Extinction
Only silence settled over the ancient mausoleum of the Bennet family.
The dust-laden stone walls looked ready to crumble at any moment, and a faint reek of blood hung in the cold air.
Dorothy, who had come to investigate the calamity that had befallen the Bennet family, now leaned weakly against the shattered fragments of a statue beneath the altar.
The pure white robe that had once been her symbol no longer held its color. Vivid, almost blackish-red blood soaked the entire garment, forming grotesque patterns, and the wounds revealed through the torn fabric were anything but ordinary.
Wounds as if her very existence had been severed by something extremely sharp. The cut surfaces were unnaturally smooth, and around them the remnants of her defensive magic, once imbued with her authority, lay scattered and spent.
"Kh..."
Labored breaths burst out in ragged gasps. With every inhalation her torn lungs screamed, and blood-flecked coughs erupted to stain the floor. An intense pain of a kind rarely suffered even by a Transcendent's body crushed her from head to toe.
The price for breaking her Geas and leaving the Academy had been far harsher than she expected. Weakened, she had been helpless against that being's surprise attack.
That authority....
Dorothy closed her eyes. A few faces rose faintly in her mind—possibilities she had long wanted to avert her gaze from, despite countless suspicions over the years.
Fuck. I prayed so hard that at least that bastard wouldn't be the traitor.
Dorothy pressed the deep wound in her side with a bloodied hand. Far from healing, she even felt a dissonant sense that her existence itself was fading from the cut surface. Still, she could not give up.
She squeezed out the last of her strength. Feeble mana bloomed at her fingertips only to flicker and die again and again. Barely—just barely—a faint thread of connection remained. Dorothy succeeded in sending a final warning toward Richard Bennet.
Only then did she let out a faint sigh of relief. Weak as the warning was, she had at least achieved the minimum reason she had come this far. She had wanted to inform the other Transcendents of the traitor's identity as well... but it was impossible. Even her will to speak any "information" about that being had been severed. She could neither open her mouth nor leave a message through mana. A thorough imposition of silence.
Yeon...
In this state, she worried about Yeon, left alone at the Academy. The wound engraved on her soul had not even healed yet. Who knew what might happen while she was gone.
Pfft—
Who's worrying about whom.
No matter the situation, it would be her who ultimately claimed victory. Thinking about it, it was almost funny. Someone like me becoming her master.
Red blood spread into a pool across the cold floor. Her consciousness grew increasingly hazy. Though a Transcendent of immense power, the backlash of the Geas and the wounds from that fatal authority were too much even for her to bear.
...I got completely done in.
Dorothy gazed at the firmly shut door of the mausoleum beyond her fading vision. The traitor who had reduced her to this was probably waiting for her to die slowly. In this isolated space where she could not even move, the great Witch of Protection slowly accepted "death in Tera."
I wonder who the next Guardian will descend as. They're all such eccentric types—it's worrying.
Dorothy exhaled her last breath and smiled faintly.
I'll look forward to the day we meet again, Ha-yeon.
In the quiet principal's office, Emilla Gale was buried under a mountain of documents. After concentrating on the paperwork for a long while, she suddenly lifted her head at a strange sensation.
The familiar, powerful presence that had gently enveloped the entire Academy—Dorothy's presence, which had protected this place for hundreds of years—was trembling, ever so faintly yet unmistakably, like a candle about to go out.
"...!"
Emilla stopped what she was doing and held her breath. An uneasy premonition clenched her heart. And a moment later, the warm, powerful aura that had softly embraced the whole Academy vanished completely. Only a hollow emptiness remained in its place.
"In the end, it has come to this."
Emilla looked out the window at the Academy sky that now felt ordinary, and smiled bitterly. Resignation that what was coming had finally arrived mixed with grief for her departed lord.
Perhaps it had been inevitable from the moment she broke her Geas and wandered Tera. The final command the Great Elder had left her before departing echoed in her ears.
As ordered, preparations to run the Academy without Dorothy were already complete. She had activated emergency protocols and reorganized both the administrative systems and the defensive network. The problem was the second command.
The Great Elder's disciple. Who that person was—Emilla still had not the faintest idea.
