Chapter 1347: 105. Ancient Moon

A road destined to lead nowhere.

A school whose first leader had violated a taboo at the height of its prosperity, causing everything to abruptly come to an end before plunging into decline.

Its fate had, in truth, long since been foreseeable.

"Nothing but decline."

By the time he said this, even Habakaya himself couldn't help letting out a long sigh, his expression filled with emotion.

The former pinnacle of the Origin Tower had now fallen to such a state. It was like seeing a goddess who had once stood high above everyone else now coquettishly posing in front of some fat, greasy man in a certain kind of special establishment. It inevitably made one sigh from the bottom of one's heart.

"Decline my ass! Open your damn dog eyes and look carefully at what my Enhancement Magic can actually—"

"Persona, persona! My most treasured Alice, mind your persona!"

"What persona? If someone slanders me this badly and I don't react, that would be what doesn't fit my persona!"

"All right, all right. He's already taken a beating. If you hit him again, you'll really kill him."

Muen helplessly soothed the angry Ariel.

He understood why Ariel was reacting like this. After all, Enhancement Magic had played an absolutely crucial role in allowing her to come this far.

Compared with Muen, this fake school leader, Ariel's mastery of Enhancement Magic was so high that there probably wouldn't have been any problem at all if she simply became the real leader of the school.

Unfortunately, he knew Ariel would definitely never be willing to truly tie herself down to a place like this, and Habakaya wasn't wrong either. The Enhancement School had already completely declined.

Before Muen and Ariel arrived, there had only been a crazy old man and a corpse that had been hanging from a tree for three years.

Even now, the so-called "revival" Muen had in mind was merely to save the school and make use of the identity of school leader, not to truly restore it to its former glory.

Aside from that missing first leader of the school, there was probably no one capable of doing that.

"Enhancement Magic isn't nearly as useless as he makes it sound."

Seeing that Muen not only refused to help her but was even stopping her, Ariel immediately pouted in displeasure and glared fiercely at him.

"Be good. The bigger picture comes first."

Muen lightly flicked the tip of Ariel's delicate nose and comforted her: "Besides, you should be able to sense it too. Habakaya isn't lying. Everything he's saying really did happen, and it's also the most genuine view the overwhelming majority of people in the Origin Tower have toward the Enhancement School. You can beat him up, sure, but can you beat up everyone in the Origin Tower?"

"Hmph!"

Ariel turned her head away, clearly unwilling to listen to this explanation.

"All right. Later, I'll let you act spoiled as much as you want, okay? I still have proper business to deal with right now...... Why don't you go rest first? You don't seem to have rested properly these past two days."

Muen could only pat Ariel's head again.

"Hmph!"

Ariel turned around and walked away.

She had no desire whatsoever to stay together with these vulgar people who couldn't understand just how wonderful Enhancement Magic truly was!

However......

After taking only a couple of steps, Ariel suddenly stopped again and awkwardly turned back around:

"Um, you...... you haven't rested properly either. Go rest early."

"Of course."

Muen smiled: "I have to preserve my strength properly. Otherwise, how am I supposed to deal with all your acting spoiled later?"

"Who-Who's going to act spoiled!"

Whether from anger or embarrassment, Ariel's little face turned slightly red. After another fierce "hmph," she turned and left.

Her steps were hurried, and she soon disappeared somewhere.

How adorable.

"In any case, for you people, this place is temporarily safe now."

After seeing Ariel off, Muen turned his attention back to Habakaya......

Only to discover that the man was straining to widen the eyes that had been squeezed into mere slits by his swollen face, staring at him in shock: "Y-You two......"

"Hm?"

Muen tightened his grip on the mithril staff and lightly tapped it. The pitch-black shadows behind him swayed, and a horrifying aura like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood instantly spread outward.

Habakaya, who had just breathed a sigh of relief after Ariel left, along with everyone behind him, instantly went as pale as paper again.

"What were you going to say?"

"N-Nothing."

Habakaya forced out a smile: "I was just thinking that the relationship between you two is really wonderful...... Such master-and-disciple affection is truly admirable!"

"Of course. Ali...... Alice is my most treasured student. Isn't it normal for our relationship to be a little close?"

Muen smiled as well:

"So I assume I won't hear any strange rumors afterward."

"No no no!"

Several heads shook like rattles: "We're very tight-lipped! You know, the most tight-lipped people in the entire Origin Tower are us."

"Tight-lipped? That's troublesome."

Muen frowned: "It just so happens that I still have some questions I want to ask you. If you're unwilling to speak......"

"We'll talk, we'll talk! Of course we'll talk! We'll tell you everything we know, without holding anything back!"

"Weren't you tight-lipped?"

"That's only when it comes to other people in the Origin Tower."

Habakaya looked like he wanted to cry, but still had to maintain a smile: "We're not close to anyone else, so naturally we're tight-lipped with them. But Lord Enmu, you saved us from that demon...... from the world's most adorable Miss Alice. Without question, you're practically our second parent. How could we hide anything from our own parent?"

"Is that so? Even from your teacher?"

"M-My teacher?"

