Chapter 1011: Ashes

Proofread by Thomas F

White Gyrge

My sword clashed again against the mirror as I appeared in front of the orc teen to kill her.

She is not a target, but I want her to understand the price she will have to pay for protecting Margaux Swan. I would have succeeded already if not for these freaking mirror shields.

If not for them, I would have killed Margaux Swan along with everybody else.

Even after I revealed my Instant Blink, I couldn't get around these freaking mirrors. They would appear in front of me whenever I attacked.

"Bitch!" I cursed.

The information I had received told me that the principal was a non-combatant. The provost was stated to be a real threat.

There was a note stating that every Principal adept at using the Alestarisa's Necklace. It's one of the conditions to become a full principal.

I thought that even with her having powerful attacks, I could handle her, but she is proving to be annoyingly difficult.

She isn't just stopping my attacks, but also the attacks of my men. She is controlling the whole battlefield with her mirror shields, and when I tried to kill her, I felt the most powerful protection.

'Boss, over a minute has passed,' Gar informed. 'I know!' I snapped back.

A minute might not seem like enough, but it is. I planned to finish her and escape by now. Every second is important, because once they learn of this attack, they are going to chase us like mad.

I appeared in front of the bloody whore and attacked once more, but like before, there was a mirror shield stopping the attack.

"You should stop resisting. If you let me kill you, I promise I'll leave without harming anyone else," I said, activating Sweet Promise.

She laughed—a melodious sound laced with unmistakable contempt.

"And they say a whore's promises are as fleeting as the wind." Her contemptuous words ignited a blaze of rage within me.

…

Margaux Swan

"Laugh while you can, whore. Soon, those laughs will turn to tears. I swear, I will kill you—but only after you're the last one left."

"I'll make you suffer, watching the others die first," he snarled, all traces of his earlier composure gone.

I knew he meant every word.

Prostitutes have regular contact with criminals; even with my experience, I could tell when they were lying and when telling the truth.

I didn't respond, but grinned, and he started attacking me like a man possessed.

I pushed the fear away and focused on the composition of the fusion spell with Composition Clarity. I had studied the spell, but never tried it, even once.

So, I want to remember its composition before I try it, since I am going to have only one chance.

Moments and composition have become clear. It's hard, I thought, but I already knew that, and there's a high chance of failure, but I have to do it, since it's the only thing I could do.

'Zaira, I am going to try something; don't let him disturb me.' I feel guilty, even ashamed, asking that of her, but I need to be completely undisturbed.

'Don't worry, as long as I am standing. He will not touch you, ' she replied. Her voice is filled with conviction, but I could also feel the weakness in it.

She is protecting every person, and that has put her under immense strain.

I believed her and let go of every worry I had in my heart. Focusing on nothing else but the composition of the spell I have in my mind.

I already have Tranquill Mind and Composition Clarity activated. I also activated Fine Focus.

As I raised my hand, I activated Deft Hand, Steady Hand, and Balanced Grip. As I activated the brush, I activated Attention To Colors, Stable Flow, and Mana Efficiency.

I have a lot of skills, and I rarely use them all together, but I need to use them all despite the strain they put on me.

I need to use everything that could help me succeed, and these skills would.

As I activated those skills, my aura came out and formed fractals. The moment it did, the brush touched the air like it were solid and stroked across it gently.

The beautiful blue line came out, and it's so vivid that no paint could be compared to it.

It really could not.

That is Grade IV essence; earlier, I had only used mist, but now, I am using the essence stored in the brush. It makes the spell harder to compose, but I have to do it.

I don't know if mist would make the spell powerful enough. I need it to be as powerful as it could be.

Zaira could not last long; I only have one chance, and I have to make it count.

As my brush moves, I weave Xarion's Weaving into it, imbuing it with one purpose.

The Prismstroke Brush glided across the air, slowly and carefully, as it permits no mistakes. One misplaced stroke could unravel it all.

It's not a huge painting; in fact, it's tiny. The size of the painting is about the size of my palm.

It is another thing that makes it more complicated, more so if I didn't use the Prismstroke Brush.

My brush danced across the air, laying down hundreds of tiny interlocking curves, circles, and lattices. Every stroke anchored them, forming a framework that housed all six spells.

I was nearly finished with the framework when one spiral curved too sharply, and immediately, I noticed mana powered with essence flaring up.

Erase Mistake.

I instantly activated another fractal, intending to erase that part and nothing else.

The part erased, and the framework calmed down. Seeing that, I heaved a sigh of relief and rested for a moment before resuming with a framework.

A few seconds later, I was finished with it.

The framework had taken the shape of the beast, but the composition of the spells was yet to begin. That is the most difficult part.

That is why I paused and thought through how I would proceed.

It's a good thing I did, because I noticed the flaw in my initial approach.

