Episode 54
* * *
Some time later, the Imperial Academy.
The lecture hall of the top department of the 3rd Circle. The professor waiting for the students on the podium was not the usual 4th Circle professor.
“Oh, it’s such an honor to meet you all.”
A handsome man with a beauty that would make even men lose their minds. He is the best red magician on the continent who has reached the level of the 8th circle, and the top of the Red Tower.
“… … !”
The Red Tower Lord, the Bloody Duke Yuris Marquis, was there.
“Today, ‘my class’ will be held in place of the usual professor.”
The students bowed their heads in shock at the sight. The red-haired sage of the world, who would teach us! What greater honor could there be?
“Just a little while ago… … .”
The bloody ball continued speaking calmly.
“It was right here that something truly unpleasant happened.”
That day, towards the students of the ‘3rd Circle Top Faculty’ who knew the truth about what happened to Leonard Walter.
“… … .”
Dale’s expression hardened coldly.
‘Is he finally going to reveal his true feelings?’
What did this man want that had brought Dale here? Why did he have twelve Purifiers attack him?
“Leonard Walter was truly a promising student. Everyone here was trembling and bowing their heads in front of him.”
Bloody Ball continues speaking, shoulders broadening exaggeratedly.
“To that mere stray worm who doesn’t even have a shred of talent.”
The air around them suddenly froze over at the laughter whose true intentions were unknown.
“Well, I guess that’s enough about the good bugs. Also, what I’m going to teach you here today is… … .”
The bloody ball continued speaking without paying attention.
“It’s history.”
Smiling like an actor with his signature exaggerated expression.
“Does anyone among you know anything about the Black Red Priesthood?”
An unofficial unit established between the Black and Red Towers during the Unification Wars for ‘academic research and cooperation’.
“During the war of unification of the empire… … the two black and red towers symbolize the unity of those who joined forces with a ‘single purpose.’”
The terrible truth of the Black Red Priesthood, without even a shred of reservation, flowed out from the mouth of the Bloody Ball.
──Under the pretext and justification of pursuing power and truth, their cruel true nature is that they have abandoned even the proper human conduct.
In this way, the untold corruption of the Black Prisoners was revealed one by one, and the students’ expressions were filled with shock at the actions that would make even the devil cry.
“Why do you look so unhappy?”
The bloody ball tilted its head as if it didn’t know.
“Do those who wish to become wizards of the Red Tower feel guilty about such trivial morals?”
As if I couldn’t understand.
“The black ball was just like you.”
“… … !”
Bloody Ball continues speaking.
“I gave up the attitude of seeking the truth, being bound by such petty morality.”
It was a story Dale knew too.
After the war, the Empire secretly tried to keep their organization alive even after the war ended. Even if they were a devil’s force, the ‘academic achievements’ they obtained through their evil deeds were worth the risk.
However, Dale’s father disbanded the Black Red Unit of his own volition.
The ‘Black and Red Bond’ came to an end, and the records of the Black and Red Priests disappeared into history.
“But Prince Dale is different.”
The bloody ball turns its head.
“I saw the true ‘image of a black magician’ in the talent and performance of Prince Dale.”
“… … .”
“Isn’t that right? In fact, the trash here are just filthy slobs who don’t even have a shred of talent.”
Without any regard for the shock of the students around him.
“Compared to that, the devil’s talent is incomparable to that of the bugs here… …!”
Bloody Ball continues speaking.
“I was very impressed by the notoriety and cruelty of the ‘Black Prince’ that people talk about.”
He spread his arms open in an exaggerated manner.
“Your Majesty, you will one day stand at the top of the Black Tower. And you will lead the Black Tower system according to your will.”
The bloody ball asked.
“Would you please join forces for a new bond between black and red?”
The bloody ball continued speaking.
“Would you like to obtain the ‘ultimate power and truth’ with me?”
Only then did I realize.
What the Blood Lord wanted was Dale’s talent, and at the same time, a new bond between black and red.
“… … .”
