Forearms and fists like thick logs.
The monster’s two fists came crashing down menacingly, as if they would fall upon Claire’s group at any moment.
“I can’t hold it for very long in this body, so run along quickly, won’t you?”
A streak of scarlet flashed past, and the monster froze in that exact posture, as though time itself had stopped.
“······Let’s go.”
Seizing the chance, Claire, Ravena, and Roland quickly slipped past, with Airaitz following behind.
The situation was so horrific that it made one wonder if this was what hell looked like.
Even as they ran, screams rang out from every direction.
The terrible sounds of things breaking and tearing.
Enemies that might leap out of the black fog at any moment, from anywhere.
When something caught against the tip of her foot, she glanced back as she passed and saw a severed arm.
The torn-off arm of some nameless person. A lump of flesh drenched in blood.
Things like that lay scattered endlessly all around them.
“······.”
Though nausea surged up in her throat, she forced it down and kept running.
Even in a situation where it would not have been strange for her mind to collapse on the spot, Claire bit down on her lip and ran.
It was not that she had lost her senses after being bewitched by Airaitz.
She had merely judged that without her help, they could not survive in this hell.
She had no idea what the other party was scheming. Nor when she might stab them in the back. But she did not want Ravena and Roland to end up like that too.
Even if the other party was a demon, she had no choice but to take her hand.
“Are we still far?”
Airaitz urged them on.
The place Claire was heading for was the hidden basement of the combat training grounds, where she had last parted ways with Hio.
Even if they went there, there would be nothing.
Which meant there was a high chance that neither those enormous monsters nor the Black Fang charging like ghosts would be there either, and Airaitz would come up empty-handed.
And if, by some chance, by one in a thousand, one in ten thousand, Hio was really there······.
If he could appear, then perhaps, just as Airaitz said, he might be able to end this hell at once. A faint expectation like that lingered in her.
‘······No. Stop hoping now.’
If she kept waiting for Hio to do everything for her, she would only end up weak.
At the crucial moment, at the moment when she could move forward, she would remain stagnant.
So for now, she first had to get herself to safety, then think about how to act next.
“We just have to go in there!”
Even within the fog that made them lose all sense of direction, they managed to find the way and finally reached the vicinity of the training grounds.
Airaitz used her skill to brainwash the three monsters loitering at the entrance, and they quickly entered the building.
There was no sign of anyone inside at all.
Claire and Ravena crossed the corridor and stood before the basement entrance.
The entrance to the underground stairs was crudely blocked off with wooden planks.
“This is the place that weird woman is looking for?”
Roland, who entered a little later than the other two, looked down at the basement.
“Oh, this is that place. The haunted basement.”
Without hesitation, Roland lifted the wooden planks and headed down.
“What on earth is down here···.”
Ravena and Claire followed her down the stairs.
Though she had tried not to expect anything, she could not help but carry with her that single strand of hope.
After descending the dark stairs, the basement they arrived in was—
“What? There’s nothing here.”
As expected, desolate.
An empty basement filled only with cold air.
“You’re saying this is the place where you parted ways with Hio Pavlenko.”
Airaitz, who came down the stairs last, looked around.
“Hmm. It does look quite convincingly secretive, but······.”
Muttering, Airaitz began feeling along the basement walls.
After carefully inspecting various parts of the wall, she turned back toward Claire.
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“Why would I lie at this point?”
“You’re saying Hio Pavlenko really came down here?”
“I told you, yes.”
Airaitz thrust her scarlet eyes close, pressing Claire.
Behind her, Claire caught sight of Roland quietly edging closer.
“And then he suddenly disappeared?”
“Yes···. Do you know something?”
“Hmm······.”
Airaitz stroked her chin in thought.
Roland’s violet hair drew closer and closer.
Claire deliberately ignored Roland and continued speaking to Airaitz.
“What are you planning to do if you meet Hio?”
“A little brat like you doesn’t need to know.”
“I’m not a child. So tell me.”
Airaitz’s expression crumpled as if she found it annoying.
And then Roland’s hand shot up, holding a fist-sized rock.
“Hoo······ Listen carefully, little brat. The Supreme Heavenly Demon is my onl—!”
Thwaaack—!
With a satisfying sound of impact, Airaitz—no, Hoffen’s body collapsed.
Standing in her place was Roland, breathing hard through her teeth.
“I’m Roland Bernstein!”
Having somehow secretly picked it up along the way, she tossed the fist-sized rock aside and swept back her hair.
