“Cough! Ugh!” From the moment the battle began, Prathlin could let out only one kind of sound: a moan. The swordsmanship of the Sinders Kingdom was based on swift and agile strikes, but it also included a unique anti-magic style specialized in responding to magical attacks.
Prathlin was not a fool. He knew that Jared was a level four mage from the start, and this knowledge hadn’t changed. He had confidence. The moment he concentrated fully on his swordsmanship, his defenses against magic would significantly improve. He had fought against countless level four mages from the kingdom long before now, so he believed he could face Jared without issue.
However, Prathlin had overlooked two crucial points. First, he hadn't realized that while he was preoccupied with the civil war, Jared had already advanced to a level five mage. Second, he had foolishly expected Jared’s abilities to be on the same level as an ordinary level four mage. Thus, from the very beginning, he found himself at a disadvantage.
Jared, who possessed a wisdom stat of 360, unleashed magical power that was nearly four times stronger than usual. When his wisdom increased by 100, his damage doubled, and when it hit 200, it doubled again. Because of this, every one of Jared’s attacks was faster and stronger than Prathlin had predicted. The additional fire damage from the title "Avatar of Hellfire" was so intense that facing his flame magic made Prathlin feel as if he wanted to die.
When Jared used his conditional special magic, "Flame Burst," Prathlin had no choice but to run away; there was nothing else he could do.
“Haah, haah, haaah.” Prathlin gasped for breath. Jared, with his calm demeanor, was bombarding him with magical attacks, conducting a thorough guerrilla campaign. Yet Prathlin couldn’t counter at all. His only successful strike had been to shred a small portion of Jared's robes with the very tip of his sword.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
On the other hand, Prathlin's condition was serious. The sleeves of his shirt had long since burned away, and his scorched skin was oozing with pus. Jared's Flame Burst magic was like a living hell, a fiery inferno. The fire demons conjured by magic bit and clawed at every part of Prathlin’s body that they could reach. No matter how he tried to slash and tear them away, these beings were not alive in the first place, so they didn’t simply disappear. They only vanished when their flames faded, which took a minimum of several minutes.
Bang! Bang!
Jared, boasting of his tireless steel-like stamina, closed in again on Prathlin. The numerous wounds he had sustained greatly reduced Prathlin’s focus, and the sharpness of his earlier attacks had vanished long ago. But for Jared, it was the opposite. He was focusing more intensely and increasingly raising the level of magic he employed.
At last, Jared positioned himself behind Prathlin and began to cast the level five wind-type magic, "Force Missile." Though he summoned only five magical spheres, their destructive power exceeded the combined might of five smaller magic missiles. Some even called "Force Missile" a cannon made of wind, due to its tremendous shockwaves.
“Damn it...” Just as Prathlin attempted to turn his weary body, the wind spheres flew directly toward him. He raised his sword diagonally, ready to deflect Jared’s magical attack using his swordsmanship. But at that moment, a different magical sphere arrived first—Flame Arrow, the fastest spell of its kind.
Recognizing the slower acceleration of the Force Missile, Jared had altered his approach.
“Damn it!” Prathlin barely managed to deflect the Flame Arrow. It was a reflexive action against the incoming projectile. The issue was that this brief gap in timing created an opening for the Force Missile to slip through.
Though he successfully knocked away the Flame Arrow, he was unable to deal with the true attack—the Force Missile. Choosing to deflect the small rather than counter the greater was disastrous. Out of the five wind spheres, he managed to deflect two, but the remaining three struck him brutally.
Crash! Crash! Smash!
“Gah!” He was hit in three places: one on his rib, another on his left shoulder, and the worst of all, his knee shattered with a sickening crunch. All these spots were meant to be protected by his armor, yet Jared's spell broke through it with ease.
“This is insane…” Despite being forged from strong materials, even the armor couldn’t withstand Jared’s level five magic. His attempts to make the armor lightweight in an effort to maintain practicality had backfired.
“Grah!” The bent metal of his armor transformed into sharp points, piercing into Prathlin’s ribs and shoulder. Boom! With his right knee now unable to support him, he collapsed to the ground.
“Haaaah!” With a fierce shout, Jared closed the distance and delivered a powerful kick that sent Prathlin’s long sword flying.
He chose an old-fashioned yet certain method—a kick—over the uncertain risk of telekinesis.
“Damn it.” Prathlin, robbed of his will to fight, couldn't come up with any thoughts or plans. What he thought would be an evenly matched duel of sword and magic had ended in a heartbeat. He faced absolute disadvantage to the extent that even a slight chance would barely allow him to survive this conflict.
In ranged combat, Prathlin, as a swordsman, was obviously at a disadvantage, and Jared didn't allow him to approach in close combat either. Having not properly learned useful dark magic and incantations from the Umbra Cult, Prathlin was still not at the level of a 'Sword Mage.'
