episode_0106

“Um… Professor Firenze.”

The waiting area closest to the duel arena. A small room designed so one could intervene at any time.

Among the professors sitting there to intervene if the duel became overheated or someone used a foul, a professor with a relatively young appearance whispered softly into Firenze’s ear.

“That lightning strike just now. Isn’t that high-level magic? It seemed quite powerful.”

“Did you really want to show off that you’re a layman when it comes to magic?”

Firenze clicked his tongue and glared at the young professor.

Remnants of the lightning strike, not yet disappeared, remained on his entire body. This was because he intentionally didn’t erase the aftereffects of being directly hit by Ena’s magic.

Firenze, who had lived his entire life as a battle mage. There was no reason to heal the opportunity to directly feel and study Ena’s magic, merely because of pain.

Although there was intermittent pain and trembling, Firenze’s curiosity wouldn’t fade away just because of that.

He continued speaking, his hand touching the eye covered by a bandage.

“Even though you hold the title of professor, you don’t know what *that* ‘wizard’ did?”

“…Wizard, you say. Professor Firenze is famous for not calling students wizards—”

“Then what should I call someone who is qualified? Lightning user? Acel? Ena’s disciple?”

“…”

“None of that matters. He is already a complete wizard. Rank is not important. In the first place, rank itself is a concept created by humans. Just like you call a head a head, and a heart a heart. It’s just a concept defined because there was a need to divide measures.”

The professor didn’t reply and lowered his head as if to listen attentively.

Rumble!!

Firenze watched the cloud covered in lightning scream, and the corners of his mouth curled up into a smirk.

“Magic is a study. At the same time, it is a means to take lives. If so, what kind of being is a wizard? A scholar, or a killer?”

“………”

“The answer is both. Being a scholar, they research magic, and being a killer, they kill someone based on the magic they’ve researched. And Ena’s disciple… no, ‘Acel’ is a wizard who satisfies both sides.”

“…Mm.”

The young professor let out a murmur, and Firenze, with a smile, stared intently at Acel’s face.

“And, did you ask if Acel just used high-level magic?”

“…Yes.”

“That statement is half right and half wrong. Do you understand why?”

“…I apologize. My knowledge is insufficient, so I do not know.”

“Correct. Insufficient to a serious degree. But it’s good that you’re honest.”

KABOOM!!

The cloud continuously sends down irregular lightning strikes.

Acel stood still, collecting the afterglow of the fallen lightning. He immediately wove a new spell and launched bombardment towards Harmon. Harmon, as if in pain yet finding enjoyment, burst out laughing as he slashed, cut, and blocked the magic with his body.

“Most of the magic Acel is using consists of high-level magic incantations.”

“…If that’s the case.”

“But he intentionally twisted and diminished those incantations, lowering their level to mid-level magic. The sight of him checking the spells before entering the arena. He probably manipulated the incantations himself then.”

“Are you saying that is the power of mid-level magic?”

The professor let out a hollow laugh and asked. Firenze stroked his chin and grinned.

“At least it seems that way for that wizard.”

“…How could a wizard who just became an adult…”

“I don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a wizard who can twist incantations on the spot to lower only the power while producing the same effect. Normally, it shouldn’t activate at all. It seems he turned the impossible into possible with overwhelming magic power control and sensitivity.”

“…”

The professor didn’t reply and silently gazed at the arena.

Crackle.

Firenze covered the arm where pure white electric current bloomed with his hand, his eyes sparkling.

“I look forward to the future.”

The moment he uttered that.

“Wow, indeed. I never dreamed he would grow this much.”

“…!”

From behind Firenze, a frivolous but youthful voice softly echoed.

A strange voice he didn’t remember. At this, Firenze immediately tried to gather his magic power to react, but.

Grab.

Simultaneously with turning his head, Firenze’s face was grabbed by someone’s hand. Firenze gritted his teeth at the grip squeezing his head and glared at the intruder.

“Who…!”

“Zervil. Nice to meet you.”

Beyond the palm grabbing his face, the face of a man with long black hair hanging down, wearing a uniform, came into view.

Just by his presence in the space, the air trembled crazily. Firenze’s survival instinct rang alarm bells, screaming at him to escape from here immediately.

It felt as if he was facing death. The opponent’s appearance was no different from a young man, but the aura emanating from him was beyond that of even a formidable archmage. His flesh was slowly rotting just from the malevolent energy stabbing at his skin.

