I Possessed the Heroine’s Teacher

Camellia discarded her usual sword and aimed a blood-red blade at Lancelot. I could tell that it was the sword I had given her…

“That sword… that damn thing is trying to play some shallow tricks.”

“I have something I want to ask you, Father.”

Camellia swallowed. No matter what, he was still her father, so it seemed like a bit of affection remained. But even so, I was still going to kill that bastard Lancelot.

“Why are you doing this? You who so despised slaughter and war… the one who loved peace…”

“That’s a foolish question, daughter. I still hate evil.”

Lancelot’s expression was completely calm. It was as if he were casually talking about some trivial matter, like a dog at someone’s house having puppies.

“I hope the wizard here will listen as well. What are the ten elements that are the source of magic, and the foundation of this world?”

“Suddenly, what…”

“Fire, water, ice, wind, earth, steel, light, darkness, wood, and lightning. All of these are the origins of magic and the foundation of the world. If you know the origin, you can know everything. But how exactly do these elements exist in the world?”

Lancelot continued, his voice now different, more chilling than before. It was a voice that scratched against metal, unpleasant and eerie, filled with malice.

[The fire, which should bring warmth, has transformed into the flames of war, burning homes to the ground. The water, which should give life, has turned into floods and torrents, taking lives.]

[People freeze to death in the bitter cold, and the wind becomes a storm that tramples the places where people live.]

[Steel is forged into sharp spearheads and arrowheads, while wood becomes the shafts of arrows and spears, killing and wounding people.]

[In the homes of the impoverished, only darkness fills the air, while light shines on the places where the rich, scum of the earth, reside.]

[The earth remains silent, bringing famine and swallowing up countless corpses, while thunder rumbles, never falling upon the heads of the guilty.]

It flowed smoothly, almost like reciting poetry, but the voice didn’t bring inspiration; instead, it spread fear and disgust. It was like hearing the unpleasant image of a vile grandmother from some internet site, but in the form of sound, striking your ears.

“What the hell is this nonsense you’re spouting? A will?”

“The origin of the world is like this, and yet our god remains silent. He tolerates war, tolerates slaughter, tolerates disasters, tolerates tyranny, tolerates evil itself.”

“Evil is you, you bastard. You killed Count Holsted’s family, massacred people, used children as experimental subjects, and now you’re spewing this shit about philosophy.”

“Yes, I am evil. But what about our god?”

He pointed his sword at the sky. Well, to be more precise, he couldn’t point at the sky itself because there was a ceiling, but you get the idea.

“Even I, someone like me, is tolerated. No matter what evil I commit, our god does not punish me. That means our god accepts and approves of evil. I cannot accept such a god, such a loose world.”

“If the world’s that shitty, go eat some poisonous mushrooms and kill yourself, what the hell is this nonsense?”

“I will change the world. It is my mission, the reason I was born. I will kill god and usurp His place.”

Is that the reason… to kill the Celestial Mage, make the Holsted family suffer, and drag my potential friend Olag into this evil?

For such a ridiculous reason?

I pulled out Enoch.

“Open the seal on page 221, Enoch.”

“Werner! That’s…!”

“Sister, I’m sorry. Please die with me.”

Enoch was not only an artifact that could store magic but also one that could seal dangerous entities.

“Awaken, spirit of the plague.”

Then, the ghostly image engraved on the book faded, and black mist began to rise.

What was sealed within this page were the spirits of the villagers who had been slaughtered by the plague. The specter in the form of black mist was incredibly strong, immortal, and had been sealed within Enoch.

Just touching this black mist would cause one to be infected with a terrible plague, causing the body to melt away and die.

The room began to fill with the black mist, but Lancelot showed no sign of being flustered. On the contrary, he calmly tightened his grip on his sword. This was no ghost that could be defeated or exorcised. It wasn’t an opponent that could be dealt with by some simple sword.

“Devour it.”

His sword began to draw in the black mist. To be precise, it was devouring the powerful specter.

