IDED | Chapter 126

Episode 126

At Serena’s confident gesture, Azaid let out a faint exclamation. She was right—there was a way to absorb mana without direct contact.

“You’re planning to track down the targets of the Duke’s spells and absorb their mana, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

The reason Serena had been able to dispel Nocturne’s magic was that she had absorbed the concentrated internal mana within it.

Every person has a limited amount of internal mana. If that was taken away, the Duke’s power would inevitably weaken.

Lily, who had been quietly listening, posed a question.

“But he can still use magic by drawing from natural mana. Wouldn’t it be difficult to completely drain his internal mana?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, Count.”

Lily was correct—internal mana was finite for every individual, but there was an inexhaustible supply of natural mana in the surroundings.

That’s why the more skilled a mage was, the more they relied on natural mana to compensate for their limited internal reserves.

Azaid himself, due to his lack of internal mana, had often used natural mana when exerting his power.

“The Duke’s mana that I absorbed didn’t contain a single trace of natural mana.”

“Ah.”

“I read about this in a magic research paper. Some unique spells can only be cast using internal mana.”

“Are you saying the Duke falls into that category?”

“I’m almost certain. Even when casting spells on someone as insignificant as Colin, he only used internal mana.”

If the Duke’s magic could tap into natural mana, he wouldn’t have wasted his internal reserves on a lowly underling like Colin.

Lily, now understanding, let out an admiring sigh.

“You’re incredibly knowledgeable about magic, Serena. I thought you only specialized in medicine.”

Serena shrugged playfully and grinned.

“I may not look it, but I’m Nocturne’s top student.”

All the hours spent under Nocturne’s guidance, reading countless magic research papers and textbooks, were finally paying off.

“It seems that in order to strengthen the binding force of his spells, the Duke has no choice but to use internal mana.”

“That means if we track down those affected by his magic and steal their mana, it’ll deal a significant blow to the Duke.”

“But won’t he notice?”

This time, it was Leonard who raised a concern. Serena, having anticipated the question, shook her head lightly.

“Spells dispelled through absorption magic go unnoticed by the caster.”

Several months ago, when Serena first met Nocturne, she had unknowingly dispelled his elemental magic, yet he hadn’t realized it.

Later, just to confirm, she had used Izring to cast and absorb a spell, but Azaid hadn’t noticed anything either.

Normally, when a spell is dispelled, the internal mana returns to the caster’s body. However, if the mana is absorbed in the process, there’s nothing left to return—meaning they wouldn’t realize what had happened.

“The Duke must have a limit to the number of times he can use his magic. By the time he realizes he can’t cast any more spells, it’ll already be too late.”

The three listening to Serena exchanged glances, their lips slightly parted. In that moment, they felt relieved that Serena wasn’t their enemy.

A genius wasn’t called a genius for nothing. Even though she hadn’t studied magic for long, her ability to apply it so effectively was astounding.

Azaid smiled with pride at Serena’s brilliance. The look on his face practically screamed, Isn’t my girlfriend amazing? causing Leonard to glance at him with narrowed eyes.

Then, Serena turned to Lily and spoke.

“To make this work, I need your help, Count Lowell.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I know how to absorb mana, but I don’t have the ability to track or detect magic.”

Lily’s unique magic was Detection, while Serena’s was Absorption.

If the two of them worked together, there would be no mana they couldn’t steal.

Serena declared with unwavering confidence,

“As long as your detection magic and my absorption magic work in tandem, the Duke is as good as a rat trapped in a cage.”

***

After sending Pai to Nocturne, Serena immediately set off with Lily to begin their hunt for the Duke.

Their first task was to find Tyler.

After being scammed by Colin, Tyler had gone into hiding. But since Jack had already been keeping tabs on him, tracking him down didn’t take long.

Serena stared at the large bundle that Jack had dragged in.

He actually managed to shove that massive man into a bag?

The thought of Tyler curled up in there made her chuckle.

“Let him out.”

At Serena’s request, Jack untied the bag.

The moment it was loosened, Tyler popped out, and their eyes met.

“Mmm! Mmm!”

“And take off the gag.”

“He’s going to be loud.”

“It’s fine.”

Jack, sounding reluctant, removed the gag.

The moment he did, Tyler began barking furiously.

“This is a crime! Kidnapping a noble—do you think you’ll get away with—!”

Serena plugged her ears.

“Put the gag back on.”

“Knew that was coming.”

