How to Survive as the Second Son of a Mage Family - Chapter 434

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[Aaaahhhhh―….]

Faint screams can be heard. They must be the screams of prisoners and wardens. I pressed the artifact to hear the communication clearly and asked.

[Your Excellency, all the windows on the building’s facade are shattered and mud-like liquid is flowing from the walls. It appears to be vitriol!]

Another rampage. I’m reminded of the day we dealt with the Grade 3 rampage victim at the psychiatric hospital. The problem is that this time the entire building has been contaminated. This was supposed to be the time to catch the culprit, but now of all times, who?

‘This didn’t happen from accidental exposure to the drug.’

Someone deliberately released rampage drugs at this time, in this place. They’re trying to attack us while holding the lives of innocent people hostage. As my head cools, my thoughts flow rapidly.

There’s one strange point. My target, the culprit we’re looking for, is someone who cannot do such a thing. Before breaking the sound-blocking magic, I switched channels and shouted into the artifact where no words could be heard.

“Your Highness, I will move to the prison now.”

[Citizens of Munich, we inform you.]

Whiiiiing―

[A Grade 1 contamination has occurred at Giesing Stadelheim Prison. A Grade 1 contamination has occurred at Giesing Stadelheim Prison. If victims escape the building and wander the streets, immediately hide in inconspicuous places and….]

The alarm sounds just in time. Grade 1. I don’t know if the individual power is strong or not, but rather, they probably assigned the danger level of Grade 1 because the rampage scale involves hundreds of people. Stadelheim Prison has been expanded to match population growth and can now hold nearly a thousand people. I bit the inside of my mouth and swallowed saliva. Along with intermittent crackling sounds, a mage is informing Munich city of the rampage. I closed my eyes and pointed my finger into the air. Recalling the coordinates of Stadelheim Prison, I mentally noted coordinates shifted three or four spaces to the side.

Kwaang―!

With the sound of a staff striking down, I warped to a road. At that moment, I almost covered my nose hidden behind the mask. My skin stings. The barrier has been broken. Stadelheim Prison is covered by a barrier, and I can see black mud dripping down over it. I couldn’t help but know what was happening inside.

[…You shall lift your eyes to the sky and examine the earth below…!]

A trembling voice chants a magic formula from inside the barrier. It must be a warden mage. A purification ritual using mana. This is a representative magic where results vary dramatically based on the caster’s capability, where mana changes shape to match the structure of vitriol particles and devours them. Since it uses mana, it’s not completely purified, but it produces effects similar to divine power, so it would naturally burst from their lips to survive. However….

[…You shall lift your eyes to the sky and examine the earth below!]

Since vitriol has the characteristic of absorbing others’ mana and making it its own, if the caster’s capability is even slightly insufficient, it becomes no different from fanning flames. I lowered the arm that had been covering my face and gripped my staff with both hands.

―Wash away my iniquities completely.

Light pierces my optic nerves. I feel divine power rushing from me into the ground.

―Cleanse me thoroughly of my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me!

Kwaaaaang―!

The vitriol that had been bursting out of the barrier relentlessly gets pushed back against the wall. Someone hanging from the watchtower rolled down and escaped outside the barrier. It was one of the guards. Just then, neo-human police warped and arrived in the distance. I shot divine power at the guard running toward the police to purify him, then ran looking for the entrance.

“Ernst, Your Excellency!”

An arcane mage wearing a government badge runs over calling me. I gestured for him to handle purification of the outer streets and rushed through the thick iron doors that the wardens had opened. Countless people contaminated by vitriol are screaming and rolling on the ground of the compound.

Through the artifact, I hear Leo taking command of the 101st.

[101st, stay close to the arcane mage beside you at all costs, and move to the prison once preliminary control is finished. Hohenzollern-Ascanien will handle inside, Cheringen-Kleist will handle escaped victims from outside. I’ll join Hohenzollern’s side within 5 minutes….]

“Teacher!”

