Chapter 45
“Hello.”
Like calling a friend at the academy on any other day.
“Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello.”
Nerjin drew a card from his deck and threw it. It shattered the second-floor window and exploded, releasing scorching heat.
They’d been found. They had to escape now.
“Miss Lilac! Follow !”
As they reached the second floor, the first-floor doors and windows shattered, and Malice Wraiths flooded in.
They jumped toward the hole from the explosion. Nerjin tossed two cards downward and ten in all directions.
A large cushion appeared, catching them, while pillars of fire rose, blocking the Wraiths.
Nerjin’s face hardened, gripping his deck.
‘The cards…!’
Less than half remained.
They ran toward the open path. Wraiths sprang from every alley. Each ti, he used a card, one by one.
At so point, Nerjin and Lilac stopped dead.
“….”
“….”
They looked around.
[Crick.]
[Creakkkkk.]
[Crick.]
Surrounded. Hundreds of Wraiths blocked the alleys, staring at them.
‘…Is this it?’
Nerjin checked his deck. Only five cards left.
‘Have I rusted?’
The most common adage for mages and alchemists was ‘the prepared prevail.’ Given ti, they could prepare endlessly for battle.
But Nerjin had given up midway. He’d started a family, opened a shop, and settled for peace.
No escape route was visible. For so reason, the Wraiths rely watched. Soon, the mastermind controlling them would appear.
‘I’ll die here.’
In the broken glass on the ground, he saw his aged reflection.
‘Master… I’m sorry.’
His wrinkled eyes, white beard. His image evoked his ntor, the head of the Cosmos Dinsion Research Institute.
His ntor had given him the last life-extending elixir, entrusting him with the great work.
‘I failed to confess our wrongs to the Peacemaker and face judgnt. I couldn’t right the original sin.’
His ntor had rebelled against the emperor and pope’s madness but failed.
‘But Master, as you entrusted , I’ve found a ray of hope in my final years.’
Nerjin had survived the purge by denying his ntor’s beliefs and teachings, which he’d served his whole life.
‘I t a young man who’ll destroy the original sin we created.’
The Dinsion Research Institute’s history revision research brought disaster. That disaster, larger than the empire’s twisted ambitions, swallowed it whole. As if that weren’t enough, it spread worldwide as ‘Ti Chaos Dungeons.’
‘I survived, leaving the burning empire behind, but I abandoned atonent. For so long, I ignored the mission entrusted to .’
As he built a family and ho, the oath sworn before his ntor’s corpse faded.
But he’d never forgotten, not for a mont.
‘So now, in this mont, grant the courage to burn my body instead of fleeing in weakness.’
For the hope that would wash away the original sin.
For his granddaughter’s future.
He’d sacrifice himself.
“Miss Lilac.”
“Yes.”
Nerjin took out a thick notebook and handed it to her.
“When I signal, run to the building on the right. You’ll find a major gang’s hideout. Escape to the main road sohow. And deliver this notebook to no one but President Martin.”
It contained the essence of his lifelong alchemy studies and a detailed record of the Cosmos Empire’s atrocities.
Lilac asked with unwavering eyes—
“What about you, Manager?”
“I…”
He drew the last five cards.
“I’m going to finish what I should’ve done decades ago.”
He chose one and threw it toward the empty house on the right.
“Run, Miss Lilac.”
“…Yes!”
As Lilac ran, the card unleashed a powerful wind, shredding the building ahead like a blender. Lilac followed the storm, racing through the opened path.
[Creakkkkk!]
The Wraiths went berserk, trying to follow, but—
“Not so fast!”
He threw another card, forming a wall of fire that spun around the monsters’ front.
‘That’s it. That’s…’
The Wraiths, having lost Lilac, convulsed and turned to Nerjin.
He’d stall as long as possible and die. Having entrusted vital information to Lilac, he felt unburdened.
But—
“No.”
“…!”
Lilac couldn’t go further. Two girls stood ahead. The pink twin-tailed cadet from earlier and an ivory-haired cadet who instantly set off alarm bells.
“…To think I’d have to step in myself. So inelegant.”
Dangerous. That girl was dangerous. The mastermind controlling the Wraiths, no doubt.
Nerjin threw three of his four remaining cards.
The first unleashed a pillar of fire on the unknown girl, the second created a barrier between her and Lilac, and the third lightened Lilac’s steps.
“Miss Lilac! Hurry!”
Lilac dashed forward without hesitation.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
The pillar binding the girl warped, unable to contain her, and spewed ominous black energy.
By the ti the girl broke free, Lilac was gone. Instead of chasing, she looked at Nerjin.
“…This is pointless.”
The Wraith horde surged forward. They were clearly after Lilac, but he couldn’t stop them. Still, he had to delay the girl herself, even if it ant clinging to her.
“…Who are you?”
“Helaine. This is my friend, Luri.”
The pink-haired cadet stood like a soulless mannequin. It was horrific.