Just who could it be...
The recognition magic hanging in the principal's office remained silent. Do I really have to bring every single person in the Academy into this room one by one? The thought of resorting to such an inefficient method made Emilla's head throb.
Right then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The quiet door of the principal's office was pounded with frantic, desperate force, as if the knocker meant to smash it down. Emilla frowned. Coming here the moment the Great Elder returned to the Spiritual Realm... mere coincidence?
Whoever it was, caution was necessary. Carefully drawing up her mana, she turned her gaze toward the door.
In that very instant—
KWA-AAAAANG—!!!
With a tremendous roar the heavy door of the principal's office exploded inward as if blasted apart. Solid wooden fragments flew in every direction, and a thick cloud of dust instantly filled the room.
"…!"
An intruder! And one with enough destructive power to reach the very heart of the Academy?
Emilla had no time to hesitate. She immediately launched condensed mana at the faintly visible silhouette beyond the shattered doorway. With a sharp whistle a blue mana bolt shot into the darkness.
Thud-!
A dull impact sounded as the intruder's body was hurled straight into the corridor wall. It had been a fairly strong blow, yet Emilla did not relax. Anyone who would fall to an attack of that level would never have been able to smash the door in the first place. She gathered mana in both hands again and glared fiercely at the intruder.
The dust slowly settled and her vision cleared. Still on high alert, Emilla confirmed the figure pinned against the corridor wall. The moment she saw who it was, her eyes flew wide in disbelief.
There... covered head to toe in blood and gasping for breath, was Yeon Bennet.
The neat uniform she usually wore was shredded to rags, and the exposed skin was covered in horrific wounds. But what shocked Emilla even more was not merely her appearance. The mana radiating from Yeon Bennet's body was not something a student should be able to produce. A ferocious, mighty aura—at least on par with Emilla's own.
"You... you..."
Warning bells screamed in Emilla's mind. That child was dangerous. She possessed power of unknown origin, and right now, in this moment, she could become a threat to the Academy. With the Great Elder absent, Emilla had to stop her.
Gritting her teeth, Emilla gathered her remaining mana. There was no time to hesitate. She launched a condensed destruction spell straight at Yeon. A blue flash split the corridor, flying as if to pierce Yeon's body.
But Yeon did not dodge. Instead, as if she had been waiting for the attack—or as if it meant nothing at all—she took it head-on.
KWAANG!
The magic detonated, leaving a fatal wound on Yeon's body. Flesh burst and blood sprayed, yet Yeon did not retreat an inch. Using the impact itself as a springboard, she charged at Emilla with her wounded body.
"…!"
Emilla cried out in shock and hastily raised a defensive spell, but Yeon's speed surpassed all imagination. In her fist, mixed with the blood streaming from her wounds, was an enormous amount of mana Emilla could not even begin to gauge.
KWA-JIJIK!
The hastily erected defensive magic tore like paper, and Yeon's mana-laden fist slammed squarely into Emilla's abdomen.
"Guhk...!"
With a breath-stealing impact Emilla's body flew limply backward. Only after slamming hard into the wall of the principal's office did she finally stop. Her vision blurred and strength drained from her entire body. Through the twisting agony of her organs, Emilla barely managed to open her eyes and look up at Yeon staring down at her.
A blood-soaked body, empty eyes that somehow held a deep sorrow, and...
In that very moment, the recognition magic of Dorothy that had been faintly glowing inside the principal's office suddenly blazed with intense light and activated. Completely defying Emilla's expectations, that light gently enveloped the blood-covered Yeon Bennet.
Disciple.
Could that child really be...
Faced with an unbelievable truth, Emilla's mind went blank. At the same time she felt a cold, hard magical restriction settle over her own body. The connection to the Akashic Records was forcibly severed, and the sensation of being forbidden to speak certain information took hold.
Ah... so that's why...
Only then did Emilla understand. Why the Great Elder had never directly revealed her disciple's identity. Why she had told Emilla to confirm it only through the recognition magic.
You never trusted me to the end... Great Elder.
Emilla smiled bitterly and slowly lost consciousness.