Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-436

Chapter 436: Result

Meanwhile, Charles flew up in the sky and soon arrived at the shadowy layer covering the castle like a forcefield.

But just as he tried to pass through the barrier, a strange invisible force came out of nowhere and blocked him!

'Should I enter the Astral Plane?' He thought to himself but shook dismissed that idea for now. He didn't want others to know about some of his abilities. One of them was this Astral Traveling ability.

'It's better to do it secretively.' Muttering inwardly, he flew back a little, raised his hand, and conjured a ball of black fire.

Simultaneously, he waved his other elemental hand, conjured hundreds of normal flame balls, and sent them in all directions.

Meanwhile, the black fireball began to expand continuously and soon reached the size of 30 meters radius!

It was not a normal fireball, but an upgraded version of Rank-4 [Black Inferno] spell!

As Duke Michael and Nash saw his action, they couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Is he going to create the black sun?" Panic surfaced on Duke Michael's face.

Before he could even blink, the Black Inferno spell released numerous black streaks, entered those normal fireballs, and turned them into darkish red color.

A second later, chains of small explosions resounded in the sky, covered the sky in crimson flame, and illuminated the whole castle in bright red light.

Duke Michael and Nash subconsciously closed their eyes and lowered their gaze in unison.

"Take cover!" Nash also got shocked inside, touched his coin necklace, and got ready to cast a large-scale defensive spell.

Alas, no large explosion appeared in the sky!

After three seconds, the blinding red light soon started to diminish and then disappeared along with the monstrous black ball of fire.

Alas, the invisible black barrier remained in the sky. But there was no sign of the flame demon!

"W-Where did he go?" Duke Michael looked up at the dark sky, searched for the flame demon, and asked.

Nash also showed a puzzled look and shook his head.

"That person who sent the anonymous letter also seems to have less information about this Demon." He paused for a moment and soon added.

"At least, we succeeded in protecting our Highness."

In the meantime, Duke Michael nodded his head and shifted his attention towards the burned bodies of his elite knights and some moaning knights.

"I lost too many soldiers." Although this was only one-tenth of his army, the loss was still huge for him. Both then moved away from the destroyed garden, walked on the concrete path, and went towards the keep.

At that moment, more than a hundred knights came out of the keep and hurriedly ran towards heavily injured knights. They were off-duty knights who rested in their room. Due to the earlier noise, they also woke up and saw what happened outside through the windows.

The appearance of a demonic human being startled them greatly!

Cries and shouts soon resounded everywhere in the castle as they ran towards the injured knights to help them. Soon, they saw charred dead bodies fallen near the walls and got shocked. Alas, they didn't get panic, though. Instead, they hurriedly moved towards the charred bodies and started checking whether if someone was still alive or not.

Within a few seconds, a brown-haired knight found a barely breathing knight and called out for help. Even though that injured knight's body appeared blackish, he managed to maintain his consciousness and raised his hand to ask for help.

"Bring the stretcher here." The brown-haired knight shouted and then helped the injured knight.

Soon, more and more knights call out for help from different directions.

At the same time, the air mixed with blood and burned flesh assaulted everyone's nose.

While the off-duty knights were helping the injured ones, Melody, the young butler named Jeremy, chefs, maids, and servants also walked out of the keep and soon froze as they saw the devastated battlefield. Although they heard shouts and explosive sounds earlier, they didn't think that the whole castle would be turned into a mess.

Melody was the first to be snapped out of the shock, turned her gaze towards Duke Michael, and soon moved towards him.

Soon, she arrived in front of Duke, recited a short chant, and released a strange greenish ripple in all directions.

"What happened here, My Lord? Why didn't you call me earlier?" While asking, her eyes wandered towards the fallen knights.

Meanwhile, Duke Michael showed a bitter smile on his face and shook his head.

"I underestimated the enemy." He paused for a moment and soon asked.

"How is Prince Julius?"

"His Highness is resting in his room, My Lord." As Melody responded, a strange blush crept on her pretty face.

Unfortunately, Duke wasn't in any mood to ask about the reason for her blush.

On the other hand, Melody also controlled her emotions and soon asked.