Someone lying face down covered in vitriol screamed toward me. I chanted another purification ritual and struck down my staff. The sound of tearing air makes my ears sting. Thrusting my staff forward to create a stream-like mana, I wrapped the mana around his arm and threw him behind me. He hasn’t been contaminated for long. I need to get the unharmed ones, the unharmed people out first. So the police can take them to the hospital. I glared at the numerous victims rushing toward me and struck down my staff once more.

―You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

Kwaaaaang―…

The same divine power explodes everywhere. I continued pushing divine power forward, looking only ahead. The dim world shone bright as midday, and beyond that, the ground looked like a light sphere. The air with high vitriol contamination gradually clears. Divine power surges from the ground I stand on through my body and flows back into the ground. The flow was much better than when using mana.

Beep―

[Ernst, Your Excellency. I’ve called all seven remaining arcane mages.]

Leo spoke on my personal channel.

I told the Chief of Staff I would use five arcane mages. One of them is me. Elias and one mage each were attached to Cheringen’s side. The remaining two are still at the command center where Leo is, to be deployed when something happens. Now all ten special management grade arcane mages, excluding the two attached to Elias and Cheringen, will come here. Multiple sounds overlap in my other ear.

[All Beta grade special management personnel have arrived at the prison main gate.]

[Five victims fleeing toward Chiemgau street! Turning toward 12 o’clock! Uh oh―!]

[Pedestrian control completed on the road from Stadelheim to the Orthodox church.]

[Chairman Ernst! Are you on site?]

“100 meters ahead from the prison main gate. Can you hear me? Which building had the first rampage?”

[The southern prison.]

Of all places, the one with more inmates. I clicked my tongue and ordered.

“Call the escaped guards and get the cell keys. Count Arco, Count Fuger, Count Escher. Once the keys arrive, immediately enter the northern building. Just hand everyone over to the police as we’re doing now.”

They’re all Bavaria’s special management grade mages. The arcane mages and their assistants who arrived at the main gate took the people purified by my divine power outside. How fortunate it is to be able to use divine power freely. Seeing the vast compound floor glowing white, I continued speaking.

“Count Rothenhan. And Union 101st Count Hohenzollern and the other two from the 101st, along with myself, will enter the southern building.”

“Yes.”

The middle-aged mage’s voice came from right behind me. I glanced at him and ran toward the southern prison building. Then someone else at the command center gave instructions I hadn’t given but should have.

[The rest up to Gamma grade, purify the compound outside the prison buildings inside the barrier. We’ve positioned neo-human police from Munich Police Department around the barrier, so you may simply purify prisoners and throw them over the barrier.]

Kwaang―!

“Aaaahhhhh!”

The night wind is cold. It’s been a while since I heard a victim’s screams. I changed my staff to a wand and continued chanting purification rituals as I ran. Rothenhan drew a blunt-edged sword to fend off victims rushing at us along the way. When dealing with rampage victims, it’s good to have someone skilled at magic formulas nearby, but right now as we run toward our target, having someone with exceptional swordsmanship is useful. Those who came outside are either criminals who directly tore open iron doors from the southern building, or those who could escape because guards opened doors for them from the northern building after realizing the situation was serious. Both should be handled by those in charge of compound purification, and we need to rescue people still trapped inside the buildings.

‘Even after developing the new drug Atropos, they didn’t abandon rampage drugs. Of course they wouldn’t, but….’

I didn’t expect them to still actually use this. In the current situation, wouldn’t this only cause massive losses for them?

Kwaang―!

―Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.

With the light, the surrounding vitriol loses momentum and hesitates, stopping. More and more rampage victims are gathering. When I struck the ground once more with my staff, both the black mud and people flying toward my limbs were pushed away in all directions. Count Rothenhan, who had been running beside me, loaded both divine power and golden mana onto his sword and said.

“Ernst, Your Excellency. I’ll clear the path first, so please assist with divine power from behind.”

“Yes.”

I hear the sound of a sword cutting through air. I pushed divine power with my feet instead of my staff, making it explode on the ground, occasionally changing my staff to a wand to send victims rushing from behind flying far away.

