Chapter 58

EP.58 The Derailment of Madness - 6

"You two are really going at it, aren't you? Little brother?"

Aria, with a look of utter bewilderment, finally managed to speak. Her flushed face was etched firmly in Lios' mind.

"Though I shouldn't be the one to say this, being late and all, just leave the rest to me."

With that, Lios snapped his fingers.

"Huh?"

Aria and Leonardo were simultaneously transported. The coordinates were set to the magic tower, where they could receive appropriate treatment.

"Getting distracted...!?"

In that moment, Juntos charged at Lios.

"Looking away, if I keep watching, my optic nerves might rot, so I turned my head."

Ice weapons pierced Juntos' flesh. He was thrown back by the impact.

"...H...Hahaha...!"

But Juntos, despite being thrown back, was laughing maniacally.

"Right... I've heard of you. Lios... the eldest son of the Reinhardt family, right?"

Juntos let out a loud, monstrous scream.

"Can you still win like this!?"

More monsters were charging, and there were still many victims who had become Juntos' material.

"...I'm quite lazy, you know."

Ice weapons rained down, piercing the monsters. Lios' eyes were filled with calm rage.

"I'm sorry."

The monsters exploded as the ice pierced them, a rapid explosion that left no time for pain.

"You..."

"Why so surprised? Isn't always smiling your specialty? Lios Reinhardt?"

Juntos absorbed the scattered flesh, and his muscles and bones quickly restored themselves.

The victims, leaving no trace of their bodies, merged with Juntos, emitting weak cries.

"Ha...! You're too predictable. Talking about how life is precious, and once someone dies, they can't come back... such nonsense!"

Lios squinted and smiled.

"Have you ever seen love?"

Amidst the slaughter, the scent of blood rose thickly between the raindrops.

"The first time I saw love was with my grandfather and grandmother."

Lios smiled as he began his love story.

"They were so devoted, even more so than my young parents, despite their age and the fact that their hair was mostly white."

"Suddenly, what nonsense..."

As soon as he spoke, Lios immediately launched a water blade.

"At the time, love seemed only beautiful to me. Even as a child, I was quite mature."

He then vaporized the water weapons, causing them to explode.

"Ugh!!"

"But not long after Aria was born, my grandmother passed away. A black mage like you tampered with her food."

The heat from the steam caused the raindrops to explode in a chain reaction, and the shock sent Juntos' flesh flying in all directions.

"My grandfather was furious. He almost went mad, and he wiped out every black mage, person, and organization he thought was connected."

Juntos, regenerating his flesh, lunged at Lios, mocking the attack.

"Only then did I realize that love is the most beautiful, and thus the most tragic."

He then created arms in all directions and launched his unique magic at Lios.

"I'll kill you in one strike...!!"

"Can a scum like you trample such love at will?"

Crack

The arms, imbued with unique magic, had their bones snapped and angles twisted. It wasn't due to external magic or Juntos' intentional action.

"I don't think so, especially when it comes to the love of my siblings."

Not just bones, but muscles, blood vessels, and nerves, every cell in Juntos' body was destroying itself.

"How...? Ugh...! Why is my body...?"

"Why do you think you're the only one with the ability to kill instantly?"

Lios snapped his fingers again.

Thud, Thud

Ice blades shot out from the flesh. They didn't fly in and pierce; they formed inside the body and burst through the flesh.

"Aaaah!!"

"You have your unique magic, but I have mine too."

"...Unique... magic...? You...?!"

Lios snapped his fingers again, and this time, Juntos' blood vessels burst.

"Aaaah!! Stop...! Please, stop...!!"

"Why? I've only solidified the water so far."

No blood flowed. All the bodily fluids had solidified, twisting his body. Water expands when it freezes, tearing apart the channels it travels through.

"My unique magic allows me to perfectly control the state of water. I can completely manipulate any water containing my mana."

Now Juntos understood. The ice weapons he had launched were catalysts to inject his mana.

"Then...!!"

Another scream, but more monsters remained...

Boom, Thud

"Should have... more left... to fight..."

"And with the rain, you can't win. I've already infused my magic power into these rain clouds."

Thus, the monsters hit by the rain had long since exploded.

"Of course, without the rain, the power would drop significantly, so you could say the sky is on my side."

In the rain, Juntos writhed like a worm suffocating in water, trying to escape.

Each time, Lios' unique magic in the water intensified his pain, but Juntos had no time to think.

"The victims exploded because the water in their bodies turned to gas."

"...Ugh... Please..."

Ice blades continued to shoot out from Juntos' back. Lios' unique magic had already permeated every cell in Juntos' body.

"Why so surprised? I'm not that heartless. I'll give you a chance to repent."

