A low rustling tore through the underbrush, quick, sharp, and closing fast. The sound drilled into Belamus’s ears, unmistakably unnatural in its urgency. He wasn’t the only one who heard it. The entire group snapped to attention, every eye turning toward the direction the noise was coming from, weapons raised and bodies tensed.
The rustling grew louder. Closer. And then, from between the trees, the source revealed itself.
A dwarf emerged: middle-aged, stocky, with a proud beard that swayed with every step. He walked with deliberate calm, not the frenzied rush of someone charging into battle. Belamus blinked, momentarily thrown. He had expected a human; whoever had cast that earlier spell had shown such technical finesse, it seemed only natural to assume it came from one of their kind.
“That’s far enough,” the dwarf said flatly. His tone was emotionless, his face unreadable, like stone carved into the shape of a man.
Belamus watched him warily, but it was Rumalus who reacted first.
“Chancellor Lazalit?! You’re—” Rumalus gasped, the shock punching the air from his lungs.
Belamus had heard the name before. Lazalit. Rumalus had mentioned him earlier: he was the one pulling the strings behind this entire chase. The one who had ordered Mimi’s death. So, this was him… and if that was true, then there was no room for ambiguity. This dwarf was the enemy.
“Big Hand,” Lazalit uttered the words with eerie calm, and the ground answered. A massive earthen fist surged up from the soil, rising with terrifying force and speed. It wasn’t just magic; it was high-tier earth magic, the kind most dwarves could only dream of using. And he’d cast it without an incantation.
Belamus’s eyes widened.
No chant. And the control… It’s unreal. This man—no, this monster—is a master of the arcane.
As a Great Sage, Belamus had long since trained his instincts to measure a mage’s strength with a single glance. And in Lazalit, he saw something few ever achieved: magic honed to a razor’s edge, the result of decades—no, lifetimes—of training and talent combined. This wasn’t a trick. This wasn’t a bluff. Lazalit was the real thing.
Now wasn’t the time to marvel.
The massive stone fist came flying toward them, aimed to crush. Belamus didn’t hesitate. With a sharp motion, he threw up a shimmering wall of magical force just in time, the barrier groaning under the impact but holding firm, for now.
“What?” Lazalit murmured, his voice clipped and low, but in that single word, something changed beneath the surface. For the first time, Lazalit’s expression cracked, barely, but enough. A flicker of surprise passed across his face as his earth spell was blocked, and the massive stone fist halted mid-strike. He hadn’t expected resistance, let alone a counterspell of this caliber.
Belamus narrowed his eyes. So. He’s not invincible. But he’d already assessed Lazalit’s power, and even with that minor victory, he knew one thing for certain: protecting Mimi while facing this monster head-on was out of the question. Not alone.
I’ll have to draw his attention and give Mimi a chance to escape. The safest place is near the Emperor Treant; no question. I won’t be able to keep my promise to Mimi, and Delarosa will have to take her into the cave. That’s our best shot.
He turned at once, voice sharp with command. “Meira, take Delarosa and Mimi. Guide them to the Emperor Treant’s grove. Delarosa, you’ll enter the cave with her; it has to be you. I’ll hold him off.”
Meira hesitated. “But Belamus, wouldn’t it be better if we fought him together?”
“No.” His voice left no room for argument. “He’s far stronger than I imagined. I can’t fight at full strength while shielding Mimi. This is the only way!”
Meira looked torn, clearly weighing the risks. But at last, she gave a grim nod and turned to move, waving Delarosa and Mimi forward. The three began slipping away toward the forest’s heart, their steps quick but careful.
“Belamus! I should stay and fight with you!” Delarosa protested, her tone fierce.
“You have the most important job: keeping Mimi safe. I can only entrust that to you.” His gaze locked with hers, steady and resolute.
That did it. Delarosa exhaled sharply and nodded, expression softening. “All right then! Mimi, let’s go!”
“B-Belamus…!” Mimi’s voice trembled. She didn’t want to leave his side, not now.
