Elden Mage Chapter 2 - Unexpected Rescue Operation (Patreon)

"People who are changing history rarely are aware of what they are doing. We have never thought that Dahan would give us that opportunity.

It initially started as simple revenge.

Then it grew into a show of strength for the politicians of Japan.

The final result was out of the mind of everyone. No magician that was present that day anticipated that something like that could grow into the birth of a completely new Japan...

You know, when the Yotsuba Clan first proposed this, everyone was skeptical; who wouldn't be? But we were also aware of the dangers that would come after this war. So we took fate into our hands.

All Magician Clans in Japan worked as one to achieve a single goal, without any schemes against each other or hostility. We were in that together to achieve our long-lasting dream...

And then the glorious revolution came and the Empire of Japan was reborn.

Banzai!"

- Kudou Retsu to Yotsuba Tatsuya Caria, Ichijou Masaki and Juumonji Katsuto, Ten Master Clans Conference, the Year 2093, after the introduction of new Clan Heirs

***

Killing a severely injured High-Tier Mage wasn't really that hard, especially when the injury was so serious that it was influencing his casting speed of Magic. 

When Messmer started tracing down the tracks of the humans, it didn't take long for him to find the humans, and it took even less time to realize that these people were most probably wanted criminals...

Which was good, because it meant that there would be some bounty on their heads. As he looked over, he realized that there was only one High-Tier Mage who could barely fight, and the rest were Mid-Tier Mages, but even among them, many had various degrees of injuries.

It seemed that they must have encountered some powerful monsters during their stay in the forest.

What was intriguing was that they were even kidnapping someone.

It was a girl, around fourteen or fifteen years old, with long, dark purple hair and purple eyes. 

Messmer didn't know who she was, but if it seemed that she should be someone important... though, right now, the last thing that he wanted to take care of in the wilderness was a defenseless Mage, because it seemed that they gave her something that was nullifying her Magic for some time.

As he killed the last man standing who wanted to escape, but it was futile. When he killed the rest of the mercenaries and used a Magic Tool to record their faces. He was sure that there was some sort of bounty on them, so he at least had some proof that they were dead.

Afterwards, he looked at the young girl who was bound in the middle of their makeshift tent as he pondered on what to do with her. In the end, he broke through the bindings and released her, as he couldn't just leave her here.

Despite everything, the girl was still looking rather calm, though he could see that she was delighted that he had slaughtered her kindpapers. It was rather interesting that even in the face of a rather gruesome sight, she was still pretty much calm.

"We need to move... this place will be very soon swarming with monsters. Search through their belongings and take anything that could be sold or has any other value."

Messmer said to the girl as he himself went to loot the corpses and relieve them of their valuables. Because there were ten corpses, it would for sure attract the attention of various monsters that would smell blood and come here to check on the situation.

Thus, they needed to move very fast. The girl, who had been captured some time ago, was calm and composed and immediately went to work and started looting the corpses.

Something that the Heiress of the most powerful Clan in Japan never had to do, but she admitted that she was in a situation where there was no other choice. The Magic Suppressant from the Antinite that she was given would last for more than 24 hours.

Once they looted everything, including some Spatial Equipment from several corpses, they quickly left the place. Messmer, but the girl on his back, because she didn't have enough power to walk consistently from the Antinite in her bloodstream.

Antinite was one of the Anti-Magic Materials in the world.

It was a stone that was capable of emitting Psion Noise, which was basically disrupting the moves and activation of Magic in the Magician's body, and was a perfect Anti-Magic item.

For the Novice-Tier Mages like herself, Antinite was the worst enemy; for the peak Super Mages like her father, it would be a maximally minor inconvenience.

Thus, Messmer was forced to carry her for some time.

His own physical body was comparable to that of the Evolving Warrior.

Peak of the Warrior Level Monster.

Usually, a Warrior Level Monster required several Mid-Tier Mages to defeat... if it were ordinary Mages, on average, not some genius or literal monsters. Monsters were generally stronger than the Mages of the same level, which was greatly attributed to their much superior physical capabilities.

