A Villain's Will to Survive novel Chapter 305

Chapter 305: Again, Mage Tower (3)

The terror of Haileich continued systematically as the demonic energy that first exploded caused chaos, prompting nobles and the rich to escape, clutching the skirts of their dresses or flinging aside their suit jackets.

Knights who responded without delay assisted in evacuating the nobles and the wealthy. Haileich was the Empire’s largest prosperous district, so deaths there caused greater social pressure than the massacre of commoners in the slums.

"Come this way! The Escort Knights are at hand!"

"There is no need for concern. You are safe with our protection!"

However, even with the knights' deployment, the situation did not improve, as a dense purple smoke rolled in, suffocating them. The demonic energy was of such a concentration that one would lose their life in ten minutes without a gas mask. For their sake, as they coughed up blood, I released my mana.

Whoooosh...

The mana of the Snowflower Stone—a pale blue and white, ultra-low temperature current—spread ethereally, freezing the demonic energy. Through the cleared path I walked, and the desperate knights and nobles broke into bright smiles upon seeing me.

"It is Count Yukline!"

Craaaaack—!

At that moment, a sudden and ominous sound reverberated—a muffled rupture in the building’s most crucial section—and soon after, a building in the heart of Haileich collapsed, crumbling weakly like a biscuit and scattering debris like crumbs everywhere.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

The prosperous district once more became pandemonium, with screams mixing with the classical tunes.

Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!

The explosions were not a singular event, but continued, bombarding the area as if in an air raid.

"... Tch," I murmured, allowing my eyelids to fall.

The spell I sought to manifest was simple—Telekinesis, which used my entire body as a magic circle inscribed upon every muscle and vein. It arrested space, disintegrated the building’s fragments as they shattered and scattered, sent demonic energy projectiles terrorizing the area, and threatened to swallow the ground with noxious smoke—all of it.

I opened my eyes again and looked at the sky where a swarm of gnats flew over some boards, seemingly the Altar’s faction that instigated this terror attack...

Whoooooosh—!

The Altar's beings launched demonic energy bombs at me, and I countered with natural elements, pulling up bedrock from the road and steel frames from collapsed buildings, sending them back along the bombs' trajectories.

Thump—

At that moment, a pain welled up in my heart, as if it were proof of the short life I had left.

"Contemptible vermin."

However, my pain immediately transmuted into rage, leading me to slaughter the Altar's vermin.

Whizzzzzzzzzz—!

The steel frames tore through the sky, ceaselessly piercing the backs of the Altar's fleeing beings, and I confirmed their demise by crushing their falling bodies beneath rocks.

... The time elapsed by only three minutes, and I stood composed in the heart of the terror attack, surveying the surroundings, while the scenery remained unchanged.

Meaning, the collapsed buildings and fragments were held by my Telekinesis, and the nobles, looking rather dazed as if witnessing a Floating Island, shifted their gaze between this phenomenon and me, its caster.

"Evacuate," I said.

However, there was no response from anyone, and rather, it was silent.

"E-Evacuate at once!"

As the knights shouted and finally rose to escape, one woman, on the contrary, approached me.

"Indeed, how reliable," Sophien said, a chuckle escaping her as she approached my side and shrugged.

"Please return to a safer position, Your Majesty. We do not know when the next bombardment might occur,” I replied.

"Hmph, I am not so fragile as to die by bombardment. However, Deculein," Sophien said, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

Without a word, I nodded.

"Rohakan once said that I would come one day to kill you," Sophien continued, recalling a past memory.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

"... Your protégé and I, we once made our way into the future."

Then, Sophien unexpectedly exploded with a bombshell statement, and I whipped my head around to look back at her.

The future Sophien experienced with Epherene is, indeed, a topic that is too compelling to ignore, I thought.

"Time travel, Your Majesty?" I asked.

"Indeed. In that very place, you left me a letter," Sophien replied, pulling out a letter from her inner pocket.

It was a crumpled letter, perhaps one that had been kept for a considerable time and repeatedly read by Sophien.

"Would you like to read it?"

"... Yes, Your Majesty," I replied.

I took the letter, read it without hesitation, and found that the content was not lengthy.

Your Majesty,

This is Deculein, touched by the passage of time.

However, I affirm all that pertains to myself and Your Majesty.

Even unto my very death.

Therefore, one should not rewind what does not require rewinding.

"Upon reading its words, my thoughts turned to whether I was, in the end, destined to kill you," Sophien said.

"It would seem the future has changed, then, Your Majesty," I replied, shaking my head.

"No," Sophien said, smiling. "You are dying even now, are you not?"

Sophien’s finger pointed at my heart, a smile playing on her lips, yet her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"Deculein, let us go to Lahal," Sophien added, taking my hand. "There, we shall observe the street art."

Sophien's mention of street art once more stirred Kim Woo-Jin's memories deep within, as recollections of a poor orphan desperately struggling to become a painter that sent goosebumps across my skin.

“Come. While we walk, observing the art, I shall dedicate my every thought to finding a way to save you...” Sophien concluded, pulling me along with hands as tender as hers had been in Kim Woo-Jin’s past, holding me tight as I felt myself faltering.

***

The next morning, at the Mage Tower's dining hall, Epherene and Sylvia were eating together and having a discussion.

"Sylvia, should we tell the Professor first?" Epherene said.

"I cannot inform him. And I told you to call me Sephine, not Sylvia," Sylvia replied.

"Why can't you do it? You know, I am estranged from the Professor."

Sylvia was not prepared to speak a single word to Deculein.

"We are no longer students."

Instead, Sophien's excuse was a display of confidence that they could resolve matters themselves, as they were no longer students.

"We can resolve this ourselves," Sophien added.

