Chapter 42 — Role Reversal
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Kael Grenfort:
The light pressed down on me with such savage force that even my ability to think was paralyzed. The sound of my bones cracking one by one echoed through my entire body. Every part of me seemed to suffer individually, waves of pain crashing against my mind.
"Perhaps you'll surrender now?" — Izabella's voice came faintly, as if from a distance, from underwater.
Above, at the very edge of the barrier, some shadow was still busy breaking through the shield. I scanned my surroundings with bloodied eyes. Time seemed to slow, seconds stretching endlessly. Every strike, every breath, every heartbeat — everything was slow, heavy, almost frozen.
Hanna completed the final magical symbols. Her hands traced the last mark in the air, which flashed brightly and faded.
"So, this is the power of the great Glinda," Izabella thought, a cold smile on her lips. Triumph gleamed in her eyes.
I lay on the ground like a piece of crushed flesh mixed with dirt. I tried to move my arms and legs, but my body refused to obey, as if ice ran through my veins. My fingers twitched once or twice, then fell completely limp.
Hey, what's happening? No... I can't control my own body!
The savage beast inside me, however, did not give up. It slowly began to rise. Bones returned to their places, damaged layers of flesh gradually healed within black smoke. The pain was still there, but now it felt foreign, as if belonging to someone else.
Hanna narrowed her eyes, staring at Kael's transforming body:
"Izabella, I think he's entered his most destructive, but final, five minutes."
"Yes, that's right. The pill's effect will last at most another ten minutes. Let's prepare for the final battle," Izabella said, gripping her weapon tightly. Her fingers turned white against the sword's hilt.
At that moment, heavy footsteps sounded from behind us, and Hans joined them. His face showed not fear, but cold calculation.
"Hans, you came?"
"Yes, Hanna. But my presence wasn't even necessary. After the divine spell, he's been completely weakened. Well, I'll help you keep him chained. I am a barrier mage, after all."
The beast inside me had now fully transformed into a predator. It planted all four limbs on the ground and lunged straight at Hans with all its might. Its claws tore through the earth, sparks flying from the stones.
Hans calmly activated his magic. A transparent, solid barrier rose before us. He stepped back quickly to maintain distance between himself and the beast. Meanwhile, Hanna began drawing a small, glowing circle on the ground with her magic staff. Her fingers moved quickly and precisely over the staff.
As I stood dazed before the barrier, Izabella's merciless strike came from the left. The blow was so powerful that my body flew through the air like an arrow and crashed into the academy's stone wall. The wall cracked and shattered, stone fragments scattering everywhere.
No, Kael... you have to control yourself... — I screamed from the depths of my consciousness. My fingers clawed at the ground, my nails breaking.
"Y-yoooo! Noooo!" — an inhuman roar erupted from my throat.
Blood... I need blood... Blood!
Despite my countless wounds, I straightened up again. Though mindless, utterly exhausted, and broken, I took a step toward them. Bloodstains remained where I stepped.
"I think these are his last breaths," Hans said, his spine stiffening. His eyes watched me, but his hands still held the barrier.
Hanna stepped into the circle she had drawn and began summoning her spirit beast from its center:
"Wind bird, Tempo! I summon you here, from the prison world!"
The circle suddenly emitted a cold, light blue glow, and from its center, a giant eagle emerged, its wings spread wide enough to cover the sky. Its wings cut through the air, and wind waves shook the surroundings.
"Forward!"
The eagle dove straight down. Its steel-sharp talons grabbed my body as if snatching an ant and lifted me at terrifying speed into the air. We flew up to the very top of the barrier.
I barely managed to look up. The mysterious figure from before was still trying to break through the barrier. Now I could see him more clearly: a blond-haired young man in luxurious noble clothing. In his hand was a massive, mechanical gauntlet that resembled a terrible iron glove. He had been striking the barrier relentlessly, causing deep cracks to appear on its surface.
"So, my last hope is you... Fine, whether you're a demon or whoever you are... just give me a little help to survive..."
At that moment, the eagle released its talons and dropped me from the great height. The roaring wind filled my ears. I was falling toward the ground at high speed.
Thud!
My shattered body hit the earth with a terrible impact. But the horror wasn't over. Looking up, I saw that giant wind eagle diving straight at me like an arrow shot from the sky, with all its weight and beak aimed at me.
