[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
What Spatial Sever targeted for cutting was “space itself.”
In other words, by ordinary standards, it was a top-tier offensive spell that did not even permit defense.
‘That Spatial Sever... got caught?’
A pitch-black crack in space that looked as though it could swallow everything around it whole.
From within it, blackened space emerged and roughly seized hold of the thought-form’s Spatial Sever.
“Kgh!”
The thought-form hurriedly frowned and tried to pull the Spatial Sever back out.
Kkiik! Kkiiigigik!
Unable to withstand the pressure, the Spatial Sever gradually twisted, letting out sounds like cries of agony.
“...How brutish.”
The moment the thought-form let out a brief groan and his eyes shook—
Kiiing!
A clear sound like shattering glass rang through the air.
Fragments of the shattered Spatial Sever scattered through empty space.
“Oscar!”
There was no time to even answer.
The moment he heard that shout, he already understood what he had to do.
Fwoooong!
Wind gathered at the tips of his index and middle fingers.
Oscar immediately pointed them at his own temple and completed the spell.
『Wind Bullet』
Paaang!
A wind projectile possessing speed and destructive power incomparable to before was fired.
But only that far.
To state the conclusion first, the bullet could not pierce even skin, let alone a skull.
The instant it was fired, it vanished ‘somewhere.’
“...Spatial magic, hm. At the very least, one thing seems certain.”
The thought-form let out a heavy sigh and turned his head.
Staring at the black crack, he continued.
“It seems that one has no intention of letting you leave peacefully.”
Beyond the crack where both their gazes rested—
Step.
Footsteps echoed out.
Oscar, who had even forgotten to swallow, glared at the spot for a moment.
“Hm.”
The owner of the footsteps leisurely walked out from the crack with an utterly relaxed expression.
The moment Oscar saw him, his brows twitched involuntarily.
Ado Vail.
He too possessed an appearance identical to the master Oscar remembered.
But something was strange.
‘Wasn’t he supposed to have fallen into inner demons and become consumed by madness?’
There was not the slightest disorder in the posture of his hands clasped behind his back, and his white robe was impeccably neat.
In other words, from appearance alone, there was absolutely nothing that would make one associate him with madness.
“So this is a forest. The air is pleasant.”
The man muttered in a gentle voice before turning his head.
“What lies beyond that... yes, the White Tower?”
With a benevolent smile spread across his lips, he continued.
“It’s been a while. I’d like to see it once again.”
The moment he finished speaking, he slowly extended one hand forward.
With that single casual gesture—
One entire side of the forest surrounding the three of them disappeared.
Beyond a cleanly carved clearing with perfectly square cut surfaces, the towering White Tower came into view.
“Hoho, it’s a pleasant sight.”
Oscar stared at the monster smiling kindly, his eyes trembling.
In his mind, the thought-form’s words resurfaced.
—The original feared that with his own hands, he might destroy everything and kill those precious to him.
He thought he understood why now.
For a moment, he had nearly mistaken him for sane because of his outward appearance, but after facing him even briefly, he could tell.
‘...That bastard is insane.’
A man who erased an entire forest simply because it obstructed the scenery.
It was a way of thinking impossible to believe belonged to a normal human being.
For a brief moment, Oscar had thought communication might be possible, but he had nearly made a fatal mistake.
“You’re the same as ever, even after all this time.”
Ado Vail gazed at the White Tower with nostalgic eyes before smiling faintly.
“It would be better if it didn’t exist.”
Slash!
The distant White Tower was suddenly cut diagonally.
And then—
Kuruuuung!
It collapsed with a deafening roar, the tremendous tremor reaching all the way to where they stood.
Master was right.
If he had not separated that inner demon early on, the White Tower would have been destroyed by the founder’s own hand.
“Hm.”
That thing wearing Master’s face turned its head toward them.
“You are... the coward’s imitation.”
“What a miserable age. To think the day would come when the original would hear words like that from a mere inner demon.”
The thought-form replied sharply.
