Chapter 34

“I never thought I’d be back in Magung, the Gray Forest.”

Letting out a sigh, I was surprised to find myself here again.

In front of me was an apostle.

Behind me, Nia was collapsed on the ground.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

If I had been just a bit slower, Nia would have kicked the bucket.

“Why are you here?”

Nia’s bewildered voice came from behind me.

He had successfully cast the age-reducing magic and managed to sneak into Magung.

But it seemed he wasn’t quite perfect yet.

‘The Irregular Removal Squad has shown up.’

Before my eyes, the apostle with four eyes started spinning its gaze.

This apostle was from the Irregular Removal Squad of Magung.

It appeared whenever the rules of Magung were broken.

Its purpose was to remove anything irregular as swiftly as possible.

The age-reducing magic Nia had cast was incomplete.

Because of that, it triggered the appearance of the Irregular Apostle.

Kaang!

At that moment, the Irregular Apostle struck my palm with a slap.

It hadn’t been fixated on me from the start.

The reason it was created? To eliminate irregulars.

In other words, it intended to kill Nia.

The Irregular Apostle lunged towards Nia, swinging a sword connected to its hand.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I was the one who stepped in to block it.

The raised palm collided with the apostle’s sword in an instant.

I had grown incredibly familiar with the lazy genius, Ban’s, swordplay.

Having pierced through the apostle’s sword path, I deflected every single attack.

Taking advantage of the opening, my leg shot out, kicking the apostle in the gut.

It was a hefty strike; the apostle staggered back a step.

But the apostle wasn’t going to just take it lying down.

Its mouth opened, and beams of light coalesced.

Was it planning to shoot some kind of laser?

Sorry, but I’m not alone here.

Kwaaaang!

Before the light of the Irregular Apostle could gather itself, a flash shot in.

The flash zipped through at a speed my eyes couldn’t track, sending the Irregular Apostle flying to the other side.

Standing afar was Sharine, her staff pointed at the apostle.

When our eyes met, she gave a languid smile.

Magic Arts Top Student.

Sharine Sazarith.

Though she’s a bit of a wild card, when positioned as our backline, she’s nearly invincible.

In the meantime, I quickly grabbed Nia’s arm and helped her to her feet.

“We’ll talk later. That staff of yours—it’s tied to some sort of mystery, isn’t it?”

“How do you know?”

“Just a wild guess, looking at it.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Horn of the One-Horned Beast, huh? Pretty shady.”

Realizing that Nia was researching age-reducing magic, it was evident that she had intentionally crafted it to look that way.

Activating magic while under the influence of age-reducing magic meant facing a high probability of getting into a dangerous situation.

‘Those Robliju folks don’t hold back when it comes to dirty tricks.’

If the Duke of Robliju was involved, he undoubtedly knew about the presence of the Irregular Apostle as well.

This had to have been calculated too.

The skillset for setting up such a trap was something else.

It was practically like assassinating Nia without getting his hands dirty.

But just one thing.

There was something he hadn’t considered.

‘He probably didn’t expect a true irregular to be around.’

Having played through the Flame Butterfly routes countless times, I had become a variable he couldn’t predict.

“What are you?”

Nia, running on her own legs, stared at me with confusion written all over her face.

No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed she just couldn’t grasp why I had shown up now.

Suddenly, a thudding sound echoed.

At that moment, the Irregular Apostle, having been hit by Sharine’s magic, slowly stood up.

Its joints twisted as it arose, making for a grotesque sight.

“Put in quite a bit of power, yet it seems fine.”

Sharine tightened her grip on her staff, furrowing her brows.

“Sharine, that thing is immortal. It doesn’t matter what you throw at it.”

The Irregular Apostle doesn’t die.

It simply regenerates using the infinite energy provided by Magung.

Moreover, with the passage of time—

Thud! Thud!

It evolved again.

And sure enough, the Irregular Apostle transformed into its second form.

Wings sprouted from its back, and an extra arm appeared.

The Irregular Apostle let out a deafening roar.

Its intent to eliminate irregulars was palpable.

Kwaaaaang!

In that moment, dozens of fireballs were launched, obliterating the Irregular Apostle.

The master of the flames was Sharine.

“Immortal, you say?”

Sharine dusted off her disintegrated staff and retrieved a new one.

Various elemental spells shimmered around her.

Normally, a magician is born with a single elemental affinity.

But Sharine had no such limitations.

“I’m curious. Just how much will it keep coming back?”

Sharine’s gaze turned dangerous.

It seemed her pure curiosity as a magician was piqued.

That seemed fine to just leave it be.

I turned to Nia.

“Professor Nia Cynthia, I know you have many questions, but you’re aware someone is gunning for your life.”

Nia’s expression hardened.

As I said, this situation clearly contained the intent to kill Nia.

Nia wasn’t unaware of this either.

“And I’m sure they will keep coming for you, likely from unexpected angles just like today.”

“……”

Nia’s friend, who gifted her the staff, was likely someone she trusted deeply.

Hence, she must have accepted the staff without suspicion.

If such things kept happening, Nia’s life would be at risk.

‘Now I understand why the Duke of Robliju wanted to kill Nia even more.’

Even if the age-reducing magic was incomplete, it had shown potential.

She could potentially revolutionize magic in the future.

The Duke of Robliju had become a mere pawn of the Evil Zone.

As an incarnation of Evil Zone, Nia must have been a highly unwelcome presence to him.

“How about we pretend you died in the Magung and focus on finding the culprit?

