Aranse who had broken through the shadow moon’s magic with Sohan,
They headed back to the Star Cluster Society building right after contacting So-woon.
“Aransel, maybe we should wait until Sir So-woon finishes things up…”
“No. If it’s Haru, he must’ve done something already.”
So-woon wan’t the type to take care of things like that.
He would surely prioritize eliminating the enemy first.
Aransel had seen what kind of person Haru was in the past.
He was someone with no brakes.
Once he made up his mind, he’d act without hesitation, regardless of the danger.
Watching him sometimes made it seem like he had multiple lives.
He always carried this strange certainty that he wouldn’t die.
Aransel had her own suspicions that Haru possessed some sort of special ability.
The only reason she hadn’t asked him outright
It was because Haru himself didn’t want to talk about it.
But even if he did have some power like that, it didn’t make him invincible.
He still screamed in pain like anyone else when he got hurt.
A strange sense of unease crept over Aransel.
The kind of unease that came from knowing Haru definitely did something reckless.
As she ran down the hallway, she saw disciples rushing out from the direction of the main hall.
She also saw a man collapsed near the shattered entrance.
Shadow Moon.
He was one of the members of Black Dawn.
His upper and lower body had been cleanly severed.
Just one look was enough to know whose swordsmanship it was.
So-woon.
Thanks to him dealing with Black Dawn, the disciples were making a hasty escape.
There was no reason to stay here any longer.
“Aransel, Master already seems to be chasing after the remaining group.”
Sohan, sensing that So-woon’s presence had vanished, spoke up.
“You two.”
Just then, a large-built disciple called out to them.
He was a man with tattoos etched all over his body.
“Pendar.”
He was a disciple of the Arnet Guild Master, a group specialized in covert operations and intelligence trading.
“You knew Raphael’s disciple, didn’t you?”
“Haru?”
Aransel asked in surprise, and Pendar looked toward the door with a conflicted expression.
“I owe him my life. I’ll repay that debt, even if I have to ask the Guild Master.”
Owing his life? What was he talking about?
A surge of anxiety welled up inside Aransel.
After bowing his head, Pendar turned and walked away.
Now that all the disciples had exited the hall,
Aransel found it hard to breathe.
Why did it feel like her chest was tightening?
Was Aransel particularly close to Haru?
Not exactly.
They had only known each other for a few weeks at best.
In fact, Aransel had spent more time at odds with him in the beginning.
And yet, Haru made her feel at ease in a way no one else had.
He was the first person she could truly open up to.
To Aransel, Haru was that kind of rare, peculiar person—
Someone who left a deep impression despite their short time together.
Aransel stepped into the main hall.
The aftermath of the battle remained. Flames were still flickering and scars of combat marked the place.
She could vividly feel how fiercely the disciples had fought Black Dawn.
And among all those traces, one stood out above the rest:
A scorch mark from a blazing beam that had melted even a stone pillar.
In front of it lay two bodies.
One, though charred, still retained a somewhat human form.
Babienne Asteria.
A woman Aransel recognized.
The other was melted beyond recognition.
Most of the body had liquefied, leaving barely any bones behind, more than half reduced to ash.
Aransel staggered and slowly sank to her knees in front of it.
Sohan’s lips trembled as he murmured:
“No way…”
Aransel didn’t answer.
She simply stared blankly at Haru.
The face of Haru as he let her go in his final moments came to mind.
Haru who had smiled at her.
He was strangely good at smiling.
No matter the situation, he was the kind of man who would smile first, no matter what.
And she should never have let him go like that.
At the very least, she should’ve sent Sohan away and come herself.
What did it even mean to say she didn’t want to save anyone?
What did it mean to say she only cared about herself?
Pendar had said that Haru had saved his life.
And he wasn’t the only one.
Surely many of the disciples here owed their lives to him in the same way.
It was Haru alone who had held back Black Dawn and bought them time.
“You idiot…”
Aransel lowered her head with grief spilling from between her lips.
Sohan stood beside her, then turned away with a sigh.
“I’ll go bring a mage.”
With the body reduced to ash like that, moving it wouldn’t be easy.
It would be better to bring a mage to preserve the remains.
And it seemed right to leave Aransel some time alone.
Aransel didn’t respond to Sohan’s words and simply sat there in silence.
Time passed.
Outside, more people began to stir as the commotion spread.
Aransel remained wordless, her gaze fixed on Haru’s body.
Then, from somewhere, a breeze began to blow.
In a space completely sealed by walls—
There shouldn’t have been any wind at all.
But Aransel quickly sensed where it was coming from.
From Haru’s body.
The wind was blowing from there.
Aransel’s eyes slowly widened.
The ashes were gathering with the wind, forming something.
It was a human body.
And it was someone Aransel knew well.
Black hair, pale skin.
A slightly gruff expression, and the shadows cast over his eyes.
Haru was being reborn from the ashes.
Aransel stared at the sight with her eyes wide open.
It was only natural—
The sight before her was simply too unbelievable.
Moments later, Haru’s eyelids fluttered open.
He blinked once or twice, adjusting his vision, and then his eyes met Aransel’s.
“Mm.”
Haru let out a strained sound and reached for the back of his neck.
“Good morning.”
Aransel lunged at him without hesitation.
***
Right after resurrection, I found Aransel right in front of me.