Something that most Mages seriously lacked. Not to mention, the Monsters could also use Magic in their fights, which made them pretty troublesome to deal with, especially for someone who wasn't really well-versed in the arts of combat.

So for Messmer, a Mage-Knight, it wasn't really problematic bringing the girl with him on his back.

Meanwhile, he was carrying her, he passed her satellite phone to send back a message to her family or school that she was alright. He was sure that someone was already searching for her, so it would be only prudent to inform her family that she was relatively safe and alright.

Though for that part, he left it in her own hands.

She would inform her Clan that she was alright and rescued, so her Clan could send a rescue party to find them in the wilderness. Because Messmer had made a long journey to track the human tracks, he hated to admit it, but he felt that they were lost.

Finding an exit from the Yu Shan Mountain Range would be problematic in a short span of time.

***

After walking for one hour, Messmer judged that they were at a relatively safe distance.

Messmer put her down as they needed to find a place to rest.

Due to the expansion of the Earth, everything became much larger... be it small islands or huge continents, everything grew significantly with the progression of Transdimensional Incursions and the influx of Magic into the world.

The trees were enormous, animals mutated, and practically the world was unrecognizable compared to what it was a century ago.

Even the previously relatively small Yu Shan Mountain Range was now rather huge and couldn't be crossed over that easily. They were in a small cave, which could be considered relatively safe, but they would move once again in several hours.

After gathering some firewood, Messmer created fire with his Magic because it was already evening, and it was getting cold. Though he himself, with his physical capabilities, didn't really have much problem with the cold, the same couldn't be said about the girl who was just a Novice-Tier Mage.

"So, why were you kidnapped? And also... what's your name, girl? We didn't have time for the introduction. I am Messmer Raya Caria."

Messmer asked as he took our knife and started portioning some meat from the monsters that he had killed.

When he was given a name, he realized that he lacked a surname, so he gave one to himself... For some reason, the surname Caria felt...

Right?

The memories before he woke up on the shores of Africa didn't return, and it was also possible that they would never return. However, sometimes he had feelings of familiarity, like when he gripped the Spear of Impaler in his hands.

Monster meat was more nutritious and magically rich; it was very suitable for the Mages to eat, albeit the price for it was too much...

Mostly because not every Monster could be eaten... only some species could be eaten, and those that could were overpriced beyond reason. Just the small piece that weighed around half a kilogram that Messmer was working on right now, would be sold for something around 2 to 3 thousand UMD.

And this meat originated from the Minion Level Monster. 

If it were from a stronger monster, the price would be out of the roof.

"Yotsuba Maya, the Heiress Apparent of the Yotsuba Clan."

When the girl introduced herself, Messmer stopped doing what he was doing for several seconds, as he was certainly surprised by the sudden development. 

Messmer knew of the Yotsuba Clan as they were rather famous in the world. Though... all things considered and given the short time since the Magic Era began, there were not that many Magical Lineages in the world.

Interestingly enough, if there was one country that had the highest concentration of the Magic Lineages, then surprisingly, it was Japan.

They were the Magic Clan of Japan, members of the Ten Master Clans, even though their power was rumored to be stronger than the rest of the Ten Master Clans. Messmer heard that Yotsubas and the unique Magic they possess originated from the Fourth Institute, the laboratory that created them and is now controlled by them.

Their ancestors were first-generation Magicians with strong mind-manipulation abilities that were selected and gathered together by the Fourth Institute in order to be strengthened.

They had the Inherent Magic of some sort that was related to the Psychic Element, and their entire Clan specialized in the Psychic Element. The Mages of the Psychic Element of the Yotsuba Clan were several times stronger than other Mages of the said Element.

Even though the Yotsuba clan is widely known and feared for their combat capabilities, they were also a clan of magic researchers who sought and explored the possibilities of Magic. 

