Who knows how long I stood there, observing the backrest of the throne and the arm hanging from the right armrest. I held no doubt about who it was or what I had (and indeed, HAD to) do, but I had no idea how.

_______

"Mages are nearly unkillable by ordinary means. Not without a whole army." If I had to single out a part from Aison's and Gudea's discussion on the possibly hostile mage, it would be this one.

There weren't many details after that part, only that a specially trained, equipped [Hound] team would be required to deal with the mage. Yet, even from the brief mention of protective runes, spells, and so on, I could make up the overall idea - most mages, especially when expecting an assault, were shielded against damage.

Not that it was strange as if it wasn't like that, why would someone even consider mages such a danger? At least from what I understood, war mages were basically the heaviest hitters, a trump card even, during big battles. So, if killed by a random arrow, bolt, or the running-around conscript - How could they influence anything?

Thus, as I stood there, I wasn't stopping myself from acting without reason, no. I plainly had no fucking idea how to deal with Renrith!

_______

Who knows what I hoped for, maybe Sepyre suddenly transmitting me a tutorial on how to kill mages, but in any case, nothing happened. Well, at least on my part.

*Knock* *Knock*

While damped by the distance between us and the door, I clearly heard how someone knocked on the latter.

{Have the guards connected the dots? Are they raising the alarm after seeing the blood? Or plan to ask something of their employer?} Obviously, I had no answer to either of the questions, but at least it brought me from my pensive, frozen, dumbfounded standing there.

{Aison said that nothing short of an army could kill a protected mage.} Replaying that part of the conversation, I was still hesitating, but as the figure on the throne moved, it all changed to, {Screw it! Such words mean there is some limit to the shielding or whatever he may have on!}

***

The man, and now I clearly identified it as one, slowly rose from the throne and answered the knocking in a weary but surprisingly loud voice. All without turning around, only his sore, grating voice filling the entire room, and probably more, "I conveyed my orders before, and they still stand. You lot, do not annoy me! Not while I am forming! No matter what happened now, deal with it!"

Luckily, or not, as who knows, he didn't notice me, allowing me to run a [Status Screen] full check on him.

NAME LEVEL (A lot of close-to-average ones, keeping only the above ones. Or the unique *) Mage, Master, Kingdom of Neverc. - Brown Cloak, [Profound Tower] - Body 17 Willpower 21 Education 14 Deceit 15 Being's Lore 19 Command 13 Torture (Never seen before) 3 Nature 11 6 Life 11 1 Earth 14 9 Demonic 6 + 11 Summons (Never seen before) 9 Mana Sense 15 Magic Implements 14 Battlemage 13 Sacrifice (Never seen before) 4 Uncommon Knowledge - Forbidden Knowledge (Never seen before) - Field-Hero - Knowledgeable Magician - Jack of all Trades - Against the law of Mana (Never seen before) - BASIC CURRENT/MAX Mana 0/0 Stamina 92/100% Magical Affinity 1/1

{Is this a fucking joke?!} Skills, stats, titles, it all didn't matter as much as the active effects on him did. I could not understand some of them, the [???] marks being proof of it. But [Fake Mana] I did perfectly comprehend (which raises the question of how, as I had never met, read, or heard of something like that), especially coupled with the word [Forming] and his absolute lack of actual mana.

Afflictions: Impaired mana well, permanent. Effects: Fake Mana Core Fake Mana: 7/20, Currently replenishing, life-force conversion underway. Resistance: [???]

[???]

[???] Shielding, physical: [???] Shielding, magical: [???]

And that [Fake Mana Core] rekindled the anger and fury inside me. There was no doubt as to how he was getting it. Recalling the wicked torture the women were subjected to right now, it was enough to make me growl and launch forward, not caring even about the tens of protective measures on him.

______

Along with my emotions going overboard, there was another feeling. One that I had not sensed since my first encounter with humans here on Lieade. A foreign fury, the likely precursor to [Divine Fury].

And while I am unsure how it went, even [Perfect Memory] imprecise for anything related to that moment, I pressed it back, suppressing it with my own anger.

I only remember thinking, {I will deal with it myself. There is no need for divine intervention!}

Surprisingly as it may appear, the [Divine Fury], or what I took as it, stepped back, stopping its attempt to take over. Was it in response to my feelings? My thoughts? No way to know, not without asking a Divine.

Still, what followed was more surprising, which can also explain why even my memories are foggy, as information flowed into my mind, coming from the same part where the foreign fury had.

