episode_0099

“Seeing your state, it seems you know what kind of guy I am.” The man chuckled and said. “But you still came alone?”

“Why would a crowd rush in to catch just one devil worshipper?”

“Is it courage, or arrogance? At your level, still a student, you think you can catch me, who’s rolled around in real combat for years, alone?” The man tapped his shoulder with his staff.

A dense aura of black magic surged through the air, approaching. Acel showed an indifferent expression at the magic power pricking his skin.

‘Not that strong.’

The tier of the black mage, discernible from his magic power, was roughly high 5th tier to early 6th tier.

Objectively, he couldn’t be considered weak. A mage who could fulfill their role on the battlefield was at least 4th tier, and 5th and 6th tiers were talents capable of easily handling more than 10 people’s worth alone. Even a single tier difference could create a heaven-and-earth gap in skill.

That mage was likely also a black mage who had accumulated numerous merits in real combat.

So it was understandable that he was brimming with confidence. However, in Acel’s view, he honestly wasn’t impressive. Perhaps it was because he had only dealt with truly remarkable spellcasters until now. He might feel something against a physical ability user, but it was true that he didn’t feel any tension against spellcasters of the same tier.

In this case, coming alone turned out to be an even better choice.

The current time was night. Even if he told the academy that a devil worshipper had infiltrated without any evidence, it would take at least until tomorrow morning for them to start moving in earnest.

Since there was no knowing what the devil worshipper would do in the meantime, he came alone for now. If the devil worshipper was strong, he could cause a commotion to create a situation where the academy would have no choice but to act, and if they were weak, he could handle it alone.

Fortunately, the choice could be made immediately. Acel loosened his stiff shoulders, placed his foot on the building wall, and slowly descended.

A peculiar sight, as if defying gravity. Supporting his body with telekinesis magic, and fixing his foot to the wall using mana threads. It was a miraculous skill that created ground he could step on as he was.

There was no need to descend this way, but it was more than enough to exert pressure on the opponent. Feeling the man’s magic power, which had become even more wary than before, Acel let out a chuckle.

At his relaxed appearance, the man tapped the floor with his staff and said.

“……Your magic power manipulation ability isn’t at the level of an academy student. Are you perhaps a professor?”

“Acel.”

“……What?”

“It’s my name.”

Lightning spells shine brightly every time they’re used, making covert movement difficult. They’re also quite loud, making them nearly impossible to use when assassination or quiet combat is required.

In the first place, Acel was the only person capable of handling lightning spells within the current academy grounds, so using it here would essentially announce to everyone where he was and what he was doing. Erasing the traces of magic power wasn’t enough.

But that was fine.

Because the magic Acel could use wasn’t just lightning spells.

“What is the devil worshipper’s purpose for coming to the academy?”

“……Acel, you said.” Instead of answering Acel’s question, the man laughed softly and drew a spell in the air.

“How truly coincidental. How could a sacrifice candidate I need to take appear right before my eyes?”

“Sacrifice candidate?”

“I’ll revise the plan completely. The academy terror will be cancelled, and I’ll kidnap you from here and contact Gorsel. Then there will be no need to do difficult work.”

“Gorsel, huh.” Acel mulled over the name, rotating his stiff wrist.

Surely, Gorsel must be the new student who survived alone during the group project while everyone else in the same group died.

“Was he a devil worshipper too?” The pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly.

If his sole survival wasn’t due to luck but a result he intended. If it was something he planned in order to sacrifice all the other group members as offerings.

“You’ll have a lot to spit out.”

Crackle.

Cold air rose from Acel’s fingertips. The man grinned and activated the completed spell.

“That won’t happen.”

Gururuk!!

Darkness surged beneath the man’s feet. The darkness, writhing like a living creature, opened its maw wide and lunged as if to devour Acel’s legs. Acel stared at the sight and spoke flatly in an indifferent voice.

“Aleph.”

[Intercepting.]

Understanding Acel’s intent, Aleph activated the magic inscribed on the page. It unleashed arrows of light that tore the darkness apart. The man squinted at the momentarily brightened vision, and in that brief instant, Acel dashed.

[Stepping (踏步)]

Flames surged along the trajectory kicking off the ground.

A flame spell focused on speed, created by copying and revising the magic Pascal used. Flames surged from the trajectory, rapidly accelerating Acel’s body through the recoil. Seeing Acel reach right in front of him in the blink of an eye, the man let out a cry of alarm.

“Damn it!”

Tap tap!

He leaped back and tapped the tip of his staff with his fingers. At that moment, two of his fingers twisted as they were, bone and flesh crushed.

