Chapter 16

‘How much time has passed?’

She didn’t know.

Sweat poured down like rain, her breath reached her throat, her armor was half-destroyed, and her sword’s blade was chipped all over.

‘He’s strong.’

Definitely not on the level of a first-year student.

His sword was sharp, and the aura surrounding it was incredibly dense.

But the most disturbing part was the ominous and heavy feeling radiating from that aura.

‘Is that demonic mana?’

That’s what Fernan had said—that he’d been corrupted by a demon. In that case, that black energy had to be the power used by demons—demonic mana.

Maybe that was why the demonic mana kept trying to invade her own aura. As a result, her energy consumption skyrocketed.

Crash!

Luina rolled across the ground. The spot she had just been in was utterly destroyed.

The black demonic mana relentlessly pursued her. She quickly got back up and raised her sword.

Clang!

A dark flash clashed with a blue gleam. Fragments of shattered aura scattered everywhere.

“Come to your senses, Verian Kalburdern!”

But her shout didn’t reach her opponent.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

After multiple clashes, Luina had gauged her opponent’s level.

If she truly wanted to win, it wasn’t impossible.

But no matter how corrupted he was, Verian was still a fellow academy student, and the problem was that a moderate approach wouldn’t be enough.

She could win, yes—but at the cost of Verian Kalburdern’s life.

Because he wasn’t an opponent who could be defeated with restraint.

“…”

She bit her lip.

Her muscles screamed, her fingers trembled.

The end was near.

The biggest problem was that, unlike her enemy, who seemed to have an infinite energy source, her aura reservoir was nearly empty.

‘…What do I do?’

She then thought of Fernan, who had fled.

If he hadn’t run, maybe she wouldn’t be struggling so much.

Whether through his own skill or with artifacts, Fernan’s support was top-class, and with effort, they might’ve subdued Verian without serious harm.

At that moment—

Piiiiii!

A whistle sounded not far away. From the west—the direction Fernan had fled.

‘A signal?’

Luina realized this was the signal he had spoken of.

‘…He must have a solid plan.’

Suppressing the disappointment starting to rise, she instead delivered a direct kick to Verian’s chest, who was lunging like a rabid dog.

The opponent rolled across the ground, and in that brief instant, Luina spun on her heels.

***

“This way, Luina. Come this way.”

“You…!”

Luina, running along the mountain path, shouted when she saw Fernan.

“Why did you run away!?”

“What kind of question is that… Because it’s a demon, of course.”

Fernan, guiding the furious Luina, started moving.

“If you hadn’t fled, we could’ve taken him down easily!”

“Eh? You’re saying if I’d been there, we could’ve done it?”

Fernan tilted his head, puzzled.

A knight corrupted by demonic mana—someone Aint only defeated after awakening his power with Gardner’s help.

“No way that would’ve worked.”

Of course, Fernan had assessed the opponent’s level as among the highest.

He had two reasons: Aint was destined to save the world.

And demons were powerful, unknown entities.

“It’s a demon, Luina. A demon appearing for the first time in a thousand years can’t be weak.”

“What kind of nonsense logic is that? That’s Verian. He might be monstrously distorted, like he’s possessed, but his core is still human.”

“…”

At that moment, Fernan realized a mistake.

Aint’s level.

No matter how destined he was or how much guidance he received from Gardner Alfenparsen’s soul, Aint was still a first-year student.

He had risen to second place in his course in the blink of an eye, which was extraordinary—but he was still first-year.

And across the academy’s classes, there was a clear gap in average level. Luina Bercheff was, without a doubt, stronger than Aint Armian right now.

“…Wait a minute.”

Fernan realized he had been so obsessed with the concepts of “demon” and “prophecy” that he’d overlooked the most important thing.

“You really think the two of us could beat him?”

“Yes. I can’t stop him alone without killing him, but if you help me…”

“Then what are you doing here?!”

“…Huh?”

“Go now and stop him! Before he gets any closer!”

Fernan reached toward Verian, who charged like a rampaging bull.

“Go before my trap is ruined…!”

──!

─!

That’s when the explosions began.

“Ah, no…!”

It all started with a small stone Verian stepped on.

The stone exploded, momentarily throwing him off balance—and at that instant, magic arrows rained from all directions.

Crack-crack-crack-crack—

Demonic mana overflowed to protect its host. Verian deflected all the arrows and charged again, even angrier.

Or at least, he tried to.

In a split second, the ground beneath him collapsed. Losing balance, Verian fell into the pit.

And just as his back hit the ground—

Fwoosh!

A magic circle drawn with red reagents ignited.

─!

From the center of the circle, powered by magic crystals, a pillar of fire rose straight up, intending to melt everything.

But Verian didn’t fall.

He unleashed his demonic mana, neutralized part of the fire, and managed to crawl out of the pit.

And just then, Fernan launched his next move. When his hand touched the trap, several bottles shot out.

Clink!

