Absolute Denial
I hadn't known at all. No, to be honest, until just moments ago I had only been half-sure. That was why I had slipped my hand into my pocket earlier—to flee into Denatel's Library through the crystal if things went wrong.
When Bagloros first charged at me, I hadn't even understood what was happening. And when I realized the object in his hand was a control device, my mind had been nothing but chaos.
I had thought every command was undone, yet there he was, still under control. I wondered if there had been another spell I missed, or if he had fallen under an entirely new one. What made it worse was that Bagloros never moved, never gave even the smallest signal, even though he could have done so with a glance while Raze's back was turned.
I only began to suspect something was off when I noticed the barriers were breaking one layer at a time.
“But you were only shattering one layer at a time.”
I already knew from our travels that if Bagloros went all out, he could break two layers of my barriers with a single strike. So the fact that they were falling exactly one at a time felt wrong.
“Of course, that alone wasn't enough to be certain.”
I hadn't been sure yet that Bagloros was only pretending. Given Raze's exaggerated, theatrical behavior so far, it was possible he had deliberately ordered Bagloros to break them one by one.
“That's why I provoked you on purpose.”
Everything—the large-scale summoning circle, the unnatural words and actions—had been to test him.
“Remember? You lost your composure and shouted for him to kill me.”
As expected, he ordered Bagloros to kill me in a panic. At that point, there was no reason to hold back. Yet even though Bagloros should have been attacking with full force, the barriers still broke one layer at a time. That was when I became certain it was all an act.
Of course, such a bold gamble had only been possible because I had Denatel's Library to escape into, and because Janus's Talisman would activate automatically in the worst case.
Janus's Talisman spread a thin barrier across the entire surface of my skin. Though it only lasted a few minutes, the barrier it created was far stronger than the multiple layers of attached barriers I usually maintained. Even if Bagloros was fast, I would have had time to escape into the library or finish my summoning.
“Besides, if he really had been under control, wouldn't it have been strange that he only subdued you after you screamed for him to kill me?”
Even if Raze hadn't known Bagloros could break two layers at once, a slightly calmer, more collected person would have noticed the inconsistency without much trouble.
“……”
The black crystal slipped from his hand and rolled across the floor. But I didn't believe he had given up. I could feel something slowly seeping back into those eyes that had been empty just moments ago.
“…Well then, shall we wrap this up?”
At my words, he moved. Bagloros drew a dagger from his robes and rushed at me with the cold eyes of an assassin, moving faster than I could react.
Of course, Janus's Talisman made it irrelevant. In truth, the talisman hadn't even needed to activate.
“……!”
With a single kick from Bagloros, Raze was sent flying into the corner of the room.
“How foolish. Do you really think you still have any chance left after coming this far?”
Against Bagloros, any petty tricks Raze might attempt were meaningless.
“…Don't make me laugh! Don't you dare laugh at me!”
The impact should have broken something. Even as he struggled to rise through obvious pain, he screamed and forced himself upright.
“I understand not wanting to believe it, but what exactly do you think you can do? Do you believe you can beat Bagloros? Or that you can run away?”
He couldn't. He knew better than anyone how insignificant he was before Bagloros. That was exactly why he had been so obsessed with controlling him.
“It's cruel, but accept your fate quietly.”
I raised my hand and began forming the summoning circles in the air. I had never intended to let him live anyway.
“…Don't act so superior. You're no different from me.”
I paused the summoning. Orcan always called it a bad habit, and it was, but I had always liked watching an opponent's final struggle. There was twisted superiority and a touch of sadism in it, but at least when my own safety was guaranteed, I wanted to give them that last moment—their life, their final breath—entirely to themselves.
In that final instant, when they exhaled their last breath and met their end, they could finish things as themselves. Whether it brought pain or peace, it was time to truly recognize and accept their own death.
It was what I had hoped would be granted to me if my final moment ever came during the great war, and what I prayed for by granting it to others—that I might receive the same mercy.
“You hate them too, don't you? Those people standing above you, looking down where you can never reach! No matter how close you get, you'll never be like them!”
“…So it was just petty jealousy in the end?”
How disappointing. To fill his final granted moments with nothing but petty jealousy. He was unpleasant to the very last.
“Truly pathetic.”
The summoning resumed, and a chilling cold began seeping into every corner of the room. This was the end for him. Still, there was one thing I had to say.
“…You and I are different. You're nothing like me—you who only envy and resent without even knowing what you're lacking or how you're different from them.”
Cracks opened along the circles, and small gray furballs floated out.
“You're nothing like me, baring your worthless fangs just because they're above you, just because they're somewhere you can never reach.”
These were Mins Dogape. Subordinates of Irshagas, the gatekeeper of Niflheim. They were the last thing anyone who set foot in Niflheim without permission would ever see.
“With these pathetic things……!”
