Chapter 226

Chapter 226: What Do You Want Me to Do About It?

What Do You Want Me to Do?
Chapter 226. What Do You Want Me to Do About It?

The allied forces and the imperial army, which had disbanded barely 30 minutes ago, gathered again at the midpoint.
Just as the imperial army had been informed, a report had also reached the allied forces.
They moved together toward the direction where the portal in the sky was open.
What appeared from inside the portal was the figure of a girl entering puberty.
However, the kings who saw that girl paled as if they had seen the grim reaper.
She was the President of the Magic Academy of the Serdes Continent.
Her nickname: Magic-Wielding Ruffian.
Because Erdes Roton, who had reached the pinnacle among mages, had arrived.
«I was wondering why she hadn’t come until now».
Black magic was involved in this demonic incident.
It was very puzzling that she, who showed no mercy to demons, was not interested in this matter.
Almost all the kings had realized that black magic was being used in the Heinkel Kingdom; there was no way she didn’t know.
Then why did she come now leading an enormous mana?
Erdes’s eyes spun and turned toward those below.
— My, who are these?
She greeted them with a brazen face, then
— Aren’t you a bunch of pigs who can’t distinguish shit from soybean paste?
She looked at them with a face instantly tinged with disgust.
Erdes’s anger made all the kings shrink and tremble.
Ureas stepped forward, claiming to be the leader.
— Greetings to the President of the Serdes Magic Academy. I am the Second Prince of the Arken Empire—.
— Not interested. You, insect bastard.
But he was crushed without being able to make a sound.
She raised her fingers and warned.
— From now on, any bastard who opens their mouth will lose a finger for every syllable.
It seemed like Erdes spoke lightly, but she had never let things slide out of carelessness.
She was someone who did what she said she would do.
— You pigs flattered me once each, so you all know what my title is.
— …….
— President of the Serdes Magic Academy, Erdes Roton. The head of the organization that monitors all magic of mages and protects the continent from black magic. Isn’t that right?
— …….
— Do you really think I didn’t know about this incident?
Her eyes scanned everyone.
Wherever that mana-infused gaze touched, it felt as though holes were being pierced.
— I watched in silence for a while. Wondering if someone would report this to me. “Oh, Erdes-nim~ Those dirty demon bastards are doing all kinds of weird things with diabolical magic~” If someone said something like that, I thought “there, there, our little dung puppy, good job” and let it slide.
That performance with severe mood swings was chilling.
— But not a single one of you pigs reported it to me? That this incident involved black magic, that it was magic created by that damn Gamigin, that fucking skeleton bastard!
And that they were also desperately fighting to get their hands on it.
Her anger resonated in the chest and froze the joints.
— So I got pissed off and thought I couldn’t let this slide, so I came here.
Erdes released the staff she was holding.
— To wake you despicable things from your dreams.
Then the staff moved on its own and stood erect before her.
At the same time, Erdes’s body began to rise into the sky.
Erdes’s staff was an object called Master of Mages.
An ultimate item that only those who reached the 7th Circle, the Mage Masters, could challenge, and among them only those who passed strict qualifications could use.
The mana contained inside it was like a cloudless sky.
A blue light spread widely, yet its depth could not be measured.
The mana contained inside gathered and condensed according to Erdes’s gestures.
The portal through which she had arrived began to open wide, and something was revealed from beyond.
— T-that…!
— A-are you crazy?!
Gasps of astonishment erupted.
What was revealed from within was enough to surprise even Ferda.
What came out was a meteorite.
However, it was of a completely different size scale from the meteor shower Erdes usually summons.
It looked as if a giant mountain had been uprooted and thrown as it was.
It was descending toward the castle of the Heinkel Kingdom.
— Keep your eyes wide open and watch.
Erdes said coldly.
— I will clearly show you today how things that borrowed the devil’s hands come to an end.
The Heinkel Kingdom, which had been gray, was covered by a giant shadow.
The aftermath of that collision was enough to damage even the forward base that the allied forces and the imperial army had established.
— Ruri. Protection magic.
— Yes.
Ruri summoned wind spirits and spread a barrier.
She expanded it large enough to protect the entire leadership of the imperial army and the allied forces.
In addition to that, Ferda also extended protection magic, preparing for the impact with a double layer.
The giant meteorite descended from the sky in the meantime and approached the Heinkel Kingdom.
The moment it touches the Heinkel Kingdom. Everything inside will turn to dust and ashes.
The history that was the misfortune of humanity will disappear without a trace.
However, Ferda felt it instinctively.
That even such terrifying magic would not work as expected in that land where demons had settled.
Why would that be?