The Clan was smaller than the other Master Clans of Japan, or 18 Assistant Houses, but their power was unquestionable, and even Messmer heard from several seniors at the Hunter Union that the current Patriarch Yotsuba Genzou could reach the Forbidden Curse Level.

Right now...

At least publicly, there were no Mages at the Forbidden Curse Tier.

Yet, there were some that had the potential and possibility to reach that level, and Yotsbua Genzou was on that list.

"Do you know who kidnapped you? Or who would be so mad to do something like that..."

Messmer asked slowly, because he could imagine that one would be so...

Stupid?

Even if Yotsuba Genzou was just a Half Forbidden Curse, fighting a Psychic Mage of that caliber was absolute pain in the ass...especially if he had Inherent Magic related to his strongest and innate element.

Messmer himself hated fighting Psychic Mages.

They were not the strongest in terms of destructive prowess... far from it...

But they were most dangerous and most problematic to deal with. One spell from Super Tier Psychic Mage could turn entire armies against each other, force people to commit suicide, and do countless other unbelievable things.

"That leader... Zhou Lang, whom you killed, mentioned someone named Black Sage..."

When Messmer heard the words Black Sage, he immediately knew who he was. There was only one person in the world who was using this epithet, and someone Messmer had some knowledge about.

That title was rather famous in a particular circle of society.

Jiedo Heigu.

One of the leading researchers at the Kunlunfang Institute.

After Asia split into North and South, the Kunlunfang Institute attached itself to Dahan when it became an independent country, thus the Great Asian Union lost almost all of its expertise in Modern Magic.

For that reason, Dahan was able to stand toe to toe with the Great Asian Union despite its inferior resources. It could be said that the Kunlunfang Institute was the nucleus of Dahan's military strength.

Jiedo Heigu was a Super Level Mage, a very powerful Necromancer with several Super Magics; his Undead Element and Curse Element were widely known. Within the Dahan, he was one of the strongest Mages alive to this day, and he was widely accepted as their leading researcher on Modern Magic, Ancient Magic, and Inherent Magic.

"The one behind your kidnapping is Jiedo Heigu of the Kunlunfang Institute... in the underworld, the title Back Sage is very infamous. I am sure that your Clan will arrive at the very same conclusion."

When he said that, she wasn't really that surprised. 

Her father often told her that the Chinese were untrustworthy, even though Japan and Dahan had hostility against the Great Asian Union. It was certainly irrational of Kunlunfang Institute to do something like this, as it would cause total war between Japan and Dahan.

The power that the Ten Master Clans wielded in the country was undeniable and it was absolute. Not to mention, it was also publicly known that Yotsuba Genzou was one of the Thirteen Magistrates of the Sacred City.

The Sacred City in Europe was an organizations that the Magic Associations of the Five Continents had established, It is now one of the eight major international magic organizations along with the Parthenon, Hunter's Association, and Magic Association but boasts the highest magic authority in the world, responsible for watching over every mage including those members of the evil and dark organizations.

They have the final say in all things magic-related and pride themselves on fairness and equality; they are an existence similar to a country's enforcement union, responsible for managing evil Magicians amongst others. 

The Holy Magic Court is a very unique organization that has its seat in the Sacred City, located to the west of the Alps. 

"Who would have thought that Dahan would be so bold..."

Yotsuba Maya knew a lot about the power hierarchy in the world and the political systems around the world. She also knew that Dahan was... weak, in the international scheme, their influence was even weaker compared to her own Clan, despite ruling an entire country with hundreds of millions of citizens.

That was mostly attributed to their lack of powerful Mages, and also because of her father's standing within the Holy Magic Court. Yotsuba Genzou was the only Japanese Mage to be one of the Thirteen Magistrates. 

The Great Asian Union had three, the United States had two, Europe had four, and the rest were unaffiliated with any organization or nation. 

"Well, they would be dealt with either way... in this way, even the Sacred City won't say anything if we attack Dahan in full force."

The purpose of the Sacred City was to supervise and purge the threat to the world. It was originally established by the combination of the strongest Mages in the world, and it was supported by the International Magic Associations and their Branches.

