For the first time in seventeen years, Li Donggui felt that he was truly, genuinely alive.
He saw the treetops and their swaying leaves. Even the opening and closing of his eyelids, something he had never noticed before, now seemed marvelous. Everything before his eyes brimmed with the vitality of life.
Li Donggui touched the sand. It was warm. He could control his fingers and bend them, letting them sink slightly into it.
He smelled the river's distinctive scent, while the dark-green water plants gave off a faint, clean fragrance. He flared his nostrils as wide as possible and breathed greedily, taking in every scent.
At that moment, every one of them was sweet.
Life was something each person experienced for themselves. No one else could experience it in their place.
Li Donggui thought of Leo East. The boy no longer had any experiences of his own.
Knowing that he still had a responsibility, Li Donggui took control of the body and eagerly began his experiments. He wanted to know whether he, like Leo, possessed the talent of a Cipher Mage.
He had existed alongside Leo since the moment Leo was born. Leo and Li Donggui were like the two sides of a sheet of paper.
Ever since Leo awakened at the docks, Li Donggui had been able to feel the fluctuations of his soul whenever he practiced Cipher spells.
After two years of observation, Li Donggui believed that Superstring Magic was an instinct of the soul.
No one could truly explain why Superstring Mages could release magic without any preparatory movement, hand seals, or staff. A thought arose, and the magic was released.
When Leo wielded Cipher Magic, the “cipher” did not mean a spell or incantation. It was closer to “whispering within the soul.” The Soul Strings vibrated in the Soul Sea, producing soul fluctuations resembling sound waves.
Mages cast incredibly quickly. Magical fluctuations traveled through the nervous system, so casting speed was equal to the speed of neural transmission.
Li Donggui closed his eyes and pretended to be truly dead. Kozmo was no longer paying attention to him.
Behind his closed eyes, he saw the familiar Soul Sea once more.
As soon as he focused his attention on his Soul String, he saw a change taking place within it!
The main string spread apart like a vine. Five Soul Strings spiraled around one another, and one particular slender string suddenly began vibrating at superfrequency.
The superfrequency-vibrating string peeled away from the other five. The remaining four continued to coil tightly together, becoming a new main string.
The Soul String had split in two. The main string still stood like a pillar supporting the heavens and the earth, while the slender string wound around it in a spiral like a lively swimming dragon.
It felt as though something in his mind were being peeled away. The sensation made Leo's scalp prickle, and the skin between his ears suddenly drew taut.
After an agonizing tremor, Li Donggui opened his eyes again, delight flashing within them.
The clothes on his body, along with the round shield and longsword behind him, suddenly became lighter. Their density had decreased, and their weight had diminished as well.
Once his guess was confirmed, Li Donggui's mind settled completely.
He lifted his head and continued watching Kozmo Enwey's back in silence, without the slightest trace of emotion, just as he had throughout the previous seventeen years.
From beginning to end, Kozmo noticed nothing unusual behind him. His entire attention was focused on the parchment scroll in his hands.
With his back to the “dead Leo,” Kozmo held the open scroll in his left hand. His eyes were wide as he stared down at it. His pupils had contracted, leaving broad patches of white visible around them.
He was wildly excited.
His soul had grown somewhat heavier. Kozmo knew that he had captured Leo's soul.
An entire year! He had spent an entire year plotting to take Leo's soul!
Who wanted to spend every day gnawing black bread with some shabby dockworker's son?
Who wanted to endure other people's strange looks alongside some shabby dockworker's son?
Who wanted to pretend to have heart-to-heart talks with some shabby dockworker's son until the middle of the night?
After a year of scheming, his plan had finally reached a perfect conclusion. As expected, he was the cleverest person in the academy.
Kozmo walked two steps away in disgust. Standing beside Leo's corpse seemed to remind him of the humiliation of all the false friendship he had displayed over the past year. It made him feel sick, as though he had swallowed a green bottle fly.
Kozmo's voice came from ahead:
“Damn you, you stupid, filthy Leo. I'm going to take your power! I'm going to become a dual-school mage!
“Queen Margaret Augusta has unified the West Isles. The West Empire's next target is Blackport City.
“I will earn distinction in the war that is about to begin. I will become a noble dual-school mage and the governor of Blackport City for the West Empire!”
Li Donggui frowned behind Kozmo.
The West Empire?
Was Blackport City about to face a war…?
