Chapter 95

“Just as I expected, they’re following us.”

Lucian raised the corner of his lips upon seeing, in the distance, Godfrey’s group pursuing them.

“I imagined it, but I didn’t think they’d try to kill me on the first day. Looks like they’re pretty desperate.”

“What should we do? If you wish, I can take care of them right now.”

Felicia gripped the hilt of her sword with a sharp gaze.

A single order was enough for her to charge in and wipe them out.

“Not here. Even if we’re going to deal with them, we need to lure them deeper in first. That way, it’ll also be easier to get rid of the bodies.”

“True. It’s better to treat them as missing than to make up excuses with corpses in front of us.”

Hugo nodded in agreement as he reached into his coat. A moment later, he held several flints in his hand, one for each member of the group.

“Alright, take one each. You’ve handled the cold pretty well so far. The way to use it is—”

“You just hold it and channel magic into it, right? I remember, no need to explain.”

Lucian recalled his conversation with Glenn and began channeling his magic.
Instantly, red runic characters appeared over the flint, which began to vibrate gently.

At the same time, the cold seeping into his skin vanished, and a pleasant warmth spread through his body.

“Excellent. You can tell this is the direct work of one of Duke Blasker’s disciples.”

Lucian rolled the thermal stone, disguised as a simple flint, between his fingers.

From the beginning, it had been camouflaged so carefully that it passed the belongings inspection without issue.

Feeling the heat spread through his body, Lucian looked again at Godfrey.

‘You may never have intended to do the Hundred-Day Hunt legitimately, but neither did I.’

If the enemy cheats openly, what’s the point of acting elegant and accepting disadvantages?

Unless you’re aiming for prestige or reputation, it’s nothing more than foolish self-indulgence. You respond to cheats with cheats.

“Are the boots working well?”

“Perfectly. We’re not sinking into the snow at all—it’s like walking on solid ground.”

“Good. Then, let’s keep going.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lucian’s group began moving swiftly through the snowy mountains.

Even though they should’ve been sinking with every step in such harsh terrain, their movements were incredibly light.

Seeing the distance between them and Godfrey gradually widen, Lucian let out a soft chuckle.

‘Let’s give it five days.’

***

“…Why the hell are they so fast?”

Godfrey clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot. More than three days had passed, and Lucian had managed to evade them again and again.

From a common-sense perspective, that speed made no sense.

“He shouldn’t even know how it feels for your foot to sink in snow, and yet he’s moving through these mountains like it’s nothing!”

In extreme climate regions, there were too many things to consider—how to withstand the cold, how to move across accumulated snow, how to retain body heat while sleeping.

You only learned that through experience—unless you were a native.

That’s why Godfrey had assumed Lucian’s group, composed entirely of outsiders, would be caught quickly.

‘But instead of closing the distance, it keeps widening. We’ll collapse from exhaustion before we catch him. Damn it.’

“Young master, is it really a good idea to keep chasing them like this?”

One of his trusted men spoke cautiously to Godfrey, who was grinding his teeth.

At those unexpectedly weak words, Godfrey glared at him.

“Do you realize what you’re saying? We came here to kill him, and now you’re suggesting we turn around and run?”

“You know it well, young master. This speed isn’t normal. Clearly, they came prepared with something too.”

“…”

At his subordinate’s experienced observation, Godfrey fell silent.

You didn’t have to be an idiot to understand it by now. Lucian’s group was using some kind of trick to get ahead.

Just like Godfrey had never intended to carry out the Hundred-Day Hunt honestly, Lucian didn’t plan to fight fair either.

“If it were just to get an advantage in the hunt, it wouldn’t be so bad. But if they came with the same intentions we did, then in the worst-case scenario…”

“Enough.”

Godfrey interrupted his subordinate and continued in a grave voice.

“So what? Are you saying we should give up and just compete for the best trophy?”

“…”

“What nonsense. This is our last chance to end everything quietly. If we let him go now, we’ll be forced into a real war.”

For Calix, a war was the worst possible scenario. If the enemy were alone, it’d be a different story, but Lucian already had plenty of support from the Empire.

And on top of that, there were the houses who resented Calix and all those opportunists who backed Lucian’s legitimacy.

Even if they won, the cost in time and resources would be enormous, and the family’s power would inevitably be weakened.

“If I protect my own hide and put the family at risk, it’s all meaningless. Sometimes you have to take risks. Stop complaining and think of a way to catch up to him.”

At Godfrey’s sharp words, his subordinates bowed their heads in unison.

But no matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn’t find a way to catch the enemy. If it was obvious he was using tricks, what good was it to chase him with just their bare bodies?

Two more days passed without closing the gap, and the group began to show visible signs of exhaustion.

“Y-young master! They stopped! The distance is shrinking!”

“…!”

At the shout, Godfrey and the others’ eyes went wide.

The ones who hadn’t stopped moving except to hunt, eat, or sleep had suddenly halted?

“Let’s go, now! We have to catch them before it’s too late!”

“Yes!”

As soon as Godfrey gave the order, the subordinates rushed forward.

They were far too exhausted to be suspicious of the enemy’s sudden change in behavior.

***

“Such an impatient temperament. He’s coming with bloodshot eyes.”

