novelraw Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62: Fire (2)
The Moon Tower had never ordered Harad to be captured.
Cassion's attempt to offer Harad to the Otherworld was because he didn't want Serzila to fall into chaos.
'What the Moon Tower knows is not me, but the existence of the Mage who burned the Watchtower.'
It wasn't just the Moon Tower.
The Otherworld seemed unaware of my existence.
They only knew that a Mage not from the Otherworld had burned the Fire Watchtower, and were trying to find him.
In that process, the Ivory Tower had joined hands with the Tower of Meteoric Iron.
'The Ivory Tower's goal must be revenge.'
Since the Ivory Tower had lost two precious 4th Ranks to me.
'Including the one who died by Cassion's hand, that makes three.'
Their neutral stance had changed.
It meant that the Red Tower and the Moon Tower wanted me, while the other towers wanted my head.
These were all things I had found out today.
Meaning, I had gained a lot from Tyrell.
I could have gained more.
The Deep Sea's path. Among the paths the Tower of the Deep Sea had drawn in the Boundary, there might be a helpful one.
Ellen and I were in a position where we had to obtain such paths.
The more paths we knew, the safer the journey to follow the Watchtower's smoke would be.
...Such an opportunity was flying away right before my eyes.
"You worm."
My original way of speaking was calm.
My speech and conduct were aristocratic, and showed a glimpse of dignity.
My attitude of adhering to such speech and conduct even while having fallen to the status of a hostage was quite admirable, but not particularly special.
Wasn't Elaine's way of speaking the same?
It was the dignity a noble should possess.
However, I had a unique sense of leisure and experience.
Things that Elaine, who had struggled with the position of Grand Heir, did not have.
So, there were times when he felt unfamiliar.
Perhaps there were times when she was even drawn to him.
The Harad in front of her was not like that.
He wasn't unfamiliar, nor was she particularly drawn to him.
-You should kill that temper of yours a little.
Suddenly, a dream came to mind.
In the dream, Elaine had said that to me.
-I told you to kill your temper a little.
When Elaine taught me Projection, and when I picked a fight with the 2nd Knights.
The Harad of that time had cursed. Far from being dignified, he would spew fire when he got angry.
The Harad in front of her was as rough as the Harad of that time. And intense.
"Fire!"
Tyrell screamed.
That was his last word.
I, who had approached at some point, grabbed the man's lower jaw. Sizzle! His skin melted and his mouth disappeared.
Tyrell's water-wreathed hand pushed against my chest. The water evaporated, and his palm melted.
I did not budge. The fire erupting from my entire body was not extinguished in the slightest.
I didn't draw my sword, nor did I control the flames. I just stood with my whole body cloaked in fire, holding Tyrell's lower jaw.
"The Aquins always had a problem with their mouths."
Tyrell's eyes widened. The emotions were clear. Pain, bewilderment, and anger. A thick wave rose, forcibly tearing the two apart.
"You're dying because of that mouth."
No, it tried to tear them apart. This time too, I did not budge. Instead, the fire became a little thicker, and stickier. The Crimson Flames evaporated the wave that was surging like a reverse waterfall.
"Ugh."
With a strange groan, the wave once again flooded from under his feet. The fire also rose like a wave. Even though it met with water, the viscous fire, far from evaporating, grew even larger.
That is to say... it was overwhelming.
Several reasons could be given.
It could be because I had absorbed six Mages on the way today, or it could be because Tyrell's level was lower than expected.
The man had said he had succeeded in Projection not long ago.
On the other hand, my Projection was close to perfect.
Cassion, a 5th Rank, had said so. That my magic was like that of a Mage who had rolled on the front lines for decades.
Either way, it made sense.
It might be all of the above. But in Ellen's eyes, the overwhelming reason was that I was not holding back.
A Mage's personality follows their Origin.
I had said so myself, that I was also like that. Ellen hadn't believed it. I was the opposite of fire.
'I am very fiery. I'm just holding it back.'
The words I had said once were the truth.
I was simply enduring.
