Although not comparable to Leonard’s original body, Maximilian is also a top-tier magician in the magic world. With Craig’s current body, which was no different from that of an ordinary person, he could not match him.

Unlike Leonard, who was struggling to defend, Maximilian was attacking while yawning as if bored.

“I’ll give you credit for that. But now it’s getting boring, so let’s end this.”

At that moment, Leonard quickly reached for the pouch tied to his left waist.

Maximilian immediately pressed down with his magical power. It was a battle of strength between magicians.

Leonard also tried to break free using his magical power, but when their powers directly clashed, he was no match.

“Kuk.”

Maximilian snatched the pouch in one swift motion and checked the sacred object inside.

“Relying on this petty sacred object. Brother, you’ve really hit rock bottom. Let’s see. Tears of the Saint and Red Dragon’s Breath. Where did you even get these?”

“Give it back!”

Leonard desperately reached out. Maximilian easily avoided him. Then, as if taunting him, he dangled the pouch string on his finger and twirled it right in front of Leonard’s face.

“To think my brother has become so weak and pathetic. It’s almost too pitiful to watch alone.”

“I won’t let you get away with this, Maximilian!”

“You won’t let me get away with it? What can you possibly do?”

“You, gah!”

As Maximilian clenched his fist, Leonard’s arms were bound by invisible strings. He smiled mockingly at his brother.

“Tell me. What can you do in this state?”

“You son of a…”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re alive. To think I get to end your life twice.”

Leonard twisted his body, trying to break free from Maximilian’s grasp. Of course, his resistance had no effect on Maximilian.

“Kuk, why are you trying to kill me twice? Are you that greedy for the position of family head?”

“No. Not really. Atilei isn’t even important to me.”

“Then why?”

Leonard frowned in pain as the grip on his wrists tightened, struggling helplessly. He also looked anguished, as if unable to believe his brother’s second betrayal.

“Why, you ask? Well. Just because. If I had to give a reason, it’s because you’re annoying?”

“No reason at all? At least say you coveted the power I had. Or that you couldn’t stand your jealousy.”

“Haha. Do I need a reason to betray you, brother? That’s unlike you. Since when did you care about such things?”

“I at least want to know if you’re a beast or a human.”

“Well, think whatever makes you comfortable. Do you want to die by a beast or a human?”

He laughed, holding his stomach, apparently thinking his answer was quite witty.

Taking advantage of the loosened atmosphere, Leonard finally shook off one of his tightly bound hands and reached for the sacred object pouch that Maximilian had taken.

However, as if anticipating even this, Maximilian protected the pouch by a hair’s breadth.

“Ah, right. I almost forgot about this.”

“Wait, no!”

Leonard shouted urgently.

Maximilian deliberately took out the two sacred objects in front of Leonard, placed them on his tongue, and chewed leisurely.

A powerful magical energy burst forth and then seeped into Maximilian’s body. Perhaps because he absorbed two at once, his heart beat faster than usual and his head felt feverish.

“Haha. I’m really glad you came back to life. Last time, you died too quickly, and it was disappointing.”

“……”

“Why so quiet? Have you given up completely now?”

Seeing that both sacred objects had been taken by Maximilian, Leonard spoke.

“You’ve eaten them all?”

“Gah!”

At that moment, Maximilian vomited black blood clots. The heat that had warmed his head soon became a scorching fire in his internal organs. He doubled over in pain, collapsing to the ground.

Leonard looked down at Maximilian’s head and sneered.

“Max. I’ve always told you. You shouldn’t carelessly eat things given by others. You’re always so greedy.”

“The sacred objects… Kuk, you deliberately caused a magical power surge…”

It was an unfamiliar yet all too familiar pain.

A magical power surge.

It was also what magicians feared most.

Maximilian’s eyes had already turned bloodshot. He glared at Leonard while tearing at the weeds with his hands.

“I was worried you wouldn’t follow me this far. I’m glad you did.”

“You mean you deliberately lured me here!”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know about the note you deliberately left for Beluce about closing the laboratory? You came rushing when my disciple appeared, didn’t you? You fool.”

The situation had reversed in an instant. Maximilian squeezed his burning chest and exhaled roughly.

