165 – Aftermath. (1)
The magician only regained his senses after seeing the chimera collapse.
‘What in the world are those monsters?’
He felt a strange sense of elation at the fact that the byproducts of his research were so powerful, but it was short-lived.
When he saw the academy students who had defeated the powerful-looking chimera, he felt a surge of fear.
He wasn’t sure he could defeat them even if he were to face them now.
No, he would be lucky to escape with his life.
‘…They’re not ordinary students. They must be among the top students at the academy.’
And that meant they had a very, very fearsome backing. Their families would track him down before the emperor’s protection could reach him.
It meant that the day of his death had drawn nearer.
‘It’s dangerous to stay here. I need to get away as soon as possible…’
He quickly opened the door to his laboratory and tried to step outside.
However.
Boom.
[What the…?]
He couldn’t get out. It was as if something was blocking his way.
He activated his mana and drew a magic circle.
What the magic circle created was a sphere of mana used solely for destruction.
A pure mass of mana, unworthy to be called magic, was launched at the mana barrier.
KWA-BOOOOOM!
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However.
Despite the shockwave and dust that had literally turned his laboratory upside down, the mana barrier remained intact without a single scratch.
The fear the magician felt at this strange phenomenon was intense.
What in the world was happening in this space? He had no way of knowing. He could only tell that someone had locked him up.
For the first time in his life, an unknown fear gnawed at him.
Especially in this situation, where he had so much to lose. He had finally secured enough time to reach the pinnacle of his dark magic, and yet he had been suddenly imprisoned?
He didn’t even know who had imprisoned him.
The heart he had replaced with a demon’s heart began to beat like mad. A fear he had never experienced before consumed him.
[What is it? What is it? What the hell is going on…!]
BAM! KWA-BOOOOM!
He screamed like a madman and pounded on the mana barrier.
The possibility that he had simply been locked up? That was an absurd thought, even to him. This was a cage that had been created to trap him. A cage meant to trap him so that he could be killed. After all, there was no other reason to lock him up like this.
That was why his struggle became even more desperate.
[Who the hell…!]
“As expected of Astia. Your skills are impressive.”
And as he was shouting in frustration, a figure began to appear beyond the barrier. The magician’s eyes widened as he recognized the figure.
It was the Academy students who had played a major role in killing the chimera just a short while ago. The black-haired girl and the blond-haired boy.
They were on the cusp of becoming a young woman and a young man, and while they were still young, they exuded a mature aura as they looked at him with a relaxed expression.
[Who in the world are you….]
But as he looked at the boy and girl, the magician was filled with an indescribable fear.
Was it possible that one of these two had created the mana barrier that was currently trapping him?
“Who are we? Why, we’re valiant heroes who have come to punish a mad magician.”
Prach cracked a casual joke.
“Prach. Even you have to admit that we’re not exactly valiant heroes, right?”
“……Well, for now, I guess we could be considered valiant heroes.”
“Is that so?”
“Let’s just say that.”
[…….]
The magician was speechless as he watched the two of them joking around. It was because he instinctively sensed it. Whether it was the senses of the demon that had fused with him or something else, he didn’t know… but the boy and girl in front of him, no.
To be precise, the black-haired girl was dangerous. His entire demonic body was frozen stiff, sending him a warning.
He shouldn’t even think about fighting that girl. If he did, he would die instantly.
At the whispered warning, the magician gritted his teeth. Judging from the boy’s statement that they had come to punish a mad magician, he had no choice but to fight them.
“Should I release the mana barrier?”
“Yeah. Don’t come out on your own.”
The boy called Prahra surprised the sorcerer.
Why on earth?
His instincts were ringing alarm bells as he looked at the girl.
She was probably a sorceress who had reached a realm beyond his imagination, and he knew very well that she could harm him at any moment if she so desired.
But why?
Why was the boy telling him not to approach the girl?
Was there something about the boy that he was missing?
Just then, the boy spoke.
“Listen, crazy sorcerer. I have a proposal for you.”
[……A proposal, you say. What is this all about?]
He laughed like a mischievous child who had found a new toy.
“If you defeat me, you can go free without any fuss. I’ll even bury your crimes in the past.”
