A Gloomy Alchemist's Resolve
Thwip! Thwip!
"Urgh...!"
Two spears pierced deep into Rofel's leg and shoulder.
"R-Rofel...!"
Elisio hurriedly pulled another potion from her breast pocket and let a couple of drops fall onto his wounds.
Rofel's injuries healed at a visible, rapid pace.
"Oh, that's quite nice. If I kill you and take that, I'll be able to enjoy myself for much longer later, won't I?"
Arise stared with keen interest at the potion Elisio had brewed.
Having indulged in torture using healing potions before, he was well aware of how standard potions performed.
That was why he could tell at a single glance just how extraordinary Elisio's potion was.
"Yes, keep healing him like that. That way, I can stretch out the fun...!"
Arise unleashed a relentless barrage of violet arrows. Rofel strained to deflect every single one, but his stamina was flagging, and his mana was running dry.
Without Elisio's potions, Rofel would have collapsed long ago.
Yet, watching Rofel endure, Arise felt a flicker of surprise.
Slowly.
Gritting his teeth, Rofel was inching forward, step by agonizing step, toward him.
His eyes were bloodshot, burning with a terrifying, unyielding tenacity.
Not that it mattered to Arise.
He simply had to rain down even more devastating attacks.
But just as that thought crossed his mind, a sudden sting flared on his cheek, followed by the sensation of a cold liquid trickling down.
Instantly, the violet spears Arise had been conjuring froze in midair.
Rofel sank to one knee, panting heavily as if completely spent.
What was dripping down Arise's cheek was none other than his own fresh blood.
It seemed that even while desperately defending against the onslaught, Rofel had managed to mimic Arise's own offensive magic and fling it back at him, despite his failing strength.
Although Arise's instincts had kicked in to deflect the trajectory, reducing the blow to a mere scratch rather than a fatal wound, he was utterly displeased by this turn of events.
He was supposed to be the sole tormentor here.
The only blood allowed to spill was that of his victims.
When Arise glared down at Rofel with eyes full of rage, the exhausted boy merely offered a faint, mocking smirk.
How insolent.
Arise found Rofel's attitude absolutely intolerable.
In return, he resolved to sever the boy's limbs and subject him to every conceivable agony.
Black magic required a price to be paid.
For this reason, dark mages prepared their sacrifices beforehand through rituals to secure the necessary toll.
And Arise decided to pour every last bit of that accumulated toll into his next spell.
Though he was currently controlling a vast number of puppets in real-time, handling this level of strain was child's play.
Dozens of violet spears materialized, far outnumbering the previous volley.
The sheer density of the mana was on a completely different level.
Rofel stared at the overwhelming barrage, forced himself back onto his feet, and braced his stance.
He did not forget to cast a reassuring glance back at Elisio, who was trembling violently behind him.
"...! Using magic! What if they detect your mana signature?!"
"If I control it with this level of precision, it will be fine," Principal Rium Kidokal replied. "Though I exhausted an absurd amount of mana in the earlier battle, I intend to help as much as I can."
"Thank you for agreeing with me, Principal Rium," Marc Visus said.
"...So you all really intend to go through with this," the young vice principal, Heeris Morgan, whispered anxiously.
"What choice do we have? This young man is correct," Rium said. "If we just sit here waiting for rescue, we will either become sacrifices for their black magic or get crushed under a collapsing building. This gives us a slightly better chance of survival."
"However, rushing in blindly right now is not the way. We must wait for an opportunity—a moment when they are distracted or thrown into disarray."
Although Rium's magic had already severed their ropes, the three of them pretended to still be bound, keeping a close eye on the situation.
Before long, a dark mage wearing a red-patterned robe came into view, flanked by several subordinates.
He had come to inspect whether the magic circle inside was drawn correctly.
"...! That is him. I could not see his face clearly, but that robe with the red pattern! He is undoubtedly their leader!" Rium whispered sharply, his eyes flashing.
Considering the leader's strength, Rium knew a direct ambush right now would be futile.
Moreover, even if they looked like small fry, the presence of other dark mages surrounding him made success even more unlikely.
If only they could create even a brief opening...!
It was then.
"We have successfully breached the Great Hall! Attack the dark mages! Focus on their leader!"
A small group of knights clad in dark iron armor, led by Seraphina Serion, burst into the Great Hall.
The startled dark mages and their puppets instantly turned their attention toward the knights.
"Now!"
Principal Rium immediately unleashed his magic to support the invading knights.
Marc Visus snatched up a sword from a fallen guard nearby and charged straight at the dark mage in the red-patterned robe.
Though the blade was somewhat dull, it was more than sharp enough to kill. He aimed it directly at the neck of the man he assumed to be the leader.
"N-No... R-Rofel...!"
I stared at the scene before me, unable to close my mouth in shock.
The man in front of me was taking the dark mage's relentless attacks entirely with his own body.
