Chapter 129

Chapter 129: Social Ties and Cult Schemes (4)

Carisia’s primary magical attribute is light.

Every mage chooses their magical path based on their elemental affinity. Sometimes, rare cases emerge—those with either no talent or talent in all elements. Naturally, there are also prodigies, gifted in one specific element.

Considering Carisia’s origins, it might seem that her talents would lie solely in the element of light. However, Carisia’s affinity encompasses all ten primary elements as defined by the Mage King.

However, her affinity for light was so overwhelming that it interfered with her ability to use any other element.

This is why no one in Blasphemia ever doubted that she was a monster forged by White Light.

Now, onto the core point.

Carisia is a mage specializing in light magic. And, as it turns out, she possesses an extremely, extremely aggressive temperament.

Light is not typically associated with destructive power.

People often imagine light as something that heals, banishes darkness, or as the natural enemy of unholy creatures like the undead—similar to the powers of a priest.

Some might think of laser beams akin to the space knights of distant galaxies wielding lightsabers.

Once you set aside these classic images of holy warriors or death rays, the destructive potential of light becomes somewhat limited.

Sure, there’s the idea of hitting someone with the speed of light in hand-to-hand combat, but, well… let’s just say that close-combat mages aren’t exactly common in this world.

Phenomena often associated with brightness—like lightning or fire—have been classified into separate elements, so they don’t belong under light magic.

For most mages, a simple laser beam would be more than enough to satisfy their thirst for destruction.

But my employer? Well, if we’re talking about destructive tendencies, she could easily be ranked among the top two most aggressive mages in history, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Mage King. A woman so intense, she’d rather bring the world to the brink of an apocalypse than settle for second place.

Naturally, simple death rays weren’t enough to satisfy Carisia’s insatiable appetite for destruction.

…And so, the strange, terrifying light magic I’m witnessing now was born.

Atomic Fist.

Golden magical light coursed through the engraved grooves of Carisia’s gauntlet as she walked forward, lifting her fist as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

And then, she gave a light tap—more like a brush—against the target.

And then…

“Stay behind me,” she said.

A barrier expanded around her, enveloping me within it as well. In the next moment, the door she’d tapped began to glow white-hot.

The solid metal melted, and the liquefied remains vaporized, losing all form until only pure light remained—plasma.

A terrifying heat, condensed in the plasma, surged into the space around us. Casually, Carisia twisted her wrist, as though she were plucking an apple from a tree.

The brilliant light, capable of illuminating the entire sky, condensed into a single point, collapsing into a glowing orb. Her gauntleted hand clenched into a fist.

The orb exploded. Wherever the light touched, matter was devoured and disintegrated.

This insane magic Carisia had developed manipulated matter on an atomic level. The name “Atomic Fist” was no exaggeration. It was a literal description of its effects.

I still remember how absurd it felt when she praised me for my “contribution” to the creation of this monstrosity—praise I most certainly didn’t deserve.

Sure, I did ask her once, half-jokingly, if there was any way to create light magic that could work like nuclear radiation. But I didn’t mean it literally! I just thought it’d be nice to have a nuclear bomb to deal with the endless stream of pursuers we were facing.

And yet, here we are.

Beyond the chaotic storm of light, the priest from earlier stood with wide, stunned eyes, staring at us in disbelief.

“You… what are you…?”

I clicked my tongue.

“I tried to stop her.”

***

The parasite was thoroughly shocked. It had just risen from its rest, sensing a surge of immense mana nearby, only to find one side of the building it had been given melted away.

As the missing wall vanished, the faces of Orthes and the mage from the banquet hall slowly came into view.

*But I haven’t even done anything yet!*

The white-haired mage, the very one it had chosen as its perfect host, glared at it with blazing eyes. Pure, radiant light mana—no, more than just mana—flowed through her body like liquid brilliance.

Wait a second…

The parasite quickly directed mana to its auxiliary bodies. Something strange had happened the moment it laid eyes on her—some bizarre magic had been triggered. Was it a curse?

One of the parasite’s bodies, standing closer to Carisia, collapsed, its form crumbling like ash.

The parasite instantly grasped what had happened.

Its brain had boiled.

What the hell is this madness?

Using the intellect bestowed upon it by its creator, the parasite rapidly analyzed the situation. The light that had reached its eyes was far beyond ordinary visible light. It was something designed to attack through vision itself.