Black magic activated at the cost of self-harm. The condensed magic power became a single projectile as it was, flying towards Acel. Acel gazed at the black bullet filling his vision with inorganic eyes and flicked his finger.

[Sky Freeze (天凍)]

Crackle crackle crackle!!

The rapidly lowered temperature froze even the black mage’s magic. The bullet, now mere ice, fell downwards as it was, and the black mage ground his teeth and muttered.

“……So you’re the Archmage’s disciple. You won’t be easily defeated, is that it?”

“You’re mistaken.” Acel let out a cold laugh and tore the black mage’s conjecture apart just like that.

“I have no intention of being defeated.”

[Severe Cold (寒冷)]

Acel waved his hand. The air cooled along that trajectory, infiltrating the black mage’s respiratory system and lacerating his throat and windpipe. At the sudden, formless attack, the black mage’s face twisted violently, and he coughed up blood.

Acel stepped on that blood.

[Blood Flow Shaping]

The power he wielded was the authority of a vampire. Acel’s unique blood magic that imitated it.

[Blood Burst (血爆)]

Kwaghaaaaa!!

The drops of blood that fell to the floor burst as they were, causing a crimson explosion. Though the black mage reflexively activated a defensive spell, he couldn’t be safe from the explosion. His torn-off left arm rolled on the floor amidst the spreading blood mist.

“Ku-eup……!”

The black mage ground his teeth at the searing pain heating his brain. He immediately stopped the gushing blood and chanted a spell at the cost of 10 toes.

Kudeudeudeudeuk!!

Along with a noise as if space were distorting, the darkness filling the alley reacted. The darkness, imbued with life, writhed to tear off Acel’s limbs, opening hundreds of mouths like a monster starved for thousands of years.

Acel subdued all the darkness by merely activating a single magic.

[Crimson Jewel Destroying Darkness (紅玉滅暗)]

Hwaruruk!

The rising vermillion flame orb grew even larger using darkness as firewood. A unique type of spell that treated only darkness as embers and firewood. Thanks to it, all attacks that threatened Acel became null, forming a small sun in the alley.

Despite the terrible pain felt in his feet, the man looked at Acel and let out a hollow laugh.

“……You, what kind of guy are you?”

“That’s the question I should be asking.” After extinguishing the sun as it was, Acel activated a severing spell at a speed surpassing perception. He then cut through the man’s defensive spell and legs entirely as they were.

The black mage’s body, having lost balance, swayed and fell over. Acel didn’t stop there and chanted the severing spell two more times, blowing away all of the man’s limbs.

Blood gushed out madly from the severed sections of his upper and lower body, where only his shoulders and thighs remained.

“Kreuh…… Kahak……!”

Although his appearance was like that of a doll, the man only let out pained groans. He didn’t scream. From that alone, it could be known that the man’s willpower was very great.

But that was all. A mage who had lost his limbs could no longer chant spells. Unless they were a mage who practiced silent casting as if it were eating, from the moment their hands were blown off, their magic was essentially sealed.

See the proof. The black mage was merely lying prostrate on the floor, gasping for breath. Even as Acel approached, he couldn’t offer any resistance.

He just stared blankly at Acel with the eyes inside the mask.

“I’ll give you a choice.” Acel squatted beside the black mage and cauterized his severed surfaces. The bleeding stopped along with the smell of burning flesh.

“Tell me your purpose for coming to the academy. Then I’ll either let you live and hand you over to the cult, or grant you a comfortable death.”

“……How absurd.” The man muttered, bearing a bloody smile.

“A mere academy student is stronger than me, who’s roamed battlefields? Shit, this world is unreasonably unreasonable.”

“I won’t ask twice.”

“Go fuck yourself.” The man’s eyes inside the mask bulged, and he raised his head.

“We have no camaraderie, but I’m not such a fool as to spill information to others.” The moment he spat that out, along with a grinding sound, the man’s neck bone was crushed as it was.

A secret technique that twists the conditions by activating a self-harm spell simultaneously with suicide.

Gurgle gurgle gurgle!!

His entire body trembled madly, and black liquid flowed profusely from every orifice. Acel looked down at the sight, then sighed deeply and reversed the spell entirely. At that, the flowing liquid instantly evaporated, and the trembling black mage’s body settled.

It was a secret technique used at the cost of his life, but it was utterly useless before Acel’s talent.

Looking down at the black mage’s body, which had turned into a mere corpse, he asked Aleph.

“Is this it? Are there no other devil worshippers detected?”

[None. This is the end.]

“Hmm……” Acel let out a murmuring sound at Aleph’s confirmation and rummaged through the black mage’s belongings.

