A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special - Chapter 79

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 79. He Makes a Decision (1)

Book 17. He Makes a Decision

The Harbor in Deltaheim was so packed with humanity that there was scarcely room to stand. With Aether having destroyed the railway to sever outside connections, a ship was the only means of escape left to the people.
The Yellow Ocean Tournament was in full swing, so the throngs of tourists swelled far beyond their usual numbers.
Merchant vessels lined the wharf in rows, and behind them stretched an endless procession of refugees desperate to board.
Though fistfights broke out among them for a place on deck, one truth remained unchanged: the wealthy boarded first.
The commoners could only climb aboard after the royalty and nobility had already secured their passage.
As ships slipped away one by one through the chaos.
An explosion rocked the harbor with violent tremors. Several people standing on deck lost their footing and fell.
The darkened sky suddenly blazed bright as noon, and everyone’s gaze snapped upward.
Burning stones filled the heavens.
Someone whispered, barely audible.
“What… what is that…?”
A calamity descended upon Deltaheim, the city of commerce and prosperity, untimely and terrible.
Crash-boom-boom-boom.
The harbor was being torn apart.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Help us!”
The bombardment swept through the refugee lines.
The merchant vessels shattered under the barrage. Ships struck by the falling stones broke apart and sank.
“Oh God. God help us. God help us.”
Passengers plunged into the sea.
The instantly dead, the burning, the despairing.
In moments, the harbor became a hell on earth.
“Mama!”
A stone blazing crimson hurtled toward a mother and child. There was no escape. Knowing it was hopeless, the mother wrapped her arms around her baby.
Boom.
But before the stone could reach them, a Wind Bullet fired from somewhere intercepted it, shattering the rock into dark red fragments that scattered across the water.

Ice Crown.

