Chapter 35: Punishment for oneself (1)

“I won’t say it again.”

“We won’t say it again either, Yukomis.”

The time was midnight.

A group of people, a mix of elves and humans, were blocking Yukomis’ path.

Yukomis had been relentlessly tracking the traces left by Gallar even after the sun had set.

Facing the night in the harsh northern forest without preparation was inherently reckless.

However, Yukomis wasn’t worried.

Because she had felt several gazes following her from the middle.

The speed with which they walked alongside Yukomis on horseback, hardly making a sound.

Needless to say, it was the elves, and it also meant that Yukomis was tracking in the right direction.

An average person wouldn’t have even noticed.

But Yukomis was not that ‘average person.’

When the gazes soon became presences, and she discovered several figures between the trees, she had already realized that she was surrounded. At the same time as she heard the words “Don’t move” from above the trees, warning shots were fired.

Soon, soldiers appeared from between the trees from all directions.

Numerous elves were glaring at Yukomis with angry eyes.

‘Three elf mages. I can feel it. I don’t know the exact number of the rest, but they’ll all be holding bows… They’ll be sharpshooters. The human soldiers… With this number, they’re threatening enough.’

The situation was not good after all. Everything was as expected.

They must have all been won over by Manya.

They were all showing Yukomis blatant hostility.

However, they were unable to attack rashly after seeing the vast amount of mana swirling around Yukomis’ feet.

A touch-and-go confrontation.

Yukomis habitually began to think of a coping strategy.

‘Disrupt the bow aiming with the fastest-casting atmospheric shock, while preventing close combat, block subsequent projectiles with tectonic shift, and then check them with magic bullets.’

‘Or, block their vision with Diel’s Nether Mist, block the mages’ spellcasting with Sizix’s Sanctification of the Zone…’

Yukomis’ specialty was simultaneous spellcasting.

Because she could quickly switch between two or three thoughts at once, she could process the concentration and calculations required for spellcasting at a speed that others couldn’t imitate.

In addition, befitting her unmatched mana capacity, the speed at which she absorbed and expelled mana was also much faster.

All of these qualities reinforced each other.

Without chanting, skipping several stages of preparation, the spells that finished their groundwork quickly would fly towards the enemies, with only a few seconds difference in timing.

Rather than relying on large and destructive magic, she preferred to support her allies by casting small but effective magic in succession.

‘……I can’t do that anymore, can I…?

It was all a story of the past.

The theory was still perfectly in place in her head.

However, whenever Yukomis tried to cast magic in that way,

her breath caught in her throat as if there was a huge hole in her thoughts, and she couldn’t concentrate her mana.

It was as if she was trying to grasp water with her fist, and her mana was scattering in all directions.

It was like that for all but a few of the spells she was most familiar with.

People often called that ‘losing one’s power.’

When a mage lived for a very long time, they often had problems with using magic like that in their later years. The church said this was ‘being abandoned by Providence,’ and the academy saw it as an ‘incurable disease of unknown cause.’

Whatever it was… Yukomis had not been able to use magic the same way since the day her sister died. The high magic and great magic that she knew were impossible for her to recast with her own hands.

“Give back that child. Whatever you’re thinking, she has nothing to do with Thermis.” “That’s a lie!”

As soon as Yukomis finished speaking, the elf mage standing behind her pointed at Yukomis.

“You’re a liar! I’m on my way back from seeing her just now. She looked exactly the same!”

“You’re on your way back from seeing her just now?”

Yukomis smiled slightly.

“That means your base is nearby after all? Looks like I came to the right place.”

“Are you just blindly believing that she’s the same person because she looks a little similar? I thought you elves were smarter than this.” “That kind of wordplay…!”

“You don’t seem to know, but humans also have people who look quite similar to each other. Even then, she’s only twelve years old. What are you so sure about?”

She was sneering like that in words, but Yukomis knew.

Once you were captivated by that appearance, you had no choice but to believe it.