Nia seemed to catch my drift.

Adults can’t enter Magung.

So, if only Sharine and I coordinated our stories, we could easily disguise Nia’s death.

Ultimately, if Nia doesn’t return, the adults won’t have a clue.

A faked death would also have significant advantages for Nia.

Not only would it save her life, but she could also investigate those who targeted her.

Most of all, if similar incidents occurred after this,

Nia could emerge as a witness to take charge of the situation.

“If it’s under the 1st Prince’s orders, concealing your identity should also be quite feasible, right?”

Nia’s eyes widened.

It seemed the connection to the 1st Prince had still been a secret to her.

But that was precisely why my words held weight.

My understanding of a secret unknown to others made my words impossible to dismiss.

“If you’re curious, find out for yourself. But it’ll take two years.”

That was the time left until I graduated from Jerion Academy.

With that time, I could likely draw the Duke of Robliju into the light.

“Waiting around for two years shouldn’t be a bad idea.”

I casually threw out the timeline.

How Nia interpreted it was uncertain.

But I laid out every potential option I could muster.

“Oh, and since I saved your life this time, could you grant one favor in return?”

“Huh, speaking so freely…”

Nia let out a breath as if stunned.

It seemed she was shocked by how casually I was making demands.

Seeing her, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“But it will be related to your sister.”

I decided I would see a happy ending ahead.

In order to save Nikita.

I needed Nia’s help just once.

At that, Nia’s expression shifted dramatically.

It seemed I had struck a nerve, as the deepest malice surged forth from her.

“I won’t let you involve my sister.”

This person really misunderstood the situation.

“C’mon, let’s not do this.”

“So you were here to target my sister! She’s been dreaming of a tall guy since childhood, and your short self doesn’t even register as a man!”

Wow, a siscon.

He looked like an elegant gentleman, but this was beyond ridiculous.

“That’s not it! Don’t misunderstand. If anything happens to Nia Cynthia, it’ll affect Nikita!”

Upon hearing that something could happen to Nikita, Nia’s wrath gradually diminished.

“…Nikita likes me a lot, so I guess I can see that.”

As long as she understood in any way, that was good enough for me.

I reached out my hand toward Nia.

“Hand me that staff.”

“This is the horn of the One-Horned Beast. You’ll lose your magic by doing so.”

“It’s fine. I’m wrapped in mystery too, you know.”

Nia squinted her eyes.

“What exactly are you?”

Starting from information, and now onto mystery.

To Nia, I must have been an entirely unpredictable individual.

I slowly opened Nia’s hand.

My steel skin couldn’t be dealt with even by a One-Horned Beast’s horn.

“You’ll find out later.”

The more she learned, the more enigmatic I would become.

But for now, this was just enough.

Once I extracted the horn from Nia, I casually twirled it in my hand.

“We’ll submit this as evidence for the faked death.”

For a magician to lose their staff in Magung would equate to death.

Additionally, the horn of the One-Horned Beast would likely attract some attention.

Of course, by now, if they had already severed ties with the One-Horned Beast, there would be little room to escape blame.

Everyone would act like they knew nothing, and only the craftsman who made the staff would pay with their life.

‘Originally, the 1st Prince wouldn’t have strongly opposed Nia’s death.’

Nia was a big piece.

But there was too much uncertainty surrounding her death.

All the leads pointed to the 3rd Princess Faction.

But due to the use of mystery, solid evidence was lacking, so could not truly corner them.

The forces of the 1st Prince and the 3rd Princess were neck and neck.

Stepping wrong could have led to backlash or even conflict.

So, ultimately, Nia’s death would just fade away.

Except for one person.

Nikita would relentlessly pursue the truth surrounding Nia’s death, convinced it was orchestrated by the 3rd Princess Faction.

‘But this time is different.’

Nia was alive.

This was the strongest evidence I had.

The 1st Prince would surely go all out to expose the 3rd Princess Faction.

‘The Duke of Robliju thinks he can have it all.’

I prepared a big trap.

Enjoy your meal.

“Take this too.”

Just then, Nia took off a necklace from around her neck and handed it to me.

It was a necklace engraved with the insignia of the Cynthia family.

“This necklace is given to the heirs of the Cynthia family. With this, my death will seem even more certain.”

With that remark, Nia exhaled softly.

While she seemed displeased at being played according to my intentions,

She at least seemed to grasp the fact that I wasn’t targeting her.

“If you mess with Nikita while I’m gone, I’ll kill you.”

And left a chilling warning.

To Nia, I likely appeared as a man who was gunning for Nikita.

“And how can a dead person kill me?”

Indeed, it was a challenge I had to respond to.

“Hey.”

In the midst of my stare-off with Nia, Sharine’s voice pierced through.

She pointed to a spot with a troubled expression.

There stood the Irregular Apostle, in a grotesque state unfit for explanation.

Just how much magic had been hammered into it? It had undergone ten evolutions already.

It was clear that Sharine had dealt devastating damage to the Irregular Apostle during that time.

I could hear explosions happening constantly nearby.

Sharine had done as she pleased.

She revealed her empty waist.

It appeared she had exhausted all her staves.

“It won’t die from magic anymore.”

When the Irregular Apostle was struck down for the tenth time,

It would enter a state of magical or physical immunity against either magical or physical attacks.

I was taken aback.

How much had she killed it?

“Grrrrrr…”

Due to the onslaught of absurd magic bombardments, the Irregular Apostle emitted an unpleasant noise.

Seeing this, I reached a firm conclusion.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Feet, save me!