Simultaneously, a spout of water surged from the sea, forming an icy crown that sheltered the people from the raining debris of shattered stone.
It was Dezir’s party.
When Raven Mask had withdrawn, they had rushed to the Harbor where refugees were most densely clustered, to minimize loss of life.
Azest deployed Defensive Magic among the refugees, while Romantika positioned herself where she could survey the entire Harbor and intercept the falling stones, minimizing casualties.
“Everyone, board the ships!”
Fram worked with the soldiers to facilitate the refugees’ orderly evacuation. The situation stabilized rapidly.
Perhaps it was the relief of knowing they wouldn’t die helplessly that allowed the refugees to gradually recover from their panic.
The mother who held her child began to quicken her pace up the gangway, her small one’s hand firmly clasped in hers.
“At this rate, it will never end.”
Such was Dezir’s assessment of the devastation unfolding before him. He was occupied with casting magic to intercept the stones that Azest couldn’t block.
Romantika answered as she deployed Sniper Magic.
“Yeah… that’s how it looks.”
The entire city, not just the Harbor, was being reduced to ash. The observation tower built to overlook the sea was split in two, its wreckage burying the merchant district beneath it.
The upper sections of the Tournament Grounds where the Yellow Ocean Tournament had been held were torn away entirely, leaving the structure flat. No building could maintain its shape under such a relentless barrage.
The burning stones rained down without cease.
Everything was crumbling to dust.
Screams, explosions.
The sound of waves crashing echoed distantly, and the distant shoreline was painted ash-gray.
Dateneuph was a catastrophe incarnate.
Just as Raven Mask had said, there was nothing even Jord could do without adequate preparation.
Once before, in the Shadow Labyrinth, seasoned Expeditions had thrown themselves at the creature, yet only managed to defeat it after suffering devastating losses.
There was no way to hold back the demon before them with merely this handful of people.
The Eruption Phase was only the beginning.
A harbinger of Dateneuph beginning to stir in earnest.
If the omen alone was this severe, then should Dateneuph reveal its true form, Deltaheim would be consumed without a trace.
Countless lives would be lost.
Having steeled his resolve in his heart, Dezir turned to Romantika and spoke.
“Romantika, we should evacuate too.”
The evacuation column was nearly complete. She tore her eyes from the Rifle.
“That’s a sensible suggestion. If I stay here much longer, I’ll burn to ash myself. My Mana reserves are running dry as it is.”
Romantika had only enough Mana left to cast one or two Second Circle spells at most.
The same held true for Azest, who had been shielding the evacuees with Defensive Magic.
Exhausted from the fierce battle with Outer and the consecutive skirmishes with Raven Mask, they had been pushed to their absolute limits. They could collapse the moment they let their guard slip.
Dezir sent word to Azest and Fram.
-You’ve all done enough. We’re evacuating too. Join the column heading to the ships.
Azest’s spell formation ceased. The structures of ice she had woven crumbled and fell.
What they had managed to hold through until now was no small feat. While they held firm, countless people had made it aboard the vessels.
Roughly two thousand people remained at the Harbor. Though the number was hardly insignificant, it was far better than before.
Azest and Fram, who had been helping evacuees among the refugees, stood relatively forward in the column compared to Dezir and Romantika, who had been covering the rear.
They gathered every scrap of remaining Mana and continued to shatter falling rocks hurtling down on the refugees even as they boarded.
It was the best they could manage.
About five minutes after joining the evacuation column, Dezir suddenly raised his head, searching for Fram and Azest ahead. They stood so far forward that he couldn’t make them out in the crowd.
Dezir spoke.
“With so many people, the boarding ships might miss each other. I’ll push ahead and bring Fram and Azest back. If it takes too long, don’t wait for me—board without us.”
Romantika replied in a somewhat cold tone.
“Well, it’s my life, so of course I’ll do that. After all, I’m just a coward who fled while my homeland was being ravaged.”
“I’m truly sorry about that. But it’s not—”
Romantika cut off Dezir mid-excuse.
“Never mind. You’re actually right. I know it’s reckless. I was just being petty. Now hurry back.”
A smile tugged at her lips.
Romantika laughed, her mouth curving in a gentle arc.
The boy and girl, both covered in ash and soot, stared at each other as though searching for something in one another’s eyes.
“You’re going?”
“I have to.”
Dezir took his first step.
“It won’t take long.”
As Dezir vanished into the crowd, Romantika was left alone. Yet she did not simply wait idly.
Each time her Mana recovered bit by bit, she helped intercept the rocks hurtling toward the Harbor.
Fortunately, the number of evacuees remaining at the Harbor had dwindled considerably, so the area that needed protection had shrunk as well—it could now be considered reasonably safe.
“…?”
But the column, which had been flowing smoothly, suddenly came to a standstill.
Hearing whispers from up ahead, it seemed a fight had broken out.
Given the circumstances, it was only natural the refugees would grow tense. People were quick to turn to blows over minor scuffles.
In that instant, an ominous premonition seized Romantika.
‘Surely he didn’t get caught up in it?’
It was entirely possible. After all, Dezir had an uncanny knack for walking into trouble.
As Dezir took far longer than expected to return with Fram and Azest, Romantika found herself growing anxious. She ran her hand over the Rifle he had given her, again and again.
‘Did he actually get caught up in something?’
Just as Romantika was debating whether to go searching for Dezir, someone tapped her shoulder. It seemed he had finally returned.
Drawing in a deep breath to scold him for worrying her needlessly, Romantika exhaled it all at once as she recognized the face of whoever had touched her shoulder.
“Good heavens, there you are, Miss Romantika.”
“The Butler?”
It was the Butler of the Eru Family. He was dressed in immaculate formal attire.
“I’ve been searching for you everywhere. I had my hopes, and here you are. Now, do board quickly, won’t you?”
Having finished speaking, the Butler stepped out of the column and began walking toward the ship.
“Wait, where are you going?”
Understanding something from Romantika’s reaction, the Butler turned back to her and began to explain.
“That ship happens to be a merchant vessel provided by the Eru Trading Company for evacuating the refugees. Naturally, you, Miss, have every right to board first.”
“I understand what you’re saying. But right now I’m waiting for my companions.”
“You’ll be reunited with them soon enough once you’ve boarded. For now, let us make haste and leave this place. The Baron is growing concerned.”
Upon hearing that her parents were worried, Romantika found herself unable to refuse the Butler’s words.
‘Well, Dezir said if he’s running late, don’t wait—just board the ship.’
She followed the Butler past the processions until they reached the spot where refugees had been causing a commotion.
“You threw the first punch!”
“Who do you think you are!”
People around them had forced the two apart, but they continued hurling insults at each other without pause.
Romantika moved past them and climbed aboard the vessel. Yet even as she did, she remained on the deck.
“Ah, you’ve boarded first.”
About five minutes had passed when Fram and Azest approached her. They seemed quite surprised that she, who had been with them moments ago, had come up ahead.
Dezir Armang was nowhere among them.
“Where’s Dezir Armang?”
“Wasn’t he with you, Romantika?”
“No, he said he was going to find you both, but……”
“We never saw him though.”
“What?”
Dezir Armang had vanished without a trace.
Romantika scanned her surroundings. Nearly all the refugees had boarded. Yet Dezir Armang was nowhere to be seen.
Gone.
Nowhere at all.

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