Habakaya gritted his teeth: "That old bastard? I've been sick of him for ages. Don't worry, I absolutely won't say a single extra word to him!"

"Mm...... I see. Though somehow that makes it feel like my seniority has gone down instead, but forget it. Seeing how sincere you all are, I suppose I shouldn't say too much......"

Muen rubbed his chin. His gaze swept over Habakaya and the others. As though satisfied with their attitude, the corners of his lips gradually curled into a gentle smile.

The group relaxed as well.

The previously cold and tense atmosphere gradually dispersed. Everyone looked at one another and smiled. In a daze, even their hostile positions seemed to disappear, leaving only harmonious warmth without the slightest barrier between them, like a loving father and filial sons.

But Muen suddenly stepped forward and lightly tapped Habakaya's shoulder with the mithril staff in his hand.

The magical power Habakaya had only just begun secretly gathering collapsed instantly without the slightest ability to resist.

Clatter. The staff he'd somehow picked up and secretly hidden behind his back fell to the ground as well.

"Ha...... haha, Lord Enmu...... no, adoptive father, please let me explain." For a moment, Habakaya's smile looked rather awkward: "I absolutely wasn't being ungrateful and trying to sneak-attack an old comrade like you. I was just......"

"All right, don't call me adoptive father. That's a dangerous title. I can't afford it."

Muen said with a faint smile:

"As for whether you were trying to sneak-attack me...... what an unpleasant way to put it. I don't mind. It's just that since you're so filial, I suppose there won't be any problem if I'm a little harsher on all of you next and squeeze you completely dry...... I mean, in terms of intelligence."

"This......" Habakaya hurriedly looked to the side for help, only to discover that the several lackeys who were normally the most loyal to him had all slightly changed expressions and hurriedly shoved him in front of themselves.

"......"

Damn it, they all call me adoptive father on normal days, but at a time like this they're completely useless!

Habakaya was so angry his teeth itched, and he could only try to find some room for maneuver on his own.

However......

"Did you really think I was asking for your opinion?"

Muen's smile rapidly faded. At some point, his pupils had already turned pure black as they stared fixedly at Habakaya.

That dangerous aura, like standing at the edge of an abyss, gradually spread outward once more, causing even Habakaya's soul to tremble uncontrollably.

Only then did he suddenly realize that this Lord Enmu before him might be an even more terrifying existence than that demon girl from earlier.

There was absolutely no possibility of resisting him!

"D-Damn it."

Realizing this, Habakaya resigned himself to his fate and forcefully turned his head aside: "If you're going to force me this far, then I can only...... forgive me, my honored teacher. Your student has no choice!"

......

......

"What a bunch of ignorant fools. Saying Enhancement Magic is a dead end. How could it possibly be a dead end? Even now, I still haven't felt where its limit is."

Inside the Enhancement School, in an empty classroom, Ariel sat on top of a desk with her little feet swinging back and forth as she raised her head and gazed at tonight's moonlight through another broken opening.

Outside the Origin Tower, an enormous magical formation covered this entire region, making the weather within a radius of a hundred li controllable.

Today was the middle of the month, and a clear day had been scheduled long in advance. So when night arrived, the bright full moon, like a jade disk, hung perfectly at the highest point of the night sky, scattering pure radiance.

As a new destination at the end of a journey, this place was beautiful.

But when that moonlight entered through the opening and shone into this classroom that hadn't been used for who knew how long, whose walls were covered in moss and which, before Ariel had cleaned it, had been filled everywhere with broken desks and chairs, it instead felt exceptionally desolate.

And along the way, Ariel had seen many, many classrooms like this.

They symbolized the Enhancement School's former glory, while also proving its present...... decline.

Ariel stared blankly at the bright moon and suddenly let out a sigh as well.

How could she possibly not know that what the man named Habakaya had said was true?

But the reason she had been so unreasonable and so angry this time was because...... Enhancement Magic had been the very first magic she had ever learned.

Back then, when she had fallen into a desperate crisis, the teacher within her ring had suddenly awakened and taught her this magic, allowing her to escape danger.

That had been the beginning of everything. It was also the foundation of the road that had brought her this far, and even more so, the secret weapon that had allowed her to repeatedly turn defeat into victory and overcome the strong while weak.

So how could she possibly admit so easily that this was a road that led nowhere, a mistaken path?

"Hmph, there must definitely be some other conspiracy behind this......"

Ariel muttered and leaned against the wall, gradually falling asleep.

She really was somewhat tired after not resting properly these past two days.

She slept deeply.

Because of that, she didn't know that the instant she closed her eyes, an ethereal figure floated up from within her ring.

Faint wisps of green smoke outlined a silhouette that inspired endless imagination, though unfortunately there was no one present to appreciate it.

That figure slowly walked through the classroom. Wherever its incorporeal shadow brushed past, it was as though a hand reaching out from the distant past...... gently swept away the dust.

"Enhancement Magic truly has no future. It is a dead end that can never cross that line."

The ethereal figure raised its head and also gazed toward the moon that had remained unchanged for nearly a thousand years, ever since the Church of Life first came to stand in this world. Complex light flickered within its eyes:

"But who could have known? What was truly severed was not Enhancement Magic, but......"