Chapter 16: The Mad Magus

Chapter 16. The Mad Magus

Silence returned.

The smell of blood and burned flesh filled the courtyard.

I stood in the middle of it.

Blood dripped from my sleeve.

Another drop rolled down my cheek.

I lifted my hand and wiped it away with my thumb.

Red stained my skin.

I looked at it.

Then, without taking my eyes off the servant... I slowly dragged my tongue across my thumb.

Metallic.

Warm.

Her face went white. She was trembling now.

My smile sharpened. Not wide. But cold and wrong enough.

The sort of smile that made the title Mad Magus suddenly sound much less like exaggeration.

And judging by the way the servant stared at me... I had given her exactly the Rey Valen she expected to see.

The system appeared.

[Ironback Behemoth defeated.]

[Curse Stability: 96%]

[Evolution Progress: 2%]

Oh, so I could evolve.

The servant was staring at me.

Confused.

Deeply confused.

Her eyes moved over my body.

The madness was obvious enough.

Blood on my face and clothes.

That smile.

The decapitated A-rank monster behind me.

All of that matched the Rey Valen she had probably expected to see.

But the rest didn’t.

No black veins.

No trembling hands.

No signs of pain.

No unstable mana leaking from my body.

No collapse.

Nothing.

That was what she had expected, wasn’t it?

A high-level monster.

A sudden battle.

Forced spellcasting.

Rey Valen’s curse worsening under pressure.

Maybe even a breakdown violent enough to confirm everything she had been sent here to watch.

Instead...

I had just butchered an A-rank behemoth without so much as coughing.

And now the calm expression she had worn all evening was beginning to crack.

Her lips had gone pale.

Her breathing was no longer steady.

One hand trembled faintly at her side.

I tilted my head. "Something wrong?"

She flinched. "N-No, my lord."

"Really?"

My voice remained calm.

That made it worse.

Her throat moved as she swallowed.

I stepped closer.

Slowly.

No rush.

Every step gave her more time to imagine what I might already know.

Her fingers twitched.

Her shoulders tightened.

The trained composure she’d maintained inside the mansion was disappearing piece by piece. "Or is it because things didn’t happen the way you expected?"

Her face stiffened. "My lord?"

I tilted my head. "The curse."

Silence.

A tiny pause.

Barely there.

But fear flashed across her eyes before she could hide it.

"Maybe you’re confused because it didn’t react."

Her pupils widened. "What are you talking about, my lord?"

"Mm."

I smiled.

Not kindly.

That finished what little calm she had left.

Her breathing quickened.

Her left hand curled against her skirt.

A bead of sweat slid down the side of her neck despite the evening air.

She tried to keep her face blank.

Tried.

Unfortunately, her right hand had disappeared behind her back.

And I could see the faint glow reflecting against the wall.

Mana.

Tiny.

Compressed.

Messenger magic.

Her fingers were trembling now.

A translucent spark slipped from behind her palm, no larger than a firefly.

It shot toward the open courtyard.

I raised one finger.

[Corruption Bolt.]

A black-violet projectile crossed the space.

The messenger spell shattered instantly.

Mana particles scattered like broken glass and disappeared before they could leave the courtyard.

The servant froze.

Her face drained completely.

I watched the last particles fade. "No." My smile widened slightly. "That would be bad."

Her lips parted.

No words came out.

"I can’t let them know about my condition yet."

That did it.

The mask broke.

Fear flooded her face.

Her breathing turned shallow.

Her knees visibly tensed like she was preparing to bolt.

For one second, neither of us moved.

Then she attacked.

Fast.

Much faster than an ordinary servant had any right to move.

A silver blade flashed from beneath her sleeve.

She lunged for my throat.

It was a diversion.

I saw it immediately.

The angle was wrong.

Too shallow.

She wanted me to dodge sideways so she could reach the corridor.

I shifted half a step.

The blade passed my neck.

Her body moved past mine.

Exactly as expected.

Then she ran.

"Oh?" I chuckled. "That’s rude."

She made three steps.

I stamped my foot. "Obsidian Earth."

Black crystal erupted from the floor around her ankles.

She jumped. Quick.

A second spike shot upward.

She twisted in midair, throwing three knives behind her without even looking.

I raised my hand.

Dark crystal formed into a flat shield.

The knives bounced away.

She landed.

Immediately pushed off again.

Definitely trained.

Probably temple intelligence.

Maybe assassin training layered beneath servant etiquette.

Interesting.

But now she was panicking.

I could see it in the way her movements had lost that earlier smoothness.

Too fast.

Too desperate.

She threw another knife.

Then another.

One contained light mana.

The moment it struck the ground, white light exploded across the courtyard.

I closed my eyes. ’Diversion again?’

By the time the flash faded, she had reached the broken outer wall.

Almost.

I flexed my fingers.

Obsidian crystal spread beneath the ground faster than she could run.

Then erupted.

A black wall rose directly in front of her.

She stopped so abruptly she nearly crashed into it.

Her breath hitched.

She spun.

Tried the left.

Another wall.

Right.

Another.

Behind.

Another.

Within seconds she was surrounded by jagged obsidian pillars.

No exit.

Her blade came up.

But her hand was shaking now. Badly.

Her chest rose and fell too quickly.

The calm servant from dinner was gone.

This woman was frightened.

I walked toward her.

Her grip tightened around the knife until her knuckles went white. "Stay back."

Her voice cracked.

I laughed.

Low.

Soft.

Wrong enough that even I admitted it sounded villainous.

Her eyes widened.

Then the trembling spread into her shoulders.

"Now, now." I stopped several steps away. "Don’t be afraid of me."

She stared at the blood on my face.

Then at the severed behemoth behind me.

Then back at my smile.

Yes.

Probably not the most reassuring thing I’d ever said.

I smiled anyway. "I won’t kill you."

Her lower lip trembled. That somehow made her look even more afraid.

"I still need you to do something for me."

My palm glowed.