Chapter 301

“Oh dear······”

In the public training hall of the Main Hall where the refugees gathered.

The Announcer, who had been possessed by a Demon during the performance, clutched his head and slowly got up.

Considering the situation, the makeup on his face was still intact, but he wore a deeply pained expression.

‘Why does my head hurt so much?’

Well, that was because Sivar had whacked him on the back of the head with an axe. It’s a wonder it didn’t hurt more.

Of course, the Announcer had no energy to think about that as he rubbed his unfortunate head. It hurt way too much.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

A man’s voice entered the Announcer’s ear. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly before opening them slowly.

As his blurry vision gradually cleared, he could see the owner of the voice. Short hair and a firm expression.

It was Malboro, the Professor from the Academy, who had originally planned to spend a peaceful day with his family.

“Ah, yes. I’m coming to my senses but······ why am I here······ I was definitely······”

The Announcer was confused. Nothing made sense at all.

Malboro understood his feelings. After all, Sivar had just randomly knocked him unconscious.

Though he didn’t know why, the Announcer seemed properly unhinged, so there must be a good reason for it. More importantly, there were monsters.

“I’ll explain later at your own pace. For now, just stay calm. There are monsters outside.”

“Monsters? What the hell······”

“As I said, I’ll explain it all in due time. First, I’ll go get your acquaintance.”

“Acquaintance? What acquaintance are you talking about?”

In response to the Announcer’s question, Malboro wore a puzzled expression. It seemed he had hit his head too hard.

Should we call it short-term memory loss? It’s common to forget things after a strong impact to the head.

At times like this, it’s best to explain things in broad strokes. So, Malboro spoke up.

“Do you know Warden? He wears a wide-brimmed hat and I’ve heard he’s your acquaintance.”

He had seen the old man Warden shouting loudly while escaping with the refugees.

But the Announcer, looking completely lost, tilted his head in confusion.

“I don’t know him. It’s the first time I’m hearing that name?”

“Um······”

At those words, Malboro pondered for a moment before shrugging.

“It seems the impact was pretty severe.”

Sivar must have hit harder than intended.

*****

Blue Magic, reputed to be the second strongest after Purple.

However, even within Blue, one’s strength could vary dramatically depending on individual traits.

Above all, simply realizing the principles of the sky can be a path to awakening. What matters most is that realization.

Through this realization, the variety of abilities significantly widens, but it’s rare for one’s sheer power to dramatically increase.

It’s just that those who were originally strong remain strong even after reaching awakening. Particularly, humans generally start from the hue of blue.

To be promoted from blue to blue magic requires experiences and efforts unimaginable to an ordinary person.

Rod, who holds the title of Sword Saint, is an exceedingly powerful entity even among those who wield Blue Magic, strictly in terms of raw power.

-Swoosh!

With a clean cut, the hem of Rust’s dress was severed.

Despite Sivar’s axe slashing it, it was only this one attack that did the trick.

However, since clothing is treated as part of the body for demons, it quickly restored itself.

-Whash!

Rod’s assault didn’t end there. His new form vanished from Rust’s view.

In just a few quick steps, he disappeared from sight. Rust urgently tracked his magical energy.

The technique called ‘Teleportation’ disregards spatial constraints in essence, so tracking by magical energy is better than the naked eye.

After a while, she managed to catch up with him, but it was a bit too late. The sword in Rod’s right hand was rising from below, toward her.

-Swish!

Trying to block it in haste, she raised her arm, but it only became a hindrance. Rust’s wrist was severed cleanly, floating in mid-air.

With tremendous attacking power and bewildering speed, it was a close-range battle that was practically poison for Rust.

She had to create distance somehow. Before she could even recover her severed wrist, she leapt high into the air.

-Pause!

“?!”

But strangely, right before making the leap, her body froze. She opened her eyes wide and looked down.

Feeling something snagging on her, she glanced down and—what a surprise.

The sword that Rod had been holding in his right hand was now embedded in the ground, having pierced through her dress.

It appeared he had used crafty tactics to prevent her from flying away, as if playing with her in the palm of his hand.

“You’re slow to react.”

-Click.

Rod seized the bloodied greatsword floating behind him while Rust stood in shock.

After grasping it firmly with both hands, he slashed diagonally to rend Rust’s form in two.

Unlike Sivar’s crude strikes, this was a clean, precise cut.

“Teleport!”

-Peet!

Feeling her life flash before her, Rust desperately shouted. With that shout, she vanished in an instant.

Rod’s clean slash couldn’t help but strike nothing but air. Only the sword embedded in the ground remained.

