Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: When the Burning Begins
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Aegasa burst out of the room, and a few minutes later.
A maid who had been hiding at the end of the corridor suddenly popped out.
She was dressed in a typical maid's outfit—a black dress adorned with white frills. It was none other than Lirina.
But today's Lirina wasn't alone.
A crow perched on her shoulder.
"Crim, looks like no one's around, right?"
Lirina asked, and the crow nodded lightly.
Seeing this, she let out a breath before darting down the corridor at full speed.
Right now, everyone had rushed toward the site of Aslan's clone suicide incident.
This empty moment was her only chance.
Thanks to Aegasa leaving the door wide open in her haste, Lirina slipped into the room effortlessly.
The moment she entered, books filled the entire space came into view.
The shelves were packed with tomes, all related to magic, interspersed with several volumes explaining innate constitutions in humans.
Aegasa's passion was evident in the room, and papers were scattered across the desk.
Among them was a photo of three family members taken happily long ago.
Aslan from his very young days, embraced by his father and Aegasa.
Lirina gazed at the photo with pity before turning her head away.
She began hurriedly searching the entire room.
The most obvious place was the drawers.
"...Nothing here."
She checked all the unlocked drawers first.
As expected, no sign of the Dorothy crystal Krash had mentioned.
The crystal left behind when a spirit dies.
It was the vessel a spirit used to pass on memories and experiences to future generations.
Krash had glimpsed her memories when absorbing the World Erosion embedded in the Chaos Spirit's core for this very reason.
In Krash's case, since he'd preserved the core instead of destroying it and killing the spirit, no crystal remained.
But Dorothy's core had burned and shattered, leaving one behind.
That was what Lirina had come to find.
"All that's left is..."
Her eyes fell on a drawer.
A locked one, secured with a padlock.
It undoubtedly held important documents.
The problem was that the lock appeared to be magical.
Lirina was an ordinary person.
She'd seen mages use magic but had no idea how to wield it herself.
As she stamped her feet in frustration, unsure what to do...
The crow on her shoulder hopped down lightly.
"Crim?"
She called its name, and by then, the crow was already in front of the lock.
It pecked twice with its beak, and with a click, the lock fell off.
Lirina stared wide-eyed.
She hadn't known Crim had this ability.
So that's why Krash told me to bring Crim along, she thought, convinced.
But there was no time for questions.
Aegasa could return any moment.
She quickly opened the drawer.
"Found it!"
She cheered triumphantly.
Tucked inside was a brilliant blue crystal.
She pocketed it in a hurry.
Now, all that remained was to get out.
She swiftly relocked the drawer and headed outside.
That was the moment.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a pillar of fire erupted outside the window.
Lirina flinched and turned her head.
Her face gradually drained of color.
"...This is bad."
She bolted down the corridor.
She'd realized whose magic that pillar belonged to.
And that it had risen from where Aslan was.
No doubt about it.
Red Tower Lord
Flame King
Adolf Igrit
He had returned.
When Aslan staged his suicide commotion,
Adolf had been away from the family for a few months on business.
Thanks to that, news of Aslan hadn't reached him yet.
But just as he returned via spatial magic,
The report of Aslan's clone suicide reached his ears.
The timing couldn't have been worse.
'If he learns of Aslan's suicide attempt, he'll never let it slide.'
He might even disown Aslan from the Igrit Family for shaming them.
Her heart pounding with anxiety, she raced across the corridor.
Before long, her footsteps brought her to the annex where Aslan stayed.
There, servants scurried about with pale, ashen faces.
Their expressions screamed they were fleeing something they weren't supposed to see.
Lirina's heart sank.
This reaction meant they couldn't witness the Igrit Family's dirty laundry.
She pushed past the servants and entered the annex.
The moment she stepped into the training ground used by mages for practice...
A scorching heat washed over her face.
"Lord Aslan!"
She screamed instinctively.
Inside a blazing sphere of flames, Aslan was trapped, clutching his throat in agony.
Standing before him was an old man.
Even in old age, his hair was a vivid crimson.
His face was covered in red beard, with sharp, ill-tempered eyes.
His massive build was unusual for a mage. This was the Flame King, Adolf Igrit.
He glared at Aslan with seething fury.
"How dare you pull this shameful stunt the moment I step away?"