...After the terrible impact, thick dust and the smell of earth filled the air. After about a minute, the dust particles slowly settled back to the ground.
Izabella walked heavily, coming to stand directly over my crushed body. The sparks of cruel victory gleamed in her eyes. Her sword still dripped blood.
"Yes... this is your end, Kael," she whispered, a cold smile on her lips.
Hans and Hanna came up behind her. At that very moment, a terrifying sound echoed across the entire academy:
Ting!
The magical barrier covering the sky shattered like thousands of pieces of glass and dissolved into the air. Izabella's gaze shot upward like lightning:
"Where is he? Where did he disappear to?"
"I can't see him... Or perhaps his goal is something completely different," Hanna said, looking around anxiously. "I'll go back to the children, I need to protect them!" Without wasting another second, she quickly turned back.
Izabella continued to pronounce my death sentence. She spoke each word slowly, laboriously, as if dragging them from her throat, pausing between syllables:
"Accept... your... fate...."
As she spoke the final word, she raised her sword with all her might. The world fell silent one last time.
"Goodbye."
The sword sliced through the air with terrifying speed, aimed downward. But it never reached my body. In an instant, the blond young man from above appeared before us! With his massive mechanical iron gauntlet, he stopped Izabella's cruel strike in midair. Sparks flew from the collision of metal and steel.
"Sebastian?..." — Izabella gasped in shock. She screamed, unable to believe her eyes: "What are you doing here?!"
"Izabel, please, don't shout," — Sebastian said lightly, brushing back his blond hair. There was not a trace of fear in his voice. His gaze was calm, but firm.
"What?! Don't interfere in this, this isn't your business! If you don't leave now, my family will crush you together with that filthy organization behind you!"
"Oh... are you sure about that?" — a mocking smile appeared on Sebastian's lips. He studied the woman before him carefully: "It seems that creature has considerably weakened you, Izabel."
While holding her sword with one hand, he quickly reached into his inner pocket with the other and pulled out a bottle filled with some dark liquid. He brought it directly to his mouth and tore off the cap with his teeth.
"What are you trying to do?! No... actually, what is your goal?!"
Instead of answering, Sebastian stared coldly at Izabella and spat the cork to the ground. He poured the mysterious liquid from the bottle directly over me, as I lay there fighting death. With every drop that touched my body, I felt a strange warmth in my broken bones. My veins began to warm, my wounds slowly healing.
"Well... consider this none of your concern," he said calmly.
"What are you trying to do?!" — Izabella's rage boiled over, and she struck mercilessly at Sebastian's throat with her second sword.
But Sebastian, with unexpected agility, used his terrible iron gauntlet to simply shatter the first sword, and caught the second mid-air. His eyes suddenly widened, and a wild fire ignited in his gaze:
"I haven't given permission for the fight to begin yet..."
As Izabella struggled to retrieve her weapon, she gritted her teeth in hatred: "Do you think you're stronger than me just because you're wearing that divine-level weapon?!"
"No, Izabel. I'm not that arrogant," — Sebastian slowly dropped the empty bottle to the ground. It shattered against the stone. — "I just despise cowardice, that's all."
"You're being a coward right now! You interfered in a battle I'd already won!"
"I can't help it... I have an important mission."
At that moment, the world seemed to explode, and a real battle of annihilation began. Sebastian lunged at Izabella with terrifying speed. Izabella leaped into the air with all her strength, retreating, and shouted at the top of her lungs:
"I've heard you're very talented, Sebastian! Come on, show me how much you've grown!"
"I'll show you... even to you, Mr. Hans!" — Sebastian activated his divine weapon and began pressuring both opponents equally.
"Hey! How do you know my name?!" — Hans shouted in surprise and anger. He was forced to join the battle, immediately activating his barriers and spells.
The three of them began exchanging relentless, blindingly fast blows across the field. Each strike sent shockwaves through the air, destroying the surroundings. As I lay on the ground, feeling the medicine Sebastian had poured over me slowly bringing me back to life, I struggled to stay conscious. My fingers began to twitch. I could feel warm blood circulating through my veins again.
My beastly body slowly began returning to its original state. Sebastian's mysterious potion was reviving me, but at the same time, the pill's power was also reaching its end. I felt the savage beast's shell melting away, my body returning to human form. My claws shortened, my skin regained its color, my horns slowly shrank.
