Chapter 35
Chapter 35: Casting Him
Lugis fell to the ground . His condition was unquestionably serious .
His right hand and shoulder were burnt . However, his condition didn’t reach a carbonized state . It was, in fact, a miracle . The fire also affected his upper body, especially around his back . The skin was significantly altered . The blackish red scene of fire and smoke was too strong and unbearable for the naked eye . Filaret La Volgograd’s expression was greatly distorted .
Still, he could die if nobody saved him immediately . Filaret would blame herself if Lugis surrendered his life to death . She panicked at the sight of the fallen Lugis .
Now . This was the only moment to act, this was the right timing . The burning flames were being subsided by the soldiers . Everything was getting calmer . The situation was getting controlled and suppressed . This was the moment . Yes, the moment before the enemy changed their attention to the prisoners . Therefore, Lugis had to be saved now, or else he’ll be taken by the hand of the god of death . He mustn’t die . He must survive . Nonetheless, proper aid had to be given immediately . Because, even if he managed to survive by himself, his body could suffer with some sort of disability . His life as an adventurer would be hopeless . It would be over forever .
Ah, that horrible fate had to be stopped . Filaret was by Lugis side . She tried her best to tend to his wounds . Her hands trembled incessantly . But, she was determined . She vowed not to let Lugis die . She decided that he should live his life like gold . It would be unfair if he were to die as lead when he behaved like a golden person .
On this moment, Filaret tried to use her magic again… not to heal Lugis, but to reshape Lugis’ health .
「…Ugh…Ah…!? 」
Her throat was dry, and her voice was stuck . She did her best to invoke her magic, but it became entangled, she couldn’t produce any magic at all . There was no magical reaction whatsoever . Nothing came from her . Lugis’ body didn’t show any change, neither from his toes or hair .
Filaret’s expression was pale . Her eyes showed remorse and despair . Filaret knew these feelings perfectly well . In the past, she did her best to improve herself . But, her efforts were in vain when she lived through repeated failure .
In reality, she couldn’t invoke her magic because she overused it . She was exhausted . Depletion was the reason why she didn’t exercise her powers, unless she took a meaningful rest .
Even though she was determined, her health proved otherwise . Her concentration started to waver . The magical powers were lacking . She did her best to invoke her magic even on this perilous situation . Yet, her throat didn’t comply . It was as if she lost her voice completely .
“Ah, I can’t cast anything right now . ” She thought . She couldn’t use anything even though she needed her powers the most at this crucial moment .
Tears started to fall from her eyes .
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“Finally . I finally managed to discipline my mind . I found my way . My calling . It was all thanks to him . But, this person named Lugis, is about to die . I want to save him, but I can’t do anything . Everything ended up as before . I am useless after all .
I should’ve died instead . I would rather choose to be held in flames, and die with him than keep living inside of a hell engulfed by grief, regret and failure . Yes, I would rather perish than live a life without hope . Dying would be a much better solution for my soul . A salvation for my mental health . ”
Filaret’s heart became black as if a hole was pierced through her insides . She held her head to the ground and wiped her eyes in despair . Her eyes hurt and became lifeless . She touched her face and regretted being born . Suddenly, two voices echoed in her earlobes . It were the voices of a man and a woman .
「Depletion of magical power huh . You were a bit reckless based on your physical condition . 」
「It seems that you’re exhausted . Your powers diminished because of your health . You look extremely fatigued . Filaret, please take a rest . You mustn’t use your magical powers right now . If you push yourself to your limits, you’ll face severe consequences . 」
And then, the last person who spoke extended his hand .
One of the voices that Filaret heard was, in fact, a familiar voice . A voice that she heard quite often . It was unmistakably the voice of Helot Stanley . He was the one who extended his hand on Filaret’s direction . She saw a light at the end of a tunnel . Her sorrowful and painful expression disappeared almost instantly . The other voice belonged to a girl named Caria, a swordswoman . She was the one that stood by Lugis side all the time .