The other paid no mind to the hostility and slowly wandered around the clearing with his hands still clasped behind his back.
Without taking his eyes off those movements, the thought-form asked,
“The original surely imprisoned you within the crack of the 44th floor. How did you get here?”
“A new neighbor suddenly appeared, so shouldn’t I at least come offer greetings?”
At that explanation, Oscar frowned.
As expected, it seemed his subspace had caused this situation.
‘It’s fine.’
The thought-form kept both eyes fixed on the opponent while extending one palm toward Oscar.
That thing glanced briefly at the gesture before turning its gaze toward him.
“And what is this?”
“An outsider who got caught in the crack by mistake. Send away those unrelated to this matter, and let the two of us settle things.”
“......He doesn’t seem unrelated.”
Sniff, sniff.
Wrinkling the bridge of his nose slightly, it curled up the corners of its lips.
“I can smell it from that brat too. The smell of space.”
Eyes filled with interest swept over Oscar.
“You, an imitation, wouldn’t have raised a disciple... which means he’s a disciple left behind by the coward.”
Though he still wore the smile of a kindly man, Oscar saw it clearly.
The madness flickering within those eyes directed at him.
“Then both of you disappearing together should solve things nicely.”
As Ado Vail stretched out one hand, pitch-black space gathered before him.
Compressed into a small sphere, it began spinning at a speed impossible for the human eye to perceive.
“This is bad, get down!”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
At the thought-form’s urgent shout, Oscar instantly curled his body up like a pill bug.
Swaaaaaak!
The next moment, the violently rotating sphere split apart into three blades.
Every tree around them was evenly severed at waist height before collapsing.
Kuuung! Kung! Kuuung!
The cut trees slammed against the ground, their heavy aftershocks rumbling without pause.
The thought-form stared at the blades, which still retained enough force to continue spinning as they disappeared beyond the forest.
Then he spoke.
“I truly wanted to send you out of here somehow. I meant it sincerely.”
“I know. But since someone showed up to interfere with our beautiful farewell... I suppose this means it comes down to that, right?”
Die, or kill.
The thought-form quietly nodded.
“As I said before, his current state is far from normal. His madness has worsened to the point that he cannot use high-level spells, so we do have a chance. However, remember this well—he still possesses a level 9 body and mana.”
Certainly, even the previous strike, and the attack that erased the White Tower earlier, had not been Spatial Sever.
He had simply used an absurd amount of mana to forcibly cut space apart.
A lunatic feat possible only because he possessed absolute confidence in his overwhelming mana reserves.
‘But if it’s simply mana reserves, I’m not lacking either.’
Perhaps the thought-form was thinking the same thing, because he looked at Oscar and nodded once.
— Once battle begins, that one will focus his attacks on me.
Message magic.
The thought-form’s voice flowed into Oscar’s ears.
Keeping his eyes fixed on Ado Vail, his lips moved without pause.
— Avoid the attacks appropriately, and when the moment feels right, I will use Absolute Stillness. At that instant, use Spatial Sever and grant him eternal rest.
— I understand.
A clean and concise plan without unnecessary details.
Perhaps this was even better.
Oscar had no idea how long it would take him to complete 『Absolute Stillness』 himself.
But the thought-form had already mastered it perfectly.
‘Besides, if we can just eliminate the Ado Vail consumed by madness...’
There would no longer be any reason to close the Fourth Crack where the thought-form lived.
Meaning he could continue asking him questions in the future.
“You’re nimble. Like little rats.”
Ado Vail’s pupils gradually shrank, while blackish-red mana continuously poured out around his body.
At a glance, it might seem intimidating, but it was by no means a good sign.
That meant his mana control was leaking apart uncontrollably.
‘A level 9 mage who can’t even properly control his mana? Definitely madness.’
Of course, that still did not make him an opponent to take lightly.
“Die!”
With a maddened roar, the blue sky glittered in countless places.
The moment Oscar narrowed his eyes at the dazzling lights—
“...This lunatic.”
His heart sank as he realized every single point of light was spatial magic.
