Chapter 131
Chapter 131
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 131
Chapter Title: The Life of Paiyen Flo
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131
4
To discuss the life of Paiyen Flo, one must start with his birth.
As the scion of the renowned magitech house of Popl, he had been showered with expectations from a young age.
It was taken as a given that, bearing the blood of Popl, Paiyen Flo would become an exceptional magitech engineer.
Everyone demanded that he become one, as if it were an unalterable fact.
That was where the tragedy began.
Unlike his family, Paiyen Flo could not use magic at all.
He realized this anomaly around the age of six.
No matter how hard he tried or how much investment was poured into him, Paiyen Flo could not cast even the simplest spell.
He was in a plight where becoming a magitech engineer, let alone an outstanding one, was impossible from the start.
The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
From that point on, his family regarded Paiyen Flo as a disgrace to the house.
Before long, no one called him by name, and he no longer shared meals with them.
The young Paiyen Flo worked day and night to change their minds, but innate physical limitations could not be overcome by effort alone.
It was like wishing to fly through the sky— no matter how fervently one desired it, wings would not sprout from one's back.
In the end, in the year he turned eighteen, Paiyen Flo stormed out of the Popl house as if being chased away.
Essentially disowned, he fled in wretched form and came to hate the world.
What he wanted was neither extravagant nor undeserved.
He simply yearned to eat meals with his family and live peacefully.
He desired the ordinary happiness others enjoyed, but it was forever denied to him.
Unable to return to his house, Paiyen Flo spent his days cursing everything.
He had steeled himself for all sorts of hardships upon leaving the house.
It was only natural, with no magic at his disposal and no support from his family.
Yet Paiyen Flo did not suffer greatly.
Though he could not wield magic himself, his ability to comprehend and utilize magitech was unparalleled.
Leveraging that talent, Paiyen Flo rose to the position of chief researcher at a magitech arms manufacturing company in just a few years.
Countless new weapons were born from his hands and spread across the world.
It was around this time that Paiyen Flo reached a turning point in his life.
Assigned to a project developing a new type of bomb, Paiyen Flo...
...fell in love there.
He became utterly captivated by the grand and powerful explosions.
Each time a bomb detonated, the curses and resentments pent up in his heart exploded alongside it.
Paiyen Flo was dyed in the strange pleasure that only explosions could provide.
An explosion is art, and art is an explosion.
To fix this rotten world, explosions were the only answer.
And so Paiyen Flo began carrying bombs.
To conceal his identity as chief researcher, he adopted the absurd concept of the Pineapple Maniac and scattered bombs across the world.
Explosions and blasts, acrid smoke, crumbling buildings, the screams of fleeing people.
Before an explosion, all were equal.
Paiyen Flo was intoxicated by the sensation of the world crumbling.
Now, even ordinary small bombs could no longer satisfy him.
That was the problem.
Obsessed with bombs, Paiyen Flo resented that others could obtain his bombs without any effort.
"My bombs exist solely for me. You think trash like them, who don't even know the hardship, can just get them easily? No, absolutely not. That's why I'm blowing up Simon Tower—they're trying to spread magitech far and wide."
Finishing his monologue, Paiyen Flo spread his arms wide.
Theo Agrit, facing him, grimaced without a hint of hesitation.
"You're trying to bring down Simon Tower for something as petty as that?"
"Petty? That's why I can't talk to ignorant fools like you!"
There were other reasons, in truth.
But there was no need to explain them one by one.
More importantly, the presence of Theo Agrit before him mattered.
Previously, Theo Agrit had interfered with Paiyen Flo once.
Maintaining the bizarre Pineapple Maniac persona had been stressful enough back then, but being unable to freely explode everything had piled on even more stress.
In short, Theo Agrit was an irritating existence to Paiyen Flo.
Just as he had resolved to one day blow him to bits, here he appeared so opportunely.
If he exploded along with Simon Tower, all that pent-up stress would vanish cleanly.