“Even, even if you kill me, you can never become the head of Atilei. You can’t use soul transfer magic with your magical power anyway.”

“That’s right.”

Leonard smiled with utmost sincerity. Then he lowered himself to meet Maximilian’s eye level.

“That’s why I fed you the sacred objects and caused your magical power to surge. I needed a medium.”

“You…!”

For the first time, Maximilian’s face crumbled. He seemed to finally realize what Leonard was trying to do.

“My disciple said this. Death is a merciful act.”

“Argh!”

As Leonard began to extract magical power in earnest, Maximilian thrashed in agony.

“He’s right. Sometimes, life can be more painful than death.”

A rare, sincere smile spread across Leonard’s face.

“I’ll gift you the most painful life, Maximilian.”

* * *

“Lady Cordelia!”

Finding someone in a forest as vast as the ocean is not easy. Baron called out her name loudly as he searched around. Aside from a few small magical beasts that got in the way, there was no sign of life.

As time passed, worry took over. He didn’t know how she ended up in this forest, but this was a place Cordelia could never survive alone.

“…ron?”

“Lady Cordelia! Where are you?”

A faint human voice was heard from somewhere. Baron used magic to amplify his hearing and vision.

With the magic, he could clearly hear Cordelia’s voice. He immediately ran to where she might be without hesitation.

As he got closer, the smell of blood intensified. Baron became anxious.

“Lady Cordelia, are you sa— Oh no.”

A horrific scene unfolded in the clearing he reached through the forest. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

More than ten magical beasts lay strewn on the ground, cruelly mauled. Cordelia stood among them, greeting Baron with her entire body drenched red as if she had bathed in blood.

“Baron!”

“My goodness, what on earth happened?”

“Ah, well…”

“Why is Beluce lying there like that? Don’t tell me he dealt with all these magical beasts alone?”

“No. Someone else, no. Something else did it. First, please look at Beluce. He’s lost a lot of blood.”

Cordelia pulled Baron to where Beluce had collapsed.

Baron carefully examined Beluce’s condition, then took out a vial of medicine from his chest and poured it into Beluce’s mouth. He also muttered a short spell, and Beluce’s complexion, who had been half-collapsed, visibly improved.

“How is he? Is he alright?”

“As you said, Lady Cordelia, he has lost some blood, but he’s not the kind of man to die from just this.”

There was a strange certainty in Baron’s words that allowed Cordelia to breathe a sigh of relief.

“How about you, Lady Cordelia?”

“Ah, I’m fine. This blood is just from the magical beasts that I got covered in.”

“That’s a relief. But if it wasn’t Beluce, how did you manage to kill all these magical beasts?”

“Well. So, this is how it happened.”

Cordelia began to explain the miraculous event that had happened to them just a few dozen minutes ago.

* * *

“Huff.”

They were lucky. There was no other word to describe it.

Beluce and Cordelia caught their breath after taking down the first magical beast that had lunged at them. However, it seemed their luck had run out there.

Beluce’s face turned pale. He lost strength in his legs and collapsed, a pool of blood forming where he sat. Cordelia approached Beluce, trembling.

“Beluce!”

“Run away… while you can.”

He writhed in pain, letting out agonized groans.

Tears blurred her vision. Cordelia bit her lip hard and looked down at her bracelet.

“I, I…”

It can’t be helped. It’s not about abandoning Beluce and running away, it’s an unavoidable situation. This is a very rational decision. Anyone would have to make this choice.

Cordelia kept muttering excuses to herself. Otherwise, she couldn’t bear how cowardly she felt, leaving Beluce behind to die while she escaped.

Kwaaak!

The pack of magical beasts that had been quietly watching for an opening suddenly charged all at once. Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut and moved her lips to call out “Leonard.”

That’s when it happened.

Out of nowhere, a thin gray dog leaped and collided with the body of a magical beast. In theory, the small dog should have been flung back, but surprisingly, the magical beasts let out long groans and tumbled backward.

“Lo, Loty?”

She rubbed her eyes. She thought she might be seeing things out of fear. But no matter how many times she blinked, the Loty she knew stood firmly on four legs.