20 – The Festival (6)
Kael narrowed his eyes at the man before him.
‘Hmm? Isn’t this the guy I saw yesterday?’
He hadn’t left right after the preliminary matches ended yesterday.
He had been observing from the stands, intending to confirm the identity of Cali’s officer as Sariele had mentioned.
As a result of his vigilance in the stands, he discovered the man didn’t emanate any magic.
Of course, mere observation wasn’t enough to be certain, but the fact remained that he felt no magic from him.
At that time, he had resolved to corner the man in the finals.
After all, it’s when traitors were cornered that their true magic often revealed itself.
But now,
‘What’s this? Why is he here?’
The problem was that the man in front of him looked identical to Cali’s officer.
Everything from his face to his height.
He was the spitting image.
Had it ended there, Kael would have let it be.
The real question was,
‘His magic and the weapon he uses are different.’
The magic he had seen yesterday was significantly stronger.
Moreover, the weapon wasn’t claws but a sword.
‘Anyway, this isn’t the time for that.’
He looked at the man before him.
The next moment.
“Tsck!”
The man furrowed his brows deeply and stepped back.
Elaine’s eyes widened as she flailed her arms.
“Professor. Are your hands alright?!”
Upon hearing that question, Kael displayed his hand.
Upon seeing it, Elaine’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Huh? It’s perfectly fine?”
“I reinforced it with magic.”
“Oh!”
At his explanation, Elaine nodded in understanding.
Kael then directed his gaze downwards.
“Ray. Are you okay?”
“Uh, uh. Yes, I’m okay.”
Her assurance came amidst heavy, labored breaths.
Contrary to her words, her heavy breathing implied she was pushing herself too much.
“Elaine, please take care of Ray.”
“Yes! Professor!”
With a spirited response, she went ahead of Ray.
This time, Kael shifted his gaze forward.
The next moment, the servant who was getting ready narrowed his eyes.
“What are you exactly?”
“I am a professor at the academy.”
“You, an academy professor? That’s a laugh.”
I know that academy professors are strong in their own right.
But it’s impossible not to see a gap while conversing casually
And his instincts tell him something.
The man in front of him is a completely different entity.
“I smell the same scent from you.”
“Scent?”
“Yes. The smell of having killed people. And not just one or two.”
“……”
Kael did not respond to that comment.
Because it wasn’t entirely wrong.
“So what are you getting at?”
“Hmm?”
“Anyone would think I’d taken a saint’s life.”
At the unexpected response, the servant wore a bewildered expression.
‘He seems flustered, I had planned to attack him by surprise. Seems that won’t be possible.’
Then…
The servant swung his claws.
In the next moment, a sharp attack headed straight towards him.
He should normally be able to easily evade such a blatant strike.
However, there were students behind him.
So, he couldn’t dodge.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
Kael flicked his finger.
A complex spell seemed to appear.
-Kaang!
The sharp magical strike was deflected.
Baffled by the unexpected counter, the servant’s eyes bulged.
He had never seen such magic before in his life.
“Damn it!”
The servant swung his claws with both hands to block the strike.
– Kwachang!
Consequently, the strike was annihilated.
“Hoo.”
The servant let out a shallow breath and shifted his gaze ahead.
In the next instant, Kael, who had somehow appeared in front of him.
“?!”
The servant swung his claws with all his might.
Just as the claws were about to touch Kael.
-Poof!
“Cough!”
Kael struck his abdomen with an elbow.
At the same time, a servant is sent flying towards the opposite wall.
-Kwaang.
A cloud of dust rises from where he landed.
“Ugh-erk!”
The servant clutches at his stomach as saliva dribbles from his mouth.
Then, with disbelief written all over his face, he glances up at the man standing before him.
‘Is this even possible?’
Forced to his knees after a single attack.
There was no precedent for such a situation.
From his point of view, he just couldn’t believe the current situation.
While the servant’s eyes trembled, on the other hand, Kael thought.
‘Indeed, he is different.’
Kael narrowed his eyes while observing the kneeling servant.
Just in case, he had leisurely watched his attack.
However, it was completely different from the man he had observed the day before.
‘Even under such pressure, he does not draw his sword.’
And certainly, the magic was completely different too.
So, who was the person I saw yesterday?
