Ch. 175 - The 7th Tower (7)

Chapter 175: The 7th Tower (7)

... Darkness emanated from the full-length mirror.

It devoured Flame and dragged her inside.

Since it happened so suddenly and swiftly, nobody in the room could react properly.

"Uh! Uh...?"

Eisel stared at the full-length mirror with a dazed expression.

Professor Chekeren appeared bewildered and hadn't even thought of using magic, while Anella just sat down on the floor in shock.

“What… what just happened…?”

It didn't make sense.

Flame was always confident and self-assured. Sbe had effortlessly overcome countless incidents and crises that had come her way until now.

Once again, she thought she could handle it.

Just like before, she thought it could overcome any powerful and threatening dark magic by bravely facing it head-on.

But now, it all fell apart so helplessly.

"Oh...”

Thud!

Eisel sat down on the floor, and her hand lost the strength to hold the staff.

She was too young to experience losing someone they fought alongside with their life on the line.

So, Eisel couldn't properly grasp the situation.

‘What… went wrong?’

They belatedly tried to retrace their steps.

And the quest to figure out what went wrong yielded no answers.

Also, unfortunately.

The girls hadn't done anything wrong.

If they had just fought according to the plan, they could have undoubtedly achieved victory.

There was just one problem.

... Flame was the 'Child of the Stars.'

"Ha, hahaha!"

Finally, Chekeren burst into laughter.

He thought the mirror was in a life-threatening crisis, but who would have thought that it would devour the opponent.

“You truly… surprised me.”

It wasn't for nothing that they carried Stella's name.

As a first year student, they were able to surprised someone who held the title of a magic professor.

They deserved praise.

"But in the end, it turned out like this. Isn't that so?"

Whoosh!!

Thick crimson flames flared up.

It was as if they were fueled by Chekeren’s rage.

The crimson waves started to ominously engulf the entire area.

"Now that the most annoying brat has disappeared, let's finish this slowly."

The more the opponent resistd, the harder it was to subdue them without killing them.

However, now that the considerable power of Flame had vanished, it was very easy.

Professor Chekeren extended both hands to conjure the most magnificent and beautiful flames for the finale.

The magic prepared for the grand finale was none other than the crimson flames of the Adolevit’s royal family.

"Hmm?"

But something felt off.

Unlike other flames, Adolevit’s flames were not passionately burning or threatening...

Their characteristic was a serene beauty.

However, the flames conjured by Chekeren were just ordinary crimson with no remarkable features.

'Wait. This isn't...!'

The moment he thought that.

Swoosh!!

“Urgh…?!”

A crimson blade flew from behind and pierced his heart.

"Gah...!"

Black blood spilled from his mouth as he tried to grasp the blade which had pierced his chest, but it had no physical form.

A blade without a physical form.

It was... a true flame.

More crimson than anything else, hence more passionate and beautiful.

The true flame of Adolevit.

"Surely not..."

Chekeren slowly turned his head back.

There, he could see Princess Hong Bi-Yeon, who was covered in sweat and could barely stand with one hand against the wall.

'How...?'

He was sure that he had consumed Hong Bi-Yeon’s consciousness.

Thus, hadn't he perfectly taken over the magic as well?

Her soul was destined to wander trapped inside the full-length mirror forever, then fade away.

The remaining body there was just a shell.

But upon reconsideration, he hadn't directly collected the soul himself.

More precisely... it was the one inside the full-length mirror who directly absorbed the soul.

'Surely not!'

Thud!

Forcing out the crimson blade, Chekeren looked at the full-length mirror.

“Is that what it means to be… the Child of the Stars?”

Currently, the power of the one sleeping in the full-length mirror was still feeble.

It was even struggling to properly absorb just one flame of the Adolevit lineage.

But in addition, devouring Flame who was known as the Child of the Stars, made it impossible to maintain its abilities.

"... I don't know what happened, but from now on, we must be prepared."

Hong Bi-Yeon carefully uttered each word, exerting effort to do so.

Despite feeling like collapsing right there from utter exhaustion, losing consciousness now would truly mean the end of everything.

That was what she thought.

"Ha, hahaha... hahaha."

Chekeren appeared to have lost all sense of composure. He slowly stepped back, clutched his face with both hands, and shook his head in disbelief.

"Damn it... Can't even endure this much? After all the lies you fed me...? Deceived me? Damn it! Damn it!"

"What?"

Chekeren spat curses into the empty air

The action caused even Hong Bi-Yeon, who was busy conjuring flames, to become flustered.

While his anger couldn’t be directed anywhere, one thing was certain.

The current Chekeren... was in a state of complete resignation.

It was strange.

High-ranking dark mages didn’t die from having their hearts pierced.

Even though Hong Bi-Yeon had pierced his vital spot just now, killing students would've been effortless for him at best.

Yet, he just sat there without doing anything.

"... Everything has become pointless."

The higher the goals and ambitions one has, the harder it is to endure the moment when all those dreams scatter like foam.

Chekren clenched his face tightly with both hands and let out a sobbing sound.

Then, slowly raising his head, he scanned the girls.

First, Hong Bi-Yeon and Eisel, who were the first to have their power absorbed by him, and finally Anella.

"... It’s such a pity for you too."

"W-What do you mean by it!"

Anella's defense mechanism kicked in with a burst of panic, and she yelled out.