[Resistance, three-quarters, Earth element magic.]

[Resistance, half, Earth-related minerals, ores, weapons, items.]

[Resistance, quarter, all magic.]

[Shielding, physical, x10 health.]

[Shielding, magical, x20 mana.]

And as the cherry on the cake, I suddenly found myself absolutely understanding how much damage, from what sources, and at what power, the mage could resist before breaking.

_______

Sensing or hearing something, Renrith would suddenly turn around just a moment before I reached him. {So, physically, he resists the Earth element and related stuff, huh? In short, stone, all metals, minerals? But not wood!}

Renrith's narrow eyes went wide as he found someone rushing at him, clearly not with good intentions. His mouth followed his eyes, but it only opened. He had no chance for more. I gave him no chance!

Operating [Inventory], I summoned a simple wooden board, one of the leftovers from my tinkering with the [Book Machine]. And with all of myself, I hit him with it. The plank would break in two - such was the blow that sent Renrith stumbling back. Yet, it was clear he suffered no damage, as while he did receive some of the force behind the impact, an invisible barrier, just some thirty centimeters from his body, impeded the board from reaching him.

"There is more from where that came, you damn fiend!" Consumed by the desire, and this one mine, to kill the man, I found myself growling, now summoning a washing board, hitting him as I roared out, "DRIKAWR!"

This washing board hit, enhanced by the [Word of Power] I directed at my [Strength], made Renrith not stumble but actually slide back, his back practically crashing against a table. Nearly, as his protective barrier protected him even from that.

By this moment, even I would have snapped out of the shock, and the Earth Mage wasn't me. Renrith's eyes held no hint of surprise anymore - they blazed with anger.

"JUST WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! WHO PAID YOU TO ATTACK ME?!" I allowed him to roar at me, but as his mouth attempted to word something else, which probably would be a spell, I already jumped on him, this time holding the wooden stand from the previous room, one that I had stored along the [Light Orb] illuminating it.

It would be strange for a mage to be absolutely defenseless, only his shield protecting him from a beating, wouldn't it? While I didn't think something like that, at that moment, it was true indeed.

My improvised weapon was yet to reach him as Renrith raised his right arm, and a bright flash, followed by the outcries of my [Danger Sense] and the already crazily ringing [Mana Sense], froze me from acting further. And then, I jumped to the side, breaking the attack and attempting to make up the distance between me and Renrith.

There would not be time to think if I was right, pain being the perfect response. Or, to be true to what I sensed, before the pain in most of my right side, it was the sound, the one of wood smashed apart.

"Gah!" I had yet to recover my sight or mind from the blinding flash and the senses inside my head, but I found myself grunting, uncaring for anything but the pain assaulting nearly half of my body.

And even as I saw again, my vision cleared - I had no chance to look or check myself, my entire field of view occupied by Renrith. During these moments of pain and blindness, he had launched himself at me, probably planning to crash against me with his protection, which hardly was different, at least in feeling, from a stone wall.

I have noticed that under stress - near death - my mind was far quicker to react than usual. And so it would be this time.

With Renrith rushing towards me, my whole body, the recent, unknown injuries on my right and the left shoulder wounded previously, hurting, there was no time to think or suffer much. I merely thought about stopping the mage's rush, so I did, [Inventory] opening even before I summoned it, and I selected the first thing coming to mind, one of the iron poles from my camping set.

Somehow, unconsciously, dropping the remains of the wooden stand in my right hand, I grasped at the materializing item and, enthralled by the thought of hitting him, smashed the two-meter-long rod against the closing-in mage.

I hardly expected the iron pole to hurt him, and it was so. But the impact against his shielding still made him stop, even taking half a step back, giving me enough time to recuperate. And not only to recover, as I also calmed down by feeling that I wasn't in immediate peril. Yet, at the same time, my arm also would move by itself, landing yet another hit.

I would continue hitting Renrith, or his shield, with the iron pole for nearly an entire minute until the already bent rod in my arm snapped. And yet, I didn't care about the pain or the impossibility of what was happening. I would call up for the other pole in my [Inventory]. And holding the second of the kit, continue to hit.

"Are you crazy?! I am a cloak of the Kingdom!" Used to my hits, or maybe just now understanding what was going on, Renrith cried out, his grey eyes staring into mine.

"Maybe I am, and maybe you are one." I would find myself answering, still feeling hazy, pained, and bloodied. The latter, not a term of speech, by far not, as with each hit, I actually felt how something warm, some part of me, spurted from all of my body.

