A Villain's Will to Survive

Chapter 324: Mentor and Protg (3)

Epherene’s life cast away from time made me wonder what she lived for, which values she held onto, and what meaning she never relinquished, as her mental strength must have been utterly insufficient and her suffering immeasurable.

… The mages were the most exclusive group on the continent—the magic of their house was preserved as a vision, permitted only to their own bloodline, and not even a trace of it was ever revealed to outsiders.

They blocked the influx of commoners with an expensive system of copyrights while claiming a hollow equality, yet acted as if they were the chosen ones, although in truth those who were chosen possessed far more brilliant talent.

“What… did you just say?” Epherene asked.

However, a mentor and protégé relationship clearly existed even among them, where one mage became the mentor and another the protégé, with the mentor teaching and the protégé learning.

Their relationship was strangely alien compared to the customs of the Magical Realm because the mentor and protégé were neither of the same blood nor members of the same house, and they shared no common denominator.

Nevertheless, a mentor and protégé relationship was an established custom in this field, and a successful mage was always searching for the talent of a protégé, teaching without hesitation when one was found.

Even if their relationship soured in the distant future and they became sworn enemies, neither the mentor would regret taking on the protégé, nor would the protégé feel shame for the teachings received from their mentor.

That was precisely why the title given to protégés who killed their mentors was not rare and why it was not unusual for a protégé to proudly carry on their mentor’s school of thought even after taking their life, and it led me to wonder if I, too, viewed this in the same light.

“… Trust me? You?”

Epherene, who responded in a daze, was in fact a protégé with a talent far too great to belong to anyone else, and a vessel too vast to remain merely the successor of Deculein—making her, without a doubt, a mage chosen as the result of such brilliant talent.

Therefore, Epherene had struck a nerve in Deculein.

“Indeed,” I replied.

Epherene, whom I taught as a professor though not yet perfect, was enough to make me feel proud, and I was certain that she would be developed into a mage superior to any other protégé and would soar most perfectly into a firmament no one else could ever hope to reach.

“Since when?” Epherene asked, her voice trembling.

A smile unexpectedly bloomed on my face at her question about when I began to trust Epherene, and though the question was foolish and simpleminded, my reply was straightforward.

“From the moment I saw you.”

“… Eh?”

“I have never failed to trust you.”

I had always believed in Epherene, confident in her potential and talent, and from the very beginning until the unknown end, my trust in her would remain unchanged.

“Therefore, your trust is my trust,” I concluded.

Epherene’s lips trembled, her breathing grew unsteady, the tip of her nose turned red, and snot peeked out from her nostril, which was disgusting.

However, I no longer had the luxury to care about such trivialities as the body of an Iron Man I possessed slowly warmed with pure, one hundred percent demonic energy, a pristine liquid that would instantly melt a normal person’s body, and soon my senses and thoughts would accelerate rapidly while my temperament turned vicious.

“… Don’t do it, you… will hurt yourself,” Epherene said, grabbing my sleeve, her two fingers trembling.

Epherene looked at me as if she knew what I was about to do, and I turned my back without a word, putting her behind my back as I faced the Purger.

“Ethereal Deculein, do you intend to abandon your status?” Mayev said, gritting his teeth, his neck twitching.

It was a threat that sounded nothing like one.

“My status is not conferred upon me by your Floating Island. On the contrary, I believe I have stated before that the opposite is true,” I replied, my eyes upon them with a deep smile.

“… There is no mage who betrays the Floating Island and survives.”

“It remains to be seen,” I said.

My fists clenched, and my feet dug into the ground as the demonic energy purified within my Yukline body flared up into an overwhelming amount of mana, roaring like a tempest through the surrounding area.

“For that no prior model exists does not, by any means, imply that it is unachievable,” I concluded.

The spells of the Purgers who stood against me rose into the air.

Soon after—

***

At that moment, Epherene’s time was stretched as a mere second or two ballooned, and within that misty expanse, Deculein was swift, his strides mercilessly crushing the stagnant ground.

Boom, boom, boom.

If a giant were to run, it would be just like that, moving with a gait that carved mountains and crumbled cliffs. Even then, one of the Purgers fired a spell at Epherene, and the space around her throat twisted sharply in a murderous spell that used space itself as a weapon, something Epherene had never seen or heard of before.

Furthermore, the blood within Epherene’s body suddenly began to boil. This was also an inhumane and murderous spell that ignored a human’s resistance and heated their bodily fluids. As expected of the Purgers, who were trained and raised for the sole purpose of killing mages, they rained down brutal and heinous ploys that would never make it into a textbook.

Deculein’s words were correct, and even Epherene could not stand against the seventeen of them who were all but killing machines, as she was still unable to defeat them.

If I had been alone, the one who would have died would have been me alone, not the seventeen Purgers, Epherene thought.

Click—

Epherene had dismantled their spells—or, more accurately, she had rewound the time of the spells—and the space that had twisted like a blade scattered back into a mana current while the poisonous spell that had been heating her body was expelled.

However, one of the Purgers managed to close the distance—Mayev, the most tenacious of the bunch and the most persistent mutt of the Floating Island—who, ignoring Deculein, or rather leaving him to his comrades, lunged at Epherene, attempting to engage in close combat.

