Chapter 48: The Returner Completes It

“Huff… huff…”

Isehoon, drenched in sweat, was panting heavily. His appearance, as if he might collapse at any moment, made Louise’s eyes widen in shock.

“You….”

What could have happened to make him look like this?

Seeing Isehoon’s exhausted state for the first time, Louise was at a loss for words. Isehoon slowly looked around the room.

‘Is there anything else…?’

It seemed he had decided that it was too risky to continue his tricks. After confirming there were no other traps, Isehoon sighed and approached Louise.

Thud—

Isehoon collapsed on the floor, leaning against the wall as he looked at the unconscious Louise.

“What are you doing?”

“What?”

“Trying to take a nap before the sparring match?”

“…Ugh!”

Realizing his condition, Louise hurriedly sat up. Isehoon smirked at her quick reaction and asked,

“Did you hear some strange ringing just now?”

“…How did you know?”

“I heard it too. It was something they prepared over there. I just destroyed it.”

Isehoon’s explanation made Louise’s eyes widen.

“It was a device that stimulated the magic within your body, making you cast a mental curse on yourself. It triggered your trauma, and you suffered a lot.”

“Trauma….”

Now she understood why the bandage around her neck had been bothering her. It seemed the curse had taken hold from that moment, causing her to have a seizure.

Realizing the truth, Louise gave a bitter smile.

“So that’s what it was….”

There had been external interference. In the past, she would have been furious, but Louise wasn’t particularly angry.

While the enemies had set up the situation to confront her trauma, her failure to overcome it and running away was entirely her own doing.

“…Isn’t it pathetic?”

“What is?”

“To be manipulated by their tricks at such an important moment.”

Louise was sprawled on the floor, her hair a mess, the bandage around her neck choking her, and a wound on her left hand bleeding. She had thought she had changed, but in reality, nothing had changed. The sight of her pathetic state made Louise feel bitter.

“I know that their plan is to make me feel depressed like this. I know it… but I can’t seem to get a grip.”

The fear of self-suggestion is that once the foundation is shaken, it’s hard to stand up again.

Louise, sitting helplessly with her knees drawn up, looked like a deflated balloon. Isehoon, who had been watching her, hesitated for a moment before answering.

“It is pathetic.”

“…Right?”

“Shaking and trembling before the fight even starts, it would be strange if it looked impressive.”

“Yeah….”

“To be honest, I thought you were more composed. You said you wouldn’t cry until you took your revenge, but now you’re so dejected. Isn’t that a bit… shallow?”

“…”

“What? Just because you’re young, it’s understandable, but you should take responsibility for what you say. Especially for someone who uses verbal magic, this is important. Seeing you break your word so easily… sigh, it’s not right. You must be having a hard time too.”

Grip—

As Isehoon’s harsh criticism continued, Louise’s eyes trembled, and she bit her lower lip.

If it were someone else, they might have stopped at this point, but Isehoon, looking at her with a sympathetic gaze, continued.

“But don’t be too disappointed. If you’re not a perfect person, both physically and mentally, like me, it’s naturally difficult. It’s the fate of a mediocre genius.”

“…Stop.”

“It’s not your fault. Don’t be upset. No one blames you for not being able to do something. Just try your best….”

“Stop, you damn brat!!!”

Smack!

Unable to bear the endless scolding, Louise finally lost it and hit Isehoon’s arm, lunging at him.

“Who was the one who kept encouraging me, saying I’m a genius! Who said a week would be enough! You set high expectations and encouraged me, but now you’re saying I’m pathetic? Shallow? Mediocre? Are you just messing with me? What the hell!!!”

Louise shouted, as if spilling out all the pent-up burden and frustration she had kept hidden.

“Do you know how much pressure I felt every time you called me a genius? Even that stubborn training! If you had taught me verbal magic from the beginning, I would have learned it seriously. Was it to make me look bad? Huh?!”

“…”

“Every time you pushed forward without explaining, looking at me as if you’ve never been wrong. Whether it’s true or not, it’s common sense to explain first, you ignorant brat!!!”

Smack! Smack!

Louise, sitting on Isehoon’s stomach, pounded his chest and arm. Isehoon, hit by her soft fists, remained silent.

When her punches slowed to a mere pat, Louise, with trembling hands, grabbed his collar and breathed heavily.

“Haa… haa… Damn brat… Bastard….”

Even in this situation, he just looked at her as if nothing was wrong. The sight made Louise’s blood boil.

Every time she saw him, she felt even more wretched and thought she was the one who had done something wrong.

‘Why only me….’

Why did she have to feel this way? The injustice made Louise shout impulsively.

“If I lose… If something goes wrong… It’s all your fault… All your fault!!”

Was there a more ungrateful statement to make to someone who had helped her in every way? As she said it, Louise’s face twisted with self-loathing.

“Yeah, it’s my fault.”

Isehoon agreed as if he had been waiting for it.

“…What?”

“If you lose, it’s all my fault.”

Isehoon, with a calmer Louise, looked her in the eyes and spoke calmly.