Lucian said this while chewing and swallowing the last piece of rabbit meat.

After suffering for five days, it seemed they did not even consider the possibility that it was a trap. Raymond, who had already finished eating, spoke with a restrained laugh.

“They probably think they’re the hunters and we’re the prey. Or maybe they think that, even if it’s a trap, it’s already too late to turn back, so it’s better to charge in.”

“That makes it easy for us. I was just getting sick of eating rabbit.”

“Don’t you like rabbit meat?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but after so much of it, it’s become cloying. It’s about time we changed the menu, don’t you think?”

It wasn’t that he liked rabbit so much as to eat it five days in a row.

It was simply the most common, easiest to hunt, and easiest to process. No matter how fast they could move, if they slowed down even a little, they would be caught right away, so what else were they supposed to eat?

“Let’s hunt something different today. If we look around a bit, maybe a bear will show up.”

“Damn bastard! I finally get to see your damn face again!”

Barely had he finished speaking when Godfrey’s insults rang out.

He had already closed to within a few dozen steps, fixing Lucian with bloodshot eyes.

“What trick did you use? How the hell did you leave us behind?”

“Now you’re speaking to me familiarly. Such manners for someone standing before the most illustrious duke.”

“Duke, you say? Who’s going to recognize a title you got by licking the emperor’s boots? And on top of that, pretending to respect northern traditions while sneaking in everything that suits you. Don’t you have any shame?”

“….”

Lucian was left speechless as he looked at him. A man who had come to assassinate him was lecturing him about shame for cheating.

“This guy is insane. A murderer asking me if I’m ashamed.”

“The less shame people have, the more they forget their own mistakes.”

“He probably learned it from his father.”

As each of them made a remark, Godfrey’s face turned red with rage.

But just before he exploded, an ominous sound rumbled from the sky.

Urrrum.

“What is that?”

Instinctively, Lucian looked up. Above their heads floated a gigantic black cloud that hadn’t been there a moment ago. And it was growing by the second.

“This is…!”

“Heh, it’s over.”

Crack!

A brilliant flash crossed the cloud. It was the precursor to a lightning strike.

Godfrey, who had already heard Colin’s explanation, burst into laughter as he shouted.

“Burn and die, dog of the emperor!”

“Tsk.”

Lucian clicked his tongue and pulled something from his chest, immediately tearing it apart.

At the same time, a flash fell from the cloud and a gigantic bolt of lightning slammed into the ground. An instant later, the deafening roar reached everyone.

Booom!

“…!”

Lucian’s group covered their ears and staggered.

For a moment, the world turned completely white and they could see nothing.

When their senses returned and they looked ahead.

“What…?”

Godfrey’s group, which moments earlier had been shouting arrogantly, was gone. All that remained were charred masses, black as coal, shaped like human figures.

As everyone looked at one another with stunned expressions, someone approached from behind. Crunching softly over the snow, the figure removed his hood and greeted them.

“A pleasure to meet you, Duke. I am Colin, mage of the Celestial school.”

“Grab him.”

Barely had the greeting ended when Lucian’s vassals pounced on Colin.

***

“Kh… could you loosen these ropes a bit? I can’t do anything anymore!”

“Who knows. You might use some strange magic to escape and then strike us with lightning.”

“Mages capable of that are extremely rare! That would be like a knight breaking chains with his bare body!”

So he wasn’t saying it was impossible. Lucian observed the mage, bound from head to toe, who shouted with an aggrieved expression.

To be honest, he was a little confused. He had anticipated that Godfrey would try to assassinate him, but he never imagined that the hired mage would betray him and try to change sides.

“From the beginning, I’ve been wondering why you came to me.”

From the outside, Lucian seemed like the perfect example of a loyal servant of the emperor.

Anyone who knew how the imperial court hunted mages would never approach him.

And yet this Colin did not try to flee and showed himself openly.

“I don’t understand your intentions. Did you think you saved my life? Did you think that, talking about a life debt and swearing loyalty, I would protect you?”

“Of course not. I saw the duke’s calmness. It was clear you had a plan. Even without my help, it would have been enough.”

“You don’t understand. What I mean is that, even if you had stayed on that man’s side, it would also have been enough.”

“Huh?”

As Colin blinked, Lucian threw something at him. It was the remains of the paper he had pulled out and torn earlier.

Colin looked at the fragments without understanding, and suddenly his eyes opened wide.

“A defensive scroll?”

“Exactly. Sir Glenn gave it to me.”

A chill ran down Colin’s spine. Along with the school of fire, the school of defense was one of the few officially recognized.

Specialists in blocking and deflecting physical and magical interference.

And now they had created a consumable scroll, not a fixed artifact?

Even if its effect was single-use and momentary, it was certain that it deployed a formidable defense.

“If I hadn’t betrayed him and had cast the lightning as contracted…”

He did not know the exact level of the defense, but instinctively he understood. It would have caused some damage, yes, but no one would have died.

And after Godfrey’s group died, his own head would have rolled.

‘They said that if I captured him, he would be a benefactor, and if I let him go, a god of death…’

Colin felt cold sweat run down the back of his neck. At last, he was beginning to understand the meaning of that prophecy.