Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Chapter 209 – The First Strike

If Melina didn't have strong battle instincts ingrained within her, then she likely would be dead. But thankfully, she managed to react just in time to conjure a shield and protect herself from an incoming lightning bolt.

Mango snarled in fright at the sudden attack and tried to conjure sharp shards for counterattack, but the Su Xien mage shot a lightning bolt straight at the little fox. Melina deflected that too, but just barely, needing to lunge closer to Mango to protect her.

"Run away, Mango!" Melina commanded, sending an indisputable order through the link.

The fox hesitated for a moment, but when another lightning bolt collided with Melina's shield, Mango allowed her frightened instincts to take over and darted away in the direction of their home.

"Oh no, you don't!" The mage snarled and produced a magical whip, aiming it at Mango with a clear intent of stopping the fox.

But Melina countered with a whip of her own, catching the mage's conjured one and then sending a strong pulse of mana into it, in order to cancel the spell. She was afraid that the lack of any battle lately would have made her too dull to pull off the maneuver, but after a few seconds, the magical tendril that tried to reach for Mango dissipated into the air.

"Why are you doing this?" Melina asked, hoping to distract the mage with conversation.

The mage sneered. "I am merely testing you. But how about you actually show me what you're capable of."

Giant icicles appeared above the mage and flew straight at Melina. She hurriedly deflected them, but then noticed that one of the ice spikes struck a side of a building, destroying part of it.

I can't let this lunatic destroy Sunglow.

He kept conjuring one type of magic after another, clearly probing for Melina's weakness. Melina wished she could somehow stop him and counterattack, but she had her hands full just trying to prevent the damage to the town. Her mana was also slowly running out, so she was beginning to draw on the ambient mana.

"You are a very talented mage to be able to draw ambient mana, but why don't you attack?" The Su Xien mage said, looking completely unperturbed and nonchalant, while Melina was gasping for breath from exertion.

It was clear that this man was used to combat. He likely fought regularly, so Melina, who had only used magic for baking, was incompletely outmatched. She was just barely able to protect herself and Sunglow from damage.

The only good thing was that it was still very early, so there weren't any people around. She shuddered to think what would happen if somebody got caught in this conflict.

"Why are you doing this?" Melina repeated with a snarl. "We've never even met before."

The mage laughed. "Because I grew bored. Su Xien is such a stifling place. Don't fight that monster, don't fight this—they can be tamed. Don't hurt the elves or the drow; we need to have a good relationship with them. What nonsense!"

"But then I heard that in this country overseas, the viewpoint is completely different. Except there's this little baker with magic who is trying to turn the whole thing on its head and make it just as stifling as in Su Xien. I don't think so!"

The mage conjured more icicles, likely having understood that it's the element Melina struggled with the most. She drew upon the ambient mana to deflect the icicles, but she wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, especially if she wanted Sunglow to remain safe.

Her opponent knew that, sneering and preparing another barrage. But before he could release his attack, something flickered in his shadow. Melina felt instant relief as Alistair, with armor hastily thrown on and lightning sparking from his eyes, emerged from a shadow near the mage on Knight's back.

Alistair swung his sword, charged with electricity, at the mage, forcing him to produce his own shield. But Alistair's might with his Bloodline skill active was too much for the shield to endure, shattering it. The mage, unfortunately, managed to teleport himself away some distance.

"I shall retreat for today, but we shall meet again, Melina Dufour and Alistair Sinclair," he cackled and disappeared.

Knight and Alistair instantly ran to Melina's side.

"Are you alright?" Alistair asked, frantically looking over Melina for injuries. Lightning still sparked in his eyes, showing the rage he was feeling. Even Knight was sniffing at her nervously, as if to make sure she was fine.

"I'm fine, I'm fine… I've used up most of my magic, but I managed to protect myself and the town," Melina said. "Most of it at least. He did damage a few buildings."

Alistair pulled Melina close, hugging her tightly. "As long as you're fine, that's all that matters."

They spent a moment locked together, hugging each other and letting their thundering hearts slowly calm down. Knight remained close, occasionally snorting and hitting the ground with his hoof as he kept looking around to see whether the assailant would return.

But once it was clear that the mage had truly left, Alistair released Melina.

"Who even was that man?" He asked. "And why would he attack you out of the blue?"

"I don't know. I only know that he's a powerful mage from Su Xien, and somehow I get a strong feeling that Heiliger is somehow to blame for his presence here," Melina said.

"Why do you think so?"

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"He said that he supposedly "heard" that the situation in Alemahria was different from that in Su Xien. Actually, he said something very interesting. That he wasn't allowed to attack monsters, elves, or drow there."

"Not allowed to?" Alistair muttered, rubbing his chin in thought.

"I never stopped to think about it… But other countries are also connected to the Monster Realm. I've heard that life would be much easier for elves in Su Xien. Could it be that they already have an amicable relationship with the Monster Realm?" Melina asked.

"I'm not sure. Su Xien is located all the way across the ocean, and a journey by ship would take over a month. We do have some merchants from Su Xien coming in for trade, but I never really paid attention to the fact that they didn't seem to mind elves and drow living in Sunglow," Alistair said.

"We need to find out more about Su Xien and their stance towards the Monster Realm. Maybe we can leverage their situation to our advantage somehow. After all, their country is so much larger than Alemahria," Melina noted.

The news of the attack on Melina spread through the town like wildfire. Apparently, there were a few witnesses to the battle. Mostly, people who were living nearby had heard the ruckus outside. They absolutely weren't shy in telling everyone what had happened in great detail.

