episode_0043

It was a defiance of the natural order.

Thick, ominous clouds continuously multiplied above the crumbling magician’s mansion. Like riding an updraft, dense storm clouds piled up layer by layer into the sky above the mansion.

Rumble…

A downpour began.

The fire that seemed like it would engulf the magician’s mansion at any moment was extinguished so effortlessly. Serin and her companions gazed towards the direction of the mansion, where the laws of nature seemed to be manipulated at will.

“That’s… unbelievable.”

Kanarin muttered in disbelief.

The place where the group had landed was a forest 200 meters away from the magician’s mansion, as per Kanarin’s spell. It was still a clear and lush forest.

On the other hand, above the magician’s mansion, the thick clouds enveloped only that area as if they were specifically targeted.

Even Kanarin, who had not directly witnessed the original work, could easily guess what had led to the downfall of the world in “Taming the Child of Ruin.”

“Let me ask, was that… Reihart’s doing?”

Luka looked back and forth between Kanarin and Serin.

In reality, Luka had been aware of Kanarin’s status window and possession situation since childhood, so he was confident that they had some kind of answer. And Serin and Kanarin confirmed his conviction with a nod.

“I can’t find the words. Even the realm of possibility through magic couldn’t reach that level.”

If it was controlling weather phenomena, then it was already close to the realm of gods.

Otherwise, it was the domain of beings that transcended the norms of the material world, such as dragons or miracles that were born through divine intervention.

“It makes me grateful for people’s kindness…”

“I heard that his childhood was extremely unfortunate… Even if we don’t know who raised him, could it be that he saved a whole new world that we are unaware of?”

Serin readily agreed with Kanarin and Luka’s observations.

Her mentor was a god of education who had nurtured a child as precious as gold.

“Rian…”

Through the pouring rain, Reihart was nowhere to be seen. Was he lost in the collapsed magician’s mansion due to spatial magic? Serin’s nails were being gnawed at meticulously, as if feeling the anxiety and compulsion of a troubled child.

Pushing past the limits of patience and repeatedly exceeding them, Serin’s toes twitched. And then, she slowly moved her steps towards the magician’s mansion.

Just one step.

Just as she took that single step forward.

Reihart gradually revealed himself from the front of the magician’s mansion.

The red flush seeping through the light rain soaked into the earth. Despite the moisture dripping down like a wet dog in the rain, the flush did not wash away easily. It was a sight that indicated how many dark magicians Reihart had created.

The cold mask faced Serin’s group.

Kanarin and Luka flinched. While realizing they were comrades, at this moment, Reihart’s mask felt eerie. The indifferent mask seemed to completely conceal any trace of humanity he possessed.

Only Serin was different.

She approached Reihart without hesitation, as he approached through the falling rain. The reunion took place at the boundary between the clear sky and the ominous sky.

“… Serin.”

Reihart was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry…”

“What’s this?”

Interrupting Reihart’s attempt to apologize, Serin reached out her hand to his shoulder.

“You’re all wet. Drenched. You should have prepared an umbrella…”

Serin brushed off Lahilt’s shoulder. The blood that hadn’t been wiped off yet was cleanly washed away by the droplets.

“Your hair is all wet and stuck to your head. Your clothes are all soaked, so you must be feeling sticky. And wearing a mask must make it even more suffocating for you.”

“……I…”

“Enough, don’t apologize or make excuses. There must have been a reason for Lian to do that. Didn’t I tell you about the origin of the mouth in comics?”

“Yes, you did.”

“It seems like I touched a nerve. Lian was so angry.”

“…”

“To be honest, I was planning to kill everyone from the moment Lian disappeared. So it doesn’t matter. As long as we go to Seoul, everything will be fine.”

Serin gazed at the magician’s mansion. Just then, a limping dark magician crawled out through the front gate.

Glancing at him, Serin kicked a rock that was rolling on the ground with her foot and kicked it up to a suitable height, then kicked it strongly.

Thud!

