〈6. Proof of Existence (48)〉
Pure white lightning scorched the earth.
In the pouring rain of light and heat, I couldn’t regain my senses. I could only lie there on the spot, waiting for the unbearable natural disaster to pass.
The incandescent world did not lose its light for a long time.
In the face of overwhelming violence, the attributes of objects classified by humanity were meaningless. Regardless of conductors or insulators, everything constituting this world heated up red and burned.
Why am I alive?
Normally, my body should have burned to ashes long ago. At least, I should have fainted from electrocution, but my body was fine, and my consciousness was intact.
I only felt the burning smell filling my lungs.
The temperature that had risen in an instant flickered as if burning my skin. The endless tidal wave of lightning showed no sign of stopping. It was like pouring water from a jar into an anthill.
Only after everything collapsed and faded would this catastrophe end.
It didn’t take long for that to happen.
Suddenly, silence settled around.
It felt as if even the dust in the air had burned and disappeared. I realized for the first time today that air could have such a strange smell.
My head was cautiously lifted.
The chamber had completely collapsed. The rocks that couldn’t withstand the immense voltage were charred black and scattered. There weren’t many places free from soot.
Only around me and my companions, and the surroundings of the Great Mage who caused this natural disaster.
Crawling on all fours, I raised my body. The remaining electricity made my muscles tingle and contract. The heated heat would remain for a while, but for some unknown principle, it was walkable on the stone floor.
It seemed all power had vanished as the crack in the sky closed.
The flood of lightning that had poured from that gap.
How long had I been staring blankly?
Thud, the sound of someone collapsing was heard. My eyes hurriedly turned to the source, and there was Mr. Reynolds kneeling while spitting out blood with a ulck.
A startled shout burst from my lips.
“Mr. Reynolds!”
Senior Elsie and the others also seemed freed from the girl’s clutches.
The dog collar no longer spewed electricity, and Celine, who had seemed to be having nightmares, was groaning and tossing her body. Moreover, the blood-red sun floating in the air had vanished long ago.
The victory and defeat were clear.
The Great Mage had won, and the girl had lost.
However, despite that clear contrast, none of us, including me, could smile. It was because Mr. Reynolds’ pale complexion looked serious to anyone.
Following me, Senior Elsie breathlessly approached around Mr. Reynolds.
Seen up close, Mr. Reynolds’ condition was even more severe.
Blackish-blue marks were spreading all over his body. It meant all his blood vessels had burst.
It was a miracle he was still breathing.
With trembling hands, I fumbled in my bosom. In my memory, there should be one healing potion left.
“……It’s useless.”
“Uncle!”
The scream burst from Senior Elsie’s lips.
Her appearance was a mess, not long after escaping the electrocution. Moreover, hadn’t she been abused by the girl?
Nevertheless, Senior Elsie was desperately trying to save her uncle somehow.
Rummaging through her bosom, frantically looking around for anything that could help.
With tears welling up in her eyes, the mage let out sobs.
“S-Somehow… Somehow, a way!”
“My heart burst.”
That plain declaration was enough.
I averted my gaze with a bleak expression, and Senior Elsie’s body stiffened rigidly.
“This must be the price for breaking the ‘contract’… Even the blood is being forcibly circulated with mana. But, even this won’t last a few minutes.”
“U-Uncle…….”
Teardrops fell drop, drop from Senior Elsie’s eyes.
The rainwater couldn’t wash away the soot. It only mimicked the pitiful sound of rain.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh.
It was a self-assessment left by someone called a ‘Great Mage.’ It must be an undeniable fact.
Reynolds Rinella was facing death.
To the point where wishing for a miracle felt sorry.
The gaze that had once burned like flames in Mr. Reynolds had disappeared.
The blurry vision, the unfocused retina foretold the man’s end.
“Elsie, don’t cry… This is the fate I decided.”
“B-But… But Uncle…….”
“You will become a greater mage than me.”
With trembling hands, Mr. Reynolds placed the pitch-black rod on his chest.
It seemed he had no more strength to move. I carefully embraced Senior Elsie’s shoulders.
The watery blue eyes turned toward me.
No conversation was needed. I merely signaled with my eyes toward Mr. Reynolds’ hand.
That hand tightly gripping the pitch-black rod.
Senior Elsie, realizing my intent, placed her trembling hands over Mr. Reynolds’ hand.
“I was fearful and cowardly. Only now do I realize… When I left the family and chose love, I vowed never to break.”
The empty voice resonates in the ashen world.
“But on that day facing the evil god’s minions, I made a similar judgment. I wanted to run away, and tried to run away… And I thought you would too, Elsie.”
Barely turning his head, Mr. Reynolds captured his niece on his blurry retina.