‘Her spirit’s completely subjugated.’
He didn’t know where such a powerful figure ca from. But one thing was clear.
“So you were targeting Miss Lilac. Why?”
“For revenge. Though soone ruined it.”
“….”
Revenge. Lilac was just a maid of the Ulvhadin family. Then the real target was…
“You ca for President Martin?”
“My, you’re sharp.”
Martin of Ulvhadin. Trash Martin. Scoundrel. The sha of a count’s family. Hound. The epito of every disgraceful term.
He’d reford now, but his past infamy wasn’t baseless.
“Why?”
If he’d wronged soone in the past, sharpening a blade of vengeance made sense.
“They say he’s gotten good.”
“…What?”
But the girl’s reason was entirely unexpected.
“He was bad, but they say he’s good now. That’s nonsense, right?”
“What’s nonsense about that?”
In his youth, Nerjin held a noble mission, forgot it over ti, and recently recalled it.
“From living long, I’ve learned people can change. Like a caterpillar becoming a chrysalis and then a butterfly, it’s natural.”
“No. They shouldn’t change. Good stays good, bad stays bad.”
Helaine grabbed Luri’s face, digging in her nails until blood flowed.
“Hearts shouldn’t change. Nor should you abandon friends.”
“….”
Nerjin’s spine chilled.
She was mad. Despite seeming normal, sothing possessed her—she wasn’t sane.
“So I’ll help trash Martin. Help him return to his true self.”
“By destroying and shattering everything he holds dear?”
“That’s not enough.”
Helaine smiled. The smile academy cadets envied for its warmth and softness.
“You have to torture them in front of him. Pull out nails, pluck hair, gouge eyes, peel skin, split bones and flesh.”
Her gentle smile felt like it bore a demon’s tongue.
“That’ll make him burn. His revenge and hatred for the world will consu everything and grow.”
That couldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it.
I saw hope in him. Hope to erase the original sin!
“You think I’ll let that happen?”
“Hmm. My cute children are about to catch the maid.”
“I’ve got one card left.”
There was only one way to help Lilac from afar.
Summons typically stop if their summoner is hard.
Nerjin walked toward the girl, throwing his final card.
“A card inspired by the Dinsion Research Institute’s final experint. Be honored. It’s its first real use. Above all, it’s not my work—it’s my ntor’s relic.”
The card fell between Helaine and Nerjin.
“Big Bang.”
The Imperium Empire’s capital was a fortress, the continent’s center. Ho to the world’s largest population.
On a clear blue afternoon, a mushroom cloud rose.
A massive explosion, visible from anywhere in the capital, blood like a beautiful flower.
***
Lilac turned and witnessed it. A colossal explosion with a deafening roar. The ground shook, and a fierce heatwave pushed her body.
The Wraiths chasing her like rats froze.
“….”
Her pause was brief. She turned and sprinted toward the main road.
“Hey, what? A maid?”
“Alone in the slums? That’s a signal to get grabbed, right?”
As Nerjin said, gang territory appeared first.
‘Master.’
As a gang mber approached, Lilac drew a dagger hidden in her maid outfit and slit his throat. She then stabbed another shocked gang mber’s stomach with force.
Her first kills. Two of them. But she felt no tornt, no guilt. Only one person filled her mind.
‘Master.’
Lilac ran toward the main road again.
[Creakkkkk…!]
The cursed sound resud.
Lilac sprinted faster. But her steps were heavy. The haste magic Nerjin cast had worn off.
[Creak!]
[Kiaaaa!]
The haunting shrieks chased her. Black, hideous Wraiths crawled and leaped on all fours, pursuing their prey.
Lilac desperately wanted to see one person. Dying without seeing him would be unbearable.
‘Master Martin!’
Lilac ran desperately toward the main road, but the Wraiths’ pursuit was too fast.
She wished fervently. If she turned that alley corner, would Master Martin be there, like a miracle? She knew it was impossible, yet—
The mont the lead Wraith’s hand touched her maid outfit—
‘Master…!’
Unlike the bright main road, the sky above her darkened.
“Ah!”
A mythical giant dog landed powerfully from the sky, crushing only the Wraiths chasing Lilac.
[Grrrrrr…!]
Even enlarged, Lilac knew its identity. The valiant hunting dog symbolizing the Ulvhadin family.
“Sebastian.”
Atop it—
“Master!”
Lilac shouted, her voice thick with emotion.
Martin glanced at the disheveled Lilac, then turned to the Wraiths that had tornted her.
Back with Gilbert and Elisha, he’d been on the run.
Rosary of Grace partially awakens its power.
First condition: The opponent must be ‘evil.’
Second condition: Possess the conviction to protect others.
Deals critical damage to enemies with chaos, evil, or demonic attributes.
Martin took out the rosary and hung it around his neck. Blinding stellar force enveloped him, transferring to Sebastian.
“Sebastian! Tear them apart!”
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