After looking through it one more time, I began the composition of the spell, or rather, the spells.

I have to layer and intertwine six spells. It's an extremely difficult and complex thing to do, where a single mistake would collapse the whole thing and kill me.

My brush moved slower than before, but sometimes it would become quick.

Not all parts could be done at the same speed; some needed to be done fast before the structure could react and blast the whole thing into smithereens, while others needed to be done slowly for accuracy.

The brush moved across the body of the small beast, forming delicate lines across it.

If one looked at it carefully, they would see the power contained in each line, the power which would amplify further when connected with the others.

As I drew, I became so focused that every stray thought vanished from my mind, and I could think of nothing but painting a composition I had in mind.

…

Zaira Kadiz

The man is attacking Margaux as if a demon possessed him.

Each of his attacks sends a wave of pain through me. Waves that are made of blades. I am pushing myself beyond my limits, but I have to do it.

Four minutes have passed so far. It won't be long before they realize something is wrong and help comes.

They only need to realize it. It will only take seconds for help to arrive.

'Zaira, how are you feeling?' asked Vaelith, his voice filled with concern. The voice made me remember the younger him, the man I fell in love with.

That handsome man, full of confidence, was also gentle and caring.

The war changed him, and the years of his absence had changed me as well. So, when we met again, both of us were so different. Changed so much that the love that was between us was not enough.

I pushed those thoughts aside and moved the shield in front of Kavra. As the man appeared in front of her.

He was attacking Margaux like a mad dog, but every now and then, he would appear in front of the others and attack. He did not succeed; I always know where he is.

I placed Ravelorn's Mark on him, like I did everyone else.

He cannot remove it; he might not have even sensed it.

It is one of the two skills I inherited. It is a skill that every Principle receives; the second one is more unique. I considered it most useless for my job, but now it's helping me save lives.

Huntress's Intuition.

It's a combat skill that provides intuition about the enemy. Isolde, as well as my brother, was envious of it. It's not the skill I liked; I wanted the one the predecessor had, but now I am grateful to have this skill.

She did say that one day I would be grateful for it.

If I survive it, I am going to tell her she was right. The old woman was going to love hearing that.

I gritted my teeth when he launched one of his powerful attacks, but my mirror shield defended it. The next moment, he appeared behind Vaelith, and I brought mirrors in front of him, making him curse and return to attacking Margaux.

I turned to her, and, like before, she seemed extremely focused on the tiny painting.

It disappointed me.

It's small, and the only notable thing about it is those vivid colors. I have never seen such colors. It's as if they are part of the world itself.

I hope whatever you are doing will work, Margaux, and that it will be quick.

I am holding on through sheer willpower. I don't think I have much left of it. I won't be able to continue for long.

…

Margaux Swan

The last part. I thought as I moved my brush, which shook a little, before I stabilized it forcefully.

The spell had taken everything from me.

I am mentally drained, and I am pushing my aura beyond my limit, but I am nearly finished. Only a small part remained: the core of the fusion spell.

It is where all six spells would intricately intertwine.

This part is where one has to go with intuition; there are instructions, of course, but not as clear as in other parts of the spell. The archmage stated that every painter is different, and explicit instructions for this part will harm them instead of helping them.

That is why I didn't think logically and went with my intuition.

I don't know whether it will work or not, but here I am trying everything, and that, to me, makes me feel my death a lot less unwilling.

I lost myself in it, could think of nothing but the final part, and my brush moved to achieve that with singular focus.

I came to myself when I finished the last stroke. The moment I did, I felt my brush heating up to my alarm.

Have I failed? I asked myself, looked at my brush, and was immediately surprised. I was looking at it when the brush sent something at me.

Information packet

I read it, and shock appeared on my face. I was still lost in it when another attack by the enemy brought me back to reality.

I put the brush back into my bag and looked at the enemy.

It's time for him to die, and he will die. I looked at the spell and felt its power, which shocked even me, who had just painted the spell.

The name of the fusion spell is Ashen Sparrow. It is Ashen Sparrow #6, to be accurate.

….

White Gyrge

"It's time for you to die," she said, looking at me with her intense yellow eyes.

I laughed as I looked at the diminutive sparrow she had painted.

It's the most beautiful painting I had ever seen, better than any in my collection. Especially those vivid colors, those bright green eyes and grey wings with specks of amber and brown claws.

It's really beautiful; I nearly used Thief's Steal before stopping myself. It's no offensive spell.

"I didn't know you were a comedian and a whore," I replied and moved to attack when she laughed, and the painting of the sparrow came to life.

The moment it did, my Dangersense blared as it had never done.

My eyes widened, and I didn't hesitate to activate Instant Blink and move as far as possible, which is fifty meters, before running into the forest.

