Chapter 227: Arpentia (5)
A spray of blood scattered into the air like a fountain.
The light that shot out from Archmage Edas’s fingertips ended everything in a flash.
A single beam of light radiated from his hand.
It pierced precisely through the place where Professor Windy May’s heart was.
“Ah.”
Having been attacked by her own master, Professor Windy May blankly fumbled at her chest.
Not by anyone else.
By him.
By that person.
“……Master.”
Professor Windy May muttered in a daze.
What had once been a metaphor became literal.
A woman with her chest hollowly pierced through.
“…….”
Her body, impaled through the chest, collapsed limply to the ground.
The light of life fading from her eyes drifted emptily toward the void.
Her death.
It was unbearably futile—and it happened in an instant.
“What…….”
Third Prince Behad Amandine Bestrang could only swallow his breath as he watched the scene.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say that there was nothing he could have done.
Archmage Edas.
The man called the Archmage had struck with such speed and precision that no one could react.
With a single gesture of his hand, another Archmage—Professor Windy May—had fallen.
“What. ……Is that the end?”
Even Urkubar reacted as though it were absurd.
An enemy who deserved to be torn to pieces had died so instantly, so emptily.
In his eyes, exhilaration and emptiness began to mingle together.
That was when it happened.
Clang!
A sound like shattering glass rang out.
Along with the sharp noise, strange cracks spread outward in all directions from the fallen Professor Windy May, as though space itself were splitting apart.
An intangible barrier.
It was the Academy’s final means of defense—and its greatest interception measure—installed to protect it from external intruders.
In an instant, it surrounded those present as though enveloping them.
And that was not all.
Srrrk.
At the very moment the barrier unfolded, the corpse of Professor Windy May—whose chest had just been pierced—scattered like smoke.
Then, as if she had been standing there from the very beginning, Professor Windy May appeared behind Urkubar and Archmage Edas.
Not a single wound marred her body.
“……I’ll kill you.”
There was none of her usual light, playful tone in her voice.
The killing intent contained within it was chilling enough that it could not be concealed.
Already, an indescribably vast magic power was swirling fiercely in both of her hands.
“Hup!”
“…….”
Urkubar and Archmage Edas turned toward her at the same time.
Their reactions were astonishingly calm.
As though they had already anticipated this entire situation.
Kwaaaaang!!!!
The energies bursting forth from the three of them collided, generating massive waves of power in all directions.
Ordinarily, the aftermath alone would have been enough to lay waste to everything nearby—but the intangible barrier surrounding them prevented the force from spreading outward, and instead it shot up into the sky.
“Ugh!”
I lowered my body while holding Menoruka in my arms.
Had she not, even in her hazy state, extended her hand to offset the force crashing toward us, I would not have escaped without severe injury.
A brief moment passed.
Urkubar emerged, brushing aside the smoke with one hand as though it were a nuisance.
“……Yes, that’s more like it. As expected, there’s no way you’d die that easily.”
He muttered in a listless voice.
There was not even the slightest trace of surprise or fluster on his face.
No—if anything, he even seemed faintly relieved.
“A duplicate. Yes, that was your specialty. In the past, at least there was some distinction—but now I can’t even tell the difference from the original.”
“…….”
Professor Windy May did not respond in the slightest.
Her gaze was fixed solely on the man standing in front of Urkubar.
“……Master.”
She looked at her teacher with complicated eyes.
Archmage Edas merely stared into empty space with hollow, emotionless eyes.
“I didn’t want to see you again like this.”
She murmured lowly.
Deep sorrow—and a cold, hardened anger—were intertwined in her voice.
“……I will not forgive those who made you into that.”
“Oh? How frightening.”
At her words, Urkubar hunched his shoulders with exaggerated motion as he spoke.
Only then did Professor Windy May’s gaze shift to him.
“That look in your eyes—I quite like it. I’ve longed to see those eyes so badly. It’s like… yes, like a dog that’s gone mad after losing its master.”
“Shut your mouth before I tear it apart, you old lizard bastard.”
She shot back coldly.
Her killing intent turned even more blatant as it bore down on Urkubar.
“Good.”
Even so, he merely grinned slyly.
“I came here to kill you from the start. Now, at last, we’re looking at each other from the same perspective.”
He casually dusted off his hands.
With each motion, the old man’s hands gradually twisted into something grotesque—neither dragon nor human, but a hideous form that defied both.
“Originally, I intended to kill your child. I was going to make you suffer the same pain you gave me when you killed mine.”
“…….”
“That hasn’t changed.”
He muttered quietly.
“However, before that, I’ll personally tear apart and kill your beloved master, your comrades, your disciples… everything that surrounded you. I’ll make you just as miserable as you made me.”
A smile hung on Urkubar’s lips as he spoke.
It was so pure—so clear—that it could be described as nothing but innocent.
“And just as you did to my daughter, I will tear out your heart and take all your power. I’ll shatter your limbs, gouge out your eyes, and throw you into the streets—wouldn’t you gain a new family within a few years?”
