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Chapter 10 — The Sleeping Prince of the Magic Tower?
Boom—!!
“Eek!!”
No matter how desperately I wished otherwise, the tremors only grew stronger. Then, with a deafening crash, the door began to splinter apart.
Beyond the shattered door, a human silhouette emerged.
Anyone could recognize that as a dark mage even if they saw him from a KTX speeding past!
A dark mage.
Also known as an Apostle—a mage rumored to have made a contract with a demon. Even through my blurry vision, I could see the sinister aura pouring into the room.
A figure cloaked in a black hood stepped through the cloud of dust.
Having just unleashed an attack spell powerful enough to destroy the barrier, traces of dark mana still lingered around him like smoke.
Even I, who knew next to nothing about magic, could tell he possessed immense power.
“Oh? I thought no one would be here. So there was a guard?”
The Apostle’s voice dripped with malice.
Seriously? Does being a villain mean your voice has to sound disgusting too?
It was a hundred times more unpleasant than even Benyamin’s voice.
I’d imagined the Apostles in all sorts of ways while reading the novel, but I never expected them to be this revolting.
The bone-chilling cold that crawled across my skin…
That thick, gloomy voice…
That oppressive aura that made it feel like I’d collapse if I got any closer…
“Ugh.”
Without thinking, I stuck out my tongue. My stomach churned, and goosebumps spread across my back.
But more importantly…
I had no idea when Melize would arrive.
The farther away someone was, the longer teleportation took. If she was still at the mine, it would take at least ten minutes before she could return to the Magic Tower.
With this much noise, you’d think the other mages would have rushed over already.
But perhaps another barrier had been erected outside the top floor to isolate the space, because not a single mage appeared despite the chaos.
I have to buy as much time as possible.
“If you knew someone was inside, you could’ve at least knocked before barging in! Where are your manners?”
I shouted boldly.
In reality, though, the pressure from his overwhelming mana had already begun making my arms and legs tremble.
Still, what choice did I have?
I forced an even more shameless expression onto my face.
The Apostle lowered his hood.
His face was covered in grotesque scars.
Judging by his appearance, he wasn’t Deus, the final mastermind. The novel had never mentioned scars on Deus’s face. Besides, the dark mage who attacked the Prince was merely one of the Apostles serving under him.
If I’d known they’d show up earlier than in the novel, I would’ve called Melize!
My mind raced frantically.
Somehow…
Somehow I had to find a way to stall him.
“You’re a mage?”
Disturbingly, he looked pleased that someone was actually here.
What the hell? His eyes are completely insane.
“That’s right! I’m Melize’s direct disciple, Edel!”
If I had to lie through my teeth to buy time, then so be it!
“Oh? The Magic Tower Master’s direct disciple?”
“That’s right! And you dare try to harm Prince Liht in front of me? You’ve got some nerve!”
Well… I wasn’t exactly her direct disciple.
More like the student she treasured most.
But if he mistook me for some incredibly powerful mage hiding my true strength, I’d gladly accept it.
Melize had trained many disciples throughout the years.
But none of them had ever been publicly acknowledged as her direct disciple.
That was precisely why I could get away with this lie.
Confidence was everything in a battle of nerves!
Crossing my arms, I puffed out my chest and stared him down as confidently as I could.
Hopefully he wouldn’t notice my trembling eyes.
“Do you even know what kind of barrier you just destroyed? It belonged to the great Archmage Melize!”
“Really?”
Oddly enough, the Apostle tilted his head.
There was no way he didn’t know that destroying the barrier would alert Melize.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t the kind of mage who could simply stand there radiating overwhelming mana.
He was clearly just enjoying my pitiful attempt to resist.
What a twisted hobby.
He’s seriously so annoying.
“Melize will teleport here any minute now!”
“Then I don’t have much time.”
Ah…
That’s not the response I wanted.
“A mage’s life force has quite a unique flavor. I’ll gratefully accept yours.”
After Deus cast the curse on Prince Liht and disappeared to recover his mana, opportunities for the Apostles to harvest life energy had become scarce.
Deus used to attack entire villages, gathering enormous amounts of life force.
With him ceasing his activities, the Apostles who followed him had been forced into an indefinite waiting period as well.
They were probably stealing life energy little by little somewhere no one knew about.
Dark mana began gathering in his hand.
“W-Wait! Just hold on a second!”
The Apostle didn’t even bother listening anymore.
He’d already lost interest in me?
“Ah!”
