Return of The 8th Class Mage Chapter 19:

 ­ The Coming of the Crown Prince (4)

“Who… are you?”

Fully alert, Cecelia asked him .
Hiding emotions was the most basic of the basics for a Coldwalker .
However, at this moment, she couldn’t hide her emotions .

“That name . How do you… . . ?”
“I know it very well . ”

Of course, he knew
The man who caught the tail of the Coldwalkers in the empire,
The man who almost destroyed the entire operation .
That man was Ian in his former life .

“If you want, I can list your agents, what kind of operations you guys are running at the moment . ”
“Bull shi… . . ”
“Yol, The horse keeper of the house of Molten . Robin, Royal secretary . ”

Suddenly, Ian started to recite some names and their operations .

“Aerio, The 9th border defense force soldier . Isabel, the chief maid of the detached royal palace . Ah, she shouldn’t have become a chief, yet . ”

Coldwalkers that Ian found in former life and still remembered .
He called specific names of Coldwalkers who may be on their mission at this moment .

“The common thing between these people, Can you have a guess? I think I know the answer . ”

He listed their names and operation barely .

“What on earth… . . ”

Cecelia completely lost her emotional balance like a ship wrecked by a storm .
The confusion exceeded her mental capacity .

“Don’t worry, though . I am the only one who knows this, yet . ”

To Cecelia, Ian said this full of confidence .

“And I don’t want to tell others about it . ”
“What do you mean?”
“You guys are, hmm what should I say… . . ”

Ian paused shortly to find a good expression .

“Emergency food . ”
“…… . ?”
“I am going to arrest them one by one whenever I need to . ”

Coldwalkers who were undercover in the empire, or who will come into the empire .
To Ian, they were just  one of the tools to increase his merit .
The merits that he could use whenever he needed .
This era was still unstable and war could occupy the country at any moment .
Arresting a spy during the war . Such exceptional merit .
The analogy of emergency food quite suited them .

‘Just who is he?’

Cecelia chewed her lips .
What a mysterious man he is .
The man who knew the list of Coldwalkers clearly .
Furthermore, The man who was most likely the enemy of her country
She couldn’t calm herself down .
Nevertheless, she must do something .
The situation didn’t allow her to communicate with her home country .
She must do something herself .

‘I must decide . ’

As her country ordered to her, this boy must be suppressed alive .
The order was an order, and the boy was such a threat .
Right after she finishes this situation, she would send an emergency message to her country straight away .
To inform that there is a high chance that the identity of all Coldwalkers was compromised .
Fortunately, this area was connected to the border .
There was a chance to sneak out .

‘If things go ugly,’

In that case, he must be assassinated .
The primary mission objective was kidnapping, the secondary was murder .
She had no time for testing . She had to do her best .

“I have no clue how you know the names,”

Around Cecelia, fire spheres lit up .
Six spheres as big as a human’s head .
It must be much more destructive than magic missile .

“But you shouldn’t speak it out, Young boy . ”

Just after she finished her word, fire spheres flew to Ian quickly .
All six spheres were targeting Ian’s body .
With a shield magic like he just cast before, he wouldn’t able to protect himself from it .

“Mana Barrier . ”

However, Ian’s response was simple and amazing .
Mana Barrier, It was the next level of Shield magic .
Its wall could absorb much more damage than shield magic .

‘Did he just used a Mana Barrier?’

Her reaction was natural .
Mana Barrier was 3rd class magic .
Which means that kid’s magical skill level was the same as hers, at least .
The report of the conducted mage wasn’t a rumor, indeed .
Actually, it seemed he was underestimated .

*BAANG! BAANG! BAAAAANG!*

Fire spheres ruthlessly smashed Ian’s mana barrier .
The giant explosion noise was echoed in the gymnasium .
Since the area was quiet, the noise was sounded louder than usual .
People might come to check the gymnasium .
By any means necessary, she must finish her job quickly .

‘I need to find a way to draw him out from the barrier first… . ’

Cecelia was caught in a hurry .
Time was on that boy’s side .

‘I guess she is in big trouble . ’

The duel of magicians, it was usually quite boring .
People might expect some kind of spectacular magical shows .
However, the reality was different .
In most cases, they just hide in their defense magic like a turtle and wait for their perfect chance .
They wouldn’t dare to risk their own life for the stupid magical show .
The one who stays  focused longer in those boring situations is the winner in most cases .

‘Of course, it was the strategy for ‘ordinary’ magicians . ’

However, Ian in his former life was different .
With his overwhelming destructive magic, he destroyed a mage and barrier at the same time . In a former life, though .

‘I can’t do it for now . ’

He didn’t have enough mana to cast such a high-class magic .
For now, Ian also needed to find a different method .

‘I can’t just stay like this . ’

Cecelia was also a 3rd class magician .
She would also able to cast mana barrier .
Fortunately, Ian had a plan .
In proper expression,

‘I made a plan . ’

When he had seen Cecelia in front of the province castle,
he already had expected her to approach him to spy, and that she might be aggressive .
So, he prepared something,
On the sky of the gymnasium, covered by shadow .

“Light . ”

Ian made a small light sphere .
It was a harmless convenient magic that is usually cast to provide a clear vision in a dark area .

‘Why did he use light magic?’

Cecelia couldn’t understand Ian’s choice .
Ian and Cecelia both were risking their own life .
In this breathtaking situation, did he just use the light magic?

“I knew you are Coldwalker . ”

Ian lifted the light sphere to the sky .
high, higher, higher and higher .

“Even when I knew it, I decided to stay here alone . Can you guess why?”

The light magic drove the shadow from the gymnasium .
Suddenly, Cecelia’s face turned pale .
Numerous ice shards were floating in the sky .
Their sharp sides were heading to Cecelia .

“I also expected you would come to the gymnasium . ”

Ian prepared to greet Cecelia with his masterpiece; the giant trap of gymnasium .

“Ice spear . ”

As for raining, Ice shards started to fall down .
Unlike normal rain, it didn’t fall randomly .
Every single shard had one destination .
The destination was Cecelia .

“Urgh…… . !”

Cecelia quickly cast mana barrier .
Numerous ice shards fell onto her mana barrier .

*Clink! Crash! Clink! Craaasshhh!*

It sounded like smashing an aegis with metal .
Now the tide turned into Ian’s favor .

*Crack! Craaack! Craaaaccck!*

Cecilia’s barrier started to crack .
Even mana barrier had its limitations .
But, she might able to recast mana barrier, though .
A mage like Cecelia was surely able to recast it easily .
But, Ian’s Ice shards were not his final blow .

“Hew……”

Ian gathered his palms .
And he started to draw mana between his palms .

*Rush!*

He made a fire sphere . Just one sphere .
However, its size was unimaginably enormous .
As a snowball rolling on the snow field grew itself,
The fire sphere kept getting bigger .

“Stay right there . ”

The numerous ice shards Ian made on the ceiling of the gymnasium,
they were just a faint .
He used ice shards to force Cecelia to cast a barrier,
so that she wouldn’t be able to move .
All the steps were planned for this giant final blow .

“Pyro Blast . ”

The giant fire sphere left Ian’s hand .