Ferda cast far-sight magic and observed the castle of the Heinkel Kingdom.
The land turned gray.
Movement was seen at the very tip of the roof of the castle’s spire, where not a single life was stirring.
He wore a gray robe, but the robe was stripped away by the wind and heat, revealing the figure.
It was snow-white skin that demons could not possess.
— That is….
It was Gokma.
They said it was a land that had allied with demons, but Gokma was inside the Heinkel Kingdom.
He looked toward the meteorite in the sky.
And his eyes turned toward Ferda’s direction.
Just as Ferda was looking at him, he was also looking at Ferda.
He was smiling.
With a face that seemed to say “clearly observe everything that happens now,” he extended his hand toward the sky.
And the meteorite touched Gokma’s hand.
Kugugugu—!
The rising vibration and the wave of aftereffects pushing out.
Contrary to the expectation that it would sink from the spire inward, the meteorite did not budge in the slightest after that.
The giant meteorite stopped in that place.
— My God…!
— What… what on earth is that…?
Not only was a giant meteorite summoned, but it was blocked.
The meteorite that should have crashed and disappeared was still floating in the sky, and the form of the Heinkel Kingdom remained intact.
— What is that?
Even Erdes, who had tried to finish everything in a single blow, was bewildered at that moment.
Does the attack simply end like this?
That was not the case.
Ferda’s eyes saw it clearly.
From within that meteorite, a giant power was vibrating.
Like a new life breaking an egg, it trembled and created cracks.
Ferda shouted.
— Defensive formation! The meteorite is exploding!
Kugugung!!
As Ferda said, the meteorite exploded.
However, the form of that explosion was unnatural.
That eruption was similar to a volcanic eruption, and large fragments rose into the sky.
What flies into the sky will fall someday.
In that trajectory lay the forward bases of the allied forces and the imperial army, and the place where Ferda stood was no exception.
The judgment to execute the traitor who allied with demons had turned into a disaster aimed at foolish people.
— Everyone prepare for falling debris!!
— Protect His Highness!
They try to defend themselves by concentrating all their power into magic circles to resist the impact, but it is difficult to endure the meteorite.
However, the remaining time until the fall was barely 10 seconds.
Moving now did not mean a clever solution would emerge.
— These bastards…!
Erdes grew infuriated and stepped forward again.
Highly concentrated mana burst from her body once more.
At her gesture, a barrier made of blue mana turned into a giant wall blocking all paths where the meteorite was scattering.
Kugugugung!!
The meteorite flying in a parabola slams against the wall Erdes created.
Since it was a barrier blocking a wide-area attack, it could not absorb all the impact of every fragment.
Erdes’s wall breaks.
The absorbed attacks exceeded 90%, and the rest impacted the forward bases in all directions.
Kwang!
Kwagwang!
Although 90% was dispersed, the vibration of the meteorite on impact spread to the soles of the feet.
The casualties will not be fatal, but they will never be few.
After the aerial attack ended, silence settled.
Ferda looked up and gazed at the spire again.
There was no one there.
Gokma had achieved his purpose and left.
What will happen after that silence?
Everyone knew.
Only Ferda knew before anyone else, and he knew what had to be done.
— Ruri.
— Speak.
Ferda spoke to her in a low voice.
— ……Do I have to do it?
— You have to do it.
Ruri pondered for a moment, then her figure disappeared.
With the characteristic movement of Silverwind, similar to a gust, the place where she reappeared was beside Erdes.
!!
Erdes tries to react, but Ruri’s movement was several steps ahead.
She covered her mouth with one hand and quickly restrained both of her hands with the other.
Click! Click!
Handcuffs clamped onto her hands.
They were not ordinary handcuffs, but mana restrictors made for mages.
They were not Ruri’s.
They were items that a knight on the allied forces’ side had prepared, wary of Ferda’s unpredictable actions.
— Aaaaaah!!
Erdes screams and squeezes out her mana.
Normally she would have overloaded and shattered them as if they were a joke.
But Erdes, who had summoned a giant meteorite and even raised a wall to block it, had no strength left to break the restrictors.
The Archmage, Erdes Roton, had become helpless.
— President of the Serdes Magic Academy, Erdes Roton.
Ferda approached her and said.
— You will have to come with me for a moment.
— You dog…!
Erdes, raising her anger.
Ferda told her.
— The master of the Blue Circle is getting too emotional. At this rate, your circles will collapse.
— Kkeueueu…!
Erdes gritted her teeth, chewing on her anger.
Before she understood everything, Ferda had already settled the matter.
Shocking news spread.
First, that Erdes Roton intervened and used magic that could devastate a kingdom.