Some of the most powerful factions in the world were creating the basis of the Holy City, and they were in charge. The Sacred City as a whole was usually hunting down some of the most dangerous Mages, Criminals, and Terrorists, or they were dealing with the most powerful Monsters and Monster Hordes that were a threat to the existence of humanity.

They were also dealing with the dangerous Magic Rituals of Ancient Magic that could have terrifying repercussions, like when some Necromancers planned to sacrifice entire cities of millions to strengthen their Arts.

When World War III erupted, the Sacred City was put in a very awkward position.

Originally, it was created as a means to protect the continual existence from monster incursions and the growing threat of monsters to the world, but at the same time, many people within the Sacred City were wary about intervening in the World War.

In the end, they decided to remain neutral like the Magic Associations and other international organizations. 

The Yotsuba Clan was also thus put in a very awkward and problematic position. 

Due to their affiliation with the Sacred City, because their Patriarch was one of the Thirteen Magistrates and many of their Clansmen served within the organization's Courts as Judges or Executioners, they were also refrained from joining the Japanese efforts in war.

Something that disadvantaged the other Ten Master Clans and other Clans in Japan, but nobody had the guts to say something about that.

Though now?

When Dahan dared to kidnap the Heiress of the Yotsuba Clan, it wasn't just an attack on the Clan and Japan by proxy... it was also an attack on the authority of the Sacred City itself, and Maya was sure that was something that the Sacred City wouldn't be able to tolerate.

"It seems that Dahan is for one very nasty surprise..."

Messmer stated as he passed her a roasted piece of meat. He didn't really care about what was happening in the world, because he found the human conflicts rahter stupid in a way. In the end, they were the same race, and they had above them an extinction-level threat in the form of monsters.

Those were flooding the earth.

Even now, most of the human population lives in the fortress cities, because most of the ordinary cities had fallen to the monsters a long time ago. Every place where humans lived was protected by huge sets of walls and countless defenses to protect it from the monster hordes.

***

Around the same time, Europe, the Alps, the Sacred City

The Sacred City was located in the depths of the Alps, and it was a rather small city compared to the previously huge metropolises around the world. Its population was barely a few hundred thousand people, but all of the people who were living in the Sacred City were Mages.

The Sacred City had two Courts.

Holy Judgement Court and Heresy Judgement Court.

In the castle-like structure in the middle of the Sacred City, a very important meeting was taking place. 

Either personally or through Magic, thirteen people were convened for the meeting as they stared at each other. Aside from the Thirteen Magistrates, there were also two other people, both of whom were wearing pure white clothes and had an ethereal aura around them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... the latest discovery has confirmed that the one behind the attack was Dahan and their Kunlunfang Institute."

As soon as one of the thirteen people said that, everyone's mood grew worse, especially of those who were originally from the Great Asian Alliance, as they had three seats in the High Table.

Among the thirteen Magistrates, the ones from the Great Asian Alliance were rather disturbed, but at the same time, they were also aware that they would have the blessing from the Sacred City to act against Dahan.

When some factions became part of the Sacred City, they were often restrained from certain things in the political landscape of the world. One of the most important laws was that the factions that were members of the Sacred City were forbidden to join the conflicts between the countries on their own initiative.

In the end, the purpose of the Sacred City was to preserve mankind, not to hasten its destruction.

"As the attack was aimed at the Yotsuba Clan despite the adherence to the rules, I propose conducting a vote of allowance of the Sacred City participating in the conflict against Dahan."

One of the Thirteen Magistrates proposed, and the other soon raised their hands in approval of the vote. In the end, an attack on one of them was an attack on all and on the entire Sacred City.

Even though the factions of the Sacred City were commonly all around the world, they were sometimes more deeply integrated into the Sacred City itself than into the country from which they originated.

Which was, from a certain point of view, logical.

The Sacred City had the highest number of Super Mages, and their Mages were generally the strongest in the world.

