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“Oh, yes. An excellent friend in life and death.”

Edwin glared at Daphne with narrowed eyes. Nella hadn’t realized it, but the presence of a Sixth Circle wizard in combat couldn’t be ignored. Daphne’s entrance wholly upended the pendulum of balance that had been slowly tilting in Edwin’s favor. Realizing this, he backed away from her, little by little.

“What are you doing here? I asked you to keep an eye on the materials.”

“I didn’t want to get you killed in the process.”

Daphne replied nonchalantly. Nella’s face, red with shame, flushed again, this time in a different direction. Daphne, on the other hand, was looking at her suspiciously.

“What do you want now?”

“So, why did you say Elroy’s name? You weren’t subconsciously hoping for him to show up now, were you?”

“I don’t know, you idiot, don’t ask me that. Of course, the Hero would only show up in such a situation. You were supposed to be guarding the room in the first place.”

Nella’s eyes then widened with realization.

“No, no, no. What about all the data that you were supposed to protect? You didn’t just leave them to burn, did you?

‘Even if you were worried about me…’

Nella was at a loss for words and looked at Daphne. From the last time they met, she was a timid wizard with a strange attachment to Elroy. ‘Has she finally lost her mind?’

“I’m still guarding the room.”

Daphne said confidently.

‘What the hell? She could be that far away and still supply all the mana needed for a protective spell? Was there that much difference between the Fifth and Sixth Circles?’ Nella couldn’t tell if she was lying to reassure herself or if she was serious.

“Look.”

A rift opened to Daphne’s right. Nella blinked as she watched her hand disappear into nothingness. When it reappeared, it held a reference book from her lab desk. Daphne thrust the book back into the rift.

“…No, how the fuck did you finish it? Are you insane? What is it with your brain that you would think of finishing, realizing, and maintaining it in a few moments?”

“Explanation later.”

Daphne turned to Edwin.

“I am willing to accept your surrender. Of course, you’ll be bound limb from limb and locked in the deepest dungeon. You know you’re no match for me.”

The monster Edwin let out a snarling laugh. It sounded like the scraping of nails on a brass pot, and he turned to face Daphne with the full force of his magic.

“Ridiculous. You still think you have the advantage.”

Just then, Edwin’s feet frosted over. With a sound like hundreds of eggs breaking at once, the tentacles that sprouted in place of his legs froze instantly. As he looked on in bewilderment, Daphne’s next spell came quickly.

“Freezing…? No, and this…!”

Like thorns sprouting from a rose vine, icicles bloomed from the frost that bound his tentacles. They pierced through it and stabbed straight through Edwin’s torso.

“Agh!”

Even the black blood that poured out froze. Edwin hurriedly used his mana, pulling himself out of Daphne’s spell and onto the ground. As she looked at him, there was no sign of surprise on her face. Daphne’s mouth opened, and a cold appraisal flowed out.

“Not bad.”

But it wasn’t good enough.

Edwin’s face contorted into a demonic grimace as the next spell was cast. Daphne still looked relaxed. The power of the Sixth Circle, which she had earned through her talents and hard work, was far superior in sophistication and application.

“You-!”

Edwin’s tentacles were stiffened and paralyzed by the hail of lightning, and while his movements were again restricted, Daphne unleashed another barrage of offensive magic. Her magic took many forms as she ravaged him. Fire, ice, lightning, or just pure mana. Daphne released her magic like there was no limit to her power.

“…How did she get so strong? She…”

Nella thought she tried as hard as she could. She thought she’d grown to be second to none. But the wizard who had taken her place as the centerpiece of the Hero’s Party made the answer clear.

“Damn you, Hero’s bitch!”

Edwin’s furious voice rang out, but his voice was the only thing Daphne was fighting against, his body frozen and thawing, tattered as if pierced by countless spear blades. What appeared to be human organs oozed through the torn flesh.

“You don’t get two chances to surrender. You already kicked that can down the road.”

Edwin’s eyes began to look around frantically as he realized that this would be the final blow, but then, as if he had suddenly discovered something or had stopped having a seizure, his eyes became calm.