Second, that a being inside the Heinkel Kingdom blocked even that magic of devastation.
Third, that while blocking that magic, it instead caused damage to the allies.
By extending a defensive formation across all trajectories where the meteorite fragments flew, the damage was minimized, but even that was by no means small.
This incident became known as something that happened due to Erdes’s irrational and arbitrary actions.
The one who restrained Erdes was Ferda, and after restraining her, he transported her to his own camp.
The Archmage Erdes was now no different from a simple girl.
— Shall I pour you a cup of tea?
— Didn’t I tell you last time? If I drink the black tea you brew, I’ll bite my tongue and die.
— That works out well. I should pour you a cup this time for a generational change.
— I still want to live longer. And I can’t stand seeing things weaker than me keep popping up?
Erdes put on an unbothered face, but inside her closed mouth, the sound of teeth grinding pudeudeuk continued endlessly.
— ……How long are you going to keep me tied up?
— I will release you when the time comes.
— How about this? If you untie me now, I will spare your life.
— Is that a threat?
— I am totally capable of that. In 10 minutes I will break this and flee, then prepare thoroughly. And then I will tear you apart.
Ten minutes, my foot.
In her current state, it will take her 1 hour.
— That sounds like a good plan, but for now, stay quiet. If you wait a bit, someone will come to pick you up.
— Pick me up? Who the hell is that?
At that moment, Erdes’s body flinched.
Ferda knew what that action meant.
Because he felt the exact same thing.
— Hey. Don’t tell me that….
Before she could finish speaking, someone lifted the tent flap and walked in.
Erdes closed her mouth the moment she saw that face.
The woman who stepped out from inside was a dragon spawn with horns on her head.
The blunt-tipped horns were something only descendants of Iorga could possess.
She was the tallest among the descendants of Iorga, and she was also familiar with Erdes.
It was Erika Iorga.
— Welcome, Tower Master-nim.
— Thank you for calling me, Regent-nim.
She directed her gaze toward Erdes.
And those eyes subtly lowered to see the mana restrictors.
— A truly unfitting combination. For the great Erdes to be in such a state over a simple mana restrictor.
At Erika’s sigh, Erdes smiled bloodthirstily and said to Ferda.
— How truly thankful. To think you would even consider humiliating me by turning me into a zoo monkey.
Ferda had not explained the details to Erika properly, but she seemed to intuit what kind of situation had almost occurred.
Erika bowed her head toward Ferda.
— Thank you for saving Erdes.
— It is nothing.
— Saving me, my foot! Don’t you see these hands?
— Could you stop complaining already? You know better than anyone how many enemies you have.
— …….
She would know as well, unless she really is a clueless child.
She could have ended up in a much worse state.
Erdes had consumed a considerably large amount of mana summoning high-tier magic, the meteorite.
But as a veteran mage, Erdes would have left mana in reserve to prepare for any situation.
However, an unexpected moment arrived, and the meteorite was not only blocked, but the attack came back.
Erdes gathered all her remaining mana to block the meteorite fragments scattering in all directions, and finally entered a state of mana depletion.
“Erdes became helpless.”
As her nickname of Magic-Wielding Ruffian suggests, there were countless people who held a grudge against her, and that was no exception in the allied forces and the imperial army.
The only reason she could not be touched was her overwhelming power, and now that that power was gone, it was time for retaliation.
Ferda had anticipated that.
By subduing her first and securing her safety, making it so Erdes could not be touched carelessly.
— And what? Do you want me to say thank you? Absolutely not. I don’t know what plan that bastard has, so how can I say thank you?
— Erdes.
— Don’t tell me you like kids? Is that why you saved me? Is that why you keep that maid who looks like a child stuck by your side?
Ruri’s gaze was felt at those words.
It was an unmistakable killing intent directed at Erdes.
Ferda answered like this.
— That is impossible. I like voluptuous women.
— ……That is right. Lord Ferda… is… that kind of person.
I definitely gave the correct answer, but Ruri’s eyes stared at him with pain at the back of the neck.
It was a dense killing intent, enough that it wouldn’t be strange if she grabbed the back of Ferda’s neck and lifted him.
Now that I think about it, I should have just said Valdrova.
— Voluptuous….
Erdes scanned Erika’s whole body and asked.
— Does this also count as voluptuous?
— Erdes…!
Erika utters her name with embarrassment.
Ferda was blunt.
— Not even close.
— ……Regent-nim?
Erika also glared at him fiercely.
Erdes looked at Ferda with pitying eyes.
— How on earth are you still Valdrova’s fiancé?
What do you want me to do about it.