The danger sense didn't disappear; it lessened only for a heartbeat before it returned.

I turned and saw the sparrow flying at me, extremely fast. Faster than I was moving with my speed skill. Immediately, I used Blink.

Appearing forty meters to the left, but to my horror, it simply banked and followed.

I blinked again and again; each blink would reduce the distance, but I needed to keep using it, to my horror.

Soon, my blink was restricted to five meters. It's my most powerful skill, the one that made me so powerful and hard to deal with, but now I am pushing it hard.

I am using everything, my aura method and all the skills I have, but nothing seemed to work against it.

Minutes passed, and I felt myself slowing down; the Instant Blink was now restricted to two meters, and it took considerable effort to use.

Another minute passed; when the bird reached me, I blinked, but only a meter away.

It swiftly adjusted its direction.

'What the fuck is it?' I couldn't help but ask myself for the hundredth time. I had never heard of a Paintcaster casting spells like this.

Hell, I didn't even hear anyone of them casting such a powerful spell through this method.

It is a niche spell-casting method. Mostly used as a party trick, but here, there is a spell as powerful as a Grade V spell.

A few more seconds passed, and it reached me. I tried to use Blink; I couldn't.

Knowing that was no longer an option. I activated all my offensive skills against the sparrow.

My blade moved fast, and I thought it would hit it, but it darted past it. I watched in horror as it came toward me and activated Garstan's Defense, my defensive aura method, a moment before it hit me.

The aura method blazed as it did, but it stopped the sparrow.

Seeing that, I felt relieved, but that lasted only for a moment before my danger sense went off the chart and the defensive method shattered.

Before I could do anything, the sparrow entered inside my body.

"What the fuck!" I cursed, but didn't feel anything aside from being slightly warm. That didn't make me feel relieved, seeing how my Dangersense was still behaving.

I was thinking about what to do when the warming feeling over my body turned hot and a moment later scalding.

"Shit!"

A horror filled my heart, and I pushed my aura into my body, but it barely slowed down.

"Ahhhh!"

The next moment, I screamed as an inferno welled inside me. Steam began to come out of my body, and I pushed the aura with everything I had, but it couldn't do anything.

The temperature increased, and the burning increased until my skin blackened, and I felt a pain I had never felt before.

I regret coming here, regret giving in to my revenge and greed.

…

Vaelith Almyreth

"My god!" I cursed as I looked at the screaming man.

No longer a man, but a figure of ash, with an expression as if it were bearing the greatest pain of his life.

I shuddered just looking at it.

"He was cooked from within," said Abez, our High-Mage, making me shudder more deeply.

"You said it was a paint-casted sparrow?" he asked, looking at the figure of ash with a deep interest like it was the most intriguing thing, not a dead man who died most horribly.

"Didn't you hear me the first time?" I couldn't help but snap at him.

I know it's not his fault, but I am angry at him.

He acted the moment he received the notice, after the skill broke. He brought down the power of the tower and dealt with everyone else within a minute.

"It was a six-element fusion spell, and she used aura and emotion essence to cast it," said the thin man to my left as he noted things down in his little book.

It's not Abez's fault; he didn't know, but I couldn't forgive this bastard for being late, especially when I remember how bad Zaira's condition is.

"You fuck, what were you doing? Your whole job is to save us from such things." I asked.

He is from Silent Forest and came through the teleportation gate at the tower.

The man said nothing and kept looking. I want to hit him so hard, but I control myself. Though it's not over, I already called my mother, and he can be sure that she is going to raise hell.

She can bear anything, but not the attack on her precious academy.

"Let's go. We should check on the Principal," said Abez. I glared at the man one more time before moving toward the lodge.

"It's not your fault, Vaelith; you did your best," he said, and I turned my glare toward him. He was a friend with whom I fought beside in many life-and-death battles.

It is I who brought him into the academy, but sometimes, he can be very irritating.

"How can it not? It's my job to protect the academy, and I failed." I asked.

"I failed to protect Zaira," I added in a barely audible voice.

I blame myself for failing to protect her, leaving her all those years ago. If I had not been such an idiot, there wouldn't have been such a distance between us.

"Do better next time. She has strained her spirit, but she will recover." He said.

I will have to thank Margaux Swan for that.

A tangled emotion couldn't help but rise in my heart. I do not hate her; I just didn't like that Zaira invited a whore to the academy. I thought it would damage the prestige of the place I love so much.

She had shattered all my biases, and now all I could feel was shame at my behavior.

"Lady Ashenwood wants to talk to you. I don't think I could stop her anymore; she is threatening to suspend me," said Abez, and I sighed.

"Fine," I agreed. I know, I will eventually have to talk to her.

"Isolde," I greeted. Then the voice on the other end came, 'You bastard, you only had one fucking responsibility and …'

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