A truly eerie silence fell over the scene.
-Bleep. Bloop.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
"Aaaah! Aaaargh!"
Everyone stopped fighting and stared at the scene before them. The Crazy Mage was curled up like a pill bug, being beaten senseless by the cleaning golem in a humiliating spectacle.
"Arrrgh! Someone help me! Yuri! Yuna! Senior!"
-Bloop!
"......"
"......"
The cleaning golem flashed with a menacing red light as it mercilessly swung its duster. With each "chomp" sound, the dust, along with the Crazy Mage’s mental stability, was swept away.
But the one whose mental state was most shaken was Corpse Flower .
The spell should have been completed correctly... right?
It had been 300 years in the making. She had meticulously verified it to avoid any mistakes or accidents, ensuring it functioned correctly until the very last moment.
So, did she really have to accept that the Crazy Mage's deepest fear was a cleaning golem? Seriously?
Was this for real?
He had seen sword saints wield their blades. He had witnessed an ocean made of bones rise before his very eyes. From what she heard, he had even encountered the captain of the Imperial Knights. This was a person who had seen the most powerful beings on the continent, and yet... the thing he genuinely feared deep within his heart was... a cleaning golem?
Seriously?
"Brother, why are you getting beaten up? Can’t you just shoot it with a Flame Harpoon?"
"No, it won't work, nothing works on it... it's invincible!"
Right now, he was so paralyzed by learned fear that he wasn’t even resisting.
But the one who should truly be screaming in agony from mental torment was Corpse Flower herself, who had invested 300 years only to see it all culminate in a cleaning golem. She trembled with an unfamiliar sense of injustice.
And to make matters worse, Bennett was grinding his teeth and entering a state of awakening.
"Do you mean to disgrace even the death of Abraham? Corpse Flower , you will not die peacefully."
Why was he suddenly getting angry? Who’s Abraham?
And why is his sword glowing?
" Corpse Flower , what's going on? You said we could win!"
"Shut up, Faceless. I’m confused too..."
Don’t look at me like I spent 300 years researching just to summon a cleaning golem. Think about it rationally. That’s absurd.
The words of Trap , who had warned that anything involving the Crazy Mage would inevitably turn into a mess, flashed through Corpse Flower 's mind. Yes, she shouldn’t have used the spell on this madman.
Even if it was risky, she should have targeted someone reliable like the Violet Tower Master...
No, she wasn’t even sure about that anymore. If she had used Nightmare Summoning on the Violet Tower Master, who’s to say a flying spaghetti monster wouldn’t have appeared? Nothing would surprise her at this point.
Beyond the horizon of common sense lay a terrifying unknown.
And the time wasted in shock over that unknown was fatal.
Crack. Crack, snap-!
Clang-!
Space shattered as a grand mage descended amidst dragons, tigers, and all manner of phantasms.
The quiet, purple glow beneath her pointed hat was filled with unmasked hostility and determination.
Corpse Flower was well aware of the Violet Tower Master. Her specialty was a beam that excised information. For a mage, whose power was directly tied to knowledge, the Tower Master's Transcendence was as lethal as poison.
Even a brush with it would permanently strip away chunks of wisdom.
She had to be ready. It was coming.
"Subtract."
"Bone Wall!"
Corpse Flower interwove the army of the dead to form a barrier. Subtract had significant penetration against magic, but it couldn’t pierce through thick material.
But unlike other illusion mages, the Tower Master possessed formidable physical strength as well.
"Realm of Illusions: Giant’s Fist."
Crrrrunch-!
A massive hand extended from the cracks in the shattered space, sweeping away the resurrected dead as easily as knocking down a sandcastle.
Another flash of light flickered at the tip of the Tower Master's finger as she lifted it lightly. Simultaneously, the colossal arm, easily over ten meters long, prepared to slam its fist into the ground, ready to crush everything in its path.
If Subtract was blocked by the barrier, she would die crushed by the fist.
