A Vow of Vengeance
"It's murder! Someone's dead!"
"Call the professors! It's a dark mage! A dark mage has appeared!"
A commotion broke out. Students were fleeing in panic.
"W-what's going on? What on earth..."
Claire's eyes spun. She seemed completely overwhelmed by the massive crowd and the sudden chaos.
"...Stay here. Alright?"
Was it Kazot? Come to think of it, it was about time for something to happen.
But launching a terrorist attack in a place like this didn't fit their style. Unless the entire Academy was already in their hands, they would have moved more cautiously, more secretly.
A dark mage...
Now that a murder had occurred, there was no way this would be brushed under the rug.
Whether Katarin or Kazot was behind this, I had no choice but to assume they had drawn their swords in earnest.
"Where... are you going?"
Claire lightly tugged at my sleeve.
"I'm going to check out the situation."
"But it's dangerous..."
"It's fine. I'm much more of a coward than you think. If it's truly dangerous, I'll run away on my own."
For my own sake, and for the sake of this world, I needed to play it safe.
My power was strong, but that didn't guarantee a victimless victory in every battle.
If a high-ranking member of Kazot was truly committing a massacre here, the right move was to avoid them for now. Right now, I was merely moving to assess the situation.
"I'm coming with you. Absolutely not alone."
"Claire..."
I thought it was dangerous, but thinking about it, there was no compelling reason to leave her behind.
Though she looked a bit soft and silly on the outside, she was a powerful Dark Priestess capable of holding her own against Katarin's magic for a period of time.
Unless it was a highly skilled dark mage who had the leisure to analyze her, no one could kill her in a single blow.
"Alright. Follow me. But you must follow my instructions without question. Got it?"
"Okay!"
The hallway was packed with students. Holding Claire close, I pushed my way through the crowd.
"I-I can't breathe..."
"Sorry. I'll loosen my grip a bit."
"No, um. Uh... I think it's fine..."
Burying her face in my chest, Claire mumbled something ambiguous, making it impossible to tell if she was actually fine or not.
So, what on earth is it...
"Stop right there! This area is off-limits! Just wait a moment, and we will resolve the situation—"
In front of a small room used as a warehouse, several knights and mages stood in a defensive line.
"W-we have to go inside and rescue the people!"
"With that level of malice? Who knows who might be in there!"
"Damn it, where is Professor Leila right now?"
Even among them, opinions seemed divided, and their arguing voices drifted over.
"I will go."
"I said you can't—wait, Wade?"
"It's the dark mage!"
It was ironic, but when a terrorist attack by a dark mage occurred, what was needed most was an even stronger dark mage.
Terrorism was fundamentally an act committed with the expectation of death. Of course, some escaped leisurely using advanced teleportation magic or artifacts, but that was no easy feat either.
The moment an attack was detected, counter-terrorism mages would cast anti-teleportation fields.
Unless one possessed the magical technique to dismantle it, or the mana and dark energy to break through it, escape was impossible.
Killing a dark mage who had already resolved to die was no easy task for anyone.
It was no exaggeration to say that most dark mages lived with a bomb strapped to their chests.
While an ordinary dark mage trembled at the thought of sacrificing a single emotion, a finger, or an arm, a dark mage prepared for death could offer sacrifices so vast it made those fears look laughable.
And the only thing that could stop them was a stronger dark mage.
"I will suppress them. Unless Lady Katarin or the other dark magic professors arrive, I am the one who can handle this most cleanly."
The professors couldn't bring themselves to argue. About half of the people here had witnessed my fight with Katarin.
They knew exactly how much power I possessed, and how difficult it would be to find a dark mage stronger than me.
"...But if you get hurt, the Princess—"
"I will take care of it."
"Fine. Go in. If it's even slightly dangerous, retreat immediately. If a direct clash seems imminent, pull back first and focus on containing him."
It was a fairly responsible thing to say. Stopping a terrorist was a teacher's job, not a student's.
I took a deep breath, shrouded myself in defensive magic, and stepped inside.
"...Who is it! Get lost! I'll kill you—"
Inside the small warehouse, a boy was trembling with anxiety.
"Fabian?"
"Why... are you here?"