However, upon hearing that, Eisel slowly accepted the even more unbelievable reality and began to utter each word slowly.

"... What about Flame? What's going to happen to her?"

"Answer us!"

"Why ask when you already know?"

Chekeren gestured towards the full-length mirror with his chin.

"That place is a fragment of a shattered world completely disconnected from reality, where the souls of ordinary humans who enter cannot return. That’s how I absorbed your souls."

The reason 'that individual' couldn't act alone inside the full-length mirror and needed Chekeren as a medium was precisely that.

But it was just this much.

If he had realized sooner that they were too weak to even withstand one Flame and had to expel all the souls, such a dangerous situation wouldn't have even begun.

Chekeren closed his eyes.

At the moment when the Flame and 'that individual' in the full-length mirror disappeared together, he too would vanish, bound by his soul.

"Wait... you can't just leave it like that!"

Snap!

Suddenly, Hong Bi-Yeon, who had approached Chekeren, bit her pale lips and pointed her staff at his neck.

"Speak."

"What?"

"Tell me a way to bring them back."

"Hah, impossible. That world is as shattered as a broken mirror. What do you think you can do in a world where everything is mixed up, where looking to the right shows the left and looking to the left shows the back? If you're so determined, why not just jump right in? But if both of you perish side by side, then that's quite a spectacle for the final journey."

Hong Bi-Yeon scanned Eisel and Anella with determination.

Then, she uttered the most dreaded question she never wanted to ask.

"Did you, by any chance, come all the way here to save me?"

Anella couldn’t bring herself to answer when she heard the hesitation in her voice.

Eisel hesitated for a moment, but nodded her head in the end.

"Yes. Miss Flame formed this team to save you."

"If that's the case..."

Without further hesitation, Hong Bi-Yeon turned on her heels.

She wasn't heading towards the exit, but the full-length mirror...

"Wait... just a moment! Stop!"

Realizing what she was about to do, Eisel hurriedly ran and grabbed Hong Bi-Yeon’s arm.

However, with a fierce strength, Hong Bi-Yeon forcefully pushed Eisel aside and turned her head sharply to glare at her.

"Don't interfere!"

For a moment, Eisel flinched under Hong Bi-Yeon’s blazing eyes which were as bright as burning flame.

What was she so angry about?

What made her emotions so intense?

Eisel couldn't understand her emotions even in the slightest.

"I have to go. I have to go and save..."

With her eyes wide as if possessed, Hong Bi-Yeon headed towards the mirror...

It definitely seemed dangerous.

Even if she entered in perfect condition, she would undoubtedly be on the verge of death, let alone now, when she was not in her right mind and had depleted most of her mana.

“I can’t let you do this.”

Eisel tightly grasped Hong Bi-Yeon’s hand from behind.

"She have sacrificed herself to save you. To render even that sacrifice meaningless. I can't let you do that."

"... Let go."

"If you're so determined to go, then incinerate me and go. You say that all the time, don't you?"

However, Hong Bi-Yeon only glared at Eisel, not even considering using magic to threaten her.

As expected.

She never forgot the favors she received.

… No, she goes beyond that level.

Princess Hong Bi-Yeon had an infinitely forgiving aspect towards those who did something for her without asking for anything in return.

In her head. In her heart.

As if a huge wedge had been driven in.

So, how could Hong Bi-Yeon stand by and watch the death of Flame who struggled to save her even at the cost of her life?

"I have to go..."

Eisel widened her blue eyes in surprise.

It was the first time.

She saw Princess Hong Hi-Yeon of Adolevit in such a weak state.

She forced her lips together with an expression that appeared like she might burst into tears.

Then, she bowed her head deeply.

She felt not only the helplessness brought by her own powerlessness, but also disappointment and anger.

Now, she just...

Hated everything.

As Hong Bi-Yeon, who had been approaching the full-length mirror, finally released her strength and weakly sat down, Eisel supported her.

Now it was all over.

Perhaps she should be satisfied with having saved Hong Bi-Yeon.

… As she thought that.

"Oh, shit. Is it already too late?"

A voice was heard.

The three girls' gaze simultaneously turned to the source.

There stood Baek Yu-Seol, wiping the sweat beads off his cheek.

It appeared that he had rushed there.

"Ah..."

At that moment, she thought.

The current situation was desperate enough, impossible, and blocked by a massive, insurmountable wall.

Just because one boy had come, why did all this meaningless situation suddenly turn hopeful?

Why was that?

With a disgruntled expression, he glanced through the room and then looked piercingly at the full-length mirror.

“Sigh. My life is really something.”

Baek Yu-Seol walked over and lightly tapped Eisel and Hong Bi-Yeon’s shoulders.

As if comforting them for their efforts so far.

With just that gesture... All their worries and concerns appeared to have wash away, leaving a sense of relief.

"I'll be back in a moment."

It was like he was going for a leisurely walk with a dog in the backyard of the neighborhood. His steps were relaxed and casual, but above all, he possessed a reliable and sturdy figure.

Whoosh! Crash!

He lifted his foot towards the full-length mirror and completely disappeared from view.

And they had no worry at all.

Rather, they felt it was reassuring.

"Ah..."

"Huh? Princess Hong Bi-Yeon? Snap out of it!"

Finally, she let go of all her worries and concerns and fell into a deep sleep.

When she wakes up again... everything would be resolved.

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