0. Opening (8)

"What I wish for is."

Derek slowly removed Lanneque's hand from the cane, and prepared to release the image into the world just as he used to use the magic.

A cluster of red lights floated around, illuminating the surroundings. Derek's feet lifted slightly off the ground. Just as fireflies illuminate the surroundings, the clusters of red lights around the cane made those who look at them confused as to whether this was reality or a dream.

Derek put his legs back on the ground and started walking towards the center of town.

"Pain. The wrath of the deprived. To them the resentment, sadness, and fear of those whose lives were taken away."

At that point, the people who had been drinking began to stand up one by one, looking this way. They didn't know what was shining over there, so it was close to squinting their eyes and trying to figure out what it was.

"[You are in human bodies,]"

Derek opened his mouth to speak, but what came out was not a human voice. It was the sound of a demon, a ghost, or some higher being.

"[You're using people's lives as food to fill your stomach.]"

The man who had been drinking was so frightened that he couldn't even move his hands. The halo began to move around the area, getting redder and faster.

"[I'm here to represent those who have been taken away by you.]"

And in an instant, the red light disappeared, and the surrounding area became dark.

"[A mace to those who have stolen it.]"

The fire in the center of the village went out. Moreover...

[Bang]

A red bolt of lightning fell on it. The roar blew away all the bandits' hearing. And the shock wave was enough to knock a person down.

[------------]

The next thunderbolt made no sound. Because at that moment no one's hearing was intact.

The red pillar of fire fell on the person who was trying to escape, directing people. Without a sound, a person evaporated from the heat and disappeared.

After that, everyone just scattered. They were so shocked that they ran toward the forest, throwing away all their agricultural implements, such as scythes and flails.

"Whoosh..."

Derek caught his breath. It wasn't physically difficult, but the recoil of using magic in succession distorted the image. It wouldn't have been any problem if he had used his own image to cast magic, but constructing magic by receiving someone else's image required a lot of mental strength.

He spread out sound insulation barriers and convection blocking barriers. In order to make the barriers work for Lanneque on the other side of the hill. Derek had to prepare for one final round.

Taking a few deep breaths, Derek scooped up the image in his usual way, and released it into the world using his "evil".

"What I want is the Milky Way that colors the sky. A gaze looking up at the sky side by side, a cool breeze. The high autumn sky, and the Southern Cross hanging there."

This time there was no halo of light, or no floating person. Just... The surroundings were noisy. It wasn't because of the thieves running away screaming, it wasn't because of the thieves' house burning.

Just like there is a crackling sound before lightning strikes and blue sparks rise into the sky... It was a small portent before the great destruction.

"May I be your hope."

Derek shot his magic into the empty sky. So that they would look at this flame again when they come to their senses while running away, and run further and further.

The power of destruction magic was enormous. It was a magic that was shot overhead, and the roof made of weaving straw was on fire in an instant, and the windows of the wooden house caught fire. The earthen walls that were in direct contact with the explosion collapsed toward the inside of the house, and all the weak household items were smashed. All the leaves of the trees that formed the outskirts of the village caught fire, and the leaves nearby fell to the ground with burns.

'I'm glad...'

Still, maybe because he was better than usual at spreading out barriers, Derek had less hearing loss or burns than he expected.

"Lanneque?"

He showed his face over the hill with a nonchalant face, but the child covered his ears and trembled in fear at the sight of the great destruction.

'Was it a little too much...'

Still, this was the magic he could use properly, so he thought this would be the best way to drive out all the thieves. It was also necessary to destroy some of the villages to be wary of any ambush.

"Lanneque, it's over."

As he scratched his head and tapped Lanneque on the shoulder, the child looked up at Derek, finally coming to his senses. In the meantime, there were also tears. He must have cried.

"I was... scared."

Derek couldn't help but laugh. He had to be scary to make them run away.

It was already dark as the sun had completely set. The fire on the tree was also slowly diminishing, and the only light source was the fire burning the trees that used to be part of the house.

"Okay, It can be scary."

It might be human nature to be afraid of great power, like being afraid of lightning and tidal waves.

"Would you stand up? We have to rescue the captives... And I don't know the right way."

And there should be traps near Lanneque's house. Derek might be in big trouble if he goes alone.

"Yes, yes..."

Derek took Lanneque's hand and almost had to drag him to the house on the corner of the village. Since it was far from the center, it was relatively intact even with destruction magic.

Derek, picking up a hatchet on the way and breaking the lock, carefully opened the door and peered inside. The women captured by the bandits were shivering with shackles on their hands and feet.

"Ah... Could you search the house and bring me some clothes or blankets?"

He asked Lanneque, thinking it wouldn't be very good for the child's education. Meanwhile, Derek went inside and tore off the shackles with a hatchet.

"Over there... There must be keys hanging over the wall."

A woman with the least reason left said, pointing to one of the walls. Derek jumped right outside and retrieved a set of keys hanging on the wall of the house. He kept his mouth shut and tried not to be conscious as much as possible, but it was quite hard for Derek, who had hardly ever met a woman.

Derek went into the granary and slung one of the heaviest-looking sacks on his back. There was so much food that it wouldn't show even if seven people ate the food.

However... There was a problem.

"Do you know the way back home?"

"No..."