By the moment of my fourth improvised weapon, Renrith was undoubtedly on the back foot but still remained perfectly fine. For Sepyre's sake, he would even ask me, showing genuine surprise and curiosity, "You, just what enchantment is that?!"

{The damn fuck is feeling safe!!!} A crazed thought, and I acknowledged it as one. Yet, it was true. Renrith felt no danger, even as he was being hit, pressed against the wall, and had no chance or means to counterattack!

"There is no chance you will break my protection! Surrender, say who sent you, and I will grant you mercy! If one of the lowlives used for the refueling was an acquaintance - I will provide compensation!" I am unsure if the flash and whatever he had released was his only measure against such an assault, but Renrith's words didn't appear to be a lie. Hell, even the mercy part, it could have been not one!

"I will pay you far more than anyone could, but stop now before you cause damage that will merit you only death!" It was panic, at least it seemed like a state close to such, as Renrith continued to shout.

And yet, I wouldn't accept any words, just crazily, in a nearly-berserk state, hitting at his figure, one that slowly stepped and stepped back. So forced to retreat that his own protective shield would smash the table from before, and now was grinding against the stone wall of this enormous room!

The second iron pole snapped at some point, and I summoned yet another item, the hatchet I had carried since my first meeting with humans on Lieade. And even it would break, making me change to a sack of grain, which tore apart after a single impact, prompting me to call for something more resilient, as the half-rusted sword of one my first kills. I knew and still ignored his resistance by now, simply calling for whatever appeared in my head.

***

"YOUR SHIELD ISN'T ETERNAL, MAGE!" As if someone else made me recall the dead and the alive but suffering women, coupling the image with one of Kierra and Angelique being in their place, I found myself roaring, continuing the assault without thinking anything. Even my left arm, until now, held back because of the wound - I would suddenly notice it holding a rock, smashing at the defenses of the so-damned, so-hated enemy in front. Was it me? Or the [Divine Fury] had taken over? Who knows..?

But as Renrith didn't seem preoccupied with anything, I actually felt he was. And indeed, if I knew about the amount of damage he could resist, how could he not?!

"Stop! Or you, your family, and your loved ones will die!" His following words were far from calm or furious, no, they were fearful, and the so-great Earth cloak resorted to nothing but threats. Empty threats, I may add, as Rador had neither of the things he mentioned.

"THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU, DAMN TORTURER!" And as I found myself growling out, I acknowledged it wasn't me but something else. Still, I was in such agreement with this, especially with him fueling his defenses with the [Fake Mana] he obtained from the girls, something unexpectedly exposed to me, even without the [Status Screen], that I merely told myself, {Continue!}

And I would continue, hitting at the seemingly impossible-to-break defense while the impacts blocked Renrith's attempts at calling up for a spell.

The sword broke; The rock shattered; The dagger snapped; Even a suddenly recalled and summoned iron ore piece would fly from my hand, dented.

"JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY!" This roar was one of mine, with my bare, even if armored, hands reaching any humanly, or even divine, possible limit. I felt blood in my gauntlets, and each hit of my now bare hands resounded with unimaginable, at least until now, pain.

"JUST FUCKING DIE!" And I would roar again, my thoughts prompting to [Inventory] one of the wooden legs of the table crashed by Renrith's protective barrier, and to call it into my hands, holding it with both, and hitting him while shouting out, "DRIKAWR!"

With an audible shattering sound, the nearly invisible, otherwise but attacking intangible orb around Renrith shattered. And he would fall on the ground, sent down by the wooden peg in my arms, as it connected with his shoulder.

Had I been blessed? Who knows, but the truth is there - I obtained everything to face and not fear Renrith. Otherwise, why did I suddenly feel nothing but the knowledge that I had to and would be able to eradicate him?!

And able I would, as if it was part of Baldr's legend, the strange yellowish wood of the table would be the one to crack the shield. And for the first time, something held by me reached Renrith's body.

"Not that you were untouchable?!" Landing hit over hit against the lying down mage, I found myself cackling. Or was it even me?

[In the name of my goddess, Sepyre, I sentence you to death.] I am unsure if I did say these words, but they did cross my mind, and my memories do have a recollection of them. And after that, my [Status Screen] health bar flashing red when looking down at the bloodied remains of what had been, at some point, an accomplished mage - I landed the finishing blow, one after which my [Status Screen] showed nothing when looking at the, now, dead body.