunging toward her.  

Rita, startled by the rapidly approaching jaws, faltered.  

“Did it always have that ability?’

Before she could process it, Baal’s jaws clamped down on her left shoulder.  

‘I almost got seriously hurt. I need to break free, or…’

Rita winced briefly.  

Fortunately, it wasn’t a severe injury. 

The blue cloak Sercia had given her acted like armor, protecting her.  

No matter how much Baal worked its jaw muscles, it couldn’t tear through her flesh. 

Panicked, Baal began pulling harder, as if intending to drag her away entirely.  

“Rita-nim!”  

As Rita was being pulled, Alois cried out in alarm.  

Felix, the Holy Knight Commander, quickly threw his sword, striking Baal’s neck.  

The impact caused Baal’s head, still gripping Rita, to lose balance and swing back toward its body.  

Rita, who had been lifted off the ground, crashed to the earth.  

Her face scraped and bloodied, she groaned in pain.  

“Rita-nim! Are you alright?”  

Rita’s injury seemed to shift the tide of the battle. 

Unlike Rita, who kept her eyes fixed on Baal even while being treated, her companions were distracted, glancing at her instead of focusing on the enemy.  

“Look at it!”  

That subtle lapse gave Baal an opening.  

Sensing the fiery chains of Tail of Inferno loosen for a moment, Baal thrashed wildly.  

“Ah…!”  

The mage Hilia was the first to lose her grip.  

With its left leg freed, Baal twisted its body violently, causing the other mages to stumble and be dragged along.  

The supreme-rank mages rushed to regain control, but Baal cleverly sprayed more fluids, blocking their approach.  

“Hilia! Hurry!”  

Blena, sensing the situation spiraling, shouted desperately.  

Hilia, coming to her senses, should have grabbed the chain again to restrain Baal’s leg, but…  

She stared blankly at the chain that had slipped from her hands, frozen.  

As Baal’s movements grew fiercer, Kerman, too, succumbed to fear and let go.  

“Kerman!”  

An enraged Blena yelled for him to grab it again, but Kerman, trembling, backed away.  

With one arm now free, Baal grew emboldened.  

Realizing this was its chance to escape, it thrashed even harder.  

Blena, Seth, and Alois paled.  

“No! We can’t hold on any longer…!”  

Finally, the chains held by the remaining three slipped free.  

Now completely unbound, Baal bolted toward an area with fewer people.  

“Path of the Shadow!”  

Noticing Baal’s attempt to flee, Rita swiftly teleported behind it using its shadow.  

As Rita appeared right behind it, blood dripping from her face, Baal, about to escape, hesitated and turned.  

The sharp scent of blood was enough to disrupt the starving creature’s senses.  

SCREEECH—!  

Its eyes wild, Baal opened its jaws wide to devour Rita.  

At that moment, a golden arrow shot from behind, piercing through the back of Baal’s head and out its mouth.  

Even with the sharp arrowhead stopping just before her, Rita didn’t flinch. 

She raised her right hand, conjuring another Piercing Flame spear.  

This time…  

Baal’s eyes shook violently as it registered the blazing spear.  

Immediately after, its legs turned red and began to bulge and transform.  

Rita recalled how its arms had undergone a similar change before unleashing a sword-like attack.  

‘I need to dodge.’

Instinctively, Rita leaped back.  

Her companions, aware of Baal’s abilities from prior information, braced for defense.  

But contrary to their fears, Baal didn’t attack. 

Instead, it suddenly leaped high into the air with grasshopper-like agility.  

Its body soared above the treetops before diving back down, disappearing into the dense forest.  

“Damn it!”  

Seth, furious, cursed and chased after it. 

“Seth-nim! Stop! We need to treat everyone’s injuries first…!”  

Mikael, even more alarmed, called out to him.  

Seth paused briefly, turning back.  

“It’s half-dead already—it won’t get far!”  

Driven by guilt for failing to restrain Baal, Seth snapped back and vanished into the forest. 

Blena, flustered, followed him.  

Seeing this, Kerman’s mind raced. 

If Seth and Blena caught Baal, what would happen?  

His brow furrowed at the thought.  

“Hilia! Come on!”  

Determined not to lose out, Kerman dragged Hilia along.  

Alois, left behind, glanced nervously at Rita.  

“Idiots…!”  

Valery clicked his tongue at their reckless decision. 

His expression screamed that it was a mistake, but he didn’t pursue them.  

The other supreme-rank mages felt the same. 

To them, Rita was more important than the other mages.  

“Are you alright?”  

“I’m… fine.”  

Noticing that no one paid the fleeing mages any mind, Rita swallowed a bitter feeling.  

In her past life, she, too, had been just another expendable soldier.  

She briefly wished that Blena and Seth would prove themselves and earn the recognition they deserved.  

“The bleeding has stopped, and the wound is healing, but you should rest for now—”  

“I’m fine.”  

Even as Mikael’s warm holy energy enveloped her face, Rita’s gaze lingered on the forest where the mages had disappeared.  

As Mikael’s healing touch faded, Rita sprang up, ready to run.  

Despite everyone’s attempts to stop her, she ignored them, leaving the other supreme-rank mages no choice but to follow.  

If I summon a creature to scout from above, I’d find it quickly, but that risks alerting other monsters.  

