Please, Just Read It

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Please, just read this

Episode 38

Reverse Flow (1)

It’s still vivid whenever I close my eyes.

Two years ago.

Back when the first selection test was being held.

“Please…”

As one participant was dying, no one came to help.

“Ugh, please, please save me…”

Even the administrator present coldly watched a life flickering out.

“Save me…”

Crack──!

Rebecca Duncan still vividly remembers that moment from two years ago.

【 Rebecca Duncan, 25 years old, female 】

-From the illusion-type magic “Dolores School.”

-….

-Result: Disqualified

-Reason: Killed the administrator

Having passed the first exam in record time, Rebecca Duncan killed the administrator of the selection test.

-Disqualified according to Article 3, Clause 3.

【 Rebecca Duncan, 26 years old, female 】

-From the illusion-type magic “Dolores School.”

-Disqualified for killing the administrator during the test a year ago.

-….

-….

-Result: Disqualified

-Reason: Killed half of the participants

All deceased participants belonged to the same group as “Sharon Shacklebolt” from last year’s first selection test. Considered retaliatory murder.

-Disqualified according to Article 3, Clause 6.

*

“Dirty? My mouth?”

“Should I say that the murderous lunatic who killed countless magicians has a clean mouth?”

Hearing that reply, Rebecca Duncan let out a scoff.

“Murderous lunatic? That hurts.”

“…….”

“Anyone else might say that, but you, old man, shouldn’t. I took revenge for Sharon, didn’t I?”

Her sharp, deadly gaze gleamed ominously.

Garon Theobalt, who was watching Rebecca Duncan, growled.

“That’s not revenge.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing more than a massacre disguised as revenge, tarnishing my granddaughter’s honor.”

Rebecca Duncan looked at him in disbelief.

“Ha.”

It was still vividly remembered.

That day, two years ago, during the first selection test, when one life was dying, and no one came to help.

The memory of that day.

“They left Sharon to die. You know that, right? Despite being in a situation where they could have helped, no one stepped up; they just watched.”

“…….”

“They killed Sharon, old man. I just avenged her by killing those bastards.”

Hearing these words, Garon Theobalt murmured in a low voice.

“Revenge, you say…”

Revenge.

Rebecca Duncan was justifying her murders under the pretext of revenge.

“…Stop with that nonsense.”

Two years ago, the elder of the Five Great Towers, who had served as the administrator, lost his life.

A year ago, dozens of veteran magicians produced by various schools were killed.

One magician’s revenge brought great chaos to the entire magical community.

Since that day, Rebecca Duncan earned the title of “Murderous Lunatic.”

As time passed, her infamy began to spread widely.

A psychopath who killed the supervising administrator of the exam, a madwoman who slaughtered the heirs poised to lead the magical community, a villain who turned the exam venue into a slaughterhouse.

And…

“…My granddaughter’s death is considered the root of that ‘murderous lunatic’s’ emergence.”

Sharon’s death had become just a stepping stone in this unfortunate tragedy.

“Your actions have done nothing to help Sharon. If anything, they tarnish her honor.”

“…”

“So today, I will wash away my granddaughter’s shame by personally killing you.”

Garon Theobalt gazed at Rebecca Duncan with sunken eyes.

A small laugh escaped. Rebecca quietly replied.

“Old man, how many more times do I have to say it for you to understand? They let Sharon die. I’m just making them pay for it.”

Crack─.

Once again.

Garon Theobalt ground his teeth.

“What do you think you heard me say? You’re still tarnishing my granddaughter’s honor…”

“Trying to argue about honor in this situation is what’s strange. Your only granddaughter is dead. What’s so great about honor?”

“…You’re not making any sense.”

Silence.

The two magicians stared at each other.

“Sometimes… No, I always wondered how someone like you could be my granddaughter’s close friend.”

“Me too. How did someone like you produce a pure and kind girl like Sharon?”

“What are you…”

“Old man.”

Rebecca Duncan interrupted, looking up.

Her face emerged from the shadows of the ruins.

The smile that once hung on her lips had vanished without a trace.

In a chilling voice, she muttered.

“Why is your tongue so long?”