The very first thought that crossed my mind when I saw her was, “I’m screwed.”
To be honest, maybe this was inevitable the moment I provoked the Scarlet Flame Lord.
Still, at the time, it felt like the only choice I had.
We had to buy time, no matter what.
So I burned, spectacularly.
Even now, I can recall the burning heat that melted my body.
The one small mercy was that the Scarlet Flame Lord, perhaps recognizing my ability, had cranked up the firepower.
Thanks to that, everything burned before I could even feel the pain.
“Aransel, at this rate I’m gonna die again.”
Right now, I was wrapped in Aransel’s arms.
And not gently, either—
She was hugging me so tightly it felt like my neck might snap.
It really drove home just how strong Aransel was.
They say the otherworlders have different physical capabilities than humans…and they weren’t wrong.
“…That’s all you have to say right now?”
Aransel asked, still holding me close.
From this angle, all I could see was the top of her head. I couldn’t tell what kind of expression she was wearing.
“Are you disappointed?”
She must’ve figured it out just now—
What kind of power I had.
I was an immortal.
As long as my resurrection magic exists, I can come back to life as many times as it takes.
On the other hand, Aransel was treating me like some kind of saint who didn’t care about his own life.
But all I did was act without hesitation because I knew I wouldn’t die.
Then, still in my arms, Aransel shook her head.
“Haru, don’t you feel pain?”
I do.
I feel every bit of it vividly.
Death is long.
Until the brain fully shuts down, it stretches out time, trying to keep itself alive for just a little longer.
It’s the brain’s way of screaming at the body to try something, anything.
And that whole stretch of time—
I have to suffer through it.
“It hurts.”
Aransel trembled.
And that trembling passed right into me.
“You feel it too, Haru. It hurts you just the same.”
“Still…”
“Even if you don’t die, you still feel the pain. Throwing yourself in like that… there’s no way that’s normal.”
Is that so?
So you could see it like that, too.
People hesitate even at the slightest pain.
They flinch, afraid of getting cut by a sheet of paper.
That’s what it means to be human.
But for some reason…
I just couldn’t stand still.
Maybe my brain broke the day I first came back to life.
I think I just hate meaningless deaths.
Because I’ve died like that before.
And I couldn’t bear to see it happen again.
I hate this shitty world and the way it runs on injustice.
“Fighting back feels better than living unfairly.”
It’s not like I want to die.
There was no other option this time, either.
No matter how much I had trained in holy magic, it wasn’t enough to get me through the situation I faced.
Even as a holy mage, I still lacked combat ability.
All I could do in front of a lord or the Black Dawn was cause chaos, trusting in my ability to resurrect.
Aransel looked at me with a face full of things she wanted to say.
But she didn’t bother to say them.
Just as I had respected her wishes, she respected mine.
“Still, take care of your body.”
What a kind soul.
Aransel was a racist, but when it came to personality, she was stupidly kind.
“Yeah, I get it. But could you at least get me something to wear? I’m so embarrassed I feel like I’m about to die again like this.”
“Ah.”
Everything I had, including my clothes, had burned away.
I didn’t want to stay naked any longer.
While Aransel hurried off to find something for me to wear,
I sat down and looked at another corpse nearby.
The body belonged to Babienne.
She was the one who had shouted out against her Master’s injustice.
I wonder if she had expected to die like that.
At the very least, people live without imagining their own deaths.
“I didn’t like how she insulted Shishiroka, though.”
Still, I decided to let it slide, since she was dead.
I placed my hand over the burned corpse.
Soon, resurrection magic activated, and her body began to heal.
“Guh! H-Haah!”
Babienne came back to life, completely naked.
She had burned just as thoroughly as I had.
There was no way any of her clothing had survived.
“Wh-Where am I…”
Babienne looked around with a bewildered expression.
Her face was full of the confusion that comes with a scrambled memory.
Soon, her eyes met mine.
She stared at my naked body and her eyes started slowly widening. Then after seeing her own state, her mouth dropped open.
“Wh-What did you do to a maiden?!”
Oh, give me a break.
I felt like my eyes had been tainted just looking at her, so I didn’t even bother to glance her way as I got up.
It was annoying that her eyes had wandered downward, but I decided to hold my head high.
“From now on, don’t insult Shishiroka again.”
Babienne stood there in a daze, unable to say a word.
When I stepped outside, I saw Aransel running toward me from afar.
The clothes in her hands looked like they belonged to a staff member.
Once I put them on, I felt a pang of regret over losing my original clothes.
After all, they had been a gift from Raphael.
Along with that thought, I also remembered that the Black Dawn had a collaborator inside the Magic Grace Tower.
“Aransel, how many of the disciples know that I died?”
“Pretty much everyone seemed to know.”
Well, I had made a scene.
No one would think I’d come back to life with resurrection magic just because I was walking around like nothing happened.
They’d probably assume I had pulled off some kind of trick.
Still, nothing good would come from running into them again.
I really needed to get out of here soon.
“So, how many survived?”
When I asked that last question, Aransel let out a quiet sigh.
“Haru and Babienne… aside from you two, everyone else made it.”
“Serves those Black Dawn idiots right.”
That damned whore of fire who would do anything for money.
It felt good to land a solid blow on her.
Aransel looked at me like I was hopeless, but honestly, it was the most satisfying moment I’d had in a long time.
Leave a Reply