Why Did You Summon Me?

Facing the man who would one day be subjected to immense criticism, Baiyi maintained a poker face. He looked around the room and said, “I’m afraid I do not like talking to an audience. Please, just one of you will do.”

The soldiers’ expressions darkened, and the tips of their weapons moved, intent on carving up this idiot, who believed he had a say in his current situation.

Even Dante found Baiyi’s request laughable. “It seems someone is unaware of their position.”

“On the contrary, it is you that is unaware of  your position,” Baiyi replied, raising his right hand.

A rune appeared in midair, and the soldiers — who had not seen anything like it before, as runes had not been invented at the time — froze in shock. Before they could recover, their weapons broke in two and fell to the ground.

Expressions of shock and disbelief colored the soldiers’ faces. Alarmed by what he had seen, Dante quickly pulled out his staff and began to chant. Before he could finish, though, a ring of runes appeared above Baiyi’s finger, forcefully stopping his incantation.

‘Silence — I’ve been hit by Silence!’ Dante cried out, but no sound escaped his lips. In a second, the schism between his power level and the enemy’s was clear for him to see. The enemy had hit him with a spell without uttering a word or using a formation. Furthermore, Dante could not detect a whiff of mana emanate from the enemy.

There were no signs, but in the blink of an eye, Dante had been hit by a Silence spell!

The palpable gap in power caused his blood to go cold; he knew that he was underequipped to fight this mysterious enemy. It was obvious that the enemy would have killed them all easily if he wished to do so.

The two sorcerers behind Dante were just as strong as he was. Before they could complete their incantations, their lips were sealed shut; Biayi had struck them with two Silence spells.

Now that the tables had turned, Dante decided to stop his subjects from doing anything else that would annoy their powerful opponent. As he could not speak, his gaze darted around his subjects, silently implying that they leave the room.

The soldiers reluctantly trudged out of the room, leaving Dante and Baiyi behind. When the other sorcerers left the room, one of them tugged a soldier’s sleeve and hissed, “Report this to the leader; this is a First Grade Emergency!”

“W-what?!” The soldier’s face turned pale. First Grade Emergencies were national-level threats like hostile army invasions. How could this mysterious man pose a threat at the same level? Was the man really that terrifying?!

“Just… what kind of monster did we just face?” The soldier’s voice trembled a little.

“I’ve never seen anyone cast a spell so quickly and without an incantation. Hell, I’ve never even seen his method of spellcasting before ! ” The sorcerer said with a dark expression. “All I know is this: the enemy’s powers completely eclipse ours, so do not try anything foolish that could blow up in our face. Do you understand me?”

Rune magic had an advantage over the normal formation magic; it was fast and emitted a very low amount of mana. In the hands of someone as skilled as Baiyi, it was possible to make others think that one was silently spellcasting. Since rune magic had not been invented at this time, the Rohlserlian sorcerers, who had never seen it before, considered very dangerous and powerful.

One of Baiyi’s favorite activities was scaring people with that they had not seen before. In modern-day Isythre, when rune magic was the norm, Baiyi used ancient Rohlserlian formations to cast his spells; now that he was back in the past, a time before runes existed, he had switched to rune magic, gaining a psychological edge.

“I hope Sir Dante can buy us enough time,” the soldier replied and bolted in another direction.

Dante the Hound had now lost all the composure he had before. His body was drenched in sweat, and the cold surface of his armor caused him to feel even more chilly. He was no longer sure what exactly was freezing his blood.

The sorcerer was so easily petrified because he had not been in the military for long, and he was only thirty years old. He was not to become the hardened villain that history described him as until many years in the future. Thus, Baiyi’s small tricks had overwhelmed him psychologically.

“Take a seat. I do wish to harm you — something I’m sure you’ve noticed. If I wanted to kill, all it would require is a snap of my fingers.”

There was something in Baiyi’s voice that Dante could not resist; the voice was solemn and mysterious, which made it seem as though it ought to belong to a god, and he could not afford to disobey its instructions. Quiet and weak, Dante grabbed a chair and sat down, his head hung low so as not to meet Baiyi’s gaze.

Baiyi had managed to create that god-like effect using the Charlatan Walker’s mind tricks to recreate the ambiance around the War God. To Baiyi, it was important that he make up a good identity, which he would assume in front of the young Emperor. The made-up identity needed to be foolproof enough to discourage further probes. The identity he had assumed back at Aegir was only good enough to fool the simple townsfolk. Fooling the empire, which had enough resources and manpower to thoroughly investigate anyone, required a better identity and backstory — one that would not fall apart under scrutiny.

Baiyi decided to make up an identity that was more believable and respectable, preventing others from trying to undermine it. An identity that was rich in the forbidden mystery was his best bet, as humans always feared what they did not understand; thus, Baiyi decided to brand himself what he loathed the most: a psychic [1].

With the Charlatan Walker’s memories, Baiyi’s knowledge of the psychological trumped that of most mediums and psychics, including those back on Earth. This and his observations on the Psychic of the Void, the Fourth Walker, ensured that he would be able to play his role to perfection.