“…”

“Magicians should speak with magic, right? That’s what you always said to me every time you met our Sharon.”

Twitch.

Garon Theobalt’s brow furrowed.

Whoosh─!

In the next moment.

His magical power broke free from containment and began to rampage.

White, violent particles whirled around him as if representing his emotions.

“This is your final warning. If you mention my granddaughter again…”

“Sharon.”

The air thickened.

As the concentration of magic grew denser, breathing became a struggle.

It felt as if the weight of the deep sea was pressing down on every part of his body.

“Sharon Shacklebolt.”

However.

Rebecca Duncan spoke.

“My dearest friend and your only granddaughter.”

“…”

“Sharon Shacklebolt.”

Garon Theobalt clenched his fist tightly.

He squeezed it so hard that red blood seeped from between his fingers.

Right.

No more conversation was needed.

Just as Garon Theobalt once said, a magician must converse with magic.

Wuuuu─.

The condensed magical power erupted all at once.

The wind attribute, “Tempest Field.”

A heavy curtain of wind struck the space where Rebecca Duncan had been.

Bang────!

Debris exploded everywhere, and a pillar in the ruins collapsed.

But that was all.

Rebecca Duncan’s final scream did not reach them.

‘…Was it a clone?’

As the dust cloud cleared, visibility was restored.

No corpses could be seen at the bottom of the deep hole.

He had been fighting against Rebecca Duncan’s clone all along.

‘What a fun little trick…’

Realizing this, Garon Theobalt quickly spread his magical power around to locate his opponent.

Lumps of magic extended in all directions.

Information invisible to the eye was conveyed to his brain.

From the overall structure of the alley to the small gaps behind the pillars. All that information was slowly etched into his consciousness…

‘Wait.’

At that moment.

An aura.

A very sharp aura felt behind his neck.

‘Defense…’

[Swoosh──.]

“…?”

But in the next instant.

Before he could even deploy a defensive spell, a blade of magic pierced through his neck.

“What…”

Goosebumps crawled up his spine at how instantaneously it unfolded.

This was a speed that transcended the limits of perception.

A heart that kills with mere will.

A realm where casting loses its meaning. A dreamland all magicians aspire to reach.

‘How…?’

It felt as if someone was forcibly choking him.

The scent of blood wafted strongly from his esophagus, and nausea surged.

Time slowed down.

The world flipped upside down.

“A…”

Only then did Garon Theobalt understand.

Having faced life and death on the battlefield countless times, he had experienced this phenomenon many times before.

Yes.

This is.

‘…Death.’

Death.

Eternal rest.

The sensation of death slowly consuming the body that always just dipped its toes in the waters of death.

In his blurred vision, everything turned red. The world painted itself red. The entire ruins were tinted crimson.

Thud!

Thus, Garon Theobalt’s body turned into a headless corpse in an instant, helplessly rolling on the ground of the ruins, and──

───The world flipped upside down once more.

“…”

“…”

Silence.

Calm.

Stillness.

The serene alley of the ruins.

There was no trace of battle anywhere.

Garon Theobalt looked around with a confused expression.

“Um.”

In an instant, his eyes widened.

The pillar he had just smashed was intact.

“Old man.”

“…”

A thin voice reached his ears.

The voice of the one who tarnished his granddaughter’s honor flowed softly.

Garon Theobalt tried to ignore his trembling body and turned his gaze to the side.

He caught sight of the magician who had walked up right next to him.

“A bit disappointing.”

“…”

“How can you be slower than Riley in escaping from the illusion? She gets out in a second, but it took you two seconds.”

Long black hair that cascaded down to her waist.

And dreamlike purple eyes.

Rebecca Duncan.

She slowly opened her mouth.

“By the way…”

“…”

“…Old man, you just saw death, didn’t you?”

Silence.

Silence flowed.

Garon Theobalt tried to speak.

But his mouth wouldn’t open. He couldn’t make a sound.

Pressure engulfed his body.

Between his wide-open eyes, his pupils trembled wildly, and cold sweat trickled down his spine.

‘The death I just saw…’

The concepts of reality and illusion became blurry.

There was a heavy sense of discomfort.