Epherene calmly rewound Mayev’s time as he charged toward her throat, but at a certain moment, he was sent back, and in the interval that was reset in a flash, he was still far away and unable to reach her.

Nevertheless, Mayev charged at Epherene without questioning for a moment the suddenly rewinding time or the widening space, merely charging forward like a rhinoceros.

“… It won’t work,” Epherene muttered, rewinding Mayev’s time again.

Mayev did not back down.

“Go back.”

Mayev ran like a lunatic, only to be rewound right in front of Epherene’s nose, and then ran again, only to be rewound two steps away, repeating this countless times.

“Go back.

However, Epherene felt the malice from Mayev growing more intense with each repetition.

“… Why?” Epherene asked, grinding her teeth amid the crushing sense of meaninglessness.

The murderous intent and incomprehensible obsession that Mayev was now exuding gave Epherene a sense of both doubt and an opportunity for enlightenment.

“Why?”

The most fundamental virtue of a mage was doubt.

Therefore, Epherene doubted the hatred, resentment, and malice contained within Mayev’s monstrous shouts and questioned the murderous intent that emanated from his eyes and which froze her heart.

Epherene also wondered what it was about the Floating Island that had brought him to such a low point and whether they believed Epherene would bring about the world’s destruction.

“I said I won’t,” Epherene said.

With that, Epherene rewound Mayev, who had approached her feet, once again—no… she tried to rewind him.

The mana in Mayev’s body began to overload, his skin turned a dark shade of black, his form twisted like that of a mongrel, and with a bizarre self-modification spell, he withstood Epherene’s Time and finally shattered it.

After crossing the single step that seemed impossible to bridge, Mayev grabbed Epherene’s neck and slammed her body straight into the floor.

Booom—!

“… Ugh!”

Epherene wrapped herself in mana armor just in time, but her throat was choked as she released her mana and cast a spell to push Mayev away.

Hummmmmmm—

A gravity hundreds of times greater than the norm bore down on Mayev’s body, yet having lost his reason and blinded by madness, he withstood it all—no, even as he was dying from the gravity, he still slammed Epherene’s body into the ground.

Boom—!

“Argh!”

Mayev grabbed Epherene’s neck and slammed her body straight into the floor.

Boom—!

A shockwave swept through Epherene’s entire mana armor, and it felt as if the back of her head and her waist were ripped apart.

Scrreeeeeeetch—

Mayev’s hand, which had become as vicious as a beast’s claw, lifted Epherene once more.

Then…

“Ahhhhhhhh—!”

The scream was neither Mayev’s nor Epherene’s, but merely the resonance of a terrible echo of pain.

While her neck was gripped and her body was slammed into the ground, Epherene momentarily looked to the other side where, in her hazy vision, she saw Deculein, whose entire body was shrouded in a violet light, killing the Purgers.

Fwoooooosh!

A wave rippled, and after a single punch to a person’s stomach, the convection currents went slack.

The body of the first Purger who became the target burst open like a tomato.

Next, Deculein grabbed the second Purger by his head and ripped it out.

Shaaaaarrrk—!

In that moment, the figure of Deculein disappeared, leaving behind only the cold, dead eyes and trail of blood that had been preserved in the air as he killed the two of them.

Immediately after, Deculein appeared in front of the third Purger.

Cruuuuuuuuuush—!

Deculein’s arm penetrated the third Purger’s chest.

Then, the fourth Purger’s waist was snapped.

The fifth Purger managed to counterattack.

Whoosh—

They created a magic sword in the air and drove it into Deculein’s shoulder.

Craaaaaaackle—!

The magical sword, as if it were a living thing, gnawed at Deculein’s shoulder from all sides—Deculein’s reaction was intuitive and effective, merely attacking the caster of the spell.

Cruunch—!

Deculein threw a right cross, and his solid fist crushed the fifth Purger’s face, sending pieces of their teeth and skull flying in every direction.

In this way, Deculein was single-handedly crushing the Purgers, the bloodstained villain obliterating the Floating Island’s most elite force, reducing their numbers from seventeen to twelve, then twelve to eight, and finally eight to five.

Deculein merely killed and killed again, using his hands and feet to strike down his enemies before they could counterattack, or enduring the blows with his entire body.

The moment that lasted for one second, perhaps two, but certainly no more than three, was just a flicker of time as the second hand moved a few times…

Deculein, who was standing silently in the middle of the foothills that had become a bloodbath from the corpses of the Purgers, suddenly looked back at Epherene, who was being held down by Mayev.

Then…

Ruuuuuuuuuumble—!

Deculein charged in like a ghost, or perhaps even a dinosaur, gripped Mayev, and disappeared toward a distant cliff…

***

… In the silent mountains, where all sounds had disappeared, Epherene slowly raised her upper body as she coughed and looked up at the sky in the immediate aftermath of the battle.

“Cough.”

It was a sense of powerlessness that Epherene had not felt for the first time in a while.

Is it because this is a space where most of the time energy is bound? But to think I can’t even defeat one Mayev, let alone seventeen Purgers, Epherene thought.

