—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Just five minutes ago…
Tears streamed down Aria’s face. Having barely eaten or slept lately, she was like an emotionless doll.
‘I’m… useless… a bad girl…’
First her family, then Lev… and now, she thought she would lose the one person who understood her, the Saint.
‘Again, again because of me…’
She was tired of being protected. She didn’t want to see anyone else sacrifice themselves for her. But as she entered the sanctuary, and the magic circuits, stained with black magic, were restored, her surveillance magic reactivated on its own…
“?”
His silhouette, which had been completely cut off… and his voice, which she had longed to hear… began to appear again.
”…Ria, can you hear me?”
“!!!”
Lev Denec. The man Aria had secretly liked, no, loved. Memories of the beginning of the semester at Clarice Academy, of Ebenfur, of the Twilight Valley, overlapped.
“Aria, if you trust me, nod.”
She had trusted him then. She had no choice. But now…
It’s a lie, it’s a lie…
Aria covered her ears with her hands. It had to be a hallucination. She had to help the Saint now. How could he come back when she had killed him with a cursed sword?
‘I’m sorry, I’m… sorry…’
Resurrection magic didn’t exist. Even if it did, it would be forbidden as black magic and would require many sacrifices.
‘That’s right… I… I, of all people… fell in love with Lev…’
Aria had resigned herself. She had decided to live a life of atonement for Rev. She couldn’t be saved by her own delusions like this. From the day she had run away, leaving her parents with Andras.
‘I didn’t deserve to be happy.’
It was then.
“…I like you.”
“…!!!!!”
The words she had never heard, even in her dreams, echoed through her entire being.
I like you, Aria. So it’s okay. It’ll be okay.
“B-But I…!”
“…I can’t leave you like this… So if you can hear my voice… will you… show me what you’re seeing?”
“…!”
Surveillance magic. The very magic that had led to her killing Lev. She had hated it.
“Aria, it’s okay. Trust me.”
“…”
Lev’s warm, reassuring voice, over and over, began to melt Aria’s heart.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Back to the present.
Thwip!
“Ah, mister…”
“Shut up and get down!!!!”
Crash!!!
An unknown red beam. The attacks were coming faster and faster.
‘Is he herding us…!’
Grip…
Raykan gripped his sword hilt, closed his eyes, and focused. The enemy was radiating hostility and killing intent. He could track their location by following their mana signature…
Whizz!
Kaboom!!!
“Ugh…!!”
Raykan’s greatsword and a red lightning bolt collided. His stoic poker face had long since crumbled.
‘…An elf, no, a demon archer…? How is this level of destructive power possible…!’
A single hit would be fatal.
Crack!
Gritting his teeth, he barely managed to deflect the arrow. Raykan was a Sword Expert, on par with the war hero Dustin. He was a step away from becoming a Sword Master, but he had a unique skill befitting his title, ‘The Evasive Sword.’
It was a near-divine body movement. No imperial marksman could hit him. That was how it was defined. Whether he was conscious of it or not, he could dodge long-range attacks as if bending the natural order.
Therefore, at first, he had tried to protect this Heisman brat. But…
‘There’s only one archer who can hit me…?’
Darian, the legendary dark elf. The arrow was definitely aimed at him. Although it didn’t feel like a direct hit, the trajectory was so close that he couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not.
‘Was she… in the Imperial City…?’
Impossible. This level of black magic was that of a Great Demon… he couldn’t have completely hidden his presence. And it didn’t make sense for a demon ally to attack Crow Fey.
‘Wait… a red… beam?’
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. The red-haired man, Kaelan Hiss. The promising young man of the guild . The flow was similar to the moment of his death.
“I need to warm up… I need 10 useful men. Vice Guild Master?”
“What, what kind of guy is this…? Vice Guild Master! Report to Guild Master Regillus…!!”
Forget it.
The kid, who had the full support of Crow Fey, to the point of making such a casual request to the Vice Guild Master, had crippled dozens of guild members in the name of training.
“Raykan, Kaelan Hiss is a stray dog. If he gets any funny ideas, you’ll have to take responsibility and put him down.”
He had endured it because Regillus, with whom he had a connection since his time in the Imperial Holy Knights, had personally given him this order. But he had only learned of his death a week ago.
“…Kaelan Hiss is dead.”
“?!”
Like this.
