The Dark Fate of Adrias

Marvin discreetly observed the two nervous newspaper club members, his eyes carefully scanning them.

"Unofficial ranking first? Are you students from the graduating class?"

"Oh, you don't know? I'm a fourth-year student from the School of Magic."

Due to Adrias's fame at the Academy, thanks to the Tower of Modras, there was hardly anyone there who didn't know him. However, in other countries, he remained relatively unknown as he wasn't interested in simple evaluations like tournaments but had the unique ability to wield both a sword and magic simultaneously.

"A student of the School of Magic wielding a sword. Do you use an artifact as a substitute for a staff or practice unusual magic, perhaps some original family magic?"

"Well, Adrias is a bit unique. He has a rare disposition that allows him to handle both a sword and magic."

"Oh, I think I've heard of something like that. He competed against Dianne Alben in the tournament finals, right?"

{T/n: Blud got his facts wrong}

"Yes, that's correct."

Adrias was slowly approaching Dianne.

Following him was a young woman with short, pale pink hair.

"But why unofficial first place? I heard he lost to Dianne Alben."

"Well..."

Just as Dexter was about to explain, Adrias approached Dianne and started speaking.

"Dianne."

"This isn't it..."

"Dianne, can you hear me?"

"Don't touch me. Don't talk to me..."

The people around them finally noticed that something was off with Dianne.

In fact, her behavior had been strange all along, but it became even more noticeable after Adrias appeared.

"He must have been too strong to catch. Now, come out."

Adrias muttered something incomprehensible as he briefly observed Dianne's condition.

Then, he suddenly emitted a powerful aura.

"Ugh!"

A force that made it difficult to stand against.

As a result, the students who had no idea what was happening quickly stepped back.

"Whoa! Hey, give us some room."

"Wow, that's spine-chilling."

"I momentarily thought I was standing in front of an Aura Master."

"What's going on? Are they fighting?"

Dianne finally turned her head towards Adrias, who was exuding an intense aura.

Her expression was filled with extreme caution.

"What's going on?"

"Creshein."

Barely audibly.

The word spoken only to Dianne unsettled her.

In that moment of hesitation, Adrias swiftly moved, appearing next to Dianne as if he had teleported.

"It might hurt a bit."

Bang!

A wave of mana spread out, and Dianne collapsed without a chance to react.

"Whoa."

"What just happened? It ended so quickly."

"He's insane. That's the conqueror of the Modras Tower..."

Adrias' movements were so fast that the students couldn't even follow with their eyes.

Amid the sudden turn of events, Adrias effortlessly caught the unconscious Dianne.

"Senior! What just happened all of a sudden?"

"She was possessed by something. She'll regain consciousness soon."

"Possessed?"

Lucia, who had arrived late, asked in surprise.

"Is it related to the Mulfery Dormitory?"

"I don't know."

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Applause could be heard from somewhere, and when Adrias turned his head, an unfamiliar figure was approaching.

"Well, it seems the title of unofficial first place isn't wrong at all."

"Who are you?"

"Oh! My apologies for the late introduction. I'm Marvin Garret, a second-year student from Balkan Academy. I've come for a short visit for a few days. Nice to meet you."

"Balkan Academy?"

Adrias glanced at Marvin for a moment and nodded.

"Yes. Nice to meet you."

Then, he turned and left, still holding Dianne.

"Huh?"

Marvin, who had hoped to engage in further conversation, was taken aback when Richard intervened.

"Marvin! Let's explore elsewhere."

"Huh? But I haven't..."

"That's right! The School of Magic campus has a lot of fascinating things. We'll show you around."

Dexter also joined in.

The newspaper club members, who didn't want to provoke Adrias, desperately blocked Marvin. Although they hadn't seen or experienced it themselves, Adrias' personality had been notorious for being unconventional even before they enrolled.

Recently, he had improved, but he was still a hard-to-approach senior for them. Especially with the overwhelming aura and charisma he exuded.

Honestly, Marvin felt quite remarkable for daring to approach and strike up a conversation with him, even after witnessing such a scene.

"Well, what about interviews with the promising students we introduced earlier? I'm from the Journalism Department, so I can help bridge the gap."

"Oh, that sounds great. I was hoping to have conversations with Louis Artman and Vivianne Balkan."

Richard, who had successfully diverted their attention elsewhere, breathed a sigh of relief and glanced sideways.

Adrias, holding Dianne, continued on his way without looking back even once.

"I haven't even seen the Knights Department."

Adrias' movements when he approached Dianne were incredible. They were entirely imperceptible, not even noticed.

Richard had also watched the Modras Tower assessment in real-time, so he knew Adrias was powerful. But seeing his movements up close was beyond imagination.

'Unofficial ranking first, and not even a reaction from Dianne to his movements.'

He had heard that Adrias had participated in the tournament with an unexplained injury, but seeing this, it must have been quite severe.

When he graduated from Monas Academy with Louis Artman, he thought there wouldn't be anyone of the same age group surpassing Louis.