"Perfect. Blowing you up here would be ideal."
"Not on your terms."
Theo Agrit bared his teeth, his pitch-black eyes flashing fiercely.
Faced with a reaction like a beast with bared fangs, Paiyen Flo shrugged.
"What can you do without a weapon?"
Weapons were strictly prohibited at the Simon Tower opening ceremony.
Paiyen Flo had planted bombs throughout the venue in advance and carried only the switches, so it was no issue for him, but Theo Agrit was utterly unarmed.
It was a complete dead end.
The moment he thought that, Theo Agrit indifferently raised his empty hand.
Without any warning, Deathwise appeared in his grasp.
Shape transformation.
The magic sword, pre-transformed into a bracelet, had reverted to its original form.
Surprised by the sudden occurrence, Paiyen Flo whistled.
"You weren't completely clueless after all. Solomon!"
"Taking care of the old man will be no trouble, young master."
Solomon dashed through the narrow alley.
An expert combatant, Solomon hurled all sorts of hidden weapons.
The frontal throws were a feint; the real attack was the rock magic surging from below.
Sharpened rock spikes targeting the enemy's blind spot—unless one knew, evasion was impossible.
But Theo Agrit did not fall for it.
Instead, with an air of annoyance, he swung Deathwise.
In one stroke, he deflected all incoming hidden weapons from the front.
The fierce wind pressure twisted their trajectories, embedding them into the alley walls or floor.
He then spread mana toward the rising rock spikes.
Crackle! Dimensional magic interfered with the rock spell, sparking violently.
After a brief clash of power, it was the rock magic that yielded.
All attacks blocked.
Deathwise plunged into the now defenseless Solomon's chest.
Struck in the jaw by a side swing of Deathwise, Solomon collapsed without chance to resist.
"That old man is an outstanding butler from a rotten house, you know. To fell him so easily—you had reason to be so confident."
Casually remarking, Paiyen Flo rolled his eyes.
Time until the explosion was running short.
If he didn't evade, he'd be caught in it.
Shrugging, Paiyen Flo pulled a switch from his pocket and dangled it.
"But is it okay to keep dawdling here? Leaving all those people down there will cause a disaster."
"You..."
"Whoa, don't move. Press this, and the timer starts!"
Theo Agrit's pitch-black eyes filled with murderous intent.
Shivering under that ferocious gaze, Paiyen Flo nonchalantly pressed the switch.
"You bastard...!"
"Why waste time getting mad at me? Tick-tock, time's ticking away?"
Theo Agrit barely restrained his impulse to kill Paiyen Flo on the spot.
Priorities could not be mistaken.
Knowing this well, he spun around and bolted down the back alley.
He had no spare moment even to hurl a retort.
Watching his urgently fleeing back, Paiyen Flo shrugged.
"No matter how fast you run, you can't stop the explosion anyway."
Explosions were impartial to all.
Muttering thus, Paiyen Flo gathered the fallen Solomon and leisurely vanished into the depths of the back alley.
5
By the time he was gasping for breath, the opening ceremony venue came into view.
There were easily three digits' worth of attendees.
Noel, who came with him, Dehrith participating as an escort, Lord Lucius, Ludwig who came personally to celebrate, and even Cain and Leon, who hadn't been visible earlier but were present.
Was evacuating everyone possible?
If Ludwig and Lucius cooperated, the evacuation itself wouldn't be hard.
But the opponent was Paiyen Flo.
The reason for his appearance was unknown, but if he had prepared in advance, the explosion's scale would easily surpass imagination.
More problematically, it wasn't the explosion itself.
If Simon Tower collapsed from the blast and surrounding buildings chain-collapsed?
Even evacuating as far as possible from now would surely cause casualties.
The remaining timer was unknown.
If it detonated before evacuation finished, the consequences needed no explanation.
"Damn... My first large-scale spell..."
-What the hell are you planning, you fool.
No choice.
