"Even so, I'm not broken enough to have dabbled in demonic powers."
Andrei humbly accepted Rudger's sharp point because he knew he was wrong.
"I know demonic power is dangerous and that I'm not like you when it comes to using it but I, too, had my reasons for doing so."
"Was it because you were manipulated by demonic power?"
"No."
Andrei answered firmly.
"They say the devil plays tricks to get flesh in return for lending his power, but I think that's wrong, because it was entirely my will to wield that power. All of these choices, all of them, were made by me."
"Then why?"
There must be a reason, Rudger thought.
It was said that Andrei was driven mad by greed and ruined by human experimentation, but Rudger could tell just by talking to him that Andrei was perfectly sane.
He wasn't crazy, in fact, his eyes were as clear and deep as the ocean.
He had been emotional in the face of Third's success, fueled by his demonic powers, but now that he was gone, he was a wizard befitting his age and rank.
"A father came to me to save his child."
Andrei recounted a story from his past.
"At the time, I was undercover, healing people in the slums. I just wanted to test a drug I was going to manufacture. I was trying to use it in moderation, and then he came to me with his kid."
Recalling the day's events, Andrei smiles in amusement, but his eyes are somber.
"Surprisingly, he was a fierce Lumensis follower. A man on a mission to despise and exterminate warlocks, and yet he came to me, a warlock. What a joke."
Andrei coughed dryly.
"But you know what's even funnier? The child he brought me was already dead. Its warmth hadn't cooled down, it hadn't been dead for long, and then the father said, 'Please, save him.'"
"……."
"I said, 'What? The child is dead. Why are you asking me to save a dead child? And he said, 'Well, if you're a warlock, you can save a dead child.'"
Andrei chuckled, the absurdity of that statement still fresh in his mind.
"I tried to tell him that I was a wizard by birth, and that warlocks have their own schools, but I knew it was useless and he wouldn't know if I told him, so instead I asked him something else. I asked him why he hadn't thought to cure the child when he was sick, because it was a simple fever that killed him. A simple fever reducer would have saved his life."
Andrei asked him why, and he said with tears streaming down his face.
"He said he thought if he prayed to God, he would make it happen."
"……."
"It's ridiculous, how a man's illness can be cured by a prayer to God. But what's even more ridiculous is that he truly believed it. Right up until the last breath of his child's life! But in the end, the child died, contrary to his father's wishes."
In the name of God, he could have lived, but he didn't.
He could have been saved, but he wasn't.
It was a terribly, terribly unpleasant farce.
"In the name of that god, the Lumensis persecuted human experimentation. They didn't even use living people, just corpses. I'm not advocating for human experimentation. I'm just saying that sometimes progress requires an unholy path, and if you can't keep it, what's the point? If you realize it after you've lost something precious, it's too late."
"……."
"What do people know, they don't learn, they just watch and follow what others do, what they are told to do, even in this age of intellect and science."
Andrei's cloudy eyes held Rudger in their unfathomable wisdom.
"That is why I hate the gods. It's not the blessing of a priest, it's medicine and antibiotics. It's not the grace of God that heals the sick, it's medicine and surgery. The same goes for incurable diseases. With research, it is no longer incurable."
Andrei's voice was full of passion as he said this.
"It should be people who save people, and no one should stand in the way of saving people in the name of God."
And so it was.
Those who hated the name of God and wanted to deal with demonic powers..
I wanted to show them that they were wrong. I wanted to open up the possibility of human progress with the demonic power that everyone hated so much.
Andrei's lips curled into a bitter smile.
"But in the end, I failed, and this is the result."
He was fully aware that his actions were those of a man driven by ego. But if he could save one more sick person, that would be enough.
"You are like me. I can't even begin to imagine what you must have gone through to gain such strength at your age."
Andrei tried to look into Rudger's eyes, to see through him. But there was nothing to see.
