Chapter 300 - Adrian (2)
He had been trapped for far too long.
The closed-off environment, where he couldn't move his body properly, had endlessly weakened his original skills.
On top of that, watching his master's figure grow ever more horrific made him feel like he would lose his mind time and time again.
He couldn't wait for another opportunity to come.
Now, he had to escape.
"Uaaaaaaah!"
Crackkk!
He poured all his strength into tearing apart the magic that bound his right arm.
"W-what...!"
The mages' faces were stained with panic.
He glared at them, focusing his energy into the edge of his hand before swinging, slicing through the air. Compared to sword aura it was insignificant, but more than enough to cut through flesh.
Shhhhk!
A fountain of blood gushed out from the torn neck.
The three mages, unable to respond at all to the sudden attack, died instantly on the spot.
Soaked in their blood, Adrian immediately smashed a nearby magic stone, succeeding in dispelling the binding magic circles restraining his remaining limbs.
But he had no time to savor his freedom.
Kwaang! Bang!
Adrian relentlessly pounded against the wall.
He felt his left hand shatter under the hardness, yet he did not stop, and at last, succeeded in breaking through the wall.
Beyond it, he saw an old man hanging in chains.
"Master! Master...!"
"..."
He shook him, but consciousness did not return.
His dried-up shoulders revealed bone. Rage welled inside, but there was no time to hesitate.
'I will save you, no matter what.'
He supported his master and headed toward the entrance.
Along the way, he spotted Adrian's sword lying in a corner. The rust creeping over the blade showed how much time had passed.
Even so, it was still a sword.
Adrian clenched his teeth as he reclaimed his long-lost weapon.
He supported his master with his left shoulder, gripping the sword tightly in his right hand.
Thus, he stepped outside.
...
The corridor was long and complex, like a maze.
He desperately searched for the exit, slashing down mages he encountered with his sword.
A spell, too sudden to counter, pierced through his forearm.
Dozens of stone shards embedded into his back, agitating nerves and muscles.
"Haaah, haaah...."
He forced his ragged breathing under control and pushed forward, killing more than a dozen mages before he knew it.
At last, he sensed a flow of air. Following it, he found the exit.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
Until then, he never doubted it. Adrian had yearned so desperately even for such a sliver of fortune.
"Master, we are almost outside. Somehow, I'll take you to the Church...!"
It was then.
Thud, suddenly, a burning sensation spread.
Looking down, he saw a metal blade piercing through his side.
Adrian was already at his limit.
The shock and pain drained the strength from his legs, and he tumbled across the floor with his master.
Reflexively staunching the bleeding, he raised his head, only to see a thin shadow looming above him. His master had gripped the blade, using the wall for support as he rose.
"M-Master...?"
"Ah... drian...."
A faltering voice.
A faint light returned to the dying eyes.
"Run, away...!"
Whoosh. The weapon sliced the air.
It didn't strike Adrian, but there was real force in it.
Though the outside was right ahead, his master blocked the corridor, feebly swinging the blade...
Incomprehension dulled Adrian's awareness.
His master spoke.
"Cut me down...."
"...!"
"I am already beyond saving."
A cripple, missing one arm and one leg.
Escaping the pursuit of the magic tower with such a body was impossible.
And the experiments had ravaged his body, his movements forcibly controlled by some unknown means.
Resistance was meaningless.
The instinct to avoid pain had overtaken reason.
"Cut me down...!"
Step... step...
The master slowly approached.
He was urging Adrian to cut him down. Sitting on the floor, clutching a rusted sword, Adrian's eyes trembled violently.
"Adrian... hurry...!"
He couldn't do it. Of course he couldn't.
How could he cut down the master who was no different from a father? How could he leave him behind in this hell and flee alone?
If that was the choice, then he would rather embrace death.
But his body didn't obey.
Throb.
A splitting headache struck his head.
At the same time, a sound of skin tearing reached his ears.
"...huh?"
An unsettling sensation.
Cautiously raising his eyes, Adrian saw his sword piercing his master's chest. Directly through the heart.
His body had moved on its own.
He couldn't comprehend why he had stabbed his master. Staring wide-eyed, frozen, he could only watch as his master released the blade and collapsed into his arms.
"I-I... I...."
Everything was a blur of confusion.
Adrian trembled, unable even to speak properly, like a child.
His master stretched out his frail hand.
Just as before, he patted Adrian's shoulder.
"It is not your fault, my son."
His master's eyes closed.
"It is... not... your... fault...."
Life drained away.
The heart stopped. The once-hot blood slowly cooled.
"M-Master...?"
No answer came back.
Adrian realized what death was, and froze. Staring blankly into the void, he clung to his dead master.
At that moment, footsteps sounded behind him. Two people.
"The world is paradoxical. What we know about the human body, we learned only by dissecting it thoroughly. The commercialization of potions was possible only thanks to countless test subjects in clinical experiments. And yet, people cover it with morality and ethics, pretending not to see."
Balrog and Angelo.
The tower master and the elder of the magic tower.
"That is never right. Especially in research, shallow humanity never brings benefit to the world, it only hinders progress. Life, humans, mages, must take after the past. Strip away the outer shell, and only the deeds deemed cruel can bring us closer to the essence."
Adrian's vision darkened as Balrog loomed over him.
And yet, no anger, no hatred stirred within him. An emptiness of loss unlike anything he had ever felt engulfed him.
"Number 89, how many fingers do you see?"
Balrog held up a single finger.
Then, from his fingernail, dozens, hundreds of tiny fingers sprouted. And the next moment, an indescribable headache battered Adrian's brain.
"Ghh... Aaaagh...?!"
