A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 45

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 45. Two Problems (4)

* * *

Whisht.
Three arrows shot with sharp precision pierced through the swirling snow and found their marks. Fired along separate trajectories, they passed clean through the necks of the three sentries guarding the Food Storage, embedding themselves in the wall beyond.
The sentries collapsed without even a cry, their bodies falling forward into the drifts.
Scarlet Hawk stepped over the blood-stained bodies without flinching, then raised his hand to signal forward. Through the white wall of falling snow, the Esteban Forces began to emerge, one by one.
What blocked their advance toward the Food Storage was a lock mechanism with five layers of security. One of the Esteban soldiers fell back a few paces, then charged forward and threw his full weight against the heavy door.
Crack!
The third impact came louder than the rest. The hinges of the Food Storage tore clean from their frames.
The interior was dark and reeked of stale earth and dust. When oil-soaked torches were lit, the vast interior of the Food Storage came into view—boxes stacked high as mountains.
The eyes of the Esteban soldiers gleamed with joy.
“With this much, we could survive all the way through next winter!”
No matter how noble a warrior might claim to be, hunger reduced them all to the same desperate need.
As the soldiers opened the boxes and checked the contents of the pouches inside, they waited eagerly for their leader’s command.
“Take everything we can carry. Burn the rest.”
At Scarlet Hawk’s order, the Esteban Forces scattered throughout the space.
The Food Storage was divided into three large levels. The soldiers began hauling the boxes of supplies out. These were precious stores they would have no way to secure once winter truly came.
Once Scarlet Hawk confirmed that his men were loaded down with boxes, he took a torch from one of them.
With their current numbers, they couldn’t carry everything stored here. Any supplies left behind would only become the enemy’s supplies, so they had to be burned.
He poured oil from containers he’d brought onto the boxes, then raised the torch toward the storage room now glistening with oil.
But suddenly, Scarlet Hawk’s brow furrowed. One of the boxes had a hole in it, and something was spilling out.
He seized what was falling, opened his fist in front of his eyes, and watched fine particles slip through his fingers.
Sand.
Why did the musty earth-smell he’d noticed upon entering the storage suddenly come rushing back to him? With sand grains clinging to his palm, he drew the Greatsword from his belt. The blade trembled like a candle flame caught in wind.
Scarlet Hawk opened a box and swept his Greatsword through the pouches inside. Sand cascaded out in a rush.
His lips went dry. He turned to his men, who were shouldering armloads of boxes, and barely managed to speak.
“Everyone… open the boxes and verify every single item.”
Moments later, the sound of leather tearing filled the storage room as chaos erupted.
“What?”
That single word was the beginning.
“It’s sand!”
“Do these people eat sand?”
“That’s impossible!”
As the storage room descended into turmoil, Scarlet Hawk confirmed that the pouches inside the boxes were filled with sand everywhere except the very top.
A clever deception—using sand to replicate the weight and bulk of actual supplies, banking on the assumption that his men wouldn’t have time to check the contents of every single pouch.
They had walked straight into a trap. Their plan had been seen through.
Scarlet Hawk couldn’t comprehend it. His strategy had been flawless. There had not been a single sign of impending counterattack. Any reasonable commander would have assumed defeat was inevitable.
The guard force at the castle had indeed thinned out; the defensive posture had weakened noticeably. Yet somehow, against all odds, they’d anticipated an assault on the Food Storage. And even if they’d suspected it, how could they possibly be so certain?
“Heaven’s judgment.”
“The gods are angry because we tried to take provisions without fighting honorably.”
Murmurs of unease rippled through the crowd, growing louder.
Confusion. Panic. Disorder.
Then came the moment.
Dong-
A faint bell tolled across the night air.
It was an omen of calamity. Moments later, bells began to ring from other positions, echoing in response.
Dong- Dooong-
Bells clanged from every direction, announcing their presence—the infiltration of Esteban. For all their caution, for all their care, they were exposed at last.
Scarlet Hawk clenched his teeth and issued his command.
“Abandon the supply mission. Withdraw immediately.”
As they emerged from the storage, snow lay piled to their knees. Scarlet Hawk took some comfort in that—with the snow this deep, cavalry was useless. Both pursuer and pursued would have to run on foot. Of course, no ordinary human could outpace an Esteban soldier, so the advantage remained with them.
They knew exactly where the defensive line was weak. The target was north. Not far at all. Scarlet Hawk was confident they could escape intact and secure themselves for another attempt later.
They turned their footsteps toward the castle wall.
Then it happened.
Bang!
A tremendous explosion. The snow piled before them erupted all at once, shooting skyward. When the snow settled, a girl stood in its place.
Thin, slender limbs. Eyes that gazed down upon all things with an aloof indifference. Beautiful platinum hair scattered in the wind.
In her hands was not an instrument but a sword—more dancer than warrior. Even the way she held that blade was hauntingly beautiful. It was a beauty that sent shivers down one’s spine.
The girl who had dropped from the sky was Azest.
Scarlet Hawk asked the question even as he recognized its stupidity.
“Are you…… an enemy?”
Instead of answering, Azest drew her sword. In that instant, the aura radiating from her shifted. A violent killing intent, as though a thousand blades pierced one’s entire body at once.
A pressure that erupted like an explosion, yet she maintained an uncannily serene tone as she finally answered.
“I am.”
Scarlet Hawk loosed an arrow at Azest—bright as a beam of light itself.
Ping!
Impossibly, an Ice Shield formed before her, blocking the arrow. It embedded halfway into the frozen barrier.
That was the signal. The Esteban Forces launched their attack. Ninety soldiers strong, they came surging forward with savage ferocity, each wielding weapons of their choice. The sight was utterly overwhelming—a force that rivaled the strength of a modest provincial knight order.
“…….”
Azest regarded them with utter contempt. She raised her sword and drove it into the ground. In an instant, a spell constructed of pure mana arranged itself before her.
Whoooosh!
The incantation was complete in a heartbeat.

