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[ (Side Story) Master of Flame ]
-Yev. .. Three….
The moment a face like a bloated steamed bun appeared on the hologram screen, Lily took a step back in surprise.
“It’s a surprise! who are you? alien?”
-That’s… a hot topic…
A face covered in black and white bruises, several broken teeth, and slurred speech.
He was the emperor, the most powerful person on the Gaia continent.
-This is the emperor. He was making a fuss so I gave him a squeeze.
Abraxas said, leaning in next to the emperor.
Lily sighed and nagged Abraxas.
“What should you do if you hit someone like this? “Didn’t you learn as a child that violence is bad?”
-What are you going to say?…
Abraxas opened his mouth in bewilderment.
This was because Daein and Lily clearly knew how to ‘mainly solve’ the problems scattered throughout the universe.
“My uncle said that in cases like this, you should use your personal connections, not force. But if you do this, it’s the same as me going and hitting you!”
-If it were you, I would have burned down the entire imperial palace. I’ve just taken over the emperor, so at least the empire won’t be ruined.
The emperor trembled as the two casually talked about the fall of the empire.
-Hi! I’ll… do it… I’ll… tell you… well… I’ll
do it for you… W… As the emperor’s trouser dance began to smell bad, Abraxas’s brow furrowed. .
-This is so damn real! Sigh!
-Hey… profit!
“As! “I’m in a hurry!”
Abraxas, who was about to give the emperor a few more blows, lowered his hand as if he was paying attention.
-wait. First of all, I need to get some treatment before I can speak properly.
Slurp….
A mysterious light seeped into the emperor’s body, and his face recovered to the point where it was barely recognizable.
The emperor immediately fell flat on the floor and prayed, tears like chicken droppings streaming down his face.
-Hehehehehe. I have committed a mortal sin. Please just spare my life.
-What does it mean to ask for life when you have committed a mortal sin? Shut up!
-Hey!
What on earth did I do to be scolded like that?
Lily had her doubts for a moment, but there were more pressing matters at the moment.
Lily put her hands together and spoke politely to the Emperor.
“Emperor. “I have a favor to ask.”
-Please! Just give orders! I will do whatever you ask!
“uh? “It’s not an order, it’s a request… If I do this, it just makes me seem like a bad person.”
Anyone could see that it looked like an order or a threat, but the emperor understood it perfectly and responded.
-Yes, please! Please! Please feel free to ask! I will listen with an open mind!
“I have a friend. Do you know Wendy?”
-…Are you talking about the Rainstorm family?
The emperor slightly raised his bowed head and looked at the girl seen through the crystal ball.
With flaming red hair and a doll-like appearance.
I definitely feel like I’ve seen it somewhere…
tsk tsk tsk.
At that moment, Lily’s ‘cognitive error’ ability activated, and Lily’s face as seen by the emperor became blurred and her memory was distorted.
-uh…?
However, he was clearly aware that this girl was a friend of the fearsome Dragon Lord.
“yes! Wendy is my friend! So that’s it. “Can you please ask people to get along with Wendy?”
-yes? Ah…
the emperor’s head began to spin quickly.
That girl who talks to Abraxas like a friend is Wendy Rainstorm’s friend?
‘If I had that kind of connection, I should have told you about it a long time ago!’
-hey. Don’t you answer?
At that moment, many thoughts passed through my mind, but the most urgent priority was to save my life from the Dragon Lord who was glaring at me from the side.
-of course! I will give this warning to the nobles!
Is it just a matter of telling you something?
In the future, the Rainstorm family will walk a solid path under the full support of the Emperor.
Even if only to avoid the wrath of that red-haired girl and the Dragon Lord.
“Then just wait a moment! “I’ll change your phone!”
Anyway, Lily, who succeeded in solving the problem through her connections(?), jumped up and down in excitement.
And when I looked back, I saw the knight Gerold standing there with an expression as if he had witnessed the destruction of the world.
“Now… what are you doing…”
Gerold couldn’t believe what he saw.
The person seen beyond the hologram monitor was clearly the emperor of the empire.
And the people lying dead next to him were Duke Strauss and the captain of the guard.
Three people who are at the core of the empire’s national power are beaten to the ground like dogs?
If it weren’t for my long mental training, I would have fainted or screamed to deny reality.
Fortunately, Gerold asked, using his coolness to the limit, which was his best strength.
“…Who are you?”
“Shh. That’s a cosmic secret. “If they find out, a lot of people will be in trouble.”
The girl raising her finger and putting it to her lips looked like a child’s play, but her eyes were very serious.
After thinking about it, Gerold nodded heavily.
“…All right.”
To begin with, he had little loyalty to the emperor.
Rather, he tended to dislike the emperor.
As the only remaining knight of the fallen Rainstorm family, he has suffered countless humiliations.