"Thirteen of the Thirteen are in favour of acting against Dahan. With the resolution, the Yotsuba Clan is entitled to act against Dahan and their military forces and Mages as they wish. The High Table will also send out one of the Adjudicators and a squad of Enforcers to assist the Yotsuba Clan in the retaliation against Dahan. At the same time, Division of Judiciators and Executioners would be sent to Asia in case of Monster Horde or appearance of Dark Mages."

The person sitting in the middle of the table, who had the appearance of a very old man, said with a voice of finality, as it was decided on their next course of action. 

The primary target in this would be total and utter annihilation of the Kunlunfang Institute and their leaders, the Military and Political leadership of the Dahan, and everyone involved in the kidnapping case of Yotsuba Maya.

Everyone was sure that once the retaliation from the Yotsuba Clan ended, the Great Asian Union would launch a full-scale invasion into the Dahan. In the end, all Magistrates of Chinese origin were from the Great Asian Union.

Two were from the Aristocratic Clans of China, Mu Clan and Xuanyuan Clan and the last was of the Chinese Royal Guard of Forbidden City by name Pang Lai.

"Who will be sent out as Adjudicator?"

This time, it was Yotsuba Genzou who spoke, because this matter directly concerned him.

"Song Qiming. He is a powerful Super Mage and also a very experienced Hunter. If the fight attacks Monsters, he would be a great help in the containment of the Monsters."

The Chairman of the High Table said as they decided on the Adjudicator that would be sent to do Dahan to work with the Yotsuba Clan.

The structure of the Sacred City was relatively straightforward.

On top of the Sacred City were the Elders, but they were not involved with the governance of the Sacred City or anything. Their sole purpose was just oversight, and they acted as the Guardians of the Sacred City, and they dealt with the situations that nobody else could handle.

Below the Elders were the Thirteen Magistrates, who were essentially the administrators of the Sacred City and oversaw the Holy Courts, the Holy Judgement Court, and the Heresy Judgment Court.

When the Elders were sitting together with the Thirteen Magistrates, they were collectively called the High Table. The High Table was the governing body of the entire Sacred City, and it was also the highest authority in the world of Magic.

Below the Thirteen Magistrates were Special Envoys of the High Table.

And one of these Special Envoys were the Adjudicators.

The Adjudicators were the agents of the Sacred City's High Table who were entrusted with sentencing people who violated the organization's regulations or committed severe offenses against the authority of the High Table. Each of them had their own special coin to identify themselves by their title. They also hired their own enforcers or henchmen in order to assist them in doing their job. 

Each Adjudicator was a very powerful Super Mage with multiple Super Tier Elements, and they were one of the top-ranking combat powers in the entire Sacred City. Obviously, these Adjudicators most often also had another position within the Sacred City, because work for Adjudicators was sparse.

"Then it is decided. Let Adjudicator Song take a squad of Enforcers and depart to the Yotsuba Village as soon as possible. Also, prepare the countermeasures against possible moves of Monarchs or Emperors and further Transdimensional Incursions."

One of the two Elders stated as the meeting ended, and several figures that were sitting behind the seats disappeared as they were using Magic Technology to connect to the meeting.

Unbeknownst to anyone, this decision would come to be known as the "Night of the Crimson Knives" and solidify the Yotsuba Clan as "Untouchables", while the Sacred City would sow deep fear into the hearts of every Mage and nation alike.

***

Taiwan, Yu Shan Mountain Range

"We need to cross over the rest of the forest to reach the closest city... that alone would take us more than one day."

Due to the destruction of the majority of the cities at the hands of the monsters and relocation of the human population into the fortress cities, there were not many human settlements out there.

Those who were not destroyed by the monsters were usually abandoned sooner or later, if they were not under the protection of powerful Mages or some organization that was defending the place.

Taiwan itself had only five fortress cities, and the closest one would take them several days to reach.

When Zhou Lang and his happy group kidnapped Yotsuba Maya, they had some vehicles that they used to traverse through the island, but it seemed that they were destroyed by the Commander Level Steel Back Apes.

