The Innocent Mage's Spellbinding Nights - Chapter 57
At this rate, it wouldn’t result in 2+1=3, but rather not even 1 would remain. As sighs of despair escaped from the White Tower mages and Siord furrowed his brow, a change occurred.
Whoosh!
The mana sphere, which seemed like it would be swallowed by the wind, began to burn more fiercely.
“Woah!”
It wasn’t just the wind spirits responding to Irina’s call. Fire spirits, more abundant in the west than in other regions, also answered her.
Irina’s wind and the mana sphere created by the two Tower Masters achieved a balanced harmony. The fierce wind then became an unrivaled ally.
The mana sphere, now fueled by the optimal wind, burned more intensely than ever before. And the wind, guided by Irina’s will, propelled the sphere towards their monstrous, gluttonous enemy.
Whirr!
The tentacles that had been targeting the mages sensed danger and lunged at the mana sphere, but they were incinerated like moths to a flame. All except the thickest, longest tentacle emerging from the central mouth.
With a tremor of rage, Gluttony channeled the stolen power of many into its tentacle.
Gurgle, gurgle.
The tentacle, swollen with voracious desire and resentment, grew thicker than the central pillar of the royal palace. Even if it didn’t drain one’s life force, a single touch could crush or burst one’s organs.
The reinforced tentacle and the burning mana sphere clashed.
“The mana sphere!”
Someone screamed. The sphere, like many spells absorbed by the tentacles before, was starting to fracture into multiple streams.
Despair clouded many mages’ eyes, but Irina’s expression remained steadfast, as if encased in iron.
The natural affinity she was born with, suppressed by overwhelming mana, now blossomed in this critical moment, revealing a new world to her.
Irina saw spirits of all kinds, including the wind spirits, breathing life into the mana sphere.
「Kind Irina, don’t worry.」
「It will be alright.」
「This land is precious to us too.」
「We will always be with you.」
「Let go of guilt and fear and be free.」
Their gentle voices resembled:
‘I trust and respect my senior’s unwavering kindness more than anyone else. Because I was saved by that steadfast kindness.’
Hesed’s comforting words.
The scattered mana began to wrap around the tentacles like a burning rope. The flames quickly spread to the main body as if oil had been poured on it.
“Aaaargh!”
A horrific scream, as if a person were being tortured, erupted from the monster’s mouth connected to the tentacle.
“As greed comes to rise, so too does greed fall.”
As stated in the book, Gluttony, which tried to swallow the combined powers of the three Tower Masters and the spirits with immense greed, lost everything and turned into a handful of ash.
Sssst—
The red ash scattered with the slightest breeze.
Witnessing the hollow end of one who had overreached with greed, everyone watching fell into a heavy silence. The one to break it was…
“…Senior, that was truly a magnificent spell.”
“Hesed!”
A voice, faint with admiration, called out.
When did he regain consciousness? Irina, who had been trembling from exertion, walked towards Hesed as if she were flying.
“I was so afraid… that I might never see those crimson eyes looking at me with such longing again.”
Her pale lips trembled.
“With your healing, there’s no way I could be in any danger.”
Hesed replied, rolling his right arm as if to show it off.
Though his robe and clothes were stained red with his blood, his skin, visible through the torn fabric, was smooth and unblemished. Those who remembered his wounds murmured in amazement.
“I thought he was a goner, but he woke up? Man, he’s got some dirty luck.”
“Senior…”
Vine nudged Scarlet as if to remind her to watch her words. Hesed, who noticed this, gave Vine a look of appreciation for his effort before standing up and kneeling before Irina.
“Hesed?”
“Senior, or rather, Tower Master.”
The corrected title made everyone realize that, in this moment, Hesed was addressing her as his superior, as the Tower Master.
“Thanks to you, the west is safe. I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
The mages of the White Tower looked at Irina with a peculiar gaze. Although she, as Devrant’s puppet, had severely damaged the White Tower and inflicted a fatal wound on Hesed, it was also her healing and power that vanquished Gluttony, the monster that threatened the entire west.
Even the proud Hisran and Siord had to acknowledge this fact. Without Irina’s aid and the strength of the spirits she summoned, they would never have defeated Gluttony. The devastation that swept the west would have become a disaster for the south and east as well.
“I’m just glad you’re alive. That’s all that matters to me.”
Previously, Irina might have recoiled from the stares of the mages, but now she responded calmly. Everything she had desperately wished for in the darkness had come true. Hesed was alive, Gluttony was vanquished, and she had grown closer to the spirits as well.
Having fallen into the depths of despair and then achieved everything she wished for, Irina found herself no longer concerned with the opinions or judgments of those less significant in her life.
Even the god Magia had advised her that she couldn’t be loved by everyone.
“I’ve decided. With a light and joyful heart, I will step down from the position of Tower Master.”
Her sudden declaration shocked not only Hesed and the White Tower mages but also Hisran and Siord.
“Our dear junior has become even smarter after getting hurt.”
Only Scarlet laughed joyfully. Irina looked at her and smiled serenely.
“Let’s go back, Ahin.”
Loretta, with a similar smile to Irina’s, whispered to the man accompanying her.
The White Tower, and Irina, would be quite alright.