[How can I trust you?]
“Hey, it’s not up to you to trust me or not. You have to trust me. You must have felt it already, haven’t you?”
[Felt what?]
“That body of yours, you’ve grafted a demon’s body onto yourself. So you must know. How strong this guy next to me is.”
[…….]
Just as the boy said, the sorcerer couldn’t do anything. He was literally a lion trapped in a cage.
All a lion trapped in a cage can do is fight a gladiator and either die or kill.
The sorcerer squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t feel any fear from the boy, but he figured there must be a reason why the boy was so confident.
He wouldn’t have made such a bet without being confident of victory. If he wanted to let me go, he would have just let me go.
[I have no choice but to accept.]
“Very well.”
The boy said, and raised his hand in the air.
What is he going to do? The sorcerer wondered, preparing his magic. With the simplest, fastest magic he could.
In a one-on-one duel, not a large-scale battle, what a sorcerer needs is not complex and powerful magic, but weak magic that gradually wears down the opponent.
Crackle!
Electricity erupted. No magic was faster than this. Lightning magic was quick to cast and effective.
The sorcerer fired a barrage of lightning magic. The crackling electricity flew towards the boy without ceasing. Being fast to cast meant it could be fired in rapid succession.
Dozens of electric spheres rose behind the sorcerer, and he fired them all at the boy.
BOOM!
With a clap of thunder, electricity coursed through the spot where the boy had been standing, and a cloud of dust rose.
His vision was slightly obscured, but the sorcerer didn’t think the boy had fallen from such an attack. Recalling the swordsmanship the boy had displayed earlier, it wouldn’t be strange if he were to cut his throat right now.
He tensed up, put up a barrier around his body, and prepared his magic again.
But the expected sword strike did not come.
All that happened was the dust cloud cleared, and there, in the place where the boy had been standing, was the boy, his sword in hand, as if he had appeared out of nowhere.
And in that instant, the sorcerer could hear the demon’s instincts within his body ringing an alarm bell. Flee this place at once. If you don’t, you will die.
That’s what it whispered.
His legs moved on their own. He had been taking a step back, but now he turned around and ran like mad, not caring if his path was blocked by a magical barrier that had been set up.
BAM! BAM!
Against the firmly established magical barrier, the wizard continued to slam his body.
Escape. Escape. Escape……!
He just had to act as his instincts warned him to. However, the magical barrier lightly ignored his ramming as if to show off its sturdiness.
[Hi, hiiik……!]
Letting out a shrill scream, the wizard turned his head towards the boy, Prah, approaching him and…… witnessed it at that moment.
Numerous wraiths were forming a figure behind Prah.
Witnessing that figure, the wizard realized.
That it was a monster one must never make eye contact with.
That a feeble being such as a human could not even look at it.
And that was the wizard’s last thought. Faced with indescribable fear, the wizard could only roll his eyes back and die.
* * *
It seemed like I still hadn’t grasped the power of Salus properly.
I just tried to handle the power of wraiths since I could use it after becoming the master of Salus, but I never thought I would die just by looking at its figure before I could even handle it properly.
“……It’s beyond imagination.”
I turned my head to Asti, who spoke like that.
She slightly closed her eyes and nodded.
“I think I know why you tried to get Salus. The figure of the wraith you just handled…… Only humans with strong mental power won’t die just by facing it.”
“That much?”
“Yeah. It’s definitely not a power to use carelessly. If you had summoned it where those kids were, it could have been a disaster. Their mental power isn’t that strong yet.”
“……Thank goodness.”
“You need to be careful when using that power. And I also felt that you’re not used to using that power yet. If you don’t handle it properly, the people around you will die in droves.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I nodded heavily. I almost killed the whole party if I had made a mistake. I didn’t know that the power of Salus would be this much…… Well, the wraiths inside Salus are beings whose ages cannot be guessed, and they are those who dominated the era.
And wraiths usually give a great shock to the human mind. If the kids had faced it…… It would have been terrible.
“For the time being, I need to learn how to control the power of Salus in a place where ordinary people can’t approach.”
“Yeah. Let’s make an underground space in the mansion, or I’ll create a training ground in a place where there are no people at all.”
“Okay.”