Brimming with confidence in his acting prowess, Baiyi solemnly said, “I am called… the Prophet. ”

In his mind, however, he had cringed. He disliked this alias for many reasons, and one of them was that it reminded him of the Shaman class in World of Warcraft. It was a lackluster character class, which along with the Hunter class were known as “The Twin Stooges in Mail” ¹ . Furthermore, it sounded like the name of an alien spaceship, which was used to kill unsuspecting farmers and spy on humans. He also knew that “the Prophet” was the moniker of a f amous gaming commenter. ²

Unfortunately, this was the best hand to play at the moment. It would compel the archmage to listen to him and minimize the possibility of him doing anything that deviated from the course of history that Baiyi had come to know. This way, when Baiyi returns to his own time, he would not be greeted by the Fairy Walker, the Warrior Walker, Lady Assassin Walker, and a bunch of kids — kids that they had birthed for other men.

Baiyi had intended the ‘Prophet’ title to incite expressions of shock, but Dante looked less impressed than before. Baiyi began to worry that his earlier spell was broken, causing his threatening aura to thin out.

‘Hold up. Are the Charlatan Walker’s techniques failing me? Did it have to be  now?!,’  Baiyi thought, but he shook his head moments later. Spells that targeted the mind were non-existent in this time, so Dante could not have found a way to throw them off. Baiyi was sure that, at this time, no one in this realm should be able to throw off such spells.

There had to be another reason for Dante’s sudden disinterest. Baiyi quickly skimmed through everything he knew, including the memories he had given, and moments later, he finally unearthed a small detail that could explain his little setback.

At this point in time, a few organized religions were already operating in several nations. The Ancient Rohlserlian Empire, however, did not have any, as its people were largely unconcerned with gods and their teachings. The adulation that should have been reserved for the divine was directed to the empire’s sorcerers and their command of magic. This was another reason why sorcerers were arrogant. Although the sorcerers had never explicitly rejected the existence of gods, they were happy to express their disrespect for them. One argument they often made against religion was, “If your gods really gave a hoot about you, then where were they when we were absolutely obliterating your nation?”

However, the ancient Rohlserlian’s anti-theism did little to deter zealous missionaries and theocratic nations from trying to spread their influence to the Empire. Mediums, priests, and psychics commonly targeted the Empire’s rural villages and towns, making unwanted appearances and calling themselves ‘prophets’ and ‘messengers of gods’. In most cases, they were often exposed and summarily lynched by angry medieval mobs. The luckier ones were slain by Rohlserlian sorcerers that rush over whenever they receive reports of the arrivals of these prophets.

Hence, in the ancient Rohlserlian Empire, no one wished to call themselves prophets. They would not look cool if they did; they were called despicable, instead. Without the Church of God’s Grace — which, at this time, had not yet been created — to police matters of faith, there were too many cases of conmen, who called themselves prophets, scamming the people.

‘I knew I shouldn’t have taken up this cringe-worthy role,’ Baiyi sighed. Unfortunately, he could not take his words back.

Still doing his best to sound mysterious, Baiyi said, “I can see the skepticism in your eyes, but soon, you shall find your suspicions to be unneeded.”

Dante did not say anything, so Baiyi continued, “The empire is fortunate that its army is well-prepared for the upcoming trial. Your real enemy shall rise from the north very soon. When that time comes, rise, brave warrior, and apply yourself in the battle, with pride! You may see me again after it is over.”

Baiyi then waved his hand and struck Dante with two spells that moved too fast to notice. In a flash of light, Dante disappeared from the room and found himself outside the guesthouse. The Silence spell had been broken as well.

Dante blinked several times to make sure that he really was outside. He realized that the mysterious man had used his inhuman speed at spellcasting again to cast a teleportation spell.

After a small taste of Baiyi’s magical mastery, Dante began to rever him. However, the title ‘Prophet’ made the rising respect reduce. Why would a powerful sorcerer forfeit his prestige and the veneration of the public to take on an alias commonly used by fraudsters?

“Is he an eccentric man?” Dante wondered. “For someone unusual enough to consider that title fine, he seemed surprisingly amicable. He was not upset that some ignorant fools, including me, disrespected him earlier. Someone this merciful cannot be a sadistic murderer that destroys mountain villages, can he?”

Dante returned to the army base whilst musing over the strange exchange he had had with Baiyi. He made a mental report of the conversion for his superiors. As a proud Rohlserlian sorcerer, Dante had ignored Baiyi’s ominous warning.

He was so loyal to Rohlserlian culture and ideals that he would one day blindly defend a royal tradition at the expense of his beloved country. Someone like him would never pay heed to silly oracles.

When Dante entered the barracks, he saw soldiers rushing about in a frenzy. He wondered if the army had already been mobilized to fight the strange sorcerer. He rushed past the others, searching for his superior — a centurion named Finn — so that he could submit his report.

When Dante came to report, Finn noticed an unnatural expression on his face. He nodded at Dante and said, “Wash your face and return to me immediately. We’re preparing for battle!”

After that, he returned his gaze to an unfurled map on the table.

Dante recalled Baiyi’s unsettling spellcasting method, and a thought emerged in his mind. “Sir, I’m certain we’ve miscalculated our strategy against the suspect. He did not demonstrate any evil or cruel intentions. He was just a bit unusual. I firmly believe we should hold off any confrontations for the time being and observe him more — ”

Finn looked up in astonishment. “What are you talking about? We aren’t preparing to war with that suspect. An army of demons is invading from the north right now! That suspect can wait.”

Those words struck Dante’s mind like a thunderbolt. He stood still, replaying Baiyi’s words in his mind. His real enemies were to come from the north, and the army, including Dante, would have to rise and fight them.

Could this prophet be the real deal?