“She’ll protect you. Delarosa’s strong. You’ll be fine, I promise,” Belamus said with a strained smile, his eyes locked on Mimi’s, willing her to believe the words even as doubt gnawed at the edges of his own heart.
His words carried all the certainty he could muster, but Mimi’s eyes stayed wide with fear. Still, she knew this wasn’t the time for hesitation. With a reluctant nod, she followed the others, casting one last glance over her shoulder before disappearing into the trees.
“You think I’ll let them escape?” Lazalit’s voice was cool, unbothered.
With a single motion, five lesser demons erupted from the air around him, twisted forms wreathed in shadow and smoke. They let out guttural shrieks as he pointed after the fleeing group and, without pause, they tore off into the woods in pursuit.
“You won’t,” Belamus muttered.
Five blades of pure light shimmered into existence around him, Shining Swords, honed to lethal perfection. With a flick of his wrist, they launched all at once, whistling through the air like divine judgment. In the blink of an eye, every demon Lazareth had summoned was struck down, their bodies dissolving into ash before they could take a single step toward Mimi.
Lazalit’s eyes narrowed. “You…”
“You’ve seen what I can do,” Belamus interrupted, stepping forward, the gleam of his magic still dancing around him. “If you’re smart, you’ll stop wasting time watching others and keep your eyes on me.”
Lazalit wasn’t finished. His gaze flicked toward his special forces. “You lot, go after the girl,” he ordered coldly, voice sharp and void of doubt.
The squad immediately moved to obey until someone else entered the fray.
“You’re not getting past me!” Navasha shouted, bursting forward in a blur of motion, intercepting the soldiers before they could break formation.
“M-Me too! I’ve got this!” Medello cried, magic flaring around her as she stepped into place beside her friend.
“They won’t lay a single finger on her.” Liza’s voice was calm, but her stance was as steel.
“Not while we’re here,” added Gregald, already drawing his weapon.
Then there was Rumalus. The former comrade now stood directly in the path of his old squad, the hesitation in his expression gone.
Lazalit’s eyes narrowed. “Rumalus… you’ve betrayed us?”
Belamus had restrained him earlier, more out of caution than distrust. But in the chaos of preparing for Lazalit’s assault, the bindings had slipped—and Rumalus hadn’t tried to escape. Instead, he now stood with sword in hand, facing down the very unit he once led.
“If you still have any sense,” Rumalus said evenly, “you’ll realize the mistake you’re making. Killing Lady Mimi would be an unforgivable sin.”
“So, you’re serious, then,” one of the special forces soldiers growled, his voice low and hard, eyes narrowing as he raised his weapon in answer to Rumalus’s defiance. There was no more talking after that. The two sides locked eyes, and the clash began.
Lazalit exhaled quietly, watching the tide turn against him. “We won’t catch them in time,” he murmured, sounding almost resigned.
He glanced in the direction of the Emperor Treant’s grove. Even at full speed, it would be close to impossible now. And Lazalit wasn’t arrogant; he could see Belamus for what he truly was: a mage of rare caliber, someone not easily defeated.
“No matter,” Lazalit said coolly, his voice as smooth and flat as polished stone. “If I have to wait another fifty years, it won’t make the slightest difference. But repeated interference—that grows tiresome. So, I’ll end it here. I’ll kill every last one of you, and crush any hope of the next generation rising.”
He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. And the certainty in his tone cut deeper than any blade.
Belamus frowned, his gaze sharpening. Lazalit looked like a man in his fifties, maybe younger. And yet he spoke of another fifty years as if it were no more than a mild inconvenience. That wasn’t natural. And combined with the way he used magic—effortlessly, wordlessly, with techniques that even seasoned mages struggled to master—it was becoming more and more obvious: There’s something he’s hiding. Something deep.
Whatever it was, Belamus couldn’t afford to dwell on it now.
Secrets or not, it doesn’t change what I have to do. I stop him, here and now. That’s all that matters.
With no more words between them, the air snapped with pressure. The ground beneath their feet seemed to tense in anticipation.
The battle began.