His emotions, his identity, his memories, everything was an unknown, like the unbelievable magic he had shown.
And so he was the best person to hand over all of his work to.
"This will be of some use to you on your path."
Andrei didn't care if his life's work disappeared on the spot.
Handing it over to Rudger was not an act of desperation to leave a trace somehow.
The only reason he did it was to help someone walking the same path as him.
Rudger reached out and touched the sigil that hovered over Andrei's palm.
The magical formula, written in pure white code, seeped through Rudger's arm and into his body.
Andrei watched the entire process as if it were his last duty.
When he was satisfied that the transfer was complete, Andrei took a moment to catch his breath and stared at Rudger clearly.
His eyes weren't just looking at Rudger. Through Rudger, Andrei saw his old self, his old and foolish self.
"You shall not fail."
With those words, all the remaining flames of Andrei's life were extinguished and in his fading consciousness, Andrei thought.
I've heard that when a person dies, their vision goes pitch black.
Darkness after death.
A fitting end to my life, he thought.
But strangely, what Andrei saw before him was nothing but white.
He wondered if it was a dying man's last hallucination and as he was thinking about it, he saw a figure in the white world.
-Ah.
As if mesmerized by something, Andrei walked towards the person.
At first he staggered, then his steps quickened until he was sprinting like a young man.
Andrei wrapped his arms around the child and hugged him tightly.
-I'm sorry.
Andrei cried like a child.
-I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you.
His only daughter assured him it was okay and wiped his tears away. Then she raised a finger and pointed to a spot. There was his wife, the one who had left him.
Andrei stared at her in disbelief.
So, you've been waiting.
She took his hand and led him away and he followed her lead, stopping suddenly in his tracks and turning around.
She asked, "What's wrong?"
Andrei smiled softly, shook his head, and continued on his way.
-Nothing.
And just like that, Andrei was reunited with his family.
The three of them slowly melted into the white of the world.
[Thud]
The outstretched arm fell, and Andrei's head drooped with a faint smile tugged at the corners of his wrinkled mouth.
Rudger didn't know what Andrei had seen before he died.
Was it self-satisfaction that he had left everything behind or relief that he had somehow left his research with him?
It was impossible to tell. But the way Andrei smiled, it was as if his soul was truly saved.
'Redemption.'
Rudger gave Andrei a brief moment of silence, then looked around.
The central area was a mess from the fight. There were shards, debris, and traces of World Tree roots everywhere.
'With so many traces left behind, I'm already wondering what excuse I'm going to give them.'
Maybe I should blend in with the fainted and pretend that I fainted with them.
'I'm exhausted from using up so much magic.'
Rudger took out a magic restoration pill and popped it into his mouth.
'The excessive use of magic power will soon take its toll on my body.'
It was when he was preparing to take a break that he felt a huge presence rise up along with a cold chill.
Turning quickly, he saw a black dot hovering in the center of a palm-shaped crater.
'What?'
That attack didn't kill him?
The dot slowly grew until it became a black flame that burned in the air and bloodshot eyes flashed through the dull flames.
[This can't be happening! This can't be happening!]
The demon began to howl and the cry echoed directly into Rudger's head, as if he were screaming right next to him.
Not words spoken through vocal cords, but a cry that communicated with the soul itself.
A normal person would have fainted just from hearing it.
'Damn it. He's like a cockroach. Are all demons this tough?'
Rudger grumbled inwardly, but checked himself.
He had used up most of his mana in his last attack, and if he were to fight the demon, he would most likely lose.
'Destroy it before it regains its full strength.'
But how?
He used a spell that was almost the best against a demon but it hadn't died.
How could he kill it?
As Rudger pondered this, he realized that something was wrong with the demon's condition.
'Its body can't regenerate?'
The creature that was now floating in the air was literally an incorporeal force. It had no body and just a spirit body made up of energy that hadn't yet dissipated.
'Then that means he's not exactly in the best shape either.'
This was a chance.