“…I see. I was afraid of losing my senses. Why was I afraid of that when there is no sense in the world, or so it seems.”

Daphne’s arms stiffened as she tried to glean any further clues from Edwin’s mumbled words.

“I have my reason, and you do not, but the result will be the same.”

Daphne’s magic shot out, and at the same time, Edwin’s body began to swell even more grotesquely. His changing skin blocked the spell that would have pierced his ragged torso. The magic could not penetrate his enormous body, leaving only scorch marks.

“The Absolute…Worship immortality and transcendence…To greet the coming destruction….”

Those were Edwin’s last words as a human. Like his first victims, Edwin had become a monster who had lost his mind. Daphne clicked her tongue as she stared at the creature that had suddenly become a threat. She should’ve just ended it.

The ground exploded. Edwin’s tentacle had accelerated beyond Daphne’s ability to see, and with an ear-splitting roar, Edwin, or what used to be him, fought the wizard with nothing more than its burgeoning physical strength.

“I guess that’s why he’s just a monster.”

Daphne clicked her tongue and channeled her magic. It would take a lot of work to take him down at once. She’d have to keep pouring magic and weaken it before taking it down.

“It won’t be easy.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be. Seal its movements, render its defenses useless, and then deliver the final blow. Even doing one of those things seemed like an impossible task.

“…I just need to get this over with to help Elroy.”

With a grunt, Daphne squeezed out her mana. The chill grew to envelop the entire eleventh floor. The creature’s movements began to slow as it shrugged off Daphne’s magic. The monster moved slower and slower.

“So, just stay there.”

It didn’t completely freeze it. Its resistance was too strong. Daphne conjured a frost spear out of thin air. She had to conserve her energy. If she expended all her energy on defeating the creature here, she’d have trouble with the clean-up afterward.

“I’ll have to take it down with this.”

It was barely a compromise. Daphne squeezed her eyes shut, opened them, and let the spear fly.

‘…This won’t work.’

By the time she came to that conclusion, the spear had stopped short of piercing the creature’s head, lodged halfway in. Just as she was about to channel additional energy, the creature’s head lurched forward, and the frost spear pierced its skull.

“…Is it done?”

Nella held her hand up, looking like she’d squeezed her magic to the limit. Daphne nodded grimly.

“Thank you.”

“You were trying to conserve your magic, weren’t you? Wise choice, but I’m done.”

Daphne helped the staggering Nella to her feet and began to head downstairs. The fight below seemed to have ended, as there was no noise. It made Daphne a little uneasy. She picked up Nella and ran down the stairs.

“Elroy!”

The tenth floor had been devastated. The corridor lined with the labs had been turned into an empty plaza, and the rooms and walls were left in shards, unsure if they even existed.

“…What a mess, the other professors would fall to their knees if they saw it.”

Nella said, sounding very much like a researcher. The pink-haired wizard looked around for the Hero.

“…Elroy?”

Daphne’s gaze froze, and she paused. The grip on Nella suddenly loosened, and she tumbled halfway to the floor.

“Hey! You can’t just drop me like that!”

Nella frowned and turned her head, and where her gaze landed…

The Hero lay in a pool of blood, and his sword clutched in his hand.

***

For the first time since the founding of the Academy, the entire Tower has been shut down and went down on a temporary hiatus. In a fortunate twist of fate, the damage did not extend beyond the Tower. Ongoing research was halted, and the injured and dead were estimated. There weren’t many deaths, but there were many missing. Three-quarters of the university’s faculty and half the teaching assistants mysteriously disappeared.

As a sense of unease and crisis engulfed the city and the entire kingdom, a rumor that drove the people to despair began to fester, black as a drop of ink in water.

“Rumor has it; the Hero is dead.”

“Ah… He didn’t even fight the Disaster. How could he have died in vain?”

“They say he was caught off guard in a battle at the Magic Tower and hasn’t been seen in quite some time.”

The rumor was that the Hero was dead.

Translator’s Corner

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As some of you may know, I’m translating another series now. I’ll post two chapters here, then one chapter of the other series until I run out of . Once I’ve caught up, I’ll be alternating between the two.