Betrayal
Betrayal
Evening.
Tudel gathered the members of her faction within the Magic Tower.
"I have something to confess."
A faction wasn't anything special.
Whenever there was a problem in their research that couldn't be solved, they would present it to Tudel, who would then take it to Erpa.
Erpa would solve the problem brilliantly, and that solution would be wholly transformed into an achievement for Tudel, which she then bestowed upon the mages and witches.
The mages and witches mistook Erpa's genius problem-solving skills for Tudel's own ability and clung to her side, and the result was this very gathering.
"An Abomination. An Evil God Worshipper is hiding in my home laboratory."
The mages and witches of Tudel's faction, who had gathered wondering what this was about, burst into laughter at the blunt remark Tudel threw out.
"What kind of joke is that, Tudel?"
At those words, Tudel silently took out her wand, pointed it at her own head, and projected a portion of her memories into the air for them to see.
The image of Erpa conducting research in the laboratory was revealed to the entire faction.
Every mage and witch held their breath.
Multiple arms.
Eyes clustered thickly on the left side of her face.
An Abomination.
It was the form of a Calamity Bearer, the very being the White Order, so zealous about hunting demons and Evil Gods, was madly trying to capture.
"Wh-what is that!! How is that!!"
"What is that! Who is that! Who is that person?"
As everyone screamed in horror, Tudel scoffed.
"Why are you all acting like that? Weren't you all impressed whenever a blocked part of your research was suddenly solved? She's the one who came up with those genius solutions. You've all been receiving help from an Evil God Worshipper without even knowing it."
Tudel let out a cackling laugh.
"What do you want to do? If this comes to light, all of you will be dragged before the White Order and put on trial under suspicion of being Evil God Worshippers. If things go on like this, you'll all be completely ruined."
"Wh-what!!"
"What are you trying to say!! Why are you doing this!!"
"What is this all of a sudden! Why are you doing this to us!! This wasn't part of the deal!!"
"You crazy bitch!!"
Watching the screams and heated reactions burst forth, Tudel smiled.
"Help me out a little. We have to get rid of this bitch. An Evil God Worshipper has been secretly helping our research all this time. It'd be a problem if that were revealed, wouldn't it?"
The sound of the mages and witches gulping dryly at Tudel's words could be heard.
Their eyes wavered here and there as if they were agitated, but in the end.
The choice they could make was already decided.
"........What are you planning to do?"
"This bitch. That multi-eyed monster bitch suddenly turned hostile. We can say she showed her true colors. She's been helping our research all this time, so now she's insisting that we must help her with the Descent of an Evil God as payment. I plan to kill her before that happens."
Tudel wore an odd smile.
"The Abomination still trusts me. I'll pretend to win her heart and make her drink. And in that drink....... I'll mix a Magic Power Suppressant and an Anesthetic. A really strong one. She probably won't suspect a thing. And the moment she's neutralized......... we dispose of her."
Murder.
But it was something they absolutely had to do in order to survive.
The mages and witches of the faction wore disgusted expressions.
It meant they had to be complicit in an indirect murder, but they had no choice in the matter to begin with.
"And after that?"
"We have to secure and pack up all the materials from her secret lab. Then we dispose of the evidence and the body, aside from those materials. If we do this, the fact that we've been working with an Abomination will be buried. And we can take the research results the Abomination produced as they are."
Tudel smiled.
Then she asked in an unmistakably threatening voice.
"None of you want to be expelled from the Magic Tower, do you? Right? You worked so hard to reach the Mars Mage Tower branch. You don't want your careers ruined, do you? None of you. Right?"
Everyone lowered their heads.
It was true.
Tudel understood their psychology all too well.
"What do you want us to do?"
They could not refuse.
Tudel, as if seducing them all, spoke.
She explained in a soft, persuasive voice.
"We need a strong Magic Power Suppressant and Anesthetic. And evidence disposal, body disposal. We need people to secure the materials from the laboratory. Doing it alone is too hard for me. I'll take on the most difficult task of subduing the Abomination, so you all have to handle the rest."
At her words, the mages and witches began to eye each other before soon nodding with trembling expressions.
Tudel let out a happy laugh at the sight of them.
Now they were all in the same boat.
Running away was impossible.
***
A day had passed since Tudel rushed out.
Erpa grew anxious when Tudel didn't return.
Was she really planning to expose her identity?
Was she having second thoughts?
Why wasn't she coming back?
Erpa paced around the room restlessly until she suddenly heard the sound of the front door being unlocked. She hurriedly tried to hide behind the sofa, but upon seeing it was Tudel entering, she came out from behind it, relieved.
"Sorry I'm late."
Tudel said this in her usual relaxed tone.
She was carrying a bottle of liquor in her hand.
It was a brand of wine that Erpa liked and often drank.
"Want to have a drink for the first time in a while?"
Remorse could be felt in her expression.
Erpa stared quietly at Tudel for a moment, then nodded and went to sit in front of her.
The two witches silently poured wine into their glasses and began to drink.
"I'm sorry."
Tudel broke the silence that had lingered for a moment.
"I was wrong. I failed to properly understand your pain and trauma. I guess... My heart grew impatient when I saw that the student I taught had surpassed me."
Erpa felt the tension drain right out of her at Tudel's words.
After a brief silence, she chuckled.
"I did learn a bit too quickly, admittedly."
"You even learned all the letters in a single month, didn't you? I never imagined you would just memorize the entire dictionary."
