Chapter 24: I Stand in the Wilderness

Getting closer and closer.

Dry emotions boil over with an eerie intensity.

But more than that.

They cool.

They freeze.

…Endlessly.

Step.

Step.

Like ripples spreading across a still lake.

The silence is broken.

“Kariel.”

A face hardened with ferocity.

Surprisingly.

…It is just as usual.

“What were you doing here?”

…….

“His Highness is asking you!”

“Do you think the world is yours just because you showed off one little trick?”

“I suppose you’re acting this way because you trust Sir Lueld….”

“Stop.”

The Prince raised his hand to restrain his subordinates.

“…….”

Even this.

The usual progression.

“Do not make me say it twice. What were you doing here?”

“…….”

“This bastard, until the very end—!”

I was waiting.

“……?”

Alessius wondered if he had misheard.

What?

Waiting for what?

“Human malice often shows extraordinary momentum when it comes to profit and amusement.”

He suddenly begins to ramble.

“What?”

Just as the Prince was about to utter another word.

“The process of the strong oppressing the weak to reaffirm their own position is said to be the greatest pleasure a person of power can enjoy.”

Therefore.

“Since I understand it all intellectually, I won’t bother blaming you.”

“What the hell is this bastard saying now….”

In an instant, his head snapped.

Thud!

…….

……?

“??”

For a while, Alessius could only seriously ponder why he was lying on the floor.

Tinnitus rings in his ears.

His vision shakes, and only the vivid sensation of a stinging pain remains.

Still, he could not grasp the situation.

Y-Your Highness?!

D-Did this bastard suddenly go crazy?!

D-Do you know what you’ve just done?!

What are you all doing?!

Screams and voices filled with shock spread, sounding like echoes from a far distance.

In a span of only a few seconds.

As his senses gradually sharpened.

The situation became clearly perceived.

“……?”

He hit me?

Me?

That wretched bastard… me?

In the first place.

…There was no reason for me to be hit.

The fact that such a fool had resorted to violence first was highly unusual.

But to be hit by such a thing to the point of being knocked to the floor.

…Alessius was not such an amateur.

Even putting aside swordsmanship, in practical close-quarters combat.

He had no equal among his peers in the Academy, and even looking across all grade levels, he was among the very few.

Needless to say, when he held a sword.

And it wasn’t just swords.

Even the magic he learned for the sake of general education, he was capable of casting and utilizing it better than most students of the Magic Department.

If his practical skills were that good, was his theory lacking?

Not at all.

In fact, that was his specialty.

However, whether it suited his aptitude or not.

He had to be excellent in everything.

For that is the duty of the bloodline that even the Blue Bloods revere.

The Golden Bloodline.

Whether blood is blue or red.

Jackals and humans are the same in that they pounce on those they perceive as easy targets.

Power, by nature, stems from overwhelming strength.

Mere symbols or legitimacy only hold meaning once strength is established.

Therefore.

He must not show such a pathetic display.

It couldn’t be helped.

He was unlucky.

The situation was too unfavorable.

Such excuses would be no consolation in any circumstance.

It is improper.

It is inappropriate.

“Urgh!”

However.

To be shocked just because he fell? To be rendered incapable of recovery because of it?

That is more than a pathetic display; it is a vice deserving of contempt.

“You dare…!”

Only a few seconds had passed.

Why.

…Why is everyone, except for himself as he just pushed himself up, sprawled across the library floor?

“Hieek!”

Except for the one supporting the Prince.

Those who had shown clear hostility and engaged in antagonistic behavior.

Not a single one was standing normally.

“Come at me.”

“…You’ve completely lost your mind.”

Inside the library, where silence should be maintained.

The sudden commotion drew the attention of the few people present.

Normally, they would have moved away.

They would have wondered what was happening.

But this situation was not started by Alessius himself.

Even if it was shocking.

No, the fact that he even considers this shocking is what’s shocking.

The one who struck first was the other party.

Kariel.

‘Do you intend to ignore all social propriety?’