As she approached the fallen Airaitz, she turned her head toward Claire and Ravena.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and stomp on her!”
“Huh? Ah, okay!”
* * *
—······If the illusionists saw this, every last one of them would come running with their eyes rolled back.
The illusion magic registered as a skill, Illusion, was somewhat special.
“Now that I think about it, my trait itself is basically a kind of illusion magic, isn’t it?”
—When it comes to deceiving the eyes, there can be nothing greater than your trait.
They said that high-level illusion magic could trap an opponent within an illusion until, in the end, that illusion became reality······.
Was that not far too similar to Hio’s trait?
That was why the illusion magic Illusion meshed with Hio’s trait and amplified its effects several times over.
“Anyway, I’ve learned all the magic I was aiming for, and I’ve checked all the skill effects too······ Now it’s time to go back out.”
Purnell grinned shamelessly.
—Have a pleasant journey.
“What’s with that, when you’re coming with me?”
After all, half of that soul was accompanying him on this journey.
—Hehehe. I should read through each of the newly opened rooms this time. That way, when your Circle rises later, I’ll be able to fulfill my role as your teacher.
On the various floors newly opened this time, there were many spells that were certainly attractive, but too awkward to learn by engraving their patterns.
Or else, magic that was still too difficult for Hio to learn, requiring many things he did not yet have.
In other words, Purnell’s main body, which would remain in the magic tower, would be researching those spells.
“Yeah. I’ll be counting on you.”
—I’m doing it because I like it, so what’s with the formality? Hehehe.
Purnell spoke slyly, imitating Hio’s tone.
Hio chuckled and picked up his hat.
It was not the beginner’s magic hat from before, but the magic hat of a full-fledged mage.
Upon reaching the 3rd Circle, he had replaced his entire mage set with equipment for a proper mage.
That did not mean it had improved dramatically.
Since the hat, robe, and staff had been so effective to begin with, their existing effects had merely been enhanced little by little.
And the hat and staff had become more ornate overall. That was about all.
“But it feels different. Putting on new equipment, I mean.”
Now he was truly a mage he could present anywhere without shame. That alone made it feel different.
From a mage who had barely managed to kindle a fist-sized flame, to a proper mage who could wield fairly impressive magic.
Wearing his new, even more splendid hat on his head and still holding the large staff in his hand, he headed toward the portal.
“I’ll be back.”
「Confirmed mana level is 3rd Circle.」
「There are a total of twenty-one areas available.」
In place of hands, Purnell enlarged his eyeballs and rolled them from side to side.
A farewell that only Purnell could give.
—The next time we meet face to face, you will have grown even further.
「Imenia Magic Academy (1) - ‘The Mage’s House’ has been selected.」
「Portal activating.」
That familiar bright light enveloped his body and covered his eyes.
Purnell’s grinning figure gradually faded away.
After a very brief moment passed, he sensed the light disappear and opened his eyes.
What came into view was the familiar portal, its light now gone.
The desolate space of the fourth basement floor.
And what he could faintly sense was—
“······.”
Death qi.
The fact that he could feel the aura of death this strongly even in the space on the fourth basement floor was······ difficult to understand.
The faint smile on his face quickly cooled.
“······The magic barrier?”
Purnell, understanding what he meant, answered swiftly.
—You saw it on the way here, did you not? The illusion barrier has collapsed. You should be able to become a spirit body.
In other words, even if he became a spirit body, he would not embarrassingly crash into anything.
「Skill - ‘Summon Phantom Steed’ activated.」
He immediately summoned the Phantom Steed.
The sight of the Phantom Steed emerging as the air split open, accompanied by pure white light, was less like a ghost horse and more like a divine beast.
It was because he had activated it as a skill.
「Trait - ‘Spirit Body’ activated.」
He climbed onto the Phantom Steed with practiced ease and conveyed his will.
His will to go upward quickly, toward the surface.
At that, the Phantom Steed raised its forelegs high and began galloping through the air.
Pure white wings spread wide on either side of it, and a soft light radiated forth.
It passed through the ceiling of the fourth basement floor and reached the third basement floor.
It crossed the third basement floor and rose to the second, then in an instant passed through that as well and reached the first basement floor. Now, straight to the surface······.
“Hm?”
Just before leaving, it came to a screeching halt.
Because on the first basement floor, he saw a familiar head of red hair.
“Claire?”
Claire and several others were gathered around something, trampling it thoroughly.
At Hio’s voice, their heads all turned upward at once.
“······Hio?”
They looked at Hio as he slowly descended.
Hio, riding down slowly on a winged, pure white horse.
