Chapter 9: The Iron Cage

“Hey, how long are we going to squat like this?”
Jack couldn’t help but ask.

“Of course, until…” York got stuck; he actually didn’t know.

“Lord Aude…”

Lord Aude didn’t want to talk and moved a bit toward the empty space to the side.

The temperature showed no signs of dropping yet.
Everyone stayed squatted on the ground, the moisture on their bodies dried by the intense heat.
After being hit by three full “Water Ball” spells and having their clothes dry out yet again, the terrifyingly high temperature finally stabilized and stopped rising.

“Final step. Let’s begin!”
Samir said.

“Giant Water Ball!”
The incantations rang out once more as the three water mages launched the magic in unison.

New water balls landed behind them.
A deafening hissing sound rang out continuously.

Mary’s mind automatically imagined a water ball smashing into a roaring bonfire.
At the moment water and fire meet, such a hissing sound is produced.
The leaping flames are instantly extinguished, and countless bubbles of various sizes rise on the firewood before being evaporated.
The once glowing red fire then turns pitch black, leaving behind only wisps of lingering smoke.

The fire was set by us, and extinguished by us.
It was all about seeing things through from start to finish.

The dazzling light vanished, and the forest returned from “clear daylight” to “misty twilight.”
A wind blew from behind, carrying damp moisture and the smell of wood burnt to ash, filling their dry nasal passages.

Mary couldn’t help but sneeze a few times before opening her eyes, only to see a blurred mess.
Strange reflections glowing with white light danced before her eyes.
She had to close her eyes again, as her irritated eyeballs felt dry and itchy, and tears fell involuntarily.

Everyone squatted silently to recover, waiting for their eyes to adapt to the transition from intense light to darkness before standing up one by one.

A massive amount of steam filled the air around them, making it impossible to see the current situation.

“You two wind mages, sweep the steam away,”
Samir shouted.

A wild wind rose, swirling the misty vapor and dust as it whistled toward the sky.
The previously stifling heat was swept away, and the strange smell irritating their noses was carried off by the wind.
Everything around them became fresh.

She straightened up and turned around.
In that moment, Mary held her breath.

She saw a miracle.

Perhaps blown away by the wind, the gathered divine micro-dust had mostly vanished.
The “Light Paths” were dim and lackluster, nearly gone.
Only the massive divine energy ball in the air above the Land of Divine Abandonment continued to emit a milky white light.
However, compared to the brilliance of the Forbidden Spell that had just ended, it was like a tiny spark compared to the scorching sun.

Beneath it, a massive, hideous steel cage radiating heat appeared.

That jet-black cage twisted like a coiling dragon, stretching its majestic form toward the sky.
Beneath the cage lay charred corpses piled on top of one another.
Their bodies, which had been tightly mangled, had carbonized and shrunk under the extreme heat.
Under the rapid cooling of the flowing water and fierce wind, parts of their shells had cracked, actually breaking free from the fatal lock of the vines.
Just like the extinguished charcoal she had imagined, they were devoid of life.

The scene was eerie and terrifying.

‘Is this the power of a Forbidden Spell?’

Mary covered her chest with her hand, attempting to push down her heart which felt like it would leap out of her throat.
She took a long breath, regaining her instinct to breathe, and then closed her eyes again, not daring to look any more.

Unlike Mary’s lingering fear, the others quickly got over the sensory impact of this startling creation.

“The meat is all charred,”
Jack muttered to the side.

“Do you really want to eat it?”
Samir was incredulous.

“You can eat regular magic beast meat, so Magic Beast King meat would definitely be even more nourishing!”
Jack retorted stubbornly.

“This is top-quality stuff you can’t even buy. If we could get some back to sell, it would be enough for my brothers to live in luxury for several months.”
Jack approached the cage, gripped his longsword, and probed forward.
The tip of the blade sank into a corpse.
With a twist, a scrape, and a slice, he left a deep gash.

“They’re truly dead through and through.”
Jack sheathed his blade.
“The blood inside is bone-dry.”

Samir also approached the cage.
He didn’t check the corpses of the Magic Beast Kings; instead, he was full of interest in the steel vines.

Without turning his head, Samir said, “Aude, your hypothesis was actually feasible.”

Aude replied, “It wasn’t a hypothesis; I’ve conducted experiments.”

Samir waved his hand, “Don’t mention your experiments. Back then, you were either pulling blacksmiths to strike iron or catching my raised rabbits every day to make a barbecue. The point is, what you made tasted terrible!”

He tapped the vines with the back of his fingers, and indeed, they produced a distinct metallic clinking sound.

Mary, who had finally recovered, didn’t dare get closer.
Always a commoner, Mary had braved the outskirts of the Misty Forest with only a wood-cutting knife.
The struggles between her and magic beasts were always raw life-and-death bouts.
One day Mary would draw blood from a beast, and the next day a beast would open a gash on Mary.
She was used to flying flesh and severed limbs; she was used to seeing beasts killed and humans harmed.
But today’s scene was something she had never seen, and until now, had no way to even imagine.

There were no beads of blood on a blade’s tip, no wounds deep enough to see bone.
Even these strong and terrifying Magic Beast Kings could only turn into charred corpses after the mages casually released their spells.

