With a roar, Loktar transformed into a Blue Dragon and exhaled an icy breath, turning the knights charging towards Evelyn into massive ice sculptures along with the castle walls.
[Uncle.]
Evelyn sent a mana message to Loktar, who had soared high into the sky to avoid magic and sword strikes.
[Please try not to kill too many of the kingdom's people.]
Although it was true that the citizens of the Lothair Kingdom had insulted Para and thrown stones, they were all merely deceived by the king and nobles. Her goal was not massacre, but revenge. She needed to direct her blade only at the true culprits - the king, the Sage, and the nobles.
[Of course, I understand.]
Loktar nodded slightly.
[I've already instructed the others to avoid unnecessary slaughter, so don't worry.]
He advised her to focus solely on the battle at hand as he stomped on newly arrived knights. The knights crushed under Loktar's feet became crumpled pieces of metal tossed into corners.
"Erasing the Lothair Kingdom..."
The Sage smirked as he watched the withering king dying.
"I'm sorry, but killing that old man won't make the Lothair Kingdom disappear."
He shook his head, saying that the concept of a kingdom doesn't vanish so easily.
"For a prime minister to call the king an old man..."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow at the Sage.
"You're finally showing your true colors."
She scoffed, having known from the beginning that the Sage controlled the king and this country.
"You're right, the concept of a kingdom doesn't disappear easily. However..."
Evelyn's eyes turned cold as she curled her lips.
"If the king, you, and all the nobles die, things will eventually change."
She revealed the anger she had built up for over a decade, vowing to destroy this kingdom.
"Me-Merlin..."
"What on earth are you doing!"
"You're not this kind of person!"
The magicians who had been congratulating her moments ago now screamed with trembling hands.
"Merlin!"
"What have you done!"
"Controlling monsters and dragons? You're not a priest of the Dragon of Destruction, so why!"
The people who had broken through her emotional walls to become friends cried out for her to come back.
"Damn wench!"
"To think you were one of those Para..."
"You devil! Did you hide your identity all this time for revenge!"
"Kill her! Kill that woman immediately!"
The masters who had taught her magic in the tower and shown her the life of nobility now hurled insults at her.
"That's right."
Evelyn sneered overtly to hide her wavering emotions.
"It was all my plan. I hid my identity and lurked in enemy territory to grow stronger for revenge. For my kin who died without knowing anything!"
She stomped her foot, declaring that she had lived only for revenge until now.
“Step back if you don’t want to die. As a villain who mocked the kingdom…”
Evelyn steadied her shaking heart and glared at the Sage.
"I'll kill that monster and bring down this wretched kingdom."
She clenched her mana-infused fist, remembering her mother who had crushed the Sage's face.
"You've grown splendidly. The rain of revenge always seems to nurture seeds robustly."
The Sage curled his lips into a smile, unfazed by Evelyn's cold gaze.
"However, ten years is a short time. Even for a genius, not much can change."
As he playfully stretched out his hand, a white light emerged and spread throughout Merlin's body. The magic was so fast that even high-ranking knights couldn't react, but Evelyn seemed to have already perceived it as she opened her hand and concentrated mana.
The mana blooming from Evelyn's fingertips raised shields of flame and frost, completely swallowing the Sage's light magic.
The Sage's magic melted away without even touching Evelyn.
"Using the harmony of elements to erase the impact entirely, what an interesting method."
He nodded with interest and brought two fingers together. A magical power blossomed from beneath the Sage's feet and spread in all directions. An invisible pressure began to dominate the space, threatening to crush Evelyn's body.
"Yes, I fell for this spell before."
Evelyn didn't lose her smile even as she endured the Sage's spell pressing down on her entire body.
"You haven't changed much."
This spell was what the Sage had used when Loktar was fleeing with her ten years ago. She remembered it clearly, having experienced it once before.
"Like my mother, I don't fall for the same trick twice."
Evelyn thinly sliced the mana at her fingertips, creating an invisible blade to cut through the flow of the spell. The pressure of the Sage's spell vanished in an instant as Evelyn's mana blade slashed intensely.
"Huh?"
The Sage lowered his eyebrows as if dumbfounded.
"It's like this."
Evelyn smiled and brought her hands together, causing the natural mana to move violently and become invisible chains wrapping around the Sage.
"What is this..."
As the Sage opened his eyes wide in surprise, the mana chains grew thicker, crushing his shoulders and ribs. His bones and internal organs were completely pulverized as the Sage hung limply in the air as if dead.
