The Wizard King
by Afuhfuihgs
The showdown between the cult leader and Roel ended surprisingly anticlimactically. Every desperate struggle the cult leader made was meaningless before Roel. The aura of chaos vanished like smoke into the Holy Sword, and the condensed power of chaos couldn’t even overcome Roel’s inherent strength.
“Is my time still insufficient?”
Having said that, the cult leader chose to flee. But like a villain leaving behind ugly words before exiting, the cult leader also left a mocking remark towards the fallen Ellie.
“Your plan won’t save Ross. To save Ross, you’ll eventually have to come find me. I’ll be waiting to see if you can kneel before me to save your childhood friend.”
After leaving those words and disappearing without a trace, Roel, who had been silently watching the cult leader flee, retrieved the Holy Sword and looked down at Ellie, who was lying on the floor.
In the pool of blood, her obsidian-like eyes were unfocused and wavering.
“…Ellie.”
There’s too much blood loss. It’s only natural since all her limbs except for one arm are gone. Even someone without medical knowledge could easily guess that she would die within a minute if something wasn’t done immediately.
“It’s okay now.”
Roel took out a potion imbued with the Saintess’s power from his chest pocket. It was even a potion whose effectiveness had been further enhanced by the genius alchemist Rosalyn. Because there was no time, Roel opened the potion bottle and poured all the contents onto Ellie’s body.
Instantly, the bleeding stopped, and the severed limbs grew back rapidly in a short span of five seconds, like a baby growing into an adult.
The blood and pain mixed in Ellie’s breathing had also disappeared. Roel, realizing that Ross, who had lost consciousness, was compressing her lungs with his weight, took Ross away from Ellie.
“Ah….”
As the pressure that had been crushing her body disappeared, Ellie, startled, discovered Ross in Roel’s hands and instinctively reached out. Roel, seeing that hand, gave a bitter smile and shook his head slightly.
“Rest even a little bit.”
“…Okay.”
The newly grown limbs seemed awkward, and Ellie, who had risen to her feet, took some time to move her body and adjust. Then, she let out a deep sigh. Ellie, who roughly wiped the blood-caked face with her hand, gave a faint smile as she looked at Roel.
“I look like a mess, don’t I?”
“Yeah. You’re a mess.”
At Roel’s immediate answer, Ellie quietly burst into laughter. Roel, with a voice full of worry, asked her as she laughed.
“Is it hard?”
After a moment of silence, Ellie tilted her head slightly and replied.
“…A lot.”
“You can give up anytime. You’ve worked really hard. For someone who has returned from the brink of death, giving up is a legitimate right that no one can criticize.”
Roel’s voice always contained sincerity. Ellie felt both joy and sorrow at the concern and comfort in that voice. But Ellie had no hesitation or wavering.
Because she had promised Ross that they would definitely go to the 10th floor of the labyrinth together.
“Oppa also knows from Master, right? The reason why I have to act like this. This isn’t something someone ordered me to do. It’s the path I’ve chosen for everyone. Although… I’ll be giving Ross another big wound.”
At that answer, Roel’s hands turned into fists. His slightly lowered face looked dark.
“Is this… really the right answer? I’m still not sure at all. Even I, who have experienced endless failures, am really afraid of this failure. Because it’s not me, but you, whom I love, who is suffering. And also, that I have to just watch it until the end.”
Roel’s voice was lower than usual. He didn’t seem to be aware of the change himself, but Ellie, who was quick to notice, could tell that Roel was confused.
Ellie slowly approached Roel and hugged him, who was holding Ross. Ross, sandwiched between the two, was at the center of warmth. Looking straight into Roel’s blue eyes, Ellie said.
“I believe in both of you.”
“….”
At the clear sincerity conveyed in Ellie’s voice, Roel hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
“…The Regulator is dead. There was a terrorist attack at the Academy. It seems the cult leader took action in advance.”
At those words, which felt like a kick to the heart, Ellie gasped. Everyone had sacrificed themselves to save Ross, but that sacrifice was ultimately a futile effort. Ellie bit her lip, thinking that there was a reason why the fleeing cult leader had bothered to show his ugly face.
“…It’s okay. We’ll find a way somehow. Oppa knows, right? How tenacious I am.”