Frozen Palace.

Crack-crack-crack-crack!
Towering columns of ice rose up, engulfing the Esteban Forces. Walls manifested, ceilings formed, sculptures and ornaments materialized into being.
A grand domain of ice.
A space created for Queen Azest.
A palace of such breathtaking beauty that one could call it nothing but luxuriant.
At its heart sat Azest upon a throne. She gazed down upon the Esteban Forces with noble indifference, her eyes fixed upon them as though they were insects beneath her notice.
Though the distance was not great, the Esteban Forces felt an inexplicable chasm between themselves and her.
“I urge your surrender.”
Overwhelming pressure.
A crushing force that transcended physical distance, bearing down upon their entire bodies with terrible intensity.
“Kunnnnnn Ronaaaaaaaa!”
The Esteban Forces roared to shake off that sensation, their fighting spirit ablaze. They were a people who burned hotter the stronger their opponent proved to be.
“……I see.”
In response, Azest activated the Frozen Palace.
Crack! Splinter! Crash-crash-crash!
A deafening cacophony erupted, followed by a storm of spells—so many that the eye could not take them all in at once.
The temperature plummeted. Their burning resolve, their ferocious beast-like savagery—all of it froze in that single moment.
“W……what?”
Someone gasped in incomprehension at the impossible sight.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
And the gasp became a scream.
Ice arrows rained down like torrential water. Transparent blades surged from the earth, tearing through flesh. Spheres that fired dozens of icebolts in every direction materialized and ravaged the crowd.
A pristine blizzard froze their bodies, hampering their movement. The accumulated snow coalesced into a colossal golem that swept through the ranks.
Shrieks of agony tore free.
Pain. Slaughter.
A frozen hell.
Ninety soldiers were utterly demolished by a single girl with laughable ease.
“Kyaaaaaahhh!”
Crack! Splinter!
Rend. Shatter. Annihilate.
With mechanical precision, the offensive spells fulfilled their purpose.
Azest watched the Esteban Forces being torn to shreds with cold indifference. They had slaughtered the soldiers of her domain.
Moreover, this was the Shadow World, and they were nothing but phantoms. She saw no reason for mercy.
Crash!
The sound of shattering ice reached her ears. Azest turned to look.
An arrow from Scarlet Hawk had embedded itself in the golem’s core. The body of the golem, constructed at the level of a Third Circle spell, exploded with a tremendous noise.
Surely it was not the sort of thing that should have shattered under mere physical impact.
The mystery was solved soon enough. Scarlet Hawk’s arrow was wreathed in a reddish radiance—unmistakably an Aura, the absolute technique that only Knights of Rook rank and above could wield.
“I shall handle the dangerous sorceries! All warriors, hold position together!”
Wrapped in Aura, his Arrow was unleashing tremendous destructive force. The power exceeded third Circle magnitude. In effect, it was fourth Circle level. That he’d drawn it out so late meant he’d reached his limits.
It was likely his hidden trump card, the move he’d kept in reserve all this while. A final, desperate gambit.
Azest pulled the Greatsword from the ground. In the same breath, she pushed off hard. Scarlet Hawk exploded into view before her eyes.
Sensing her killing intent, he spun toward her. The Aura-wreathed Arrow streaked forth, aimed at the space between her brows.
She struck it down with a reaction speed that transcended human limits.
Crash!
A massive shockwave erupted, sweeping across the surrounding space.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————