He was shielding me from every blow—even the ones aimed at me, a girl he had only just met.
At first, terrified for Rofel, I had applied the potion to heal his wounds as they appeared. But as the onslaught grew fiercer, I wasn't even given the breathing room to do that.
In the end, I could only cower behind his back, trembling uncontrollably.
I was nothing but a burden to him.
Perhaps he had other options.
If he had ignored me and focused solely on his own safety, he wouldn't have ended up in this state.
But he didn't.
"W-Why... for someone like me...!"
From the moment we met, he had been nothing but an enigma.
Those who approached her for her family name, and those who approached her for her talent—all of them had eventually recoiled at her personality and fled.
Everyone who had ever come near her had abandoned her.
Except for this one man.
Though they had only known each other for a short time, he had never frowned at her in disgust. Instead, he had given her a smile warmer than anyone else's.
Even up to the moment he pulled her into his arms to shield her from the dark mage's magic.
Rofel's body was now a battered, bloody wreck.
His right hand barely clung to a metal pipe that was so mangled only the grip remained.
His left arm, which he had used to cast Dispel, hung limply, barely attached to his shoulder.
Kneeling on the ground, he looked like a hedgehog, with countless black spears bristling from his body.
Yet, whether by luck or cruelty, his life was not in immediate danger.
The dark mage had boasted that these spears were his own unique creation. They had no physical form, but they inflicted excruciating agony upon contact.
In other words, the black spears piercing his flesh existed solely to torture him.
"Phew... Still not enough. I need to take my time and savor this one slowly...!"
The dark mage panted heavily, his wrath still unsated.
"So, I'll start with you first. I plan to take him back to headquarters as a special treat."
With those words, he began walking toward me, his footsteps echoing.
My legs shook so violently I couldn't even move.
I had neither the physical strength nor the mana to fight back.
Tears of sheer terror spilled from my eyes.
Yet, for some reason, I found myself glaring back at him with wide, fierce eyes.
The emotion burning within me was none other than vengeance.
He had approached me with pure, harmless goodwill, looking past my talent and my family name.
He was my first, and perhaps last, true friend in this life.
And this man had reduced that friend to a bloody, broken mess.
The more I thought about it, the more rage consumed my fear.
I checked the remaining volume of the potion in my pocket.
What would happen if I drank this entire bottle at once?
I had tested it on an insect once.
Unable to withstand the artificial, overwhelming surge of healing energy, the body would swell up and trigger a massive explosion.
An explosion violent enough to take the life of the person right in front of me.
Closing my eyes, I steeled my resolve.
Arise approached Elisio with leisurely strides.
Having made up her mind, she immediately pulled the potion from her pocket, uncorked it, and prepared to chug it with all her might.
But in a flash, he closed the distance and grabbed her wrist.
"N-No..."
"I don't know what you were planning to do with a mere potion, but I have no intention of letting any more variables crop up."
Despair instantly flooded her eyes.
"Now, I don't have much time left either. The magic circle will be completed soon, and I have plenty of other prey waiting. It's a pity, but I'll have to kill you quickly—"
Suddenly, something lunged at Arise.
It was Rofel, his entire body bristling with black spears.
Arise gasped in sheer disbelief.
He knew the nature of those spears better than anyone; he had created them himself.
Under normal circumstances, the pain should have rendered the victim unable to lift a single finger, leaving them screaming for a swift death!
Yet here he was, moving despite the spears piercing him like a hedgehog.
And he was moving with unbelievable strength!
Arise tried to throw himself backward, but it was already too late.
Rofel wrapped his mangled arms around Arise in a crushing embrace.
As they collided, the countless black spears embedded in Rofel's flesh pierced into Arise as well.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Arise shrieked in agony, his mouth tearing open at the corners.
It was exactly as he had designed—an overwhelming pain that paralyzed the body completely!
He was in so much pain that he forgot to even dispel the magic.
And Elisio Gremlina did not miss the opportunity.
She poured the entire contents of her potion directly down his wide-open, screaming throat.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
"Mmph!"
Arise knew what he had just swallowed was a healing potion.
He had witnessed it instantly mend the boy's wounds just moments ago.
Yet, having forced down the entire bottle, his instincts screamed that something was horribly wrong.
He gagged, desperately trying to throw it up, but it was already too late.
Unable to handle the massive surge of healing energy, his body began to bloat, expanding as if it were about to burst.
"G-Gah... Y-You...! What did you... to me...!!"
His face swelled grotesquely, robbing him of his voice. He could only flail his hands in panic.
Elisio quickly checked on Rofel.
Having expended the absolute last of his strength, he lay collapsed on the ground, completely unconscious.
She hurriedly hoisted him up and fled in the opposite direction.
"N-No... I...!"
A split second later, a massive explosion tore through the hall, shaking the very foundations of the building.