If he had been bare, the force would have been enough to split him in half.
The smoke cleared, and Ludis appeared.
"Cough! Cough!"
His body was a mess, covered in dust and blood.
He breathed heavily. He could feel blood pooling somewhere inside his body.
Without a wand, his defense magic casting was significantly slower, and he couldn't absorb all the impact.
"You're pathetic as a mage."
"Ha... Ha..."
"You mocked me for being the weakest, but you were knocked out in one shot while aiming for the tower master's position?"
"I... I..."
Ludis stuttered and then blurted out.
"I just wanted to reach the top like other mages. My ultimate goal was to become the tower master..."
Everyone was like that.
When they become a tower mage, everyone dreams of becoming a tower master, and when they become a workshop mage, everyone dreams of becoming a workshop master.
Reed Adeleheights was undoubtedly such a character.
A man who had lived to escape the realm of mediocrity.
He eventually crossed the line, but Reed himself stopped it.
However, Ludis had already crossed that line.
He crossed that line, pretended to be the tower master of Beryl, and committed acts that humans should not do for several years.
"So you teamed up with the demons?"
Reed asked with a trembling voice.
Ludis's pupils widened as he looked up at Reed.
"I don't know anything. I have no connection with the demons!"
He vehemently denied that fact.
Even if he admitted to trying to kill Dolores, he could not admit to having any connection with the demons.
"I see, you don't know."
Power was put into the footsteps approaching Ludis.
Reed also took off the gauntlet he was wearing.
He grabbed Ludis by the collar with his left hand and pulled him up.
He raised his clenched right fist.
"Then let me help you remember."
His fist struck Ludis's face.
There was no need to sugarcoat it.
It was a primitive release of anger, unfit for an elegant mage.
Ludis' face swelled as he gasped for breath, and Reed's fist finally stopped.
The blood smeared on Reed's right hand dripped onto the floor.
"I'll ask one last time."
Reed asked, breathing heavily.
"Do you have any connection with the demons?"
It was the final question.
"I... have... no connection... with the demons..."
He hoped for a final plea, but what came out of his mouth was a lie.
It was pathetic.
It was not even a struggle to survive but a vile refusal to acknowledge the disgrace he had committed.
"Then let's prove it here."
Reed pulled out a bottle and threw it in front of Ludis.
"This is..."
"It's a Kalton mountain tea. The same tea that was served at the tower master's meeting."
Kalton mountain tea that tower masters drank to prove themselves to each other.
It was a bottle containing about 1L.
"Drink it all. If you prove that you're human by drinking it, I'll apologize for accusing you of being a demon and forgive you."
Apologize and forgive. At those words, Ludis's swollen face reached for the bottle.
Ludis, holding the bottle, opened the cap.
Pop!
A strong floral scent tickled his nose.
Only then did Ludis realize his intention.
There's poison in the Kalton mountain tea. Drinking a cup would be fine, but consuming a large amount would cause the poison to take effect.
The amount Reed offered was already more than lethal.
'He never intended to spare me in the first place.'
Ludis, trembling, carefully brought the bottle to his mouth.
There's poison in the Kalton mountain tea, but with good luck, he could survive.
To live and be forgiven.
Just as he was about to take a sip.
Whoosh!
"Kuh!"
Ludis dropped the bottle he was holding with both hands.
The Kalton mountain tea, which had been full, flowed to the floor.
"This... this is..."
Ludis bowed his head at the pain he felt in his chest.
A single black thorn pierced through his chest and protruded out.
"I can't believe I've been watching such a pathetic guy all this time. I never knew my judgment was so poor."
A young voice circled from behind and came to the front.
"Cough... cough... cough..."
The master of the Black Sky Tower, Freesia, looked up at Ludis with one eyebrow raised.
Her face seemed to say she was disappointed in him.
"You never admit that you've done nothing wrong until the very end. That rotten mindset is just like a demon."
In the air, Freesia waved her finger.
The black thorn that pierced Ludis's chest spread out in two directions, binding him.
"I told your family everything. I said you teamed up with the demons to take over the Tower of Wallin. Do you know what they said?"
Freesia laughed cruelly.
Watching someone fall into the gutter.
It was her favorite moment.
"To be honest, I don't remember what they said either. But it's certain that you're not part of Grancia or Jade anymore."