And a dual-school mage?
Every person could awaken only one school of Superstring Magic. There had never been an exception.
Superstring Magic was divided into Cipher Magic, Haste Magic, Form Magic, Wave Magic, and the most unusual of all, Soul Magic.
Did Kozmo intend to become a dual-school mage?
From the military academy lessons he had heard within the Soul Sea, Li Donggui knew that dual-school mages were rare accidents that could arise only through certain coincidences.
Only by completing the Final Entrustment ritual for a Superstring Mage of a different school could someone acquire a new school of Superstring Magic.
Li Donggui narrowed his eyes, puzzled once more.
Kozmo had killed Leo. How could he complete Leo's final entrustment?
Kozmo was the murderer. If Leo's final entrustment was to kill Kozmo, would Kozmo have to kill himself to fulfill it?
Li Donggui had attended school alongside Leo, so he knew everything Leo had learned. According to the textbooks, completing the Final Entrustment ritual required the dead soul to be entirely willing.
Kozmo placed his right hand on the open parchment scroll and said slowly:
“An Intimidation Scroll of a fallen mage! My brother had to go to a lot of trouble to get this reward from a West Empire Navy vice admiral!”
A fallen mage?
It was Year 50 of the Order Calendar, which commemorated the Order War that had ended on the Audrian Continent fifty years earlier.
During the Order War, all the kingdoms of the continent, led by the holy Archmage Hilquins, had driven the fallen Superstring Mages from the Audrian Continent.
Order Mages and fallen mages had always been opposing factions. Their primary difference lay in the codes of conduct they followed.
Order Mages believed in the Three Laws of Order, while fallen mages believed in the Three Principles of the Fallen.
There had not been a fallen mage on the continent for fifty years.
Of course, “fallen mage” was the name Order Mages had given them. Fallen mages called themselves Absolute Freedom Mages.
Absolute freedom meant absolute license to do whatever one pleased. In the eyes of Order Mages, that was what it meant to fall into desire.
The parchment scroll in Kozmo's hands was the key. It had to be an extraordinary item.
Before Li Donggui could consider Kozmo's words more carefully, a pang passed through his mind.
After a brief moment of disorientation, Li Donggui understood.
It was Leo, calling for help from his Final Entrustee!
Kozmo's eyelids lifted higher and higher. His pupils grew smaller, and the whites of his eyes became increasingly visible.
He continued:
“...
“The Third Principle of Fallen Superstring Mages: the Principle of Intimidating People!
“Every soul has a weakness.
“Disciples of Desire have mastered the means of intimidating souls.
“Through the Intimidation ritual, they shatter the soul of the dead and obtain the power of the departed soul.
“The flavor of a soul is something no mage can refuse!
“...”
Li Donggui remembered something. Among Soul Mages, Order Soul Mages were called Pure White Believers, while fallen Soul Mages were called Disciples of Desire.
Kozmo was still immersed in his own world when his hand suddenly trembled, then stopped.
At the final moment, just as the ritual was about to be completed, a hand pressed down on Kozmo's shoulder.
His clothes were already plastered tightly against his body by the damp cold. Kozmo shuddered involuntarily from head to toe.
Who was that?
He had drifted this far. It was impossible for anyone else to come and ruin his plans!
Once the war over Blackport City began, no one would pay attention to Kozmo's little tricks anymore.
Kozmo turned his head and saw a pale face almost touching his ear.
Leo!
It was Leo East!
Why wasn't Leo dead?
Infinite terror filled Kozmo's pupils.
A long-range Haste Mage had been caught at close quarters by a Cipher Mage known as a weapon-wielding thug.
Death was only a matter of time.
Kozmo suddenly felt the damp, cold clothes on his body and the supplies on his back grow much heavier. Leo's Cipher spell had been activated, pressing down on his already frail legs until they trembled.
Half of Kozmo's face began to itch. Leo's hot breath brushed across his face and neck, making him even more terrified.
Leo's slightly hoarse voice entered Kozmo's ear:
“A final entrustment meant to add romance to death has been turned into something so bloody by you and that so-called Disciple of Desire.”
The new Leo's voice was still a little awkward, as though he were adjusting to it. He spoke slowly, one word at a time:
“Kozmo Enwey...
“Even if good people cannot live long, they should not die horribly before their time.
“You not only took Leo's life...
“You also hurt Leo's feelings...”
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