NOVEL NEXT Chapter 87: The Punishment (4)
✦ Chapter 87 – The Punishment (4) ✦
「Translator – Creator」
𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝𒋝
Teddy Divine, who had claimed the position of Black Tower Master, felt a shiver run down her spine.
‘What is this?’
Her gaze was fixed on a single person.
Just one man.
Yes, he was merely an Inspector from the Imperial Magic Tower.
And his magic involved ice element, which was quite ordinary.
But despite all this, the moment Ezekiel took a step forward, she felt a surge of tension course through her body.‘…Is the Tower trembling?’
No, it wasn’t that. It was her own body that was trembling; the realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
Teddy’s deep dive into black magic had exposed her to all sorts of horrors—horrors she’d come to see as mere entertainment.
In other words, she no longer saw other mages as equals; they were simply subjects for her black magic research.
At a glance, she could tell whether someone was low-quality, inferior material, or something more… valuable. Something that could be of use to her.
She’d never worried about an opponent being stronger than her. It was simply an impossibility.
Teddy always won. That was a given.
And yet…
‘What… what is this?’
Her instincts screamed a warning.
This inspector is dangerous!
It took her a moment to regain her composure, to force her trembling limbs to obey. Her muscles were stiff, resistant to her commands.
Her mind couldn’t grasp the situation.
She mentally reviewed Ezekiel’s profile:
‘Commoner, no formal magical education, no prior experience…’
By all accounts, he was a greenhorn, lacking in practical experience. His only notable achievement was his recent performance in Ruiple—his first real mission.
He was just a novice, and yet…
Her every instinct screamed otherwise.
This is no child… her instincts whispered. He is a seasoned veteran, far more experienced than you. He was dangerous, someone who could dissect her, analyze her, and turn her into a research subject.
…How is this possible?
How could a mage make her, Teddy Divine, feel like prey?
‘‘Could the Imperial Tower have concealed information? To facilitate this mission?’
But that was highly unlikely. Teddy had her own sources, her own ways of gathering information. And Ezekiel’s background was clean – a commoner with no magical training, no prior experience.
She raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her brow, then froze.
The sweat… it had already frozen on her skin.
‘Just a moment ago, it wasn’t this cold.’
Teddy took a deep, silent breath, trying to calm her racing heart.
One couldn’t survive long in this world relying solely on logic. Sometimes, it was necessary to trust one’s instincts.
Snap—!
Teddy snapped her fingers, and three large, rock-like objects materialized out of thin air.
Thud—! Thud— !THUD—!
But these were no ordinary rocks; three colossal men crashed down onto the floor, their bodies impacting with the force of a landslide.
Teddy sent a telepathic message to her creations.
— Kill him. And don’t underestimate him.
The men chuckled, cracking their knuckles.
— Teddy, why the warning? He’s just one mage with a single soul.
As their words implied, these weren’t ordinary beings, each possessing a single soul. They were grotesque amalgamations of flesh and magic, multiple souls crammed into a single, powerful body.
Stitches, like crude needlework, covered their bodies, their faces a patchwork of different skin tones—a testament to Teddy’s macabre artistry.
One of them spoke, his voice a jarring blend of different tones.
— Lady Teddy’s not scared. She’s just worried we’ll crush him into a pulp. A gentle reminder to keep the body intact.
— He’s right! Let’s have some fun before we finish him!
The three creations advanced towards Ezekiel, the one in the center taking the lead.
“Hey, did you say the Black Tower would fall today?”
Ezekiel didn’t spare a glance at the creations. He was looking at Teddy beyond them.
“Inspector, why are you acting so foolishly? Do you not grasp the situation? If your arrogance causes this Tower to collapse, we all die. And I doubt you can handle the consequences.”
Ezekiel finally clicked his tongue.
“Is that some kind of black magic chant?”
“…What?”
“So long-winded… when will you actually cast a spell?”
The creations’ eyes narrowed.
“You still don’t understand your place, do you…? Still trying to provoke us…?”
They continued to mutter threats, but Ezekiel, unfazed, started walking towards them.
For a mage, who generally preferred long-range combat, to close the distance like this… it was a display of immense confidence.
“…Inspector, which part of you should we tear off first?”
Ezekiel replied casually,
“You’re just following orders, right?”
His voice was calm, chillingly so, and the words seemed to freeze the creations in place.
“Just do your job. Why are you hesitating?”
Hesitating?
Were they… hesitating?
“……….…”
The creations paused, suddenly questioning their own actions.
Ezekiel was right. Teddy had only given them the order to kill. They were the ones who’d decided to tear him limb from limb, eager for the bloodbath to begin. Nothing was stopping them from carrying out that order.
Whether the Inspector begged for his life or not, they were to kill him.
It didn’t matter what he did. They were to kill him.
‘…Why didn’t we attack first?’
Had they hesitated?
Could it be true? They, Teddy’s creations, hesitated?
It was improbable.
— He’s strange. Let’s tear him apart.
— Agreed.
— Let’s go.
They exchanged telepathic messages, then began gathering their dark mana, the shadows around them thickening until they were nearly visible to the naked eye.
Though there were many oddities to consider, none of these cobbled-together monstrosities realized that something was amiss.
Would a human be angered by the provocation of an ant?
No, they would find it curious.
