Chapter 602: Jealousy is My Power (102)
Chapter 602: Jealousy is My Power (102)
The girl, who had been unconscious for a long time, finally opened her eyes.
With the decisive battle against the Vampire looming, this should have been the best news possible. The presence of a 'Great Mage' capable of tearing through the 'Boundary' and wielding the power of the Thunder God was invaluable.
Furthermore, was the Vampire not currently limited to a mere half of her true power?
Of course, the opponent was a legendary monster that had nearly set the entire continent ablaze. Even with only half her strength, she was powerful enough to unilaterally overwhelm a 'Great Witch,' and now the Vampire had even lost the support of her barrier.
Finally, the opportunity to end this endless stalemate had arrived.
There was no reason for anyone to judge the situation otherwise. It had been a truly long battle, and the accumulation of small variables had created enough probability to determine victory or defeat.
However, the Angel of War seemed to have no intention of putting away the scales just yet.
In exchange for returning the girl, the party’s greatest asset had been snatched away.
The Great Witch screamed in rage as she etched characters of light into the air.
"You! What on earth have you done… I told you that the bond between fellow disciples is like family! To think I raised such a disgraceful wretch…!"
"What nonsense are you talking about, kid… I mean, Elder!"
Elsie was also rushing in urgently, clutching her jet-black rod.
The reason she had suddenly switched to formal speech mid-sentence was simply that the Great Witch’s spellwork was of a higher level than she had imagined. No matter how distracted one might be, those who are weak against the strong and strong against the weak have a knack for measuring an opponent's level.
It was a sort of survival instinct. In that brief moment, Elsie had come one step closer to realizing the Great Witch's true identity.
And so, she joined the fray. This was an enemy she could never handle alone.
The jet-black rod traced a path of light like a brush. As brilliant blue lightning stained the canvas the Great Witch had prepared, blood-red spears rained down like a bombardment.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With every explosive roar, remnants of mana scattered like halos of light. From afar, it might have been a beautiful sight, but on the battlefield, there was no scene more terrifying.
The defensive barriers, stacked layer upon layer, were being torn apart.
It was truly the worst-case scenario. For mages with mediocre physical abilities, a shield made of mana was their final wall.
But what if even that was shattered?
It meant they were incapable of handling their opponent. Naturally, retreat should have been the priority, but they were inside a barrier with no exit.
They had no choice but to calmly prepare for death.
There was no better justification for two women, who hadn't even fully regained their composure, to join forces.
Upon a geometric figure, another geometric figure was superimposed.
The speed at which Elsie, who had ascended to the rank of Great Mage within the 'Boundary,' wove her spells was incomparable to before. Furthermore, her collaborator was a woman who had seen the very end of the path of magic.
Thus, it was only natural for the shield to grow thicker and thicker.
If only their enemy weren't the 'Vampire.'
The Great Witch’s expression grew increasingly anxious.
"At this rate, we won't hold… What about the first child?!"
As the Great Witch shouted, a complex mix of emotions could be seen in her eyes.
Worry, anxiety, and deep contemplation.
The fallen man was clearly defenseless. If the Vampire changed her mind now and sought to take his life, there were few ways to stop her.
Perhaps she would have to push herself beyond her limits.
That thought led to her second and third emotions.
A final trump card remained.
She could abandon the safety of the Great Forest and the Southern Kingdoms to summon her main body here.
The power of a Master was great. Even the 'Vampire' at full strength had been forced to retreat in their battle hundreds of years ago.
However, the Great Witch’s body was also the core of the barrier imprisoning the Vampire.
If the Great Witch summoned her main body, the Vampire would use that opening to spirit her own true body away.
Then, everything would be over.
A Vampire using the authority of the Seven Deadly Sins without restraint was a calamity in itself. This was a fact the Great Witch knew better than anyone, having witnessed the South turned into a sea of fire with her own eyes.
She hesitated to make the decision even as her life hung in the balance.
Then, the girl, clutching her pointed hat as if it might be blown away by the shockwaves, cried out at the top of her lungs.
"…I told you to wait! He said he’s coming back!"
A flicker of doubt momentarily crossed the Great Witch’s eyes.
From where?
Had she not been unconscious until just a moment ago? The Great Witch had no way of knowing when she could have possibly made such a promise with the man.
However, the question that escaped the Great Witch’s throat was slightly different.
"How?!"
