Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Overflowing Light
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8
Light overflowed.
Anirzer, who had been certain of victory, hardened his expression at the radiance surging before his eyes.
“H-How…!”
The voice he squeezed out in desperation failed to reach anywhere, swept away and vanishing into the light.
It wasn’t just the voice. The spectral form constructed with rune magic disintegrated into particles the moment it touched the light, dissolving away.
This wasn’t simple destructive magic.
Even within the glow, the altar and the sacrifice atop it remained utterly unaffected.
It was magic that purely eradicated mana.
This wasn’t some half-hearted spell like Dispel.
Dispel couldn’t even neutralize higher-level magic, let alone revert mana to its particulate state.
The light enveloped Anirzer gently and tenderly.
There was no physical pain.
Yet Anirzer shuddered at the sensation of the light seeping in and churning his insides.
“Ahh, so that’s what it is…!”
Only upon contact did he realize the true nature of this light.
This light was violence at its most compassionate.
It unilaterally interfered with spells, analyzed them, and reversed them.
In doing so, it negated every component of the spell, breaking the mana down to its particles.
If this wasn’t “compassionate violence,” then what was?
However, such magic couldn’t be constructed with modern spells.
It had to be rune magic, long forgotten.
Rune magic wasn’t a skill anyone could use.
One had to decipher the runic language, fully comprehend it, and then expend their own mana to chant it.
The black-haired youth had performed this effortlessly, proving he was no mere novice.
Moreover, the sealed demon sword he held.
It was no coincidence that someone who could wield runes had reached this place.
Anirzer let out a gasp as if realizing something amid this meticulously planned interference.
“You… could it be…? So that’s how it is!!”
His voice was swallowed by the light and faded away.
Anirzer’s entire body was breaking down at the particle level, but he didn’t care and shouted on.
Even if his voice wouldn’t be heard, as if leaving a trace, he raised it without stopping until the very moment of his existence’s erasure.
“Don’t think this is the end! The organization’s grand scheme has already begun! No matter how much you interfere, the waves won’t stop…!”
By the time his words ended.
In the place where the light vanished, only traces of Anirzer’s existence remained.
9
“…Did we get him?”
Ethan spoke those words the moment the light faded.
Of all timings, saying that now—it was the classic line from magic that resurrects dead enemies.
“Don’t jinx it. No flags.”
“Flags?”
“Yeah, that kind of thing.”
And just like that, a flag was raised.
I’d been on high alert… but Anirzer was gone from where the light had faded.
The massive skull he’d conjured had completely vanished too.
Phew, looks like we handled it safely.
Relief washed over me, and strength drained from my body.
As I collapsed onto the floor, Ethan caught me before I fell.
“You okay!?”
“Don’t yell… my head’s ringing…. It’s just mana exhaustion……”
My head throbbed from depleted mana.
Felt like someone was hammering my skull.
I’d expected it.
As Deathwise said, Theo’s body had no remarkable talent.
But thanks to solid training from childhood, the vessel itself wasn’t bad.
Not only did the body move as I thought, but it had been bolstered with all sorts of elixirs, giving it a substantial mana pool.
That allowed me to use “Light of Dissolution,” one of the higher-tier rune magics.
Of course, being advanced rune magic, it consumed my entire mana reserve, leaving me exhausted—but better than dying.
Rune magic was reliable in effect and performance, but the downside was relying purely on the caster’s mana to activate……
I calmed my pounding head for a moment and grabbed Ethan’s arm to barely stand.
Anirzer’s rune magic, Tania’s Giant Soldier, had vanished without a trace.
Not only that—Anirzer himself was gone.
The Light of Dissolution targeted mana itself.
It was a form of destructive magic that infiltrated spells, reverse-calculated them, and collapsed the phenomenon of magic.
Thus, it had no effect on living beings.
I staggered toward where Anirzer had been.
Only scattered clothes and shattered pottery fragments lay there.
“So he really was a puppeteer.”
Anirzer had vanished under the Light of Dissolution.
That meant he wasn’t a living person.
A golem moved by mana, an automata using magitech, or a remotely controlled puppet… Anirzer was the third case.
In short, the main body wasn’t dead.
He was probably reviewing this situation from somewhere entirely different.
At least the Light of Dissolution had wiped out all separate magical devices, so no further interference was possible. Small mercy.
Anyway, nothing we could do about it now.
I neatly untied the boy bound on the altar. Felt, who’d been dazed, rushed over in a panic.
“Louis, Louis!”
“Sis…?”
The boy opened his eyes.
No major injuries visible.
I turned with relief, and Ethan was smiling warmly.
He’d been on the verge of death blocking black magic just moments ago.
Weak to kids, same as ever.
Thanks to that, we got dragged into this mess… but confirming an unexpected situation wasn’t all bad.