His trembling lips were drawing an arc. It seemed he wanted to smile somehow.
“……But you didn’t.”
The Great Mage’s labored breathing continued. Senior Elsie leaned her upper body with a desperate expression, but that wouldn’t produce a proper solution.
“Take this staff.”
Senior Elsie gritted her teeth and nodded her head. But she couldn’t stop the sobs leaking between her teeth.
She only gripped the pitch-black rod tightly with that small hand.
“Once, I was too afraid to even think of holding this staff. Having abandoned my beloved lover, with that memory stabbing my heart like a painful awl, I tried to live forgetting it… But, in the end, it returned to my hand.”
While saying that, the middle-aged man wore a somewhat relieved smile.
The end was gradually approaching. Those facing death slowly discover themselves distancing from pain.
Becoming free from the body.
It was a scene I had seen several times before, so I forcibly closed my eyes and swallowed the bitter feelings.
“Now I can finally say what I truly wanted to tell you… No, actually, it was what I wanted to tell myself long ago.”
The Great Mage’s hand slipped away, releasing the relic.
“Live your life, Elsie… Like a Rinella.”
“……Yes.”
Gripping the pitch-black rod tightly, Senior Elsie nodded vigorously along with her tears.
It was then that Mr. Rinella’s gaze reached me.
“……Nephew-in-law.”
“Yes, Uncle-in-law.”
At my changed address, a thick smile formed at the corners of Mr. Reynolds’ lips.
It was an expression as if he couldn’t be helped.
“Can I entrust Elsie to you?”
“That’s not a request.”
I barely squeezed out the fading voice and answered like that. My eyes, filled with determination, burned fiercely.
“Because it’s naturally what I have to do. So, you can make your last request separately.”
A laughter mixed with blood burst out.
It was only a very faint sound, but I felt saved even by that.
Because Mr. Reynolds could depart with a more peaceful mind.
“In that case, let me show my greed…….”
Regulating his breath, the Great Mage let out a low voice.
“In life, there will come moments when you want to run away someday. Everyone does. Sometimes you don’t know why you have to do this, when there’s an easier path, why insist on this one… However.”
From there, last words were placed one by one on my heart.
“Don’t run away.”
One.
“Don’t act cowardly.”
Another one.
“One, two… If you give up like that, eventually you won’t be able to choose any path.”
I embedded the wishes stacked like stone towers into my heart. And by the end, Mr. Reynolds finally wore a peaceful expression without a trace of regret.
“I’m counting on you.”
The fading breath.
Senior Elsie finally couldn’t hold back and burst into tears. Ria was just standing silently behind my back without a word, and I quietly engraved the Great Mage’s end in my vision.
“Elsie, and this world…….”
That was the last breath.
The Great Mage’s soul was thus liberated.
Because the fate of Rinella is decided by Rinella.
In our silent tribute, one great mage completed his life.
*
There wasn’t much leisure to immerse in sorrow.
After gathering my armaments piecemeal, I looked at Senior Elsie, who was sitting nailed to the spot. She seemed unable to easily accept the death of the mage she had admired all her life and her blood relative.
Ria cautiously asked me.
“……Will she be okay?”
“Leave her be.”
But it’s not like I had a proper measure either.
Senior Elsie’s pain was something no one could understand.
She could only endure, accept, and overcome it herself.
When I took a step to wake Celine like that.
Clatter, a strange noise arose from one pile of rocks.
Sensing something amiss, my eyes hurriedly turned to the source. And right after.
Bang, an explosion erupted, and rocks scattered in all directions.
I blankly chased that epicenter.
Pitch-black hair fluttered. In the golden eyes soaked in blood, not just killing intent but even demonic energy was rippling. Grit grit, the teeth ground to the limit made a horrific sound as they rubbed.
She’s alive?
A ulck emotion surged up my throat. How could this be.
Mr. Reynolds had even sacrificed his life. It was a victory barely won. But the lifeline of evil is so long and tenacious, the girl didn’t die and rose again.
Of course, she wasn’t unscathed.
The pitch-black priestly robes were torn in places and a mess. The skin stained with blood and dust, and the burned right foot and leg grotesquely exposed muscles and blood vessels.
It was regenerating in real time.
I gritted my teeth and gripped the sword tighter. I couldn’t use aura since mana was depleted, but I still had one trump card left.
The Dragon Blood Rune.
If I use that, can I land an effective hit?
It was when I was hesitating like that.
“……Wait!”
The girl’s attitude, as if about to kill us at any moment, softened at once.
The moment my gaze was dyed with puzzlement.
The girl slightly avoided my eyes and said in a shy voice.
“S-Surrender…….”
It was a development I truly never imagined.
One Response
Sr. Reynolds… ????