Dale remained silent. If he were to refuse to answer here, what decision would the Bloody Ball make?
“It’s truly unfortunate.”
After thinking about it, I laughed inside.
“My father is too calm to talk about the future.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry too much about that.”
The emotion disappeared from the blood ball’s expression. At the same time, the blood ball snapped its fingers.
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The landscape of the world I was standing on was distorted.
Centered around the feet of the Blood Ball… … Just like Leonard once did, the ‘World of the Blood Ball’ unfolds. However, it was not a disaster that caused a runaway at will. It was an imaginary barrier created by a high-ranking magician under his own will and control.
The world of wizards, standing at the top of the Red Tower, appeared there.
Before long, the students were nowhere to be seen. The only person the Bloody Ball world allowed was Dale.
It was just then.
Snowflakes are falling.
In the mind of the man known as the greatest enemy wizard on the continent, winter snowflakes are fluttering? Dale looked at the snowflakes falling on his palm without hiding his doubts. He soon realized.
It wasn’t some kind of symbol of winter that held the cold.
It was Ash.
Ominous ash was blowing across the sky.
The sky was dyed in gray. I turned my head. After turning, I took a deep breath. I saw a very familiar scenery. How could I forget it?
There were ruins and ashes there.
The remains of a collapsed high-rise building. Crushed cars. Just like the landscape after a nuclear winter──.
The ruins of a city reduced to ashes lay spread out.
“… … !”
“What a truly wondrous and wonderful world.”
Leaving the ruined landscape of the other world behind, the Bloody Ball spoke. Dale, who did not know his intentions, kept his silence and pretended not to notice.
“In this world, steel towers that no stone guild on the continent could imitate were built all over the streets, and steel dragons were spewing fire magic of a level that even I could not dare to approach.”
Just then, the bloody ball turned its head, and several bombers split the sky. Soon, a light swirled across the horizon.
It was a nuclear bombing.
A flame of destruction engulfed the entire area, and a mushroom cloud rose.
To think that it was the fire magic of the steel dragon? It was an illusion that didn’t even make me laugh.
As the nuclear explosion swept through, a scream that seemed to tear the world apart rang out. A gigantic body that could be seen from beyond the horizon rose up. Each tentacle, several kilometers in diameter, flailed around like crazy before finally falling into silence.
“Behold this great empire of fire and steel, which subdues even the giants.”
At the bloody ball’s words, Dale tried hard to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst out at any moment.
“That is the ultimate power and truth that our wizards have been searching for so long.”
“Did you call the other world’s warrior for that?”
“Its existence was an absurd failure.”
Dale asked cautiously, and the bloody ball answered coldly.
“He was quite useful as a soldier, but he was just a mere private who did not understand a single bit of the truth of the great Empire of Fire and Steel. There was no truth that could be gained from him.”
Laughter seemed to burst out again. It was not the otherworldly warrior who did not understand anything, but the empire’s greatest enemy magician right in front of him.
‘Yeah, it turned out well.’
And yet, amidst the indescribable hatred, one thing filled Dale’s heart: a certainty and joy.
This guy really doesn’t know anything.
Dale, who was in front of him, was the one who inherited the truth of the Empire of Fire and Steel.
Bloody Ball believed that there was no truth that could be gained from the warrior of the other world. In a sense, that was true. There was no answer that could be given to those who were dragged into a world they did not know and who were suddenly pressured to recite the ‘fire magic shown by the steel dragon’.
But when I realized that magic exists in this world, and that it is the power to give reality to imagination… … .
For Dale, who had attained enlightenment as a wizard, it was by no means impossible to project the idea of nuclear weapons.
So, trying hard to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out again, Dale answered coldly.
“… … Is that the reason you called me here? To once again obtain ultimate power and truth through the Black Bond?”
“Yes.”
At Dale’s words, Bloody Ball nodded and smiled.
“So please take it easy and think about it leisurely. Oh, even if it’s after the death of the Black Knight, I don’t care.”