If she tried to defend against the fist and failed to block Subtract , she would die.
Had she not cast Nightmare Summoning , she might have had some reserves left to drag out the unfavorable battle. But she had just cast a grand spell and had no leeway left.
And the sea of bones, her last recourse, was being held at bay by Sissel Yurensto.
If that insane mage regained his senses here...
At the brink of life and death, Corpse Flower calmly collected her thoughts. If she wanted to survive, she had to give up something significant. Forget about what she might lose—she needed to do what had to be done.
She could escape. The reason she could respond to Faceless’s call was that she possessed an artifact capable of long-distance spatial movement.
She overloaded the artifact, activating it instantly. A blue glow enveloped Corpse Flower and Faceless. Though the emergency activation meant the coordinates couldn’t be set, it didn’t matter as long as they got away from here.
She would bide her time. She always had a next move.
Just then...
Through the gap between the beam and the giant's fist, Bennett appeared.
The Violet Tower Master, startled, quickly redirected the trajectory of Subtract . Was this an unauthorized charge? A mere warrior’s charge could have been easily deflected and countered, but...
" Corpse Flower , I won’t let you escape──!!"
Whiiir-!
That sword. The sword radiating light gave her a bad feeling.
Corpse Flower immediately pushed Faceless on the back.
She saw Faceless’s eyes widen in shock. What a joke. Isn’t it natural to discard the worthless things first in an emergency?
Slice-!
Faceless quickly drew on her magic to defend herself, but Bennett's desperate strike carved deep into her torso.
"Aargh...!"
Her scream was cut short. The teleportation magic activated, sending her, mortally wounded, flying off to somewhere. She had served her purpose as a shield well.
At the same time, Corpse Flower ’s form began to blur. She was escaping. She would flee and repay this humiliation tenfold...
Zap.
Sparks flew through the flow of magic, delaying the teleportation.
"...Did you think you could summon my fear and still get away?"
"...Always interfering!"
It was the Crazy Mage.
Even as he was being pummeled by the cleaning golem, he had disrupted the spell with a surge of magic.
And then, Bennett's second strike came, unrelenting, aimed at Corpse Flower . Was he really planning to cut down his sister's body with one swing? No, that couldn’t be it.
Was there a way to sever Corpse Flower's soul while leaving the body intact?
It was a huge loss, a massive one, but... she had to let it go. She had to abandon the body. It was still better than dying here. Corpse Flower muttered bitterly.
"Fine, Bennett. I wasn’t planning to keep my promise anyway... but you’ve forced my hand. I’ll return it."
She altered the target of the teleportation spell. Instead of moving the physical body, she confined the teleportation to the soul. With a reduced amount of data to transfer, the spell’s cast time shortened dramatically.
Leaving the body behind, only the soul would escape.
In that fleeting moment, Corpse Flower left behind a final curse.
"Bennett... you’ve won, so enjoy your short-lived happiness with your sister. But, let’s see how long that lasts."
"......!!"
Fwoosh.
Bennett’s sword stopped just in time, and the teleportation concluded.
Slowly, the green hue faded from Corpse Flower 's hair. The original color, a slightly lighter, silken ash compared to Bennett’s, returned.
Corpse Flower , the one who devours fear, had vacated his sister’s body.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, the woman’s body collapsed. Bennett gently caught his sister’s body and laid her carefully on the ground. Though her pulse was weak, she was alive.
Bennett had finally regained everything he had lost.
And so, the battle with the dark sorcerer in the remote forest came to an end.
We won. Though it got a bit messy at the end, we won thanks to my efforts.
"Getting beaten up by a cleaning golem isn’t exactly something to brag about..."
I ignored Selvia's remark. The important point here is that I ruined the named dark sorcerer’s scheme.
Just imagine if the Devil-Boy Knight had actually shown up. That would have sparked a full-scale war.