“I taught you verbal magic, made you a weapon, and sent you to spar. All of that was my doing.”

“…”

“Then the responsibility for the mistake should naturally be mine. Why do you think it’s yours?”

Caught off guard by Isehoon’s question, Louise’s lips moved, and she finally answered in a trembling voice.

“Because… it was my choice….”

“You’re wrong.”

Isehoon cut her off and spoke firmly.

“I made the promise, and you accepted it. So, there’s only one thing you need to be responsible for.”

Isehoon, holding her hand that was gripping his collar, looked up at her blue eyes.

“To believe in me until the end and do your best.”

“…”

“Everything else is my responsibility.”

After the conversation, their eyes continued to meet.

The trembling blue eyes slowly calmed down, and Louise’s tightly closed mouth finally opened.

“Don’t lie. You said you wouldn’t lose to a guy like that.”

“…No, I didn’t?”

“You talk well. You talk.”

As Isehoon’s shameless face made Louise smirk, the speaker in the waiting room announced.

-5 minutes before the sparring match between Gerwin Kruger and Louise Valente. Both students, please enter the arena and wait.

The announcement indicating the imminent start of the sparring match. Louise released his collar and got off his stomach, standing up.

“Where will you watch from?”

“Me? I was going to watch from the audience seats.”

“Don’t go.”

“Why?”

Louise, passing by Isehoon, opened the door and spoke calmly.

“It will be over before then.”

Confident as if she had never been dejected. Isehoon, seeing her familiar back, smiled involuntarily and replied.

“Alright. I’ll follow soon.”

“I’ll go first.”

Louise left the waiting room and headed straight for the arena.

An empty corridor. In the past, the silence might have been scary, but now she could only see the light at the end.

Thump!

Her heart beat fiercely, and her body felt hot. As her senses sharpened, Louise felt a tightness around her neck.

“…It’s getting in the way.”

Why was she still wearing this when it no longer bled?

Louise quickly untied the bandage around her neck and loosely wrapped it around her injured left hand.

For the first time in a long time, she touched her neck with her fingertips. The scar, deeply etched, was not as bad as she thought and didn’t hurt.

‘It’s just this much.’

It might look ugly, but that was all.

She removed her hand from the scar, which no longer caused her any pain, and walked confidently into the arena.

Roar!

The cheers and the spotlight focused on her. She could feel the presence of over a thousand students watching her.

Perhaps among them was her enemy, ready to attack her in any way at any time.

‘So what.’

No matter how they attack, she would just do her best to counter. Ignoring the gazes around her, Louise looked at the young man standing opposite her.

“It’s been a while.”

Gerwin Kruger, with his brown hair and arrogant expression, held a black staff and sighed.

“I thought I gave you a big lesson six months ago. It’s disappointing to see you recklessly challenge me again, as a former rival.”

“…”

Louise silently watched Gerwin, who had started to speak.

In her memory, he seemed more imposing, but now he looked about the same height and build, clearly stronger due to his wealth.

“Though I feel sorry for your injuries from back then….”

“Summon the undead.”

“What?”

To summarize the situation in one sentence.

“If you don’t want to be carried out in a humiliating defeat.”

He didn’t think she could win at all.

“…”

Their conversation, amplified, echoed throughout the arena.

The small laughter from various places made Gerwin grip his black staff, the Hero-grade artifact ‘Rest of the Dead,’ tightly.

Swoosh—

Black mist spread around, reacting to his will.

Not only enhancing magic but also strengthening and controlling the undead, it was a powerful artifact that any summoner would covet.

“Alright. If you want full power, I’ll give it to you.”

Even if he defeated a rehabilitated opponent using a Hero-grade artifact, he wouldn’t get much praise, but now he didn’t care.

‘You brought this upon yourself.’

Gerwin, glaring at Louise with a cold stare, forcefully plunged the Rest of the Dead into the ground.

Creak—

A chilling scream echoed as black magic spread like a swamp, covering two-thirds of the arena. Then, the air slightly parted, and Gerwin’s undead emerged from a subspace.

From black skeletons to beast-type chimeras with their bodies intact, and even a 3-meter-tall zombie golem.

The appearance of the continuously emerging undead caused a stir in the arena.

“Thirty reinforced skeletons…?”

“A single chimera costs tens of millions. He’s really fighting with money….”

“The zombie golem seems to be made from elemental monsters. Can a mage handle this?”

Expensive undead, costing from thousands to tens of millions, lined up in front of Gerwin.

The undead army, comparable to a fortress in terms of capital and durability, made the audience gasp in admiration, and Gerwin smiled in satisfaction.

“I haven’t been idle for the past six months.”

Previously, he couldn’t keep up with the continuous magic attacks, but with the elemental resistance of the zombie golem, he could crush her overwhelmingly.

Seeing Gerwin’s confident stance, Louise silently pressed the button on her subspace pocket.

Click—

Her weapon, ‘Barg,’ appeared in her hand.

Compared to the army in front of her, it seemed insignificant