Perhaps it wasn't just his temper.
The scene in front of her was so overwhelming that it made her suspect that rejecting the nature of one's Origin might weaken one's magic.
Tyrell's half-melted robe spread out noisily. The flow of magic was unusual. The vagueness was sublimating into a presence.
That presence was quite immense.
Ellen sensed that it was Projection. Through the robe as a passage, the man's Origin was seeping out into the world.
...And then it suddenly disappeared.
However, Ellen still felt a huge presence. It was not Tyrell's, but mine.
My left pupil was glistening black.
It was a form Ellen had never seen before, but it was clearly Projection.
"Fi. Fi!"
Ellen was once again convinced by Tyrell's reaction.
Projection could be manifested in a part of the body.
It seemed to be something only a skilled Mage could do.
That was the only way to explain the scene in front of her.
When Tyrell was just beginning to manifest Projection, I had already completed it.
The flames that started from my pupil had destroyed Tyrell's Projection that was just seeping out into the world.
The light in Tyrell's eyes went out. His lower jaw now only showed white. The scope of the melting grew larger. The flesh and muscles of his neck covered his chest and melted together.
That is to say, he would die soon.
To get more information, I had to stop now.
I didn't seem to have any intention of stopping.
As if having lost the initial objective of figuring out the path, the Crimson Flames were stubbornly discharged towards Tyrell.
That sight was unfamiliar.
Kubel, flustered at the side, looked at Ellen. A look that asked if Harad was always like that. Ellen didn't know either. A dream came to mind.
-I was just testing you. You've gotten quite good at holding back now. Everyone says your manner of speaking has become completely refined.
-Isn't that because Your Highness forced me?
-It was not forcing, but correction.
The Elaine in the dream had made the fiery Harad not fiery. She had corrected his way of speaking and personality.
The reason for that correction, Ellen was experiencing firsthand. That was too rough, even for rough.
...She didn't like it.
"Calm down."
Ellen shouted.
I didn't even pretend to listen.
But the Elaine in the dream had succeeded.
How? Ellen approached me. She struck the back of his head with all her might. Thwack! She had hit a person's head, but it sounded like a wall breaking.
Of course, I was fine.
He turned his head. His eyes were wide. The Projection had disappeared. Ellen looked back at him and said.
"He's already dead."
My wide eyes looked down at Ellen.
That went on for quite a while. Ellen didn't look away.
"Ah."
How much time had passed, I let go of his hand.
Tyrell fell to the ground with a thud.
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
Ellen smiled.
"The Deep Sea's path is gone with the wind."
It wasn't a bad feeling.
That he had gotten angry for her, and that he had come to his senses at her words.
"You should have stopped me a little earlier."
"...You got hit less, right?"
* * *
My appearance was a disgrace.
The fire was only safe for me. Because of that, I was practically naked, but Kubel rummaged through his backpack and held something out. It was clothes.
"I brought them just in case."
"Thank you."
The clothes fit perfectly.
Kubel had a delicate side, belying his large frame.
It must be the influence of raising a daughter by himself.
"I'm sorry. I showed you something you shouldn't have seen."
"Not at all. I would have been angry too."
"Thank you for understanding."
Kubel smiled as if he had never been flustered.
That smile looked somewhat sly.
I couldn't question Kubel's smile.
The sense of self-loathing was considerable. Even though my outward appearance was that of a 20-year-old, my mental age was 40. Because I had died then.
'It's not like I'm a teenager or something.'
No matter how much Elaine was insulted, I shouldn't have ridden the flames of my Origin.
It was a clear mistake.
Thanks to that, the clue about the Deep Sea's path was gone.
"You were really like fire, you."
The corners of Ellen's mouth lifted slyly.
It was clearly the look of someone who was teasing.
"I told you, I'm just holding it back."
"Why couldn't you hold it back this time."
Ellen giggled to herself.
"I couldn't stand them bringing you into it."
"..."
At that, Ellen shut her mouth like a mute.
Then she soon changed the subject.
"Do you know Aquins?"
