Chapter 104
“Hah…”
Elena exhaled deeply, still feeling the remnants of her exhaustion.
The taxing flight spell had drained her energy, yet she pushed herself to her limits, racing to save the Archmage as fast as possible.
Finally, she arrived at the border, but what she saw made her eyes widen in shock.
Two powerful figures stood at the edge of the continent—a dark-skinned man radiating black magic and the Archmage, kneeling before him.
‘Why is the Archmage…?’ Elena’s thoughts raced, her disbelief evident.
The Archmage had enough magic left to fight, so why was she submitting to the warlock?
[Karen knelt before the warlock because of me. We don’t have time—we must help her!]
Henus’ voice suddenly echoed in Elena’s mind, snapping her back to reality. She noticed a glowing sphere nearby, radiating Henus’ energy.
‘That’s the reason,’ Elena realized, biting her lip. Henus spoke again, [I will give you my strength.]
As the voice faded, a powerful force surged through Elena’s body. She could feel the presence of the ancient master spirits, strengthening her. A beam of light formed in her hand, quickly taking the shape of a sword.
[Thank you.]
With Henus’ final words, Elena sprang into action.
Just as the warlock’s hand was about to touch Karen—
Whoosh!
A sword of pure white light pierced through his heart. Completely focused on Karen, the warlock had no chance to react to Elena’s sudden attack.
“Ugh…!” Dark red blood spilled from his lips. “Th-this power…!” The warlock, Perosha, trembled uncontrollably. The purifying energy that had pierced his heart now coursed through his entire body.
He had been too careless. Obsessed with chasing Karen since the Magic Tower, he had ignored the faint energy nearby, eager to finally capture her. He never imagined it would end like this, destroyed by a force he hadn’t anticipated.
Perosha could feel his defeat. The energy of purification was unstoppable.
“Ugh…!”
Before his life slipped away completely, he summoned the last of his power, releasing it through his fingertips. Dark magic surged into the sphere containing Henus’ soul.
“No!” Karen screamed, her eyes wide with terror as Perosha watched her, his gaze unwavering.
‘You can’t have him anyway.’
Perosha’s body began to disintegrate, breaking apart slowly.
‘May you be ruined.’
Finally, his body shattered completely and vanished.
“Ha, ha,” Elena gasped, unintentionally collapsing in midair.
‘I did it…’
Her entire body felt drained of energy, and she almost fell from the sky, barely holding on to her flight magic. She had defeated the warlock and saved Karen. With great effort, Elena looked up at Karen. The Archmage was weeping.
“Ah, Elena…”
When Karen noticed Elena’s gaze, she quickly wiped away her tears.
“How could you…?” she asked, acting as if nothing had happened.
Elena carefully replied, “Mr. Henus told me the Archmage was in danger. He gave me the strength I needed. Thanks to him, I was able to defeat the warlock.”
Elena smiled faintly.
But Karen burst into tears once more.
“Henus….”
She cradled the sphere containing Henus’ soul in her arms. Just before Perosha vanished, she had managed to catch the sphere that was about to fall. However, Perosha’s final power had seeped into it, and now the inside of the sphere was being overtaken by darkness. Gradually, Henus’ soul was being tainted with black magic, on the verge of disappearing.
Tears continuously streamed down Karen’s face. Elena, watching her, slowly rose to her feet. Seeing the powerful Archmage in tears filled her with a deep sense of sorrow, especially knowing the love that existed between them. But Elena was exhausted, her strength nearly depleted, and she knew she couldn’t use her purification power right now.
‘There has to be a way.’
Elena desperately wanted to cleanse Henus’ soul, to restore him to where he belonged.
‘There has to be a way….’ she thought, wracking her brain. Suddenly, an idea struck her. ‘It might work…!’
Elena quickly searched through her belongings. Soon enough, she found the snowflakes from the Kur tribe in her pocket. Without hesitation, she approached Karen and held them out.
“This….”
Karen looked up at Elena with wide, astonished eyes.
Without a word, Elena brought the snowflakes of the Kur tribe to the sphere. As soon as the snowflakes touched it, they transformed into white light and seeped into the sphere. Instantly, the dark magic that had overtaken the sphere began to recede, and the sphere started to glow brightly.
The sphere then floated out of Karen’s hands, shining brilliantly as it hovered in the air. Soon, a mist-like form began to emerge from it, gradually taking shape until it resembled a translucent figure.
When the transformation was complete, Karen’s eyes widened in shock. Hot tears streamed down her face, and her lips quivered.
“He–Henus…”
It was him—the man she had thought she would never see again. He looked just as he had the last time she’d seen him.
[Karen.]
His voice was the same, too—sweet and gentle.
“Henus… you haven’t changed.”
He was still as undeniably beautiful and lovely as ever. Karen smiled through her tears, wiping them away as they continued to flow.
Henus smiled softly.
[Karen, I missed you.]
“…Me too, Henus.”
Karen cautiously approached, reaching out to touch Henus. He, too, extended his hand toward her. At a glance, it seemed like they were holding hands, but Karen couldn’t physically touch him—he was in a spirit form.
[Thank you, Karen. And thank you, Elena.]
Elena, who had been holding her breath during their reunion, was slightly startled but quickly offered a greeting to Henus. His gaze then returned to Karen. They looked at each other for a long time, sharing an unspoken connection.
[Karen, I wish you endless happiness.]
“Henus….”
[I love you deeply, Karen. Please, be happy.]
“I loved you deeply too. I love you, Henus.”
Tears streamed down Karen’s face as Henus’ soul slowly began to transform into light, gradually fading away. The light rose into the sky like a bird.
[Goodbye, Karen.]
With a faint, lingering voice, Henus disappeared. Karen watched his final moments and softly whispered,
“Goodbye, Henus.”
*****
“The Warlock is gone.”
King Fortnen’s eyes widened in shock at Jeremy’s words.
“What? Did he really vanish?” he asked, almost unable to believe it.
Jeremy had previously explained to the king what the warlock was—a black magician of pure evil who had started wars by unleashing hordes of demons on the White Continent and had corrupted the Black Continent with dark magic. And now, this powerful enemy was defeated!
“Yes, that’s correct,” Jeremy confirmed. “So, wars like before will never happen again.”
“Incredible! Finally!” King Fortnen exclaimed, spreading his arms wide in celebration.
But Jeremy’s expression remained serious. “Of course, that doesn’t mean the monsters are completely gone. Until all the black magic in the Black Continent is purified… But there aren’t many left, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
“Yes, yes, I see. But who accomplished such an extraordinary feat? Was it the Archmage?” King Fortnen asked eagerly.
Jeremy’s expression brightened, and he smiled, shaking his head.
“No. It was my disciple.”
*****
With the warlock gone, most of the wizards stationed in the Fortnen Kingdom returned to the Magic Tower, leaving only Jeremy behind to deliver the news to King Fortnen.
Meanwhile, upon returning to the Magic Tower, Elena was immediately summoned to the Archmage’s office.
Karen, having bid farewell to Henus, now appeared more at ease. To Elena, she seemed a bit more human than before.
“The black magic on the Black Continent will gradually dissipate,” Karen said. The dark magic had intensified with the warlock’s presence, and it would naturally begin to fade now that he was gone.
“However,” Karen continued, “we will send mages to cleanse it completely, to prevent anyone like him from rising again.”
Elena suddenly sensed what Karen was about to say next—and her intuition was spot on.
“And I want you to go with them, Elena.”
Thank you Nami for the Ko-fi♡
