Master's Parting Gift
Confusion.
A familiar space.
Antique furniture that bore Master's tastes in every detail, and thick grimoires packed tight along the shelves.
But it was different from usual.
Nowhere in this vast room could Master's presence be felt any longer.
The warm, overwhelming aura that had always filled the chamber was gone without a trace.
As if she had never existed at all.
"She's gone. Our Master."
A quiet murmur slipped out.
I tried to sound unaffected, but my voice trembled faintly.
Master, who had always been at my side—sometimes stern, sometimes more tender than anyone—protecting me, guiding me.
The only pillar I had left. Someone who had been almost like family.
Prickly and curt on the surface, yet she had cared for me and fretted over me more than anyone else.
The absence of her presence meant only one thing.
She had met death in Tera and returned to the Spiritual Realm.
As an immortal Transcendent, she would eventually fashion a new body and come back.
But how long that would take, no one could say.
Decades? Centuries? Millennia?
Perhaps I would never see her again before I died.
In the end… it was because of me.
Because I had forced her to break her Geas.
Because I had held her back.
Once again, someone precious who had become entangled with me had been made unhappy.
"Hic…"
My vision blurred as something hot welled up.
Despair crushed down on my entire body.
The knowledge that I had lost even Master made it hard to breathe.
Now I was truly alone.
I wanted to give up on everything.
I wanted to simply vanish right here.
And yet…
…Ah.
From deep in my chest, a strange sensation began to bloom.
Where despair and sorrow should have been, a bizarre, unpleasant heat started to crawl upward.
The extreme sense of loss and guilt from losing Master.
That mental agony that sank all the way into the bone…
Unique Ability Masochist is activating.
Thump. Thump.
My heart began to beat irregularly.
Sorrow and despair had already twisted into perverse pleasure, spreading through my whole body.
Even the pain of Master's absence—this cursed ability transformed it into sweet stimulation.
"…Disgusting."
A nauseated murmur escaped before I could stop it.
I found myself utterly repulsive for feeling pleasure even in a moment like this.
My very existence, swayed by such feelings even before Master's death, was sickening.
If only I didn't have this ability. If only I could simply grieve and despair like a normal person…!
Swoosh—
Suddenly, a soft touch settled on the top of my head.
…Huh?
I startled and reflexively lifted my face.
Had someone else entered the room?
But what stood before my eyes was not a living presence.
It was Master's form—translucent like a hologram, yet so vividly clear.
The very appearance I had been longing for only moments ago, the one I had thought I would never see again.
Arms crossed as always, looking down at me with a faintly furrowed brow.
As if we had met only yesterday.
"I knew it. Digging yourself into a hole alone again. You foolish disciple."
Magic?
The voice of Master in the illusion was as curt as ever, yet deep affection ran through it.
"You're definitely blaming yourself again, saying it's your fault I ended up like this. Am I right?"
I couldn't bring myself to raise my head. Because it was exactly as she said.
"Haa… You catch on so quickly to everything else, so why with things like this… Bella—do you remember what that child said? Everyone has the right to choose their own path. That I chose this path is entirely my own will. It has nothing to do with you."
Master's voice softened a little.
"So this isn't your fault. Do you understand? Throw away that useless guilt and focus on what you need to do."
She paused for a moment and looked at me with warm eyes.
"If it's you… you'll be fine. Just like always, you'll overcome it in the end. Because you're my disciple."
At those words, tears surged up again.
Master had always believed in me.
Even in the moments when I couldn't believe in myself.
"Emilla. That child will help you. She may seem cold on the outside, but she's deeply caring at heart, so if you need anything, tell her anytime. She'll probably grumble the whole time and still do it all for you."
At Master's words, I glanced sideways at Emilla, sprawled unconscious from my earlier attack.
Back then I had been so lost in thoughts of Master that I lashed out without thinking…
Hmm…
Becoming friends seems pretty unlikely, though?
"…And Yeon."
Master's voice dropped low and serious again.
"That foolish plan of yours. It absolutely will not go the way you think, so cancel it at once."
"…!"
I flinched.
My heart sank.
How did she know?
"You don't need to shoulder everything and sacrifice yourself to the bitter end. The world isn't something you can save alone."
Master spoke as if she could see straight through me.
"Haa…"
The Master in the illusion let out a deep sigh.
"You'll just ignore me even if I tell you. Stubborn as you are."