Jack smirked and shoved the gag back into Tyler’s mouth, then forced him to kneel before Serena.

Even in his dazed state, Tyler glared at her.

Ignoring him, Serena turned her head toward the corner and spoke.

“You can come out now.”

At her words, Lydia hesitantly stepped forward.

“Mmm! Mmm!”

Tyler, as if cursing through the gag, let out muffled protests. Lydia, however, didn’t even spare him a glance.

Instead, she looked at Serina with a submissive expression and asked,

“If I do as you say… will that be enough?”

“Yes. Just follow orders.”

At Serena’s gentle tone, Lydia swallowed nervously.

Even now, just thinking about yesterday made her fingertips tremble.

“A Terrifying Girl.”

As Lydia cursed Serena in her mind, Tyler glanced back and forth between the two women, his eyes filled with confusion.

It was chilling to see Lydia, who had once despised Serina to the extreme, suddenly acting so docile.

Lydia steeled herself and stepped forward in front of Tyler.

One day earlier.

“Isn’t this too much?!”

Lydia kicked the floor in frustration. Ever since meeting the Emperor, she had been imprisoned in the secret underground prison of the Gordon Trading Company.

Although it was more comfortable than where Colin was held, for someone used to a life of luxury like Lydia, it was unbearable.

Everything felt eerie and terrifying.

What made it even worse was the fact that hardly anyone came to see her.

The few who did simply brought food and water, then left without a word. No one responded when she tried to speak.

There were no servants to clean, no maids to attend to her.

Still, the only reason Lydia remained quiet was because the one who had imprisoned her was the Emperor himself.

If she caused a commotion, she could very well lose her head. Even Lydia, as oblivious as she was, understood that much.

Doesn’t Marco care about me? What about Father? Or Mother?

Lydia grumbled to herself.

Of course, even if they were worried, she knew it would be difficult for them to track down her whereabouts.

Just then, the sound of footsteps echoed down the stairs.

It was the first time someone had come outside of mealtime.

Half nervous, half hopeful, Lydia stretched her neck toward the source of the sound.

Could it be someone coming to rescue her?

But as soon as she saw the person, her face fell in disappointment.

It was someone who would never come to save her.

“Hello, Lydia. You look better than I expected.”

“It was you! You complained to His Majesty and had me locked up, didn’t you? You wretched—get me out of here right now—!”

Lydia pressed herself against the bars, shouting in a shrill voice—until she suddenly fell silent.

Azaid had followed Serena down the stairs.

Lydia recoiled, trembling. Azaid, watching her reaction, murmured,

“I thought she would have figured out the situation by now.”

“Lydia thinking? That’ll be the day the sun rises in the west.”

“That bad, huh?”

As Azaid and Serena exchanged banter, Lydia’s mind raced.

Were they here to release her? Or were they going to bury her for good?

She couldn’t guess their intentions, and her throat went dry.

Meanwhile, Serena, looking completely at ease, pulled a chair in front of the bars and sat down.

“Come here and sit. We need to talk.”

“W-why should I listen to you?”

“Hmm.”

Serena brushed her fingers along the corner of her lips, crossed her legs, and stared at Lydia.

“Seems like you still don’t understand the situation. Let me explain it kindly.”

She then tapped her long fingers as if playing the piano.

The violet Izring on her finger caught the light, glinting brightly.

Lydia briefly wondered if Serina was trying to show off her Isling—

But then, Serena casually tapped her finger against the bars.

In an instant, the violet Isling turned a deep red.

A burst of flames erupted, heating the bars to a glowing red.

Lydia’s face went pale.

An Izring turning from violet to red in an instant?

She had never heard of such a thing.

But the flames before her eyes were no illusion.

“W-when did you—how did you—?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“……”

“Lydia. Come here and sit down.”

Serena motioned to the spot in front of her and continued,

“Next time, it won’t be the bars that burn. It’ll be that hair of yours that you spent so much money on. Think carefully, Lydia.”

“T-that’s—! That’s monstrous—!”

Lydia instinctively clutched her hair, stammering in panic.

Funny how she valued her own hair so much—when she had so easily cut off Serena’s.

Serena rested her chin on her hand, chuckling.

“So you do know how cruel your actions were. You knew, and yet you still had no problem cutting my hair.”

“……”

Lydia couldn’t argue. Her lips trembled.

Serena casually twirled her fingers and issued a final warning.

“So. Sit. Down. Before I burn it all to ash for real.”