"The world is vast..."

There were many exceptional individuals.

.

.

.

.

I waited for a while at the infirmary, leaving Dianne there until she woke up. Since I intervened, I should also take responsibility.

Still, the situation wasn't as dire as I had feared.

If it had been someone else, they might have been fully possessed, but luckily, I could easily break it due to Dianne's strong magical resistance.

Her powerful magic resistance helped ease my worries.

Lost in my thoughts, I watched Dianne, who had her eyes closed, when Lucia approached me and started a conversation.

"But how come it didn't work?"

"What do you mean?"

"You said she was possessed or something."

"Just... she seemed different from usual."

"Huh? Is that all?"

"Uh..."

My response didn't seem to satisfy her, and Lucia stared at me with a slightly irritated look.

"What?"

"It doesn't seem like you just randomly bothered Senior Dianne for no reason, right? Her reaction was strange too. Maybe there's some solid evidence, and you just don't want to tell me?"

That's why quick-witted people...

I pleaded the Fifth.

"Well, you'll probably handle it well on your own, but sometimes it's okay to tell me."

She looked at me with a somewhat worried expression.

"Don't try to shoulder everything by yourself."

"I don't quite understand what you're saying, but thanks for the words."

If you want to help me, you have a long way to go.

Lucia, who had just recovered from her illness, was no different from a kid.

She might become the strongest Battle Mage in a few years, but that's a story for the future.

Right now, you just need to grow up without worries.

That's your role at the moment.

'The most explosive and rapid growth will come later. When that time comes, even if you don't like it, you'll have to let me push you.'

Until then, I wanted to protect her as much as possible and keep her from getting involved in unnecessary matters.

Her storyline was primarily connected to the development of the remedy, so there weren't many dangerous moments. That was more of evidence that creating the remedy was challenging.

Even after treatment, her storyline didn't connect to most main episodes.

You could view it as a convenience provided by the game. It gave her the time to grow that she had missed until now.

"Sigh, fine. I get it. It's obvious even without looking. You're just ignoring me, aren't you?"

"How dare I ignore the genius Lucia."

"Don't make fun of me."

Lucia exchanged fiery glances with me and then with Dianne alternately.

"I'll catch up with both of you in no time."

"Yes, I'll look forward to it, genius."

"Hmm."

As I teased Lucia, Dianne seemed to wake up with difficulty and made a sound.

Struggling to open her eyes, she looked at me and Lucia, who were sitting beside her.

"Where are we?"

"Senior Dianne, would you like me to help you remember who I am?"

"What's with the sudden question, Lucia?"

Dianne seemed to have a headache as she briefly held her head and then furrowed her brows.

"What happened?"

"By any chance, do you remember if this obnoxious senior touched you, Senior Dianne?"

"Adrias touched me?"

She fell silent for a moment, as if lost in thought, and then spoke as if she had remembered something.

"I do remember. But it's strange. It feels like it was just a dream."

"That obnoxious senior said that something was used on you, Senior Dianne."

"Ah...!"

Dianne gasped as if she had remembered something.

"The Mulfery Dormitory."

"Could it be related to that strange incident?"

"Yes. He asked me to investigate it."

So that's what happened.

Even so, it's a bit puzzling that Dianne, who has stronger magical power than most magic users at the Mage Towers, would be affected.

"Dianne, you didn't investigate it on your own, did you?"

When I asked, she nodded.

"Of course not. I had a feeling something was going to happen."

"By any chance, do you know who the people you went with are?"

As I asked, Lucia, who had been watching me from the other side, looked puzzled again.

"Is there something going on? Judging by the way you're asking about the people who went with her..."

It seems she's showing that she's quick-witted.

Well, I did ask in a very straightforward manner.

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know either. I want to ask Senior Adrias about it."

I didn't want Lucia to get unnecessarily interested, so I changed the subject.

"I assume Dianne was the only student there, right? The rest were all professors."

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"It's as risky as someone dying. Right now, the Dean and the Tower Master are both absent, aren't they?"

At the eastern end of the continent, there was a city-state called Portrian, known as the City of Mages. An annual event, a festival-like gathering, was held there, and it just happened that Bart and Berial had participated.

"That's right. Besides me, Professors Iselin and Charon were there."

"Got it."

As I expected.

I had been slightly puzzled by the fact that Dianne, who possessed such strong magical power, was almost possessed, but the mention of Charon going with her made sense.

'Charon Diflen.'

He was my black magic mentor, a mage from the Black Magic Assembly, and also the mid-boss of this episode.

'Normally, in the scenario, I would have been involved as well.'

{T/n: Dude's been meddling with every scenario}

But I had become too formidable for Charon to meddle with.

In essence, I couldn't be considered his disciple anymore.

'I don't know why he's suddenly causing trouble, but I'll definitely take care of it this time.'

I'd take advantage of this episode to not only collect rewards from the events but also to hit two birds with one stone.

I looked at the Galakshur sealed on my side.

The time for the seal to be finally lifted was approaching.