Instead of the cruel, passionate gaze of a terrorist, I saw the eyes of a timid, terrified student.
"Word got out that you killed someone. The other students are all running away."
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed no one had actually seen the corpses with their own eyes. They must have assumed the worst after sensing the leaking dark energy and seeing the blood seeping out from under the door.
However, like many assumptions, this one happened to be true.
"The scene here is pretty gruesome."
"I-it's not a pleasant sight, is it? Haha..."
A corpse with its head blown off rolled on the floor. Another corpse, its side charred black, slumped against a wooden crate.
"...And you don't look much better."
Yet, compared to Fabian's body, the corpses could be considered relatively intact.
One of his arms, blackened and petrified, had fallen off. Dark red blood was sluggishly oozing from the stump.
A black sludge, neither solid nor liquid like half-melted slush, seeped out from beneath his torn clothes, staining the floor.
"As for me... this was all I could do."
A deep sense of resignation dripped from his voice.
"What happened?"
"I was taking the drugs... and got caught. I was hiding here, but they kicked the door open and barged in... and, well, it ended up like this."
It was plausible. It didn't seem likely that Fabian would have lured them to the warehouse just to kill them.
"Couldn't you have just done it somewhere safe?"
"I wanted to try and hold back. I... I wanted to prove that I wasn't an addict. Besides, I thought if I just waited a bit, you would bring me a stronger drug... or even if you didn't, that you would protect me."
"I'm sorry."
"No. I was the fool. You were right. I didn't want to take the drugs to get stronger... I was just, just an addict."
A heavy sigh escaped his lips.
"You know what's even funnier? Now that I've taken the drugs... I think I understand. Just how pathetic of a being I am. And... that you never had some 'miracle drug to make me incredibly strong' in the first place."
"..."
"I can see it. You don't have the eyes of someone who uses drugs. Even when you met Victor, you didn't seem to care at all. You were just... just strong from the very beginning."
Fabian stared blankly into the distance.
"To be honest, I was planning to die. These bastards, they were the ones hanging around Conrad. At the very least, I wanted to kill Conrad, no matter what it took..."
He must have known. Conrad hadn't bullied him simply because he hadn't paid back the money.
Conrad had likely mobilized countless students to torment any 'weak-looking dark mage,' and Fabian had been one of their primary targets.
"I can't let you do that. I'm sorry, but I came here to resolve this situation."
"...I'll die, right? I'll be executed?"
I couldn't say anything. But I knew the future awaiting him was not very hopeful.
He had no powerful backing, nor any room for leniency. Since he had killed other students inside the Academy, a severe punishment would be handed down to make an example of him.
"Even if I die, no one will mourn me..."
There was only one thing I could say to him.
"Don't give up."
"Give up?"
His eyes rolled back.
"Then what else can I do! My life isn't going to get any better! Even if I struggle to survive, no matter how much I writhe, it's all the same!"
"If you're alive, it's different."
There was also only one thing I could do.
"Because you'll be able to see the people who reduced you to this state living in a far more miserable condition than you, with your own two eyes."
"..."
A faint spark of life returned to his eyes.
"The person who sold you this drug, it was Victor, right?"
"H-he wasn't a bad person, but..."
"Then let's leave him aside... The people who bullied you, there are others besides the ones lying here, right? This isn't the end. There must be someone pulling the strings."
"It's probably Conrad. But his status is incredibly high..."
"I promise you. Stay alive. I will make that bastard far more miserable than you."
"More miserable... than me? Look at me... my entire body is contaminated with mana..."
"I can do that to him too."
Whatever the circumstances, Fabian had killed people. Even I couldn't shield him from that.
However, it was cruel for him to bear the price of this crime and suffering all by himself.
It had to be shared. Not just him, but everyone who had a hand in this crime had to share in this pain and corruption.
"So, please surrender."
"...You could have just told me to do that from the very beginning."
Even if he was unleashing dark energy stained with rage and hatred without restraint, it couldn't compare to mine.
Fabian was right. From the moment I stepped into this warehouse, I could have subdued him.
I simply chose not to.
"Trust me this time."
Fabian's half-decayed eyes met mine.
He nodded weakly.