The Dragon who had lost his child spoke.
“Just as your own parents did, you must have inherited that same vulgar nature.”
“……The more I listen, the more you spew nothing but vulgar drivel suited to your own level.”
Professor Windy May murmured quietly.
“So what now? Did you come here just to trade insults?”
“Hah. Even in a situation like this, you still…….”
“Well.”
She let out a small scoff.
Then, pouring every ounce of contempt and disdain she could muster into her words, she shot them at him.
“The very one who killed your child is standing right in front of you, and yet all you can do is wag your tongue…… I’ll try to understand.”
“…….”
Urkubar faltered.
With a grinding sound, a thin stream of blood burst from his mouth.
“……You.”
His bloodshot eyes glared at Professor Windy May as though he would kill her on the spot.
But after blinking once, hard, he seemed to regain his composure and exhaled slowly.
“Hoo…… You haven’t changed. Not then, not now.”
“…….”
“I almost let that get to me. That wouldn’t do. Mm, if I did, I’d look ridiculous after preaching so proudly to Junongren.”
Muttering to himself, he stepped closer to Archmage Edas.
Thud!
Without warning, he struck the back of his head with full force.
“Wouldn’t it be better to show your master the fruits of all that effort you’ve honed over the years?”
“……!”
Urkubar threw the words like a taunt.
This time, it was Professor Windy May who fell silent.
“Bring her to the brink of death. If it’s difficult, you may simply kill her.”
At his command, Archmage Edas began to move slowly.
“…….”
Professor Windy May did not move.
She merely focused her magic quietly—but without leaving a single opening—toward the being who had once been her master.
Kwaaaaaa!!!
Who moved first?
For a moment, it seemed as though the two vanished—and then a massive explosion and thunderous roar swallowed them whole.
A clash between two Archmages.
It was nothing less than the prelude to a catastrophe—one that could have obliterated the entire surrounding area.
“Hmm.”
Urkubar watched the two of them with a satisfied expression.
“One who has much to protect finds it hard to fight. Yes, just like I once did. But unlike then, you now have far too much to protect, Windy May.”
Even as he muttered this, he began to extend his hand toward them.
“Unfortunately, I am no warrior.”
A massive aura slowly began to condense in his hand.
Windy May and Archmage Edas.
Without even attempting to hide his intent to blow them both away at once, he murmured,
“It’s not as though I can afford to leisurely watch their fight to the end. I must finish my business quickly and take my lovely granddaughter with me.”
“Then just take your granddaughter and leave.”
It was at that moment.
Another presence appeared inside the Intangible Barrier.
It was Amaruah.
“Why are you running wild in someone else’s workplace? This really pisses me off.”
With a curse, Amaruah stepped forward as though shielding Professor Windy May, blocking Urkubar’s path.
The usual lazy look on her face was nowhere to be found—she was deadly serious.
“……You are of the same kind, and yet you would side with that filthy half-breed?”
Urkubar growled.
His voice was thick with open displeasure.
“I’m currently being paid by the Academy. Naturally, I should side with the one who pays my salary, shouldn’t I?”
Amaruah replied calmly.
Then she looked at Third Prince Behad Amandine Bestrang.
“Take that child and run.”
She added,
“Leave through the way I came in.”
“But…….”
“Do what you can right now, child.”
Her voice was composed—calmer than ever.
“The fact that that snake of a man barged straight into the Academy without caring about the consequences already means something is seriously wrong. And judging by how he’s acting now, he definitely has another scheme.”
“Hup!”
Barely evading Urkubar’s claw that suddenly flew toward her throat, she shouted,
“Take Menoruka and get out of here! And tell the others what’s happening!”
At her cry, Third Prince Behad Amandine Bestrang hesitated for a brief moment.
But soon he nodded firmly and hoisted the still-dazed Menoruka onto his back.
“Please!”
“Don’t worry about me and just go!”
Amaruah shouted as she charged at Urkubar.
He watched her back for a moment—then bolted away like an arrow.
‘What in the world is this……!’
How had things turned out like this?
Even as that thought raced through his mind, he broke past the barrier and ran without looking back.
“…Beha, d…niim.”
Menoruka murmured faintly from his back.
“Just… leave… me…….”
“…….”
“…If I… beg… Grandfather… maybe….”
Her voice was hazy.
Still not fully free from the effects of the drug, she pleaded in a crawling whisper.
“So… please…….”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
He answered shortly, quickening his pace instead.
His heart pounded violently.
Then it happened.
A strange sense of déjà vu brushed through his mind.
This situation.
Him and Menoruka now.
It all felt strangely familiar.
“……It’s like that time.”
An involuntary, hollow laugh escaped his lips.
“That time…?”
“Yes. That time.”
She asked weakly.
He nodded.
“The time I ran desperately with you on my back. The first time we met.”
“…….”
She said nothing more.
She only clung tighter to his back.
“Ah.”
Deep within her mind—
A memory that had long been sleeping began to awaken.
And from deep within her chest, something began to beat, stirring back to life.