"Dead?" thought the girl in the witch hat, frowning, her wand tapping rhythmically against her temple. She sighed in frustration, because what an utter waste.
A whole month spent on this boy, and for what? School had already dismissed for the semester yet she remained behind, tethered to unfinished business with the young man who now looked very much dead.
His entire body was charred beyond recognition, and it was only thanks to a high-grade healing potion and a mid-tier restoration spell that he'd survived the last fourteen days, but now it was over and she'd gained nothing, not even confirmation of whether the person who sent him was a high-ranking agent of the Academy as she'd long suspected. He was maddening, infuriating beyond words.
She'd tried every method of torture she knew, testing and experimenting and pushing every boundary she had, and she'd even used her blessing on him despite him being unawakened.
Everyone in this world was born with the ability to absorb atmospheric ether, even the unawakened had that much, but without awakening ether couldn't be used, only felt, and the ether channels and internal pool remained sealed and completely untouchable. That was why her Helix Curse had affected him with a hundredfold potency, because he had no magical resistance and his body couldn't form one since the only path to resistance was locked away behind a door he'd never opened. And yet even with all of that he'd never screamed, not once.
At one point she'd wondered if he'd lost his voice, and then she'd shrugged it off.
She threw her hat across the room in irritation. He seemed dead, wasn't breathing, his body completely frozen, but she still felt something, because his body was still absorbing ether and that wasn't possible unless he wasn't completely dead, which meant his heart was still beating, but if that was the case then how was he no longer breathing?
She clicked her tongue, folded her arms, and took a deep breath.
"Fine, die already," she muttered, extending her arm with her wand gripped tight.
Her ether flared.
"Flames of Ephenia," she whispered, her voice low and trembling, "incinerate."
In the next instant a torrent of fire engulfed the suspended body before her, and the sound of bones cracking echoed through the chamber, the unmistakable result of immense heat and pressure.
He was finally gone.
Ding.
[User has now completed path] [User's status: processing] [User's status: processed] [User's status: Dead] [Ding] [User's current memories will now be erased] [User's soul will now be extracted and…&())@&] [Error] [User's status: Dead] [User's status: D$%^&(] [User's status: Alive] [Error] [User's status: Dead%^&()] [User's status: Alive] [User's status: Dead] [System has detected errors repeatedly] [Analyzing cause...] Ding! [There seems to be an interference, something is keeping the user alive] [System will now resort to alternatives to counter anomaly] [User's organs will now self-destruct to—] [Error!] [System breach detected] [Error] [System cannot stop external influence] [Error] [System will now @#$%^&()(&^] Ding. [User has been blessed]
"WHAT?!" Anna screamed in shock as the flames were abruptly extinguished.
Something was wrong, and every instinct she had was screaming one thing, run, but she didn't, because she couldn't leave without confirming he was truly dead.
"Luciphera's Blessing, Fifth Form: Absolute Control," she muttered, and instantly the atmosphere turned glacial as a massive shard of ice manifested midair.
Pummm!
It shot straight toward the young man's chest.
"Haaah, haaah, haaah," she panted, sweat dripping from her brow, her limbs trembling under the weight of near-total ether depletion. "Damn, that took a lot of ether," she groaned through clenched teeth. "That should take him out, right?"
The fog faded.
Then she saw it, a palm, right over her eyes.
BAM.
Darkness.
[It has been detected that user moves at will] [Sentience still trapped within the realms of the subconscious] [System settings are being altered] [Extra's system>>>>>> Rebel's system] [The dark one smiles at you]