“What did you do to Jared!”
“Heh heh, I did nothing.”
Laurentz Herring was shaken by the sight of Jared collapsing suddenly. He pushed away the embrace of the close siblings restraining him and picked up his friend, who lay feebly in the rubble.
Jared’s body convulsed, and he stared blankly into space with unfocused eyes. Laurentz couldn’t understand what had happened and desperately called out to him, but there was no reply.
The scene of Jared being slashed by Barnabas’s manipulated knife flashed through his mind.
He had heard that the knife, the weapon used to attack the court mage candidates, including the admired Kevin Harrington, and the court mage Tres Brauer, was a formidable item found in the Minotaur’s nest.
Assuming Jared’s strange condition was also caused by that knife, he checked the wound.
“…This is…”
“You noticed, boy. You seem to be quick-witted.”
He gnashed his teeth, finding no joy in being praised by his hated enemy.
A faint light emanated from the gash on Jared’s arm. Blood was flowing, but the tear itself wasn’t significant. However, as a magician, Laurentz realized something was terribly wrong.
“Is your magic power leaking out?”
“Correct. To be more precise, the magic power that flows from those cut by this knife becomes my sustenance.”
“So that’s why Kevin and the others died without much resistance.”
“Their defiled magic power becomes sustenance and is purified when I absorb it. And I will use it properly!”
Laurentz thought from the bottom of his heart, *He’s insane.*
No magician with a sound mind would absorb another person’s magic power.
First, there’s the premise that the quality of magic power differs from person to person, making it difficult to absorb even if one tries.
It’s possible to share magic power with someone whose magic power has been depleted, but he’d heard that the caster unconsciously converts it to be harmless to the recipient, and the amount that can be shared is small.
If he’s calmly absorbing it, it’s undoubtedly thanks to the knife. He’d heard that Minotaurs have a habit of hiding treasures in their nests, so a magic-imbued knife would definitely be a magic item. It’s likely from an era when magic flourished. Magic items from that era are rarely found, but he’d heard they generally have unlimited functions. In that case, it should be able to steal and consume the magic power of those it wounds.
Unfortunately, Laurentz had no solution.
Even if the knife were a magic item, or if Barnabas was using some other means, he couldn’t do anything without understanding the mechanism.
“Seeing that look on your face, you’ve realized you can’t handle this. Then, get out of my way. I must punish this foolish magician for his fraudulent act—move.”
“Do you think I’ll move when you say that?!”
It was clear that if he handed Jared over to Barnabas, who was clutching his knife and approaching, he would be killed.
Laurentz raised his magic power to protect his friend and unleashed a volley of stone swords, but…
“A futile struggle.”
They were all shattered by the wind wall raised by Barnabas and never reached him.
But he couldn’t give up.
To save his friend, and to avenge Kevin, Laurentz further increased his magic power and unleashed magic without a second thought.
An earth wall rose, encircling Barnabas. While Barnabas countered with a wind wall to destroy it, Laurentz poured in all his magic power, determined not to let him destroy the thick earth wall easily, even if Barnabas was a skilled magician.
“Prepare yourself! You’re Kevin’s avenger!”
The earth wall that had enclosed him surged towards Barnabas.
“Uooooooooooooooooh!”
Laurentz’s magic power increased further, making the earth wall more solid, as he heard Barnabas scream while being crushed and his body creaking under the sheer force of the wall bearing down to crush him.
However…
“Do you think you can defeat me with this much magic?!”
The earth wall was shattered into pieces by a blast of wind unleashed from around Barnabas.
Although his full-powered attack was broken, Laurentz raised his remaining magic power and cast magic again.
Numerous stone spears erupted from the ground and attacked Barnabas, but…
“Don’t you understand when I say it’s useless?!”
They were all cut in half by wind blades and never reached him.
However, Laurentz had anticipated that his attacks wouldn’t reach Barnabas. Therefore, he sent magic power into the stone spears swirling in the air, causing them to self-destruct.
“Wh—”
Rumbling sounds and explosions continuously assaulted Barnabas.
As if that weren’t enough, he once again surrounded Barnabas with an earth wall, sealing in the shock and flames to prevent their escape.
Once all the stone spears had self-destructed, the earth wall, though hastily constructed, began to collapse under the force of the impact.
“…Did I do it?”
No matter how skilled a magician Barnabas was, capable of defeating a Minotaur, his body was still human.
He would be injured if attacked, and if fatally wounded, he would die.
By using the earth wall to create a closed space, Laurentz had continuously bombarded it with explosions and shockwaves. Even if he had erected a barrier, he must have sustained considerable damage.
However, as if mocking Laurentz’s faint hope, Barnabas emerged from the rubble of the earth wall.
The left half of his face was burned, but his hair and clothes were only scorched and dirtied, with little other damage sustained. Laurentz was stunned that Barnabas hadn’t suffered a fatal wound.
“How did you evade it?”
“I didn’t evade it. Even in a confined space, my wind can prevent explosions from reaching me. Still, that was close. However, as a magician, my talent, quality, and magic power are all different from yours!”
With a roar, a wind blade flashed across Laurentz’s shoulder and chest.
Laurentz collapsed to his knees, spewing fresh blood. Bertha cried out in alarm.
“Laurentz-sama!”
Bertha, who had been watching without interfering with the battle, stood before the wounded Laurentz, spreading her arms. Kurt did the same, standing protectively in front of Laurentz.
“Before Jared Murphy, I will kill you both.”
Invisible wind bullets struck the Bartram siblings, and they fell without being able to resist.
Bertha bit her lip. Barnabas wasn’t serious yet. Even if she was past her prime, Bertha was a magician, she could tell. She desperately thought about how she could protect her beloved master from the former court mage candidate whose depths were unfathomable, but no optimal solution came to mind.
Jared, whom she relied on, was down, and Laurentz was crouched, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
Both of them urgently needed treatment.
“Barnabas, stop it. You came here for revenge on me, didn’t you? Then don’t kill these promising children. You should kill me. I won’t resist, so hurry up and do it.”
Adelina Bischof, who had been observing, stepped in front of Barnabas, trying to protect Jared and the others. However, the words that left her mouth were those of someone prepared for death.
“You won’t resist? Don’t make me laugh. I know you were looking for an opening the entire time these promising children were fighting. How pathetic, to use minors as bait… Do you want to survive that badly?”
“No!”
“What’s ‘no’?”
“I have no memory of doing such a cowardly thing. I just… wanted to atone for my sins.”
“Very well, then I shall let you atone. And I will sever your head as a gift for Count Brauer—huh?”
A small stone hit Barnabas’s body.
Not just once, but two or three times, small stones flew from behind Adelina and hit Barnabas’s body.
There was no pain, but he was displeased. He shoved Adelina aside and looked for the source of this minor resistance.
“…Putting up quite a cute resistance, aren’t you, Jared Murphy.”
“Die, you bastard…”
Barnabas, lying in the rubble, picked up stones and continued to throw them, looking at Jared with the kind of gaze one would give an annoying insect.
“As I thought, I will punish you before Adelina. Regret your fraudulent act and die.”
Barnabas swung his knife forcefully towards Jared, who lay weakly in the rubble.
