Her face quickly recovered and returned to its original state.
Reed had seen this before.
'It's just like Freesia.'
An overwhelming regenerative ability, without a hint of disturbance even when her head was blown off.
Even the black-haired magician could not help but be astonished.
Similar appearance to Rosaria and abilities similar to Freesia.
What on earth was this girl?
Name: Rosemary
Occupation: ?????
Age: ?????
Disposition: ?????
Health: ??????? Stamina: ?????? Mana: ???????
[Traits]
「Eternal Hole」, 「Broken Link Defying Providence」, 「Ultimate Chimera」
[Abilities]
????????
"What on earth is this child...?"
The 「Eternal Hole」possessed by Rosaria and the 「Broken Ring that Defies Fate」held by Freesia.
Two seemingly incompatible abilities coexisted at the same time.
'So that's why she didn't die.'
Reed examined her coldly.
A being that shouldn't exist, covered in question marks, but he could confirm all the traits.
The combination of Rosaria's mana and Freesia's health.
And the 「Ultimate Chimera」trait that could bring out the characteristics of all living beings.
'Isn't this the strongest creature on earth?'
If there was a weakness, it was that she didn't know much yet.
She was in a pure state, not knowing how to use her own body, which allowed him to barely strike her.
"Are you going to do more?"
"Eh...!"
Reed reached out to Rosemary with his gauntlet.
At the same time, his gauntlet disappeared.
More precisely, it shattered and scattered.
Everything that made up the gauntlet turned to dust and vanished.
"It's impossible..."
Feeling panic lasted for a moment.
A line pierced through Reed's shoulder.
Reed moved his body to dodge the line, but he couldn't completely avoid the damage.
"Kuaaak!"
He screamed in pain, unable to bear it.
It felt like a sharp blade dug into his bones.
Hearing Reed's scream, Rosemary asked something.
"Does it hurt? Are you screaming because it hurts?"
"Ku...ugh..."
Although Reed didn't answer, Rosemary knew what it meant.
"Uncle is in pain..."
Rosemary's expressionless face changed.
The corners of her mouth curled up towards the sky, and her eyes crumpled like crescent moons.
She was enjoying that moment.
"Revenge feels so good."
Twisted ecstasy enveloped Rosemary's entire body.
Her innocent face was captivated by distorted happiness, filled with malicious purity.
As if she had gained a deep realization, she began to shout.
"Pain can be transferred to others! For Rosemary to... for Rosemary to be happy, someone else has to be hurt!"
Distorted ideas took root in the girl's mind.
It was a dangerous thought.
Especially when a talented girl like her had such thoughts, it would turn into an absurd disaster.
'What should I do?'
This girl hates me.
She said she hated me because her father hated me, and she was intoxicated by the twisted sense of conquest by oppressing me.
'The only certainty is that I can't survive this.'
Reed, who had lost the means to attack, was left with only an injured arm.
And a mouth that could still move.
"If I die... all your pain will be solved."
"Huh?"
"I was the one your father hated, right? So, play with me as much as you want. It doesn't matter what you do. Play to your heart's content until your feelings are relieved."
The only thing left was to minimize the damage by writing over the blank slate in her mind.
Only I need to die.
"No."
Rosemary answered innocently.
"It's not just you who hurt my dad."
"There are others?"
"Yes! You were the biggest problem, but there were other people too. The name was... what was it?"
Rosemary looked up at the sky with an innocent face.
Now that action didn't seem the least bit pretty.
"Oh, right! Rosaria Adeleheights Roton."
Reed's eyes widened.
Not just that name came from Rosemary's mouth.
"Phoebe Astheria Roton, Dolores Adeleheights, Adonis Hupper, Morgan Hupper II, Larksper..."
They were all names of people Reed knew.
"All these people are hurting Rosemary. So, I'll take revenge on them just like I did to you."
"No..."
Reed clenched his teeth and stood up.
"I'm the root of all the problems. So I'm enough for you. So... if you're going to kill someone, just kill me."
"Asking for something while throwing away your life... it must be precious, right?"
Rosemary's expression turned vicious.
"Then I want to break you even more! Rosemary is so happy to be able to break you...!"
"This damn girl..."
Reed ground his teeth.
Rosemary was more than happy to see his anger.
'I never thought such a monster would be created...'
Pure evil.