"Try living in the mountains. With nothing else to do, I actually found the dictionary entertaining."
"You learned basic magic faster than anyone, too."
"I just understood it."
"You really were a genius. So maybe because of that........ I began to feel pathetic at some point, having no choice but to rely on you. So my heart became urgent, and I tried to catch up to you. I guess that energy got released in a somewhat bad direction. I did something terrible without considering your feelings. I'm sorry, Erpa."
Upon hearing that, Erpa poured herself another glass of wine and downed it in one gulp.
"Thank you for apologizing, Tudel. I'll apologize too. For yelling at you. I absolutely couldn't accept forcing others to semi-forcibly feel the same pain I have."
Erpa quietly looked down at herself.
Four arms.
Multiple eyes.
Even to her own eyes, it was a hideous and filthy appearance.
But she wouldn't be defeated by this body.
She didn't know when, but someday, she would definitely find a way to fix this body.
"I will definitely cure myself. When that happens, I'll be able to handle magical equipment far greater and superior to what I can now, won't I?"
"Right. You probably will, Erpa."
"Then, at that time, I'll research a way to raise your magical abilities too. You can become a witch just as outstanding as me. Instead of human experimentation or whatever, those illegal and bad methods, let's solve it in a much better way, Tudel."
Erpa's face was flushed as she spoke.
Her face, which had begun to blush far beyond the normal level, started to grow increasingly redder, and soon she began to slur her words.
It seemed the powerful Anesthetic mixed into the liquor was taking effect.
Along with the Magic Power Suppressant.
"You too, definitely like me.........an outstanding witch.......why......my body."
Erpa staggered, then collapsed onto the table with a flop.
Surprise and bewilderment slowly began to seep into her half-closed eyes.
"This.......why."
Erpa muttered, stammering.
Tudel slowly rose from her seat and approached Erpa.
Then, stroking her head, she carefully took out a wand from her bosom.
As she lightly waved the wand to send a signal, the faction's mages and witches who had been waiting in advance cautiously entered the house and went into Erpa's secret laboratory.
After confirming that sight, Tudel grinned.
"That's a nice offer, but I'll have to decline. Because I hate you."
Slowly, from Tudel's mouth.
A voice filled with hatred and jealousy began to flow out.
"You'll raise my magical level. You're talking like you're bestowing a favor, aren't you? Which means I have to keep living beside you, feeling this inferiority complex? I hate it, Erpa. I can't stand the sight of you, acting all superior, walking around next to me."
Tudel giggled.
Magic coalesced at the tip of her wand.
"I find it a little hard to tolerate having someone better than me around. Especially when that bitch is actively blocking my progress and threatening me, even more so. So, Erpa."
Tudel brought out a laugh she had hidden in her deepest depths for the very first time.
"Farewell. I'll make good use of the things you leave behind."
The moment a Severing Magic spell shot from the tip of the wand toward Erpa's neck.
The spell that struck Erpa's neck refracted and bounced off in a completely different direction.
With a slicing sound, the chair behind her was cleanly cut in two.
At that sound, the mages of Tudel's faction, who had been gathering materials inside the laboratory, realized things had gone wrong and immediately fled en masse via teleport.
"What!......"
As Tudel gaped at the faithless betrayal, Erpa drew her wand and stood up.
Because of the Magic Power Suppressant and Anesthetic she had consumed, her magic wasn't manifesting properly, and the hand holding the wand was trembling violently like someone with a seizure. But nevertheless, Erpa was still Erpa.
"You!.......To me......Tudel!!"
Erpa screamed, staggering.
In her eyes, shock and rage.
And a terrible sadness welled up.
"How could!....... Do this to me!!"
"You fucking bitch!!"
Tudel fired off spells wildly.
Her house exploded.
But she didn't care.
Now that things had come to this, she had to kill her as quickly as possible.
But Erpa didn't die easily.
She defended herself by swinging her wand, simply interfering with and deflecting Tudel's spells elsewhere, resisting her attack.
Tudel's eyes widened as she saw herself being pushed back by Erpa, even after the latter had consumed an Anesthetic and Magic Power Suppressant.
"Wh-what!"
It was a new technique.
Magic of that caliber shouldn't have been possible while under the effects of a Magic Power Suppressant.
It was clear she was using a technique that could unleash massive-scale spells even with a small amount of magic power.
But Tudel had never heard of or witnessed such a technique.
The implication was simple.
It meant Erpa had been hiding something.
"You hiding bitch!!"
Thinking she had been mocked, Tudel's wand movements grew faster.
But like a game of tug-of-war, their standoff remained tense.
And during that standoff.
The neighbors nearby began to gather one by one at the loud noises.
It was over.
Her faction had betrayed her and fled swiftly, and the plan to silently assassinate Erpa and dispose of the body and evidence together had already failed.
There were too many witnesses.
And of course, Erpa right now.
She was in a state where she wasn't hiding her four arms or the left side of her face crowded with eyes.
If she wasn't careful, the possibility of her losing the fight against Erpa also clearly existed.
Tudel was quick to calculate.
A way to unilaterally destroy Erpa without taking a loss herself.
A way to ensure people wouldn't believe anything Erpa said about her later.
There was one way to call for reinforcements right now.
"An Abomination!! An Evil God Worshipper!! The Calamity Bearer is trying to kill me!! Hurry!! Hurry, call the White Order!!"
Tudel began to scream at the surrounding onlookers with tremendous volume.