Even she, who knew countless pieces of clear evidence that it wasn’t, was beginning to equate the two.

Another voice came from the darkness in front.

“You’re a liar! Yukomis!”

“This voice is… Bena?”

“I heard everything you did! If you say that someone like you isn’t a liar, that means it’s the truth!”

“What lie did I tell?”

“How can you be so shameless!”

The voice of the female elf called Bena swallowed deeply.

“I’m talking about the dirty magic you cast that was eating away at Thermis’ body!!”

As soon as she heard those words, Yukomis’ expression froze coldly.

However, it wasn’t because of anger or hostility.

‘As I thought… Did she hear that from Manya?’

That was because what Bena said was true.

As if those words had physically pierced her chest, she was nailed to the spot and couldn’t move.

“The rumor that you’re a torture witch wasn’t just circulating for no reason! How could you do such a terrible thing to your own sister!”

‘No, it’s not like that.’

“Was Thermis just a disposable item to you? An existence to be used and discarded?”

‘I didn’t know either.’

That it would be such a magic.

That it would be such a painful and terrible magic, she didn’t know at the time.

Such words could not come out of Yukomis’ mouth.

Healing magic was magic that Yukomis had created herself.

In a field of magic that had only been born a few years ago, there was no way that long-term clinical results,

specific data, or unknown variables to be aware of would be meticulously compiled.

The magic called ‘Forced Healing,’ or ‘Permanent Regeneration,’ was the pinnacle of healing magic.

Magic that one caster could only cast on one person.

It was a complex magic.

Several principles were not fully explained.

She didn’t even know why it could only be used on one person.

However, the remaining hypotheses and theories that Yukomis had established had always worked well,

and at that time, she trusted her magic as much as she trusted herself.

Above all… There was no time to be as skeptical about everything as usual.

It was all unavoidable. It couldn’t be helped.

‘I didn’t know.’

‘There wasn’t any time.’

Yukomis knew.

How could she change the hearts of others with words that even she couldn’t convince herself of?

It couldn’t be an excuse.

Above all, she didn’t want to say that.

‘I used magic that I didn’t even know what it was on the most precious person.’

In the end, that’s all it would be.

‘It was all unavoidable that I tortured and killed my sister.’

‘So, forgive me.’

It was a disgusting and cowardly thought that Yukomis couldn’t even bring herself to say.

She couldn’t run away like that.

“Say something if you have a mouth!”

“Make an excuse! Try to convince us!”

The opponent, unable to contain their anger, puffed and panted.

“You’re really mean. I used to respect you, thinking you were protecting her! I thought you were cool! I was even jealous of your sisterly relationship!”

All the other surrounding elves nodded slightly as they listened to her outpouring.

“…Last warning.”

Bena was almost growling.

“Leave this place right now. Give up everything and go away. If I could, I’d give you a taste of the pain that she experienced right now, but…”

“We’re sparing you because you’re her sister, even though you’re trash. And it’s also true that you fought for us once… This is the only time.”

Even as she said that, Bena hoped that Yukomis would say something.

In her heart, she wanted Yukomis to explain at least some of the accusations she was making.

If Yukomis sincerely appealed and asked for forgiveness, maybe she could change her mind a little.

Manya’s words are a lie. The truth is this. There was an unavoidable reason.

Thermis was betrayed by her younger sister,

Silissa defiled her purity and was in cahoots with that younger sister…

She wanted to hear a brighter story, easier to accept than such a cruel story.

The excuse that Yukomis had resolved to never make,

Bena wanted to hear it more than anyone else in this place.

“Swear that you will no longer humiliate her… And leave this place. Don’t ever come back.”

However, Yukomis stood motionless in that place, only listening to Bena’s accusations.

“You’re right.”

Yukomis, who had been hesitating, finally smiled.

To Bena, her smile seemed despicable and sinister.

“To me, my sister was just a tool to make me stand out.”

“…You…!”

“It was really unpleasant that my sister, who couldn’t even use magic, was getting attention when I was such a perfect talent.”

