Chapter 21: Obern’s death  

Rita glared at the offspring trailing Baal.  

It must’ve laid eggs somewhere in advance.  

That made the situation even more maddening.  

If eggs were already laid, they were likely hatching now, and as time passed, Baal’s brood would only grow larger.  

“You said you let that thing escape from the Bielina Sanctuary yesterday, correct?”  

Rita nodded at Eilin’s question, confirming it. 

Eilin gave a bitter smile.  

“It seems that creature holds a grudge against you, Grand Mage, and came after you.”  

Even without Eilin pointing it out, Rita could feel it—Baal’s enraged gaze was fixed on her.  

“Be careful. It’s not an ordinary foe. Even against Saint Mikael and me yesterday, it escaped unscathed.”  

“Hmph. If it fled, isn’t it just a coward? Facing two supreme-rank mages must’ve made it know its place. With so many supreme-ranks here today, it might run again!”  

Obern’s mocking laugh made Rita’s face twitch.  

But she couldn’t retort.  

At that moment, Baal let out a roar, and its gathered offspring charged as one.  

“Seething Wrath!”  

Rita acted first, stepping in front of the support priests.  

With her rapid casting, the swarm of insects charging forward stepped into boiling lava and perished. 

A defensive line was quickly formed, but the spell wouldn’t last long, so Rita shouted,  

“Create a barrier of flames as much as possible and burn anything that approaches!”  

The smaller the beasts, the closer they were to juveniles and thus weaker.  

While the mages burned the ground with fire magic, Rita targeted the larger, sub-adult creatures.  

“Crimson Light of Annihilation.”  

Red beams traced arcs, slicing through the vital points of the larger insects.  

“The smaller ones are weaker, the larger ones stronger.”  

Having been briefed, Eilin also aimed arrows at the bigger creatures.  

As the larger insects fell one by one in the dark swarm, Talos, who had been focused on holding the defensive line, saw his chance to shine.  

It was an opportunity to gain prestige.  

While Rita, Eilin, and Talos handled the sub-adults, the elders dealt with containing and eliminating the smaller ones.  

But for elders long removed from combat and unfamiliar with offensive magic, even this was a struggle.  

And then…  

“Ughhh!”  

Elder Laine from the Administrative Division, used to handling paperwork and money, had a weak stomach.

Raised in a pampered household, he was utterly overwhelmed by the grotesque monsters, mangled corpses, and foul stench, unable to compose himself.  

His expression screamed confusion about why he was dragged to such a place.  

In a situation where they were outnumbered, one mage’s failure to perform affected the entire group.  

The precarious defensive line finally broke in one spot.  

“Floria! Help Elder Laine’s position!”  

Eilin, quick to judge, gave the order, but a sub-adult was already approaching Floria.  

Panicked, Floria glanced left and right, her focus beginning to waver.  

The front line started to crumble, bit by bit.  

“Piercing Flame!”  

Rita, piercing the vital points of the smaller creatures, noticed the situation.  

Sighing as she glanced at the still-reeling Elder Laine, she thought,  

It’s a miracle Baal is just watching us.  

At the edge of the forest, Baal stood like a pillar.  

Perhaps confident in its brood’s numbers, it appeared relaxed.  

Unlike Mammon, who raged at its offspring’s deaths, Baal felt different.  

“Ugh! These things…!”  

Even Ganesha from the Herbology Division, less skilled in offensive magic, fought valiantly.  

But she was visibly shaken by the creatures’ resilience, barely affected by attacks to their heads or torsos.  

It wasn’t just her, so Rita turned to assist.  

Or rather, she tried to.  

From somewhere on the dark-covered ground, a black tail lashed out, wrapping around Rita’s ankle.  

As she fell, a sub-adult charged at her.  

Under the shadow of a spider-like creature blotting out the sky, Rita quickly raised her hand.  

At that moment, a blue arrow from behind pierced the spider’s head.  

It wasn’t the vital point Rita knew, but the blow was strong enough to make it stagger.  

Without panicking, Rita swiftly pressed her palm against the creature’s vital point—its torso.  

With no time for attack spells, she poured mana directly into it, exploding it from within.  

Shattered flesh and black fluid poured out. 

Covered in the gruesome mess, Rita grimaced and shook herself off.  

Turning, she saw Floria lowering her bow, staring at her.  

Having been saved, Rita gave a quick nod of thanks.  

“Argh!”  

Suddenly, Obern’s piercing scream filled the forest.  

A dragonfly-like creature had hoisted him upside down, gnawing at one of his legs.  

Rita was speechless, assessing his position.  

A mage like Obern, who should’ve been behind the holy knights, was somehow beyond the defensive line.  

Unless something dragged him out like it did me, he shouldn’t be there. 

But the elders’ position is too secure for beasts to reach…  

It was likely Obern had moved forward himself.  

Rita nearly cursed him as an idiot.  

She needed to help, but it was already too late. 

The smaller creatures swarmed his trapped body, gnawing at it.  

Rita grimaced briefly before muttering,  

“Crimson Storm.”  

A scarlet flame spiraled from the tip of her staff.  

The inferno consumed everything in its path, burning it black.  

The creature holding Obern was no exception. 

