Chapter 78: A Fateful Encounter and a Dire Realization

“Ahem…” Yalin cleared his throat.

“Miss Lumi, I am, of course, grateful for your concern… but might I inquire as to its reason?”

“You must take responsibility.”

“…”

Yalin found himself utterly speechless.

‘What on earth was this person talking about?’

He couldn’t help but wonder if Lumi was deliberately feigning ignorance just to vex him.

Yet, meeting her gaze, those eyes brimming with intellect, he swiftly discarded the notion.

Perhaps the sheer intensity of their conversation had already drawn numerous students to covertly turn their heads, their gazes a curious blend of oddity and ambiguity.

Yalin offered a few sheepish chuckles.

“Forgive me, but I’m afraid I didn’t quite grasp your meaning. What, precisely, does ‘take responsibility’ entail?”

No sooner had the words left his lips than he felt several murderous gazes sweep over him.

Unquestionably, they emanated solely from the surrounding girls.

‘It seemed he had been utterly branded as some heartless scoundrel who had seduced and then abandoned them… What a profound misunderstanding!’

Feigning ignorance, Yalin maintained his smile and continued, “Might Miss Lumi elaborate further?”

Lumi pondered for a moment before once more unfastening the rapier from her waist and laying it upon the tabletop.

“Enchant it again.”

Upon seeing the somewhat dulled magic crystal embedded in the hilt, Yalin instantly grasped her unspoken request.

He had, in fact, previously assisted Lumi with weapon enchantment; however, his skills at the time were rudimentary, allowing him only to barely complete the most fundamental of magical circuits.

In essence, the magic sword was merely a half-finished product; while functional, its capabilities were severely restricted, and wielding it for spellcasting proved far more arduous.

It was truly remarkable that she had managed to use it consistently until this very moment.

Yet, one particular point eluded Yalin’s comprehension.

“Miss Lumi, why does it absolutely have to be me who performs the enchantment?”

After all, numerous professional enchanters could be found both within and beyond the academy’s walls.

Entrusting it to them would undoubtedly yield superior results compared to his own amateur efforts.

Lumi did not respond immediately, instead merely caressing the sword’s blade with her slender fingers.

A faint, rare glimmer flickered within her usually vacant eyes.

“Someone once told me that for a magic swordsman, their magic sword is akin to another life—not merely a weapon, but an intrinsic part of themselves.”

Her voice remained uninflected, yet it carried an inexplicable undercurrent of conviction.

“Therefore, I am unwilling to simply choose any individual to enchant my sword… Even if the outcome isn’t flawless, what matters most is that the enchanter pours every ounce of their dedication into it.”

“I see,” Yalin acknowledged with a nod.

To put it simply, Lumi was an incredibly stubborn traditionalist, much like those antiquated figures of old who perpetually espoused chivalric ideals.

And perhaps, she even possessed a strong sense of spiritual fastidiousness.

An ordinary enchanter, completing dozens of sword enchantments daily, operates akin to an assembly line; thus, they would naturally not afford Lumi’s sword any special consideration.

‘Was that, then, why she had sought him out?’

‘Most likely, her decision stemmed from observing him constantly immersed in the library during that period.’

To be frank, enchanting itself was not particularly arduous; at least at Yalin’s current proficiency, the ultimate result would hardly be inferior to that achieved by professional enchanters.

The process, however, was considerably intricate, and the material consumption quite substantial, rendering it highly impractical from both a temporal and financial standpoint.

Lumi, of course, would most likely remain unconcerned by such trivialities.

“Regarding payment, I possess the means. Are you amenable?”

“If it is merely an enchantment, then, of course, there is no issue.”

Yalin assented with a nod.

“Understood.”

Lumi retrieved the rapier from the table.

At that moment, their ordered meals arrived; Yalin’s was a foundational steak set, while Lumi’s consisted of a certain fish dish paired with caviar.

Though a seemingly small plate, its exquisite presentation instantly betrayed its considerable cost.

‘He wondered if such a small portion would satisfy her hunger… but given her stature, it likely wouldn’t be an issue.’

Yalin cut a morsel of steak with his fork and brought it to his mouth. It was then that a sudden realization struck him: the sheer number of gazes directed their way was, perhaps, a little excessive.