Five bottles shattered and drenched Verian. Chiiiik—the reagents, with corrosive properties against mana, began to gradually weaken his demonic energy.

Verian screamed in pain and staggered, triggering another trap. A scroll tore.

Crack! Ten lightning bolts struck down in a straight line with a burst of sparks.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The white lightning pierced through the already weakened mana. Verian’s body trembled as if being tortured.

“Kuuaaaaargh!!”

A grotesque, bloodcurdling scream burst from his mouth.

…And just like that, it was over.

“Grrrr…”

Verian, foaming at the mouth, rolled his eyes back and collapsed. It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Fernan and Luina stared blankly at the scene.

“…Is he okay? He’s not dead… right?”

“My plan was to switch places with him when he lost his mind and came at me, then trigger another trap…”

Fernan muttered to himself, not hearing Luina.

She then looked behind him. Just one step back from where Fernan stood was a meticulously crafted trap.

“After that, I was going to fight him with you once he was torn apart…”

Fernan let out an empty laugh.

“But I see now—it wasn’t necessary. No, with both of us, it never was.”

Was that a demon?

Fernan’s eyes turned bloodshot.

***

Among mages, there’s a well-known saying.

“A mage is one who prepares.”

“A perfectly prepared mage can defeat anyone.”

Luina Bercheff had fought against mages several times, but she had never truly understood the meaning of those words.

But now, it was different. The prepared terrain.

The laid-out magical traps. The meticulously planned strategies.

She finally understood the truth behind the words mages so often repeated. And she also understood why she hadn’t grasped it before—because until now, it had only ever been in practice duels.

“So this is the true way a mage fights…”

“Wrong. This is how a merchant fights.”

Fernan interrupted Luina.

“…A merchant, not a mage?”

“Think about it.”

He pointed with his finger.

“Scrolls bought with money.”

He shifted slightly to one side.

“Artifacts bought with money.”

“You didn’t use any artifacts, though.”

“I planned to. But since he turned out to be so weak, I didn’t have to.”

He moved to another spot again.

“Magical reagents bought with money, magic crystals too. Even the traps were made from those materials.”

Every inch had been touched by the power of money.

“It all started with money and ended with money. If this isn’t a merchant’s battle, then what is? Do you think some penniless, ragged mage could do this?”

Not at all. Fernan shook his head.

“They never could. Without money, not even in another life. And in the end, mages are, by nature, consumers—not producers.”

“…I get what you’re saying, but you’re also a mage.”

“That’s wrong too. I learned magic just for self-defense and some practical uses. My true essence is that of a merchant.”

That’s why it hurt more. If you calculated the value of all the materials used in this fight, the sum was far from small.

“The more I think about it, the more absurd it seems. If only I’d known that guy was so weak…”

If only he hadn’t been intimidated by the word “demon.”

“No, if you had just told the truth a little earlier…”

“You’re the one who ran off without explaining anything.”

“And that’s exactly why you should’ve followed me—because I didn’t explain anything.”

“And weren’t you the one who asked me to hold out for ten minutes?”

“And do you think blindly following someone without reason is the right thing to do?”

Hah. Luina let out an incredulous chuckle. Shaking her head, she changed the subject.

“Anyway, you’re surprising. In absolute terms, forgiving three years of interest on our family’s debt is worth more than all of this.”

Frankly, it was a mystery that Fernan, infamous for being a stingy money-obsessive, had made such a proposal.

At first, she had been suspicious. Then she thought maybe the rumors were just exaggerated.

But today, seeing him complain about how much he’d spent, she didn’t know what his true face was anymore.

“It’s different.”

“Different how?”

“Do you know why I love money so much?”

“Am I supposed to?”

“Because with money, anything is possible.”

“Okay, you’re not listening to me anymore.”

“Money is possibility.”

With money, even what seemed impossible becomes achievable. With money, solutions arise where none existed before. With money, even unreachable people can become accessible.

Money is, literally, a powerful treasure with which anything can be done.

“That’s why money is valuable. That’s why it should be used for something meaningful—something truly worthwhile.”

Not on garbage like this, but on something like Luina.

The money he had spent on Luina didn’t seem wasted to him at all.
Because he saw in her the potential to become a future Royal Knight.

“There was no point in spending so much on someone we could’ve beaten together just fine.”

Fernan’s icy gaze fell on the fallen Verian. And only then did Luina examine him calmly and feel surprised.

After falling into traps and taking dozens of spells, it wouldn’t be strange for him to be on the brink of death. If anything, it was the demonic mana that had kept him alive.

“I know it’s not the best time, but could you give me a potion? If we leave him like this, he’ll die.”

“…Fine.”

Fernan pulled out a potion and poured it over Verian’s body.

He had no choice.

He muttered quietly:

“The money I spent… I’ll have to collect it from the one responsible.”

That was the unchanging law of the world since time immemorial. And to do that, Verian couldn’t die.

First, he needed to retrieve the traps that were still intact.