"Xaromi Izabella... I'll destroy you no matter what..." — I gritted my teeth and tried to stand up. But my body was so weak that it felt like ice instead of blood flowed through my veins; I couldn't even move my body, let alone cast even the simplest spell.
"Wait... Isn't there some other medicine in the ring's spatial storage?" — in desperation, I began searching the internal space of my storage ring with my mind. I couldn't find any mana-restoring potion, but my eyes fell on a strange substance: Ienxoz Powder.
I searched through layers of memory and remembered reading about this in ancient books. It was a highly dangerous forbidden powder that, when scattered in the air, created a massive explosion! This powder could even defeat Izabella, or at least blast her away. The activation conditions were simple, yet terrifying: you scatter the powder around, focus your mana on the point of detonation, and activate it with a single snap of your fingers. What a perfect and terrible weapon!
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City Center
At that very moment, a completely different race was underway in the city center. Sabrine was performing rapid, short-range teleportations over buildings and rooftops, flying at wind speed. Each teleport drained her body, but she didn't even consider stopping. Sweat poured down her forehead, her breathing quickened.
"Please, bear with me just a little longer... Only five minutes left!" — she whispered to herself, her eyes fixed on the cloud of dust rising from the academy.
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Academy Field
Not wasting any time, I pulled the invisibility cloth from the ring, hastily draped it over myself, and began crawling across the battle-torn field. With the stealth cloth shielding me, I pulled a pinch of Ienxoz Powder into my palm and infused it with a faint trace of mana.
The powder trembled in my palm for a moment. Then, rather than dispersing like ordinary dust, it shattered into countless black particles and dissolved into the surrounding air. The magical current carried them across the battlefield, and I maintained control over each particle through my mana trace.
For the next two minutes, I crawled across the field, activating the Ienxoz Powder bit by bit with my palm. Each time my mana touched the powder, it fragmented into countless black particles and spread outward through the magical current. I connected all of them with my mana trace, covering almost every part of the battlefield.
Once the area was sufficiently mined, I slowly moved to the edge of the battlefield and spoke, filling my lungs with air. My voice was still weak, but firm:
"Sebastian... Are you friend or foe?"
Hearing my voice, Sebastian smiled at me in the heat of battle, a satisfied smile on his lips. He squinted briefly, raised his hand, and gave a "wait" gesture.
Seeing this, Izabella's anger flared even more. She relentlessly struck his terrible iron gauntlet, screaming in fury:
"You son of a bitch! You deliberately let him escape!"
Every time Izabella's sword sliced through the air, Sebastian calmly deflected her blows, but neither of the three knew what was being prepared at the edge of the field. I slowly raised my hand, my fingers covered in powder particles. The powder was black, light, almost invisible — only someone who knew what to look for could detect it.
Despite the intensity of the battle, Sebastian's mood was strangely cheerful. He asked me calmly:
"Well, what do you think, Kael?"
I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to understand his intent, then shouted with all my might:
"I don't know!"
"Then my answer is the same — I don't know either!" — he said with that mysterious smile.
"Then you die too!" — I whispered through gritted teeth.
I connected my mana trace with the countless black particles scattered across the battlefield. In an instant, I felt all of them under my control.
I slowly closed my palm.
Then I snapped my fingers.
Click!
BOOOOOOMMM!
In an instant, the Ienxoz particles detonated simultaneously at every point on the battlefield.
The terrible explosion shook the entire academy courtyard. In seconds, the entire battlefield fell into complete silence. Thick fire, black smoke, and blinding dust covered everything. No one, not even a step away, could see anything. The smell of fire and burnt flesh filled the air.
I had carefully observed Izabella just moments before the explosion. Guessing which direction the blast had thrown her, I slowly began walking toward that area under the invisibility cloth. Blood dripped from my steps. Each step brought pain, but I didn't stop.
"I-zaa... beeeel... laaaa..." — my voice echoed across the dark field like a graveyard horror.
Hearing this voice, Izabella began to writhe in terror. Though the Ienxoz powder hadn't killed her, it had turned her divine power and all her mana to ash, reducing her to a state weaker than an ordinary person, crippled and helpless. Her sword lay in the corner, and her hands were too weak to even lift it.