The terrible magic power unique to a greatly accomplished corpse necromancer.

There was only one corpse necromancer on the continent with such a high level. Firenze gritted his teeth and muttered as if spitting out the words.

“Corpses’ Master (屍主)…!”

“Correct answer.”

“…Damn it. How did a criminal who should be in the destroyed kingdom get in here?”

“I came through the main gate.”

Zervil chuckled and forcibly sealed Firenze’s mouth.

He changed the lips and tongue like those of a corpse, causing them to lose function. Firenze, whose mouth instantly rotted and crumbled, distorted his face, and Zervil roughly threw him into a corner.

The professors who were in the same place had long since lost consciousness.

Zervil sat in a suitably empty chair and gazed at Acel, who was wielding magic.

“Wow, the more I see him, the more amazing he is. Who would have imagined that a kid who used to deliver drugs in the slums would grow up like this?”

“…”

“This is all thanks to me letting Acel go. If I had killed him there, I wouldn’t have seen such an amazing scene, right? I wonder if I should charge an admission fee.”

Having said that, Zervil chuckled and looked back at Firenze.

“Let me give you one piece of advice. From now on, I hope you change the academy’s defense system so that ‘corpses’ or ‘spirits’ are also detected. Since it doesn’t react to corpses, people like me can just waltz right in, can’t they?”

“…”

“Ah, you can’t answer. Well, you don’t need to anyway. I won’t kill you. Killing a professor at the academy is quite troublesome… Oh.”

Zervil suddenly trailed off and tilted his head.

His gaze was fixed on the arena.

Harmon gritting his teeth. Acel, who seemed to have trouble with his magic, spat out a little blood and frowned.

Zervil watched Acel urgently extend his left hand as if to block Harmon’s blade and muttered.

“Why… is he trying to get hurt on purpose?”

***

The aspect of the duel itself was overwhelmingly advantageous for Acel. The cloud floating in the sky continuously dropped lightning towards the ground, and the electric currents rotating around Acel blocked Harmon’s approach itself.

“Hah… Hah…!”

Harmon was already exhausted in both mind and body from dodging, blocking, and cutting. He had charged in boldly, and his fighting spirit still hadn’t disappeared from his eyes, but it was obvious that even that would soon fade.

An opponent who would fall without any resistance if Acel were to show even a little seriousness.

Although the two people’s actual ranks were similar, Harmon couldn’t even stand as Acel’s opponent. No matter how similar their levels, the difference in actual capability was vast, to an unimaginable degree.

To be honest, there had been at least dozens of opportunities to cut off Harmon’s breath until now. Acel’s innate battle sense had repeatedly been seeking opportunities to take Harmon’s life.

If this were a battlefield, Harmon would have died outright within the first few moves.

The situation is not much different now.

Unlike his burning spirit, his tired body was definitely slower than before. As long as he couldn’t cleave the massive lightning cloud swimming in the sky, Harmon’s defeat was predetermined.

But Acel hadn’t forgotten the goal of the duel.

‘Winning or losing is secondary; I must cut off his finger first.’

He must not end the duel until he achieves his goal, at the very least. He must create an opening somehow so Harmon can attack.

That process had already been slowly built up from the beginning.

The spells Acel used just now were all destructive incantations possessing terrifying levels of power.

And it is common knowledge that destructive incantations consume magic power ravenously. Ignorant magic to the extent that ordinary wizards would faint after using it only a little.

That is precisely destructive incantations, including lightning, holy power, etc.

Of course, with Acel’s magic power capacity, there’s no big problem spamming destructive incantations, but to achieve his initial objective, he needed to show a picture of momentarily stumbling as if from ‘magic power exhaustion’.

Therefore, there was a necessity to act as if the backlash had arrived by using destructive incantations frantically.

Now is that very moment.

“…Ugh!”

Acel frowned deeply and staggered. He clutched his head with his hand and momentarily tangled the flow of all the magic he had activated in a complicated manner.

“…!”

A blatantly revealed opening. Harmon, who had been catching his breath for a moment, accelerated his body, gritting his teeth. Acel, with a hurried expression, launched a considerably powerful spell towards him as he approached.

But the spell’s joints were unstable. A storm of lightning that was obviously going to break with just a slight touch. Acel had intentionally twisted the incantation, but Harmon, unaware of his true intentions, swung his sword horizontally and cut through the lightning.