“It’s pathetic,” Epherene muttered, shaking her head and lifting her body to her feet.

Epherene stood on her two feet and looked at Deculein’s trace—his footprints marked clearly on the ground.

“… Professor.”

It looked as if a great earthquake had occurred, but Epherene slowly followed the trail of Deculein, walking with a breathtaking tension.

“Professor…”

Epherene went on through the charred grass, calling out to him in a voice that had gone hoarse.

“… Professor.”

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Epherene found Deculein standing at the dizzying and chilling edge of a sheer cliff, seemingly victorious over Mayev as he looked down into the distant abyss, his attire still as neat as ever.

“I…” Epherene said, bringing her two hands to her chest and speaking with a trembling voice. “Professor.”

Deculein turned back to Epherene, his veins having turned a violet shade as a distinct sign of an imminent overload, and he merely offered a small smile.

“Epherene,” Deculein said.

At Deculein’s words, Epherene’s heart pounded, one corner ached, and another trembled.

“… Yes,” Epherene replied, approaching Deculein.

Epherene took one step, then two, moving slowly but with purpose, and fortunately, the barrier of time had not yet crumbled, and because the lifespan of this grand magic still had a little left, she could not afford to waste it.

However, when Epherene saw Deculein up close, she could not find any words to say, as they were swallowed back into her mouth even as she tried to speak, maybe because her throat was hoarse, because she was in pain, because her heart was pounding, or because of an inexpressible guilt and self-reproach.

“Epherene.”

Then, Deculein was the one who called Epherene’s name first.

“… Yes,” Epherene replied, her voice barely a whisper.

Deculein looked down at Epherene without a word, then met her eyes.

“Trust in yourself,” Deculein said.

Deculein told Epherene to trust herself, and for some reason, her heart hurt as if she would never be able to see him again and as if he would no longer be with her.

“… Could I possibly do that?”

Because I was insufficient, I relied on Deculein, and because I was lacking, I leaned on him, Epherene thought.

“It is possible.”

… However, now…

“As I have placed my trust in you,” Deculein concluded.

The person I once hated, loathed, and despised the most has now become the person I trust, rely on, and depend on the most. The person who took away all my emotions says he trusts me, and the very warmth of his voice touches my soul.

Epherene firmly anchored her heart in place, which had broken free from time.

Epherene looked up at Deculein, whose eyes, now that his strength was completely spent, slowly closed as his body collapsed at an angle.

“Ah…”

As if she had been waiting for this moment, Epherene grabbed Deculein and held him tightly in her arms, for he could lean on her, even for a brief moment, and depend on her.

“… Professor.”

Deculein’s clothes and body were smeared with something that could have been either demonic energy or mana.

“It’s bitter.”

The taste was too bitter, and Epherene felt as if her mouth would bring her to tears at any moment.

“… And.”

Epherene bit her lip and, holding Deculein in her arms, looked around the area that had become a catastrophe where seventeen Purgers had been massacred, marking a historic defeat for the Floating Island and a humiliation brought on by a single person, Deculein.

“It was because of this.”

Epherene felt as if she finally understood why Deculein had fallen, why he was betrayed by the Floating Island, why all of his achievements and theory were denied, and why he was ultimately left to his ruin.

“It was because of me,” Epherene muttered.

Because Deculein had killed the Purgers for Epherene, in order to save her, he had disobeyed the will of the Floating Island.

Epherene closed her eyes, and small streams of water ran down her cheeks.

Tick, tock—

The sound of a ticking second hand was caught in Epherene’s ears, a sign that this time barrier was breaking.

“I—”

“Hmm! How touching!”

Without warning, a clear, ringing voice broke the silence.

Epherene again raised her eyes and looked up at Adrienne, of the Eternal Rank, who was such a dignified archmage but for some reason was bobbing up and down in the sky as if in a familiar way.

“But what do we do about this? There’s one final challenge left, and that’s me!” Adrienne barked, glaring alternately at Epherene and Deculein, her eyes narrowing like a cat. “This kind of act! It’s a truly unforgivable sin! Therefore!”

Then, Adrienne laughed with a bright cheer.

“I can’t let you leave so peacefully! Hehe!”

Adrienne’s face was filled with complete happiness, as if she had been waiting for this very moment and had found a worthy rival to fight with all her strength.

“… Yes,” Epherene replied, nodding.

The opponent was clearly Adrienne, who was stronger than even Mayev, but Epherene was strangely filled with confidence.

“Ohhh?!”

Deculein had given Epherene what she had always lacked—a self-assurance she had been unable to hold onto and had always let waver, even though she knew she was missing it, and because of this, her fear was now weak.

“Chairwoman, I also do not plan to leave peacefully because only if I prevent your pretext will the Professor be safe.”

“… Hmm, is that so?” Adrienne said, her expression turning serious.

Epherene laid Deculein down on the ground with the utmost care, making sure no dirt would get on him.

“Take some rest… My mentor,” Epherene muttered, placing her lips on Deculein’s forehead.

… Kiss.

That small and shy sound was caught in Adrienne’s mana and shattered into pieces.