Obviously, going on foot was much slower, but the problem was that, if they were travelling at a faster speed, it would most probably attract some monsters, and that was one of the last things that they needed.

"Will your clan send a rescue party?"

To his question, she just nodded her head.

It was understandable that her Clan would send the rescue party, so hopefully, they would be able to find them fast, and he could put this mess behind him. He found this entire situation rather problematic, because being involved in the conflicts between the Mage Clans and other nations was a pain in the ass.

"They should arrive in a few hours maximally..."

Yotsuba Maya knew that their position right now was highly problematic because there were many Commander-Level Monsters roaming around. She noticed that the man who saved her was most probably Hunter, but also very young.

She also concluded that he must have been a Hunter for some time and that he didn't go through the standart education like most of the people and was one of the very rare cases of being self-taught.

Which was then certainly impressive, because his power was comparable to some of the top geniuses in the Magic Universities in Japan.

Albeit it was clear that he was a bit older, meaning that either he was a late bloomer or that he had some sort of Innate Talent that required a lot of resources to nurture, which, coupled with his lack of backround, hindered his cultivation.

Even though she was just fifteen years old, she was very observant and noticed several small details that all gave it away.

"You don't need to worry... when we arrive at Taipei, I am sure that my Clan will give you a generous reward for saving me."

Maya was sure that her Clan would even try to recruit him. She could guess that he was very young, most probably had some Innate Ability, and on top of that, he was clearly a Mage Knight.

She knew very well how rare Mage Knights were...

Even her Clan had only a few of them, and that was something to say, because even though she didn't want to sound arrogant, but among the Clans in the world, her Clan was one of the strongest in the world, matched only by the likes of Mu Clan of China or Pendragon Royal Family of Albion Kingdom.

Producing Mage Knights was extremely challenging, and she even noticed that he had a very powerful Device in the form of that creepy, demonic spear.

'Well... certainly much better than my fianceé who went down after one blow...'

She cringed as she thought over something before looking around them as they continued walking toward something. Fleeing from the battle... Maya knew that her father or her Uncles would have most probably already killed the Heir Apparent of the Saegusa Clan.

And the fact that Saegusa Koichi was a Mid-Tier Mage and had several Magic Tools that could be effective against High-Tier Mages, yet he went down after one blow, and then escaped.

Hopefully, in the right direction.

Just as he was about to say something, he sensed that something was wrong.

And unfortunately, he wasn't really wrong about that, because not far from their position, there was an enormous monster. When Messmer looked at the Monster that was not far from them, he almost froze, because not only was it a Commander-Level Monster, but it also spotted them.

And he knew what species it was.

Silver-Horned Tattooed Bear.

The monsters were very rare, originating from northern Europe in the Nordic Region and also Siberia, where it was their natural habitat. Revered in ancient folklore for its immense strength and wisdom. 

This bear's most striking feature is the singular curved silver horn that spirals from the center of its forehead, gleaming under any light as if it were made of liquid moonlight. Towering at nearly 8 meters when standing on its hind legs, this creature was huge.

Its thick fur shimmers between deep obsidian and starlit silver, appearing almost ethereal when it moves through the dense, alpine, snowy forests it calls home. Covering its muscular body are glowing tattoos, intricate patterns that pulse with a soft, bioluminescent light.

These tattoos were Magic in nature and reflected the strength and Level of the bear. The makings served as a sigil of protection, granting the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears immunity against Black Magic, which included Curse Element, Poison Element, Shadow Element, Undead Element, and Demon Element.

At the same time, due to the fact that the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears were strongly attuned to nature, they could instinctively use Planet Elemental Magic as they wished, and they could also communicate with the forests.

"Don't make any sound and listen to me very clearly. Once it starts running toward us, you will escape and find some safe spot to hide. Based on the Tattoos and Runes around its body, it's barely a Semi-Commander, which means that it must have evolved just lately. If I go all out, I should be able to kill it."

Messmer was relatively confident in facing the Semi Commander Level Silver-Horned Tattooed Bear.