When Evelyn clenched her fist, the Sage's body crumbled like dry leaves and sank into the blood-soaked ground.
She sprinkled blue flames on the crushed corpse of the Sage, burning it away in case he might revive again.
"Urgh..."
"The, the Sage was defeated like this..."
"Impossible!"
The knights and nobles screamed as they watched the Sage's burning corpse. They seemed unable to imagine that the man called the Sage could die so easily.
"You'd better worry about yourselves instead of this monster."
Evelyn sprinkled the mana she had concentrated in her hand into the air. Blue light connected like constellations, piercing through the hearts of the surrounding nobles and knights.
"No!"
"Bl-block it!"
"Use aura to block the magic!"
The knights tried desperately to stop her, but the magic that transcended their level pierced through their auras and tore apart their throats and hearts.
"How can even an Archmage use such magic..."
"She must have borrowed the power of demons! It doesn't make sense otherwise!"
"De-devil..."
"We should have killed all the Para..."
"Demonic bastards. The Sage was right when he said Para were demons..."
The knights and nobles died cursing Evelyn, saying that what they did that day was right.
"Me-Merlin. Even if your tribe suffered like that, nothing will be solved by such revenge!"
"That's right! It will only perpetuate hell!"
"This is just a massacre! Please stop!"
"Defeat the monsters! You devil!"
The people of the kingdom either bowed their heads begging for the war to stop or hurled insults. It made her nauseous. The humans who had ignored and dismissed the innocent Para being killed were now screaming and begging for their lives at the spark that fell before their feet. Their hypocrisy was so disgusting it made her laugh.
"As you say..."
Evelyn nodded as she stepped on the blood-soaked ground.
"I am a devil. I summoned both the monsters and the mobs that attacked you."
Until now, she had only killed those involved in the Para massacre. Of course, there might have been innocent people among them, but she admitted to being a devil because she couldn't stop the fight she had already started.
"But it was you who summoned this devil into this world."
She tore the throats of the nobles who had been sneering and muttering with double standards. Meanwhile, the Sage had broken through the flames and revived, now rotating his shoulders.
'He's alive again.'
She wasn't surprised. She had been certain of this after seeing that the Sage's mana didn't decrease even when her mother crushed his face.
"You've certainly changed."
The Sage nodded calmly, not losing his composure.
"But in the end, you will fall. Just like your mother."
He curled his lips into a cold smile and brought his fingers together. The Sage's spell traveled along the ground and summoned a massive plant in the center of the royal capital. The plant's tendrils wrapped around the monsters and warriors who had broken through the castle walls, turning them into red lumps of flesh.
The Sage didn't stop there, summoning red-skinned monsters from among the dead bodies to block the path of the other monsters.
"Waaah!"
"Sage!"
"Please save us!"
The citizens of the kingdom praised him, ignoring the fact that the Sage had died and come back to life. They seemed to have already chosen a new king.
"Actually, it was a bit troublesome..."
The Sage lowered his voice so only Evelyn could hear.
"Thank you for taking care of it for me."
As his fingertip moved, a hole opened in the neck of the king behind Evelyn, and a flood of blood poured out.
"Kuhk..."
The king reached out towards the Sage before his breath was cut off and he collapsed. The end of the man who had desired youth was more hideous than anyone else's.
"So you planned to devour this kingdom from the beginning."
Evelyn twisted her lips as she looked at the dead king.
"But it will be meaningless. Because this kingdom will disappear today."
As the massive plant tendrils tried to reach Loktar in the sky, she formed a spell circle and made white snow fall. The thin snowflakes touched the giant tendrils, instantly turning the plant as large as the palace into a block of ice.
"I've built up enough favor..."
The Sage smiled and brought his two fingers together.
"Now, let's start for real."
He nodded as if saying this was the real beginning and opened the world of imagination. The sky split open, and heroes from myths descended.
Shinryeo, who was said to have reached the realm of gods through martial arts; Yeomra, who crossed the demon realm with a human body; and Jecheon, who was said to have shattered the sky with a single staff, all raised their weapons towards Evelyn with flashing red eyes.
Black cracks also opened in the earth, spewing forth the seven great demon kings and demonic beasts of the demon realm. It seemed as if all the myths and calamities of the world were pouring down here. The Sage not only operated the ultimate spell but also prepared the fastest magic using light. It was a clear intention to kill Evelyn for certain.
'Fake, but real.'