Anirzer, a black mage and puppeteer.
An altar that shouldn’t have been here in the Broken World originally.
I’d think calmly about this connection later.
“Um, excuse me…”
It was Felt who spoke.
The girl stared at me and Ethan before bowing her head.
“Thanks for helping us. Sorry for stealing, yo.”
She wasn’t used to polite speech.
I overlooked the words tacked on a beat late.
Since it was Ethan I needed to forgive on my behalf, I waved it off casually—then something perked up above Felt’s head.
“…Ears?”
My absentminded mutter froze everyone.
Not just Felt’s head—triangular golden ears stood proudly atop Louis’s head too.
Reflexively, Felt pressed her hands to her ears.
Louis covered his too, but it was far too late.
“So that’s how it was…”
No wonder their pickpocketing skills were so good for thieves.
Ethan seemed to think the same, approaching and lowering his voice.
“Those kids really are beastkin, huh?”
“Yeah, golden foxes too.”
“…Stealing was their only way to survive.”
Beastkin were rare in the Tekat Kingdom.
That’s why beastkin slaves used to fetch high prices in the past.
In modern times, interactions led to slavery bans, but the kingdom couldn’t crack down on underground trades.
Especially young beastkin like Felt or Louis—plenty would pay fortunes for them.
Even with parents, they’d be targets for crime syndicates like the Corbus Family.
No need to explain for someone scraping by in the back alleys like Felt and Louis—their plight was obvious.
“What’ll you do now?”
“No more stealing, yo.”
“And you’ve got a way to live without it?”
“……”
As if.
If there were other options, they wouldn’t risk pickpocketing.
With no realistic alternatives, Felt hung her head and stayed silent.
“Ethan, got any ideas?”
“…I know an orphanage. The director’s trustworthy. If I ask, she’ll definitely help.”
Classic Ethan.
I knew you volunteered there every weekend.
It’s in the setting docs.
“That’s the offer. What do you say?”
Felt tilted her head at the sudden choice.
We waited quietly, and Felt and Louis exchanged glances before nodding.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you…!”
If Ethan said they were trustworthy, they’d keep the kids’ secret safe.
Jackpot.
All problems solved.
“Then they’re in your hands.”
“Yeah, got it. Haha! You grumble but end up helping anyway—friends are the best!”
Ethan laughed heartily and said something weird.
I stared seriously, and he patted my shoulder, continuing.
“You complain but do whatever when asked, and you stepped up first to help the kids.”
“What’re you talking about? I just didn’t want my sleep disturbed.”
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have followed here, right?
Hey, why’re you looking at me all pleased?
I furrowed my brow, and distant murmurs grew closer.
Anirzer had blown up the whole cocktail bar, so crowds gathering to assess was natural.
“Anyway… I’m beat, so I’m out. Handle the rest.”
Staying meant my precious weekend would evaporate.
I hurried away from the scene.
10
“Causing a huge incident first thing on the weekend.”
“Haha, it just kinda happened. Thanks for coming to vouch for me, Professor Clayton!”
In front of the Esset Guard Post.
After a long interrogation, Ethan bowed to Edmund, who’d come to confirm his identity.
“So what happened?”
“Hard to sum up simply, but… I got into an unavoidable fight while saving some kids in the back alleys!”
“That’s all?”
“Yes, exactly as I stated.”
Ethan said brazenly.
In truth, he’d omitted Theo Agrit entirely and sent Felt and Louis to the orphanage with his note.
No real witnesses left.
Only Ethan Mertezacker, who’d stayed at the scene, remained.
“They say a intense light and mana nullification occurred—care to explain?”
But other testimonies existed.
Like the giant skull that smashed through the cocktail bar and the intense light that erased it.
A miracle Ethan, with no magic talent, couldn’t possibly cause.
So Ethan grinned sheepishly.
“Maybe a mage was nearby?”
“As if sensitive mages would wander dirty back alleys. Even if a mage—let alone a high-rank one—happened to be there, slim chance they’d help with an unrelated matter.”
But the opponent was Edmund Clayton.
He’d found irrefutable evidence, near-obsessively, and asked again.
“I’ll ask once more, Ethan Mertezacker. What happened?”
“I really don’t know, Professor! Just coincidence?”
“There are no coincidences. Everything connects precisely. The magic at the scene reeks of rune magic… Right, you were with Theo Agrit?”
A piercing question.
Ethan’s face stiffened for an instant.
It relaxed immediately—maybe 0.1 seconds—but Edmund didn’t miss it.
“My guess was spot on.”
Just a probe, but it hit perfectly.
Edmund strode toward Esterro Academy with a satisfied expression.
Ignoring Ethan’s denials behind him, he clenched his fist so hard his knuckles turned white with exhilaration.