Chapter 50. Another tracker

Irene guided us to an old castle. An old castle that has been broken and crumbled, where the original form is barely recognizable.
No matter how abandoned the castle is, how could such a thing exist in this secluded place. Only when they entered a place where there were no roads could they see the complete castle. At first glance, it was not small.
“Where are we?”
When Ivan asked a question, Irene answered, grabbing the tobacco pipe.
“What happened to all the small countries that existed before the Western Union Kingdom merged into their present form? It’s the traces of it.”
It means the royal city of the country that collapsed a long time ago. When he heard that and looked again, it was certainly not without the grandeur of a country.
It was worn out, broken, and crumbled, but the sculptures carved and overall size was unusual. So the present appearance felt even more devastating.
It must have once been a prosperous place where not a few people came and went. But now, it was full of bare trees and dry grass. For some reason, the wind here seemed a little cooler.
“No matter how much it is, the end is too shabby.”
Ivan murmured, and Delfino answered.
“In the western part of the continent, over a hundred countries, large and small, have been created and disappeared over the past thousand years. This must be one of them.”
Less than 200 years ago, the Western Union Kingdom was born through such chaos. In the meantime, where are the cities that disappeared? (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
Ivan nodded and looked at Irene. She had completely erased her drowsiness and looked around her with her sharp eyes.
“You mean they are here?”
“I heard the news a few days ago that suspicious people were heading this way. I don’t know if they are still here.”
“If possible, I’d like to catch them at once.”
Woo-.
As Ivan drew his magic power, two crows appeared out of nowhere. These are the ones who recently joined him in the fairy forest.
He called them Huginnn and Muninn after the original, even though he couldn’t shake off his reluctance.
“Goði hrafnblóts.”
In the Norse language, it means ‘a priest who commands great crows’.
Ivan murmured lowly, and Huginn and Muninn took flight. Ivan saw the scenery they were looking down on.
It was quite awkward to see something through someone else’s eyes, but Ivan quickly got used to it. It was a body that even briefly experienced the gaze of a transcendent through the powers Heimdall had bestowed upon him.
It looked like a castle with holes in it that had collapsed here and there. When he looked up from the sky, the condition was worse than what he had seen before.
Ivan looked inside it through Huginn and Munin’s eyes for a while and tilted his head. There was no presence from the inside.
‘Shall we take a closer look?’
He thought about it for a moment but then erased it.
He wasn’t used to handling Huginn and Muninn yet. If there’s someone inside, they’ll definitely notice.
Ivan opened his mouth.
“I didn’t find much. I think we’ll have to go inside directly.”
The group moved naturally in a line.
In front of the strong Lizardman warrior, Ferocious Tooth, then Ivan, who can respond to all kinds of conditions, followed by Delfino, the most important priest, and finally, Irene, who was able to check from the rear, drew his bow.
As they went inside, Ivan glanced at Irene. It bothered him to put her behind when Ivan didn’t trust her yet.
‘I’m overreacting.’
He rubbed his temple.
He had a habit that he could not brush off yet. He wasn’t alone now. He needed to get used to it.
The group moved very carefully. Even the huge Ferocious Tooth barely made the sound of footsteps. In Lizardman society, a good warrior was synonymous with a good hunter. There was no way he could have made a mistake in such a hurry.
Hwik, hwik!
Ferocious Tooth that moved ahead raised his tails. There must have been something that made him nervous.
Ivan looked at him with puzzled eyes, and his fierce teeth pointed to the floor.
Ivan looked at where he was pointing and nodded his head. There were traces of someone passing by.
‘Fifteen or sixteen?’
Ivan, who had guessed the size by gathering clues little by little while moving around the area, notified the party with a hand signal.
‘Enemy, sixteen, inside, six.’
Sixteen came in, and ten went out again. And there was no sign of returning back, so there must be six people inside.
If it was the unique complex hand signals used by rangers, accurate communication would be possible, but this level was the best with hand signals generally used.
Of course, Ferocious Tooth didn’t properly understand Ivan’s hand signal. Instead, he tried to add an explanation of his own.
Stroke, swish!
Ferocious Tooth pointed inside him and pointed at his own nose. And he shook his head softly.
‘What do you mean?’
As Ivan made a puzzled expression, the Ferocious Tooth pointed inward, trying to explain more.
Everyone could understand this. It means to get in quickly.
He was afraid that the traces would be cut off when entering the castle, but the stone floor covered with soil, fortunately, did not hide the traces that had been neglected for a long time. It showed exactly that the guys had gone down to the basement.
It once had a wooden door, but now it is rotten, and only the stairs leading to the basement are blackened.
As they approached it, all the faces of the party hardened. They finally realized what the Ferocious Tooth was trying to say.
The smell of fishy iron. The scent of blood and death.
Delfino, who received Ivan’s signal, threw a ball of light inside to illuminate the darkness, and the party jumped down to the basement at once.
Hwik!
Sreung!
He took out his weapon and prepared for the enemy’s attack, but there was no one underground. Only traces of them remained.
Bloodstains painted the entire wall and floor.
The black magic circle was burnt, crushed, and erased here and there. Ashes were scattered around it.