Rod turned his head with an indifferent expression. In the direction he looked, Rust stood with a tense face.

“Teleportation magic······ I thought it had been forgotten, but it’s still around. So this is how demons are.”

“Huff······ huff······”

“Spells and techniques related to space share a commonality, you see. They consume a lot of magic power.”

That’s actually true. Rust, who just used Blink, looked far from well.

She was panting heavily, looking as if she might collapse at any moment. She had expended far too much magic until now.

‘Damn Gulrak, if it weren’t for you······!’

She grimaced. The significant amount of magic power she had used due to Kara’s just-used lightning drained her reserves.

If she were alone, it wouldn’t matter so much, but to protect Sivar, she had to waste it inefficiently.

As if that weren’t enough, she had also engaged in multiple battles with Rod. She wasn’t particularly strong in large-scale combat.

‘For now, I need to keep my distance while I assess the situation.’

-Flap

With her dress fluttering, Rust slowly soared into the sky. Rod quietly observed her.

If he wanted, Rod could also ‘walk’ in the sky. But if he did, the magic power consumption would be overwhelming.

-Thud!

He grabbed Ragnarok behind him.

-Bam!

And then he threw it straight away. The axe rocketed toward Rust at an alarming speed, spinning through the air.

But unlike the ground, movement in the sky can occur in all directions. She gracefully twisted her body to evade.

“Oh beautiful flower, bloom······”

Ultimately, the time for Rust to strike back had come. Just as she was about to hurriedly cast her spell.

-Boom!!

“Ugh?!”

Suddenly, terrible pain slammed into her from behind. She nearly lost consciousness.

Rust urgently glanced over her shoulder. The Ragnarok, which had been flying off in the distance, was now deeply embedded behind her.

‘What, what the hell? It shouldn’t have come back······!’

She knew the engravings on Ragnarok. But in essence, it was intended for retrieval.

It shouldn’t incorporate any rotational force like this. Plus, it wasn’t a weapon that returned like a boomerang either.

These weapons harbor a will within them. That’s the only explanation she could conjure up.

-Whir!

-Whish!

Not just Ragnarok, countless weapons attacked Rust from all directions. Each imbued with Rod’s will.

What should have been a safe aerial space had turned into the most dangerous place. Rust grimaced and ascended even higher.

‘How far are they going to chase me?!’

The range was too extensive to even grasp. There were no signs of them letting up.

But as Rod had just mentioned, techniques that disregard spatial constraints consume an enormous amount of magic power.

If she continued maintaining this, she would eventually collapse. That would be when she could plan a counterattack…

*Crack!*

“Huh?”

Yet Rod didn’t give her a moment’s reprieve. Rust suddenly felt empty beneath her, looking down.

Her legs were severed from the thigh down, plummeting. On the ground, Rod had taken a stance as if he had just slashed with his sword.

Rust couldn’t even feel the pain of her legs being severed and spun her head around frantically. She had been cornered completely.

‘It consumes a lot of magic to restore my legs. I have to apply them back somehow······’

Her severed legs could regenerate. However, reattaching them would be vastly easier.

She pondered briefly, before acting quickly. As the weapons pursued her from behind, she urgently dove down.

Her thoughts had taken too long, and her legs were now getting closer to the ground. She could still grab them with some effort.

–Swish!

“Urgh!”

Rod wasn’t one to let that opportunity slip. Rust barely twisted her body to evade his onslaught.

If she had miscalculated this time, her head might have skimmed off. If her head fell, then next would surely be her heart.

Fortunately for her, Rod seemed to find this attack a bit burdensome too and did not charge again.

-Whir! Whee!

Instead, a massive number of sword beams flew toward her. One slash could jeopardize her life.

But Rust dodged each of those attacks, descending toward the ground. Just a little farther and she’d grasp her legs.

Finally, it seemed like she would be able to reach the legs she had lost as they drew close to the ground, so she stretched out her hand.

‘Just a little more······!’

-Whip!

But she would never reclaim her legs. Just as she was about to grab them, someone else snatched them away.

Not with red hair, but with black hair fluttering as they moved away.

In this place, there was only one other person apart from Rust with black hair.

“I’m taking these.”

Having regained his senses, Sivar had instinctively jumped in when he saw the chance while watching Rod fight.

Knowing well the characteristics of demons, he realized that her legs were crucial to Rust.

“Hey, hey······?”

Rust gazed at Sivar with a blank expression. It was an indescribable look that made it hard to explain anything.

But that emotion wasted precious seconds. A perfect blunder.

-Boom!

“AAAH······!”