From the time Adrian had been imprisoned, the forced magic circle engraved into his skull had begun to glow.
Directly connected to Adrian himself, it had been slowly taking root every time his mind weakened,
Over the course of years.
Now was the time to reap the fruit.
Balrog laughed.
"Isn't mental strength such a curious thing, Angelo? Even after all those drugs we injected, all we could do was scratch it, and yet, with just one person, we could completely break him down like this."
At last, the light faded.
The forced magic circle had fully settled.
"So, we finally succeeded. It was worth bringing him all the way from the Central Continent. Any other test subject would've died long ago, yet even with his mind nearly destroyed, he still lives. We've finally finished what we postponed because of the energy source and Black Hour problem."
"Congratulations, Tower Master. But Subject 89 won't live long."
"Of course not. Humans are consumables. Well, we've secured the research data we needed, so I'm satisfied. The next results will come faster, and the quality will be far higher."
"Then, shall we discard him here?"
"That's not a bad idea, but I thought of a better use."
Balrog twisted his lips into a grin.
"Just in time, pests have been running rampant in the autonomous territory of Midros, in the Eastern Continent. Since we can't spare the tower's forces, we might as well erase them together with him."
Very efficiently.
"Isn't that right, Number 89?"
Adrian stood.
His master's corpse fell to the ground.
"Yes."
The swordsman holding a rusted blade.
His emotionless answer echoed faintly.
***
"...And that is how I came to be here."
Before he knew it, Adrian's pronunciation had grown clear.
The clumsy tone was gone, and there was sharpness in his eyes. Soon, those sky-colored eyes fixed directly on Verden.
"I remember every moment after I was enslaved, from when I received Balrog's orders... to when you interfered with the forced magic circle."
He let out a slow breath.
"Number 77... wasn't it?"
"That's right."
"What happened to you?"
"Not very different from you. I went through all sorts of experiments, was forcibly injected with knowledge, and became a disposable tool for Bohemirn Magic Tower."
"Knowledge, huh... So that's why you were able to use Balrog's magic circle."
Silence lingered for a moment.
Adrian slowly blinked.
"...How did you escape?"
"To put it simply, I faked my death. Thoroughly enough to deceive even Balrog. It's a long story."
"I see, that's different from me. I'd like to hear it... but I don't know if I can."
Adrian gave a self-mocking smile.
It was a smile tinged with resignation and sorrow. He knew his life had already reached its end.
"Yes. You don't have much time left."
Disabling the function of the forced magic circle was only a temporary measure. It couldn't be sustained forever.
Soon, he would self-destruct under the commands embedded in the magic circle.
But they couldn't recklessly destroy it either.
The forced magic circle, Coercion, had already become part of Adrian. If they simply broke it, without a doubt, death would be unavoidable.
However.
"If there were a way you could survive, what would you do?"
"...What?"
When Adrian asked back, Verden stirred his magic power.
The infinite way of magic that manifested his own will through magic, and mana control that had reached the peak.
Soon after, Adrian's internal structure floated in the air.
"Breaking a forced magic circle or removing one that's been grafted onto the body, isn't that difficult for me. But you're not a normal case."
The forced magic circle grafted onto his upper body and skull.
When Verden twisted his wrist, the entirety of it was displayed in detail.
"As you can see, the brain and the magic circle are connected through mana, even your mind itself."
Carelessly tampering with it would mean instant death.
"The only way to escape that backlash, is to retrace the process."
"The process... you mean?"
"Simply put, it's like reversing the process Balrog used to graft the circle onto you."
Verden withdrew his mana.
"While I fully separate Coercion, you must not resist my mana in any way. Not even with unconscious instinct."
"...If I do that, I can live?"
"Yes. But unimaginable pain will follow. Far beyond resisting the forced magic circle... and you'll have to endure it while keeping your consciousness intact the entire time."
The chances were close to none.
Ten out of ten, a hundred out of a hundred would die. Simple resolve or determination would crumble the moment it began.
Adrian's lips quivered.
The resignation was gone, replaced by doubt. Slowly, he parted his lips.
"Why... why do you want to save me?"
"The reasons are many. Sympathy, pity, perhaps both... In that sense, I want to ask you one thing."
Verden's voice sank low.
"If you survive, what will you do? Will you hide and spend the rest of your life in obscurity? Or... will you seek vengeance on Balrog?"
"Revenge...?"
Adrian's eyes twitched.
The pale irises shone brighter than before.
The answer was already decided.
"Of course...!"
Adrian's left hand moved.
Crkkk. His bent fingers dug into the ground.
Pain surged through his entire body, but he ignored it. Otherwise, he could not contain the boiling hatred and impulse.
"If I can avenge my master...! If I can kill Balrog, and those bastards, then I... I...!!"
His throat choked endlessly.
Hot tears streamed down his temples. The cry, pouring out emotions that would never fade, was desperate and raw.
There was only sincerity in his figure.
"That answer is enough."
Verden rose to his feet.
He gathered mana into his hands, focusing his mind. His bright blue eyes looked down at Adrian.
"Without delay, we'll begin. Do you have any last words?"
"───None."
There was no such thing as a final testament.
Adrian twisted his lips into a grin, revealing his determination never to die.
'Coming to the autonomous territory was worth it.'
He was more than worthy to be a comrade.
Verden gave a faint smile.
Immediately after, he placed his hands on Adrian's head and chest.
Fwoooosh!
Brilliant mana light filled the cavern.
The separation of the magic circle rooted in his skull and torso began. Unspeakable agony spread throughout his entire body.
"...!...!!"
An eternity of endurance.
Adrian did not let out a single scream.
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