Reed shuddered at the evil that had been learned on its own.
His death would not be the end. Reed despaired at that fact.
At least if he could save someone by throwing away his life, that would be enough.
"Goodbye, mister."
Without a moment to indulge in sentiment, Rosemary raised her finger.
The railgun that had blown her head off was now aiming for Reed's heart.
Reed couldn't move.
He tried to think of a way to respond, but there was no trick to escape from her, who was adapting over and over again.
'I'm sorry.'
His promise to protect her to the end had now become a lie.
Reed looked at the beam of light coming towards him with a bitter smile.
That's when it happened.
Reed's body sank to the ground at a very fast speed.
Unable to see in front, unable to breathe, and plunged into a black hole where no light entered, the cold void pricked his skin.
'Is this death?'
Reed thought it was his own death.
He thought it was so empty because he was dead.
But that was only for a few seconds. It was very brief.
"Gasp!"
The colorless view returned to the realm of color.
His breath returned to normal, and he felt the pain throbbing in his arm.
Reflexively, he looked around.
The sticky black substance that had clung to and sucked Reed was slithering back into Reed's shadow.
"What is this...?"
Reed knew whose magic it was.
The person who seemed most reliable even in this desperate situation.
That person stood in front of Reed, holding a small umbrella.
"Reed, what are you doing?"
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
***
***
One hour before Rosemary's encounter with Reed, at the Black Sky Tower.
Freesia was sprawled out as usual.
Everything was bothersome.
The same tasks were always tiring, sitting was tiring, and taking a lazy nap was tiring.
However, there was a moment when she could move actively despite all that.
"...Another rat has crawled in."
Freesia turned her head with young, sharp eyes.
There stood an incomplete figure on two legs.
Freesia knew she had already met this figure once before.
As bothersome as everything was, her pride wouldn't allow her to let the same intruder go twice.
-Do you want to know how to die?
The unknown incomplete figure asked.
Instead of replying, Freesia sent her original Chimera as a response.
The sharp claws of the original Chimera pierced the incomplete being's body.
The incomplete being didn't flinch in the face of an attack that would have exploded a normal person.
Instead, the original Chimera was losing strength.
The green mana aura gradually disappeared, and the pile of bones fell to the ground.
-It's not a loss to listen. Both you and I can have a win-win situation.
"Talking about win-win."
Freesia had no intention of listening.
She was already too old to be manipulated by someone else.
"This is my tower. If an uninvited guest enters my tower, there's nothing to do but kill them on the spot."
There was no room for compromise.
When Freesia firmly nailed the point, the incomplete being continued speaking.
-The 「Broken Ring that Defies Fate」 defies the natural order. If you defy the natural order once again, it will flow according to the flow of the order.
Freesia's finger stopped.
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
One of her eyebrows shot up to the sky.
The man smiled and answered.
-When your curse, the 「Broken Ring that Defies Fate」, merges with someone who has the same curse, it returns to the providence.
***
'Although it's an undeniably good situation...'
From Reed's perspective, Freesia's sudden appearance felt completely out of the blue.
As he stared blankly for a while, Freesia furrowed her brows.
"Reed, you should respond faster when I'm angry."
"That girl... she's the one who will cause disaster."
"Are you protecting your pride by lifting your opponent after being beaten so miserably?"
"That's not it, ugh...!"
His mind became hazy.
Reed's bleeding didn't stop easily.
Freesia looked at Rosemary with a contemptuous expression.
"What's your name, kid?"
"Rosemary. And you?"
"Freesia. I'm much older than you, so speak politely. You're a rude little girl who didn't learn any manners."
Rosemary didn't understand the harsh words Freesia spat out.
However, she could understand that the nuance was to provoke Rosemary herself.
Rosemary raised her finger.
Her target was Freesia's neck.
She intended to cut her throat.
Freesia, a seasoned mage, felt the imminent threat without a doubt.
But instead of teleporting like Reed or flying away, she didn't avoid it.
Swish!
A thin flash of light, as thin as a sheet of paper, pierced her neck.
"...Huh?"
Rosemary knew something had gone wrong.
At this point, her neck should have fallen off, so why was it still attached?
"Why are you like that, little girl? Are you thinking, 'Why don't I feel my neck being cut?'?"
Rosemary innocently nodded her head.