Juntos, unable to maintain his form, began to beg, as if in prayer.

"I... I was wrong...! I won't... do this again...!"

"...It's quite strange, you know. You destroy people's lives so creatively, but when asked to apologize, you all do it this way."

Lios pressed his index and thumb together, applying force.

"Isn't repentance usually directed at the 'dead' rather than the 'killer'?"

"A... Ah...!"

Understanding the meaning, Lios moved his fingers.

"Lios!!"

At that moment, a woman was running towards him at full speed.

"Oh, a slave to grades."

It was Ameri Esp.

"Shut up, you pencil pusher."

Though Ameri was very different from her usual self.

"So, friend, what's up? If it's not urgent, I'll just kill the trash and talk."

Saying this, Lios was about to snap his fingers again.

"I came to stop you."

"...What?"

"Don't explode him. It will be irreversible."

Juntos smiled slightly. Such a soft thought would cost him his life.

"My siblings almost died because of this guy. Should I be so morally considerate of this madman?"

Even if Lios didn't listen, it didn't matter. If necessary, he would use this woman...

[Frozen Blizzard]

"No, that's not it."

Ameri froze Juntos' hand, stopping his trick.

"You're thinking about the incident report and the treatment."

"Kaaaah!"

Juntos, clutching his frozen hand, screamed. Ameri, without even looking at him, continued.

"Normally, it's easier to write an incident report with a body, and developing a unique magic treatment spell is easier with the black mage's body."

"...So you want me to keep him alive?"

"No. Just freeze him whole. If you want, you can leave the head and explode the rest."

Juntos couldn't even sweat, the air around him was so cold.

"Ah, that works."

With a snap, Juntos' body exploded, except for his head, which was frozen at the cellular level.

"Ugh... I'm tired~"

Lios, looking at the frozen head, lay down on the ground.

"Is this your living room? Go home and lie on your bed. You'll really get sick if you stay here."

"It's exhausting~ Using my magic on a large scale always tires me out."

Ameri sighed and carried Lios. She then put Juntos' head in a subspace bag.

"Of course, my friend~ Thank you so much~"

"Don't imitate me. I'll throw you on the street."

"Too much~ You talk to others like that~"

Pinch

"Aaaah! That's a tendon! A tendon!!"

"At the time, I was tired, and they weren't close friends. It's harder to talk like that to an 8-year-old friend."

As the pressure in his fingers decreased, Lios smiled slyly.

"So I'm special?"

"Hmm... Think what you will."

"Didn't you know? These days, childhood friend stories are popular in pure love novels."

Lios chuckled, and Ameri blushed.

"Shut up. Childhood friends always lose to the main heroine."

"Hey, Ameri."

Suddenly, Lios' grip tightened. Ameri was momentarily taken aback.

"That's not true. You're being too harsh."

Ameri, perhaps feeling a bit intimidated by Lios' serious expression, asked in a trembling voice, her face redder than before.

"...Is... is that so? Then..."

"Harem isn't pure love!"

Snap

Unable to bear the nonsense, Ameri threw Lios.

"Walk back on your own. I'm going ahead."

Saying this, she unfolded a teleportation map and disappeared.

"...Should I have been a bit more honest?"

That statement, in a different context, meant that Lios liked pure love stories involving childhood friends, but Ameri didn't catch on.

And Lios didn't realize that Ameri could have teleported on her own but chose to carry him.

***

The impact of the terrorist attack was heavy and widespread.

The public criticized the incompetence of the magic tower and its masters for failing to resolve the attack, and the criticism intensified when it was revealed that the cause was internal corruption.

The victims of this incident were left with indelible scars. Those who lost family members spread their resentment to others.

In this situation, the young hero who ended the crisis was deeply asleep in a hospital room.

"...Leonardo."

"Y-Yes?"

When Leo opened his eyes, he wasn't in a hospital room.

He was in a damp cave, sitting on the ground.

In front of him stood the Sage, not as a translucent spirit but as a solid human form.

"Are you awake?"

"...This is where the Guardian was..."

The place where he obtained the Sage's stone by chance while fighting the Guardian.

"You haven't actually moved. You're in your mind, specifically in the Sage's stone embedded in your heart."

It was strange to suddenly be in a cave. But if so, what was happening to him in reality?

"Outside, I'm...?"

"You're unconscious. Don't worry. It's just from overwork. You took the potion in time and are receiving appropriate treatment in the hospital. Your body will recover without any aftereffects."

If so, it was even more confusing. Why would he be here?

"Then why...?"

[You will now face a test. Think of it as confronting your past or yourself.]

"Confronting...?"

It was clearly a different concept from regression.

"Don't