Episode 114

Whoooosh—!

A beam of radiant light shot out from my hands, streaking directly toward Logan’s head.

Compared to Dunkeski, the faint violet aura lingering around Logan’s scalp was much smaller and weaker.

For a split second, I worried—what if nothing happened?

But that fear was unnecessary.

The white beam pierced through the violet glow like a spear, instantly seizing control of his head.

“AAARGH!”

Logan shrieked, his body convulsing violently.

At the same time, the iron grip on my collar loosened, and I plummeted downward.

“WAAAH!”

THUD!

I crashed onto the floor.

“Ugh…!”

At least I landed on my butt.

‘Damn it, I swear my tailbone’s about to shatter!’

The sharp pain made my eyes sting with tears.

But, well, breaking it was unlikely—I had prepared for situations like this by eating one of Grandpa Gordon’s black buffalo ribs.

“Belze!”

Edwin’s face twisted in concern as he saw me fall.

He immediately tried to run toward me.

But the circular violet barrier still surrounding him blocked his path.

“Damn it!”

Swish, swish!

He swung his sword forcefully, but it had no effect.

‘Why isn’t the magic circle disappearing?’

Although Logan’s dark magic had stopped progressing, the spell remained in effect.

I glanced back and forth between Edwin and Logan in alarm.

“Ughhh…!”

Logan was writhing, clutching his head.

Though the divine energy had stopped pouring from my hands after I fell, the light burrowed into his scalp remained.

I could see the violet energy being gradually consumed by the white glow.

‘…Does he have to be completely eradicated for the dark magic to stop?’

I absentmindedly wiggled my fingers, still charged with divine power, debating whether to strike again.

Then—

FLASH—!

Suddenly, all traces of light—both white and violet—vanished from Logan’s scalp.

“Hghh….”

He groaned, slowly lifting his head.

His skin had turned pale, and his eyes were bloodshot from pain.

This reaction was completely different from Dunkeski’s.

I blankly stared at him, dumbfounded.

“What the hell…?”

Still dazed, Logan slowly lowered the hands that had been gripping his head.

He had no idea what had just happened.

Trying to regain his composure, he shook his head a couple of times.

And then—

POP!

Out of nowhere, strands of brown hair burst into the air.

Whoosh—

The floating strands scattered and began to fall like a drizzle of fine brown rain.

At first, it looked like nothing but loose hairs.

But as more and more fell, it became apparent—

They were his hair.

Plop, plop.

“…What…”

Logan stood there in utter disbelief, watching clumps of his own hair hit the floor.

An eerie silence filled the room.

He wasn’t the only one in shock.

Edwin, who had been swinging his sword moments ago, froze completely, staring at Logan.

But that wasn’t even the most shocking part.

What came next was even more ridiculous.

I pointed at Logan’s head, my voice barely above a whisper as I murmured—

“…Bald Patch Syndrome…”

Yes.

Logan was now bald—but only in the center of his head.

The hair on the edges remained intact, making it look like someone had carefully scooped out the middle.

It was far worse than Dunkeski’s complete baldness.

And the irony was even stronger because Logan had been a rather handsome man before.

Now, the stark contrast between his remaining thick hair and the shiny, pale, exposed scalp in the middle…

It looked as if—

He was carefully cradling an egg.

Or maybe like he had wrapped a scarf around his head to protect his bare skin from the cold.

“Pffft—”

At that moment.

Unlike me, who was frozen in shock at Logan’s drastic transformation, someone suddenly burst into laughter.

It was none other than Edwin.

“The lid… it’s gone.”

Unable to hold back his amusement, he snickered continuously while pointing at Logan’s scalp.

Logan, now being ridiculed by both of us, hesitantly ran his hands over his face and head.

And soon enough, he found it—his smooth, hairless scalp.

“W-What… My—My hair! Where the hell is my hair?!”

His face turned deathly pale as he frantically patted his head.

Then, his trembling eyes darted downward.

“T-Then this…”

He gawked at the scattered strands of hair at his feet.

And finally, he let out a horrified scream.

“AAAAARGH! MY SCALP! WHY—WHY IS MY HAIR—?!”

“……”

“Damn it! It’s you, isn’t it?!”

Suddenly snapping out of his panic, Logan turned to me with bloodshot eyes.

“Right after you chanted that weird spell, my head started splitting apart!”