He had collapsed, battered and broken, only for another personality to suddenly possess him.
And now, he had been electrocuted into a dead faint. No matter how fine his body looked on the outside, there was no way his internal state remained intact.
Truly, 'how.'
Despite being in this state, despite being broken and injured to this extent, could he really return?
Facing that pessimistic outlook, the girl’s response was simple.
"…Somehow."
Gritting her teeth, she circulated her mana until it felt like her meridian points would tear. The rings condensed in her heart spun madly, weaving a new spell formula.
It was only one step further.
It was a leap forward she had experienced several times before, but the spell formula, which added a new unknown to the equation, was vomiting out an enormous amount of expressions and solutions. And an output to match.
Countless mages desired this realm. Some were even willing to risk their lives for it.
But those who could reach it were few and far between.
Because they would be consumed by the darkness of the 'Boundary,' by the inner desires they had kept tightly hidden.
Normally, Elsie wouldn't have been able to reach this realm either. But because there was a man who had gone out of his way to find the lost girl, she was able to stand in this place once again.
He was a man with a talent for turning the impossible into the possible.
"He’ll come back, somehow… He left his fiancée in this dangerous place, after all."
So, she had no choice but to believe.
The moment she steeled her resolve, the mana shield shattered, and the girl’s body rolled across the ground, swept away by the explosion. The man lying peacefully nearby still didn't move an inch.
Only blood was flowing beneath him.
The shards of a broken medicine bottle were digging into the man's veins.
When I open my eyes, an unfamiliar landscape emerges.
My hazy mind blurs the line between consciousness and the unconscious. Like a line drawn in the sand, my reason fades with every step I take.
Memories, memories, memories.
Why did I end up like this?
As I stand still and reflect, a scene rises like mist.
A woman with reddish-brown hair.
She must have been someone precious, so why is her face obscured?
"Ian, just because you use an awakening agent doesn't mean your body is healed."
It was a sharp, cautionary voice.
Perhaps she couldn't shake her worry, as the memory of her holding my hand for a long time while handing me the medicine flickers through my mind.
"No matter how powerful a stimulant is, it can't bring a critically injured patient back to life. It only wakes you up for a moment… and if your physical condition is worse than that, there's a chance you won't be in your right mind even if you do wake up."
A state where one is conscious, but the brain refuses to wake up.
Like sleepwalking. I think that was the impression I had.
"…Please, don't overdo it."
The tone of the woman as she finally concluded her words was incredibly moist with emotion.
Quite randomly.
I found myself wanting to see this woman's face. It was as if a seed of emotion had been planted deep in my heart; even in my dazed state, I rummaged through memories of her.
A few days ago, a month ago, and several months ago.
Eventually, all the way back to the day I entered the Academy.
Was this truly the end?
No, it wasn't. Surely there was more….
Just as I was about to sink blankly beneath the horizon of consciousness.
"How was the dream?"
A dry voice strikes my eardrums, and the blurry world regains its color in an instant.
The earth is as parched as the man's voice. The only things painting unpleasant hues upon it are countless corpses.
It was a wasteland.
It was so desolate that one wondered how any human could harbor such a landscape in their heart.
I was standing upon it.
In a world where even the cry of a crow did not ring out, the man's voice felt like a single stone. The sole variable creating ripples in a still lake.
"Have you achieved your goal? I wonder if you're satisfied now."
My gaze slowly turned behind me. There, as always, sat a man with weary eyes perched on a rock.
Cradling his sword in his arms.
"It's time to leave."
With that, the man gestured toward the sky. It was a clear sky with nothing in it.
His golden eyes, using the bleak scenery as a canvas, looked somewhat like fireflies.
"Get lost already. From here on, it's not my concern."
His tone was as rude as ever.
No, perhaps the battle with an old acquaintance had excited him.
Nevertheless, for him to come find me just to make sure I regained my senses, he was a reliable man when it came to getting the job done. As he said, it was about time to head back.
My eyes naturally turned toward the sky. In that place, which had been empty just a moment ago, memories of the outside world were seeping in.
Scenes where the man consistently held the upper hand.
Yes, this was the last of it.
I asked almost unconsciously.
"Can I fight like that too?"
It was a brief question.
However, it took some time before an answer to that question returned. After a few seconds of silence, an unfamiliar emotion was vomited from between the man's lips.
"…What?"
It was a reasonable question.