Rod, darting in like a bolt of lightning, stabbed his sword into Rust’s abdomen. It was the very sword that had been chasing her moments ago.

Using his force, he embedded it into the ground, pinning her arms, completely sealing her movements.

Rod fixed the remaining weapons to her dress instead of her legs. She could no longer move.

“Cough! Cough! Hack······!”

Black blood gushed from Rust’s mouth. But there was no sign of pain.

Only a sense of loss and despair. In her blue eyes shimmered emotions that were hard to put into words.

“This is the end.”

“··· ···”

Rod approached the collapsed Rust. But her gaze remained focused on Sivar.

Had he read the emotion contained in that look? Gradually, Sivar approached her, including the two severed legs in his arms.

Though he had done what he needed, his face clearly showed discomfort about it.

“Is it over······?”

“Yeah. It’s over.”

“Demons really are stubborn.”

After a slightly hesitant response from Sivar and Rod, Kara stepped closer.

With Rust completely subdued, there was no escape left for her. All that remained was to quietly await her demise.

“······Hey.”

Rust quietly called out to Sivar. Her expression was about to break into tears.

At that, Rod brandished the Usuk Blade he held, looking as if he was about to thrust it into her mouth.

Sivar, startled by that, reached out. A gesture for him to wait just a moment.

“Wait, wait a minute, Grandpa.”

“Hmm?”

“I, um······”

Sivar began to fidget, holding Rust’s legs anxiously. He didn’t even know why he had intervened.

Rod looked puzzled by this display, while Kara, perhaps sensing Sivar’s intent, scolded him sternly.

“You’re not hesitating to show mercy on this demon, are you?”

“··· ···”

“Get a grip. We know who you are and why the demon wants you. But today, we narrowly avoided a disaster that could have harmed hundreds. Demons are still just demons.”

That’s true. Though demons like Rust care for Sivar, they are still demons.

Even without Sivar, the demons would have continued with their plans.

It was all due to their preparation that the Academy didn’t turn into an utter chaos.

“What wrong did we······ do to you?”

In the time Sivar hesitated, Rust quietly spoke. Her voice filled with longing and sadness.

Hearing those words, Sivar met Rust’s gaze. His face expressed deep frustration.

“Why do you hate us? We haven’t done anything wrong to you.”

“··· ···”

“So we’re not even allowed to have hope?”

-Swish

Perhaps her pleading had an effect. Sivar released her legs without a word.

As soon as he did, Rust’s lower half began to heal slowly. But her regenerative power was noticeably diminished.

It meant her remaining magic power was almost at zero. There was no room left for her to resist.

“······You’re a good child, so I’m glad. You’ve really grown up well.”

Properly moved by that final mercy, Rust gave a faint smile. As she slowly closed her eyes.

She was quietly preparing for her last moments. Sivar looked down at her with a complex expression.

All preparations were complete. Rod slowly raised his sword with an indifferent face.

Then he aimed it forcefully at where Rust’s heart was······

“Ah.”

-Pause!

······he was unable to do so. The sword stopped abruptly just before Ruth’s heart.

Simply due to a single reprimand heard from behind. And it was none other than Rod himself who halted his ending.

Sivar and Kara turned to look back at the reprimand. The approach was completely undetectable.

Seeing the figure that had approached, Sivar spoke with a frown.

“Warden······ Grandpa······?”

With a wide-brimmed hat and shabby attire. A worn-out cane to assist his walk.

It looked shabby, to say the least, but Sivar’s recognition was unmistakable.

“Tch, tch, tch. That’s something you should really······”

-BAM!

Warden’s words went unfinished as Rod spun around violently and launched an attack.

The force of his strike was so strong that a fierce gust swept out in all directions. Sivar frantically tried to maintain his balance.

While maintaining his balance, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled. This Rod was not one to attack so mindlessly.

He must have lost his composure to this extent. Sivar quietly checked Rod’s expression.

What on earth prompted him to act like this?

Warden’s hat was swept away by the storm, revealing his face.

“Ha! What a brat. No manners at all.”

Even amidst the storm, Warden remained standing upright. As soon as Sivar heard his voice, he turned to look at him.

With the wind having swept away his wide-brimmed hat, Warden’s face was fully exposed.

“Humans have always behaved this way.”

A perfectly ordinary face of an old man, one eye concealed by a blindfold.

His skin almost white, nearing a pale hue, partially faded black hair and beard.

“Quite selfish, I must say.”

Among all that stood out were those vividly bright ‘purple’ eyes.

For colorless demons, purple symbolizes only one thing.

God.

‘······Why?’

Everything had gone haywire.

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