When I saw the emperor lying face down, I felt a sense of exhilaration.
‘The matriarch has made a great friend!’
You won’t have to worry about what will happen in the WHA in the future.
Then…
Gerold glanced behind him.
His expression turned glum again.
“It means the head of the house no longer needs to look after that arrogant girl.”
Where his gaze was directed, blue cold and red-hot fire were clashing violently.
Cheeeeeek…!
The cold and the fire consumed each other, creating an enormous amount of steam that covered a radius of hundreds of meters.
“Step back!”
“If you get swept away, you die!”
The other test takers had long since stepped back to avoid being caught up in the monsters’ fight.
Shock waves erupted one after another in the steam so thick that one could not see even an inch in front of them, and occasionally something that could be either a cheer or a scream erupted.
“Aaaahhh!”
“Anna!”
The face of the young man who served as Anna’s aide turned pale.
Anna’s screams were heard from inside the steam just now.
The power struggle between fire and cold, which had been tense at first, was now clearly overwhelming the cold.
“Going inside!”
The young man gritted his teeth and gave orders to the candidates around him.
About 100 test takers raised their magic all at once.
As they moved through the steam to get inside.
“Stop.”
The knight Gerold stood in front of them alone.
Slurp.
Gerold drew his sword and aimed it at the 100 enemies.
“If you take one step closer, I will cut you down.”
“…!!”
As many as 100 test takers stopped in place as if they were nailed to the fierce momentum emitted by just one driver.
‘If you go in, you’ll get cut.’
‘At least the ten people in front of me will get hit by the author…’
Gulp.
These were test takers who had been called geniuses or brilliant minds in their respective worlds.
Their sixth sense was warning them.
If I take even one more step here, at least my arms and legs and possibly my head might be blown off.
“shit! “What are they doing!”
When the subordinates did not move, the young man in the back strode forward.
The young man suddenly took out his sword and shield and shouted, “Zeng!” They clashed loudly and shouted.
“Gerold! “I’ll crush you first!”
“…….”
The two knights pointing their swords at each other were about to collide.
“Aaaahhh!”
With a tearing scream, the flames that had been pushed out by the cold began to swell several times.
-Puhua… Ahhh!
At the same time, the flames began to turn black.
An enormous surge of magical power!
Black flames that push away the cold!
The test takers who felt the formidable force screamed and backed away.
“Scatter away!”
“It explodes! “Run away!”
“This is crazy!”
Even the young man who was confronting Gerold threw down his sword and ran away with all his might.
Gerold also felt the enormous magical power that had begun to run away, but he was more concerned about Wendy than his own safety.
‘If that level of magical power is overflowing, even if you are the head of the family…!’
Gerold jumped straight into the steam. At the same time, he shouted at Lily.
“Lily! Stay away! I will somehow save the matriarch…”
-Hwiik!
Lily had already passed Gerold and entered the steam.
***
“No such thing as mean things!”
Anna screamed and raised her magic power. The fireballs that were her organs formed in both hands and rained down towards the front.
-Roaring!
It was a flame so intense that it could even melt steel. Human beings could be burned without a trace.
But
– blah blah blah!
The fireball was unable to penetrate the ice wall created by Wendy and collapsed.
Wendy with a cold expression was seen beyond the transparent ice wall.
“…….”
There was no expression, but it seemed as if he was saying that you are not my partner.
“Iik! “This can’t be happening!”
Anna raised her magical power with all her might.
-Kwakwakwakwakwa!
The hem of her dress fluttered like crazy due to the incredible magical power, and her hair rose into the sky.
Powerful flame magic poured out one after another from both her hands.
“I thought I would lose to someone like you!”
Pow! Bubble bubbling!
However, Anna’s fire magic was completely blocked by Wendy’s ice magic.
An overwhelming gap that is felt as time passes.
I felt like I was facing a huge wall I had never seen before.
‘I can’t win…’
The moment I realized that fact, my whole body trembled like an aspen from the overwhelming fear.
Anna recalled the day she first met Duke Strauss.
-…an incredible talent. He has an aptitude for all types of magic, but he is especially talented at fire magic.
A carriage that was being carried somewhere, shaking.
Boys and girls arrived at the den of a human trafficking group.
Those days there were so terrible.
-They are the remnants of Pandemonium! Sweep away!
The Duke’s knights and wizards attacked the place and rescued the children.
But they weren’t heroes.
The gazes were scanning the children one by one, as if evaluating them.
The peacock’s gaze immediately flew towards him.
I couldn’t forget that joyful expression.
-Finally… I found the weapon of the empire.
Weapons of the Empire.
Since that day, these were the words I had heard the Duke the most.
-You must become the master of a new flame.
-…yes. master.
The Duke smiled kindly and said to the slave girl who answered while shaking.
-From now on, call me father.
The past was erased and the girl was adopted by the ducal family and given the name Anna Strauss.
