Flames needed to be healed to make him confess his objectives, but Olivier didn’t want to bring a dangerous man back to the mansion where they lived.
The blood flowing from both his legs showed no sign of stopping, and he would eventually be in critical condition. He didn’t regret attacking on impulse.
The cold emotions within Jared told him that it was fine if Flames died.
He could interrogate Pfeil since this man, formerly a member of Waalthe and claiming to be the organization’s successor, had identified himself. Flames seemed to know Pfeil, so the reverse should also be true.
He recalled a mansion a short distance away where no one lived, and decided to take the attacker there for now.
Once he stopped the bleeding and obtained information, he could hand him over to the Mage Association. He would likely be imprisoned as a criminal, but he could receive treatment.
As Jared reached out to Flames, he heard the sound of wind cutting through the air.
“——!”
He instinctively pulled his hand back as a greatsword descended from the sky between Jared and Flames, piercing the ground.
If he had been a moment slower, his right arm might have been gone.
While wary of whoever had delivered such a hostile greeting, he increased his magical power, but a presence approaching from behind felt familiar, and he stopped moving.
“It’s been a while, brother.”
A familiar voice from behind made his body tremble, as if it couldn’t be.
Whirling around, he saw a golden-haired young man clad in a black combat uniform standing with a friendly smile.
“…No, it can’t be.”
There was no way he could forget. He had been searching for him for so long.
Compared to when they first met, they had both grown, but he had never forgotten his face.
His demeanor was more mature than his age, and he still had that audacious smile, pulling his lips up in the same way as before.
There stood Luzer Fischer, the important benefactor who had taught Jared that one should smile even in difficult times.
“I’ve wanted to see you, Jared.”
Luzer, accompanied by a girl dressed entirely in white from her hair to her clothes, approached with the same smile from Jared’s memory.
Jared’s feet moved towards Luzer naturally.
He hesitated on what to say, words forming and disappearing. First, he had to tell him about protecting his mother.
It had taken time to protect her, but if he explained that he had protected her in Luzer’s stead, he was sure Luzer would be happy. By doing so, Jared would finally be able to repay a fraction of his debt.
As Jared opened his mouth to speak, his movement stopped. He glanced back once, and saw the greatsword impaled in the ground behind him.
“Hey, Luzer.”
“What is it, brother?”
“Why did you attack me?”
He asked with a trembling voice, filled with apprehension, and Luzer’s smile deepened, his expression contorting.
It was a Luzer Jared didn’t know.
Anger, hatred, and manic joy mixed together, and Luzer let out a loud laugh, his emotions laid bare as if he had been trampled.
“Now that you mention it, you’ve always been quite cautious. I have fond memories of when you were just a crying child in that containment facility.”
“Luzer, please listen to me.”
He immediately realized something was wrong with him. Yet, there were things he had to say.
But Luzer wouldn’t listen, only reminiscing about the past.
“Do you remember? There was a chubby kid who used to kick you around all the time. He’s dead. I killed him. Oh, you don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do it for you; it was just a coincidence that I killed him.”
“Luzer!”
“I investigated you. It seems you’ve had a tough time too, but I’m glad to see you looking so well. Now—I can get my revenge on you for betraying me.”
“—Wh, why?”
His thoughts stopped at being called a traitor.
Luzer didn’t pause his words as he addressed Jared, who couldn’t comprehend why he was being told this.
“After you betrayed me, I went through hell in that containment facility. I never imagined it was a training ground for an assassination organization. But now I’m grateful. I gained power there.”
Jared was dumbfounded by Luzer raising his clenched fist.
He knew it was an illegal facility, but he never expected it to be a training ground for an assassination organization.
He had suspected something was amiss, but since it had already been dismantled and Luzer, the person he was looking for, wasn’t there, he lost interest.
If Luzer’s words were true, then he must have joined an assassination organization, whether by choice or not. He surmised that this organization was comprised of individuals who had parted ways with Waalthe, like the Flames lying on the ground behind them.
“Luzer, tell me. What happened to you?”
“Words are no longer necessary. Let’s speak with our bodies next.”
“Wait, I don’t intend to fight Luzer—”
“Let’s go. Show me your skills, which have grown to the point of becoming a Court Mage.”
As Luzer reached out his hand, the greatsword detached from the ground and flew to his hand.
Casually catching the greatsword with one hand, purple lightning crackled from Luzer’s body as he shouldered it.
“Lightning Element… what a rare attribute…”
What fate caused Jared and Luzer, who had both been unaware of their magical talents, to awaken to rare magical attributes?
Lightning Element is said to be a subspecies of Wind and Light Elements, and its details are unclear. Unlike Earth Element, which allows one to handle multiple attributes, it is a single attribute of lightning, but its rarity means that its specific magical applications haven’t even been clearly confirmed.
Even searching through literature yields only a handful of mentions, but there is one thing known.
It is that—Lightning Element magic is specialized for offense and possesses extremely high lethality.
Luzer kicked off the ground towards Jared, who was bracing himself.
In an instant, Luzer disappeared from his vision. As Jared tried to locate him, moving at literally invisible speed, he heard the sound of lightning, followed by the sound of wind cutting through the air.
Acting on instinct, he lowered his body, and the greatsword swung from behind, narrowly missing his head as it swept towards the ground.
“Good reflexes!”
He swung his fist as he turned, but it was caught by the flat of the greatsword, and he was burned by the purple lightning traveling through the blade, fresh blood erupting from his right fist.
In this brief exchange, he realized he was outmatched in terms of sheer combat power.
He could sense that his magical power was greater, but Luzer, wielding the unknown Lightning Element and moving with incredible speed and the brute strength to swing a greatsword effortlessly with one hand, was undoubtedly a formidable opponent.
More importantly, Jared hesitated to attack him, his benefactor and the person he looked up to like an older brother.
Fundamentally, Jared had no reason to attack Luzer.
However, Luzer was different. For reasons unclear, he claimed Jared had betrayed him and harbored hatred.
It felt like a misunderstanding.
He remembered a promise he had made with Luzer long ago. Even if one of them couldn’t escape when they fled the containment facility, they wouldn’t help each other but would fulfill the other’s intended task.
Since he didn’t know Luzer’s whereabouts, he followed that promise and fulfilled his wish to protect his mother. He hadn’t yet been able to tell him, but he hadn’t betrayed him.
As Luzer joyfully swung his greatsword and attacked, Jared could only defend, gradually finding himself at a disadvantage.
Even without direct contact, the purple lightning burned Jared’s body, inflicting sure damage.
If he let his guard down, he would be caught by Luzer’s uncatchable speed and killed instantly by a strike from the greatsword swung with brute force.
Under such tension, remaining unable to attack was nothing but agony.
He wasn’t only wary of Luzer. The white girl standing behind him, who had been silent since her appearance, could move at any moment.
Realizing he was being cornered, he clicked his tongue—when an arrow shot through the space between Jared and Luzer.
“Oops, you’re finally showing up.”
“I could say the same to you, you traitor’s pawn.”
The voice that descended from a nearby building belonged to a woman whose voice he recognized.
It was Rosa Roen, her red hair flowing, clad in a red combat uniform. She was the daughter of Wahash, the supreme leader of Waalthe, and one of his successors.
She glared at Luzer, along with Pfeil, another successor with blue hair, who readied his new bow.