I hurriedly gathered every bit of strength I had and pressed myself tightly against the glass tube behind me.
There was only one thing I could do now.
Fighting to maintain my concentration, I cast the defensive spell Edel had practiced until it had become second nature.
“කට වහපන්!”
Pure white light flowed from my fingertips.
It slowly spread outward, forming a protective barrier around us.
The Apostle watched the entire process before letting out a mocking chuckle.
“It seems the Magic Tower Master is more generous than I thought. To accept someone this weak as her direct disciple.”
…
I had no comeback.
Because it was true.
My mana really was weak.
Still, did he have to rub it in so bluntly?
But there was nothing else I could do.
I simply bit my lip and glared at him with everything I had.
Melize, please hurry!!
If Prince Liht dies here, the novel ends…
And before that, so does my life!
Damn it…!
With a thunderous crash, the barrier shattered.
Liht sensed the Apostle’s mana spreading throughout the room.
An attack.
Melize isn’t even at the Magic Tower right now…
He heard the scream of the mage sitting nearby.
He couldn’t accurately judge her mana, but she certainly didn’t seem strong enough to withstand the Apostle’s overwhelming assault.
Unless someone arrived soon…
Both he and the mage would die.
A feeling of crisis swept through his body.
He had spent his entire life fighting for the Empire.
He had overcome countless dangers.
Yet never once had he experienced such utter helplessness.
Nor had he ever failed to protect someone he had resolved to protect.
The unfamiliar sense of powerlessness tightened around his heart.
He could hear fragments of the conversation between the mage and the Apostle.
But perhaps because the spatial barrier had collapsed, the sounds became increasingly distorted.
The mage is in danger.
He continued silently reciting the incantation needed to cast his magic.
But his mouth still refused to move.
At this point, he wondered if biting off his own tongue would at least let him feel something.
Damn it… I’m going insane.
“Ah!”
The mage’s cry reached his ears.
Please… Please!
Liht focused every ounce of will into clenching his numb fist.
Then he heard her cast a defensive spell.
At that very moment…
A soft, feather-like energy began flowing into him.
It felt remarkably similar to the mysterious power he had sensed when he first regained consciousness.
This power…
Then—
“Hah!”
A sound escaped Liht’s throat.
At the same time, he saw glass before his eyes.
He blinked repeatedly.
It really was glass.
He was looking at the inside wall of the tube that had imprisoned him.
The body that had refused to move for so long…
Finally began moving.
His surprise lasted only an instant.
The energy flowing into him rapidly spread from his fingers to his shoulders…
His thighs…
His legs…
Sweeping through every part of his body.
The body that had stubbornly refused to obey him suddenly felt impossibly light.
I can move!
The moment he realized it, Liht lashed out with his foot.
The glass tube surrounding him shattered effortlessly.
He immediately sprang to his feet.
His eyes instinctively narrowed.
The room was filled with thick smoke and the nauseating presence of the Apostle.
Even with his vision still unclear, he could tell the mage was standing in front of him.
Protecting him.
After blinking several more times, he finally saw her clearly.
The small figure standing between him and danger.
“!!!”
Liht swiftly reached forward and pulled the mage behind him.
Silvery hair spilled across his arms.
She was even smaller than he’d imagined.
She fit effortlessly against him.
“Mage… are you alright?”
The warmth of her body reached him.
Only then did the frantic pounding of his heart finally begin to slow.
Thank goodness.
He wasn’t too late.
He could feel the mage staring at him.
But there was still something he had to do first.
“I’ll handle the rest.”
After swallowing once, Liht extended his arm toward the Apostle.
It had been…
A very long time.
The mana that had been suppressed for so many years erupted violently.
A blazing crimson light exploded from his body.
“The curse…!”
Startled by Liht’s sudden awakening, the Apostle hurriedly raised his hand to cast a defensive spell.
But it was already too late.
Liht’s fire magic engulfed him in an instant.
Towering walls of flame rose around the Apostle as he desperately struggled to escape.
No matter what spell he attempted to cast, it crumbled helplessly beneath Liht’s overwhelming mana.
“A-Arghhh!!”
The flames wrapped completely around the Apostle, roaring into an enormous inferno.
Apostles drew their power from the mana of death.
And when they died, they crumbled into ash.
Such was the inevitable fate of those who abandoned their humanity.
The piercing scream did not last long.
Liht watched coldly as the flames consumed the Apostle, reducing him to drifting ashes.