Both of their clothes were torn and tattered . They also had red stains on their clothes . It looked like blood . However, no big wounds were seen on the surface .
Filaret recognized both of them . She felt a huge turmoil inside of her chest . On that immediate moment, she felt two opposing emotions .
The first one was relief .
“Ah, I felt relieved when they arrived to save us . They are unquestionably talented . Even though nobody was perfect, these two are an exception among everyone I met before . Their utter appearance said it all . They are golden people . They were able to handle everything on their own . I didn’t have to worry anymore . That’s why I felt relief . ”
The second one was a dry and cold hatred that froze my heart .
Filaret’s body tighten up and she gritted her back teeth .
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“Again . Here we go again . Lugis and I did our very best . We went against all odds even though we perfectly knew that we weren’t strong or special . Yet, it isn’t possible to gain recognition as golden people? Please stop it . I don’t want to face that harsh reality . Dying along with him would have been a better choice than relying on golden people because of our incompetence . ”
A “relief” given in exchange for dignity and independence . That’s what Filaret thought about herself . She wondered if a downtrodden person like herself could have an opportunity if she took such almighty hand… Would the poor have a place on this world? Filaret’s fingertips shook unconsciously . She remembered, not herself, but Lugis and his bravery early on . He acted unambiguously to protect his dignity and her life and, as a result, he went face to face with death . It was as if the god of death was his friend . He embraced death for a brief moment .
“Ah, how sweet that would be . Could I choose that path for myself too? Could I pick up that “sweet fruit” at the end of my death?”
At the sight of the bright golden people, Filaret distorted her expression slightly . Regrets filled her mind and tears were overflowing from her eyes .
「No, I don’t agree . I got what you meant, but Filaret has one more job to do . 」
Caria blocked Helot’s hand when he tried to help Filaret . Helot stopped midway, while Caria walked away and picked up something from the rubble .
“At first glance, it wasn’t something that was worth that much . It looked like an old-fashionable sword . It probably had some value as an antique, or maybe it didn’t have any value at all . That sword was the sword that Lugis wore on his scabbard . It seemed to be a weapon of his choice . ” That was what Filaret noticed amidst the turmoil of her unsettling emotions .
「…This is my family’s treasure . Traditionally, it was called either “mystic” or “miracle” . I don’t know how efficient this is . But, I heard that the blade was refined by magic itself . 」
Then, Caria threw her sword casually . A confused Filaret caught that rusty sword with both of her hands after it was thrown to her chest .
“Oh, this is a foreign object . ” She thought . Filaret sighed from the depths of her throat when she received the sword . She felt wonders . As a Sorceress, Filaret didn’t understand much about the effectiveness of swords . Still, she knew that that object was made of iron . She realized that the blade and handle were pressed together by the usage of a magic force . She wondered if any of the current sorcerers from all over the world could’ve achieved such feat .
Filaret started to sweat involuntarily . She nervously grabbed the sword with both of her hands .
「I don’t need any explanation of what happened here . I’m sure that this adventurist fool did these things as he pleased…But, things won’t get fixed if I keep complaining, right . 」
After hearing those seemingly cold words, Filaret looked at Caria with distrustful eyes .
Her expression said it all, even though she tried to keep her composure . She narrowed her long eyes, and she tightened up her lips . However, that was not enough to suppress her emotions . She quivered and looked at that woman’s silvery eyes with hatred and regret .
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“Caria’s eyes looked as if she was the one that came to save the day . While I was the useless one . ” Filaret thought . Her hands were pressed strongly with this bitter interaction .
「…Yeah, gotta do something even if my spirit is exhausted . 」
Filaret continued to suppress her lips, but she was at her own limit .
