Episode 1209

-You could just look up the records…

“Reading records has its limits. There are often omissions or things left out.”

The most annoying thing about this Wardanaz mage was when he was actually right.

Surely, events of the past were hard to grasp through records alone.

That was why magic specialists in history kept developing and refining all kinds of spells for reading traces and relics.

Even then, there were always things left out.

-Got it. But don’t neglect any magic you find.

Hamster, after all, was also a mage.

He couldn’t help but be curious what magic the Yaksha King or Sangueros had mentioned.

“Well, I’ll look around if I get the chance.”

The casual tone, as if he were browsing goods at a general store, made Hamster nearly spit a curse.

Honestly, who was going to benefit most if he found these magics?

None other than this brat of the Wardanaz clan. Hamster couldn’t learn a thing himself right now.

And yet he was acting so indifferent!

-Wait. There’s a slight movement of mana nearby. Isn’t it an ambush?

“That’s probably because of the telepathy I got. The professors sent a message.”

-What kind of message?

“They told me not to go in.”

-?

Hamster showed a hint of confusion.

His words and actions were totally contradictory.

And wasn’t this Wardanaz brat supposed to be the type who listened to his teachers?

‘No, forget it. Don’t ask.’

Hamster fell silent.

He was scared if he asked “Shouldn’t you go back, then?” the brat would really go.

Fwoosh!

-Worthless humans! How dare you freely enter the domain of vampires!

-Don’t let them leave alive!

“!”

Lee Han faltered as he found the vampire dead gathered at the lower walls of the fortress.

Insane, they were still trapped in the past, preparing for a battle.

This was the vampire stronghold, and these dead, imagining an army of evil grand wizards and their wicked imperial troops outside, were pouring attacks at non-existent foes.

Their attacks weren’t well-aimed, but the power was deadly. The bloodstained mana in the fortress gave even basic attacks savage destructive power.

-That mana is unpleasant. Easy for wizards to get entranced.

Hamster read the mana within the fortress and expressed his displeasure.

Just because someone was a magical criminal didn’t mean they liked twisted, tainted mana.

Of course, to reach higher heights, crimes or not, a mage had to brave all sorts of magic, but at its core, evil god mana was a time bomb, ready to bring who knew what problems later.

Looking inside this fortress, powers gained from sacrifices to evil gods, natural mana polluted by negative emotions—every sort of nasty mana was running wild.

Mana like that could only boost the power of spells, at the cost of making the mage easily intoxicated.

A mage should master mana, not become its slave and be led along helplessly.

“Is this because of Sangueros?”

-Partly, but any long war will pollute mana like this. The negative feelings lingering in souls pile up. Mana in nature is quite vulnerable to its surroundings.

That’s why field commanders had to monitor shifts in mana carefully, and sometimes purify it if the pollution was too great.

‘Classic rampaging army.’

The commander here, apparently, had lost himself to bloodlust and was even more unhinged than before.

How could cultists of Sangueros ever refuse such power?

Saratan, sealed in the staff, whispered in revolt.

-This is disgustingly foul. Wish we could get out of here quickly.

“I heard tree spirits are great at purification—can’t you do that?”

Saratan instantly went silent, acting as if he hadn’t heard the question.

“……”

Lee Han said nothing.

Well, if he could purify a fortress this big, he wouldn’t be sealed up in a staff.

‘Wouldn’t even have been captured in the first place.’

-Who are you! What are you!

The armed vampire warrior dead glared with red eyes above their pallid, broken faces.

They’d finally realized an intruder had come.

Lee Han responded calmly. After facing the undead here a few times, he was prepared.

“Calm down. I’m a noble from a vampire clan too.”

‘Unbelievably brazen…’

Hamster muttered inwardly.

The brat had gotten lucky once, so now he kept using the same trick.

By now, curiosity outweighed irritation.

Why did the dead keep falling for that line?

At first he assumed only dumber dead got fooled, but seeing it work repeatedly, there had to be some other reason.

But Hamster didn’t have much time to ponder. A sharp voice rang out.

-You may be a vampire noble… but I’ve never seen your face here in this fortress! How do we know you’re not a traitor who sided with the empire?!

“Uh.”

Lee Han was caught off-guard by this unusual response.

He hadn’t anticipated this reaction.

‘True, even if he passed for a noble, if a stranger pops up in a siege, it’s suspicious.’

Some nobles probably surrendered to the empire once they realized the rebellion was doomed…

The dead seemed ready to attack unless convinced. Lee Han weighed whether to hit first with magic or try a different move.

