Chapter 71

“Huh!”

“Ugh……!”

A decisive strike.

Yet, Abelin’s fierce thrust was easily blocked by Ronos’s casually swung arm.

Ting-

With a solid clink, it was deflected.

‘How? That was my full-powered strike!’

“Your expression tells me exactly what you’re thinking. Wondering why your full-powered strike didn’t work, huh? Tsk tsk……”

Ronos shook the spot where Abelin’s sword had touched, mocking her.

“How long do you think I’ve lived? Judging by your youthful appearance, you’ve barely lived half a century. But I’ve lived for an unimaginably long time. How many do you think I’ve faced who tried such shallow tricks like you?”

“It doesn’t matter. In fact……!”

The distance between Abelin and Ronos was still close.

If earlier she had relied on an unexpected sneak attack, now that Ronos was showing such leisure, she had plenty of time to prepare.

“This time for sure!”

Abelin gathered all her mana and kicked off the ground.

A speed incomparable to her previous strike.

Confident that this time she could deliver a fatal blow, Abelin charged.

“Hmph.”

Just before Abelin’s sword could reach him again, she saw the relaxed smile on Ronos’s face.

Thud-

With a light sound, Ronos deflected Abelin to the side.

And then he reached out……

Thud-

“Ugh……!”

With a heavy impact sound, Abelin’s body flew and crashed into a thick tree trunk.

So hard that the tree trunk was deeply dented.

“Ugh, ah……!”

Abelin twitched in pain, trying desperately to get up, but her body, screaming in pain, wouldn’t obey.

Even worse, having been hit in a vital spot, her whole body ached, her mind was shaken, and she couldn’t even feel properly.

“Foolish. Didn’t I tell you? Your shallow tricks don’t work on me. But it’s not just shallow tricks. It seems you’ve spent your whole life training. I’ll commend you for reaching such a level with your effort. But you’re still far from enough.”

“Even if it’s far……!”

Gritting her teeth and enduring the pain, Abelin barely managed to get up.

But when she raised her head, she realized that Ronos, who had thrown her away, was now standing right in front of her.

And before Abelin could dodge, Ronos grabbed her by the collar and lifted her high.

“Hey, let go!”

Abelin kicked repeatedly to break free from Ronos.

But her kicks, in her weakened state, were meaningless.

Especially since Ronos had easily dodged and countered her full-powered strike even when she was in perfect condition.

Ronos clicked his tongue, looking straight at Abelin’s struggling face.

“Tsk tsk, so weak. Too weak to be any fun. Still, your attempt to struggle by taking my disciple hostage was commendable, but trying to land a direct hit on me, the Archmage, only proves your foolishness. How dare you, really how dare you……”

Ronos, still holding Abelin’s collar tightly, turned his gaze to Riana, who was still looking at him.

Riana was trembling at her master’s overwhelming strength.

Seeing this, Ronos became even angrier.

“How dare you!”

And he slammed Abelin’s body hard onto the ground.

“Cough……!”

“How dare you take my disciple hostage? And make her so frightened? If you were going to do that, you should have at least made it entertaining for me! You who couldn’t even do that, how dare you touch my precious disciple! I swear, I won’t let you die easily!”

Ronos, with madness in his eyes, slammed Abelin’s body onto the ground repeatedly.

Abelin, who had been groaning, soon went limp and couldn’t even groan anymore. Only when Ronos confirmed that Abelin was completely powerless did he casually toss her aside.

Then, with a gentle smile, he slowly walked back to Riana, who was still trembling.

“It’s all over. Let’s go back, Riana.”

Ronos reached out his hand to Riana.

But Riana, still trembling, didn’t take his hand.

“Huh, it seems you’re really scared. Let’s go back and talk it over while resting. This master will listen carefully to what happened to you and comfort you.”

Thinking that Riana was scared because of Kairon and Abelin, Ronos tried to hug her with a worried and sad expression.

“Huh?”

But Riana, without realizing it, stepped back, avoiding Ronos’s touch.

“Why are you acting like this? This isn’t like you.”

“…… I’m sorry, Master.”