The fragments of the flying rock hit the dark magician’s shin bone. He grabbed his twisted ankle and screamed in pain. It seemed that the bleeding was quite severe above the shin bone.

“Let’s go, Lian. The dark magicians who recognize you are all in the palace. Since their base has been destroyed, they will have no way out.”

“Are you saying they have taken over the palace?”

“Probably.”

As the conversation continued, Lahilt had many questions he wanted to ask.

How did she know that the atmospheric changes caused by Pohu were her power?

Did she not disappoint him because she lost her mind on her own?

Was he not afraid of her?

Lahilt swallowed his doubts.

He decided to trust Serin.

He had no right to question her, and there was no time for a leisurely exchange.

Therefore, Lahilt silently joined Serin and walked alongside her.

Meanwhile, Kanarin looked at the status window’s main quest and pondered.

‘What kind of existence is the child of the abandoned king…’

[Main Quest: Kingdom Crisis]

[Overview: Dark magicians who sensed a deadly crisis have taken over the palace. If left unchecked, mental contamination will spread throughout the kingdom. Let’s subdue all the high-ranking dark magicians within the time limit.]

[Time Limit: 48:00:00]

[Caution: Increased risk of contamination transmission with a fatal blow to the palace.]

The presence of Lahilt had pushed the main quest too far ahead. In the original work Kanarin had read, the scene of confronting the dark magicians in the palace was located towards the end. The climax had arrived in an instant.

‘I have to purify the palace within two days. Except for destroying it like the magician’s mansion…’

In the first place, the palace was filled with humans unrelated to the dark magicians. If a case like the magician’s mansion happened again, even innocent humans would be slaughtered.

“…We have to go to the palace.”

“Did the main quest appear?”

“Yes, for some reason, it seems like the end is near.”

“That’s good news.”

If they could quickly eliminate them, Lahilt hoped. From the moment they touched him with pure malice, the extinction of the dark magicians was a confirmed matter.

While Serin was burning the past, Luca tapped Lahilt’s shoulder.

“Well done, Reinhart. They were scoundrels anyway, so it’s good to save time. It’s a shame that I didn’t have a chance to show my skills.”

Luca felt pathetic for looking at Lahilt with a hint of caution. That’s why he spoke more gently than usual.

Lahilt nodded silently.

He understood that it was Luca’s way of showing consideration, so he didn’t make any further comments.

“Let’s go.”

Luca’s movements to investigate the incident seemed to lighten his steps somehow.

The sky above the palace, reached in a hurry by carriage, was ashen.

Even though it wasn’t a time when storm clouds gathered or the day darkened, the color of the sky was striking. This strange phenomenon intensified as one moved closer from the outskirts of the capital, where the magician’s mansion was, to the central palace.

It seemed like black magic tainted not only the mind but even the clear sky.

“It’s like the black magic has spread in the air like dust,” Luca explained bluntly.

“It seems like an unimaginable amount of magic has been released. If this spreads further, it will accelerate the contamination of the kingdom’s people’s minds.”

“How is that possible? With this amount, it’s impossible not to detect it early,” Serin expressed a valid question. Even Kanarin, who had read the original work, couldn’t pinpoint the source of contamination.

“As long as the Holy Spirit is present, all black magic can be purified unconditionally. So, there shouldn’t have been any reason to search for it in the first place…”

In other words, in the original work, the presence of the female lead and the Holy Spirit acted as a cheat, making the location of the source of contamination irrelevant.

“The problem is, even after searching, we couldn’t find it. We looked through all the secret places in the palace, and I was too complacent, thinking we just had to follow the main quest…”

Serin understood from the reader’s perspective.

In a story with the element of a status window, proactive protagonists were rare.

When the status window presented a quest, the protagonist faithfully carried it out and gradually grew stronger. There could be no errors in this system. Therefore, most protagonists showed a dependent attitude towards the status window. Kanarin was no exception.

“I was so careless in hindsight… I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Serin. And Rihart.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s no use regretting what’s already happened. Since so many people have gathered, something will work out.”

“I have no complaints either.”