First, let’s extract some information.
“Hmm. For a galley officer of Cali’s, you’re not much.”
“?!”
At that moment, the guy’s eyes widened.
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Looking at his reaction, it was clear that he was indeed related to Cali.
“You’ve managed to learn our identity and this is the level of your ability… You can’t be left alive.”
As he said this, he unleashed his full magical power.
Kael, unbothered by his reaction, stomped on the servant’s head.
-Kwaang.
In the blink of an eye, the guy bowed low in surrender.
The servant, seeing his paralyzed body, was once again taken aback.
‘Even while using magic, I can’t move at all?’
How strong could he possibly be?
This isn’t going to work.
If things go on like this, he’ll be the one to suffer the consequences.
‘I tried to avoid using it because it’s too violent, but…’
He had no choice.
Hain released the magic that was deeply sealed within him.
– aaargh!!!
Black energy bursts out from Hain’s body.
The violent power was strong enough to make cracks in the surrounding structures.
‘With this, I can win!’
Enabled with magic from his body, Hain became confident.
However, contrary to expectations,
“What’s so special about that?”
“?!”
His body didn’t react at all.
He’s sure that he’s using magic.
Additionally, it’s being released with all his might.
Yet, why does the man in front of him seem unscathed?
No, why isn’t his body moving at all?
He wondered if he was not exerting enough strength but
– Zzzztztzt!
Cracks slowly started to form on the ground.
In other words,
‘Does that guy have more strength?’
He rolled his eyes and stared at him.
And then, there was Kael, his face expressionless as ever.
Seeing this, Hain intuitively realized.
No matter how rampant the man’s magic, it was not something that could be dealt with.
‘This guy is a professor?’
So far, nothing he had encountered possessed such overwhelming power.
Perhaps, to the extent that he thought he might be stronger than the boss.
One thing for sure, the man standing before him was certainly not someone he could teach.
“I will ask you again. Are you a lieutenant of Kali?”
“……”
His servant answered his question with silence.
Cael opened his mouth, observing the reaction.
“Silence means affirmation.”
As he said that, Cael was about to ask more questions.
However.
‘Tsk, it feels a little inappropriate to question here.’
The problem was that there were students present.
Cael silently turned his head.
The next moment.
“Eh?!”
Unlike the mesmerized Rei, Elaine was shivering.
At the unexpected situation, Cael narrowed his eyes.
Why on earth was she so scared?
Like someone with trauma.
‘I will have to talk about that later.’
Cael, having organized his thoughts, flicked his finger.
At that moment, a massive magic barrier unfolded around him.
‘There would be no leakage of information to the students.’
Cael grabbed the servant’s hair.
And then, he opened his mouth.
“Okay. If you don’t want to die, spit out what you know.”
“Damn it. Do you think I know how to spit out information!”
He emitted magic power with all his might, as if he would not die alone.
His body slowly swelled up.
If this continues, magic will explode and the surroundings will become a wasteland.
If it had been his past self, he would not have been able to stop it.
But then.
-Crack!
Kael grabbed the man’s head and exerted his strength.
Soon, he poured all his magical energy into him.
“AGhhhhh!”
In an instant, the servant screamed loudly.
Thankfully the sound-proof spell he cast earlier prevented the screams from reaching anyone else.
Furthermore, he didn’t have to worry about any leakage of magic power.
‘Here it is.’
Kael quickly found the source of the man’s magic in his system.
He then forcefully funnelled his magic into it, obliterating it.
“Cough!”
The servant vomited black blood.
At the same time, his body returned to its original state.
Speaking in his usual indifferent tone, Kael declared,
“If you don’t want to die painfully, spill out all the information you know.”
Upon seeing his gaze, the servant instinctively felt,
There would be a pain much worse than death if he didn’t speak now.
Promptly, he babbled out everything he knew.
***
Meanwhile, at that moment,
Elaine, who was nervously watching the situation, remembered a time from her past.
-Yeah. Just stay like that. I’ll protect you.
The wizard who protected her when she was young.
Although she couldn’t see his face as he wore a perception-blocking mask back then, she had never forgotten his back view.
Kael’s back currently looked identical to that wizard’s.
Looking at Kael’s back, Elaine murmured softly, audible only to herself,
“Is that you, Archmage?”