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Side Story Chapter 120

Theta was the one and only Eighth Circle mage on the continent, so they didn’t even need a warp gate. A teleportation spell could take them anywhere they needed to go; it hardly mattered that the Magic Tower and Arcadia were thousands of kilometers away from each other.

“It’d be better to head to the Palace first, wouldn’t it?”

“Wait.” Theta closed his eyes for a moment and frowned “…No, I think we should head north, not the Palace.”

“Pardon? North…?”

“Why don’t you try it, Earth? Can’t you feel it?” Theta suggested.

Marcus closed his eyes and put his entire focus on energy detection. Before long, his eyes flew open again. “I see that I still have a long way to go in magic. You are indeed an Eighth Circle mage.”

“Let’s get going.”

They headed north without delay.

“Tower Master,” Marcus said.

“Yes?”

“When you said you’ll help Avalon for your friend, you were talking about Her Majesty Iceline, right?”

“Well…” Theta trailed off. His thoughts turned to a particular man—a man so powerful that he hardly needed anyone’s help. His mind and his pride were strong. Although he was quite arrogant too, the man was the most powerful individual Theta knew. Not someone he wanted to make an enemy of, to be sure.

“Do you think he’s really back?” Theta asked out of the blue.

“…I guess that you were thinking about the Emperor of Avalon.” Marcus smiled faintly.

Marcus hadn’t seen the Master of the Magic Tower and Martial God meet. As a matter of fact, Theta and Joshua were both close and distant; Joshua had been Theta’s opponent in the Reinhardt Masters\' Battle, but he had saved the Magic Tower and all of its mages from Evergrant con Aswald’s evil scheme.

“He’s such an arrogant guy. All the male mages of the Magic Tower secretly had a crush on Iceline, but he snatched her away. And despite that, he put her through all kinds of trouble,” Theta grumbled.

“Hahaha, it’s said that heroes always put beautiful women through trouble. Since he’s called the Hero King, I wouldn’t expect any less.”

“Come to think of it, it’s strange. If he’s back, I don’t think she would need help from anyone else.” Theta tilted his head.

That didn’t change even if the opponent was the Hubalt Empire, the powerful nation on the continent right now, because Joshua Sanders, the Martial God, was capable of single handedly stopping an entire country’s attack. Since he had fought against Joshua, Theta knew that better than anyone.

“He’s a man who defeated numerous Superhumans… Was there an exceptional Absolute hiding in the Hubalt Empire or something?”

Theta didn’t stop walking in spite of his confusion. The closer he got to the north gate, the thicker the mana in the air became. At that point, it was safe to assume that hundreds of high-level mages were simultaneously utilizing their mana circles at once.

“Why would they need such a large amount of mana…?”

Theta suddenly stopped talking.

“Tower Master, this is…”

“…Yes, I felt it too.”

Marcus grunted. “Hubalt is also called the Holy Empire, so why would they get involved with demonic power? What in the world…”

“Who knows? A third party may have joined in. Let’s hurry.”

Theta immediately casted a short-range teleportation spell. In contrast, Marcus moved a little differently. Cracks spread underneath Marcus’s feet, and the ground rose up. It then rolled along with Marcus on top, living up to its name, “Earth Wave”. Thanks to their abilities, they reached the north gate in no time.

“Huh…”

The first thing they could see was a magic circle shining with blue light. In that circle, numerous people were writhing as black demonic power ran rampant inside it. In its center were a woman and a man.

“Iceline…?” Theta’s eyes narrowed.

“…Based on his appearance, the red-haired man beside her seems to be the Second Prince of the Avalon Empire.”

Theta instantly realized what was going on.

“Does she have a death wish? How could she try something that crazy?”

The magic circle before them was an antimagic field, and Iceline was trying to change its fundamental nature. This experimental procedure was as difficult as creating something out of nothing. In other words, it was a perfect way to lose control of her mana die from the slightest mistake.

“Earth.” Theta stepped forward with a frown. “Please prepare for the worst. I’m going in there.”

“What? But it’s too dangerous, Tower Master.”

“They’ll all die if I leave them be. You know that this could go wrong at any moment.”

Marcus did not refute him, so Theta strode into the antimagic field.

“You could have spent the rest of your life surrounded in luxury… but you certainly know how to find trouble, Iceline.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Kireua was soaked in sweat.

‘…Shit, I talked all big, but this is embarrassing.’

Since he had experience dealing with demonic power, Kireua had been confident that he would be able to solve the problem again, but things did not go according to expectation. However, there was something going on.

