Juro's Inconvenience - 35
SPLAT!
His body crashed into the earth below.
Blood stained the grass.
Silence.
The remaining mages froze.
Their minds went blank.
Fear instinctively gripped their bodies.
The sheer strength of that single punch had rooted them in place.
Even the mage leading them was visibly shaken.
Still, he gritted his teeth and shouted,
"W-What are you doing!? Don't be afraid of some brute-type mage! Catch that carriage now!"
…
Five mages suddenly accelerated through the air, attempting to catch up with the escaping carriage.
Juro simply raised his left hand.
A powerful surge of mana burst from each of his fingertips.
In an instant, the mana took the form of chains, shooting forward and wrapping around the legs of all five mages.
The five abruptly came to a halt.
"What?!"
Immediately, they casted magic at the chains.
But nothing happened.
"W-What!?"
"There's no way his mana is this strong!"
Juro merely chuckled.
Then the chains began tightening.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Seeing Juro distracted, the mage leader seized the opportunity.
"Tao uamea!"
A massive iron spear materialized in his hand.
With a vicious grin, he hurled it straight at Juro's back.
Yet, almost lazily, Juro shifted his body.
The spear missed him entirely.
And to the mage's horror.
Juro casually caught the flying spear with his free hand.
Juro scoffed.
"You know, if you're trying to stab someone in the back, you really shouldn't yell out your magic."
Then Juro closed his left fist.
CRACK!
CRACK!!
AAAAAHHHH!!
The chains constricted violently.
The legs of the five mages were crushed entirely.
Bones shattered.
Blood sprayed.
The overwhelming pain immediately broke their concentration.
Unable to maintain their flight magic, the five plummeted from the sky.
Far below.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
They crashed into the earth.
Barely alive.
Their bodies twisted and bloodied.
Juro glanced downward.
"Oh hey, look. They survived."
He scratched his cheek.
"Although I don't know for how long."
The leader's face twisted in rage.
"Pyrini sfaíra!"
A powerful stream of blazing fireballs surged toward Juro.
Juro casually smiled and wound his arm back.
"Here, you should take this back!"
He threw the iron spear.
BOOM!
The spear pierced through the incoming flames with ease, shattering the attack apart.
But it didn't stop.
The mage's eyes widened.
"Megen!"
"Megen!"
"Megen!"
"Megen!"
"Megen!"
"Megen!"
"Megen!"
Layer after layer of shields appeared before him.
Yet they were meaningless.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
Each shield shattered like glass.
One after another.
Until—
THUD!
The iron spear plunged into his stomach.
The force nearly impaled him completely before the magic spear gradually faded away.
The mage coughed blood.
His body trembled violently.
Meanwhile, Juro slowly drifted forward.
"Aww, that sucks."
He clicked his tongue.
"Your magic just had to be this weak."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
The mocking smile on his face only made the mage more furious.
But he couldn't even afford to be angry.
Every ounce of concentration was being spent maintaining his flight magic.
One mistake.
And he would fall to his death.
At the same time, he desperately clutched the wound in his stomach, blood flowing through his fingers.
Breathing heavily, the mage glared at Juro.
"I will remember your face!"
With shaking hands, he pulled out a sheet of paper hidden inside his robe.
It contained an unfinished spell.
Using his blood as ink, he smeared his fingers across the wound on his stomach.
Then, bringing his finger toward the paper, he prepared to draw the final line.
But.
SFWIP!
The mage froze.
For a moment, he didn't understand what had happened.
Then pain exploded through his hand.
"AAAAAAHHHH!!"
All five of his fingers had been severed.
They spun through the air before falling into the distance.
Instinctively, he grabbed his mangled hand and screamed in agony.
The paper slipped from his grasp.
Meanwhile, Juro casually caught it.
"Hm?"
He brought it closer and examined the unfinished spell.
"Oooo."
His eyes brightened.
"This might actually come in handy."
He folded the paper and tucked it away.
"Let's save this."
Only then did he look back at the screaming mage.
And smiled.
Meanwhile, the mage in front of him continued screaming in pain.
His concentration was steadily fading.
And with it, the effects of his flight magic began to weaken.
Only then did Juro look back at him.
"So, who ordered you all to target the princess?"
The man remained silent, gripping the stump of his hand.
Then it finally happened.
The magic lost its effectiveness.
His body began dropping.
But before he could fall, Juro grabbed his shirt and flew upward.
Higher.
And higher.
After ascending a bit more, Juro looked around.
"Hmm."
"Five hundred feet above the ground should be enough."
The injured mage glared at him.
"What are you planning?" he weakly spat. "Torturing me up here?"
Juro tilted his head.
"Torture you? Nah. Couldn't care less anymore."
He shrugged.
"I just brought us higher because, usually, a qualified, healthy, uninjured mage could survive a fall from five hundred feet."
"They'd probably need some intense healing afterward, though."
He pointed at the blood pouring from the mage's stomach.
"But you're already bleeding to death."
"So if I let you go from here..."
"You'd die."
The mage scoffed.
"But you aren't."
"If you were going to do it, you would've already done so."
For a brief moment, Juro simply stared at him.
His expression unusually serious.
Then he smiled.
"Nope."
And let go.
The mage's eyes widened in horror.
"Wha—"
Far above, Juro casually waved.
"Bye-bye."
"THAT CRAZY SHIT!"
The mage desperately tried to focus.
"I have to slow my fall!"
He opened his mouth.
But the pain from his stomach exploded.