"Where are the other two Saints?"

"Rays is dead, while Carlos fled from the battle," Duke said in an emotionless tone and then added.

"You should go and guard the prince now. If that demon attacks the castle again, we've no choice but to flee from here. Get ready for the worst possible outcome." His tone was dead serious.

Then, he shifted his attention towards three particular servants and gave out an order.

"You three should go and bring the 'Herbal ointments' from the storage room. Jeremy, take some servants and go to the Arena City. Then, find the Light Bishop and tell him about the current situation. If possible, ask him to send a few Light Knights and priests here." He paused for a moment, shifted his gaze towards another group of servants, and then added.

"The rest of you should go and help the other knights. Gather all the wounded soldiers in the castle's hallway."

Meanwhile, the servants nodded their heads and ran in different directions. Three moved back to the keep, Butler Jeremy and a few other servants moved towards the castle's entrance, while the rest went towards the walls.

On the other hand, Duke glanced at Nash and thanked him by bowing his head a little.

"If not for your Excellency's help, I might've died in the battle." His tone was much politer than before.

On the other hand, Nash waved his hand and shifted his gaze towards the sky.

"Even I didn't expect such fierce demon to appear here. So, what are you going to do now?"

His question caught Duke Michael off-guard.

Indeed, he still hadn't thought of how to deal with this situation. After pondering for a few seconds, he made up his mind and spoke.

"Placing a bounty on his head won't solve the problem. That guy is too strong even for a Saint or Rank-4 Sorcerer to handle. That's left with only one choice and that is to attack his weakness."

"Weakness?" Nash covered his head with the hood and asked.

"His territory is his main weakness. But Bishop Blake seems to be staying in that town." Duke Michael showed a troubled look on his face as he thought of his following action.

Unknown to them, an illusionary human descended from the sky, flew towards the castle's keep, and soon disappeared into it.

A few seconds later, a ball of crimson fire appeared in Prince Julius's luxury room and soon formed into an appearance of an auburn-haired young man. He looked around 25 to 28 years old, had amber eyes, a square face, and straight eyebrows.

He was none other than Charles.

He hurriedly released a bit of his wisdom power, scanned the surroundings, and checked for any anomaly. Then, he walked towards the wardrobe, removed his clothes, and then wore a black nightgown. After that, he wore a pair of wooden slippers, walked towards the double door, and opened it.

Because of the earlier commotion, not a single soul appeared in the hallway.

He first looked at both sides, turned his face into a carefree one, and started walking towards the right side path while whistling.

While walking, he also kicked open the nearby kitchen door and shouted.

"Sophie? Your handsome prince is here to see you!" He abruptly paused for a moment and soon saw a 60-years-old lady staring at him in shock from inside.

Soon, she let out a fake cough and responded in a hurry.

"S-She went outside, Your Highness!"

"Oh? What about others?" Charles asked with the same carefree attitude.

"T-They also went outside to see the situation, Your Highness." She responded stiffly.

He nodded his head in understanding, closed the door, and went towards the Grand Hall.

Just as he walked towards the hall, Melody, Nash, and Duke Michael came from the entrance and turned their gazes towards him.

Soon, Duke Michael smiled lightly and gave a respected bow.

"Good evening, Your Highness. I thought you went to sleep earlier?" While asking, he turned his gaze towards Melody and gave a questionable look.

On the other hand, Charles walked on the tiled floor, arrived in front of Melody, and responded with a confused look on his face.

"I woke up due to the earlier explosions. Did something happen while I was asleep? Did you guys kill that Baron?" While asking, he moved his hand towards her *ss and gave a light slap.

"W-We failed to kill him, Your Highness. I'm ashamed of myself." This time, Nash was the one who answered his questions.

The next instant, Charles raised his eyebrows and soon turned solemn. He also retracted his hand from Melody's *ss and shifted his gaze towards Duke Michael.

Unlike before, not a single trace of playfulness appeared on his face.

"Failed? What happened, Duke Michael?" His voice turned colder all of a sudden.

Meanwhile, Duke Michael showed a forced smile on his face and answered.

"We underestimated our enemy, My Lord… We were no match against that flame demon."