There would also be the magic book left by the Regulator, and with the knowledge of the Golden King, they would surely be able to find a way to wake Ross. Or even by using forbidden knowledge, Ellie was determined to save Ross no matter what.
“You’re a terribly amazing person. As your brother, I sincerely respect you, who is always growing and developing.”
At Roel’s kind rebuttal, Ellie gave a happy smile. Reaching out and gently stroking Roel’s hair, Ellie said quietly.
“So don’t worry….”
Ellie pushed Roel’s hand away and put Ross back on her back. Feeling Ross’s breath on the back of her neck, Ellie smiled brightly at Roel.
“Believe in me too, Oppa. The two people you love.”
Roel couldn’t say anything and only watched Ellie’s back as she headed towards the door.
*
Opening the door and entering, Ellie saw the letters that appeared before her eyes.
[You have reached the 6th floor.]
[A new causality is granted to the official challenger of the labyrinth.]
[It is a rest period. The labyrinth will ■■■■■■■■■.]
“…?”
The letters at the end were not visible. Ellie, tilting her head, soon opened her mouth at the letters that reappeared before her eyes.
[All causality has been consumed.]
At the message that she had consumed everything she had gained as a reward from the labyrinth without doing anything, Ellie was so dumbfounded that she unknowingly muttered to herself.
“What the hell does that mean…?!”
Suddenly, Ross’s spatial storage opened in front of Ellie. What popped out from inside was Patouga’s magic book. Ellie, who knew what it was, stared blankly at the magic book before seeing the book open its pages on its own.
And…
“Eeeaaak!”
“Kyaaaaak!”
A person popped out of Patouga’s magic book. Even Ellie, who usually didn’t scream, screamed this time because she was so surprised. It was surprising enough that a person popped out of a book, but she was even more surprised by the sight of the person who appeared rolling on the ground several times as if they had been thrown out by an explosion, without slowing down.
“Kkeuaaaaaa- He, help me~!!”
At the urgent scream of the man, Ellie belatedly came to her senses and used magic to stop the man. The man, who had been rolling like a ball, fluttering his long robe, finally stopped and collapsed on the floor in a starfish shape.
Seeing him motionless as if he were dead, Ellie, who had been aiming her staff, shot a weak fire magic, and the man, who had been lying like a corpse, hurriedly got up and deflected the magic.
“Hey, fix your trigger finger! You haven’t changed at all.”
“…Huh?”
Ellie unknowingly checked Ross on her back and turned her head again to look at the ‘Ross’ in front of her. There were two Rosses. No, the Ross in front of her had the same face, the same voice, but… his way of speaking was like a different person.
The new Ross, who was grumbling and dusting off his clothes, suddenly looked at his empty wrist. Hmm, runes… he muttered, then mumbled to himself at an incomprehensible speed, before raising his head and looking straight at Ellie.
“Well, is that how it is?”
Ellie, with a dumbfounded face, asked at the sight of Ross shrugging his shoulders and calmly accepting the situation.
“Do you understand this situation right now?”
“Roughly?”
“Then, would you explain it to me, who doesn’t understand? My head isn’t working right now.”
As Ellie spoke sarcastically, Ross stroked his chin and moved his gaze up and down to check Ellie’s current state, then nodded as if he understood.
“It looks like it. You’re a real goddamn mess. Did you have a hard time?”
“…You didn’t forget my personality, did you?”
As Ellie aimed her staff, signaling that she could kill the suspicious person at any moment, Ross hurriedly raised both hands and opened his mouth.
“Well, it’s a simple story. I’m a me from another world who was forcibly dragged into this world after receiving a request for help. It seems the administrator intervened forcibly because they judged the situation to be serious… Hehe, so that’s why they found me hiding in the labyrinth but left me alone? I thought it was because it was an independent world, so they were giving me special treatment.”
Before Ross’s incomprehensible mumbling could continue, Ellie, with a dumbfounded face, reconfirmed the unbelievable words she had heard.
“You’re Ross from another world…?”
“Yeah. I am, what was it, this body is…”
Ross, who deliberately paused and trailed off, suddenly spread his arms wide with a sly smile. Behind him, a pure white mass of mana and numerous formulas were drawn in the air, flamboyantly announcing the appearance of the Archmage.
“Ta-da! It’s the Wizard King!”
Colorful fireworks and numerous confetti exploded over Ross’s head.
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