Sera Cervantes had secretly shown Raykan the moment of Kaelan’s death. It had been recorded on his communication device and sent to Crow Fey. The content was gruesome.
Bang!
A high-pitched explosion, like a bomb, and Kaelan had rolled more than ten times, convulsed, and passed out.
“!!!!!!!!”
It was a scene hard to believe. Even if he had used up his mana activating the magic tower… the man who had shown such monstrous growth had been taken down by a single crossbow bolt. It couldn’t be helped. Raykan took out the demonization scroll Macleod had made. Crow Fey had collapsed before they could even test it.
‘It’s better than dying…’
Rip!
“Ugh, aaaaaaah!!!”
As he tore the scroll and began to emit black magic…
“Mister…?”
“!!!”
Too late. This time, a slow, curved rain of arrows, like a rake, poured down.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
On the roof of Psyche’s personal temple.
‘Good thing the altitude is high.’
I had borrowed a black priest’s robe from the closet and was sniping at that Raymond guy. Anyone who saw this would be shocked, but the situation was dire.
“I’m… not in a good mood… right now.”
Thwip! Thwip-thwip!
With every word, a beam of light ravaged them. Piercing, destroying. Just watching, it was as if I could hear their screams. My objective was simple. Wear them down with my shots, then…
‘I have to take the reward…’
…when he finally turned into a demon, I would finish him off without a shred of hope. This shouldn’t have been possible, with the distance between the Imperial Palace and the Divine Grand Park being too great for the naked eye.
But by reverse-engineering Aria’s surveillance magic, it was possible.
‘Even if it’s only partial…’
From level 6, with the target’s permission, I could see through their eyes.
With a clear line of sight, the Snipe trait would correct my accuracy, regardless of the distance, and…
…the 4th Form: Wind Curve Shot would further increase my accuracy, completely ignoring Raykan’s [Evasion] trait.
Also, since demonic power was greatly weakened in the sanctuary, my wind arrows’ damage should have been halved. But, as in , since I was attacking from outside the sanctuary, the above condition didn’t apply.
“How did it come to this?”
Of course, this situation wasn’t in the [Reincarnated Academy] storyline. Raykan himself, aside from his unique [Evasion] trait, wasn’t a major character, so I hadn’t paid him much attention.
But by changing the narrative, it seemed Macleod and Raykan had teamed up.
‘It turned out well, anyway.’
Macleod Heisman, the brother of Nicolseta Heisman, had a secret scroll that allowed for instant teleportation to Pandemonium. That one scroll, which could bypass countless obstacles and reach the abyss instantly, would surely be a huge variable.
‘Here I come, Demon Lord…’
Since my plans were already disrupted, I might as well get my hands on that cheat-level item and his unique [Evasion] trait.
‘Attempting to assassinate the Saint is a serious crime in the Empire, right?’
Moreover, those two had committed numerous crimes even in Crow Fey. There was no reason to show mercy, and listing their sins would just be a waste of my breath. Most importantly, they had tried to harm Aria.
“You two… just die.”
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
In the starry sky greeting the dawn, the red wind painted five lines, like a song.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The red trajectories, dividing the night sky, were a signal of hell for the two men.
“Wh-Where… from…?”
“Shit! Mister, do something!”
“Quiet! He might be listening…!”
Swoosh!!!
Crash!!!!!!!!
“Aaaaargh!!”
A red beam pierced through the two men. This time, there were at least five.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!!!
One passed, and the man’s, no, the demon’s, greatsword was shattered. Another passed, and the boy who had been harassing Psyche was impaled through the abdomen. Blood poured out. This scene of retribution…
“…!”
…was all too familiar to Aria. The master of these wind arrows had always been like this. Whenever she was in danger, he would come to her rescue, as if he knew everything.
‘Why… ugh…! Why… is it!’
What was she to him? From the day they met, to even after his death… why did he keep fighting for her? Aria would have been fine even if this surveillance magic was just a hallucination she desired.
Even if this unbelievable scene before her was all a lie. If she could just see Lev’s face one more time, she was prepared to sacrifice everything.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“…”
Before long, Lev’s silhouette, captured in Aria’s surveillance magic, had stopped, and the two men who had tried to assassinate Saint Psyche were dead.
“……”
Everything was over. The silence lingered for a long time. And then, very late… the ashen-haired boy’s lips parted.
“Sorry, I’m late.”
That was the trigger.
Collapse.
At those words, Aria’s body and mind… crumbled.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
