Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Leona
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It was a fact Carlyle had already experienced in abundance from his previous visit to the Mage Tower alongside Letty: mages were a prickly bunch.
Unless they were someone like Vespa Luciana, who defied the norms of your average mage, you could view them through the rosiest lenses and still run into issues. And the older and more seasoned the mage, the higher the odds of them being downright eccentric.
Thus, a simple syllogism applied to anyone claiming the title of Red Magic Tower Lord.
Becoming a Mage Tower Lord is incredibly difficult → Therefore, the lord is typically the longest-tenured and most experienced mage in that tower → Therefore, every single Mage Tower Lord without exception has a shattered personality.
And the antics currently unfolding from the crimson-haired lord who had introduced herself as Leona Libel perfectly backed up that hypothesis.
Even in the Magic Kingdom, the heart of all Mage Towers, a single tower's lord was treated as high imperial nobility.
Yet here she was, bypassing every administrative protocol and crashing into an imperial educational institution, leaving chaos in her wake.
And her first words, directed at Carlyle—whom she had declared her "target"—were.
“You cheated, didn’t you? You con artist.”
⋯⋯A personal attack with zero buildup.
“⋯⋯Pardon?”
The remark came so out of nowhere that Carlyle couldn’t even react properly, prompting Leona to continue in an irritated tone.
“I couldn’t do it, but you pulled it off. If that’s not cheating, what is?”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯Pardon?”
This woman needed to learn how to explain herself better.
As that thought crossed his mind, Leona thumped her chest in frustration and snapped her fingers.
The massive dragon shrank down into human form right before their eyes. A woman with vibrant red hair, draped in an elaborate crimson dress.
And the instant he saw her, one person sprang to mind.
‘⋯⋯Professor Siona?’
It wasn’t a stretch; they could pass for twins.
Unlike Siona, who always smiled with half-lidded eyes, this one’s sharp gaze curved with a foul temper.
The kind of look that screamed, “Yeah, I’ve got a short fuse.”
And true to that impression, the first thing she did upon transforming was entirely fitting.
Leona grabbed Carlyle by the collar with one hand, her voice seething as she spoke.
Her other hand pointed accusingly at the Tear of the Stars hanging around his neck.
“This thing! This! The activation code stumped me after ages of research, so how the hell did a mere human like you—”
Leona’s words cut off midway.
Not because she’d suddenly regained her patience.
It was because the two who had been quietly watching moved at the same time.
The moment Leona touched Carlyle, the first response came from Blackie, who had been clinging to him—it growled and sprang up.
The second was Gray, who had been frowning silently. The instant Leona laid hands on Carlyle, her eyes widened, and she pulled her leg back.
The next moment.
“How dare you!”
“Gah—!”
Pale, near-translucent mana crossed paths with pitch-black mana that seemed to swallow all surrounding light.
Blackie used Carlyle’s head as a springboard to deliver a striking front kick to Leona’s face, while Gray beside him slammed a roundhouse kick—evoking a tail swipe—straight into Leona’s gut.
And then.
Leona’s body rocketed away faster than a bullet.
Smashing through a wall.
Smashing through another wall, and another, and another, and another, off into the distant background, out into the open.
Carlyle stared dumbfounded at the sight until he snapped back to reality and whirled on Gray in a panic.
“⋯⋯What the hell was that?!”
“Why are you yelling only at me? She kicked her too.”
“No, you could’ve held back!”
“I did it because I wanted to. What’re you gonna do about it? Hell, that Blackie thing joined in first.”
“She’s half animal, so fine, but Hero, you could’ve restrained yourself—”
Carlyle’s mouth snapped shut mid-sentence.
Oh. Right. She’s a beast too.
Hero isn’t human either⋯⋯
“⋯⋯Hey.”
“⋯⋯.”
“You’re thinking something annoying, aren’t you?”
“N-No, this isn’t the time!”
Carlyle bolted toward the hole Leona had punched through the wall, navigating the obstacle course like a track athlete.
After leaping through for what felt like minutes, he finally spotted Leona embedded in some distant wall.
⋯⋯How far had one hit sent her flying?
As that thought hit him, Leona—her joints twisted at grotesque angles—collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“Why the fuss? She’s fine.”
“⋯⋯Fine how?!”
She looked like a marionette from some avant-garde art exhibit.
