Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Decay and a Date
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An unprecedented event. There was no other way to describe it.
A test designed to efficiently cull the examinees had been utterly ruined by the hands of a single person.
Dale’s life points: 59. All others: eliminated.
Though it was called the “Life Point Scramble,” no one had imagined that one person would monopolize the life points of all the others.
Gasps of astonishment echoed from all around.
Dale calmly raised his head, looking toward the members of the Black Magic Tower watching him from afar.
From the start, he had no interest in the fledgling mages present.
The ones Dale truly had to prove himself to.
Just as the knights of House Sachsen, the Night Raven Knights, declared themselves Duke Sachsen’s personal guard through martial prowess, the same was true for the elders of the Black Magic Tower he would command as its Master… the Black-Robed Guard.
And the Tower’s Test had only just begun.
***
—The Tower’s Test, Second Floor. And the second trial.
To defeat the floor guardian, the Flesh Golem.
A grotesque creature, several meters tall, formed from a mass of bulging, seemingly explosive muscles.
Needless to say, it was not an opponent a mere 3rd-Circle mage could handle alone. It was designed as a cooperative battle where multiple examinees would combine their strength and wisdom.
And there was one problem.
“Ah…”
The second-floor test was only for those who had survived the first floor’s “Life Point Scramble.”
However.
“Right, I eliminated them all.”
In other words, he had no allies to join forces with. Not that it mattered much to him.
Dale gave a wry smile and looked at the Flesh Golem.
An opponent that a group of mages, fresh from starting the Tower’s Test, would need to give their all just to have a chance of winning.
The Flesh Golem roared, and the spectators held their breath at the thunderous sight. No matter how astounding Dale’s talent had been moments ago, his opponent was on another level.
He still couldn’t use the artifact, the Shadow Cloak. But he could use magic other than raising and strengthening the dead.
An opponent against whom he was permitted to use his full power as a mage.
*That’s enough.*
For Dale, that single fact was more than sufficient.
It was a chance to finally test his true worth after reaching the 3rd Circle.
The Flesh Golem roared again, then charged, kicking off the ground. In the instant that everyone in the arena held their breath at the pressure, like a charging war chariot…
Dale remained perfectly still, not moving an inch.
The Flesh Golem’s fist shot forward, closing in on Dale’s face. Just as everyone thought the golem’s fist would land a ‘valid hit’ and shatter Dale’s life point necklace…
“Accelerated Decay.”
Refined dark mana swirled up from beneath his feet, enveloping Dale like a shroud.
The Flesh Golem’s blow slammed into that very shroud of darkness.
Just a few centimeters from Dale’s face, the golem’s flesh began to rapidly rot, starting from the tip of its swinging fist.
The fresh stage, the bloat stage, the decay stage, and the post-decay stage.
The entire process that signals the death of an organism, condensed into a single tick of a clock’s second hand.
—The decomposition of organic nitrogen compounds by putrefactive bacteria.
In ‘that other world,’ biochemical warfare against monstrous beasts was a key strategy, alongside thermal weaponry.
The people of this world called such biochemical warfare ‘black magic.’
Furthermore, the knowledge of his past life as the supreme commander of humanity’s final stand was by no means limited to a high school level.
—In a way, one might dare say it surpassed even that of Lord Black.
Added to that was the hellish brutality of the battlefield, where corpses rotted and teemed with maggots, beetles, and flies.
The boundary between life and death that had accompanied Dale his entire life.
Only when such intense experience and understanding, impossible to forget even if he wanted to, were combined could they become the trigger for magic.
The result of a miraculous convergence of elements, none of which could be missing for it to work.
Amid the piercing stench of death, Dale calmly raised his head. It was a familiar smell.
***
“…This is preposterous.”
Just as those who couldn’t enter the spectator seats watched the Tower’s Test through the tower’s magic projectors, Lord Black was also observing his son Dale’s performance from a private room in the tower.
He was with his most trusted chief secretary, the Agent of Black, Eris.
Preposterous. That was her genuine impression after watching Dale’s feat.
It was the greatest expression of shock she could show, a woman who rarely betrayed any emotional turmoil.
Decay magic was a particularly high-level form of black magic, far beyond the comprehension of ‘young mages’ who had only reached the 3rd Circle.
It was an advanced magic that could only be achieved by deeply mastering the principles of life and death. To then utilize it on the fly as a form of ‘combat magic’ required an exponential level of skill.
“It reminds me of your own childhood, my lord.”
But Dale’s talent, coupled with the weight of ‘Lord Black’s name,’ was enough to make it believable.
The prestige of being Lord Black’s son was enough to convince people.
That was the power held by Lord Black, the continent’s greatest necromancer and master of black magic.
“…”
And Dale’s most terrifying quality was his ability to render even a man like that speechless.
***
By the end of that day.
Dale had successfully cleared the 10th floor, proving himself, and the amazement of those who watched was beyond words.
It was a phenomenal record in itself, and the performance Dale had shown during the tests was even more astounding.
And after a few days of rest, the test for the 11th floor approached.