“… … .”
“Because time is truly fleeting to me.”
With those words, the bloody ball snapped its fingers. No, it tried to snap them.
“Oh, by the way.”
The bloody ball turned its head as if it had blinked.
“It seems that Walter the Bloodthirsty is gnashing his teeth at you, my lord.”
“… … !”
“He too was once one of the commanders of the Black Red Training Corps.”
As if it really was okay.
“Moreover, Your Majesty wishes that the number of people who know the ‘truth’ of the Black Red Training Corps will decrease even by just one.”
Your Majesty. Dale’s expression froze again at that name. But the emotional agitation was only momentary.
The real truth about the Black Red Prison.
The story that the Bloody Ball told the students was only a part of it. This is not an empire that would be so concerned about ‘cruel biological experiments’ that they would keep their mouths shut.
“But even so… … it doesn’t look good to directly kill the tower elder.”
The elder of the red tower attacks the black successor who is staying in the zodiac for the purpose of black-red exchange.
There is no one who does not understand the weight of that act.
“This is a transaction after all.”
“… … .”
“I don’t mind if you don’t accept the deal and leave the capital. However, if you do accept the deal.”
That is why the bloody ball continues speaking with a quiet smile.
“I promise I will gladly pay you the appropriate compensation.”
With those words, the bloody ball snapped its fingers. The cityscape reduced to ashes disappeared.
The world of the Bloody Ball disappeared, and I was in the auditorium of the academy where the students were.
“Then let’s meet again.”
The bloody ball turns its back. Dale, left in the auditorium, quietly swallows his breath.
“… … .”
Silence fell. It was a very long and lonely silence.
* * *
That night, at the Black Gong’s mansion on the outskirts of the capital.
Dale was there to quickly defeat the escort knights and carry out his deal with the Bloody Knight.
There, I recalled the world that the bloody ball had shown me.
The ruins of a city center reduced to ashes. A post-apocalyptic world that looks like the landscape after a nuclear winter.
“… … .”
Dale clenched his lips so hard that they bled. That was it.
Boom!
A sudden explosion rang out. But even the explosion did not erase Dale’s thoughts. He simply sat up quietly in bed.
As if he had been waiting for this moment from the beginning.
“Dale!”
At the same time, the voice of Sepia, the elf wizard of the 6th circle, was heard.
“Sepia… … .”
Dale called her name quietly.
“You were here, you damn Saxon brat.”
And there was a man blocking their way. They turned their heads. Just as Marquis Yuris had predicted, a man gnashing his teeth was seen.
“The Saxon brat who dared to ruin my son like that… … .”
Leaving the ruins of the mansion scattered in disarray behind, the elder of the Red Tower and the 6th Circle Red Mage opened his mouth.
Walter the Bloodthirsty.
It was he who, unable to contain his anger, stirred his red magic. Dale burst into laughter at the sight.
It’s funny because he doesn’t even realize that he’s a butterfly caught in a spider’s web.
A butterfly was caught in a spider’s web, and the spider was about to raise its body to catch its prey.
“Step back.”
Sepia blocked Dale’s path.
With flowing hair the color of crystal, he is an elf wizard of the 6th circle and an elder of the Blue Tower.
“Didn’t you promise?”
Turning her back to Dale, Sepia answered.
“I will protect you.”
Sepia answered, accelerating six circles, finally unleashing her power to protect Dale.
“It is said that the Elder of the Blue Tower took refuge in the House of Saxony, and it turns out that the story is true.”
Looking at that sight, Walter the Bloodthirsty answered coldly.
“I guess it’s okay. Since the Bloody Duke has given his permission, no one will be able to stand in my way.”
Dale couldn’t help but laugh when he heard that. It was so funny how he didn’t even realize that he was nothing more than a discarded pawn.
“Don’t worry, Dale.”
“……thank you.”
Sepia opened her mouth, and Dale just smiled.
The two high-ranking magicians of Red and Blue have finally begun to unfold their own world.