“Kgh! Dodge them yourself!”
“Yes!”
Swaaaaaaaaa!
As though a torrential downpour were falling from the heavens, thousands of spatial spells rained down.
Oscar hurriedly deployed 『Wind Shield』 above his head.
Displaying mana control bordering on acrobatics, he deflected the incoming attacks.
“Kuh!”
But even if incomplete, these were spells cast by a level 9 mage intent on killing him.
The shields’ durability instantly collapsed and scattered apart, forcing Oscar to repeatedly create new shields.
After the storm passed and the raging attacks finally subsided—
“You resemble a turtle.”
Ado Vail’s calm voice echoed through space.
None of the earlier frenzy remained within it.
‘Which means...’
That previous madness had all been an act.
The instant alarm bells rang in Oscar’s mind—
Ado Vail smiled warmly and gently extended his hand.
“Come here.”
And the direction that hand pointed toward—
Was not the thought-form.
It was Oscar himself.
Kwoaaaaaaaaa!
Wind swept through the barren forest where not a single intact tree remained.
No, rather than wind, it would be more accurate to call it a typhoon or a storm.
‘What kind of... absurd wind is this...’
Oscar gritted his teeth against the overwhelming suction force dragging his body forward like madness.
He hurriedly drove his mana-enhanced legs into the earth, but it meant nothing before the storm’s power.
He could even feel the ground itself being dragged toward the opponent alongside his body.
“Kuh!”
While being pulled in, Oscar hurriedly generated a countercurrent.
He too unleashed enormous mana to create a massive typhoon, but...
The output difference between a level 7 and level 9 mage was truly heaven and earth.
Kwoaaaaaaaaa!
Against Ado Vail’s insane storm, Oscar’s wind shattered as futilely as the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings.
“Oscar!”
Watching this, the thought-form’s expression twisted.
According to the original plan, Ado Vail should have attacked him.
But instead, he blatantly ignored the thought-form entirely and began obsessively targeting Oscar.
“There is no meaning in eliminating an imitation. But this brat... is the true successor left behind by that coward.”
Killing intent glimmered around Ado Vail’s eyes.
“I will destroy everything that coward wished to protect. Even if that includes this world itself.”
“You despicable bastard....”
The thought-form clenched both fists tightly.
Naturally, 『Absolute Stillness』 had to be used at the perfect moment.
Even he could not spam such magic freely, meaning one use during battle would be the limit.
‘But if I leave things as they are, Oscar will die.’
Even if they killed that man at the cost of Oscar’s life, it would hold no meaning.
That man’s words were correct.
Oscar was the true successor who inherited the will and legacy of the person named Ado Vail left behind by the original.
“Wait!”
Finally hardening his resolve, the thought-form ignored the shout behind him and quickly began preparing.
He emptied his thoughts.
Emptied his emotions.
Anything emptied could simply be filled again later, so he let everything go without the slightest attachment.
At the moment when neither body nor mind contained anything at all—
The thought-form stared at his enemy with transparent eyes and moved his lips.
“Absolute Stillness.”
The entire area stopped breathing.
Sound, air, even the storm tormenting Oscar—
Everything froze perfectly like a single painting.
“Kuhk! Kuhk!”
Within that space, there was only one being granted freedom.
Oscar, whom the thought-form had designated as an “exception.”
Freed from the suffocating suction of the storm, Oscar did not hesitate.
‘This is my one and only chance.’
He absolutely could not miss it.
Pouring in fully half of his total mana, he created no fewer than five Spatial Severs.
Arrayed across the blue sky like giant stone monuments, they waited only to descend.
‘...That thing is an evil wearing Master’s face.’
The feeling left a bitter taste in his mouth, but this was something he absolutely had to do.
The moment Oscar lightly waved his hand—
The five Spatial Severs slowly descended above Ado Vail’s head.
“Farewell.”
Until that very moment, Ado Vail remained frozen, unable to move even a finger.
Yet after a desperate struggle—
He barely managed to curl the corners of his lips upward into a smile.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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