Chapter 203: Chapter 203 – Mages Under the World Tree Will Never Be Too Far Away

[Sir Mage! You’re bleeding all over!]

Amidst the darkness on the screen, some people held the black-haired mage up and said: [Treatment Team, hurry over to treat—]

The black-haired mage immediately said: [It’s alright, I must complete my mission as a mage, even if it’s my last. I exist for this very reason, and life and death is insignificant!]

The black-haired mage broke free of the grip of those helping him and slowly walked forward. The three other mages including Red Hood seemed to move forward to stop the Federation Watchmen from stopping the black-haired mage, and let him complete the final step.

Great, Ren Suo was actually quite satisfied with his current progress. He even had greater room for error, since [Breath of Fire Skin] was still unused.

Ren Suo had not expected [Holy Sword of Spine] to be that powerful, although the price Mage had to pay was also immense—his remaining health depleted gradually at a rate of 1.5% and could not be regained through heals, although he would not be depleted of his health in this way. The consequences were far more devastating than that of the Forbidden Spell of the Eye, Skin, or Hand. After all, if the boss was still not dead after the Holy Sword of Spine was used, Mage would be the one to die instead.

Nevertheless, with [Holy Sword of Spine], massive damage would be dealt to the target, ignoring its defense power. It was a move that could essentially determine the outcome of the battle!

That was truly a trump card to decide who would live.

The black-haired mage walked forward slowly, and very quickly, the outline of the Princess appeared on the screen. She was kneeling on the ground, crying as she covered her face with both of her hands.

The black-haired mage reached out with his left hand of benevolence and touched her head gently. Greenish-white light filled the screen, and flashbacks of memories were shown:

[She was the Princess of the Kingdom. Ever since she was born, she had beautiful, gem-like eyes.]

[The Queen was known as the most beautiful lady of the Kingdom, but as the mother of the Princess, she knew that, in the future, the Princess would definitely become a more beautiful lady than she was.]

[The urge to kill the Princess grew with the foolish jealousy of the Queen. However, whenever she looked at the Princess, her urge to kill the Princess was suppressed.]

[Although that was partially because of her motherly love, the greater reason was because she saw the beautiful reflection of herself through the eyes of the Princess.]

[The beauty of the Queen shone brighter and clearer in the eyes of the Princess than any other mirror in the world.]

[As much as the Queen was jealous of the Princess, she could not let go of the ‘mirror’ which was the Princess.]

[However, as the Princess grew older day by day, the conflict in the heart of the Queen also grew—she feared that her worries would turn true very soon.]

[At that time, the Holy Grail of Desires appeared before the Queen. By just sacrificing one eye, the Queen achieved her goal—though it was not her eye.]

[Subsequently, the Princess disappeared, and in the Queen’s bedroom, a magic mirror who could talk appeared.]

[For a long period of time, the conversation between her and the mirror went: “Who is the most beautiful of them all?””It’s my mother whom I see through this pair of eyes”.]

[All this while, the Queen was extremely careful not to let anyone into her bedroom. One day, however, two maids brought a fruit basket into her room, and after they placed the basket down, they continued chatting about news of the outside world: about hunters with perfect accuracy, about witches who lived in the forests…]

[The Princess was finally doubtful. She wanted to see the outside world, but her mother never allowed her to leave her place. She wanted to see how she looked, for she could not understand why her mother wanted to look at her everyday, yet never once cared about her…]

[She did not even know that she had turned into a mirror. Then, the Holy Grail of Desires appeared.]

[By sacrificing her other eye, an apple in the fruit basket turned into a mirror. Through the mirror, the Princess saw the figure of a monster.]

[The Princess regretted giving up both of her eyes, for she could not even shed tears at that time…]

[Then suddenly, the mirror lit up and the apples reflected in the mirror turned into individual mirrors with limbs. Subsequently, they became her warriors.]

[It was time for revenge.]

[The Queen looked at the Princess’ eyes as usual, but what she saw was no longer her beautiful face. Instead, she saw the face of a toothless old woman with an aquiline nose, who had dry, scaly, aged, and wrinkled skin that was full of scars. Tears were streaming down the face and onto the black robe that was worn.]

