Chapter 101 - The Red-Haired Fire Mage and the General
Nathan Evenhart:
I was drifting in a sea of darkness, feeling reality shatter into fragments. But in truth, it wasn't reality breaking—it was my mind falling apart. I heard a sound, like something cracking deep within me.
That sound jolted me awake, bringing with it an overwhelming fear that consumed every fiber of my being. With a start, I shot up.
"Nathan... I'm Nathan..." I muttered, staring at my hands. I recognized those fingers, and relief flooded through me as I realized I was still myself.
I am me! I am me again...
My heart pounded in my chest, a deep, piercing pain cutting through it. But the pain wasn't physical—it was in my soul, a terrible suffering as I wondered if everything I had lived through these past years had been an illusion. That I was still lying on the cold ground of Cylla, trapped in some dream.
With effort, I controlled my breathing. My hands trembled, and I was on the verge of hyperventilating.
Mom... Aunt Margie... Chloe... Cylla... Kinue...
I curled up, pressing my head to my knees, focusing on the people I knew, the faces I loved, searching for a thread of reality to hold on to.
It's okay... I'm still with them...
However, there was one presence I never wanted to see again, not even in my dreams, and, to my misfortune, she was right beside me.
"It wasn't me who made you dream about that, so don't start talking shit," Athena said as she approached, standing there as if the situation meant nothing to her.
YOU! You took me to that place!
She sighed, the sound heavy with impatience.
"Before you start sulking, aren't you noticing something strange? Retrace your steps, you idiot! I don't want to cease to exist if you die," she said sharply.
I looked around, realizing the goddess was right. I was in a strange place: a cave.
"That red-haired knight jumped off the cliff with me!" I suddenly remembered.
My clothes were drenched, clinging to my body. The cave was dark, but light streamed in through the water that fell heavily outside.
A cave behind a waterfall!
I scanned the area, searching for any sign of the mysterious woman who had attacked me, but I saw nothing.
"I need to get out of here..."
"No kidding, really? Wow, if you hadn't said that, I'd never have guessed what your next move would be," Athena remarked with her usual sarcasm.
"I should be mad at you. I dreamed about that damned day of the parade," I said, trying to ignore her.
She burst into laughter, the sound echoing off the cave walls.
"Not going to say anything?" I asked.
"You made me promise not to talk about the past. Do you want me to remind you why I smiled at you?" she laughed, a laugh I knew was only going to annoy me further.
Damn goddess...
I ignored her, starting to walk toward the cave's exit when I encountered a figure stepping through the curtain of water.
"We barely met, and you already want to leave me? What a complicated man you are," said the mysterious redhead, a teasing smile on her lips.
Instinctively, I reached for my sheath, but realized my sword was gone.
"Your weapon was lost in the fall," she remarked, her smile still in place.
I raised my hand toward her, trying to summon my magic, but nothing happened.
"It's no use, Nathan. Your magic won't work," she said.
What?
I tried to summon the familiar sparks to dance across my hand, but nothing happened. Desperation began to rise within me. I focused on feeling the mana in my body, but it was as if it simply didn't exist.
"What did you do to my magic!?" I asked, disbelief creeping into my voice as I couldn't feel a single drop of mana.
The red-haired woman raised her hand, and a ball of fire appeared, floating above her.
"I didn't do anything to your magic," she said calmly. "Your eyes have entered the final stage of awakening, and your gem is dedicating all its energy to them."
Her words hit me like a punch.
I'm completely defenseless!
She began walking toward me, the fire swirling around her. The smile on her face was dangerous, and with every step she took, my sense of vulnerability grew. I shifted into a tiger stance from kung fu, readying myself for combat. I tried to summon my killing intent, but without mana, the technique was useless.
"You know I'm stronger than you," she said confidently.
"I don't care. I never surrender," I responded.
She clapped her hands, as if amused, but kept walking, the ball of fire floating calmly around her. However, to my surprise, she didn't attack. She walked past me as if I posed no threat at all.
I glanced back, confused, and saw her gathering branches to start a fire.
"Sorry I didn't leave it burning before, but I had to make sure that soldier was dead. He was lucky enough to fall into the water like we did, but I've taken care of that now," she said, without taking her eyes off the fire.
I decided to ignore her and moved toward the cave's exit.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said, her voice carrying an odd warning. "I purposely threw you into a dangerous region… and I also sped up the awakening of your eyes. Now you're useless against the creatures here without your magic. And you don't even have a sword."
Her words made me stop.
"You lied? You said you didn't do anything to me."
"I said I didn't do anything to your magic. What I did was to your eyes… and they're the ones that shut down your magic. You would've ended up like this eventually… I just sped up the process."