The atmosphere around Carisia’s golden gauntlet dissolved into light, disintegrating everything it touched. The Atomic Fist hadn’t dissipated yet.

As her arm moved, the air itself melted around her, transforming into light.

The parasite, controlling its remaining bodies, rapidly evaluated the situation.

Looking at her meant death.

Touching her meant death.

Could it flee?

The parasite had no particular attachment to its current vessels. While these bodies had been finely tuned over the years, they were ultimately disposable. Given enough time, it could easily replace them.

It had no idea why it was being attacked like this. Perhaps it was a preemptive strike from a rival, one who had recognized it as a threat.

The one called Orthes, it seemed, had built a close rapport with the vessel known as Carisia. Perhaps Orthes had sensed the parasite’s interest in Carisia and launched this surprise attack to keep the parasite from operating within Algoth City.

Even now, Orthes was watching from behind his master, a smile playing on his lips as though everything were proceeding exactly according to plan.

It was a clear message: run. Surrender. Accept the difference in strength and retreat.

*For now, I will retreat…*

But while Orthes had focused all his energy into a single powerful vessel, the parasite had spread its consciousness across many bodies.

Carisia’s overwhelming display of power was a warning: to push any further would be to suffer irreversible loss.

But the parasite had no intention of surrendering to such threats. Just as Orthes coveted Carisia, the parasite knew that there was no vessel in this world more perfect than her.

Following the instinct implanted in it by its creator since time immemorial, the parasite would never give up on its metamorphosis. It had already begun summoning additional bodies the moment it laid eyes on Carisia, so it could afford to sacrifice a few.

***

As instructed earlier, I had kept my eyes open wider than usual.

“Is it Argyrion?” Carisia asked me, only turning toward me once the two disintegrated bodies had fully melted away.

I shook my head.

“Nope, this one’s a different breed. But boss, wasn’t this a bit overboard?”

“What does it matter? If I had intervened directly in the competition, that would’ve been a problem. But this is just a dispute between sponsors, isn’t it? Even if the organizers have something to say, it won’t be a big deal.”

Well, I guess that’s one way to look at it. Carisia had been meticulous in ensuring that the Lubrak City faction leader wasn’t even scratched.

If this counts as being “meticulous”…

Carisia brushed off her gauntlet, as clean as it was from the start. Like the disintegrated section of the building, the husks of the two possessed bodies had completely disappeared.

“So, not Argyrion, and it wasn’t after you, either?”

I nodded in agreement, though I still checked once more, just in case. As expected, the Lubrak faction leader was still sound asleep, knocked out by the sleeping draught I’d slipped into his drink earlier. He’d remain blissfully unaware of his sponsor’s fate until at least the following morning.

Though, there was a chance he’d wake up in a holding cell. After all, blowing up a part of a building like this was sure to draw the attention of Panoptes by the end of the night.

Knowing their investigative prowess, it wouldn’t take them long to figure out he was knocked out by outside influence, meaning he’d probably be treated as a witness, not a suspect.

“Well then, I think the message has been received. Let’s move on to the next one.”

Carisia seemed set on turning the

Argyrion suspects list into a list of the dead.

Sensing my thoughts, she pouted slightly, offering a half-hearted defense.

“…I only went all-out because they seemed dangerous. It’s better than holding back and getting counterattacked.”

“Sure, sure. And since you dealt with the biggest threat first, we can proceed with our original plan now—splitting up to investigate.”

Carisia pursed her lips but still followed me out of the wreckage.

As we’d agreed beforehand, I headed in the opposite direction from her.

Though this wasn’t exactly according to plan. Rather than searching for another Argyrion suspect, I was hunting down the parasite’s other bodies.

It was true that the creature wasn’t Argyrion, nor was it after me.

But trying to mess with my employer?

***

Crack.

A blade slid cleanly into the creature’s neck, piercing through its spine with precision—an execution, not a decapitation.

Slowly, the creature’s nervous system shut down, its awareness of the ground beneath its feet fading. The sharp, salty scent of the night breeze was replaced with a dull numbness. The stench of rot that clung to the alley vanished, and the dim streetlights blurred into nothingness as its vision was overtaken by total darkness.

The last thing it heard was a voice.

“How many more are left now?”

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