Aman, who had teleported with Alberto, let out a small sigh.

"Khukuk... you must have realized you made the wrong choice now that you're here."

"...What are you talking about?"

Alberto sneered at the sigh Aman had let out.

But Aman had just taken a moment to calm his overly excited heart.

"If you run away now, I won't chase you. But if you hesitate for even a moment, know that your life is over."

"...What are you really talking about? You crazy old man?"

"Y-you arrogant!"

-KABOOM!

Alberto gathered magic in one hand and quickly shot it. But his magic was blocked by a defensive magic before it could even reach Aman's feet and was shattered.

"Khukuk... right, you must have some backing to have brought me here. Show me. What your skills are!"

-Rumble! KABOOM!

Aman, who had easily blocked the magic that Alberto had shot at him again, ran his hand through his hair as if he was at a loss for words.

"It's not fun. It's not fun at all. You're really so cliché."

"What did you say?"

"Now, look. This is what you call magic."

-Rumble... thump... thump!

The earth began to rumble, and Alberto trembled for a moment as if surprised, but he soon regained his calm expression.

"Ha, did you think you could catch me with an earthquake?"

"W-who said that? Is this an earthquake?"

He was caught. In fact, he had planned to shake the ground a little to scare him and then punish him, but Alberto had read his thoughts exactly.

An earthquake that shakes the earth and overturns the ground to block the opponent's movement.

Alberto, who had guessed that the magic Aman had cast was an earthquake, realized that he was right and firmly held the ground under his feet with magic.

"Khahaha! Very... very interesting."

"Right, laugh now. I'm curious to see how that face will change."

-Saaak

"Gaaah... huk... m-mana drain...?"

"That's right, mana drain."

Aman, who had taken a step closer to Alberto, smiled slyly.

Mana drain. A magic that absorbs the opponent's mana.

But mana drain was a method that would never work on an opponent with a higher circle than oneself.

The most prestigious mage in the empire and the master of the Mage Tower. Alberto Nimrod.

The opponent in front of him was absorbing all his mana as if it were nothing.

Fear filled Alberto's face as he looked at him.

-Rumble... thump...!

'...I should just use it as a sound effect.'

The earth rumbled loudly again. Alberto collapsed helplessly at the suddenly dried-up mana.

"I'm really tired of you running away, you know."

"Gaaah..."

Alberto's pupils trembled madly as he checked again to see if there was even a little bit of mana left in a corner of his body.

But there was not even a grain of rice worth of mana left in his body.

"Are you looking for something?"

Alberto was at a loss for words at the sight of the man walking towards him with a calm expression.

There was no grain of rice worth of mana, or anything else.

The man in front of him was proving that his skills, which had been praised as a genius born of the continent for his entire life, were nothing.

"Now, it's time to be punished. You son of a b-tch who is worse than a bug."

-KABOOM!

An ice wall that had been created at a single gesture of Aman's hand trapped Alberto.

"The earthquake was a fake, you bastard!"

"Aaaah... aaaah!!!"

Alberto, who was slowly freezing from his toes.

"Why? Laugh like you did before."

"Gaaah!! E-even if you do this, you, you won't be able to get away with it... ugh! Ugh!!!"

"Ah, I always forget. I should have frozen his mouth first... right?"

Aman, who was feigning innocence and touching his forehead.

Alberto couldn't even open his mouth because of the frost that was forming around his mouth, even while looking at him.

"Now, I don't know if you've changed your mind a little. Are you ready to tell me who's behind you?"

Alberto was at a loss for words at Aman's words.

'You didn't ask... you didn't ask...!!!'

***

The Emperor's office.

"The Mage Tower Master is out of contact?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The expression of the knight commander, Cursis, who stood before the emperor, was quite serious.

"He must have gone somewhere for a while. It's not the first or second time he's left his crystal ball behind."

The emperor was indifferent to his serious expression. It was common for Alberto to be away, and he didn't always carry his crystal ball with him.

"...A full day has passed."

"What!?"

A full day! The Mage Tower Master was not a person who would not contact him, the emperor, for a whole day. If the emperor was looking for him, he would always come back within half a day, even if he was late.

"Yes, and he has been missing since he returned home."

"...Who was the last person to see Alberto?"

"It was a servant in Alberto-nim's house."

"I understand. You may leave."

"Yes."

The Mage Tower Master was missing. And at such an important time?

As Cursis left the office, the emperor hurriedly opened his desk drawer.

Grad's hand, which had carefully taken out a crystal ball from the desk drawer, began to tremble slightly.

He had to contact Alberto first.

The emperor, who could not use magic, carefully placed the crystal ball on the mana stone.

As a faint light began to appear, the emperor quietly chanted Alberto's name.

"Alberto Nimrod."

The crystal ball flashed a few times and then died down.

Grad, who was looking at the crystal ball where only darkness remained, repeated the action he had just done several times.

"Alberto..."

The emperor's strange voice, mixed with anger, growled.

"649."

The number '649' came out of Alberto's mouth, and the crystal ball flashed a few times as before.

[...What is it?]

As a man's figure appeared in the crystal ball, Grad swallowed a dry saliva.

"I... Your Majesty. The Mage Tower Master is missing."

[So?]

"The Mage Tower Master... has all the soul stones."