Amusing, even. It would be entertaining to witness such a lowly creature display such behavior before it was stomped to death.
However, the creations had already been rattled by Ezekiel’s words, a fact they were completely oblivious to.
Shhhhrrrrkkk—
The moment a massive ice spear materialized before them, aimed directly at their hearts…
“Haa—!”
…the creations unleashed their black magic first.
The colossal dark mana in the shape of a serpent, formed from the combined power of the three, extended upwards, its jaws wide open, attempting to swallow Ezekiel whole.
CRACK—!
But the serpent’s jaws never closed.
Crack!—Crack… Crack…
A towering ice pillar had sprung up within its maw, forcing its jaws apart.
The creations’ eyes widened in shock.
‘He… he blocked it?’
Their combined attack, the power of three souls… blocked?
Confusion and rage simultaneously surged through them. But they were not stupid enough to stop and reconsider in the middle of a fight.
They unleashed another barrage of attacks.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Blasts of dark mana slammed against the Serpent’s snout, trying to force its jaws closed.
Crack! Crack… Crack…!
But they couldn’t break through the single ice pillar. Gaping at the scene, the creations murmured.
— How is it withstanding our attacks?
— It doesn’t matter! There’s something else…
Yes, something far more troubling was at play.
— …Our energy… it’s not affecting him!
Their dark mana, unlike regular mana, should have been able to seep into their target, corrupting and weakening it. But it wasn’t working.
Neither Ezekiel nor his ice seemed affected. The dark mana just slid off, as though touching an inanimate object, making follow-up attacks impossible.
— What’s going on?
— Why isn’t it working…!
There were three of them, not just one.
And they weren’t just three individuals; they were weapons forged from dozens of souls. It was as if dozens of mages were attacking simultaneously.
And yet, they couldn’t even overpower a single Inspector?
It was an unthinkable situation.
“Haaaa—!”
“Hyaaa—!”
In the end, the creations began shouting as they exerted all their might. But Ezekiel remained calm, almost detached from the chaos unfolding around him.
The creations then switched their strategy and started causing explosions all around. The dark mana was brutal and destructive, indifferent to whoever might be nearby.
BOOM—! BOOM—! BOOM—!
But none of the explosions connected with their target.
Whenever a dark mana sphere burst, ice would cover it like a plastic wrap. No matter how many times they exploded, they couldn’t penetrate the ice barrier.
The creations’ eyes were bloodshot.
“Stop hiding behind your defenses, you arrogant bastard—!”
The three creations bit their tongues in unison.
They had to accept that conventional black magic wouldn’t work. They channeled their dark mana inwards, reversing the flow.
Self-destruction.
They intended to take the Inspector of the Imperial Magic Tower down with them.
“Grrrrrrrr—!”
“Groaaaaar—!”
Their entire bodies began to glow, heat radiating from their flesh; they stomped their feet, creating craters in the floor, and charged towards Ezekiel.
BWOOOSH—!
Their speed was incredible, like massive boulders hurtling through the air, aimed directly at the Inspector.
Whooooooooosh—!
The air screamed as they cut through it.
And then, faintly, they heard it.
A single word, uttered by the inspector.
“Conclude.”
And at the same time, they saw it.
In a moment that seemed to stretch out into an eternity, a single ice spear, spinning like a disc, hurtled towards them.
The spin was so fast, so furious, that it no longer resembled a spear, but a disc, a pale blue full moon.
Shhhk—!
Something was sliced.
But what?
They didn’t know.
Whooooooooosh—!
They continued hurtling towards Ezekiel.
And now, he was right in front of them.
All they had to do was grab him, hold him tight, and explode.
But as they steeled themselves for the final impact…
“……………?”
…their charging bodies suddenly veered off course.
No magic had touched them, they hadn’t consciously changed their course, and yet they were suddenly sailing past the inspector, their bodies arcing through the air in a graceful parabola.
The horizon tilted.
Slowly.
Excruciatingly slowly, the ground and the ceiling switched places.
What’s happening?
Their telepathic link was severed.
The world spun, gravity seemed to shift, physics itself seemed to warp around them. The creations, disoriented and confused, finally focused on a single, horrifying image.
“………….…”
A sight they should never have seen.
“………..…!”
Their own upper bodies, severed cleanly at the waist, tumbling through the air, pieces of discarded flesh.
The world hadn’t flipped; they had been flipped, sliced in two.
Over their dismembered shoulders, they saw their lower bodies, still standing upright, staring blankly at their new master.
‘…He cut us… before we even reached him?’
“What… how…?”
“When… how…!”
“Huh…?”
Their questions died in their throats, unanswered.
Shatter—!
When the three upper bodies collapsed to the floor, it sounded like blocks of ice shattering.
Ezekiel hadn’t allowed them the luxury of self-destruction.
There were no screams, no cries of pain.
Their mouths were frozen shut, denying them even a final word.
Their bodies were frozen solid, no blood gushed from their wounds.
All that remained was the chilling silence of their demise.
“Oh…”
Someone couldn’t help but marvel and opened their mouth, but then…
Click—!
…their lips were swiftly sealed shut by a thin layer of ice.
“Silence,” the Inspector hissed.
“The princess is watching. Show some respect.”
It was only now that the real curtain of destruction had risen.