Too pressed for time to reply, he squeezed his eyes shut.
He sank his consciousness into the darkness behind his eyelids.
He erased all sensations as much as possible.
In their place, he sharpened only the sense of mana flow.
Mana enveloped the entire opening ceremony venue.
Opening his eyes simultaneously, he substituted the coordinates.
He teleported the entire venue as far away as possible.
Mana was gouged out in chunks by the unprecedentedly reckless spell.
"Urk..."
Strength drained from his body like a puppet with cut strings.
He toppled forward without time to steady himself.
Having forcibly drawn out mana, blood streamed from his nose and mouth.
His muscles felt sliced by a knife; his body wouldn't move properly.
Even using the magic sword as a crutch to stand was impossible.
Having absorbed the Earth Dragon's Heart, this was as good as it got.
Normally, he'd be vomiting blood and unconscious by now.
At least he had succeeded in evacuating the people.
If he could evacuate somehow...
BOOM!! KABOOM!!!
But time was not on his side.
With earth-shaking explosions, flames erupted from all directions.
Debris from collapsed buildings flew everywhere.
Several massive chunks hurtled toward him.
Ah, dangerous.
If hit, his bones would shatter like glass.
He needed to flee now, but he couldn't even twitch a finger.
Mana depleted long ago, his magic circuits unresponsive.
The incoming debris seemed to crawl in slow motion.
With death imminent and his life flashing before his eyes...
Bang!
A gunshot cracked the air, shattering the debris.
Leon and Cain slapped away the fragmented pieces barehanded.
"You guys..."
I definitely teleported them too.
Did they race back to the venue before the blasts even sounded?
"You okay?!"
A pale-faced Noel ran up, clutching an unfamiliar gun.
Upon closer look, it was a transformable firearm displayed at the ceremony.
Leon silently extended a hand.
Too weak to grasp it, he lay still, and Leon astutely lifted him by the shoulder.
"You alright?"
"Wanna say I am, but honestly, no."
At least the explosions had stopped.
Simon Tower and surrounding buildings were heavily damaged, but...
No loss of life was something.
"You overdid it. Rest."
"I know, right...?"
Leon spoke in an oddly worried tone.
His head was throbbing anyway; he'd need days off.
Some strength returned to his legs, and with support, he stood.
Around then, Lucius and Ludwig approached through the smoke.
"Bomb terrorism, huh. Whoever it is, they've got guts."
The ever-smirking Lucius muttered coldly.
For the first time, his flame-red eyes looked utterly frigid.
For a split second, Leon's red eyes overlapped with his.
Judging by eyes alone, one could believe Leon was Lucius's own son.
The moment passed, and he flashed his usual enigmatic smile.
"Looks like you evacuated everyone with your magic. As lord, I offer my thanks. We'll discuss details once things settle."
"As a prince of a nation, I too must express gratitude. Without your courage, it would have been a horrific disaster. Rest for now."
"The room you recuperated in last time is still available, so rest well. Cain, Leon—treat him in a manner befitting the Hilfenberg name."
At Lucius's command, not only Leon supporting him but Cain, silently on high alert, nodded.
As everyone prepared to withdraw, a sniffling child emerged from the smoke and grabbed Lucius's hand.
"Lost your way, have you?"
Lucius knelt with a gentle voice.
It was an impeccably appropriate response, but...
His instincts screamed wildly.
Something was wrong.
This shouldn't be happening.
He had definitely teleported everyone at the venue far away.
Excluding those like Leon, Noel, and Cain who rushed back, he had confirmed the venue empty.
So where did this child come from?
If not someone who pierced the chaos to return, it meant they were near the venue from the start and approached.
Coming closer amid exploding bombs?
It defied common sense.
Beep, beep, beep...
A grating alarm confirmed his suspicions.
Between the child's clothes, a running timer and crude detonator came into view.
"Danger!"
Faster than thought, he shouted.
Immediately after, blinding white light from the bomb engulfed everything.