Bena shuddered at the abusive language that Yukomis was spewing out.

“Silissa’s the same way. It was really pretentious and annoying that she was constantly pretending to care about my sister.” “What…?”

“Don’t you think she has no eye for people? Why was she supporting my sister instead of me?”

“Weren’t you in cahoots with Silissa?”

“In cahoots? Would you not say something like that even as a joke? That I and that fool are in cahoots?”

“…Such…”

“Why? Didn’t you guys also hate Silissa, think she was stupid, and kick her out of that stupid ‘religious play’? Now you’re saying that you’re offended that she’s being insulted?”

Ha.

The corners of Yukomis’ mouth twisted upwards.

“Then it’s a pity. Because I already killed Silissa.”

Bena’s pupils began to shake wildly at that declaration.

“Killed…? Really?”

“You bumpkins don’t seem to know what the concept of the rule of law is, but now I’m a pretty high-ranking person. Judging heretics like Silissa has become my new job in the forest.”

“You didn’t really need to kill her!”

Bena shouted.

“Silissa was your comrade!!!”

“How foolish.”

Yukomis’ mouth slowly opened.

And she deliberately said words that the elves would never tolerate.

“My sister was my comrade too.”

The effect of that provocation was very sufficient.

“Shut that mouth!!!!”

A voice other than Bena’s shouted.

An arrow flew from behind the blind spot and pierced Yukomis’ shoulder.

“…Kugh…!”

Terrible pain surged up, but this much was okay.

It was something she had already prepared for. Yukomis maintained her concentration.

‘It’s almost done now…?

Kneeling on the ground, she instantly brought the mana at her feet, which she was still maintaining, into her body.

“Come in the form of fire… Flow of magic. Oh, only the one who swallows endlessly, the one who is forever hungry…”

“She’s using magic! Stop her!”

Someone who noticed her chanting a spell fired another arrow.

But even as arrows flew and pierced around her, Yukomis never wavered her concentration.

And she slowly, faithfully recited the spell that she wouldn’t have even needed to say in the past.

“The fire of fear is the judge, our desirable master… Your servant here prostrates himself and craves a portion of your authority…”

A huge pillar of fire rose around Yukomis and began to soar into the sky.

The fire that spread in an instant melted all the snow around her.

It was a simple pillar of fire magic, but it was forcibly increased in scale by inefficiently cramming in mana.

In the past, she herself would have scoffed at it as a sloppy casting, but…

For the fallen her, this was the limit.

The three elf mages didn’t just watch Yukomis’ magic.

Before the fire grew any larger, the snow around them flowed like living creatures and merged, rushing towards the pillar of fire.

The first mage. Probably Bena.

In the moment when the firepower subsided, a black magic projectile flew towards Yukomis.

As soon as she was hit by it, Yukomis’ vision turned pitch black.

The second mage.

With the feeling that the air was tightly packed and hitting her head and back like a hammer,

Yukomis unseemly planted her face on the ground.

The third mage…

“Ahk…”

“Now’s the time! Capture her, everyone!”

No matter how much it was her, she could no longer maintain her concentration.

The mana that had gathered around her scattered without a trace, and she was firmly bound by the soldiers who rushed in in an instant.

Handcuffs, auras, earplugs, a blindfold…

The procedure to block all the senses of the spellcaster.

“Ugh… Up…”

Right before the gag was put in last, someone forced her to swallow several pills into her throat.

It was probably a drug to block concentration and make her mind hazy.

It was all familiar to her.

It was a procedure that Yukomis knew and sometimes performed herself.

And… It was all something she had already prepared herself for.

Someone roughly pulled her, and Yukomis’ pierced shoulder ached as if she was going to pass out.

However, not even a groan could leak out beyond the tightly clamped gag.

“…You brought this on yourself, Yukomis.”

Bena said to Yukomis’ ear in a voice with gritted teeth.

She didn’t know if the other party could even hear it now.