episode_0078

“Get up.”

When the fallen Kelg showed no response, Tirisia grabbed his hair and pulled him out of the ground where he was buried.

Kkwaduk!

“Turn off… ”

A labored groan escaped from the face, which had become so swollen and swollen that its original shape was unrecognizable.

As Tyrisia tried to lift his body towards her,

“Eww! Kkaaaak!”

Kelg, who had come to his senses, started waving his arms and making a fuss.

“Let go of this! Damn it!”

“… ”

thud!

As Tyrisia obediently let go of her hair, Kelg fell to his knees on the floor, barely supporting himself with both arms as he pulled himself together.

“Coolook! Coolook!”

Chomp!

Blood poured out of his mouth with a cough, and confusion and fear filled his dark eyes.

“Haa… Haa… ! Shit… Jang… !”

Something has been seriously wrong since a while ago.

It would be normal for Tirisia’s magical power to be lower than her own.

It was impossible for her, who had absorbed the magical power of dozens of other people along with herself, to lose in a battle of pure firepower.

But as the impossible situations kept happening one after another, Kelg began to suspect that there was something he was overlooking.

“Ugh… !”

He used healing magic on his battered body and looked up at Tirisia from the floor with murderous eyes.

‘Think, think…! Analyze why that girl suddenly became so strong…!’

Now that I have painfully realized that I have no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation, the only way to break through is to exploit her weaknesses.

‘Suddenly…? Wait, if it’s suddenly… maybe…!’

As Kelg rolled his dark eyes and pondered, a possibility flashed through his mind.

Because he had fought an enemy that had suddenly become stronger just two days ago.

“Ah… Okay… I see.”

Kelg wiped the blood flowing from his mouth and looked up at Tyrisia with a bitter smile.

“You… You temporarily became stronger by causing your magic circuit to go out of control?! Huh? Hahahaha!”

“… ”

Tyrisia did not answer his guess, but just stared at him silently.

“Unlike that wildcat year, she doesn’t show any outward signs of power…but somehow I thought her magical power was strangely high. Am I right?”

“… Is that all you have to say?”

“Heh heh… Hahahaha! I see! That’s what it was! If I had known how you got stronger, I would have had a chance… !”

Tuqwaaaa …

Blood-red magic exploded from Kelg’s body again, and he rose from his seat, bursting into flames.

“Watch this carefully…! You stupid bitch!”

Kelg, bending down and clenching his fists, roared at Tirisia.

“If you can do it, this Durakal can do it too!”

Kugugugugugu!

Blood-red magic surged from Kelg’s body into the sky like a fierce flame, causing the earth to shake.

“… ”

Tyrissia watched silently, without stopping the action unfolding in front of her.

“I’ll open the limits of the magic circuit with my power! Kaaah! ”

In the bloody torrent, dark eyes radiate a murderous intent,

“Haaap!”

Gooo―!

The moment the boiling magical power reaches the circuit’s critical point―

―

Fish shuck…

With a sound like air being released from a balloon, the magical power that had been radiating from Kelg’s body subsided.

“What is this…?”

“Why is it like that…?”

Questions came out of the mouths of the students who were witnessing the situation from the direction of the academy.

“… ?”

Kelg himself also had a puzzled look on his face.

“What… hey? What’s this… ?”

He tried to force a berserk state like Tirisia by pouring overwhelming magical power of predation into the magic circuit, but

“No…Why…”

Contrary to expectations, nothing happened to his body.

Kelg felt his body with an expression of incomprehension, sensing the flow of magic that was returning to normal.

I thought I had clearly torn the ceiling apart with force, but it was still there as if nothing had happened.

“… Are you done?”

Tirisia, who had been watching the whole farce, asked a cold question.

As she took a stride toward him, Kelg looked down at his hands, his face turning pale.

“Why… why won’t the circuit open…? Why!”

“It’s so noisy.”

Boom!

In an instant, Tirissia leapt forward and punched Kelg in the bridge of his nose, and a shockwave erupted, sending Kelg crashing to the ground.

“Cough!”

Tirisia, standing in front of the curled-up Kelg, looked down at him with a cold gaze and muttered a word.

“Do you… know despair?”

It didn’t turn out to be an exact theory, but it was something that came from Tirisia’s vague sense.

It is a widely known fact in academic circles that the runaway of a magic circuit is an abnormal phenomenon that occurs when the circuit cannot withstand excessive magic power that exceeds its tolerance and bursts.

The side effect of the ruptured circuit was a double-edged sword that left permanent damage to the body, but in return allowed the user to temporarily wield supernatural powers beyond their limits.