Just then—

Some commotion occurred outside the fortress.

‘Did the professors come out from the shadow dimension?!’

Flustered, Lee Han briefly considered if he should apologize for ignoring their message.

But thankfully, it wasn’t the professors. It was the undying one and his priests.

“Move quickly!”

The undying one commanded in a cold voice.

It was the obvious move for the bishop.

After slugging it out, the mage who’d just watched from afar slipped into the newly revealed fortress—how could that not seem suspicious?

From his perspective, that magician had to be up to something.

To learn what, he had to enter the fortress himself and watch.

“Don’t be cowed! They’re mad dead—nothing but shadows of the past!”

-More intruders! Obviously imperial vanguard! Draw them in and attack all at once!

-You! Are you allied with the intruders out there?

The vampire dead grilled Lee Han again.

If he so much as looked involved, they’d likely execute him on the spot.

Startled, Lee Han cried out:

“I came in to report those intruders!”

-!

“I had no choice but to come in without permission, to warn you about the enemy’s approach.”

-I see…

The dead muttered, then showed acceptance.

-You may pass. So you are not a traitor to your kin!

With a sigh of relief, Lee Han pressed on. Behind him, the vampire dead began hurling attacks out past the fortress walls.

The undying one cursed as he raised shields. He had to spend all of one priest’s lifeforce to survive the savage barrage.

When that mage went in, they’d been swinging blindly at the air. Now that was up to him!

‘That mage… He knows something, damn it!’

From finding the place at all, to manipulating the dead and entering the domain freely, it seemed to the undying one like this mage must hold secrets even the bishop did not.

But what kind of secret…?

Unaware that the bishop was overthinking below, Lee Han wiped the sweat from his chest.

“Can’t let my guard down. To think even crazed undead could ask questions like that.”

’He sold them out way too smoothly for someone supposedly caught off guard, though.’

Hamster thought with mild distaste.

For a mage supposedly taken off guard, he offered up the others as scapegoats far too naturally.

If this was “unprepared,” what would “prepared” look like?

-Where’s the assassin?

-Locked up in the basement dungeon. But can we really negotiate with them? It could be a trick.

-…Of course, but doesn’t hurt to try. That mad wizard’s army is too strong.

“?!”

The group of vampire dead Lee Han now met in a central hall wore quite different garb.

The dead below looked like ordinary warriors, but these clearly had noble origins.

Having helped Professor Verdus with all kinds of rituals in the School of Enchantment, Lee Han could tell just how expensive their outfits were.

Scarlet silk with individually magic-embroidered patterns—a vampire noble’s outfit required a mountain of gold.

Not just enchanting clothes, but building embroidery with magical threads for effects would cost dozens of times more still.

At a minimum, these were the rebel leadership in the fortress.

No mere rank-and-file would wear such things.

-An assassin?

Hamster was mystified.

Hamster had heard of the rebellion of the imperial western vampires, but hadn’t heard of any assassin sneaking into the rebel fortress.

With Gonadaltes, supplies and troops should have been enough to choke them. There’d have been no need to send in an assassin. That wasn’t his style.

“Hm. I have a guess…”

-??

While they whispered, the vampire nobles ahead began to move.

It seemed they meant to bring up the assassin from the dungeon for negotiation.

Hamster mused.

-If they mean ‘mad mage,’ they mean Gonadaltes. Isn’t it weird to think an assassin could negotiate with him? Have the dead’s memories gotten twisted? It could happen, but…

Lee Han had a suspect in mind, but didn’t bother telling Hamster.

Suddenly, the vampire nobles gave a savage shout.

-The dungeon’s collapsed! They broke in!

-What filthy mongrel ruffians! You shameless, honorless, squalid mage—dare you call yourself a great wizard?!

“!!!”

The nobles pointed at the ruined entrance to the fortress dungeons, ranting in fury.

Clearly, someone had broken in—the place was devastated, and of course the assassin was gone.

‘Those gouges in the entrance… they look like Death Knight weapons.’

Inspecting the sword marks, Lee Han thought,

Those familiar knights caused this!

Hamster was even more confused.

-So this is a clue about the magic hidden in the fortress?

“I think so. Let’s check the basement.”

Lee Han hurried Hamster along to see what exactly had happened to Professor Baegrek.

‘I’m only seeking information from past memories. If there is magic hidden in the fortress, I might get a hint, too.’

He had no intention whatsoever of using this as an excuse to later say, ‘Professor, you acted on your own and got captured, didn’t you?’