Chapter 248: Thousands of Paths, All Dead Ends
"Besides, no one was injured, were they?"
Looking at Serie's defiant, unreasonable attitude, Rhodes felt a nameless fire rush straight to his head.
He took a deep breath, trying hard to suppress the anger rising within him.
"No one was injured?" Rhodes's voice was dangerously low. "Serie, do you realize that if I had been half a second slower, you would not be looking at an apprentice collapsed on the ground? You would be looking at a crater where not even a corpse remained!"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became. Unable to restrain himself, he curled his finger and, just as he had done to Flamme, delivered a sharp, heavy flick to Serie's smooth, porcelain forehead.
Thwack!
The sound was crisp. It was a good hit.
Serie had not expected Rhodes to physically strike her.
She covered the spot on her forehead with her hands. Her golden eyes widened, filled with disbelief and a very faint trace of grievance.
In all the long years of her existence, who had ever dared to treat her like this?
This man was truly too arrogant!
"You..." Serie was so indignant she stuttered.
"You what?" Rhodes interrupted her without mercy. "You two... master and apprentice... just because you are fighting over a man, you decided to bombard each other with Forbidden Magic? You intended to fight to the death? You have utterly disgraced the title of Mage!!!"
"Fighting... fighting over a man?"
Serie choked on the crude, blunt phrasing. A flush rose on her pale cheeks—whether from anger or shame was unclear.
"What nonsense are you spouting! I was merely... merely responding to my apprentice's challenge!"
"Responding to a challenge requires exchanging Forbidden Spells?" Rhodes looked like he might pass out from the sheer absurdity of her logic. "With your ability, did you really need to use Lichtfresser to defeat Flamme?"
He pointed an accusing finger. "You should have been able to see the flaws in Flamme's magic. Although powerful, it was not a complete spell. The energy dissipation was severe. A high-ranking defense spell would have been more than sufficient."
"But you let the blood rush to your head. You decided to use a Forbidden Spell on your own apprentice."
Rhodes's words struck home, each one reasonable and irrefutable. Serie felt a little dazed.
She opened her mouth to argue, but found she couldn't find a single tenable excuse.
She truly hadn't thought that much at the moment.
She had simply been provoked by Flamme's Fusion Magic, her dormant battle spirit roused. And, perhaps, driven by that initial, dark impulse to twist off the head of the audacious apprentice who dared to lay a hand on the person most important to her.
She had indeed harbored killing intent toward Flamme. That was indisputable.
And Rhodes, naturally, had sensed it.
"Who asked her to be so reckless..." she muttered subconsciously, her voice much quieter than usual. "Trying to... trying to snatch..."
She couldn't bring herself to say the last few words. But her eyes, which kept darting toward Rhodes, and her slightly puffed cheeks exposed her thoughts completely.
Seeing her looking almost like a sulking child, the fire in Rhodes's heart inexplicably died down by half. It was replaced by self-reproach for allowing things to escalate to this point.
Without a second of hesitation, he raised his fist and punched himself hard in the face.
Smack.
Serie: "!!!"
"What are you doing!?"
Rhodes's movement was too fast for her to stop. It wasn't until blood trickled from the corner of the man's mouth that she cried out.
"I also bear responsibility," Rhodes answered flatly.
If he hadn't been soft-hearted at the start, if he had firmly rejected Flamme's feelings, or if he had stopped the spar the moment it began, none of this would have happened.
"It clearly has nothing to do with you," Serie whispered.
Watching the bright red blood stain his lip, the petty grievance she felt from the forehead flick vanished instantly, replaced by a pang of heartache.
"It is relevant!" Rhodes nodded heavily, his tone thick with self-mockery. "Because I am the calamity—the troublemaker—who caused a legendary master and apprentice to come to blows, nearly razing this forest to the ground."
Serie glanced at him but said nothing more.
"Serie, do not do this again." A thousand words eventually condensed into a single instruction.
Serie looked at him for a moment, her eyes lingering on the blood at the corner of his mouth. Finally, she lowered her head.
"Mn."
It seemed she had accepted the lecture.
Seeing his goal achieved, Rhodes let out a sigh of relief. He turned, intending to check on Ela and Frieren.
He wondered where those two had run off to.
Ela was sharp; seeing the battle escalate, she had dragged Frieren far away. They were currently nowhere in sight.
However, just as he took a step, he felt a tug on the hem of his clothes.
Rhodes paused and looked back in confusion.
Serie stood there, head slightly bowed. Her long golden hair fell forward, obscuring most of her face and hiding her expression.
But her hand was gripping the corner of his tunic tightly. There was no sign that she intended to let go.
The air was silent for a few seconds.
Then, a voice—extremely stubborn, yet carrying a barely perceptible trace of vulnerability—drifted up.
"You are mine."
Three simple words. Spoken out of nowhere, yet with extraordinary seriousness.
This was her final response to Flamme's behavior earlier. It was her most direct declaration of ownership, and a glimpse into her deepest emotions.
Rhodes froze.
Looking at the usually cold and aloof Great Mage now displaying such a clumsy, almost childish declaration of love, something inside him shifted.
He remained silent for a moment. Then, he did something Serie did not expect.
He spun around, reached out, and pulled Serie tightly into his arms.
"Mmph!" Caught off guard, Serie crashed into his warm chest, her body stiffening.
Subconsciously, she wanted to struggle, to push against his chest.
But she couldn't push him away.
Then Rhodes lowered his head and, without explanation, kissed her lips.
This was not an accident like before. It was a kiss in the truest sense.
It carried an unquestionable dominance, and a desire that had been suppressed for a long time.
Serie's initial protest and struggle gradually grew weak under the envelope of his familiar scent.
Her hands slowly lost their strength, eventually dropping to her sides before unconsciously clutching the fabric of his shirt on his chest.
Not far away, Flamme watched this scene quietly.
The heartbreak and breakdown she had imagined did not come.
Instead, her heart was strangely calm. Calm to a terrifying degree.
She watched the two embracing figures. She saw Master Serie's almost submissive posture and the tenderness in Master Rhodes's eyes.
Everything was so clear. So... fitting.
Right now, she had no chance.
Whether it was the clear boundary in Rhodes's heart or the insurmountable lifespan theory that lay between them, reality stood like a cold wall, shutting out her fervent but immature love.
She knew that her feelings were destined to receive no answer in this moment. Destined to fail.
But...
Flamme slowly lowered her head, her red hair falling to cover the emotions churning in her eyes.
It doesn't matter.
She could wait.
She could try.
She could try to find that path—a path that might allow her to possess a long life like Master Serie, to truly stay by Master Rhodes's side for eternity.
There might be thousands of paths. Even if every single one ahead was a dead end. Even if it was arduous, even if the chances were slim, even if such a thing did not exist at all.
The attempt itself would become her new anchor. It would become the most powerful driving force for her future on the path of magic.
And for now, she would return to the identity of an apprentice.
She would simply wait.
She, Flamme, was still young. She had plenty of time, and plenty of determination.
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