I remembered mentioning Aquins in the middle of it all.
It was from my past life. The noble star, Tyrell's grandfather, had died at my hands.
"I said it to provoke him."
"You seemed to have the mind to provoke him, then?"
"Again, I'm sorry."
Ellen didn't tease anymore.
Instead, she examined my body.
"Is your body alright?"
"It's fine."
There were no aftereffects.
"Is it because you absorbed the Mages on the way?"
"That's part of it, but it's more thanks to covering my body with it."
I pointed to my own eye.
"The magic called Projection can also be manifested in the body."
In my case, I preferred to manifest it in my eyes.
It was easy to immerse myself since they were both round, and it was intuitive in that I could aim at the enemy at the same time as my gaze.
"If you had such a method, why did you do it that way until now?"
Ellen's eyes narrowed.
"It's a magic that's several times more difficult than normal Projection."
The majority of Mages couldn't succeed in it until they died.
"But you did it."
I was about to explain further how difficult that magic was, but I stopped.
She wouldn't understand anyway.
Come to think of it, Ellen perceived me as a genius on par with her.
"It's safe, but its power is weak. It was all calculated."
It wouldn't have worked on the other Mages I had killed with Projection so far.
It wasn't because the opponent was great, but because I was weak. I had no choice but to overdo it.
"That bastard couldn't do anything, though?"
Ellen pointed to the melted Tyrell.
It was no longer in the shape of a person. It was like a piece of a swamp had been scooped up.
"It's thanks to me getting the first strike, and also thanks to the compatibility."
Ellen tilted her head.
"If it's compatibility, isn't water more advantageous than fire?"
Fire is extinguished by water.
"If it were normal fire, that would be the case."
My fire was an exception.
"The sun is not extinguished even if you pour water on it. On the contrary, it burns even more fiercely."
My fire was that of the sun.
It couldn't be extinguished by ordinary water. On the contrary, it only served as fuel.
"Of course, there might be a Mage whose Origin is a special kind of water..."
I looked at Tyrell's grotesque corpse.
"Thath wash no' ih."
My pronunciation was slurred.
It was because my mouth was full of saliva.
"...You can't hold back that saliva?"
"I can assure you, there is no Mage who can hold this back."
I said, swallowing and wiping the drool.
A Mage who has once started feasting cannot stop. The pleasure of absorbing an Origin is that great.
"Not a single one?"
"Hmm. I've heard that a 6th Rank can hold it back."
The 6th Rank is called the stage of having subjugated the Origin.
Judging by the expression, it means they cannot be swept away by the impulses of the Origin.
"Of course, it's a rumor. I'll have to become a 6th Rank to know if it's true. Or meet one and ask."
For the regressed me, both were open futures.
I was confident I would reach the 6th Rank someday, and I planned to kill the 6th Ranks of the Otherworld.
"Then I also..."
"I appreciate the thought."
I cut off Kubel who had interjected.
I knew he wanted to become stronger, but I didn't think Kubel would reach the 6th Rank.
The Kubel of the past life had remained at the 5th Rank even after eating so many hearts.
"If you eat it secretly, I'll kick you out of the Inner Fortress. Just you."
"..."
"I'll make sure you can't meet Shura either."
At the last words, Kubel was horrified.
'So he doesn't care about being kicked out.'
At that, I smiled bitterly.
He was willing to eat a heart even while knowing the dangers of feasting. Kubel was a truly devoted man.
"So what are you going to do now?"
"What do you think I'll do?"
"What are you talking about. Don't act like you're teaching me. You don't have a plan right now, you."
"..."
Just like that.
Ellen was sharp at times.
"First, let's eat."
"With your mouth?"
"Of course not."
Fire ignited on Tyrell's corpse.
The heart hidden within was drawn into the sun through the flames.
"This is also quite something."
My face slackened with pleasure as I said so.
I was intoxicated by Tyrell's Origin.
"..."
Ellen frowned silently.
No matter how you looked at it, it was not a pleasant sight.
There is one more person who dislikes that sight.
...What kind of woman could she be.