Seeing as he was holding some paper when first discovered, there must surely be an order or directive. Acel set out to find it, and before long, he found a pile of papers bundled together.

He separated only the papers he judged important from the pile and quickly read them on the spot.

‘Sacrifice candidate list. The meeting place with Gorsel and the details to be discussed are all written there as they are. There was no reason to hear it through his mouth from the start.’

Leaning against the wall, he levitated a single flame orb and read the contents written on the paper.

‘Did he come to the academy to obtain the bodies and souls of young mages or warriors needed for the devil’s descent? And Gorsel was an impurity sent in advance by the devil worshippers.’

Acel folded one paper as it was, kept it in his pocket, and asked Aleph.

“Is Gorsel’s aura or location impossible to detect?”

[The auras I can detect are limited to beings who receive direct power from or have contracted with a devil. It seems the devil worshipper named Gorsel has not yet established a direct connection with a devil.]

“Hmm.”

[Given that the word ‘Descent’ was used, it likely seems to be a structure where contracts with the devil can be properly made only after the devil has achieved Descent. Only quite high-ranking devils prefer this method of contract. They would likely be able to devastate the surroundings through Descent alone, not just Manifestation.]

“That means that black mage and Gorsel aren’t comrades serving the same devil, huh.”

[That is correct. They likely serve different devils, but coincidentally found their intentions aligned and planned to act together.]

“Coincidentally found their intentions aligned, huh.” In truth, it was due to a pact, but Acel knew nothing of the pact between Gorsel and the black mage. He let out a murmuring sound and took out a paper that looked like a letter, unfolding it.

The letter contained detailed information such as the meeting place, time, and description.

And below that.

A single sentence prominently caught Acel’s gaze.

[I know that you never show your face normally. I also do not know your face. However, recognizing you just by wearing a mask will be enough. Please appear at the promised place and time wearing a mask.]

‘They don’t know my face, huh.’ Acel mulled over that sentence, turning it over in his mind.

Honestly, exposing Gorsel was a very easy task. By immediately informing the academy head about what happened here and the letter, and apprehending or executing him, the academy could be free from the devil worshippers’ attempt.

The quickest and most effective method. But Acel pondered a method that would be even more beneficial.

‘There might be someone among the academy professors helping Gorsel. Since there are already many corrupt individuals, including the staff, it wouldn’t be strange even if they were taking bribes from devil worshippers.’

Simply removing Gorsel from the academy wasn’t a panacea. It required quite a long time to discover and filter out any other potential impurities.

Not only could he not just apprehend and interrogate anyone recklessly, but the moment the fact that there was a devil worshipper at the academy became public knowledge, it was obvious that the Inquisitors would storm the academy. Then the situation wouldn’t be just a little bothersome. Acel also knew very well the Inquisitors’ persistence and malice.

Then, what should he do? Would it be better to inform the head about Gorsel, risking the drawbacks, and have the academy side act directly?

Or……

‘Approaching Gorsel pretending to be a black mage isn’t a bad idea either.’ Acel stroked the corner of his mouth and subtly lifted the mask covering the black mage’s face.

A simple black mask with no particular features. If he imbued all sorts of spells into it, hiding his identity from others wouldn’t be a difficult task.

Since he could use black magic even a little thanks to acquiring a grimoire recently, disguising himself as a black mage wasn’t an impossible task.

‘The advantages I can gain by contacting Gorsel are certain.’ First, he could infiltrate among the devil worshippers. Then, obtaining information about the Devil of Possibility would also become much easier. Pretending to be a lunatic among them would be difficult, but considering the future, it was a disadvantage he could sufficiently bear.

The possibility of being influenced by a devil was excluded. Because Acel’s willpower wasn’t so weak as to be shaken by a mere devil’s temptation.

This wasn’t arrogance. It was certainty. Acel knew his own limits better than anyone.

‘If I act as a devil worshipper, it’s also possible to find out their movements and hideouts. It’s also possible to identify devils’ information and find their weaknesses or ways to defeat them. Rather than simply killing Gorsel, this way I can gain more.’ Acel tapped the mask with his fingertips and thought.

‘What should I do……’

Going roundabout and infiltrating among the devil worshippers, versus a frontal breakthrough to tear Gorsel apart and kill him.

Which side would be more helpful to himself.

“Huu……” Acel pondered standing there for a long time, then as if having made a decision, burned the black mage’s corpse, which had started attracting flies, until only bone remained. Immediately after, he collected all the residual magic power filling the alley, erasing the evidence.

The black mage’s corpse, not even a trace remaining.

In the ashes scattered by the wind, not a single trace of the mask could be found.