[In the past, the reflection of the Queen in the Princess’ eyes were so beautiful because she wanted to make the Queen happy. Now, however, with a hatred brimming in her heart, the reflection of the Queen in her eyes looked like that of an ugly, evil witch… Or perhaps, the image of the Queen in the eyes of the Princess had turned into what she wanted it to be.]

[Even when the Queen turned away from the mirror, the apple mirrors surrounding her still reflected her ugly appearance.]

[Subsequently, the Queen disappeared, and in the Queen’s bedroom, a dead, ugly witch appeared.]

[The Princess had completed her revenge, but at that point in time, the light which continued to reflect off the mirrors shone like tears. Even though she had lost both of her eyes, she still wanted to cry.]

[The Princess’ heart was filled with grief. She did not hate herself for turning into a monster but questioned why her mother was not even willing to give her even just a tiny bit of love… She would have been satisfied even if her mother had just looked at her for a moment when she looked in the mirror.]

[The mirror of the daughter forever continued to reminisce about the shadow of her mother. Perhaps, she was trying to fill the void from losing her mother?]

The game prompted: [Princess Snow White has been successfully granted salvation.]

The Princess turned into a feather and vanished in its place. The three other mages including Red Hood quickly left after telling Mage that they would be [waiting for you in the next checkpoint]. Elaine wanted to say something but was pulled away by Red Hood and Lumpena—both of them knew about Mage’s ability to treat the side effects he experienced from using the Forbidden Spells.

[Sir Mage!]

The Watchmen rushed over to the black-haired mage, and just like the Xuan Nation warriors had done in the first checkpoint, they immediately laid him down on the ground and shouted: [Extraordinaires with healing abilities, come over here!] [Combat medic, combat medic!]

Caroline seemed to be holding the black-haired mage’s hand tightly as she gritted her teeth and said: [Why didn’t your mage companions heal you? You sacrificed so much, and yet they left you here like that?]

The black-haired mage replied: [This is the fate of a mage. Moreover, I can no longer be saved, and I know this better than anyone else. A person who has lost both of his eyes, both of his hands, and even had his spine pulled out; what is the point even if he was saved from dying?]

[I have already given my powers to my companions just now. My will and power will be passed on by them and will continue to bloom in another mage. Being able to sacrifice my entire self and die on the battlefield, this is already an ending that I am the most satisfied with.]

Caroline’s voice trembled as she asked: [Why did you have to be the one sacrificing everything? Your hands, your hands, and even your spine… Couldn’t the others have taken on some of the responsibility?]

[I will save you, the Federation has—]

The black-haired mage asked: [Which is stronger, five disabled people or one dead man and four healthy people?]

[It’s sufficient for me, alone, to die…]

Caroline hugged the black-haired mage, and cried: [No! I… I finally fell in love with someone, so I will never let you die just like that! You saved me, and you saved all of us here too! Even if you are disabled, I will care for you for the rest of your life.]

The black-haired mage replied: [I don’t know what it means to love, and neither do we possess such feelings. Just like the Hunter Magician as known in the East, as mages under the World Tree, we are also born to fulfill our mission. We bite the dust in battle, possessing no feelings of love or hate, and having no name. From the very beginning till eternity, we only have the heart to defend and protect.]

[I apologize for making all of you see me in such a miserable state. My companions left so quickly because they did not want their last impression of me to be of this wretched state…]

Caroline exclaimed: [No! You are handsome, very handsome…]

The black-haired mage suddenly sighed and asked: [Do you have Coke? It must be Nuka Cola.]

One of the Watchmen said: [Yes, we do!], then quickly handed him a bottle of the Coke.

Ren Suo thought about it and realized that he got carried away while setting up the context for the character. He had forgotten that the mage did not seem to be able to drink the Coke—at least, he did not have the option to do so.

The mage asked: [Can you feed me?]

Caroline held back her tears as she said: [Sure, drink slowly, drink slowly.] She appeared to pour the contents of the Coke bottle into the mage’s mouth, when she suddenly cried again: [You can’t even drink the Coke anymore, they are all flowing out…]

The black-haired mage said: [Yeah, I can no longer drink…]

[I’m going to die, but… there will be other mages who will fight elsewhere.]

[Mages under the World Tree will never be too far away.]

The mage’s eyes turned into hollow holes and the bones of his ten fingers on his hands were exposed. Leaving behind his last words, the mage, with his spine pulled out, turned into a crystal of light in the arena and vanished.

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