And her comeback was just as absurd.
“Her shape’s still intact, isn’t it?”
“⋯⋯.”
“You were half-pulped the first time she hit you too. Don’t you remember?”
Yeah, that happened.
He still had no clue how he’d survived it.
Shaking off the memory, Carlyle approached to help Leona up.
That’s when he noticed something off.
“⋯⋯She’s not breathing?”
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
Carlyle alternated glances between Blackie—tilting its head like “What’s that mean?”—and Gray—shrugging like “So what?”
Heh heh, you little disaster magnets.
You’ve gone and turned a high noble—at least a marquis in imperial terms—into this.
Soon after.
“—M-MEDICAL TEAAAAAM—!”
Carlyle’s scream echoed thunderously through Cradle.
A VIP from the Magic Kingdom. The Red Magic Tower Lord.
One-shot KO.
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⋯⋯Or not. Thankfully.
“Hup—!”
Not long after, in the imperial infirmary, Carlyle watched in quiet awe as Leona jolted upright with a gasp.
Unbelievable.
Recovering this fast from a beating by the Hero? Time to reevaluate Mage Tower Lords.
Carlyle himself spent days bedridden from mere grazes.
‘⋯⋯No, the Hero’s the real monster here.’
And that alone was shocking enough.
Even Blackie’s strike had been brutally sharp, considering its power—not quite Hero-level, but damn close.
His hunch that it could count as a full Hero Party member had been spot on.
Impressive power even without its true body. He could already imagine its potential in a crisis⋯⋯
[⋯⋯What’s with the doting-dad vibes? Focus on damage control.]
Eek.
Snapped back by the Holy Sword’s jab, Carlyle turned to the Red Magic Tower Lord with a smile.
“⋯⋯Feeling better?”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯What the hell did you do to me, you con artist? I almost died!”
Before he could snap back at the insult, a quiet relief washed over Carlyle.
Her cognition and memory seemed intact.
From his past-life memories, anyone hit by the Hero—even excluding Carlyle and a few others—spent the rest of their lives half-crippled.
Phew. Good. Good⋯⋯!
[⋯⋯.]
‘⋯⋯.’
He could swear the Holy Sword would be averting its gaze if it had a face, but anyway.
Regardless of his thoughts, Gray clearly wasn’t thrilled with Leona’s words.
“⋯⋯Still on the con artist crap? That’s just stubbornness at this point. I don’t know the details, but you can’t stomach a human surpassing you, huh?”
Her snide remark drew a fierce retort from Leona.
“Of course! Unlike my heretical sister, I’ve walked the path of true magic my whole life as a model dragon. No way some human catches up.”
Ahem. Leona planted her hands on her hips and thrust out her chest.
Carlyle scratched his cheek and glanced at the ceiling.
Something embarrassingly grand had filled his entire field of view.
‘⋯⋯They’re huge?’
On par with Panhima, maybe more⋯⋯
“⋯⋯Lady, no.”
“What’s no?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure myself, but I know it’s not worth you drawing the Holy Sword.”
“⋯⋯.”
Gray grumbled as she sheathed the Holy Sword with a sigh.
“Well, can’t be helped.”
“⋯⋯Can’t be helped how?”
“If you can’t believe this guy’s that strong despite being human, we’ll make you.”
“Lady? What do you—”
“You two duke it out.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Bash heads once. Loser kneels, apologizes, no complaints.”
“⋯⋯.”
⋯⋯Is this some gang sorting out hierarchy?
Where do they even come up with solutions like that?
“It pisses me off.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Popping out of nowhere, calling him a cheater when you know jack.”
“⋯⋯.”
Hmm.
Gray herself had done far worse without batting an eye.
The thought flickered through Carlyle’s mind, but voicing it took more guts than he had.
Instead.
“⋯⋯Lady, making me fight the Mage Tower Lord one-on-one is too much, even for you.”
Who knew what crises lay ahead? Merging with the Hero inside the Holy Sword was too risky.
Last time he’d used it, he’d been bedridden for weeks.
Without that option, over half his combat power vanished.
But.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a killer knack for this stuff.”
Gray scoffed.
Her voice brimmed with confidence.
“You’re tougher than you think. Even without that mysterious power.”
Carlyle apparently underrated himself badly.
“And I wanna test your limits myself this time.”
Not in Gray’s eyes, at least.
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