“No . It must be me . Yes, it would be me to save this person . Certainly, I would have Caria’s help as well, but in the end, it all fell on my shoulders . However, this time, a genius person won’t save him . I would be the one to save Lugis . ”
Filaret grabbed the sword with both of her hands extremely tight . She connected the sword’s power with her own magical force, and she tried to transfer it onto Lugis’ body . Filaret’s fingers were drenched in blood . However, these trivial things were no longer relevant to her .
She closed her eyelids and saw a parchment with ink floating inside of her mind .
“How could I use this magical power to restore Lugis’ body? This path must succeed . But, this power was different from the magic I knew of . ” Inside of Filaret’s mind, she wrote a magical enchantment on the parchment . “The sense of creating a witchcraft theory of unknown properties was strangely beautiful . Somehow, comforting . I tried to invoke similar ideas during my childhood as well . ” Filaret tried once before to create a method of incorporating external magic into a person and making it a part of the body and skin . Yet, that was a theory that was ridiculed by others .
However, this time the theory she created emitted a strong light inside of her mind . When Filaret opened her eyes, she took a deep breath and declared the following enchantment without hesitating .
…I cast this person to be bestowed the power from these hands .
It would be a theory that would change the world . A magical theory to alter the root, the source of all things . In the future, it was said that Filaret’s true power, the one that created the long history of successful witchcraft, was said to be this era’s revolution .
An unbelievable scene was happening in front of them . A mass of a powerful magical force emitted from the treasure sword wrapped on Lugis’ body . The magical force transformed the sword into the same existence as Lugis’ essence . Lugis absorbed the sword, and the sword absorbed Lugis . When that happened, the treasure sword gained acknowledgement . That meant that it knew the defects and the need for repair . Then, in order to repair those wounds, the treasure sword began to inject a certain amount of magic into the vitality of Lugis’ body .
The efficacy was great . The magical force circulated through Lugis’ whole body . His body was not created to have magical powers, but on this precise moment, it was as if he held hands with magic . It was as if they became one . The powers altered his body and his skin was repaired .
Filaret stared attentively at Lugis after her magic healed his body . When he slowly moved his eyelids, she became truly blissful . She thought earnestly, “I can proudly say that I casted him successfully . ”
However, Filaret’s mental strength, which went beyond her limits, ended . Her whole body was dripping with sweat . Even though she was looking directly at Lugis, her eyesight was blurry and she gradually lost her vision .
Lugis’ fingers were the last part of his body to be healed . When Filaret saw that he was fully recovered, she lost her consciousness and fell next to Lugis .
—
「Stop it . 」
Caria pressed her lips as she muttered to Helot Stanley .
「I won’t stop it just because you ordered me to stop . Filaret’s life is a top priority for me . And I won’t stop now even if you pulled your own sword at me . 」
He paused briefly to respond to Caria’s remark .
「This ended up as a good opportunity for her, you know . She looked fierce since the very beginning, but in reality, she didn’t feel confident about herself . If you think dearly about her, then you should stop doing that right now . She has to get to her feet on her own . She must not be pampered like that or she won’t grow independently . 」
Caria spilled some harsh words while she pompously shook her silver hair .
Indeed, this man was full of good intentions . He thought he was doing the correct thing when he tried to help Filaret stand up . Soon, doubts started to cloud his judgement . Caria was the one who questioned his actions . Her wording implied that Helot wouldn’t be able to show good results if he kept helping others . Caria was surrounded by a strange premonition . She continued to speak with Helot .
「And, by the way, I think something is off between them . It looks like your rightful person acted as someone who contradicted the rightful attitude of a comrade like you . 」
Helot answered to Caria’s words by pointing to Lugis’ cheek with his finger .
「I don’t really know what happened yet . He seemed to not to get along well with any of us at the beginning, but this scenario sure gives another feeling . What a strange person he is . Even so . 」
It was interesting and odd at the same time . Caria’s spine felt a shivering cold pierce her bones . She couldn’t fully grasp the reason behind all of what happened previously .