Raze swung his dagger at the gray furballs surrounding him. Several of them were cleanly cut in half. A smile returned to his lips, but that action only hastened his death.
“Th-this……!”
He watched as pure white cold crept up his arm along the dagger that had sliced through a Mins Dogape. The Mins Dogape were incarnations of the cold that filled Niflheim's earth and air. Cutting their bodies did not kill them—it only exposed him to the cold they carried within.
They were different from Frost Ghosts. Their cold did not merely freeze flesh or soul. It turned the body into ice itself. Hair, bones, the last drop of blood in the veins, even the teeth in the mouth—all transformed into transparent, pure ice.
Soon the Mins Dogape covered Raze's entire body. As they one by one turned into cold and seeped into him, Raze transformed into ice without so much as a whimper.
But I knew. His desperate screams and howls were echoing through the ice that his body and soul were becoming.
He glared at me with the last of his strength. It was a meaningless, pitiful struggle, yet what soured my mood was that his eyes held neither fear nor anger—only directionless madness, my words, and absolute denial of his own death.
“…Magic Arrow.”
He had become perfect ice. A single beam of light from my spell shattered him into countless pieces. The power had been a little lacking—the scattering ice particles weren't beautiful—but in the end, it was only a matter of time. Once the ice melted, there would be no trace left that Raze had ever existed here.
“Good. Bagloros, let's go.”
“Where?”
“To the side that's supposedly opposing these guys. Though I doubt the one who met them directly would know which side it is, they might still know something.”
“I already went there a few days ago.”
Right. Of course he had handled it.
“…Fine. Then tell me what you've found so far.”
Bagloros recounted the information he had gathered over the past few days—the secret room, the masked man in the crystal orb, and the various orders Raze had given his subordinates. None of it seemed particularly useful.
“…Hearing the masked man's voice is something, but there's no guarantee he wasn't a stand-in either.”
A dead end.
“Should I investigate more?”
Part of me wanted that. Bagloros wasn't omnipotent, but if I left it to him—who never tired—he would eventually find the tail. Still, I shook my head.
“No, it's fine. I'll talk to Master Medrup about it.”
Asking him to continue handling this matter didn't seem like a good idea. He wouldn't be harmed or controlled, but if he happened to encounter that insane dark mage who created him, it would never be good for him in his current state.
With emotions just beginning to sprout and grow, if he felt anger—if he was consumed by it—it would be dangerous while Rowell and Master Medrup weren't here.
“Then what should I do now?”
What should he do? That was the question I wanted to ask. For now, I planned to return to Rowell. The masked man still bothered me, but if I told Master Medrup later, he would find a solution. I didn't want to be dragged around by this any longer.
That said, I didn't want to simply tell him to go back to the Mereka Mountains now that it was over. Even if he didn't show it, he would want to see the others, and Rowell and Aegina would want to see the current Bagloros. Sending him back there alone would be too heartless.
But taking him to Rowell also made me hesitate. Bagloros could stay silent, but he couldn't lie. Especially lying to Rowell would be nearly impossible for him.
“……”
Though the actual time wasn't long, I agonized over it for what felt like ages before finally reaching a conclusion.
“Bagloros.”
“……?”
“For now, let the opposing side know that you've dealt with Raze. And tell them that if they want to clear up the misunderstanding, they should find Raze's backers quickly.”
“Understood.”
“Wait!”
This time, I managed to stop him—not by grabbing his shoulder, but by lightly brushing against it—just before he dashed off.
“I'm not finished. Once everything is done, rest for today and come to the inn with the blue sign tomorrow morning. Stay here two more days, then let's go meet Rowell and Aegina together.”
Right. I could figure out how to keep his mouth shut on the way back.
“Okay.”
Bagloros simply answered and ran off, but even that small response let me know he was happy. It made me realize once again how close we had become.
“I should have at least found a horse to ride.”
Exhausted, I practically collapsed onto the bed.
Whether the servant who had guided me here had expected Raze's end or received other orders, I didn't know. But by the time I left the mansion, not a single person was in sight—not the servant, nor anyone else.
So I left without thinking much of it. Only after walking halfway back to the inn did I realize how far it actually was.
And honestly, I hadn't paid much attention to my surroundings when following the servant earlier. With night having deepened, I got slightly lost on the way back.
Thanks to Bagloros, my mind had been under strain for a while, and fatigue from the past few days had piled up. On top of that, an unnecessary nighttime walk. My body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
But no matter how tired I was, I couldn't just fall asleep. There was always the chance that Raze's remaining subordinates might target me while I slept, and relying solely on Janus's Talisman felt a little too risky.
Habits—or rather, compulsions—were truly terrifying things. Even when my mind knew it was fine, I simply couldn't endure not doing it.
But setting up more barriers on the bed or my body right now was out of the question. So I slowly rose and took the crystal from my pocket.
“Is that… just an excuse?”
As the scenery around me changed, I found myself in the library.