The Returnee Wants Peace

It was truly like a mouse in front of a cat.

Seeing the spectacle, Cassis tightly grabbed Rosha’s hand. His palm was sweaty, perhaps due to the tension.

-We should fall back.

Conveying his thoughts through mouth gestures, he placed his hand on the sword hilt and pulled her back. It was a wise choice as it was impossible to rescue the uncle here.

Rosha nodded obediently. They had to retreat, at least for Cassis’ sake.

‘It’s just that demonic beast, but it would be bad if something happened to Cassis.’

Although weaker compared to monsters appearing in later trials, with no stamina nor magic, facing it while protecting Cassis was a tough task.

She might as well leave him in a safe place and come back.

If something were to happen to Cassis here… she would regret this venture to the rift for the rest of her life.

But at that moment.

“Uh!”

She hadn’t expected the cornered uncle to recognize her with superhuman strength.

“Help, help me! Hurry!!”

The uncle, whose eyes met hers, screamed as if his throat would burst. Furthermore, he started crawling toward them with trembling legs.

Naturally, the demonic beast’s attention was also directed towards them.

Grrr-

The beast’s eyes, having found new prey, gleamed maliciously.

Almost simultaneously, Cassis drew his sword and stood in front of Rosha, and the demonic beast leaped towards them.

“Oh no!”

A myriad of thoughts crossed her mind in an instant. But it was clear that Cassis wouldn’t stand a chance against that demonic beast.

Facing the worst possible situation, Rosha hurriedly shouted:

“Don’t fight, avoid it!”

“What?!”

There was no time to respond.

As soon as she confirmed that Cassis dodged reflexively, she used [The Guiding Lantern] she had been saving and sprinted forward.

Her legs, adapted to running through continuous stamina training, moved without a hitch as if it was for this moment.

“Hey, if you run towards that…!”

Of course, contrary to what Cassis said, she wasn’t trying to escape alone.

‘I can’t be of any help in this state.’

Rosha thought coldly. A mage without the minimum magic or stamina is useless.

Whoosh-

The clear light of the lantern guiding through the darkness led her to the shortest path.

Her destination was the rift in the middle of the clearing.

“Ah, the scent of refreshing magic is enough to wake me up!”

Seeing Koko, who had been sleeping in her pocket until now, jump out with a flutter, she plunged her hand into the black rift without hesitation.

A power to change the world.

Pure magic, devoid of impurities, surged into her fingertips like a waterfall.

“Ugh…”

Veins bulged on the back of her hand, her blood boiled, and her body heated up rapidly. It felt like her blocked blood vessels were bursting open, she bit her lip hard.

‘That’s why I was going to slowly absorb the magic over time.’

It was not just the ambient magic, but pure magic emitted from the rift.

For a normal body with only memories of being a mage and no experience, it was like a sudden torrent rushing in.

It would have been tolerable if the high-level mage she used to be could control the magic, otherwise, her body would’ve exploded long ago.

But there was no time to take it easy.

‘Cassis.’

While concentrating on controlling the magic, Rosha glanced at Cassis.

He looked very precarious. Seeing him barely dodge the demonic beast’s powerful tail attack, her heart sank.

This won’t do.

She wasn’t ready yet but hurriedly pulled up the magic.

Her already strained body creaked at the sudden influx of magic, but she didn’t care. Rescuing Cassis in time was more important.

Whooosh-

A crimson flame sprouted from her fingertips.

She couldn’t use a great spell that consumed a lot of magic due to her small body capacity. However, her ability to finely control magic was still intact.

The quickly expanding flame splits into two streams, dancing along a golden line as it charges forward.

The flame captures a point and slowly expands its territory.

Her most confident fire magic unfolds brilliantly in a world devoid of magic.

Kwaaa!

In an instant, the demonic beast yields to the two streams of flames, glowing and writhing. Yet, the flames don’t break like a robust leash but burrow and burn through the skin.

But then.

Cassis barely blocked the beast’s claw, his sword breaking with a clang.

‘Damn…!’

What kind of sword breaks so easily?

Whether sensing Rosha’s disturbance, the demonic beast changed direction, targeting Cassis.

The scene where the demonic beast’s foot descends upon an unprotected Cassis seemed incredibly slow. She gathered all her remaining magic power, grabbing and pulling back the leash on the demonic beast’s neck, gritting her teeth.

This can’t end here.

Perhaps [The Guiding Lantern] had a reason for making her meet Cassis.

It had to be that way. If Cassis was brought just to buy time, she’d definitely kill the god later!!

At that moment,

Phwaa-!

Suddenly, a blue light surged from Cassis’s broken sword, cleanly slicing off the demonic beast’s claws like a lightsaber.

What?

“…Huh?”

Cassis widened his eyes in surprise, but didn’t stand there dumbfounded.

Not knowing when such luck would fade, he moved quickly like someone in haste.

The demonic beast’s claws, mane, and metal tail were cut off and began to burn.

Adding even Kokoo’s power, the blue flaming beast writhed for a while before collapsing with a thud as its energy depleted.

The demonic beast was defeated, and the sudden quest was completed.

The only advantage of the blue window was that it clearly showed when the target was dead.

Watching the beast’s body being engulfed in blue flames, turning to ashes, Cassis murmured in a low voice:

“This crazy…”

Then he staggered towards her, but collapsed midway. His ability manifested for the first time, and focusing every nerve to survive had exhausted his mind, leading to a faint.

Indeed. She felt no magic, it was definitely his innate ability.

‘…What’s the name of this ability? Lightsaber?’

Having an absurd thought, Rosha struggled to keep herself up.

She wanted to fall right away due to overexertion, but there was still work to be done.

She took out a sacred relic cautiously, recharged it with magic, and slowly sealed the rift based on the magic leaking out.

Then she sifted through the ashes of what once was the demonic beast, found a fist-sized crystal, and put it in her bag along with scattered research notes around.

She also gulped down a potion she had sneakily brought along.

“Ugh, bitter.”

Of course, it was much better than the medicine made by the mansion’s doctor.

And lastly.

“Pl-Please… save me! I’ll do anything!”

As she approached her terrified uncle, he hurriedly prostrated. Overwhelmed by the power she displayed, he was sitting far away.

“Anything?”

“Yes, yes! I’ll do anything, just spare my life…!”

Rosha didn’t listen to him further and snatched the necklace from his hand. Despite the circumstances, he had held it so preciously that it didn’t have a single scratch.

‘Certainly… This necklace has a stronger power than the previous one.’

Through the information window, she found out that this could even control minds, and she commanded her uncle:

“From now on, do not contact Marquis Lycaon in any way, and bring all the information you have about the Marquis in writing. Confess all your misdeeds to Cedric, and if you leave the mansion, I’ll spare your life.”

“Yes… I understand. I’ll do as you say.”

Under the influence of the necklace’s power, the uncle nodded with blurred eyes. It was a karma.

As the uncle got up and disappeared, Rosha suddenly looked up at the sky.

Seeing the faintly brightening sky, dawn was approaching.

‘…How do I get home from here?’