"Father! Stop, please stop!"
Aegasa, who had rushed in front of Adolf, cried out desperately.
Aslan, trapped in the flame sphere, was rapidly suffocating from oxygen deprivation.
At this rate, he'd die.
Seeing Aegasa unable to stand by, Adolf let out a hollow laugh.
Slap!
Aegasa's head snapped to the side violently.
Struck by Adolf, she froze in place as he glared at her with rage.
"That's why I told you long ago! That boy's not fit to be Tower Master! A direct descendant shaming the Igrit name with suicide attempts? And not just once, but repeatedly!"
His eyes boiled with intense fury.
"And you, his mother, can't even manage one child. What have you done as deputy head?"
Adolf's thunderous roar filled the training ground.
Now she understood why the servants had fled.
No one could hear the Igrit Family's scandals.
Aegasa couldn't lift her bowed head.
Though ashamed, she'd lived her life as an Igrit daughter.
Even as deputy head, her father's authority loomed too large and terrifying.
In the Igrit Family, his word was law.
"Ha, haha."
Suddenly, laughter echoed from within the flame sphere.
Adolf, twisted in rage, and Aegasa, slumped on the ground, slowly turned toward it.
What they saw was Aslan.
For some reason, he was laughing.
The moment Adolf saw that smile, his eyes contorted viciously.
"No matter how ha, rd I tried, you never acknowledged me. Only now, in this pa, thletic state, do you finally notice."
Struggling for breath, Aslan clutched his throat but spat out his words.
"Do you know something? Whether you find me shameful or not, I'm a direct descendant of the Igrit Family. Everything I do is the act of an Igrit direct descendant."
He let out a sneer.
It was blatant mockery.
"That proud Igrit name will shine until the head dies. But after that? Will it be the same?"
At the same time, clear venom flashed in Aslan's eyes.
"You think I'll just let it slide?"
The venom dripping from his eyes was pure, deep resentment.
From birth, shunned by his family for his Lunar Yin Body.
His mother, who once showered him with love and warmth, had become ruthless enough to kill his precious friend with her own hands.
And Aslan knew better than anyone that the root cause was the man before him now—the Flame King, Adolf Igrit.
Aegasa stared blankly at the sight.
She knew how deep the resentment festering in her son ran.
And she knew she bore some of that resentment too.
'It's all wrong.'
Everything had gone wrong.
The Igrit Family meant nothing to that child.
He just needed one person to cherish him.
Realizing she'd ruined her son by forcing the family legacy on him, hot tears streamed from her eyes.
She finally understood she'd been no different from Adolf, imposing her will on him.
"You brat..."
Adolf's eyes trembled with fury at the sight.
Unable to contain his rage, he slowly raised his hand.
"Fine, then. I'll give you exactly what you want."
Aegasa realized his intent and belatedly thrust out her arm.
Adolf meant to kill Aslan right here.
"No!"
With her tearing scream, magic poured from Aegasa's hands.
"Caw!"
A crow soared into the air.
The instant its feathers scattered,
The crow transformed into a boy who cleaved down at the flame sphere with his sword.
Roar!
Black flames erupted from the blade, slicing Adolf's flame sphere clean in half.
As Adolf's eyes widened at the sudden turn,
A hand shot out from behind the sphere, yanking Aslan's clothes.
Framed by the flames was a boy with black hair.
In that split-second lag even for Adolf, as the boy shrouded his sword in blue flames,
He grabbed Aslan and kicked off the ground.
"That bastard!"
Seeing him snatch Aslan away, Adolf finally reacted and turned.
But blocking his path was Aegasa.
Seeing her glaring at him with magic gathered in both hands, Adolf wore a look of disbelief.
"Deputy head, have you lost your mind?"
"...My son is thrashing like that just to survive a little longer."
Aslan's desperate cry lingered deep in her heart.
She no longer wanted him to live in pain.
"No one in the world will point fingers at a mother for stopping the man trying to kill her son."
Aegasa showed no intention of backing down.
Though she was a full class below the Flame King, as a mother, she wouldn't yield.
"...Very well."
Adolf ignited flames in his hand as he regarded her.
"A good thrashing for both you and your boy might knock some sense into you."
And then, two pillars of fire erupted within the training ground.