Furthermore, these gazes were accompanied by a growing murmur of whispers.

“Look, isn’t that Luminas sitting there?”

“It’s really her! She’s tiny, just like the legends say!”

“She’s the top student in her year? You really can’t tell…”

“Is the one sitting next to her her boyfriend? No way, I’ve never even seen her talk…”

‘Luminas?’

Yalin’s brow furrowed involuntarily; the name sounded vaguely familiar, as if he had encountered it somewhere before…

“What’s wrong?”

Noticing Yalin’s unusual demeanor, Lumi inquired after daintily swallowing a piece of fish.

“Nothing, it’s merely… I apologize if this causes offense, but is your name truly Lumi?”

For a fleeting moment, Lumi’s gaze flickered.

Evidently, the surrounding whispers had also reached her ears.

“In truth, that is merely a shortened appellation,” she clarified.

“Luminas Tingel, that is my true name.”

Clang.

The fork in Yalin’s hand clattered against his plate, emitting a sharp, resonant sound.

If before the name had merely struck him as vaguely familiar, now, he was absolutely, unequivocally certain.

Luminas Tingel.

Unquestionably, she was one of the central protagonists in the original narrative, a figure who, alongside Celeste and Liyang, formed the revered ‘Three Great Houses’!

Furthermore, she was the very woman who, during the climactic final battle, had mercilessly dismembered him with her incisive swordsmanship!

A cold sweat beaded on Yalin’s forehead.

‘How could this be? Only now did the profound magnitude of his error truly dawn upon him.’

All this time, Yalin had assiduously endeavored to avoid any contact with the protagonist group, yet he had never once anticipated that the first among them he would encounter would be Luminas, the one who appeared latest in the narrative.

Crucially, he had not even remotely perceived her true identity.

Luminas’s use of an assumed name was certainly a contributing factor, yet the principal reason lay in her utterly preposterous combat prowess within the original story.

Upon her initial appearance, she had been capable of fighting Celeste to a standstill, and later, she had even effortlessly pinned his demon-transformed self to the ground, grinding him into submission.

This formidable individual—Yalin found it utterly impossible to reconcile her with the petite girl before him, who had been cornered by three burly men and dared not utter a single sound.

As he recalled the vivid depiction of that battle from the original narrative, a shiver ran down Yalin’s spine, and his complexion paled noticeably.

He remembered it with startling clarity: during the evening gala of the school festival, members of the Abyssal Church had abruptly breached the academy’s defenses, and he himself had inexplicably been transformed into the incarnation of an evil god.

Yet, before he could even unleash a proper rampage, these three unscrupulous young individuals had ambushed him, this ‘little comrade.’

Celeste had served as the damage dealer, Liyang the crowd controller, and Luminas the burst damage specialist. Yalin, unable to even utter a few defiant words, had been immediately beaten to his knees, pleading for mercy by the protagonist group—a truly undignified display for a villain.

By the end, his strength utterly depleted, he lay paralyzed on the ground, incapable of even crawling. Yet, even in that state, he could not escape the grim fate of torment.

Even though he was utterly incapacitated, his potent self-healing abilities rendered ordinary attacks incapable of slaying him. Thus, Luminas had assumed the role of a tormentor, mercilessly hacking him into mincemeat, again and again.

Perhaps it was the author’s morbid sense of humor, or perhaps he had simply incurred too much animosity, needing to provide a final surge of emotional catharsis before his demise. Regardless, the original narrative vividly depicted Yalin’s harrowing plight: continuously hacked, his wounds perpetually reknitting, trapped in a wretched state where he could neither live nor die.

The sheer brutality of the scene was such that even Celeste found it unbearable to witness.

While Yalin was far from a virtuous individual, he hardly deserved such inhuman torment. It was only then that Celeste, resolving herself, unleashed a devastating elemental spell, obliterating him into dust and granting him a final release.

‘Indeed, he ought to have thanked her for it.’

Yalin’s gaze drifted once more to the rapier tucked into Luminas’s waist, and he swallowed hard.

‘In other words, he was currently crafting a weapon for this malevolent woman, the very one who would eventually carve him into mincemeat?’

‘Well, isn’t this a fine predicament? I’m essentially forging the instrument of my own demise.’