She was silent for a moment, then opened her mouth again.
"…So before I left, I prepared a gift."
When Master lightly gestured in the air, a silver brooch suddenly appeared on her palm.
Exquisite craftsmanship, glowing with a soft moonlight sheen.
It looked similar to the identity-concealing brooch Senior Bella had given me not long ago, yet far more refined, and a far more powerful mana radiated from it.
"It's a magic tool that can conceal your identity. I made it myself, so there are probably almost no beings in Tera who can see through it. Sometimes… put it on and live like ordinary people. Don't drive yourself so hard."
And she added,
"I also sealed a portion of my authority into it so you can charge Decimal Reverse. Of course, it won't charge as quickly as before. Very slowly—just a tiny bit at a time."
Master sighed once more.
"Honestly… I'd prefer if you never used that power again… but you won't listen to me anyway… Sigh."
Then Master looked at me again.
Apology and quiet regret filled her eyes.
"I'm sorry… for not being able to stay by your side until the end."
"Let's meet again someday, my disciple."
With those words, Master's illusion faintly smiled and faded into light.
Consciousness slowly rose from pitch-black darkness.
Her whole body ached as if it would shatter, and the pain in her abdomen made even breathing difficult.
…Did I get hit?
In her hazy mind she groped for the last memories.
Blood-soaked Yeon Bennet. The powerful impact that had slammed into her.
And…
The shocking sight of Dorothy's magic—which had never responded to anyone—reacting to that girl.
"Hic… hic…"
Just then, a faint crying sound reached her ears. Very small, as if someone were desperately trying to hold it back—a sorrowful sound.
Emilla barely managed to lift her heavy eyelids.
In her unfocused vision, a blurry shape appeared.
What she saw before her was…
Yeon Bennet, crying.
Sitting on the floor, face buried against her knees, slender shoulders trembling.
The ferocious aura that had helplessly blasted Emilla away moments ago was gone without a trace. She simply looked like a wounded, lost child.
Deep sorrow and guilt were written across her face—and an incomprehensible pain as well.
It was an expression the villainess known to the world could never have worn.
Emilla was confused.
What was truth, and what was false…
The Yeon Bennet she had known was clearly arrogant and cruel—trash who had reached for Contamination for the sake of power.
But the figure before her now… was so completely different.
Suddenly, her own actions from earlier rose in her mind.
Slapping Yeon's cheek. Grabbing her hair. Driving her with every insulting word she could find.
If… if that child really was the Grand Elder's disciple?
What have I done?
She had committed violence against a Transcendent—no less than the Grand Elder's own disciple—and heaped insults upon her.
Crazy bitch…
A cold realization ran down her spine.
Before the weight of that sin, even the pain in her abdomen felt faint.
Even if she were killed by the girl right now, she would have nothing to say in her defense.
She should have simply… simply followed the Grand Elder's orders, checked everyone who came to the Headmaster's office, and let them in.
It was she who had been swayed by prejudice and emotion, disobeyed orders, and done something foolish.
Suddenly, words the Grand Elder had spoken to her long ago rose in her memory.
"Emilla, you're capable, but too hasty. Kill that fiery temper of yours a little. Someday that impatient personality will make you regret it."
Words she had let slide past as mere nagging at the time.
But in this moment, they became a sharp dagger that pierced Emilla's heart.
Emilla strained to raise her injured body.
As she shifted with a creaking sound, Yeon stopped crying and lifted her head.
Eyes red and bloodshot, tear tracks still clear on her face.
Yeon's gaze and Emilla's met in the air between them.
Yeon paused as if startled for a moment, then slowly rose and began walking toward Emilla.
No emotion could be read in those eyes.
Anger? Resentment? Hatred? Emilla could not tell.
She simply closed her eyes quietly.
Waiting for the approaching Yeon's judgment.
She had neither the strength to flee nor the will to make excuses.
…Please, let it not hurt too much.
Just as Emilla was about to offer a final prayer—
the words that reached her ears were the most absurd, ridiculous thing she had heard in nearly a hundred years of living.
"…I'm sorry, Professor."
Emilla doubted her own ears and slowly opened her eyes.
Before her still stood the blood-soaked Yeon Bennet.
Head deeply bowed, murmuring like a child who had committed some great wrong.
"I was… out of it earlier… I'm truly sorry. Whatever punishment… I'll accept it gladly…"
"……What?"