“Wait, did he just use magic to lift me onto the horse?”

At the same moment, Lerrhagen mounted the horse. I squinted slightly at the fluttering edges of his coat.

“Hey, you seem quite comfortable with this.”

“Horses have nothing to lean against. It’s tiring.”

No way.

I pressed my hand to my forehead, but quickly scanned the nobles before whispering to Lerrhagen.

“Once we enter the forest, we can dismount again. And you haven’t forgotten our plan, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Do you have enough strength to hold the reins? Should I take them?”

I asked, feeling oddly anxious. Lerrhagen extended his arm beside me and murmured, “Go.”

The horse immediately reared up on its front legs and galloped forward. I grimaced as the cold wind struck my cheeks and grabbed Lerrhagen’s arm for support.

The gallop lasted longer than expected. The forest was not only vast but also filled with winding paths, so it took some time to reach areas where sunlight barely penetrated. Shortly after, Lerrhagen pulled on the reins.

With a loud neigh, the horse stopped, and I straightened my disheveled hair. Looking around at our surroundings, my eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh, a lake? How did you know I wanted to come this way?”

“There were traces everywhere, but the strongest ones led in this direction.”

Ah. I’d been thinking about this since before—Lerrhagen seemed to have a reliable method of detecting my traces.

‘I should ask him about it now.’

Soon, Lerrhagen and I tied the horse nearby and approached the lakeshore. Fixing my gaze on the water, I softly chanted, “[Mireloph (Visual Manifestation)].”

Several images immediately began to unfold across the lake’s surface.

“Visual magic?”

I nodded at Lerrhagen’s question. “When I surveyed the area a few days ago, I planted visual magic spells in various locations. This allows us to monitor the nobles’ activities in real time.”

I observed the different zones reflected in the mirror-like surface, checking if the magic was functioning properly. Glimpses of several nobles appeared intermittently. Upon spotting Marquis Aneroze leisurely exploring the surroundings with no intention of hunting, I clicked my tongue.

“Just as I expected.”

The mother and daughters of the Aneroze family were known as opportunists. They would seize any chance to impress the Emperor, but in situations like today where winning or losing made little difference, they conserved their energy. Though I had invited the Marquis due to his rank, I honestly didn’t think he was the culprit.

For people like them, black magic offered few benefits. The Aneroze family specialized in alchemy, particularly in manufacturing poisons. They might dispose of me with some unknown poison, but they weren’t the type to use black magic.

‘Of course, one never knows. Such people can be the most dangerous.’

With that thought, I turned to Lerrhagen.

“Now create a situation where someone might use black magic. Can you do that?”

Lerrhagen didn’t bother answering my question. Instead, he slightly turned his head and gestured with his chin. I followed his gaze.

“Huh?”

At that moment, a golden hawk suddenly descended to the lakeshore with a flutter of wings, landing where there had been nothing before. Or was it a hawk? 

The bird looked somewhat different from ordinary hawks and emitted a sacred light, clearly indicating it was no ordinary animal.

“What is this?”

“A divine creature. Among all living beings in this land, it possesses sacred power most similar to the gods in purity.”

“And?”

What did he plan to do with a divine creature? Surely he wouldn’t do something as crude as attacking everyone in the forest.

‘But he definitely said he would use mental magic.’

I blinked in confusion.

Suddenly, the golden hawk pushed off from the ground, soared into the air, and gracefully traced a circle. Simultaneously, several more hawks appeared and began circling in the sky.

After a few seconds, the hawks that had been merely flapping their wings in place suddenly dispersed.

‘They seem to be following orders.’

I glanced at Lerrhagen. He typically made no grand gestures when attacking, making it difficult to judge what he was doing.

Finally, resolving my doubts, Lerrhagen spoke.

“I told you before. Demon folk are vulnerable to mental magic.”

“Yes.”