-Wowsie! Food! Food! It’s all mine!

-Hehehehe!

-Why are you getting in my way? I said it’s mine!

-Hehe! Hehe! Hehehehe!

-You came in after me, so what nonsense are you saying! Do you want a piece of me?!

The two Evil Sins’ powers continued to bicker with each other inside Kireua, something he had definitely not expected in the slightest. He couldn’t stop his face from creasing.

‘Cut it out, you two! We need to save people first, so it doesn’t matter who eats it!’

-No! No! Why do people matter? I’m hungry! I want it all to myself!

Up until a while ago, Coal had the mind of a three- or four-year-old child, but now it was around seven to eight years old. Thanks to Coal’s growth, it was as stubborn as a mule now.

‘There’s always next time! Seriously, you really are the power of Greed…’

-Hehehehehehehe!

‘It’s the same for you, you damn Gluttony,’ Kireua snapped.

-Ah, I don’t care! I don’t care! Tell that guy to get out! I told you that it’s all mine!

‘Shit…!’

Kireua cracked his eyes open.

“Your Majesty…” Kireua bit his lower lip.

His beautiful second mother was obviously struggling.

“…Kireua, I’m fine, so take Selim out of here.”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

“I’m going to trap the demonic power inside the field, so once Selim gets out of here, he’ll easily be able to pull himself back together,” Iceline explained.

“Yo-Your Majesty, but then you’ll be—”

“Kireua.” Iceline opened her eyes with a faint smile. “Please look after Selim.”

“Your Majesty…”

“I’m not your birth mother, and your father had disappeared irresponsibly, but you still treat me the same as your birth mother—so thank you for that. I’m very proud of the fine man you’ve become. Remember that I love you two more than anyone else in the world.”

Kireua could feel himself choking up as all his memories flashed across his head. Of course, there had been a time when Kireua had hated Selim. No, Kireua had actually hated himself for having no talent with spears and constantly comparing himself to his brother, although he knew it was wrong.

“Please continue to get along well with each other. No matter what anyone says, you two are your only brothers.”

“Your Majesty, why would you tell me this now…?”

“…I think I was too reckless. I can feel my eyes closing.”

“No!” Kireua screamed.

Abruptly, a man wearing a robe appeared in the sky.

“Hey, baby prince!” he shouted. “Would you step back a little? You’re getting in my way.”

Kireua wasn’t sure what was going on, but Iceline brightened despite her perilous position.

“Theta!”

“…Theta?” Kireua tilted his head in confusion.

Since Iceline called the man by his nickname, Kireua didn’t realize who he was right away, but it didn’t take long for Kireua to remember the man’s identity.

Iceline had been losing her battle against the encroaching demonic power, but a fresh infusion of concentrated mana gave her the power to continue the fight.

“S-So much mana…” Kireua swallowed nervously. He was sure that this man was a mage at least as skilled as Iceline. A young, handsome mage named Theta and with more than seven circles…

Kireua felt a jolt of electricity run down his spine.

“The most genius mage in history. Thetapirion Whitesox, the Master of the Magic Tower!”

* * *

Lust huffed and puffed her way up to the top of the snowy mountain, fighting her fatigue the whole way.

The first things she saw were the vast sky and an endless ocean of clouds as white as snow blanketing the entire peak. The view was, without exaggeration, heavenly.

“…Phew. Where in the world is it? What a pain.”

Lust wasn’t impressed by the scenery at all right now because she needed to find where the demonic power was coming from first.

“Iceline zin Rebrecca… I’m going to rip that bitch to shreds with my bare hands,” Lust told herself again as she strode forward.

She could feel the demonic power even from the edge of the mountain peak. The closer she got, the more lively she became for some reason.

“Hahahahaha, I’m here!” When Lust saw a giant chunk of ice in the distance, she took off running. The snow piled on the ground made it hard to walk, but she was full of energy at the moment. She believed without a doubt that once she acquired the source of this demonic power, she would not only be able to get her revenge but also recover most of her power.

-…This is something that I didn’t have in mind.

The familiar voice froze Lust as surely as Iceline’s magic.

-It doesn’t look like you came here in search of your own grave.

“W-Wait, this can’t be right. No way.” Lust trembled like a leaf in the win, her eyes glued on the man inside the ice boulder. “Why… are you here?”

-That’s the question I wanted to ask.

A divinely handsome man with dark blue hair and two obsidian-like eyes stared at Lust.

Lust’s voice quivered.

“Joshua Sanders…!”