[...So?]

Grad trembled at the cold voice of the man coming from the crystal ball.

"...A full day has passed since he disappeared."

[So...?]

But the man just repeated the same words like a parrot and did not give a proper answer.

"..."

The meaning of that was clear. Find him on your own, no matter what.

[So what do you want me to do?]

Grad laughed exaggeratedly at the man's sly smile and shook his head.

"No, no. You don't have to worry. I just thought you should know."

[Grad... don't test my patience.]

"Yes, yes. Of course."

[I want to trust you to the end.]

"...D-don't worry."

[Worry? Khaha! That's not even funny.]

The man's eyes, who had laughed loudly at Grad's answer, suddenly turned sharp.

"..."

[Worry about your own neck.]

Grad felt his legs go weak at the man's cold answer, who had completely erased his smile.

"...I understand."

As Grad's answer ended, only darkness remained in the crystal ball.

-Bang!

"...Alberto!!!"

The emperor's two fists, which had roughly slammed his desk, were trembling.

"I have to find Alberto... I have to find Alberto."

As Grad rang the bell that was lying on his desk several times, Cursis soon opened the door and came in.

"Find Alberto. Whatever the method, you have to find him!!!"

"I obey your command!"

***

"Alberto. There are many humans in the world."

"Gaaah..."

Aman, who was squatting in front of the tattered Alberto, spoke wistfully, as if reciting a poem.

"Haa... but you know... I really hate humans like you."

"Gaaah..."

"We agreed not to make any noises, didn't we?"

-Thwack! Thwack!

"Gaaah!!!"

Even though he had just groaned, Aman would brutally torture Alberto every time he heard a slightly annoying sound.

As the thin magic that had been shot from his fingertips pierced Alberto's arm again, Alberto let out a scream of pain.

"It's too loud. Now, tell me. What were you and the emperor up to?"

"Gaaah... I don't know..."

Alberto, whose front teeth had been knocked out and had been crushed, let out an unintelligible sound with a groan.

"What?"

"I don't know..."

"You don't know?"

"Gaaah... kill me..."

"Kill you?"

"Gaaah... ugh..."

-Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

"Gaaah!!!"

The magic that had been shot from Aman's fingertips again pierced Alberto's thigh.

"I'll decide that. How dare you order me to kill you or spare you?"

Aman, who had nervously run his hand through his hair, let out a deep sigh.

"What should I do with this?"

It seemed that Alberto and all the members of the Lakmere had made a blood pact.

No matter how much he tortured them and made a scene, not a single important answer came out.

Aman shook his head as he put together the stories that had come out of Alberto's mouth one by one.

Alberto had denied all the things he had done. No, he had not admitted a single one.

That he had taken out the children's souls and had brutally murdered them, and that he had summoned ghouls to the city and had controlled the monsters in Citata.

"I don't think you did all this on your own. And you took the souls of innocent children and brutally murdered them."

"Gaaah..."

"But since you, a shameless bastard, say you didn't do any of it... I have no choice. You won't be saved even if the main god comes."

As if he thought that all this terrible thing was finally over, Alberto slowly closed his swollen and hard-to-open eyes.

"H. O. W. E. V. E. R."

"...?"

"I can't let you go so comfortably."

Aman's pupils became clear, as if a good idea had come to him.

"Gaaah... ugh...?"

-Flash!

Aman, who had tightly bound Alberto, teleported somewhere with him.

***

"Y-you are...!"

"Ah, it's been a while."

The old man, who was the chief of the new village of the immigrants. The old man rushed out without even putting on his shoes properly when he saw Aman.

After that incident, the immigrants had settled in a new place and were living.

"Have you been well?"

"Thanks to you... I've been doing very well. The village is not yet properly established, so there's nothing to offer. How can I..."

"Haha, not at all."

"But this person is...?"

The chief's expression hardened as he looked at the tattered Alberto who had teleported with Aman.

The face, which was a mess of blood, and the few remaining teeth. The limbs, which were pierced and torn and were bleeding profusely, aroused fear.

"He is the main culprit who drove you all to this situation."

"What do you mean by that..."

"I mean, he's the one who framed you all as traitors. I've brought him."

"I-is that really true!?"

The old man's wrinkled eyes widened.

"Why would I lie? And he's also the one who killed the children. I've come to leave him to your disposal."

Anger began to well up in the eyes of the villagers who had gathered one by one at Aman's appearance.

"I-is that... really true?"

He was the one who had made them lose their husbands, their homes and their land, and even their families and children.

"Send all the children... inside."

The chief ordered. He must have been worried that the children might see a bad sight.

"Thank you. From here... is it okay if we take care of it ourselves?"

"Of course."

Aman smiled brightly, puffing out his chest, as if it was what he had been hoping for.

"Ah, when should I come to collect him?"

"...Three hours. Just give us three hours. Should I keep him alive..."

"Huh? Not at all. Do as you please. Then I'll come in three hours."

Alberto's face turned pale as he looked at the smiling Aman.

Fear began to reach its peak as the resentful residents gradually approached him.

The trousers of the tough old man, who had only groaned at Aman's various tortures, began to get wet.

"Then receive your punishment well."

Aman's last words. The real punishment was starting now.

(End of Chapter)