Is that even possible?
"That's the same as messing with my magic!" I retorted, feeling frustration bubbling up.
She shrugged carelessly, which only fueled my irritation. I sighed, trying to keep my anger in check, and continued toward the exit.
But before I could take a few more steps, I heard a sound behind me, and suddenly she was standing right in front of me. The red-haired woman had closed the distance in an instant, moving so fast I barely had time to react. I stumbled backward, but she caught me with ease.
"You're stubborn! I didn't give you permission to leave this place," she said as she lifted me with one hand.
Her strength and speed were terrifying. Running away didn't seem like a viable option. She set me down beside the fire, as if I were nothing more than a rag doll.
"Stay by the fire. You're weak and might catch a cold," she said with a mocking laugh, sitting down beside the flames.
"Hahahahahaha," I heard Athena's laughter taunting me.
I glanced in Athena's direction, but decided to ignore her, focusing on the woman in front of me.
"Who are you? Why did you throw me off the cliff? Why can't I leave? We've seen each other a few times already—I want to know what you want," I fired off, trying to make sense of the situation.
The red-haired woman placed a finger on her chin, thoughtful. "That's a lot of questions, Nathan. You can call me... just Sisika. I think that'll do."
She fell silent again, focusing on the fire, ignoring me once more.
Great! She's back to ignoring me…
"And the rest of my questions? I want to leave," I insisted.
"You want to leave? Then go, but know that you'll die out there," she replied calmly.
"Better than staying here," I shot back.
I sprinted toward the cave's exit, determined to escape this strange situation. But before I could take more than a few steps, I was shocked to see that the woman was already there, blocking my path. I glanced back, confused, to make sure I wasn't imagining things.
How!? How did she get past me?
She sighed, a sound that seemed to mix exasperation with mild amusement.
"I tried to reason with you, but you're always so stubborn," she said before grabbing me again, pulling me back with force.
As she dragged me back to the fire, part of me was trying to figure out who this woman in black armor was. There was nothing to identify her, and each time we met, she never introduced herself formally. She was clearly someone powerful—someone my warrior instincts told me I couldn't defeat, even if my magic were intact.
Her strength and speed are terrifying.
I considered my options.
In direct combat, I'm at a disadvantage. But that doesn't mean I can't try something. When my magic returns, I can unleash it all at once—maybe I can do some damage...
"It's pointless," she interrupted my thoughts. "Even if you had your magic and used it all at once, and by some miracle managed to hit me, I'd still walk away unscathed."
I froze for a moment, realizing what had just happened.
"You read my thoughts?" I asked, surprised.
She shrugged and once again ignored me, sitting down in front of the fire.
That attitude of hers...
"As for your questions," she continued, "I needed to talk to you, so I created the ideal scenario for us to do that."
Ideal scenario?
"Did you order the attack on the village?" I asked, trying to piece together the puzzle.
"Of course not, idiot," she replied, rolling her eyes. "But I've been watching you for a long time. Or did you think it was a coincidence that we kept meeting? When I heard you were heading to that soldiers' base, I went ahead and took care of the problem for you. I even left one of them alive so you could interrogate him later."
What? What is she talking about? Has this woman been watching me all this time?
I looked at the woman sitting near the fire and sighed inwardly, realizing there was no chance of fighting or escaping her. Her speed was far too impressive to attempt anything, and without my magic, I was completely defenseless. Resigned, I did the only thing I could—I walked to the fire and sat beside it, trying to warm up. I was freezing from being soaked.
"I'm glad reason finally won out," she remarked. "You're way too weak, and I don't want a cold to be the end of you."
I decided to ignore her mocking comments and focused on the warmth of the fire.
"How did you affect my eyes, and how did you get past me without me seeing you?" I asked, still trying to understand.
"I used the power of the soul to influence your mana and the power of space to teleport," she replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
What!? What kind of madness is this?
"That's impossible! You can't do things like that," I replied.
"For me, it's possible," she responded with an enigmatic smile. "And I used my fire magic to light the campfire," she added, chuckling softly.
"Teleportation is insane…" I murmured, trying to process everything. It sounded like a lie, but after analyzing the situation, I realized there was some truth in what she was saying. She had indeed appeared on the other side of the cave in an instant, and my mana really had stopped circulating, focusing solely on my eyes. Maybe she had somehow influenced my Mana Gem.
"I'll take you back to a safe trail since the fall is too steep to climb," she said, changing the subject. "In the meantime, I want to talk with you."
"Talk about what?" I asked, still suspicious.
She smiled.
"I want to know more about this… Phoenix Master."