A pathetic display leads directly to the dishonor of our parents.

Both for you and for me.

…You should know that better than anyone.

“Do not worry about it.”

Without hesitation.

The fellow approached calmly.

“If things go south, I can just die, can’t I?”

What…?

“You’ve gone absolutely insane—!”

As he shouted and reflexively swung his fist.

Kariel deflected it with his forearm.

No, that wasn’t the end.

The deflected arm was grabbed instantly.

“Ugh?!”

He instantaneously operated Mana to strengthen his body, increasing his muscular strength and sharpening his senses.

‘What?!’

It unraveled.

As if forcibly dismantled, everything became unresponsive.

“Urgh!”

His head was forced back.

A series of light right-hand punches.

They were merely jabs to keep him off-balance, but as they entered the optimal striking trajectory, his vision blurred.

But.

‘Weak.’

As expected, the clumsy strikes of this weakling, who cannot use physical reinforcement, might bring bewilderment.

‘That is all!’

However, if there was one thing Alessius overlooked.

It was the fact that this weakling had subdued and neutralized his subordinates.

Blinded by rage, he failed to notice that point, unlike his usual self.

He tried to operate Mana again to shake off the right arm held by the fellow.

‘――?’

It was not a hallucination.

In that moment, the world flipped once more.

“Urgh!”

With a crashing sound, Alessius’s body was thrown, and like a falling axe, he split a library desk clean in two.

Alessius twisted his waist in a convulsive reaction to the impact.

“You… bastard…!”

“Please stand up.”

We still have much to discuss.

“Cough! What? Discuss?”

This lunatic… what nonsense is he talking now!

“Ah.”

Then, again.

As if reaching some realization.

Kariel stopped and looked up into the air.

Even that.

“I had forgotten. And it only happened this morning.”

“Cough! I-I won’t let you get away with—.”

“Please stand up.”

Kariel stood still, simply watching Alessius’s ugly struggling.

“Adults might brush it off as a children’s quarrel, but perhaps both you and I have already crossed the river too far.”

Even if you change your stance later.

“I am no longer in a position to do so.”

“How triumphant you are?! Just because you learned one pathetic trick! Because you landed one hit on me! Huh?! Do you feel like you own the world?!”

“From a while ago.”

Kariel asked back with indifferent eyes.

“Why do you keep spouting such nonsense?”

“You! You are the one saying such things?! You! Someone like you!”

“Stop barking.”

He approached slowly.

Stepping over the scattered fragments of the desk.

“There will be no next time.”

“Next time?!”

“If you fall to the floor this time, be prepared.”

“This crazy bastard, until the very end?!”

As he operated the Mana accumulated in his heart through Secret Breathing.

As if everything that happened moments ago was a lie, vitality began to surge through his entire body.

‘I wasn’t off guard.’

He became unnervingly calm.

Some called this particular trait a personality flaw.

‘But isn’t it fine as long as I use it properly?’

Father—His Majesty—had said so.

Also.

Do not regret what you have, and do not envy what you lack.

Wasn’t that what His Majesty repeatedly told him?

As the boiling emotions didn’t just cool but froze chillingly, things that were previously invisible were quickly transmitted through his brilliant brain.

‘Mana scatters upon contact.’

He didn’t know what trick was being used.

But if that was all, then he simply had to avoid being touched.

…However.

The fellow’s movements were more devoid of waste than he had imagined.

No, that’s a mistake.

There was plenty of waste.

It was just that it was strangely difficult to deal with.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t see it.

It wasn’t that the opponent was so agile or nimble as to be imperceptible.

‘The movements were concise.’

What happened just now.

Though humiliating, how could he not recall it?

Looking back, no matter how hard he searched, no special point could be found.

Both sides had the same limbs and body.

Is this also a Secret of Mana operation?

But then, it makes even less sense.

‘What kind of magic is this?’

Now, they were within arm’s reach.

Alessius, instinctively pulling back to create distance.

At that moment, again.

He exploded.