There’s something strange. After the negotiations, Pleroma hasn’t engaged in spreading new drugs except for buried rampage drugs. The number of rampage incidents has decreased, and naturally they haven’t done anything worthy of making the front page of the Imperial Newspaper. The current situation contradicts Pleroma’s recent strategy of not causing problems in German states for the time being. They’re not killing people with Atropos in Germany―though they tried to kill Lucas Ascanien, that seems to have special grounds. Clearly Pleroma had the ability to infect Germans, and perhaps already has infected them, yet even after waiting all day, no German noble deaths occurred―and to achieve their goals, they shouldn’t create disasters worthy of the Imperial Newspaper’s front page. Besides killing nobles with Atropos, they also shouldn’t have engaged in large-scale killing of humans.

‘Then why did they cause such a large-scale rampage incident?’

Count Rothenhan suddenly drew in a sharp breath. I too feel momentarily breathless. High-density vitriol is rushing from somewhere. A person covered in black mud charges toward us.

In this massive facility housing about 1000 people including prisoners and staff, why did Pleroma choose self-destruction? Black liquid surging from the victim’s body curves in a circle. If they hadn’t done this, they might have been able to watch international society isolate the German government. I aimed my wand at the victim ahead and shouted.

―You mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

Kwaaaaang―! Sssssh― Bang―!

When no vitriol emerged, Count Rothenhan struck the victim’s neck hard with the back of his sword. Screams are heard. Even though he struck with the back rather than the blade, the smell of blood bursts forth. I feel another arcane mage pressing him down.

“Command center, can you hear me?”

[Yes, Your Excellency. Please speak.]

“Contact the Interior Ministry immediately and check if the prisoner exchange portal is open or closed.”

[Understood.]

I don’t simply mean whether the path is open. I mean whether the written negotiation communication network for prisoner exchange is still open. Crossing the vast prison compound, I kept my mouth shut and waited for an answer. Unwillingly, I had to hear people’s screams.

[Aaaahhhhh….]

[Don’t shoot mana! Stop!]

Splash―

Our running speed is slowing down. The closer we get to the southern prison, the stickier the ground becomes. The stuffiness in the air has somewhat lifted thanks to the arcane mages, but the vitriol continuously bursting from the building quickly negates our purification. Black vitriol explodes and falls from the building’s broken windows. I think I’m sweating under my mask. Squinting and looking up, I see a barrier flickering ominously with cracks against the night sky.

[Ernst, Your Excellency. We’ve arrived. I’ll open the door.]

Elias’s voice. I can see Elias and Leo running from the opposite side. Having entered from the southern barrier, they arrived slightly earlier than us. Watching them enter through the main gate first, I threw open the half-torn door of the southern prison’s back entrance.

“…!”

There was a corpse right at the entrance. From the clothes, it was a guard. Since we didn’t have time to collect the body and take it outside the compound, I carefully laid the bleeding, fallen guard under the awning outside the building and went inside. This three-story building had two doors even on the entrance path, and there was a barred middle gate every five cells. So, with the center as the reference point, there are middle gates on both sides with more doors continuing beyond them. People who have completely succumbed to rampage are clustered at each middle gate in the distance.

‘…No, they’re not just clustered.’

As soon as they saw us, they were breaking down the bars. The second middle gate corrodes and collapses. The light attached in front of it sways with a clatter.

Kwaaaaang―!! Crash―

Sssssh― Kwaang―!

Vitriol flies toward my head. Humans covered in mud are rushing into the first middle gate. One fortunate point is that I use divine power, and this is an environmentally friendly neighborhood. I thrust my wand forward to block vitriol flying from all directions while shouting to the person who entered from the opposite entrance.

“Your Highness!”

Kwaang―!

Today I first realize that plant stems can make such sounds. Leo grips his staff with both hands, crouches low, and deploys his unique ability. Dark green grass stems and tree trunks fill the corridor where half the lights have gone out. I changed my wand back to a staff and chanted purification magic while striking the floor.