The bond of blood is stronger than anything.
Blood is thicker than water.
But it wasn't strong enough to protect a family that joined hands with demons.
It wasn't thick enough to embrace the disgrace that would scatter the unstable royal authority.
"Let's have fun together, you stupid brat."
Her shadow disappeared along with the silent screams.
Ludis was dragged to Freesia's Shadow Kingdom.
In the abyss where he couldn't escape without Freesia's permission, he would suffer without being able to die.
Ludis had lost everything to his vanity.
It was over.
Freesia looked up at Reed, her eyes turning.
Her expression said she didn't like him either.
"Reed."
She asked as she approached him.
"Why did you suddenly attack that man?"
"I was angry. He tried to kill a great mage with tower politics..."
"So in the end, you tried to kill him? Is your final revenge to feed him poison and make him die like an electrocuted fish, flapping around?"
"Yes."
"Reed, revenge is not just about killing. You have to keep them alive until the end. You have to make them deeply understand the fear of staying in this world until they long for death."
That was Freesia's philosophy.
As someone who desired death more than anyone else, she knew death well.
"I'm disappointed in your actions, Reed. Emotional and barbaric. Do you beat people up when you're angry? I hate those kinds of guys."
"I'm sorry."
"I don't like apologies either."
"......"
"I also hate if someone shuts up when I say I don't like something."
Reed couldn't find the right words to say.
The raging anger had completely burned out, leaving his emotions as empty as a pile of ashes.
Freesia's red eyes looked down at Reed's wrist.
"Give me your hand."
Reed obediently held out his right hand.
He hadn't noticed when he was hitting, but the blood on his hand wasn't just Ludis's.
The skin on his knuckles was gone, and his palm had a tear from his fingernail.
Since he wasn't a fighter, he hurt himself while hitting Ludis's face.
Freesia's shadow enveloped him.
The pain, as well as the wound, was completely gone.
"Go wash yourself when you get back. You smell terrible."
"Yes."
"I'll have fun with that brat. Come and watch when you're bored. I'll show you the points where he screams."
"If I can forget... I just want to forget."
"If you can, then do that."
On the night when the full moon was unusually bright, Ludis disappeared.
No one tried to find the missing Ludis.
As if nothing had happened, he slowly faded away, knowing that he was dying cold somewhere.
***
Dolores returned to the Tower of Wallin.
Her face, which had always been strict and serious, was more sullen and emaciated than usual.
The first to greet her was her secretary.
"Are you back, Tower Master?"
"Yes."
The secretary thought she was someone else for a moment.
With just one word, the ice queen that had always kept her on edge was not felt.
Dolores went inside as if nothing had happened. All the mages of the Tower of Wallin were gathered in the first-floor hall to welcome her.
Dolores looked at them with a puzzled face.
"Why are you all out here?"
"We are all here to welcome the return of the Tower Master."
"Is that so?"
Dolores made eye contact with each of them.
They all subtly avoided Dolores's gaze.
Their eyes were filled with guilt for not trusting the Tower Master and regret for being swayed.
Dolores didn't say anything to them.
She silently got on the elevator, and her secretary hurriedly followed her onto the elevator.
"Tower Master."
"Yes."
"Here is the list of those who sided with Ludis Grancia and formed a faction."
The secretary handed her the list.
From the instigators to those who roughly agreed, everyone was meticulously listed.
"Why this?"
"I thought it might be necessary to reorganize the personnel in the tower, so I brought it to you..."
If she had been the usual Tower Master of Wallin, she would have undoubtedly said this.
-Expel all the instigators from the tower, and discipline those who agreed with them, starting with the ones with the heaviest guilt.
If she had been the merciless Ice Queen who meticulously handled things, it would have been a matter worth discussing.
"It's okay if it's for that."
"Excuse me?"
But Dolores returned the list.
As soon as they arrived at the top floor of the Tower of Wallin, the office, Dolores asked her secretary.
"Who was originally designated as the next Tower Master?"
"Why are you looking for them...?"
"I want to do a handover."
"A handover...? What do you mean?"
Dolores raised her head to look at her secretary.
The secretary was taken aback.
Dolores, who always had a strict face, was smiling.
"I don't want to be the Tower Master anymore."