She tried to flee blindly, but I stood beside her under the invisibility cloth, staring at this helpless creature with pure hatred. Finally, I moved to intercept her path and tore off the cloth. Izabella, not looking ahead, was crawling backward in panic, desperately glancing behind her. Eventually, her trembling hands touched my boot, and she froze in terror.
"Hey, hey... where are you rushing to, dear guest?" — I said, descending upon her like a dark shadow.
She looked at me. There was no trace of her former pride in her eyes, only expressionless, frozen terror. Her lips trembled. Yet still, she couldn't help herself:
"You have no chance, Kael... Once I return from here and recover, I'll wipe you off the face of the earth!"
"You're in a bit of a hurry, Izabella..." — I said, smiling. My fingers felt the cold metal in my pocket.
"Why am I in a hurry?!"
"Your death, of course... Don't you know such words only fuel the fire of my rage?"
"I don't care about your rage!" — she shouted, making one last attempt to regain her composure.
Without a word, I grabbed her hair and brutally lifted her head. With the cold dagger in my other hand, I pressed it against her pale neck, cutting the skin. Blood began to seep out. A single drop of blood fell onto her chest.
"Is that so?..."
"Stop!" — Izabella's voice suddenly trembled, completely changing. She realized her life was hanging by a thread. — "If you kill me, my family will find you and destroy you, even if they have to dig you from under the earth! Do you understand what that means?! Furthermore, the entire Empire will not leave you alone!"
I let out a deep sigh and stared into her pupils with bloodshot, furious eyes. I saw tears forming in her eyes. My fingers gripped the dagger tightly, my hands trembling.
"I don't care..."
"No... no, stop! I... I..." — tears streamed from Izabella's eyes, she had completely surrendered. — "I'll be your servant! I'll be useful to you, I swear! I'll do whatever you say, just don't kill me!..."
"About that..."
Shkkkk!
The blade moved as cold and fast as steel. Before she could even finish her sentence, I severed her head from her body. The hot blood splattered across my face. A moment of silence, only the sound of blood droplets falling to the ground.
"...you should have thought about that earlier," — I whispered and tossed the severed head to the ground. It rolled several times before stopping. Her eyes were still open — terror frozen in them.
At that very moment, Sabrine flew down from the sky at wind speed and cast a powerful spell in midair. In an instant, all the dust particles and black smoke vanished.
Seeing the dangerous situation, I threw the invisibility cloth over myself in the blink of an eye. Sabrine sensed my presence, but couldn't see my face. Without a moment's hesitation, she unleashed a terrible lightning spell at the spot where I stood! The light wave cut through the air. I threw myself aside with all my might, but the terrifying lightning shattered and burned a large portion of the invisibility cloth. The cloth burned, sparks flying.
As the dust settled, Sabrine's eyes fell on the horrific scene in the middle of the field: Sebastian was choking Hans by the throat, his grip tight. Sebastian looked back at her calmly. His iron gauntlet fingers had dug deep into Hans's throat.
Taking advantage of the moment, I wrapped myself in the remains of the cloth and began slowly crawling toward the academy's underground bunker. Each crawl was painful, but I moved quietly, slowly, carefully.
"Hey you! What's your name?! Release Hans right now!" — Sabrine shouted, trembling with rage. Light gathered in her hands.
Sebastian stared into Sabrine's face with a victorious smile. Without any hesitation, he snapped Hans's neck with a crack and tossed the lifeless body to the ground. Hans's head twisted at an unnatural angle.
"Axx, you devil!" — Sabrine couldn't contain herself and lunged at Sebastian at the speed of light.
But Sebastian was even more cunning. He struck the ground with his divine weapon, shattering the stones, and opened a portal in an instant. Just milliseconds before Sabrine's devastating fist could hit his face, Sebastian jumped into the portal and it closed.
BOOM!
Sabrine's fist struck empty space, creating a massive crater where it landed. Rocks and earth flew everywhere.
As I reached the bunker entrance, I silently watched all of this. Hanna was standing guard at the door, her magic staff in hand, her eyes alert.
"The plan is simple... I'll leave some evidence at the spot where the fight started and destroy the rest. Then I'll make it look like they started the fight and injured me, and while the battle raged on, I was unconscious there. The rest Dzao can sort out when he returns."
I wrapped the remaining piece of cloth around myself and slowly began moving toward the dormitory. I needed to make sure I left no blood trails behind.
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