‘I—I! I retreated because I was afraid of him?!’

Of a guy like that?

This body?!

Alessius was finally forced to admit it.

As I thought.

I simply.

When I look at you… I cannot maintain my composure.

‘You brought this upon yourself.’

He harbored a murderous intent.

The other party must have steeled himself and started this in such a manner.

Therefore, all of this was self-defense.

Therefore, there was no reason for him to hesitate.

No reason to hold back.

Without a doubt!

Alessius threw himself forward with a speed greater than his retreat.

The world flowed quickly, but Kariel merely stared at him as he charged, as if time had stopped.

‘Yes, I admit it.’

Then and now.

You…!

…….

And so, again.

The world flipped.

“……?!”

A powerful impact slammed into his back and waist.

No, the opposite.

His body, his entire self, had been slammed into the ground.

“Gah!”

As if it were a lie.

The body that had been overflowing with vitality became as fragile as that of a sick man.

“Ugh… uh?”

When was I grabbed?

The heat that had filled his mind in an instant didn’t just cool; it dropped to a freezing point.

Difficulty breathing followed the pain.

Mentally, his emotions were shaking and boiling with bewilderment.

Conversely, his reason was colder than ever.

As if perceiving himself from the perspective of a third party.

‘My arm was grabbed.’

And he was flipped backward.

“Kh!”

Above all.

The situation was not over yet.

Kariel, holding the grabbed arm, mounted his chest as if snapping it.

Crack!

“?!”

His shoulder was dislocated.

A clearly intentional move.

However, Alessius had not grown up to be so weak as to scream at just this.

But just because one is accustomed to pain does not mean it is not painful.

“I warned you.”

That if you fall to the floor.

“You should be prepared.”

“What—?!”

Kariel, mounted on top, drove a fist down.

Thud!

“?!”

He raised his intact left arm to block it.

But the weight pressing deep into the arm joint almost made him scream.

Thud!

‘The knee?!’

Then, again.

Crack!

“?!”

After striking the face with a fist, he suddenly changed his posture and this time, ripped out the left shoulder.

Only the joint had popped out, and from the outside, it looked like there was no major problem.

But for the person whose both arms were neutralized in an instant, there could be no greater terror.

“You cra—!”

Thud!

“zy—!”

Thud!

“bas—!”

Thud!

“tard—!”

Thud!

“?!”

Thud!

With both arms neutralized, Kariel, mounted on his chest, rained down punches.

Thud!

“You!”

Thud!

“And yet!”

Thud!

“Think you’ll—!”

Thud!

“be—!”

Thud!

“safe….”

Suddenly, Alessius’s body was flipped.

‘What are you doing?!’

As soon as he felt the weight on his back.

Thud!

His face hit the floor.

To be precise, from the side.

Impacts were delivered periodically.

‘This bastard, seriously!’

“Guh!”

His face was forcibly lifted from the ground.

His messy red hair was gripped violently.

“Endure it.”

Since I have endured for a long time.

“Now it is your turn.”

Thud!

Mounted on his back, gripping his hair.

He slammed a fist into his face.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

“Hieeeek!”

“W-What is happening?”

“Madman… crazy bastard! That guy! How is he going to clean this up!”

“H-How dare he to His Highness Prince— T-This! This is t-t-treason? T-Treason?!”

No matter what they babbled around him.

What did it matter.

I am in a pit.

And so.

Even though I somehow climbed out of that pit.

That is completely useless.

In the end, I must drag those who pushed me into that pit.

And I will push them into the pit I fell into.

Until then.

Reality, face, future, happiness, dreams, or whatever.

What do I care about any of it.

I only need to achieve my revenge.

“Since this is just the prelude, I won’t kill you.”

For now, simply.

“Endure it.”

Just as I had no choice but to endure.

Just as I had barely endured while shuddering.

“Because we are now destined to never live under the same sky.”

He swung his fist.

Crunch!

Again.

Crunch!

Again.

Crunch—!

Continuously.

Crunch—!