That’s why Kelg was trying to directly overload the circuit and cause it to go into a state of self-disruption.

If Tyrisia went berserk to deal with him, then it was an action that came from the confidence that he, with the same talent, could do it too.

But there was one truth hidden there that no one knew about.

Although runaways appear to be a phenomenon that can be artificially caused,

In fact, the real cause was in the realm of the gods, beyond what humans could do.

Common traits of those who cause riots.

An essential condition for the magic circuit to break down.

that-

It was a ‘loss of heart’.

Chest and,

Emotions and,

In my heart,

Only a human who has suffered a great and irreparable wound can open that door.

Only the losers who feel despair and have suffered loss,

It is to gain the right to destroy the very foundation that makes up oneself.

That was the case for Lucica Rapisle, who was betrayed by a friend she trusted enough to sacrifice her lover.

That was the case with Perzena, who betrayed and deceived her lover in order to win his place, and eventually ended up ruining herself.

This was the case for Tirisia, who fell into false happiness, betrayed her lover of her own free will, and was eventually left with nothing.

and-

Erto.

I suffered more hurt than anyone else,

A boy who knows despair better than anyone else.

A boy who lost the girl he loved his whole life and was left with a huge hole in his heart.

His heart was ripped from its roots, burned, and he fell into the abyss.

That is why he was able to open closed doors more forcefully than anyone else.

No, I completely destroyed it.

His magical circuits were no longer temporarily broken, but were now permanently broken.

That door, once completely destroyed, can never be restored.

The reason Erto was able to achieve extraordinary growth in a short period of time.

that,

Because the power he had gained was the ashes left behind after burning the heart engraved over all the years.

“… Despair?”

And Kelg knew nothing.

“What is that?”

There was no way I could know.

He was a winner from the moment he was born into this world, and he never felt any lack in his life.

Because he enjoyed the power of his family and could get whatever he wanted.

Whether it’s money, fame, or women,

Because I could eat it as easily as if I had just picked up an apple from a fruit shop.

Moreover, the family’s vision of predation showed the way to a level that was incomparable even for a magician.

To him, loss was a story from another world.

He has never experienced any adversity, and has lived his life trampling on and devouring others.

You will never be able to understand their feelings,

No matter how strong you are, you can’t open that door.

We cannot even perceive the line that only those who have lost their heart and soul can cross.

It was a petty delusion to think that just because Tirisia could do it, he could do it too.

It’s not a question of whether you have power or not, it’s a question of how much you’ve lost.

Kelg, who has never had anything taken away from him,

In the end, I am destined to die here without understanding anything.

“… ”

Kelg’s face turned pale.

There is no runaway.

“… You,”

Tirisia took a step closer to him, who had a blank expression and slumped his shoulders, and spoke.

“Don’t you know what it means to lose something?”

“… Oh, don’t come.”

Kelg took a step back and waved his hand at Tyrisia who was approaching him.

“Don’t come! You piece of shit!”

Tirissia didn’t stop.

As I walk towards the man in front of me, gripped with fear, I think back once again on the heart I had destroyed.

“… You.”

His heart, now reduced to ashes, can never regain its former greenness.

When I think of the endless pain Erto must have felt,

Gureuk-

Tears always flowed from Tirisia’s eyes.

A delicate water droplet that is quickly buried in the heavy rain.

She poured it out on both cheeks continuously, and spoke to Kelg.

“You don’t even know what love is.”

“… ”

At those words, Kelg’s body froze with a shocked expression,

“You’ve never truly loved anyone.”

Tirisia, who had been slamming her fist into the ground, slammed it into his face.

Kwaaang!

Kelg’s body crashed into the ground once again.

Now, standing in front of him who had collapsed without the strength to resist, Tyrisia let out a roar, clutching at her lungs.

“I―!”

Everyone in the academy heard those words clearly.

The screams of Tirissia Bruard, filled with sorrow and anger.

“I lost everything because of you―!”

There was no answer from Kelg, who was lying on the floor, but she did not stop talking.

“You, you, you!”

It was a resentment and regret that seemed to be directed more at himself than at Kelg.

“I ruined everything―!”

Kugu palace!

Her screams echoed through the grounds as they hit the academy building.

All the students and professors watched the scene silently, swallowing their saliva.

The lonely roar subsided,

Kiing-

Tyrisia’s sword, which had been floating in the air, returned to her hand.

Tirisia, who was holding the Brunac, looked down at the man in front of her, wiped away her tears, and her expression became cold again.

“Now it’s time to pay the price.”