Evelyn brought her two fingers together and harmonized the mana of her heart with the mana of nature. The moment her will touched the mana connected like a single line, the mythical and calamitous monsters rushing towards her split as if a white line had been drawn.
Space magic. Originally a teleportation magic that changed one's position, it had been improved to become a cutting magic that sliced through space itself.
The Sage behind the wave of spells was torn in half without even knowing what had hit him.
"Sp-space cutting?"
The Sage exhaled roughly, seeing that not only his body but also the space behind him had been cut away. However, his body began to return to its original form as if rewinding time.
"Huh..."
"Sa-Sage?"
Even the people now seemed to sense something strange about the Sage's revival, their jaws trembling.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of that devil as quickly as possible."
The Sage smiled and waved his hand, then suddenly froze.
"Huh?"
He bulged his eyes as he saw that his right pinky finger had disappeared.
"Looking for this?"
Evelyn curled her lips as she rolled what appeared to be the Sage's finger in her hand.
"Now I understand. The method of your revival too."
The Sage had simultaneously used magic to delay the time of his body just before death and a regeneration spell to create a phenomenon like resurrection. It looked impressive, but in reality, it wasn't much of an ability.
"You..."
The Sage bulged his eyes as he watched his finger melting away in Evelyn's magic.
"Yes. Now you've finally stopped using that disgusting polite speech."
Evelyn nodded, saying she liked it better now.
"It was revolting to hear you use polite language while your words were so vulgar."
She shook her head, sneering.
"...I'll kill you."
The Sage brought his trembling hands together, seemingly in anger, to draw the spell circles for magic and spells again. As the sky opened and the earth began to split, Evelyn also brought her hands together to form a spell circle.
"That's..."
Numerous magic circles rose behind Evelyn's back, forming a shape like butterfly wings.
"My line."
As she flicked her hand, high-level magic sprouted from the magic circles and rained down on the Sage. The Sage raised mana shields and erected spell walls to block Evelyn's magic bombardment, but her magic never ended.
Eventually, the Sage's defenses were breached, and Evelyn's magic poured over his body.
The Sage's arms were severed, his legs exploded, and a black hole opened in his abdomen.
"Keuuu..."
He tried to regenerate his body, but Evelyn interfered with mana to block the regeneration. Evelyn approached the Sage who had fallen to the ground and was struggling.
"Ten years might be a short time for a monster like you, but for a child who swore only revenge, ten years was a hellishly long time."
She exhaled a turbid breath as she pointed her finger at the Sage's head.
"I'd like to inflict more pain, but I don't know what someone like you might do, so..."
She was about to say she would kill him immediately and use space-cutting magic when suddenly, a golden-haired, red-eyed woman exuding a gentle fragrance rose from above the fallen Sage's head.
"...Mom?"
The golden-haired, red-eyed woman who appeared before her was Sella. She was looking at her with the same eyes as when she had said her final goodbye. This wasn't an illusion created by magic or spells. It was really Sella.
"Mom!"
Evelyn stopped her space-cutting magic and approached Sella. Seeing the person she had longed for even in her dreams again, she couldn't think of anything else.
"I-I'll save you right away!"
Just as Evelyn was about to tear away Sella's mana that seemed to be connected to the Sage,
[No!]
Before Loktar's cry could fully resound, a white hand burst out of Evelyn's abdomen.
"Ah..."
Evelyn turned her eyes to look behind her. The Sage, who had somehow moved behind her, had regenerated only his right arm and was now piercing through her abdomen.
"Haah, it was good that I left a shell."
The Sage muttered that it was good he had kept Sella's corpse, exhaling as if tired.
"Kuk..."
Evelyn bit her lip as she looked at the Sage's hand that had pierced her abdomen.
"I said children follow their parents, didn't I? In the end, it's the same conclusion."
The Sage smiled as if it was all over and began to regenerate his damaged body.
"..."
Sella embraced her with both arms, preventing her from moving. Her embrace was as cold as ice, proving that the word 'corpse' was not a lie. But the gentle fragrance flowing from her hair was enough to remind her of those happy times.
"Mom..."
Evelyn hugged Sella with both hands and smiled without a wrinkle.
"Thank you. And I'm sorry."
It seems I won't be able to keep our last promise. A massive mana began to concentrate over Evelyn's hands.
"Wa-wait! Stop!"
The Sage screamed, sensing the flow of mana that even he found difficult to handle.
"Let's die together."
With Evelyn's final thought, the entire Lothair Kingdom was enveloped in a red light.