“Why, why—how can you, of all people, so easily grasp my whip!”
Michaela’s whip, intended to take a life, never reached Lars.
This was because—Crysta Oken, holding the unconscious Lars, clasped the flaming whip with her bare hands.
“Whyyyyyyyy!”
Ignoring Michaela’s scream, the girl checked on the safety of her precious friend who had tried to protect her until the very end, exhaling a breath of slight relief.
Though wounded and exhausted, his life was not in danger.
Once she confirmed he was unconscious, she stood up, still cradling him. Then, she glared at the Vice Commander of the Royal Mage Corps, who couldn’t hide her agitation.
“How dare you to Lars—”
A low, growling voice that seemed impossible to come from Crysta, the picture of carefree innocence her friends knew. If Lars were conscious, he would have widened his eyes in surprise.
The girl’s clear hostility and killing intent directed at the woman didn’t suggest she had been running away until now.
“Who are you?”
“It’s not just Lars, but Herring too, because of you—”
“I asked who you are!”
Michaela, failing to get a response, unleashed a ball of flame, but Crysta, unfazed, lifted her right leg slightly and drew an arc.
“—Huh?”
With just that, the hostile flames were extinguished.
“What, did, you, do?”
“Nothing, really. Your magic—is very weak. If you want to hurt me, at least—try to be as good as Murphy.”
As Crysta said this with a blank expression, she disappeared from Michaela’s sight.
“Eh?”
In an instant, an impact ran through her abdomen, sending Michaela’s body flying.
Before she could even realize she’d been attacked, she was slammed into the corridor, her breath driven out of her lungs, her breathing stopped. Not even allowed to cough, her open mouth seeking oxygen, she couldn’t even breathe properly.
“You look like you don’t know what happened, but to be the Vice Commander of the Royal Mage Corps with that much power—it makes me laugh?”
Crysta, her lips curled into a smirk, her expression shifting from blank to one of utter contempt, as if looking at an insect.
“—Hii”
Pierced by the gaze of the girl, who still retained a youthful innocence, Michaela, despite her breathing having returned, prioritized a scream over inhaling oxygen.
The fear that arose made her prioritize trembling over breathing.
Crysta slowly lowered Lars, whom she had been holding. Leaning against the wall, she moved carefully, making sure not to put any strain on him as he was unconscious.
With both hands now free, she turned her gaze back to Michaela and began to walk.
Her eyes, cold as ice and filled with murderous intent and anger, shone with a pale blue light.
“You, what in the world are you!?”
Michaela screamed again, unable to comprehend the girl before her at all, and continued to cast magic in her fear.
The flaming whip spread out in all directions, threatening to wound her, but Crysta, as if finding it tiresome, let out a small sigh—and with a slender finger, easily grasped the whip.
“Is this all?”
With a sudden tug—that made Michaela wonder where such strength came from in her small body—Michaela’s body was pulled towards her.
Her feet left the ground, and her body simply followed the pulling force.
Michaela, who possessed experience gained from countless battles, was unable to defend or evade. Crysta’s right fist struck her cheek.
Michaela flew through the air, tumbling across the corridor once more. The girl spoke in a cold voice.
“Get up—. I will not forgive you for hurting my precious friends. You will pay.”
Trembling with pain and fear, the Vice Commander of the Royal Mage Corps, who had somehow managed to stand, hesitated whether to fight or flee.
At this point, she was completely outmatched, but Michaela’s pride as a member of the Royal Mage Corps made her reluctant to run.
Mustering her meager pride, she shouted to dispel her fear.
“You’re going to fight for some useless, eccentric prince? Me, Vice Commander of the Royal Mage Corps Michaela Gielen!”
“Me, fight you? —Don’t make me laugh. You, who can’t even scratch me, and are trembling, you expect us to fight? With that level of magic power, and only magic that’s child’s play—there’s no way we’d have a fight.”
At Crysta’s pitying words, Michaela’s vision turned blood red.
For the first time, anger triumphed over fear.
She released her magic, amplified without a second thought, all at once. The magic turned into flames, consuming the surrounding oxygen and magic power, transforming into blackened, infernal flames.
The heat, strong enough to burn Michaela herself, the wielder of the flames—
“No matter how great your physical prowess, you’re still a non-magician. Die, little girl!”
It was unleashed towards Crysta.
Red filled the girl’s vision. The scorching heat turned the corridor floor and walls to ash. If she made the wrong move, her unconscious friend would also turn to ash.
“Fine. If that’s how you want it—I’ll fight.”
Facing the approaching inferno, Crysta, neither flustered nor afraid, clenched her fists and assumed a defensive stance, lowering her stance.
With a single breath, she drew the magic from the air into her own body. The magic coursed through her bloodstream, transforming into explosive power and incredible physical prowess—Body Enhancement Magic. And not the incomplete version used by Jared, but the finished, perfected form.
Michaela’s eyes widened as the girl absorbed magic and converted it into power in a single breath. But it was too late.
With a second breath, before the Vice Commander of the Royal Mage Corps could utter a sound, she quietly pushed off the ground. Purple lightning flashed around the girl’s legs, and she vanished. No, she moved with such speed that she could only be perceived as having disappeared.
In an instant, the approaching inferno scattered.
Merely by the girl’s movement, imbued with magic and purple lightning, it was nullified.
The girl reappeared once more, before Michaela. Their breaths almost touching, she appeared on the ground without a sound, and with a fluid movement, gently pressed her clenched fist into the abdomen of the woman staring in astonishment.
In that instant—a large hole opened in Michaela’s abdomen, severing her upper and lower body.
Her lower half remained, but her upper body flew away, hearing a roar. Unaware that the girl’s blow had not only split her but also created a hole in the wall behind her, Michaela continued to fly through the air.
“—Monster.”
The words she was finally able to utter were solely those of awe towards the monster she had encountered for the first time in her life as a magician.
Her vision shifted to blue. She wondered why she could see the blue sky despite being inside a building, but quickly stopped caring.
As impact and pain shot through her back and head, a jarring scream reached her ears.
Unable to even brace herself, her powerless body rolled on the ground, stirring up dust.
Unbeknownst to her, the faces of the boys and girls came into view. Their faces etched with fear and astonishment, they looked at her. Then, what sounded like a scream erupted.
Annoying, she thought, and then her eyes met a man’s. He too, looked at her, unable to hide his surprise.
She couldn’t recall his name. She felt like she had called his name, but she couldn’t hear his voice.
She felt a slight sadness at having forgotten something important.
—Come to think of it, what was my name again?
“…Ah.”
Michaela Gielen, who hadn’t understood what happened to her, her lord’s name, or even her own name, quietly passed away as if falling asleep.
