Mystery Invader
I wasn’t sure if the magic tool had been made in time.
If this was the first invasion, then you could say that it had.
Because it had detected the first invasion.
But if this wasn’t the first time, then this invader would have been able to gather as much information as it liked.
It was no longer about checking merchants coming in and out of the settlement.
“Grulf. Mors. Can you tell which direction the invader went?”
“Groof.”
“I’m terribly sorry.”
After sniffing about desperately, Grulf let out a troubled bark. He wasn’t able to trace the invader.
Even Mors couldn’t do it with his magic.
“I see. That can’t be helped.”
“So, what should we do?”
Kathe asked in a worried voice.
“Wait a minute.”
“Very well.”
And so I used Magic Search and Magic Exploration at the same time.
I would use magic over a wide area all at once.
Magic Search was able to find every living being that had magic energy. And it could search through a wide area.
However, it detected humans, beasts, and dark ones.
And you couldn’t tell what kind of magic they had.
All I knew was that there was someone with magic energy in that area.
But Magic Exploration allowed me to see what kind of magic it was.
However, the area of effect was small. I could only use it on one target at a time.
And so I went around and used Magic Exploration on everyone I detected.
I did this on everything that was within 5 minutes walking distance of the mansion.
The result was about 500 hundred targets.
Beastkin, livestock and wild animals were included.
But I was able to use Magic Exploration on all of them at once.
Only one target proved to be a dark one. It was already moving away from the mansion.
There was no time to lose.
“Follow me!”
“Yes.”
“Groof!”
“Understood!”
It would take too much time to find a door or window.
And so I used magic to destroy the wall.
“What!”
“How violent!”
Mors and Kathe shouted in alarm. But I didn’t care.
It was an emergency. The mansion could be repaired later.
It was worse to allow the intruder to escape.
I was going to reinforce the mansion with magic anyway. I could repair it then.
And so we dashed out and chased the signal of the dark one.
It should be close by, and yet I couldn’t see anything.
A wraith… No, if it was a dark one, then it would be called a dark wraith.
I had encountered them before, but this was the first time I had to face a dark wraith.
“Perhaps I should have reinforced the mansion first…”
I had planned to make the magic tool and then do the mansion.
But the dark wraith wouldn’t have been able to enter had the magic reinforcement been complete.
“SHIIIIIIII!!!”
I couldn’t see it, but I could hear it.
At the same time, Dark Flame came shooting towards us. I surrounded my hand in magic energy and erased it from the air.
It was kind of like the Dark Ray that the Evil God Head had used.
“That’s some very powerful magic.”
While it was a burning flame, it could also go through anything that was resistant to fire.
Which sounded rather useful. And so I Learned it.
“SHIIIII!!!”
The dark wraith shrieked again. It seemed surprised.
Wraiths were very intelligent monsters. And dark wraiths appeared to be no different.
It must have been quite confident in its Dark Flame magic.
“I saw you.”
Just before it had unleashed its magic, I had seen a blurry outline of it.
It was like a black mist in the shape of a human.
But then it faded away when it shot at us. And it was now completely invisible again.
Even if I couldn’t see it, I still had Magic Exploration, so I had an idea of where it was.
“So…what to do.”
If it were a vampire, I would want to capture and question it.
But it was difficult to catch a wraith. After all, they were not flesh and bone.
They were magical energy with a will and a soul. That’s what a wraith was.
And you could say that a Dark Wraith was the remnants that the Evil God dropped into this world.
They were made of magic energy and curses.
“What are you going to do?”
“We can’t make a barrier in time!”
Kathe and Mors said as they came running behind me.
Water dragons were good with barriers, and barriers could trap wraiths.
However, he was not prepared. The wraith would run away before he could do it.
Without turning around, I said,
“I’ll do what I can for now.”
“We’ll leave it to you then!”
After seeing that its magic didn’t work on me, the dark wraith seemed to have decided to run.
It was trying to escape at full speed.
But it wasn’t particularly fast. Still, it was about the same as a horse.
We couldn’t dawdle.
I unleashed some magic in front of where it was running.
A large pillar of light appeared in front of the dark wraith.
It wasn’t so much magic as just a pillar of energy. Like a giant magic bullet.
“It’s so bright.”
Brighter than I was expecting. Maybe I had overdone it.
“KIIIII!!!”
The Dark Wraith seemed to have become stunned as it stopped in front of the pillar.