“Damn! Damn! Damn!” Filled with fury, Prathlin pounded the dirt beneath him. If only he had a little more time, everything could have changed. He would have captured Prince Jess and put an end to the civil war, gaining dark mana and black magic through the high priest of the Umbra Cult.
He needed at most a week or two—but Jared had crushed those hopes utterly. In a passionate battle where he had been pressured from the start, he had suffered a devastating defeat. Trying to hold onto any glimmer of hope, he glanced to where Count Capri was, but he saw nothing but hopelessness there too.
“Prince Prathlin, surrender. The tide has already turned. Don’t just think about your own defeat; take a moment to look around.” Jared's words made Prathlin quietly survey the battlefield.
There was not a single falsehood in Jared's words. The moment the battle began, mine explosions had wreaked havoc throughout the area, resulting in a shocking number of early casualties. Without even anticipating the hidden dangers, his forces had suffered explosive devastation without a chance to react.
On top of that, Jared's army surrounded him, leveraging their geographical advantage to apply tremendous pressure. Prathlin’s troops, bewildered and panicked from the mine explosions, found it exceedingly difficult to maintain their composure, leading to many soldiers losing their will to fight and falling one after another. Most devastating of all was the loss of the elite troops guarding Prathlin, who were sacrificed to the explosions.
Conversely, Jared's Aggressio Guards had effectively shattered the enemy's core forces early on, breaking apart their formation.
“Is this how my tower of efforts crumbles?” Prathlin, weakened and now kneeling on one knee, muttered in despair.
“It’s likely the consequence of your choices in seeking shortcuts through the power of the dark cult, rather than walking the proper path,” Jared replied.
“I had... faith in building a magnificent kingdom, perhaps even more so than anyone else. I believed that the teachings of the Umbra Cult were far more fitting than the old beliefs of the Radius Cult.”
“There’s no need for a confession here. You can share your detailed tales during your trial.” Jared interrupted Prathlin, casting a paralysis spell upon him. As Prathlin had already given up on resisting, he simply accepted the magical bombardment.
“Gurk…” In just a few seconds, his body lost the fight it had put up to avoid collapse, succumbing to paralysis.
Thud. At that moment, something fell from Prathlin’s grasp.
[Cluze’s Bloodlight Necklace]
[Classification: Sealed]
[2 days and 12 hours remain until seal is lifted. No options can be viewed until then.]
“Cluze?” Jared tilted his head at the familiar name he saw on the artifact. He understood why artifact information hadn't appeared when he used his inner sight on Prathlin. Since it was in a sealed state, it couldn't exhibit any abilities, so the system treated it as an ordinary item. Thus, it had been undetected.
“There’s no way I wouldn’t know the name of Cluze, the sub-leader of the Umbra Cult.” Jared, who had been wary of the dark cult, had diligently posted about their leaders when playing "Paradiso."
Cluze, the sub-leader of the Umbra Cult, was known to be a madman at the peak of forbidden sorcery. He was a grotesque hybrid, merging a troll's body with a human intellect, equipped with modified magical engineering weaponry for arms, and a vehicle-like lower body.
Have you ever imagined such a horrific creature? Cluze had made it a reality. However, whether he possessed the Bloodlight Necklace in his earlier days remained a mystery, as this moment took place nine years before the main storyline of "Paradiso."
Since it was not mentioned in the story, Jared could only make educated guesses regarding its purpose. But one thing was clear: there was no goodwill behind the necklace that he had given Prathlin.
“Perhaps it was intended to dominate Prince Prathlin’s mind.” Although Jared could not see detailed options for the artifact, he could infer its purpose. Cluze excelled in schemes, deception, and feigned trust, brazen enough to sacrifice his own kin without hesitation when needed.
The use of this necklace was likely obvious. Instead of empowering Prathlin, it was probably a device to manipulate him like a puppet. Jared decided to take the "Cluze’s Bloodlight Necklace." After binding the now paralyzed Prince Prathlin, he cast the paralysis spell once more.
With two overlapping enhancements, he would likely remain immobile for over ten minutes.
“There’s still one left.” Jared's gaze landed on a single individual: Count Capri, who was embroiled in a fierce combat with Rakis.
[Artifact 'Crimson Moon Blade' in possession.]
[Artifact 'Judith’s Armor' in possession.]
Through his inner sight, Jared gleaned information about the two artifacts he held. Both were rated as four-star artifacts. Jared would not miss this golden opportunity to acquire precious artifacts.
Fwoosh! Before he could gather his thoughts, Jared vanished from Prathlin's sight. The moment he did, a gust of wind swept over where he had been standing.
“Guhhhh!” A gushing fountain of blood erupted from Count Capri, who had been valiantly fighting Rakis from a distance. Unprepared for Jared’s sudden rear assault, he bore the bitter fruits of disgrace as he was struck from behind.