Melina and Alistair were painted as heroes. Apparently, she had saved the whole town from certain destruction, and Alistair came to her rescue at the last moment, when she had been too exhausted to fight back. The woman swooned over this story, painting Alistair as the most perfect husband any woman could wish for.

Many people also believed that the man was sent by the Church. After all, it seemed that every bad occurrence that ever happened in Sunglow stemmed from them. Melina had to agree, and the more she thought about it, the more sense it made.

Heiliger required several things to get her realm separation plan to work. She would need all the sacred treasures, a proper location for the ritual, and a person to execute it. Previously, Melina had been the one to do the execution, but obviously, that wouldn't work this time.

Initially, Melina believed that she would use one of the previous Archmage candidates, like Adrien. Perhaps that was the plan in the beginning since Adrien had been targeted by the Church. But when Melina and Lord Eidranis worked together to capture Heiliger, the plan of her trying to dispose of her two biggest threats came apart.

The fact that she got put on trial straight afterwards was another strong blow. Yet it hadn't been enough to take Heiliger out, and now she has become panicked, rushing to execute a new plan as quickly as possible instead of slowly moving pieces into place like last time.

The mage from Su Xien was no doubt a replacement for Melina. He certainly didn't seem to think highly of Monster Realm, so it wasn't difficult to imagine him trying to help Heiliger. That meant that currently, Heiliger's main target would be the Sacred Treasures.

"Melina, are you sure you're alright?" Gilbert asked, rubbing on Melina's back.

The old man had uncharacteristically started when he heard the whole story and insisted on closing the bakery and stopping the classes for the day. Melina didn't want to do that, but Alistair also insisted on it, so she caved in the end. On condition that he would allow her to help out in the Town Hall later.

"I'm alright. Physically, at least. But I'm worried about what's to follow…" Melina muttered.

"I really hope that horrible man doesn't return. To think that you would get attacked first thing in the morning. Why would anyone attack a baker?" Roxie sniffled, having shed many tears for Melina's sake after hearing about the incident.

Adrien was sitting next to her, gently rubbing the girl's back. His expression was rather severe, his lips pursed into a thin line. The boy always seemed to react harshly to the Church, even though its involvement hadn't been confirmed yet.

Melina forced herself to smile to calm Roxie, as well as Mango, who was huddled up, trembling in her lap. The whole encounter must have scared the little fox immensely, but it was thanks to Mango that Melina was fine right now. It was Mango who warned Alistair after all. Melina didn't want to imagine what would have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did.

"I'm sure it'll be alright. Alistair will make sure that nobody else can breach Sunglow's security anymore. Besides, nobody got hurt in the end, and that's all that matters," Melina said.

Roxie nodded, but she didn't look very convinced of the fact.

"Melina, would you please teach me how to create magic shields?" Adrien asked with determination.

"That's rather advanced magic. Magic shields require a lot of mana, especially in the beginning when you're not yet as good at controlling them," Melina said.

"Even so, I believe that I should learn it. I have been getting better at improving my control. Look," Adrien said and opened his palm. Within it, lightning crackled this way and that, but never left the confines of this palm. The boy had certainly come a long way.

"Very well. But go fetch Leon, too. I'm sure he would love to learn how to create a magic shield, not to mention how useful it would be for the Guild," Melina said.

"Yes! I'll go now," Adrien said with a nod, and rushed off before anyone could object.

"I really hope that evil mage doesn't return…" Roxie repeated with another sniffle.

"Don't worry. We have a whole town full of adventurers and elves. We'll be safe," Melina said to console the girl. "Why don't you go rest for the day? We're not opening the bakery, and I'll be taking the day to teach some magic to Adrien and Leon."

"I don't think I could just rest… But I'll go clean the storage. I feel like cleaning something," Roxie muttered, and after wiping the tears from her eyes, she slowly walked towards the storage. The girl did have a quirk to clean things whenever she got nervous.

Melina and Gilbert shared a heavy look. They didn't need to speak for them both to know that the mage would absolutely return. Next time, he likely wouldn't be playing around either. He wasn't lying when he said that he was testing Melina; that much was clear.

If he had been serious in his attacks, then Melina feared she wouldn't have been able to withstand them for as long as she had. But he wouldn't be returning alone. Having assessed Melina's strength, the next attack would be sincere.

"I should tell Elowen before Adrien and Leon return. The Monster Lord should know…"

Gilbert nodded sagely. "There are preparations to be made. I'm sure the news must have reached Arianne by now."

"I suspect Alistair will explain everything to her and likely tell his father too. I just hope we'll… be ready."

Melina didn't want to say aloud what they were both thinking. Full assault from the Church. Either Melina would be able to stop the Church, or Heiliger would separate the Realms again, starting the disaster anew. Would Melina have rewind time again? Could she even do it again?

Gilbert placed a hand on her shoulder. "We always knew this was coming. There's not much that can be done to prevent that…"

Melina nodded, but then she realized that Heiliger willingly crawling out of the safety of the Church was actually a big boon for them. It would leave her vulnerable and exposed. Not to mention that she would strike Sunglow with full force, with a plan to split the Realms apart at the soonest opportunity.

She wouldn't risk waiting around and giving Melina the chance to snatch the Treasures back from her. Which meant that she would undoubtedly take the Chalice with her.

"This is actually a chance…" Melina said with a faint smile on her lips.

"Girl, are you planning to do something dangerous again?" Gilbert asked.

"No. I'm planning to put an end to this once and for all," Melina said, standing. "Tell Leon and Adrien that I'll be back shortly. I have to speak with Elowen."