「Trait - ‘Spirit Body’ deactivated.」
Only after he got down from the Phantom Steed and landed on the floor did he finally see their faces properly.
Claire, Ravena, Roland, and······ some man with a swollen face.
The strange man met Hio’s eyes and broke into an incomparably bright smile.
“Hio······ Pavlenko!”
Hio tilted his head.
“······Do you know me? No, before that.”
Ignoring the man’s inexplicably exultant gaze, he looked at Claire.
“What happened? Those energies outside are······.”
At that, Claire, who had been looking back and forth between the Phantom Steed and Hio with confused eyes, came to her senses and urgently opened her mouth.
“The Black Fang. The Black Fang attacked.”
“······The Black Fang.”
Hio’s gaze sank deeply.
The reason for the attack. Its scale. Questions like that did rise to mind, but those could wait.
Right now, he had to resolve the situation out there first.
The aura of death was so thick that it felt as though he were standing in the middle of a battlefield.
“Got it for now.”
Having said that, he was about to climb back onto the Phantom Steed.
“Supreme Heavenly Demon.”
At the man’s words, his steps stopped.
An unfamiliar voice spoke a familiar name.
“You······ what are you?”
When he turned his head, an unfamiliar man was grinning at him.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for today. Supreme Heavenly Demon.”
The answer to his question came from Claire.
“I heard it from Professor Sirvert······ She’s Airaitz.”
Airaitz.
Hio stared hard at the man’s face.
He had thought there was something familiar about him, and now he realized he had seen him as Sirvert’s assistant professor.
“······I see. You’re hiding by borrowing a body, Airaitz.”
The foreign mana dominating his head.
So this was why he could feel a thin, long thread of mana connected to him.
And above all, those scarlet eyes that did not suit him.
“Kikikik··· I knew you’d recognize me at a glance. Supreme Heavenly Demon.”
At that carefree laugh, rage suddenly surged up within him.
He seized the man by the collar, pressed their foreheads together, and stared deeply into those scarlet eyes.
The sudden attack by the Black Fang, and Airaitz appearing at just the right time.
“Was this your doing, Airaitz?”
“No, no! How could you say something so hurtful? I don’t want you to hate me, you know? I merely······.”
The corners of her mouth curled up in a grin.
“Passed along a bit of information. Things like Sirvert’s skill? Well, this and that.”
“······There’s no value in speaking any further.”
Airaitz had completely lost her mind.
Having judged that, Hio was just about to swing the staff in his right hand.
“But aren’t you curious why the Black Fang suddenly attacked?”
At the question she threw out, he had no choice but to stop his hand.
And at the words Airaitz spoke next, he froze where he stood.
“I do, too. I don’t know all the details, but they came to kill you. Black Fang did.”
“······What?”
“So why did you do that at the imperial palace? Uprooting all the ones Ataolf had planted there overnight. That was your doing, wasn’t it? Supreme Heavenly Demon.”
The imperial palace······ I hadn’t laid a finger on it.
That had been Silvia’s work from beginning to end.
She had manipulated their souls, and in the process, filtered out Black Fang’s forces as well.
“And what about the last war? Of course, there was a bit of a misunderstanding there······ Keke.”
“······So it was you after all, Airaights. The one who extracted information and manipulated the Allenbert Legion.”
“Mm! That’s right! But I had to confirm whether you really were the Supreme Heavenly Demon, didn’t I? Hm? You understand what I’m saying, right? Hm? You understand me, don’t you?”
My thoughts tangled into a mess.
So, due to some accumulated misunderstanding, Ataolf had set things in motion to eliminate me······.
“Hm? I’m sorry. But you understand, don’t you? Of course you’ve become Ataolf’s top priority target for elimination, but someone like you won’t mind, right? So me······.”
“Shut up.”
I cut off Airaights, who was rattling on as if in some desperate hurry, and looked back into those eyes.
“How long do you think you can keep hiding like that, Airaights?”
I lightly raised the staff in my right hand and rotated my circle.
“I’ll come find you soon.”
Then, as I lightly struck the ground with my staff—thump.
“Mm! I’d like that! Love······.”
Airaights collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. No, Assistant Professor Hopen did.
I had used Cancellation to sever the connection of mana.
I looked down at him for a moment, then turned my steps toward the Phantom Steed.
All sorts of emotions surged up within me, but what I had to do first was clear.
End this chaos.
So I pressed down the complicated tangle of emotions.