“…You mean ‘Baldness Beam’? Pfft.”

Edwin snickered again.

“SHUT UP!”

Logan bellowed.

His face, which had been ghostly pale just moments ago, now flushed a furious red.

“Ugh, you damned brats…!”

Shaking with rage, he glared at me with pure murderous intent.

Then, without warning, he pulled something from his coat.

A dagger—its blade sharpened to a deadly edge.

“I was going to offer you as a sacrifice to Lord Ursis, but I’ve changed my mind. Instead, I’ll carve out your heart while you’re still alive. That way, the goddess will acknowledge my devotion.”

‘Ursis? Who’s that?’

I knew for certain that the “goddess” he was talking about wasn’t Erea.

But there was no time to ponder.

Step.

Logan took a slow step toward me, dagger in hand.

“H-Hngh…”

The sheer malice in his approach made me instinctively stumble backward.

Even if he tried to carve open my chest, he’d find nothing—I had no heart, and therefore, I wouldn’t die.

But whether it was the trauma from my past or the shock from my fall earlier—

The moment I saw the dagger gleam, a cold shiver ran down my spine, and my legs refused to move properly.

“Belze! Get up and run, now!”

Edwin shouted desperately, frustrated by my sluggishness.

‘If I could, I already would!’

I teared up, looking at Logan as he crept closer.

“D-Don’t come any closer! I’ll pluck out every last one of your remaining hairs! You wanna be as bald as Dunkeski?!”

“……!”

Logan flinched.

But he quickly twisted his lips into a sneer and scoffed.

“Go ahead. Hair can always grow back.”

“…It won’t.”

Logan’s scalp had no trace of the violet energy that indicated a magical condition.

Which meant it was either permanently cured—or permanently bald.

“Shut up, you wretched brat!”

I had only stated a fact, yet Logan’s face twisted into a monstrous snarl as he lunged at me.

“I’ll rip that mouth of yours to shreds!”

“AAAHHH!”

Whoosh—!

The dagger sliced through the air, missing me by a hair’s breadth.

At that moment, my body finally regained its strength, and I threw myself to the side just in time.

Fortunately, Logan seemed to be an out-of-shape desk worker—his swordsmanship was sloppy at best.

“Ugh! Damn it!”

His swing went wide, and he tripped over his own feet, crashing to the floor.

The wound Edwin had inflicted on him earlier must have worsened.

“Belze! Over here! Hurry!”

From within the glowing violet circle, Edwin reached out toward me.

Since he couldn’t escape, it seemed he had decided it was better to trap me inside with him—so he could deal with Logan himself.

I scrambled toward him, crawling on all fours.

But—

Thud!

A firm grip yanked one of my ankles from behind.

“AAAH!”

Logan had caught up, dragging himself after me like a madman.

I kicked my legs frantically, trying to break free, but there was no way I could overpower an adult’s strength.

“DIE—!”

His bloodthirsty eyes locked onto me as he raised the dagger high.

I clenched my eyes shut.

Even if I couldn’t die, pain was still very real.

I braced myself for the inevitable agony—

SWISH—!

A sharp sound sliced through the air, followed by a chilling rush of wind past my ear.

And then—

“AAAAAAAGH—!”

Logan’s deafening scream filled the room.

At the same time, his grip on my ankle vanished.

CLANG!

The loud clatter of a falling blade startled me, making my tightly shut eyes snap open.

The sight before me was difficult to process.

“Urgh… Hhgh…!”

Logan, having dropped his dagger, was now clutching his opposite hand, groaning in pain.

Bright red blood dripped steadily down his wrist.

Between the fingers gripping his wounded hand, I could see a deep, jagged cut stretching from the back of his hand down to his forearm.

‘What just happened…?’

Neither Edwin nor I had been in any position to attack.

So who had struck Logan?

Baffled, I whipped my head around.

Edwin was still trapped within the violet magic circle, sword raised, panting heavily.

His expression was frozen in shock as he stared at Logan.

‘No way… Was that… aura?’

In my past life, Edwin had only awakened his aura at sixteen—the youngest in the history of the empire.

But before I could fully process the possibility, my jaw dropped in realization.

BANG! BANG!

CRASH—!

A deafening explosion sounded from the door, followed by the sudden burst of it slamming open.

And then—

“Edwin! Belze!”

“G-Gordon…!”

 

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