Quickly assessing the situation, Rita tracked Baal’s footprints. 

Still uneasy, she leaped onto the trees, moving from branch to branch.  

Only someone like the Children of the Forest could keep up with such a method.  

“Floria, go after her first.”  

To prepare for any contingencies, Eilin stayed with the group and sent Floria ahead.  

Floria nimbly climbed the trees, following Rita.  

Meanwhile, Rita, far ahead, finally sensed something.  

Not far off, she heard faint commotion—voices and rustling branches carried by the wind.  

“Found it.”  

Confirming the presence of corrupted mana nearby, Rita leaped down.  

Racing through the tangled tree trunks, she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening.  

“Oh…”  

At the end of Baal’s elongated neck, its jaws moved relentlessly.  

Its toothy maw held someone’s lower body, chewing with sickening crunches.  

Rita blinked several times, trying to process the scene.  

No…  

CRUNCH. 

The sound of snapping bones echoed as something slid down Baal’s throat.  

The severed lower body fell to the ground, blood soaking the white Mage Tower cloak, now reduced to tattered scraps.  

The ground turned red with pooling blood, and Rita froze in place.  

***

#Just Before Rita’s Arrival

Chasing after the fleeing Baal, Seth, Blena, Kerman, and Hilia ran in pursuit.  

Kerman, trailing behind, smirked at Baal’s staggering, slowed movements.  

“At this rate, we can catch it! Hilia, back me up!”  

“Uh…? O-Okay…!”  

Hilia, dragged along reluctantly, fumbled but followed Kerman’s orders.  

While the two schemed quietly, Seth, in the lead, hurled another Tail of Inferno at the escaping Baal.  

But binding its legs alone wasn’t enough to stop it.  

“Seth!”  

Blena, finally catching up, joined him.  

Together, their Tail of Inferno spells ensnared Baal’s tail, pulling it back.  

Exhausted, Baal stumbled and struggled to rise, repeating the cycle.  

As the two fought fiercely, Kerman and Hilia closed in.  

“Tail of Inferno!”  

A fiery chain from behind wrapped around Baal’s neck, securing it.  

Blena’s weary face lit up with relief.  

But the real challenge was just beginning.  

“Seth! What now? We need Rita or the other supreme-ranks to deal a fatal blow! The four of us can only hold it!”  

“We hold on! Rita will definitely follow us.”  

Seth’s confidence was interrupted by Kerman.  

“I’ll finish it. You two just keep it restrained.”  

“What? That’s insane…!”  

Ignoring Blena’s incredulous shout, Kerman signaled Hilia with a glance.  

Hilia, uneasy, glanced at Seth and Blena.  

Their plan, discussed earlier, was to use Seth and Blena as bait to strike Baal from behind.  

“That lunatic…!”  

Finally, Kerman and Hilia released their chains.  

They slipped behind a tree, out of Baal’s sight.  

With its neck free, Baal jerked its head, glaring murderously at Blena and Seth.  

Even with its lower body restrained, it was only a matter of time before Baal, no longer focused on escape, attacked them.  

Blena and Seth paled in terror.  

“Crimson Thorns of Valor!”  

Kerman and Hilia chanted in unison.  

Massive fiery arrows shot from their staves, aiming for Baal’s head.  

But Hilia’s arrow veered off course mid-flight.  

“You were supposed to hit it!”  

“I tried!”  

Both arrows missed Baal’s vital point.  

The fiery arrows grazed its skin, melting it, and Baal screeched in rage.  

Kerman, shaken, tried to cast another arrow but staggered, his mana nearly depleted.  

“Hilia!”  

Seeing only his arrow fly, Kerman frantically looked for Hilia.  

But Hilia, frozen since her arrow missed, stood trembling, unable to move.  

Kerman’s eyes glared at her uselessness.  

“Hilia, you idiot!”  

By then, Baal had twisted its body excessively, opening its jaws toward Blena and Seth.  

Driven by hunger and fury, Baal panted heavily, moving its neck closer.  

Blena and Seth’s faces were ashen.  

“S-Seth… what do we do? We… we need to run…”  

The Tail of Inferno chains had long since been released.  

With no defenses and an attack left, the two couldn’t flee under Baal’s imminent attack.  

“…I know.”  

Seth bit his lip and stepped in front of Blena, hesitating.  

He transformed his staff into a fiery spear, but whether he could use it was uncertain.  

If it came to it, he intended to let Blena escape.  

Kerman’s sharp voice rang out.  

“Move, Hilia!”  

Baal’s head froze at Kerman’s shout.  

Its eyes, previously fixed on Blena and Seth, rolled wildly, locking onto Kerman.  

It didn’t take long for Baal to realize who had struck its head.  

Its red gaze fixed on Kerman.  

“Seth!”  

Blena, noticing Baal’s shift, grabbed Seth’s wrist, ready to flee into the bushes.  

But just as it had bitten Rita’s shoulder, Baal’s neck extended toward Kerman.  

“AAAH!”  

Before Hilia’s scream ended, Baal’s jaws swallowed Kerman whole from the head down.  

His body stiffened, and Baal’s jaws moved, consuming him.  

CRUNCH. CRUNCH.  

The sickening sounds echoed through the quiet forest.