「Trait - ‘Spiritual Body (靈體)’ is activated.」
Only after I climbed back onto the Phantom Steed did Claire enter my sight. Only then did I see the state she was in.
Her red hair was thoroughly disheveled, and blood was splattered here and there across her clothes.
How desperate she must have been. How frightened.
And yet Claire had uncovered that it was Airaights and waited for me here.
I was grateful.
“······Thank you, Claire.”
When I said that, Claire’s lips moved as if she was about to say something, but then she lowered her head deeply.
The ears I could glimpse were bright red.
And I was sorry.
Because I felt I hadn’t paid her enough mind.
As Silvert had said, I had left her alone at the academy, and even after meeting her again after so long, I hadn’t even greeted her properly. That suddenly made me feel sorry.
But there was something I had to do immediately.
“It’ll be all right now. Don’t worry.”
I had no choice but to leave those words behind.
And just like that, riding the Phantom Steed, I shot straight through the basement ceiling and disappeared.
Hio Pavlenko arrived without warning and vanished in an instant.
As always.
Silence settled over the basement.
Claire stood with her head lowered, and Ravena held her by the shoulders.
Roland stared blankly at the basement ceiling Hio had pierced through and disappeared beyond.
Before he could even properly understand what was going on, everything had gone whoosh-whoosh, then shoop, and he was gone.
This was really······ strange.
When he’d seen him before, hadn’t he just been a crazy pervert who liked being insulted?
But today, he was strange beyond belief.
If Roland started listing what was strange, there would be no end to it, but what was truly strange was that not a single person here was pointing any of it out.
What had he done to his hat and staff to make them even weirder? How on earth was he going through walls? And what about that winged horse?
What was that conversation about the imperial palace and whatever else? And that person called Airaights, who collapsed the moment his staff moved slightly—what was that magic-like thing supposed to be?
And that wasn’t all.
Among all the countless strange things, the strangest thing of all was.
“He’s definitely······.”
He was definitely a moron.
“Kind of cool, maybe?”
But weirdly, he also seemed kind of cool.
It was hard to say.
Anyway, one thing was certain.
“Let’s go!”
Up above, something incomprehensible was about to happen once again.
Roland ran toward the basement entrance.
He shouted back at Claire and Ravena behind him.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and come!”
* * *
Riding the Phantom Steed, I rose high into the sky in an instant.
The sight below was nothing short of惨惨.
I could tell without needing to see it.
I could feel it without even activating the Ghost Eyes.
The souls that filled the surroundings. The aura of death.
Pitiful spirits, resentful and still too frightened to leave, wandering in place.
Grit—my teeth ground together without me realizing it.
Why hadn’t I thought further ahead?
Why hadn’t I been more cautious?
“···Get a hold of yourself.”
I shook my head and looked down with my eyes wide open.
Within the pitch-black fog.
Corpses crushed beneath monsters.
Students barely holding on, screaming with all their might.
People dragging their legs as they wept.
People blankly waiting for death.
······All of this was a tragedy that would not have happened if I had done just a little better.
[Hidden Trait: No Violence! (Patience: 245 / 1000)]
I engraved the惨状 before my eyes.
There would be time enough for regret and lamentation later. For now, I had to do what needed to be done.
What they wanted was Hio Pavlenko—my life.
There might be all sorts of other reasons, but they would try to eliminate me first and foremost.
No, I would make them do so.
So I let my anger pour out without restraint and infused it with my will.
「Skill - ‘Shout’ is activated.」
Fwoosh—a golden radiance burst forth.
Beneath the Phantom Steed, a golden giant began to take shape.
Looking down, I slowly opened my mouth toward all the black fog spread below.
—I am the great mage.
A heavy resonance overwhelmed the entire academy.
—Hio Pavlenko.
The noise of battle ceased, if only for an instant.
Everyone’s gaze turned to the sky.
At the resounding name, all the black fog stopped moving and looked upward.
Yes.
Keep looking up like that.
Stop your meaningless slaughter and look only at me.
「Skill - ‘Illusion’ is activated.」
I will beguile your eyes and your hearts.
So come rushing only toward me.
—Worthless wraiths of Ataolf.
「Please select.」
「Skill - ‘Illusion - God’s Arbiter.’」
「Skill - ‘Illusion - Ruler of Death.’」
The voice rang out. Tension pulsed. Thousands, tens of thousands of gazes gathered.
Within the vast space where darkness had descended deep.
「Skill - ‘Illusion - God’s Arbiter’ is activated.」
The sky split open.
—I am here.
At the same time, all the black fog began to surge toward one man.