“Cough!”

Depleted magic power. Shaking mind. Unstable magic. And incantation destruction.

All of that came together, causing Acel to spit out a little blood as if experiencing a backlash.

It was blood spat out by injuring his tongue. However, to others’ eyes, it looked like he had suffered internal injuries.

“Oh, oh no! Don’t, Acel!”

Evelyn, who had been sitting in the audience with a cheerful expression, suddenly stood up and shouted. Acel apologized to her internally, then extended his left hand towards Harmon’s incoming blade.

Clang!

The weakened shield shattered as is, and the blade came into contact with Acel’s finger.

[Master. Brace yourself for the pain.]

Simultaneously, Aleph sent a warning. Acel, as she said, braced himself for the pain, composed his mind, and finished preparing to reconstruct the shield so that the rest of his fingers wouldn’t all be cut off.

‘It’s coming.’

The moment his finger was slightly cut by the blade infused with aura.

KABOOOOOM!!!!

A sudden bloody explosion erupted beneath Harmon’s feet.

Instantly, surging organs and blood filled the arena, and Harmon, struck by the unexpected attack, rolled on the arena floor with both his knees gone.

“…Cough!”

To make matters worse, the severed cut surfaces began to decay in real-time.

The people sitting in the audience, the professors who were waiting, and the people watching the duel through the screen.

Everyone realized that the explosion just now was not something Acel had done.

Then, who on earth did it?

“Shit!”

There was no time to think. Acel ignored the vibrating smell of rotting corpses from all directions and focused on saving Harmon first.

Slice!

A cutting spell that accurately severed the rotting part. Thanks to that, the decay stopped, but the bleeding didn’t.

Acel urgently shouted towards the panicked academy officials.

“Cleric! Please call a cleric! As quickly as possible!”

[……Ah.]

“What are you doing! Call quickly! At this rate, he’ll die!”

[……Acel.]

At that moment, the previously silent announcer spoke in a trembling voice.

[Look, look behind you.]

“…”

The moment Acel’s face stiffened at that fear-filled voice.

Grab.

Someone placed a hand on Acel’s shoulder. Acel only slightly turned his head and gazed behind him.

He saw him.

“Hello?”

……”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face.”

Long, straight black hair. The uniform worn by soldiers of the destroyed kingdom and lifeless eyes. The stench unique to a rotten corpse. A spine-chilling smile. A feast of corpses rising behind his back.

His height was tall, but his frame was small. The sunken face typical of a drug addict was clear, and his skin was only pale, completely lacking vitality. It was a frail appearance as if he had lived his entire life without seeing sunlight. But no one could look down on him.

Saaaaa…!

From the enormous amount of malevolent energy spreading centered around him, some of those sitting in the audience lost consciousness outright. Their exposed skin and organs slowly began to rot, and blood streamed out from their mouths, noses, and ears.

“Family Head!”

“Quickly, quickly call a cleric, quickly!”

“Wrap yourselves in aura! If you don’t want to rot and crumble alive, don’t expose yourselves to the malevolent energy!”

Urgent voices burst out from all directions. To protect their fainted lieges, knights desperately deployed aura, and wizards raised their magic power.

Indeed, the momentum unleashed by close to dozens, hundreds of superhumans.

“Haha.”

But all of that was suppressed and crushed by the man’s malevolent energy. Lower-level superhumans had long since fallen into a state of brain death, unable to endure.

Those who were relatively unharmed were all glaring at the arena, gritting their teeth.

Even the dean who was picking and eating fruit.

Even the Harjelyn family head who was observing the duel with interest.

Even the Principality’s founder who was staring intently at Acel.

Even the Videl ducal family head who was wearing a serious expression.

Acel too.

Stared at the man with an expression close to shock.

“Have you been well?”

Continent’s Target for Subjugation.

Approximately 15,000 counts of crime.

Number of kingdoms destroyed: 15.

Number of cities destroyed: 5,724.

Number of massacred victims: Estimated impossible.

Number of corpses held: Estimated impossible.

Subjugation force defeats: 134 times.

The last noble of the destroyed kingdom.

Master of Corpses.

Shi Ju.

Zervil Esto.

“But why were you suddenly trying to cut off your finger?”

He, appeared at the academy.