Blood sprayed from his lips.
His vision blurred.
And the ground rushed closer.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
Until..
...
Far above, Juro dusted off his hands and stretched his arms.
"Alright, that's done."
"I should quickly catch up."
He glanced toward the horizon.
"It's about to be a full sunrise soon."
..
Meanwhile, aboard the carriage.
"Aweee mannn," Marc groaned.
"We got too far already!"
Noria smiled softly.
"At this speed, it looks like we'll be reaching Nerlarnd soon."
"Really!?"
Noria nodded.
But after a moment, her expression became guilty.
"Are you not worried for your mentor?"
"He went out alone to fight for us..."
She lowered her head.
Marc scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Ahaha... I wouldn't say I'm not worried about him. He is still our teacher after all."
He smiled.
"But..."
"It's because he's our teacher that I'm sure he'll be fine."
He turned toward Bell.
"Right, Bell?"
Bell looked at him for a moment before smiling.
"Yeah."
"He'll be fine."
Seeing the genuine trust in their faces, Noria found herself reassured.
Slowly, the sunlight brushed against their faces.
The sunrise was nearly complete.
And high above the sky, with nothing but endless skies around them, the sight was breathtaking.
"Woaaa..." Marc whispered.
For a while, the three simply enjoyed the view in silence.
Then, a familiar voice came from behind them.
"Sunrise looks beautiful, huh?"
Marc subconsciously replied.
"Yeah..."
Then he froze.
"Wait..."
The three quickly turned around.
"Teacher Juro!"
"You're back!"
Juro laughed.
"Of course I'm back."
He smirked.
"Surely you didn't think they could beat me, right?"
"Heh."
Heth immediately stood up and bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
"If not for you, we would have been in far greater trouble."
Juro merely waved his hand.
"Ah, don't worry about it."
"It wasn't that big of a deal."
Noria bowed as well.
"Thank you, Sir Juro, for helping us."
Juro simply smiled and sat back down.
"Mhm its fine."
The moment he sat down, Marc immediately rushed over with sparkling eyes.
"Teacher Juro! What happened back there? How did you beat them? What magic did you use??? What magic did they use? What magic did you use to defeat them????"
Question after question escaped Marc's mouth in excitement.
Noria couldn't help but chuckle softly at his enthusiasm for magic, while Bell simply smiled and sat back down in his seat.
Juro blinked before laughing.
"Haha! Slow down, slow down."
Marc scratched his cheek.
"Oops... ehehe..."
And so, Juro began explaining the various kinds of magic both sides had used, intentionally leaving out the more gruesome details in front of the children.
As Bell quietly listened, his thoughts wandered.
"I can already tell he's surpassed the level of a normal mage."
"He fought multiple enemies, yet he doesn't even look tired..."
"And I guess he's leaving out the ugly parts for Marc and Noria's sake."
"The word he keeps using is "defeated"..."
"Such a vague word..."
"I'm guessing he killed them."
Bell softly sighed and looked back out the window at the vast lands below.
"To become strong..."
"You have to be prepared for that much..."
Meanwhile, sitting across from Juro and listening to him answer Marc's endless questions, Heth had thoughts of his own.
"He's a capable man..."
"Perhaps I could introduce him to His Majesty."
"It would be good to have someone like him on our side."
Up front, the lead knight called out.
"Is everything alright back there, Sir Heth?"
"Everything is fine," Heth replied. "The attackers have been dealt with."
The lead knight's eyes widened slightly.
He felt relieved that everyone was safe.
But then his expression darkened.
His grip around the reins tightened.
The image of the lead mage sacrificing himself beside him remained fresh in his mind.
He quietly sighed.
...
Some time passed.
Eventually, one of the escorting mages flew beside the carriage window.
"We've arrived."
Marc immediately looked outside.
His eyes widened.
Below them stretched a massive kingdom filled with countless houses and roads.
And towering above everything else.
A castle.
"Woaaaaa!"
Marc practically pressed his face against the window.
"Noria! Is that where you live???"
Noria stood up and joined him.
"Yeah."
Then she turned toward him and smiled.
"Welcome to the Kingdom of Nerlarnd."
Marc's smile grew even brighter as the flying carriage slowly descended.
Then he peeked his head out of the window.
His eyes widened even further.
"Woaaaaaa!"
"Are those the creatures you were talking about, Noria!?"
Noria nodded.
Marc stared at the horlenses with amazement.
"They look so cool!"
"Their ears are like mini wings! They're flapping!"
As he watched them, his eyes faintly glowed blue.
He noticed the magic flowing through the creatures.
"Woaaa! They're using some type of magic!"
Juro chuckled.
"That's why they can carry carriages through the sky."
Marc simply grinned, unable to take his eyes off the kingdom they were about to land in.
Slowly, the carriage descended into the castle grounds.
Waiting below were rows of knights and mages.
"Woaa..."
"That's a lot of knights."
With a gentle thud, the carriage landed.
Knights and mages immediately stood at attention.
Heth opened the door.
Princess Noria stepped out first.
Heth followed closely behind her.
Then came Marc, Bell, and Juro.
Marc's eyes darted everywhere.
The towering castle.
The neatly trimmed grounds.
The rows of armored knights.
The mages dressed in elegant robes.
Everything felt grand.
Everything felt amazing.
Meanwhile, Bell simply followed along quietly.
And beside him, Juro casually walked forward with his hands behind his head, looking as though he had just returned from a pleasant morning stroll rather than a battle in the skies.