And if I had to pick the second biggest contributor to this victory, it would undoubtedly be Yuna. I grabbed Yuna in a tight hug and spun her around. I loved how she fit so perfectly in my arms.
"Oh, how cute! I’m so happy to see you again, Tower Master!"
"Uwah, have you been doing well? Eating and sleeping okay?"
"Of course! Although, there were times I couldn’t sleep because I missed your scent, Tower Master..."
"Hehe..."
Yuna giggled, nuzzling her nose into my neck as she breathed in. It tickled.
As we basked in each other’s happiness, recharging our energy, Yuna suddenly sniffed the air as if something seemed off.
"Hm?"
"Um, what’s wrong, Tower Master?"
"You know, I might be imagining it, but why do you smell like the Red Tower?"
"..."
Uh-oh.
Yuna's quiet inquiry was followed by her gaze, devoid of any light, growing increasingly sharp.
"Did you use fire magic?"
"N-no. Well, yes, but there’s a reason! I was weakened because I was fragmented, and I just..."
"Did you use it?"
"Yes... just a little. Just a tiny bit."
I gently set Yuna down and knelt before her, hands folded in submission. I should have switched back to illusion magic and erased the scent of fire magic before she noticed.
"Is this betrayal?"
"No, not at all... My heart belongs to the Violet Tower, and illusion magic is the greatest magic in the world. I must have been momentarily swayed by an errant path."
As Yuna scolded me (not that it hurt at all), Selvia interjected.
"Um, sorry to interrupt your conversation, but shouldn't we take care of the situation first? We’re still in the forest."
"......"
Yuna glanced back and forth between Selvia and me, and I could see a wild beast raging behind her purple eyes. Silently, Yuna demanded an explanation. What was going on?
Well, I mean... it’s not like I could just tell someone who likes me, "Don’t like me..." Feelings don’t just disappear like that. I felt a bit unjustly accused.
Yuna seemed to calm down after a moment of confusion, appearing to understand. She composed herself and addressed Selvia.
"...We should have a talk later, Selvia. You know there are others who came before you."
"Yes, anytime. It’s something we need to address eventually. But I’ll tell you now, I have no intention of giving up."
"......"
Yuna’s fingers twitched, as if she was about to fire a death beam, so I quickly hugged her from behind to calm her down. She soon relaxed, and flowers of illusion began to float gently around her.
"Can we take care of the situation, please?"
While I was busy soothing Yuna, Selvia became agitated.
This was my first time experiencing a situation where two women were fighting over me. Yuna and Yuri always got along so well, so I had never encountered a catfight before. My brain momentarily shut down.
I suddenly missed Yuri and realized how remarkable she was. If anything, I was the one who might have felt jealous of her, but never the other way around. Pingballez, I need you...!
What should I do? How should I handle this?
My brilliant mind quickly came up with the perfect solution to break the awkward tension. And I immediately put it into action.
"Everyone stop! This tragedy is happening because I’m too handsome and charming... Please don’t fight over me. It’s all my fault..."
"...Yeah, you could stand to be a little less handsome."
"...It would have been nice if you were a little rough around the edges."
Don’t agree with that...! You both know that’s not what I meant!
At that moment, some elves poked their heads out of the bushes and shouted. It seemed they had managed to escape and survive.
"The mage isn’t at fault!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"...?!"
At a time like this, those words were more like a bombshell than an assist.
Yuna turned to me with a look that clearly asked, "What are they talking about?" I could see her anger gauge rising dangerously, so I quickly clarified the situation.
"They’re just a group of elves who’ve taken a liking to me."
"What the hell have you been doing-!"
"No, it wasn’t me, it was one of my fragments acting on its own..."
I had to run around the clearing five times, dodging Yuna, who was chasing me with her staff raised, trying to clobber me over the head.
After somewhat settling the romantic turmoil and returning to the scene, Bennett was standing over his sister, his face dark as if he had seen the end of the world.
"...Berda won’t wake up."
What’s that supposed to mean now?