Is this what happiness feels like?
Entrusting my body to a sensation akin to drifting through a dream, I smiled happily.
Perhaps because I’ve lived in peace without any special suffering for quite a while, it’s hard to regain consciousness from the immense pain of my body being eroded by demonic energy.
“This… Is this what I’ve wanted all along?”
“It’s been a while…”
Until now, I’ve only endured suffering due to various circumstances, so it has been quite a while since I’ve been healed like this.
Of course, there’s happiness in daily life—like when students from the swordsmanship department occasionally get injured and come to me for treatment, and I enjoy helping them—but I’ve never felt as happy as I do now.
I’ve experienced such pain before, but it was when a high-ranking demon’s arm directly pierced my abdomen, flooding me with its demonic energy.
It was similar, but only to a degree.
But this time is different.
The current situation is that the demonic energy of Maleficent, a leading magician in the Demon King’s army and Arch-enemy of Argen, is directly infiltrating my body.
I’ve never felt a pain that gives me this much satisfaction.
Just as I was enjoying the sensation of floating in the ocean and delightfully feeling the pain, a voice spoke.
– I’m astonished. I never expected you to find my life vessel…
“…”
Who is that? Seriously.
After so long, I was finally able to immerse myself in this rare freedom and emotion, but now someone is ruining it.
As I was about to ask with a voice tinged with discontent, I instinctively sensed that my interlocutor was no ordinary being, both from the arrogant tone and the unpleasant feeling I got.
Judging by the mention of the ‘life vessel’…
“Maleficent…”
– How detestable, a mere divine puppet!
She seems extremely angry.
I looked down.
I don’t know where exactly I am, but it’s clear that my body isn’t in a good state. This isn’t the real world but some kind of subconscious world, difficult to explain theoretically, but…
Even in such a place, seeing that half my body is shattered confirms that I’m in a dangerous condition.
“Hmm…”
But wasn’t I just laughing happily a moment ago?
Still, there was nothing I could do about it.
This was a rare opportunity to enjoy myself, so wouldn’t not enjoying it be even more wrong?
I have worked hard up until now, so I deserve this bit of leisure, right?
– Indeed, have you gone mad? Even if you, a saint supposedly chosen by the gods, stand in my presence, I am Maleficent, the Great Magician who has lived for an age. Surely you didn’t think you could defeat me!
“Heh heh…”
As expected.
I’ve sensed her anger since the start. Did my actions completely foil her plans?
Indeed, that must have been the case.
Even in the game, destroying Maleficent’s hidden life vessel in the Academy is enough to successfully raid and eliminate her.
Of course, as befits a Great Magician who has lived for ages, the destruction of her life vessel doesn’t kill her outright, and there are ways for her to recover. Typically, the raid would become even harder and more intense. But we have someone among us who is nothing short of a Deus ex Machina: the Great Magician ‘Argen Isis.’
The cinematic cutscene where the protagonist uses the destroyed life vessel to calculate Maleficent’s location and pulls her soul using word commands was truly iconic…
Anyway… even though I’m collapsing now, my heart is already weakened beyond repair…
Looks like I’ve poured all my strength into this fight.
Despite being a Great Magician and supposedly of a higher class than me, having received all of my power—including the two holy relics that augment my abilities—it’s impossible for him to survive unscathed.
Compared to before, the sight of the lich before my eyes now looks absurdly foolish.
I chuckled softly and asked,
“Isn’t this your fault for attacking the Academy?”
– You, you dare to…
Yes, this must frustrate you greatly.
How strong is this feeling? Mind-blowing, isn’t it?
After hundreds of years of planning—intent on demolishing the long-standing Academy to cut off the empire’s future potential and neutralize Argen as a main threat—your plan is now in ruins.
Do you really think it’d be so easy to deceive the saint and the hero as planned?
It’s painfully obvious that you’ve planned this over a long period of time.
And yet, I just casually ruined it.
“Ku, hehe… You don’t even have time to be angry with me… do you…?”
– …
“And as you know… Evan… cough… if the hero… or Argen finds the weakened life vessel… it wouldn’t be difficult… to find your… position… huh, cough…?!”
– Ha, ha ha… You god-forsaken slave, suddenly becoming so eloquent…
“Cough, keh…”
With each passing second, I could feel the searing pain intensifying as the energy spread further within my body.
This was a level of pain that an ordinary person would surely go insane from.
It amplified the sensations exponentially, creating an unimaginable anguish hundreds or even thousands of times worse.
– Thus, I will shatter your mind with this pain and sacrifice your soul to the Great One!!
This…
This…
This…
It’s…
Gah…
Gulp…
Haa…♡
This… I can’t hide it… I can’t hide how I truly feel… dehett…♡
– Why… are you laughing…?!?
“Huf, hufufu…”
Was my hunch correct? That by calculating your position, I could end you?
The lich’s body, visible within my consciousness, was breaking apart more and more.
He’s even weaker than before.
Probably because I’ve already purified his heart, and there’s no way for it to get any weaker. However, it’s happening faster than I anticipated.
“Laugh… HAAAAAA…?!”
– This is absurd… A human should have gone insane long ago, or had their mind shattered…!!!
“Haaang…♡”
Feels good…♡
More… add more…♡
– This… this… what has happened…
“Add more please…♡”
– Wha, what… why are you smiling like that…?!
Oh.
You’re actually scared now.
Perhaps because my appearance was so shocking, the face that had been glaring at me fiercely just moments ago, intent on my death, is now starting to spread with fear.
– How… how can you even speak under this level of pain…?!
“More… more…♡”
– Hii, hiiik…?!
What happened?
As I was dying, the lich was panicking, shouting out with a voice filled with terror:
“Sadomasochism.”
The deep-rooted masochism engraved into my soul couldn’t be broken even by the strongest pain. In a normal human body where death exists, one might feel fear as they approach death, but…
I cannot die unless the Demon King directly attacks my soul and obliterates all chances of regeneration.
This pain I’m feeling now can’t possibly kill me, and I know this place isn’t the real world.
It’s likely the domain of self-awareness…
Called the subconscious world.
No matter how much pain I endure here, it’s of no concern.
No one is worrying about it, and it’s a secret between Maleficent and me.
– This… this can’t be…
Maleficent’s muttering face, which had been muttering in disbelief, began hardening in real-time.
Has she thought of a possibility?
Finally realizing something, her face turned despondent, and the pain she was inflicting on me disappeared instantly.
– C, could it be… could it be you…?!
Hmm,
Guess it’s been found out.
But does it even matter?
The dead cannot speak.
It’s not called assassination for nothing if there are no witnesses.
I smiled with deep satisfaction and said to Maleficent,
“Until the end… you’ve been incredibly helpful…♡”
Where else could you find a lich so willing to help me till the very end?
Her final resistance, I suppose.
Even in her last moments, Maleficent struggled to kill me mentally.
– How, how could such a deranged woman be a saint…? The goddess must surely be insane… This is impossible…!
“But it’s true, isn’t it?”
No matter how much she tries to deny it in front of me, it can’t change the reality that she’s witnessing.
I smirked at Maleficent.
Looking at me, Maleficent murmured despondently,
– What a mad… woman…
And with those final words, she disappeared.
For someone who brought the Academy to the brink of destruction, it was an awfully meaningless end.