Kwaaaaaang―!!

[…The portal is still open, Your Excellency.]

As I frowned at the thunderous sound, the answer to my earlier question came through the artifact.

‘The portal is open. Still?’

Surprisingly, Pleroma has no intention of breaking negotiations. Even if they intend to break negotiations but simply haven’t blocked the communication network yet, as I thought earlier, if we assume this situation is their decision, there’s something strange somewhere. I need to think about it. Is this something my target did? Along with my thoughts, I shouted to Rothenhan.

“I’ve done preliminary purification, so I’ll go up to the second floor. Please finish cleaning up the vitriol coming down from upstairs.”

“Yes, understood!”

Or a third party? There aren’t many third parties who know I sent a note. Following the route by which I informed the enemy of the note’s existence, only those involved in that route could have done this.

Pretending to be the enemy’s enemy to draw out the enemy. Pretending to be the culprit’s enemy to draw out the culprit. That’s my strategy. Therefore, as Cheringen said, my ‘enemy’ cannot reveal their existence at this moment. Because their enemy sent me the meeting place and time. Because they know this.

The enemy revealing their existence means they’ve seen through that my strategy is truly ‘my’ strategy, but that’s within the prediction range and doesn’t mean operational failure. The choices the enemy can take after seeing through are as follows: 1. Ignore it. 2. Or accept my provocation and seek to negotiate with me. 3. Or attack me. The third choice is difficult due to the enemy’s current political situation―the reason I placed high probability on the strategy of assuming the enemy’s enemy working was because the enemy’s political situation isn’t very good―. Therefore, the enemy can reveal their existence for the second option, negotiation with me. Being able to participate in negotiations is a development possible because they conveyed their intentions through the medium of the enemy’s enemy. While this process can be aggressive, ultimately the enemy doesn’t aim to kill me.

As soon as I reach the second floor, someone grabs me.

“Excuse me, sir! Over here…!”

There’s no need to listen. This person is truly a high-risk rampage. I immediately placed my hand on his forehead.

―Unless Jehovah watches over the castle, the watchman’s vigilance is in vain.

The moment drowsiness filled his eyes, I pushed divine power into the core with my left hand. Vitriol burst forth from his entire body as his face contorted.

“Aaaaaaahhh!”

Crash―!

I knocked him down and struck the staff against the floor once more. Judging by his condition, I can’t advance to the 3rd floor. Since I’ve managed to somewhat stop the Vitriol descending from the 2nd floor, it would be better to handle the first floor and come back up.

Now, conversely, if the enemy doesn’t realize that the note strategy is my strategy, they can make three choices in this case as well. 1. Pretend not to hear and ignore it. 2. Monitor from a distance. 3. Storm the scene―of course, this won’t be executed since there’s no enemy of the enemy here―. Since my strategy hasn’t been discovered, first, pretending not to hear and ignoring it doesn’t make sense. If this were actually realized, we would have assumed the enemy’s enemy incorrectly, so we’d need to throw a different bait. The best choice for him is this―monitor from a distance and storm in when a situation favorable to him unfolds. That storming might not be immediate but could be a strategic battle days or weeks later. Since we know there’s no enemy of the enemy, we know that option 3 out of the three plans the enemy had set up cannot be executed. Therefore, we must find the enemy in state 2 and launch a surprise attack.

In other words.

The option for the enemy to attack us first exists at a theoretically very low probability, and when can that low probability occur?

[Count Ernst!]

Elias’s voice reaches me through the artifact. I immediately head downstairs while continuing my thoughts.

It can only happen when the enemy must accept their ultimate loss. ‘Ultimate’ loss. Not a loss in the process. Unless adrenaline suddenly surges through him, causing him to lose reason and be dominated by rage throughout his body, he cannot logically make this choice.

So….

‘This isn’t something our target did.’

It’s neither Pleroma nor our target. It’s someone else. A third party has interfered in Giesing, Munich today.

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