Traces of them. The marble of light created by Delfino, who had been drawn on something, clearly showed it all.
“Damn bastards.”
Although Ivan felt disgusted and regretful, he first grasped the surroundings with a cool reason.
Traces of black magic, the reverberation of evil magic. It was clear that something had happened here.
The dried blood was buoyant, but there was nobody except for a few bone fragments. They all turned to ashes and disappeared. It is a sign of sacrifice.
“The sixteen came in, and the ten went out again. There are six left here.”
Ivan said in a slightly subdued voice.
He knew that one of the six was a child who had not yet grown up.
“Seven.”
Irene corrected him.
“One was pregnant. It seems that the birth was not far. It’s a pity.”
Saying that, Irene’s eyes were shining with a pale blue light. It seems that the spirits are scanning the memories left here. Reading the memories of the earth was something only a very skilled Elementalist could do.
“What do you think? Can you see something?”
“Only disgusting bastards. Demonic magic pushes away the spirits, so there’s not much to see. They’re all wearing gloomy robes.”
At that, Ivan nodded his head and looked at Delfino.
“The sacrifices are small compared to the rituals they’ve done so far. What we’ve seen before is that an entire village was sacrificed. Maybe it’s a different ritual?”
“Well, the traces are smashed, so I can’t really recognize them, but anyway, this isn’t a spell that calls on the power of the devil. It’s a spell that gives power to the devil. Maybe it’s because a large-scale ceremony is burdensome, so they’re splitting it up into several ceremonies.”
He added a clue that it’s just a possibility, but Delfino was confident. He must be correct. He’s the one who knows best about the behavior of demon worshipers.
“There are no old traces. There may be a few days difference, but if we follow them quickly, we will be able to catch up soon…”
Ivan, who was talking, hardened his expression and looked outside. Then the party immediately prepared a battle stance and asked.
“Enemy? Are they back?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure someone is coming this way.”
He released Huginn and Muninn to warn them around, but as soon as he realized that someone was coming this way, they were attacked and counter-summoned. It was a terribly fast and neat attack.
Tadadak!
The group hurried out of the basement. As soon as they climbed up like that, Irene summoned the spirit, put an arrow on the bowstring, and took a step back and hid. She seems to have moved in search of a point where it’s easy to attack.
‘Are you leaving the healer and moving alone?’
He thought about it for a moment but then nodded his head. Near Delfino, three spirits were waiting. He thought that it lacked stability, but that seems to be Irene’s style.
After all, if the front was completely pierced, it was meaningless for the elf rangers to engage in melee combat.
“You can’t pass!”
Ferocious Tooth snorted and ran out. And then, the sound of weapons clashing resounded continuously.
Clink! Clink!
Ivan also finished his magic and headed outside. Someone swung a sword at him, but he naturally avoided it and waved his hand.
Whiir!
Plant stems came out from the floor and tied the opponent’s feet. Ivan, who continued his meditation, became accustomed to mystic knowledge and seemed to have become more proficient in using magic than before.
Pew!
As soon as Ivan tied his feet, Irene’s arrows flew. Although it was quite sharp and powerful, the opponent sent off the attack simply by setting up a thick shield at an angle.
Whoops!
Ivan’s flames swept over it, but a pure white shield broke down. Ivan, who realized the nature of that power, released his magic. Instead of throwing out his spear, he widened the distance behind him.
“Everyone, stop attacking!”
When Ivan shouted that, the opponent also flinched and stopped moving. Their gaze turned to Delfino. Divine power was oozing out of his body. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
They looked at each other while maintaining their vigilance, and the other side lowered their weapon first.
“The power of the Lord of Brilliant Light! Who are you?”
“We should be asking you that. You’re the one who attacked us first.”
At the blunt tone of Ivan’s tone, the other party made a bewildered expression and then nodded.
“I’m sorry. Naturally, I thought you were the seed of an abomination evil, but we weren’t careful.”
They bowed their heads slightly, crossed their names in unison, and introduced themselves.
“We are the worshipers of Kundara, the glorious lord of fire. We were on a hunt for the demon worshippers.”
The Kundara Temple was the second strongest religion after the Arun Temple. One of the nine denominations that make up Sanctus Populi.
Ivan replied, glancing at them.
“So are we. We’re chasing after them.”
When Delfino took out the sealed necklace, they all nodded in unison. The sealed necklace is an item worn by exorcists or heretic inquisitors on duty. There was nothing more convincing than this. The divine power has already been confirmed.
However, he was not so welcoming. He had a shaky expression on his face.
As Ivan was puzzled, someone stepped forward.
“What is the priest of the Arun Temple doing here? I understand that the Kundara Temple has decided to take charge of this matter.”
When a man with hard, cold eyes appeared somewhere, Delfino asked.
“It is not the intention of our denomination. I personally pursued it and came this far. By the way, who are you?”
The man’s eyes slowly scanned the group’s faces.
After looking into that, he answered.
“Pierre Lorraine. One who faces the enemy of faith.”
At those words, Delfino’s face hardened.
“…you are a heretic inquisitor.”
“That’s right.”
Pierre Lorraine laughed. Ivan smelled the thick blood in that smile.