Just as Rudger was about to activate his magic, wary of the demon, the demon's shouting stopped and his red eyes turned to Rudger.
[Human……!]
"Rudger Chelici."
[You, you, you've ruined everything!]
The demon, whose physical body had been destroyed, and whose spiritual body had also suffered a great blow, could not control his churning emotions. He glared at Rudger with a hatred and anger he had never seen before. It was intent on killing Rudger even in this state.
Rudger didn't avoid the demon's gaze, but he didn't neglect to check its condition.
The demon had swelled to a size that could be pinched, but that was all. As if that were the limit, the demon's spirit body could not grow any larger.
In fact, just maintaining it in this state was straining it, and it was slowly dispersing into powder at the tips.
It was now in a state of limbo.
As long as the given framework of a physical body did not exist, even a demon could not exist in this world and the demon felt it, too.
All that remained of the demon was the power it had barely materialized but even that was rapidly being consumed.
At this rate, it would be completely destroyed.
Rather than fight Rudger, the demon realized that it must find a vessel for its power now. But where was the right vessel?
Unlike Louispold no human body would be able to withstand his power.
Rudger and the demon locked eyes, wary of each other when the demon suddenly felt eyes on him.
The demon's gaze snapped to the side, and for a moment Rudger thought he saw something there. But all he could see was the half-broken exterior wall of the cave.
But the demon was different. He felt it in his gaze and read the wavelengths of the strange power within it.
[So it's still there! A remnant of the accursed saint!]
"What?"
Before Rudger could ask what that meant, the demon moved.
Taking the form of a black mist, the demon flew to the ceiling of the central area and entered the gap created by the fight.
It was only possible because it had shed its physical body.
Rudger had no time to react to the demon's sudden movement.
"Damn it."
He'd thought he'd escape through the other passageways that connected to the central area, but now he was running through a gap in the ceiling?
Besides, it was clear from his direction that he was headed for the ground.
'My remaining mana is…….'
Rudger measured his remaining mana.
He didn't know what the demon saw, but he was pretty sure it was the remnants of a saint.
'A saint and the demon.'
The words flashed through Rudger's mind in rapid succession, culminating in the face of a young girl.
Without a second thought, Rudger popped all of the mana restoration pills into his mouth and cast a spatial spell as his body vanished like a mirage, shrouded in shadows.
* * *
On a street where the entrance to the Devalk Imperial Castle could be seen in the distance Rene stopped running and stared at the ground.
"Rene?"
Just as Erendir was about to ask why she had stopped, Rene shouted.
"Everyone run!"
But the warning was too late as a harsh vibration rumbled from beneath them, and the ground began to crack like a drought.
"What the hell?"
"Why all of a sudden…….?"
The students and the knights panicked as black smoke erupted like lava through the cracks.
A black mist floated in the air, its huge red eyes glancing down at the capital city.
[Where are you?]
The moment the cry echoed out, onlookers dropped to their knees as the mind-shattering sound was irresistible.
Impatiently, the demon rolled his eyes and finally found the starry eyes staring back at him in disbelief.
[There you are!]
The demon's red eyes narrowed and the black mist turned into a swirl and lunged for Rene whose legs froze.
The black vortex was about to engulf her body when a shield imbued with the element of blue lightning blocked it.
Rene's eyes widened as she caught sight of a familiar figure behind her, with flowing navy blue hair.
"Flora?"
Flora Lumos stepped forward to protect Rene.
Why her?
No. That wasn't what mattered now.
Even Flora's magic wouldn't last long against the demon's power.
The demon had broken through the barrier and was once again targeting Rene but Flora maintained her defensive spell and lightly scribbled with one hand as a gentle breeze followed and blew Rene backwards.
Rene was about to say something to Flora, but Flora looked back at Rene and opened her mouth.
"With this, my debt is paid."
Immediately, the magic barrier shattered, and a black mist engulfed Flora.