This was the floor that distinguished the fledglings from the true mages, a boundary where the difficulty of the tests rose sharply.
Examinees from the previous term who had also cleared the 10th floor would join in. His opponents would no longer be fledgling academy graduates but those who were officially affiliated with the Black Magic Tower and practiced the dark arts.
There would be no more hunting trivial monsters like ghouls or flesh golems.
The ‘life point necklaces’ given to the examinees could no longer guarantee their lives 100%, and they were permitted to use their full power.
All sorts of artifacts, grimoires, and any other items they could acquire through their own abilities or their family’s backing.
Meanwhile, to deal with the unprecedented massacre that occurred during the first floor’s “Life Point Scramble”… the 59 academy graduates who had been eliminated, excluding Dale, were exceptionally granted a re-test.
***
“Dale.”
That night, an unexpected face appeared before Dale as he was about to rest after the test.
“Teacher Sephia!”
Sapphire hair, with the pointed ears of an elf peeking through. A face of ice-cold beauty, tinged with a faint, gentle smile.
“You passed the test splendidly.”
His teacher, Sephia, continued with a smile. It seemed she, too, had been watching his test.
“And to think you reached the 3rd Circle overnight. Your progress is truly astonishing.”
“It’s all thanks to your teachings, Teacher.”
“…Thank you for saying so.”
Sephia smiled, her words trailing off.
Her voice held a complexity that was difficult to explain, and Dale did not miss it.
Now that Dale had decided to no longer hide his abilities, and as she watched her student grow with each passing day…
What thoughts did the 6th-Circle elven mage of the Blue Tower harbor as his teacher?
He didn’t want to be seen as a monster. But the achievements Dale had shown had already far surpassed the realm of genius.
Genius and monster were separated by a paper-thin line, and Dale had stacked hundreds of those sheets high.
“Teacher Sephia.”
After a moment of thought, Dale spoke.
“Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“A d-date…?”
Sephia’s face flushed a peachy hue at the unexpected words. She looked just like a shy, young girl.
“Yes, there’s a festival going on in the city, after all!”
Dale said, feigning the innocence of a ten-year-old child who couldn’t possibly grasp the deeper meaning of the word ‘date.’
“…Hmm, yes. Let’s do that.”
At his words, Sephia finally spoke again.
“A date… I suppose that’s not wrong.”
“Is something the matter, Teacher?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Sephia smiled with an expression that said, ‘You’re still too young to understand.’ It was incredibly gentle.
And one thing Sephia overlooked that day was that Dale understood the meaning of the word ‘date’ perfectly well.
*This must be what they mean by having a black heart.*
Dale thought, as if observing someone else. It was, indeed, the perfect description.
***
A pale, ashen winter sky. Even the biting wind couldn’t melt the festival’s fervor.
Mages gathered, people gathered, breathing great life and vitality into the city of death.
A tributary of the Sachsen River flowed through the Necropolis.
The river had frozen solid in the cold, and the moonlight scattering across the ice glittered like fish scales. Dale and Sephia were walking across a stone bridge over that very river.
“You went through such a difficult test. Aren’t you tired?”
Sephia asked with concern as they walked across the bridge.
“I’m fine.”
Dale quietly shook his head.
“Besides, it’ll be a few more days until the next test begins.”
“I see. I’m glad to hear that.”
A brief exchange was followed by a blanket of silence.
“…The moon is beautiful.”
Dale spoke, breaking the silence.
“Mm, you’re quite right.”
Sephia responded to Dale’s words with a gentle smile. Silence fell once more.
*…The conversation doesn’t seem to flow very well.*
The silence wasn’t particularly uncomfortable. His conversations with Sephia were always like this.
However.
*I want to get closer to my teacher.*
Not just as a mere teacher and student.
Why? Dale himself didn’t know.
He just remembered the empty, blank world from when he reached the 3rd Circle.
That was the inescapable truth, Dale’s true world.
After realizing that truth, Sephia’s kindness paradoxically struck a chord deep in his heart. Her gentleness, which had embraced him all this time without rejecting the monster within him.
He liked the Sephia who trusted him, just as she always had. Or perhaps he was just desperate for anyone to help him flee from ‘that world.’
From the endless ashen horizon and the void, from the bone-chilling loneliness—from his true world.
“I like you, Teacher.”
“…?!”
Dale said. Startled by the unexpected words, Sephia’s elven ears perked up.
“W-What did you just say?”
“I like you, Teacher Sephia!”
Dale continued with an innocent smile. Just like before, he wore the face of a child who didn’t understand the weight of his own words.
“…I see.”
Sephia replied with a soft smile.
“I am very fond of you too, Dale.”
Her voice was incredibly gentle and affectionate. The same kind Sephia as always.
In the end, it was a relationship between a ten-year-old human child and an elf. Nothing would change.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
And so, Dale offered a soft smile, deliberately turning his gaze away from the dark, unknown emotion in his heart.
*…A second life really has its perks.*
He thought, detached, as if it were someone else’s affair.
The ashen sky remained black and dark.