As its sticky skin melted, it flung Obern away, writhing in pain.  

“Path of the Shadow.”  

Rita’s body emerged from the beast’s trembling shadow.  

Teleporting in one bound, she crouched in the blazing storm, grabbed the unconscious Obern’s collar, and ran.  

“Don’t worry, keep advancing!”  

Though reluctant, Talos, sensing the situation, covered her retreat.  

The charging beasts couldn’t approach Talos’s flames, and Rita narrowly reached the defensive line where the holy knights stood.  

“Ugh… Aaaah!”  

As an exhausted Rita shoved Obern forward, he regained consciousness and let out a heart-wrenching scream.  

The priests, signaled, hurried over but hesitated. 

No one urged them to act faster.  

Obern’s legs were already gone below the thighs.  

Fortunately—or unfortunately—Rita’s flames had cauterized the wounds, stopping the bleeding, but his condition was dire.  

Even if he survived by some miracle, Obern’s future was bleak.  

Rita only sighed.  

From a strategic standpoint, it was regrettable, but she felt no sympathy.  

This was Obern’s own doing.  

Considering his behavior toward her just an hour ago, he should be grateful she saved him at all.  

But arrogant Obern didn’t see it that way.  

Screaming at the priests to save him, he soon succumbed and died.  

***

Obern’s death sobered the elders.  

Even Torgo from the Tracking Division, who had been as haughty as Obern and echoed his words, turned pale and looked away from Obern’s mangled corpse.  

Ironically, the death sharpened the group’s focus.  

No one wanted to end up like Obern, so the elders fought more seriously.  

In the relatively stabilized situation, Rita gazed into the distance. Most of the juveniles were annihilated, leaving about ten sub-adults.  

Even those were being picked off one by one under Talos’s lead.  

“You said its weak point is the head?”  

Eilin, shooting arrows from atop a large tree, leapt down and asked. 

Rita nodded, and he gave a faint smile.  

“Then I can be of help.”  

Eilin drew his bowstring.  

Golden mana condensed along the taut, transparent string, forming an arrow.  

An arrow infused with a supreme-rank mage’s mana was more powerful than a house-sized crossbow.  

The solid arrow, crafted from pure mana, shot through the air like a spear, carried by the wind.  

Eilin aimed for Baal’s grotesque face.  

But as the arrow neared, Baal raised a hand, catching it.  

With a crackle and burning smoke, Eilin’s mana arrow disintegrated in midair.  

What a monster.  

Rita’s brow furrowed at Baal’s absurd reflexes and nullification ability.  

As Eilin prepared to draw again, Rita raised a hand to stop him.  

“I’ll approach it first. Please cover me.”  

Eilin’s usually calm demeanor cracked.  

A mage, not a warrior, was going to approach that dangerous creature—and so casually asking for cover? 

He was bewildered.  

But before he could question her, Rita charged forward.  

“Falling Flames.”  

A flock of firebirds materialized in the sky, crashing to the ground.  

The explosions shook the earth, and despite the scattered beast fragments, Rita rushed toward Baal undeterred.  

With so many people here, this is our chance to take it down.

I need to pin it first. 

If Eilin joins in fully, it might escape.  

In her past life, Baal habitually fled when the odds were against it.  

With Eilin here today, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again.  

Her urgency mounting, Rita gritted her teeth, determined to kill Baal today, and aimed her staff.  

“Seething Wrath. Sigh of the Flame.”  

She first created a pit of fire around Baal to block its retreat.  

Given it blocked Eilin’s arrow, it could likely cross the flames with ease, but…  

Rita pinned her hopes on Baal’s wind attribute.  

Wind is air, and air feeds fire.  

By this logic, no matter how strong Baal had grown, as a “wind” creature, it would fear “fire.”  

“Tail of Inferno.”  

A fiery rope shot from her staff, swiftly wrapping around Baal’s neck.  

Perhaps because of the blazing rope, Baal hesitated to grab it, standing its ground.  

It began.  

As if to counter with mana, the flames on the rope started to weaken.  

But Rita wasn’t one to let that happen.  

Quickly pulling the staff, she cast her next spell.  

“Piercing Flame.”  

As Baal was dragged closer by the rope, Rita twisted her left hand upward, stabbing at its face.  

She aimed precisely for its forehead.  

But Baal instinctively dodged, and only its cheek was pierced.  

Furious at the failure, Rita quickly pulled and twisted her wrist.  

As the spear of fire, lodged in the wrong spot, withdrew to strike again, Baal’s tightly shut mouth tore open wide.  

Sensing danger, Rita swiftly retrieved the spear, severing the fiery rope.  

Leaping back with a push off the ground, purple fluid sprayed from Baal’s mouth.  

The acidic venom easily extinguished the flames on the ground.  

It was overwhelming mana.  

Though it wasn’t an easy fight, Rita only clicked her tongue, undaunted.  

She was supreme-rank. 

Her mana was still overflowing.  

“Rita! I’ll assist!”  

Having finished most of the cleanup, Talos appeared behind her, shouting “Crimson Storm.”  

With his fiery storm added, Baal hesitated and retreated.  

Rita glanced at the unexpected aid.  

Meeting her eyes, Talos gave an awkward smile.