kscans

Chapter 99 - The Madness of the Mage Order's Captain

Rainer, captain of the Mage Order, looked down at the chained Ariel.

Her cheeks and arms were pale and emaciated. She was less like a person now and more like a doll. He wondered if a person could change this much in just a month.

I’m sure even the man you loved would scream in surprise if he saw this skeletal figure. Rainer’s face twisted.

She can’t produce blood.

It was fine at first. I was using her High Potions that were left at the base. The effect was truly amazing. It made her generate the drawn blood almost instantly. I was then wringing the mana from it.

But now it was different. Her blood had thinned, and there were times when there was no mana mixed in it at all. Even an ordinary person has some small amount of mana.

Her heart had stopped multiple times.

Each time, he would forcibly pour the High Potions he made into her. She would revive. But her recovery was nothing like before. Her appearance was only moving closer to death.

"...You’ve become quite docile."

She used to struggle, suffer, scratch the floor until her fingers bled, and weep tears of blood. But now, she didn’t even groan. It was a wonder she was even breathing.

Sometimes, even when her eyes were open, they were unfocused, as if she were simply sinking into a deep darkness.

Rainer snorted.

"How boring...."

Ariel, unfortunately, had a role that only Ariel could fill. The construction of Magic Furnaces and the subjugation of monsters.

Perhaps he should stop for a while. Deactivate the device that drew blood and converted it to mana, and wait for her body to generate blood again.

"It can’t be helped. ...You are still useful."

He wanted those High Potions that could regenerate even an arm. But only she could make them.

No matter how many times Rainer tried to replicate the formula, he could not create a potion powerful enough to restore blood. If he had that, he could wring mana from her for the rest of her life, just as planned.

It was infuriating. If only she had obediently kneeled and groveled before me from the start, it would not have come to this.

In her current state, he could take everything from her without any resistance. He could take her body, drain her mana, even take her life as he pleased.

But that wouldn’t do.

Rainer narrowed his eyes.

"Weep and cling to me. Beg for your life. And then say, ‘Please let me work for you.’ ...Otherwise, it’s no fun."

That image of her, offering up her life and body for Darius. He couldn’t forgive the fact that it wasn’t directed at him. That was why, the next time she awoke, he would remake her into his own.

But at the same time, reality loomed. She had to recover quickly.

He had told the King and Queen that he could extract mana from the Magic Furnaces forever. He couldn’t get away with saying Ariel died in about a month, or that he could no longer extract mana.

He would never be able to build another Magic Furnace. He would no longer be able to extract mana. He would be unable to protect the country from the great powers. His own head would roll.

In truth, mages were not all-powerful. Someone like Ariel, who possessed all attributes, was close to a miracle.

Normally, a mage would have only one attribute, like fire or water. At most, they might have two. And even then, it was common for them not to possess outstanding power. Some, like the Queen, had none at all.

In the end, the only difference between them and trained soldiers was that they could achieve things slightly more impressive than alchemical tools without needing any equipment. Of course, being a mage was impressive in itself.

Ariel was an exception. A living weapon born from cheat-level abilities and grueling effort.

"...Is it useless to gather all the Potions in the city?"

Glaring at the pile of bottles, Rainer clicked his tongue softly. All of them had weak effects. Her blood never fully returned, and her mana recovery was inconsistent.

"Then... for the time being, I have no choice but to have the mages gather magic cores."

He muttered this and slapped the sleeping Ariel’s cheek. The white cheek reddened where it was struck, and a small moan escaped her lips.

"...That’s right. Let me hear more of that voice."

Rainer smiled.