“Don’t be sorry. What happened isn’t your fault. It’s entirely my fault for not taking better care of you. I’ll make sure this never happens again, so let’s go back together. Take this hand……”

But Riana stepped back again.

Only then did Ronos realize something was wrong, that the situation wasn’t going as he thought.

“…… Riana?”

“Demon.”

At the word ‘demon,’ Ronos’s eyebrow twitched.

“Riana, what are you talking about? Me, a demon?”

“I’m really sorry, Master. But I heard from them that you’re a demon. What you did to me, and the threats to Lady Rostia. It all points to you being a demon. So prove it. Prove that you’re not a demon, or I won’t go back to you. No, I can’t go back!”

“Ri, Riana……”

Ronos’s face turned pale with shock.

“Why are you acting like this? You’ve never been so harsh to me before.”

“That’s right. That’s why I want to say it now.”

Riana, trembling, spoke up.

“Thinking about it, everything was strange. The process of learning magic, and even the magic I used. Everything! Was what I learned really magic? If so, why did I only learn flame magic? And not just red flames, but strange purple flame magic!”

“…… I’ll explain everything. No, let me explain. So let’s just go back to the Magic Tower together……”

Ronos lost his words.

Because Riana, who had always obediently followed his words, shook her head for the first time.

A small gesture, but it was enough to drive a nail into Ronos’s heart.

Ronos let go of the arm he had extended to Riana.

And slowly turned his head……

Towards the fallen Abelin.

“It’s all because of them.”

“No, Master. It’s true that Kairon and Abelin told me things, but……”

“What did you just call them? ‘Brother’ and ‘Lady’ to those who took you hostage and threatened me!”

“Gasp……”

Ronos noticed the oddity in the titles and turned his head back to Riana.

His eyes were burning purple.

“Master, your eyes……?”

“My mind has cooled, and now I understand. You were never a hostage, Riana. You conspired with them to test if I was really a demon, and if I was, to eliminate me. Isn’t that right?”

“That was only if you were ‘really a demon’!”

“Right.”

Ronos nodded with a smirk.

And then, as if to show off, he extended his hand, surrounded by fiercely burning purple flames, towards Riana.

“I am a demon. Are you satisfied now?”

“Master, really……”

“But what does it matter if I’m a demon or your master! My intention to take you as my disciple and raise you well was genuine. There wasn’t a shred of falsehood in that! But despite my feelings, you……!”

Ronos, furious, stopped to catch his breath.

And then turned his gaze back to Abelin.

“Riana, my poor, beloved Riana. You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s my fault for not stopping you from going down the wrong path, for letting you listen to the nonsense around you. I need to correct that now, don’t I? So let me show you. Let’s burn everything away and start anew.”

Ronos looked around and then, with a light gesture, sent a purple fireball towards a tree a bit away from Abelin.

Soon, the tree caught fire, and the flames slowly began to spread.

“Ah, no……!”

Abelin struggled with all her might but couldn’t move much from her spot.

“Abelin, was it? Let me give you one last gift, a lesson. Do you know this? Among the pains a human can feel while dying, the most intense and painful is the agony of being burned alive. Feel that pain as you die. Unable to escape the approaching flames, helplessly facing death, regretting deeply who you messed with!”

“Master! No, please stop!”

“You started this, you! You conspired with them to test and eliminate me! So now, leave everything to the flames and forget it all. Let’s start completely anew. Even though I’m a demon, I’ll make you the greatest Archmage among humans! I will…… Ugh!”

Thud-

With a heavy sound, Ronos flew far and rolled on the ground.

“Enough with the nonsense. No, at least a dog is better than a demon, right?”

“Kairon, brother!”

“Sorry. Am I late? I had to reorganize my mana for a bit.”

Quickly assessing the situation, Kairon moved towards the spreading fire and cut down the surrounding area.

Without fuel, the flames couldn’t spread further and stayed where they were, not reaching Abelin.

“Ka, Kairon. Why are you so late?”

“Sorry for being late. Just rest for a bit.”

Looking at Ronos getting up, Kairon gripped his sword tightly.

“I’ll erase that demon from this world right now!”