"Yeah, I was thinking that."
"I see. It showed on your face."
Freesia raised her hand with a refreshing smile.
Then, a black hand sprouted from Rosemary's shadow and throttled her neck.
"Cough, gurgle!"
Rosemary struggled from the surprise attack.
"If you want to see people suffer, strangle their neck like this. Make them unable to breathe properly and turn their faces blue. There's no greater spectacle, right?"
Thump!
Her neck bones crumbled like sugar candy.
It was an attack that would have killed an ordinary person instantly.
However, Reed knew she wouldn't die from that, and so did Freesia.
The girl, who should have been foaming at the mouth from muscle spasms, glared at Freesia with wide eyes.
"You're not cute at all, are you?"
"It hurts... don't use weird things."
"Now that I see it, you're exactly like him, even down to your rude replies. Reed, you should have taught the kid some manners, shouldn't you?"
Freesia reached out while looking down at Reed.
"You should have told me that I can't stand being told not to do something."
A black hand reached for Rosemary's neck.
Thud!!!
Unlike the gentle breaking at first, this time it was shattered with force.
The strength in her body loosened momentarily, and a glint appeared in Rosemary's red eyes.
"Rosemary said not to do it!"
Freesia's shadow was torn apart and scattered.
"That's impressive? Preventing mana from reaching your territory by spreading a barrier."
She spoke nonchalantly, but Freesia was genuinely impressed.
It was because a little girl was able to create an on-the-spot barrier that even a mid-level mage would find difficult.
Although long-range combat was impossible, Freesia didn't care.
If long-range doesn't work, then engage in close combat.
Freesia flew her body towards Rosemary.
"I hate you."
A thin flash of light burst from Freesia's neck.
Her head fell to the ground.
But Freesia's body didn't stop.
Her headless body lunged at Rosemary as if it were a hump on her body, grabbing her.
"I hate you too."
Her body swelled abnormally.
"Take care of your body, Reed. I'm not a nanny."
Reed deployed a defensive spell at the advice of the headless Freesia.
Boom!!!
An explosion occurred, but it was not a simple explosion.
Corpse explosion. Accelerating the decay inside the corpse to cause an explosion.
The explosion damage, of course, spread the poison, causing poison damage within the surrounding range.
Freesia's poison would melt human skin like pudding on a hot summer day.
"Ugh..."
It was hard to bear with a barrier.
Even though he had been healed, his body was already exhausted, and there wasn't much mana left.
"Tsk. Anyway."
Freesia, who had returned to her original body at some point, stood in front of Reed.
The poison that had been difficult to withstand dispersed as if recognizing its owner.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. Thank you. Thanks to you..."
"Didn't I tell you? I'm not a nanny. If you interfere with my work like this one more time, I won't stay still either."
Freesia was angry.
Reed bowed his head and apologized, knowing his shortcomings.
"I'm sorry."
"If you're sorry, meditate and gather mana. At least you should be able to protect yourself."
Reed began to gather mana as she advised.
It wasn't easy to gather.
Maintaining tranquility and gathering the surrounding mana.
Both were impossible in this environment.
After a moment, Rosemary appeared at the center of the explosion.
Her appearance was eerily unmatched.
Overwhelming regenerative power and skin-melting poison.
It was a grotesque sight where regeneration and destruction alternated.
However, her standing on two feet undoubtedly indicated she was alive.
"I hate... I hate weird things."
Stressed, Rosemary began to scratch her face.
"I hate it!"
Kuuuung-!
A heavy, deep rumble spread through the ground.
A halo began to shine behind her.
A single red ring, and the broken ring surrounding it.
It shone so brightly that it began to fluctuate like a solar flare.
The girl's latent power was not only being released but was running rampant.
"Black Sky Tower Master!"
Reed called out to her.
He thought that with such energy, she would do something about it.
But she stood still in that spot.
Had she lost her mind?
Reed hurriedly thought of waking her up and moved his steps.
"Do not come any closer, Reed."
She commanded Reed with a clear voice.
Contrary to Reed's speculation, she was maintaining her sanity.
Reed didn't understand why Freesia stood there without taking any measures.
"Reed."
"Yes?"
Reed had seen that face once before.
The smile she had when they made a promise.
It was then that Reed understood.
"Thank you for everything so far."
This was the death she had wanted.