"... I mean, honestly, my confidence is through the roof right now," Epherene replied, flexing one arm, a little bicep popping up. "What do you think—I’m super strong, aren’t I?"

“Foolish.”

“What?”

"Anyway, it's a secret from the Professor," Sylvia said, standing up with her meal tray. "We'll resolve this matter ourselves internally, and I will undertake the plan."

"Why are you the one undertaking the plan?" Epherene asked, hot on Sylvia's heels.

"I am older than you."

"... What are you talking about?"

"And I am smarter than you.”

Tap—

Sylvia overturned her meal tray into the waste disposal, causing the leftover food to tumble away, while Epherene, on the other hand, placed only her empty tray directly onto the dish rack.

"Oh, right, Sephine. Could you, like, find me one book?" Epherene asked, walking down the corridor.

At that moment, Sylvia's footsteps halted.

"It's a science book, and I—"

"Shh," Sylvia murmured to Epherene, placing a finger to her lips and resuming her normal pace, though controlling her speed. "It's the Purger." f\r(e)ewe.b no\vel.com

“... The Purger?”

"Yes, the Purger of the Floating Island."

The Purger was a being that all mages on this continent regarded with terror—no, it was almost synonymous with terror itself, the mage’s natural predator, developed on the Floating Island solely for the purpose of punishing them.

"How do you know?"

"Because I, too, have been chased away before."

The Purger's distinctive mana odor, which smelled like rubbing alcohol, was familiar to Sylvia because it was the trace of their artificial attempt to bleach away their own identity.

"Follow me for now. Your presence may have been detected," Sylvia added.

“... Okay.”

The serious Epherene and Sylvia were completely shocked the moment they exited the dining hall because they spotted someone in the ground-floor lobby.

"It has been some time since an Addict arrived unannounced, and for it to be you, no less, of all people."

"My apologies, Chairman."

Professor Deculein—no, Chairman Deculein—walked through the ground-floor lobby, spreading a pleasant fragrance, followed by a group of professors and staff members, including the Floating Island's renowned addict, Addict Astal.

"... We shall discuss your purpose from the upper floor," Deculein stated.

“Yes, Chairman,” Astal replied.

Fortunately, Deculein, the Addict, and their group entered the elevator without paying attention to their direction.

Ding—

The moment the elevator doors closed, Sylvia and Epherene released a breath of relief, almost in as one.

“Phew.”

“Phew... Wait a second.”

At that moment, a sudden idea came to Sylvia’s mind.

"Why?" Epherene asked.

"There is no way... wait. No, follow me," Sylvia replied.

Sylvia pulled Epherene out of the Mage Tower and found a hidden spot in the farthest corner, which was the Mage Tower's back gate parking lot.

“What is it? Why?”

"Foolish Epherene. You keep watch. I will spy on them."

“... Spy on them?”

"Yes, the Addict from the Floating Island's visit is suspicious. It might be connected to the Purger," Sylvia said, closing her eyes.

Epherene was slightly taken aback, but for now, she kept watch as Sylvia directed.

Whooooosh...

The wind swept through—Sylvia’s wind of spying—no, it was the magic called Wind, the very spell she had used for a long time to observe and monitor Deculein, returning once again to the Mage Tower after a long absence...

***

"The Purger has been deployed, Chairman," said the Addict Astal, speaking from the Chairman's office on the Mage Tower's uppermost floor. Correct content is on freew.ebnovel.c om.

It was news that the Purger from the Floating Island had made their way into the Empire.

"... Who, then, is to be pursued?" I inquired.

"It is Epherene, of course."

"The reason?"

"Because Epherene has been detected, Chairman."

My brow furrowed.

To pursue Epherene merely because she was detected—that makes even less sense than climbing a mountain because it is there, I thought.

"Elaborate," I said.

"The detailed information is contained within this document," Astal replied, presenting the documents.

I accepted the document, and for a moment, I was at a loss for words.

Without a doubt, Epherene was found.

Epherene’s first location was pinpointed by a crystal orb in the Hadecaine Mark underground passage, which functioned like a surveillance camera and caught sight of her and her second location was Flower of the Pig, a nearby restaurant by the Mage Tower, where she was seen peering inside but unable to enter, and was likewise caught by a crystal orb.

“As you can see, Chairman.”

However, the biggest problem was that the first and second Epherene were found simultaneously, in the truest sense of the word. The first Epherene and the second Epherene existed simultaneously as the same person but were in different locations.

"It is evident that Epherene is in a state of considerable danger," Astal concluded.

"... Is she, then, more dangerous than the self-proclaimed God of the Land of Destruction? Is she enough to warrant the Purger's presence in such a condition?" I replied.

"Yes, Chairman. One who claims to be a God cannot manipulate time. However, Epherene is an imperfect human capable of shaking the very foundations of the world," Astal replied.

... Whooooosh.

Deculein is trying to kill Epherene.

The reason is that Epherene has a talent for time, a property no ordinary person can ever control. However, if Epherene fails to properly control the power of time...

Epherene's talent—Time—was a power capable of devastating the continent.

The entire continent itself might be destroyed.

“Kuehhhhhhh—”

“Huehhhhh—”

Even as I mutter those words, why does this strange pity swell within me? Has our bitter bond blossomed into a bond of tenderness? Or is it merely that she is now younger than I? Sylvia thought.

But I want to protect her as safely as possible, and I am strong enough for that—strong enough to destroy even the Purger with my own hands.

The thief who stole my painting of Deculein from the Island of the Voice, and the fact that Epherene's mana was detected...

Not the present Epherene, perhaps, but a future Epherene, for whatever reason, must have taken my painting and the mana stone of the Voice without my permission, Sylvia thought.

“Kyeeeeeeeeeee—ek.”

Could it be that he is naturally being influenced? Creáto thought.

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