‘So terrifying. Are mages really human?’

She didn’t even dare to lift her head now!

Aude sat quietly on the ground, her staff laid across her knees.
She watched Samir and Jack tapping on the vines with great interest.
However, she soon noticed Mary off to the side.

Aude blinked, thought deeply for a moment, and asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

Mary trembled, her head hanging even lower.

‘How useless of me.’

“I’m just an ordinary person! I haven’t left Lige Town since I was a child. Although I’ve heard Mother Anna tell many stories about Archmagi, stories are just stories!”
Mary squatted down again, drawing circles on the ground with her finger.

“Today is the first time I’ve seen magic!”

“Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm! I’ve only ever seen passing mages before. Mother Anna—the only nun in our town—said a mage’s magic can create objects out of thin air, call forth wind and rain, and even destroy the world. I couldn’t imagine what those scenes looked like before.”

“And now?”

“Now… seeing the reality with my own eyes, it’s a bit too real. It feels unreal instead.”
At this, the images she had just seen surfaced in Mary’s mind again.
She hurriedly shook her head, trying to fling that terrifying scene out of her mind.

“I never thought a magic beast could be killed this way. It feels too easy, and too terrifying.”

Aude looked at Mary, was silent for a while, and said, “I can’t get up right now.”

“Can’t get up?”
Mary tilted her head and stole a glance at Aude.

“Casting a Forbidden Spell requires a price.”
Aude stroked her staff.
She slowly lifted her face, as elegant and beautiful as a snowy mountain, her golden eyes watching the sky which had begun to lighten.

“One must pay a price to cast a Forbidden Spell.”

Mary’s head snapped to the side; she hadn’t expected to hear this answer.
Aude had paid such a heavy price to cast the Forbidden Spell, yet she was here speaking out of turn about how magic was terrifying and mages were scary.
Mary didn’t know how to continue the conversation, and even less how to comfort Aude.

‘I’m truly awful!’

After a period of awkward silence, Mary still spoke hesitantly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know your sacrifice would be so great.”

“Mm, I forgive you.”

Aude’s tone was calm as usual, but Mary knew this had to be her disguise!
Facing danger, she cast Forbidden Spells without hesitation; afterward, she hid her pain and didn’t show it to others; and she didn’t take offense even when insulted.
Aude was truly a person worthy of respect!

No, just apologizing wasn’t enough. She should take action to repay Aude’s sacrifice!

“I-I’ll support you—no, I’ll carry you!”
She would repay this kindness!

“……Alright.”

Mary squatted in front of Aude with excitement.
Once Aude had climbed onto her back, she stood up steadily.
“Where do you want to go? I’ll take you there!”

Aude pointed her staff forward, directly toward the vines.

Mary’s throat felt tight and her heart hammered, but she took several heavy breaths to encourage herself and stepped forward.
York, who witnessed the entire scene while following behind them, had a complicated expression.

Samir and Jack were still tapping at the vines.

“Amazing. How did these vines change from wood to iron?”
Jack used his longsword to hack at the vines again; the vines didn’t budge, but his sword was knocked back by the recoil.

“It’s not some profound principle.”
Samir began to act proud again.

“The previous earthquake was caused by earth magic, specifically to churn up metallic micro-particles buried deep underground so they would adhere to the vines. The Forbidden Spell ‘Light’s Grace’ can produce extreme temperatures that melt steel, but it takes a long time. By adding the second Forbidden Spell, ‘Fire Dance of the Heavens,’ the metallic particles on the vines could be melted in a short time to form this iron shell.”

“Plus the subsequent Giant Water Ball to rapidly cool the temperature.”

Samir glanced at Jack, “Does this process sound familiar?”

“Isn’t that just quenching! That’s how weapons are forged in a blacksmith shop!”
Jack understood. This was just blacksmithing!
Tsk tsk tsk. These people’s brains really were sharper than the average person’s.
He frequented blacksmith shops too, so why couldn’t he think of the same method?

“What a brilliant method.”
Mary had already walked over carrying Aude. She had also heard Samir’s explanation.

Seeing the scene up close was even more impactful.

“Hey, why are you carrying her?”
Samir expressed his confusion.

“Lord Aude said she can’t walk anymore. It’s fine; I’m very strong and won’t drop her.”

“Can’t walk?”
Samir circled the two girls once and spoke in a puzzled voice, “Isn’t she perfectly fine? Why can’t she walk suddenly?”

“In order to cast the Forbidden Spells, Lord Aude paid a heavy price.”
Mary’s mood sank even further.

“A price…”
Samir sighed.

“I’ve heard of that too. They say some ancient Forbidden Spells even cost the caster’s life.”
Jack lamented.

“Lord Aude sacrificed herself for others, yet I still said I was afraid of magic. It was truly wrong of me.”

“Oh ho, I was scared the first time I saw high-level magic too!”

“Did Big Brother Jack used to be afraid too?”

“I was young then, after all, and hadn’t seen much of the world. After seeing it a few more times, it gets much better!”

“As expected of Big Brother Jack!”

Samir listened with a smile and interjected at the right time, “Casting Forbidden Spells indeed requires a price.”

“But Aude doesn’t need to pay one!”

“Ah?”

“Ah?!”

“Ah!!!”