Encouraged by Serin and Rihart, Kanarin’s eyes welled up with tears. Watching her from the side, Luca expressed his gratitude on her behalf.

“Thank you for helping Kanarin, both of you. I’ll make sure the kingdom compensates you somehow for this incident. How about giving Rihart a dukedom in our kingdom?”

“…”

In a moment, Serin’s eyes lost focus to the point of resembling a deep abyss. Her expression, devoid of any trace of emotion, was a sinister monochrome.

For no reason, the image of the magician’s mansion popped into Luca’s mind. Especially, the sight of her crushing the lower body of the black magician with a lightly raised stone.

In the chilling atmosphere that suddenly enveloped them, Kanarin pinched Luca’s thigh hard. Only then did Luca snap out of it and wave his hands frantically.

“Ahaha…! Of course, I never even thought that my friend harbored such worldly desires, but you know? Looking back, having one dukedom like Duke Lupenther would be enough, right?”

“Ah… this fool…”

Kanarin muttered, massaging her temples with a grimace.

Meanwhile, with her focus back, Serin subtly gestured to Rihart.

“Are you interested in the kingdom’s dukedom, Rian?”

“I’m not. Everything I hold dear is in the Empire.”

With Roderick and Eshtiel. As long as the two people he could call family were in the Empire, Rihart had no intention of leaving anywhere.

Furthermore,

‘It’s also… difficult to imagine life without Serin now.’

At some point, it had become hard to imagine a daily life without Serin. He couldn’t shake off the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to erase the warmth he had been enveloped in.

If we were to use a metaphor, Serin’s presence was inertia.

Even if she closed her eyes tightly and tried to stop, her body would continue to move forward,

And even if she suddenly disappeared from daily life, the lingering memories would haunt me for a long time.

“Hmm…”

Serin let out a satisfied sigh.

“Did you hear me properly, Second Prince?”

Serin’s finger slipped through the gap in Rahilt’s hand.

Displaying the firmly wedged ring, she declared confidently,

“Even if heaven and earth are overturned, do not overstep.”

My man.

The urgent and obsessive protective instinct emanated from Serin’s blue eyes.

Luca, hiding his cold sweat, had no choice but to give the predetermined answer.

“Ahaha… Of course…!”

Luca sensed a life-threatening crisis incomparable to a mere dark magician.

Clap!

Kanarin clapped her hands, dispersing the tense atmosphere. She was looking out the carriage window at the deserted bustling street.

“Let’s walk from here.”

The distance narrowed enough for the black energy swirling around the palace to be clearly visible.

There was no room for disagreement.

They quickly got off the carriage. Kanarin, who had stepped on the ground like a guide, handed a paper with densely written words to the coachman.

“It’s a contract stating that I will pay you twenty years’ worth of living expenses in advance in two days. Thank you for driving the carriage at the risk of your life. Now, hurry and leave the capital before you get caught up in trouble.”

“Was that the contract?!”

“I thought you were a loyal servant of the duke…?”

“This… surprised me a bit.”

In turn, Luca, Serin, and Rahilt reacted.

Even in the midst of marveling at the coachman who was making a deal with the princess, there seemed to be no disagreement.

The coachman politely greeted them, uttered a word, and turned away from the palace.

“Let’s enter slowly.”

The protagonist of the chosen story in the status window, Kanarin, declared as she took the lead.

Influenced by her momentum, everyone’s steps headed towards the palace.

‘… Strange.’

Rahilt’s observation.

‘A sense of unease…’

Rahilt could not deduce the reason for the unease until the end. Eventually, he cleared his mind of distractions.

The fatal mistake made by the entire group.

The reason for the unease – the absence of tension.

No matter what happens, Rahilt is there.

The strongest one who possesses the power to destroy the world alone holds the position.

The presence of just one person creates an asymmetrical tilt in power.

Thus, they face the black magician’s purge, assuming failure is a contingency plan.

Unaware of how foolish their misconception is.

They moved forward towards a monochromatic future they would soon face.