Despite knowing the scene just now was an illusion, his body wouldn’t obey his mind.

His flesh remembered it.

The terror of death.

The overwhelming power that Rebecca Duncan wielded in the realm of illusions.

“Haah…”

He sighed.

He closed his eyes and barely shook off the memories of what happened in the illusion world.

“…Enough with these childish tricks.”

Hearing those squeezed words, Becky burst into laughter.

“Do you think only you can play tricks? I didn’t even open up the battlefield like you did.”

She continued speaking with a smile.

“That battlefield, you created it, didn’t you?”

“…”

“You intentionally exposed the core’s magic, thinking I would definitely show up if such a large battlefield arose, right?”

Garon Theobalt gritted his teeth.

“Yes.”

While explaining to his team that it was to sweep away hyena-like pests, he created a battlefield…

Ultimately, the main reason he created the fight was to lure Rebecca Duncan.

“I figured that if it was Rebecca Duncan I knew, she would definitely jump into that battlefield. There’s no magician as belligerent as you.”

“Well, I was going to go. I just couldn’t because Riley stopped me.”

“If you hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have had to come find you myself.”

Rebecca Duncan clapped her hands, pleased.

“You’re impressive, old man! So you fought all those participants just to capture me?”

“…”

“You must have killed dozens, right? To call me a murderous lunatic with that in mind, you’re quite contradictory, aren’t you?”

Crack─.

Before long, blood was flowing from Garon Theobalt’s mouth.

A wound formed from biting his lips so hard.

It had been a while since he felt this worked up.

He needed to keep calm.

Calm was a basic quality of a magician.

Strangely, today, it wasn’t coming easily.

“Did you ask if I saw death?”

Drip, drip─.

The blood flowing from his lips fell to the ground.

He felt as if the white magical energy was being stained red.

“I saw it, of course.”

“…”

“But the death I saw was yours.”

Rebecca Duncan merely smiled.

“Old man, did you know?”

“…”

“My mother once told me something long ago?”

Rebecca Duncan whispered quietly.

For some reason, even though her voice was small, her words resonated clearly.

“Ninety percent of herbalists die in the mountains. They fall off cliffs while gathering herbs and die or so they say.”

“…”

“It’s the same.”

She continued.

“A warrior fighting with a sword dies by the sword, and an alchemist dies from an accident while creating forbidden potions, right?”

Rebecca Duncan’s mother was a renowned potion maker within the Empire.

Anyone involved in the magical field knew her name.

Garon Theobalt had also heard of her reputation.

And he knew all too well about her tragic fate as well.

“Do you know what my mother’s last words were after being ambushed by bandits while delivering her goods?”

“…”

“She said she hoped I would meet my end like a true magician.”

She smiled.

“Right, it’s true. Herbalists die while collecting herbs.”

“…”

“Warriors lose their lives to swords, alchemists to potions.”

And the magician.

The magician.

“So I expect it.”

“…”

“Show me.”

Magicians die while walking the path of magic.

Whether it’s their magic circuits igniting and burning them alive or magical energy refluxing from their mana heart causing death, or being killed by someone else’s spell.

True magicians always die while walking the path of magic.

“Show me the death you saw, and make sure it’s worth my 27 years of walking that path.”

Garon Theobalt raised his head. Amidst the dark alley, Rebecca Duncan’s expression faintly became visible.

She was smiling.

A pure, bright smile.

An expression one would never expect from someone about to face a life-and-death battle…

Wuuuu─.

….

……

………

“…Ah.”

It was then.

A sudden two seconds of silence passed.

After that fleeting moment.

In an instant, Garon Theobalt’s gaze wavered.

“…”

For some reason, the blind killing intent surrounding him subtly changed.

Swiftly.

Garon Theobalt raised his head to look at Rebecca Duncan.

“You…”

As if having seen a ghost.

His trembling voice continued.

“You…”

Rebecca Duncan’s reason for mastering “illusion-type” magic.

The reason she showed him such illusions. Her obsession with death. Her fixation on revenge.

Everything.

Everything was.

“…You’re thoroughly insane.”

“…”

Yes.

Rebecca Duncan was smiling.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

And that smile was one only those utterly obsessed with magic could possess.