Chapter 44: Chapter 44 - The Archmage Arrival
<Adriannel POV>
"Hello, Professor Adriannel," Deventhia said.
"Hello, Miss Deventhia. I heard your niece is also participating," Professor Adriannel replied.
"Yes, of course. She said she is going to get the first rank," Deventhia said with pride.
"Really? It's good to be confident, and truth be told, if someone other than her said this, I would ignore it as bluffing. But she is indeed smart," Professor Adriannel acknowledged.
"Thank you, Professor," Deventhia responded gratefully.
After the conversation with Deventhia, I shifted my gaze towards the Awakening Stone tablet. However, I couldn't help but notice a student with golden eyes discreetly observing me.
It intrigued me, but my attention quickly shifted to the artifact he possessed. I suspected it was helping him control his mana within his body, possibly due to some underlying illness. With this thought in mind, I continued my conversation with Deventhia.
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I was meticulously reviewing the students' awakened power reports when I noticed the same boy with golden eyes had acquired the <Mana Transmutation> ability.
It was not an exceptionally rare power, and it came with its own set of weaknesses, but that was inconsequential to me. My attention was quickly diverted when I sensed an intrusion into my office.
In an instant, I teleported to the scene and found the boy sprawled on the floor, coughing from the sheer force of the mana that had been generated during my teleportation. He mumbled something amusing, but I paid it no mind.
However, my annoyance increased when a young girl barged into the office, causing me to reflexively discard my cigarette. Smoking might not be inherently bad, but it was certainly inappropriate in the presence of children.
The girl began to argue with me about the harm that had befallen the boy. I tried to offer her a healing potion, but she remained still, lost in thought. Frustrated, I decided to take matters into my own hands and tossed the potion onto the child's body.
To my astonishment, the boy, who had been injured just moments ago, began to beg me to become his teacher. It seemed utterly impossible to accept him as my student, but curiosity got the better of me. I decided to employ an appraisal spell to learn more about him, and what I discovered sent shockwaves through me.
It was a revelation that shattered my world, reducing a formidable archmage like myself to a mere man with a broken heart.
In the fury of the confrontation, their tragic stories merged into a haunting chorus of pain.
"Your actions caused this suffering!"
"I bear the weight of that suffering every day!"
*BOOM! CRASH!*
In the midst of their fierce battle, the tragic history between Evangeline and Riannel weighed heavy on their hearts. Both had lost so much, and neither truly desired to harm the other.
However, the relentless fury of a mother who had lost her child began to consume Evangeline. The pain and anguish were too much to bear, and her sanity began to slip away.
Her beautiful features contorted into a mask of pure, demonic rage. Her once-gentle crimson eyes now blazed with an unholy fire.
With a deafening, otherworldly shriek, she unleashed a surge of dark energy that eclipsed the battlefield.
Riannel, taken aback by this terrifying transformation, desperately tried to reason with her.
"Evangeline, please! I never meant for any of this to happen!"
But his words fell on deaf ears. The Archdemon, now fully consumed by her demonic nature, lunged at him with unrestrained fury.
Her attacks were no longer guided by reason or sorrow but by an overwhelming desire for vengeance.
Their battle intensified, the very ground quaking beneath them as the forces of darkness and magic clashed. Riannel, now forced to defend himself with all his might, knew that he had lost the Evangeline he once knew to the abyss of her own grief and rage.
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I felt my heart ache with the heavy burden of my actions. I had been forced to end the life of the woman I loved, the mother of our child, multiple times.
Each time she was reborn, the cycle of tragedy and loss repeated itself, as Evangeline's grief and demonic nature overwhelmed her.
As I waited for her to be reborn once more, I knew that I would be faced with an impossible choice when the time came.
I didn't want to harm her, but I also couldn't allow her to unleash her uncontrollable rage upon the world.
The cycle of sorrow and despair seemed never-ending, and I could only hope that one day, somehow, we would find a way to break free from this tragic cycle and find peace.