“The foundation of black magic is gaining power by sacrificing life. Naturally, this causes tremendous death, and all sorts of negative emotions flow into the process.”

“Ah, I think I understand. You mean things like grudges and hatred?”

“Demon folk aren’t affected. For them, humans’ negative emotions are nourishment rather than poison. But humans are different. No matter how great a black mage is, they cannot alone bear all the negative emotions that flow into their mind.”

“I see. So…”

“Yes. Those dense negative thoughts accumulate without the person noticing, gradually eroding their mental world. That’s why black mages generally don’t live long. Their minds collapse before their bodies do, and they become food for demon folk.”

“Ugh. How pathetic.”

I made a disgusted face. Lerrhagen looked at me with interest.

“Pathetic?”

“Don’t you think it’s pathetic? The purpose of gaining greater power is ultimately to live longer, stronger, and more securely, yet they die early because of it. What could be more foolish?”

“Most people feel fear.”

“I have no fear for those with such weak minds.”

“For someone who says that, you were quite susceptible to black magic’s mental attack.”

“Ugh.”

I clamped my mouth shut at Lerrhagen’s calm voice. Come to think of it, I couldn’t move at all when I saw that sword the day Ilian dropped into my room.

“That was only because it happened so suddenly!”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, so you’re going to use mental magic now?”

“Yes. But I’ll combine it with sacred power. Since I need to concentrate on the magic, I’ve borrowed power from the divine creature.”

Ah. So that’s why he suddenly summoned a divine creature.

Wait a minute.

“Sacred power? Can you attack with sacred power?”

I had never heard of sacred power being used for attacks. Of course, it was used to purify magical beasts, but sacred power basically couldn’t harm ordinary humans.

However, Lerrhagen answered my question very simply.

“I can.”

“How?”

“By mixing it with magical power.”

“…Is that possible?”

“It is for me.”

“…”

“I don’t know about others.”

They couldn’t. Because until now, such an attack method had never been seen or heard of.

“So, what do we do now?”

“Using the sacred power of the divine creature, I’ll cast an illusion spell. However, the sacred power will act as a shield, making it ineffective against ordinary humans.”

“But it will be a tremendous attack against a black mage!”

“Yes. And a black mage caught in the illusion will probably…”

Just then, before Lerrhagen could finish speaking, ripples suddenly spread across the previously calm lake.

“Huh?”

I was momentarily confused but quickly realized what was happening.

“Did the divine creature’s attack work?”

“It seems so. They appear to have used black magic to escape the illusion, and in the process, erased the magical traces you had planted.”

“I’m surprised at how quickly they responded. What kind of illusion did you show them?”

Lerrhagen remained silent at my question.

I didn’t hesitate any further. At this point, the only way was forward.

“Then it’s my turn now.”

Find the black mage currently suffering from sacred power in this vast yet confined forest.

I exhaled deeply and glanced at the ring on my left hand, simultaneously closing my eyes to channel my magical power. After a few seconds, I uttered the activation word.

“[Garsieta (Track)!]”

The magic I cast was none other than tracking magic.

Tracking magic generally falls into two categories: one follows existing traces, while the other seeks out traces similar to those the mage carries on their body. What I was using now was the latter.

At my command, a white butterfly suddenly fluttered into existence. This was the materialization of my magical power, capable of finding energy signatures similar to the magical traces in my body.

“What are you trying to do with tracking magic?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m tracking the energy of black magic.”

“Tracking magic can only trace energy that exists in the mage’s own body.”

“Exactly.”

I smiled brightly at Lerrhagen.

“The person suffering from black magic is right here.”

After finishing my words, I unhesitatingly chanted the activation word for healing magic. However, this time the target of the spell was myself.

“[Largat (Heal).]”

At that moment, the severe headache I had experienced when I first received the ring from Lerrhagen struck me again.

“Ugh.”

I grimaced in pain.

Black energy began to slither out from the ring that had been dormant until now.