“…I didn’t get to meet her.”
[“Oh no! Something must have gone wrong! She might have been captured by the Tower Master!”]
“…Understood, I will go search for her.”
Raffaelo, who had been listening to their communication on the side, frowned and opened his mouth.
“What? Seraphina escaped?”
“It seems she escaped on her own….”
“But she got caught again, didn’t she?”
“………”
Recalling what he had heard earlier from the mage named Clio, Ghieuspe gritted his teeth.
He was in despair, unable to even think about defying the Tower Master.
He knew he had to sacrifice himself to save Seraphina, but he didn’t want to return to the Tower.
He felt like there was nothing he could do. He was just resigned, feeling a deep sense of helplessness and despair.
Yet, Seraphina had freed herself from the Tower Master and had attempted an escape. It was an act of courage that was far beyond comparison.
‘…In the end, the pathetic one was me.’
To save Seraphina, perhaps he, too, had to muster up courage. No, he had to. To repay Seraphina for her bravery.
“Raffaelo.”
Ghieuspe looked at Raffaelo with his usual stern face and said,
“…I’ve received a lot of help from you.”
“What’s with the sudden embarrassing talk?”
“Will you understand me again this time?”
Raffaelo looked intently at Ghieuspe.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to abandon Seraphina….”
“No.”
Ghieuspe’s voice, as he spoke, carried a determined resolve.
“Let’s go fight the Tower Master together.”
“Yeah, sounds good!”
Raffaelo grinned as he replied.
The two friends set off to find the Tower Master.
***
“Ghieuspe, over here!”
As they followed the path taken by the two people who had gone ahead, they quickly caught up with the vanguard. Arkhangelo was waving vigorously in front of a door.
It was a door that only those affiliated with the Tower could enter.
When Ghieuspe placed his hand on it, the door opened easily.
They hurried up the stairs.
The Tower was like a labyrinth, but Ghieuspe knew its structure inside out.
His friends followed closely as they searched the various parts of the Tower.
And then…
“Tower Master.”
Ghieuspe spotted the Tower Master standing alone in the library.
When Ghieuspe called her name, the Tower Master turned around with a smile.
“Ghieuspe, have you finally made your decision?”
“Yes.”
Ghieuspe responded briefly and walked towards her. As he stood in front of her, fear washed over him again, making it difficult to speak, but he gathered his courage.
Clenching his trembling hands into fists to hide the shaking, he opened his mouth.
“I’ve decided to fight you.”
“…So, that’s your choice.”
“Please, release Seraphina.”
“I’ve never imprisoned Lady Viviana.”
“Hey, enough with the word games, alright?”
Raffaelo’s rough voice interrupted their conversation.
“You don’t need to listen to her. Ghieuspe, get ready.”
As soon as Raffaelo said that, shadows beneath them transformed into monsters in an instant.
The monsters began to attack Elisabetta all at once, but she merely smirked as if amused.
“Ghieuspe, it was I who taught you magic.”
As a bright light enveloped the shadow monsters, they quickly disappeared.
But Elisabetta didn’t even have time to mock Ghieuspe as she swiftly cast a defensive spell. Because…
Bang-!
A gunshot rang out.
Elisabetta turned her head to the side and saw Raffaelo standing there with a gun. The smile vanished from her face.
“So, you dare not only to defy me but to attack me together, Ghieuspe.”
“…Because I know I cannot defeat you.”
After deflecting the bullet and staggering for a moment, this time a sword strike came at Elisabetta. It was Simone.
“You think you can do anything with just a sword…!”
She tried to easily dodge it, but Simone’s movements were anything but ordinary.
Swish!
The sword narrowly grazed Elisabetta, cutting some of her hair, which fell to the ground.
“Ugh!”
Immediately, she created a spear of light and hurled it at Simone.
Simone barely dodged, but his shirt was torn apart, making him scowl.
Now, Elisabetta looked at Arkhangelo, as if daring him to try something.
“Come on, if you have something prepared, bring it on.”
“What are you talking about? I’m just here to watch, no, I’m here to cheer them on!”
“……..…?”
Taking advantage of her confusion, Ghieuspe and Raffaelo launched their joint attack.
Bang-! Bang-!
Darkness became a weapon, bullets flew from all directions, and every time she let her guard down, Simone attacked with his sword.
Though she was the best mages in the kingdom, fighting all three at once was too much even for her.
As a result, she was forced to focus solely on defense, unable to mount a proper counterattack.
“Damn it……!”
Rage surged within her at the thought that she, the most powerful mages on the continent, was being overwhelmed by them.
Then, a dazzling light appeared in front of Elisabetta.
“Ugh!”
Her vision was momentarily blinded, and the three men attacking her scowled.
Whip!
Seizing the opportunity, Elisabetta summoned a whip of light and swung it at them….
Just when she noticed the faint smile on Simone’s face.
Boom-!
She was suddenly thrown backward by a powerful force.
Elisabetta, who was caught by the neck by Simone, shouted in panic.
“What is this!”
“Not being able to see doesn’t matter to me at all.”
As Elisabetta saw Simone’s face up close—
She recognized him.
“You… were from the Magic Tower …long ago…! Aaaah!”
Whoosh!
Elisabetta’s words were cut short as she was threatened by the intense flames. It was Raffaelo who unleashed the fierce fire.
“You must have forgotten, but I am also a mage.”
Elisabetta sensed her defeat.
Indeed, fighting 3 against 1 was too much. These fools, who would all lose to me individually, dare!
Just as Elisabetta was about to shout with wide-open eyes, Ghieuspe’s face drew near. In an instant, the magic of darkness enveloped her vision, turning it black, and Ghieuspe’s voice was heard.
“When we meet again, I will defeat you on my own.”
Elisabetta lost consciousness.
***
“We did it.”
Simone gave a faint smile as he looked at Elisabetta collapsed on the floor.
Only then did Arkhangelo, who had been merely watching from the sidelines, approach them.
“Well done. You’ve done a great job.”
“You know, you’re not supposed to say things like that after staying out of the fight.”
“What do you expect from me?”
“Simone, Arkhangelo’s personality lacks any learning ability. You should just give up.”
“……..…”
“Anyway, now we have to find Seraphina.”
“Yeah, I thought she would appear once we defeated the Tower Master.”
If Seraphina had heard them, she would have scolded them for treating her like a game reward, but Seraphina was still not present.
“Could it be that she’s been locked up somewhere again?”
“If so, then we just need to find her.”
Simone replied in a relaxed tone.
“We’ve confirmed that defeating the Tower Master isn’t as hard as we thought when we fought together.”
“Yeah, it was easier than expected. Ghieuspe, why couldn’t you defeat her until now? Although you might not have been able to do it alone, she’s not as scary as you thought.”
In response to Raffaelo’s words, Ghieuspe, who had been silently staring at the fallen Tower Master, answered quietly.
“…….I didn’t think I had the guts to challenge her.”
“Hey, if you can’t do it, who will?”
“Hmph, you should have a bit more confidence.”
“Indeed, I didn’t expect it to be this easy either….”
Ghieuspe spoke with a face lost in thought. He had been on edge for some time now, but Simone decided to prioritize finding Seraphina.
“Ghieuspe, how about contacting that mage again?”
Simone suggested to Ghieuspe when—
“I found her!”
Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared around the corner of the hallway.
“Seraphina!”
With her light purple hair flowing, Seraphina came running toward them.