“How are you consuming that ghost…?”

Lancelot pointed to the gem embedded in his sword. The gem was glowing a brilliant purple.

“This is part of the god’s heart that I took when I stabbed our god. Surprisingly, even though it’s just a part, it holds incredible power.”

This bastard was mocking me by even showing the heart of someone else’s mother. That added one more reason to not forgive him.

“It seems one of your options has been reduced. What are you planning to summon next? A dragon? A demon? Or perhaps an apostle of the gods?”

“No…”

I forced myself to stand. Although I was still bleeding, it wasn’t to the point where my life was in immediate danger.

“Sister…”

“Werner, don’t speak. Rest. I will handle him.”

Camellia grabbed her sword and charged at Lancelot. Her stance clearly indicated the technique known as “Cutting Cherry Blossoms.” It was an attack that sent strikes on unpredictable, mysterious trajectories, just like falling cherry blossoms, and it had a guard-breaking effect.

Clang!

However, Lancelot easily blocked the attack.

“Do you even know who taught you that technique? And you’re still putting too much strength into your shoulders.”

Lancelot said this and swung his sword toward Camellia. The technique he used was one of his killing moves, “Cutting Camellia Branch.” Originally, it was a large technique with a delay in activation, but Lancelot used it with no delay whatsoever.

“Sister!”

Clang!

But Camellia also managed to block his attack.

“Do you know who has seen your swordsmanship up close, Father?”

“…You’re audacious.”

“Father, I’ll ask you one last time. What was Mother to you?”

At that, Lancelot swallowed dryly.

“She was a woman who didn’t fit with me. A woman who was pitiful, foolish, and stupid.”

“What did you just say…?”

“She didn’t even realize she was being used, believed in God like a fool, naively believed that the war would end and foolishly worshiped peace, and in the end, she whispered love to me and died. She was a pitiful woman.”

Camellia dropped her sword. I knew how much she loved her family, how much she loved her mother and father. The betrayal would be a great blow, as much as the trust and love she had for them.

“Maybe it would have been fortunate if she had left behind a useful child… but she only gave birth to half-wits who couldn’t master both swordsmanship and magic. She was weak and couldn’t bear more children. She was a woman who was never useful once.”

“Shut up.”

“That’s why I killed her. There was no need for such a hindrance.”

“Shut the hell up!”

“Her last moments, crying and whispering love, were almost laughable. You must have inherited her, so you’re still swayed by these petty emotions, aren’t you? Truly… she was a woman I should never have embraced.”

Camellia tried to pick up her sword and stab Lancelot. But once again, it was easily blocked.

“You, your mother, the Celestial Mage, the wizards… all of you are swayed by meaningless emotions. That’s why you die like trash.”

Camellia was no longer in a state to fight, weakened by tears. In that case… it was my role to kill that bastard.

“Hey, Lancelot.”

“Hmm…”

His gaze turned to me.

“You are the worst piece of trash I’ve ever known. And my creed is that trash should be cleaned up by the one who finds it.”

“That’s quite a good creed. But what can you do, you who can’t even cast a great magic and can only use a weakened version recorded in a magic book?”

“Haha… You dumbass… It’s not that I can’t cast great magic. It’s just that I can’t handle the aftermath once I do.”

“That’s nonsensical. I think it’s basically the same.”

The thing that was broken in Werner’s magic circuit wasn’t the mechanism to activate the great magic. It was the mechanism that cooled down the body after casting, which relieved the burden on the body.

In other words, the activation itself was still possible.

“If I’m willing to wreck my body, I can use it once…”

“Hmm, interesting. Even if it’s just once, it’s a magic that makes you think you could kill me… I’ll want to remember this, for the future.”

“Sister, I’m sorry, but I think we’ll both have to die together.”

At that, Camellia silently nodded and grabbed Lancelot’s arm. It seemed she was trying to stop him from making any unnecessary resistance.

Only Werner could use the magic that resonated with all ten elements at once.

“Ars Magia.”