-The Strauss family must always be the best.
-Don’t hang out with mean people. Do you want to show that you were born lowly?
-Obey my orders. Unless you want to be left miserable again.
‘I am not mean! I won’t be abandoned again!’
Ideas and values instilled in him by the duke since childhood.
The girl tried desperately not to become lowly and not be abandoned again.
-You are the weapon of the empire.
-You must become the master of the flame.
-Wake up! You’re telling me that you just collapsed at this level!
The duke was persistent and fierce.
He whipped Anna harshly every time she was about to collapse.
‘Flogging’ was not a metaphorical expression.
The duke actually whipped his adopted daughter.
-Aaaah!
‘Aaaah!’
When his back turned red with blood, he poured a cold potion on it to treat the wound.
Shake….
The duke lifted the chin of the girl, who was trembling in pain and fear, with his fingertips. Those eyes were shining with madness.
-Are you going to disappoint me?
‘I won’t disappoint! I’ll do better! I will become the master of the flame!’
People who knew nothing envied Anna’s talent and strength, but her formidable power was created through abuse and brainwashing.
“I… won’t lose!”
-Rarrrrrrrrrrrr!
-Rarrrrrrrrrrrr!
Two flame whips extended from both hands and struck the ice wall.
However, the ice wall was only slightly dented and still did not budge.
Shoot….
Rather, the cold began to engulf the flames.
“Give up. “You can’t beat me.”
Wendy, who had already climbed up the ice wall, looked down at Anna with a cold gaze.
Anna gritted her teeth.
“shut up! I won’t lose! I can’t lose! I am the weapon of the Empire! I must become the master of the flame!
“…Master of Flame?”
For the first time, Wendy’s icy expression changed.
It’s an obvious ridicule.
“What are you doing?”
At that moment, the barely remaining string of reason broke and magical power began to run wild.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
-Puhwaaaaaaaaaaa!
The tip of Anna’s hair, which rose into the sky, began to catch fire, and soon the flames spread to her entire body.
[Aaaaaaa!!]
A black flame lit at the cost of body and soul.
The flame began to spread at an uncontrollable speed.
-Puhua… Ahhh!
Wendy’s expression hardened as she felt the tremendous surge of power.
‘This is dangerous.’
It was quite possible to prevent harm to oneself.
However, if that black flame completely explodes, it will completely blow away at least a radius of several kilometers.
There is only one way to stop it.
“…We have to kill him as quickly as possible.”
-Blah blah blah blah…!!
A coldness on a completely different level than before began to bloom in Wendy’s body.
It was then.
“Wendyyy! “No way!”
“Lily?”
Wendy turned her head and saw Lily flying through the steam.
Lily spread her flame wings and instantly melted the ice wall created by Wendy and flew towards the boiling black flame.
-Rarrrrrrrrrrrr!
The black flame, which grew in size, opened its mouth like a mythical monster and engulfed Lily.
Wendy screamed when she saw that.
“Lily!”
At that moment, Lily’s voice was heard beyond the flames.
The voice was actually much calmer than usual.
“don’t worry. “Flames can’t hurt me.”
Inside of a fiercely burning black flame.
Lily entered and flew towards the center of the flame.
[Aaaaaah!]
A place where painful screams are heard.
A girl with scars all over her back was curled up and crying.
[sorry! I’ll be nice! I won’t play with mean things! I will become the weapon of the empire! I will become the master of the flame! I will do everything I tell you to do, so please don’t hit me…]
“…….”
Lily quietly got down in front of the crouching girl.
Anna’s flame contained her emotions intact.
fear. despair. anger. sadness. loneliness.
Lily could feel Anna’s emotions in the flames.
In addition, I was able to read about Anna’s painful past.
A true master of flame.
A power unique to Lily in the world.
“are you okay.”
Lily’s small hand touched Anna’s back.
‘This kid is similar to me.’
I was suffering, suffering, and scared due to an unwanted force.
“It’s okay now.”
A small hand slowly stroked his scar-covered back.
The only difference between the two is that Lily was saved by meeting her uncle and Anna was not.
“I’ll help you so you don’t hurt anymore.”
So this time, I just have to save this kid like you did.
“You don’t have to worry about anything.”
Burning….
The black flame that seemed to burn the world began to melt like a lie.
[Ah…]
Anna, who was crouching down, raised her head and looked at Lily. I cried so much that my voice didn’t come out well.
“…really?”
“Yes! It’s true!”
“Thank you….”
He shakes it off.
At that moment, Anna lost consciousness and collapsed.
A faint smile appeared on the lips of the girl in Lily’s arms.
That day was the day Lily made her first friend at WHA.
At the same time, it was the day when the destruction of the Duke Strauss family was decided.
[ (Side Story) Master of Flame ] End
ⓒ Ganjjajang
