Chapter 197: Silverleaf Academy (XLV)

“…Ethan’s death,” Elohim finally spoke.

“Was necessary.”

Everyone flinched.

Lucas’s mouth opened, but no words came. His chest rose and fell, trying to catch his breath. Even he didn’t seem to understand.

“A sacrifice for growth,” Elohim continued. “Lucas had to feel true loss. That is the only way he could awaken deeper power within himself. That is how heroes are born.”

Aestrea’s head twitched.

His lips parted in disbelief.

“…What?”

Elohim’s glowing eyes didn’t waver.

“Pain tempers the soul. This was never about one life. It’s all about the future, the strength your world needs. Balance demands it.”

As soon as he uttered those words, the place went completely silent.

And then—

A small, sharp laugh slipped from Aestrea’s lips.

“Heh…”

His shoulders twitched.

“Ahaha…”

It grew louder.

“Aha… AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

He threw his head back.

A full, unhinged laugh burst out of him, like something inside cracked wide open.

Everyone stared.

Even Violet froze mid-step. Maya’s mouth hung open. Leon’s fingers twitched at his sword. Iris gripped her staff tightly while Telmo stiffened entirely.

And Ella… her face was contorted in pure horror, as she clenched her fists tightly.

“‘Necessary’…?” Aestrea repeated, his grin spreading too wide.

His red eyes started flickering wildly.

“You called his death… necessary?!”

He took a shaky step forward, that twisted smile still on his face.

“Okay… okay, then tell me something, oh great fucking god…”

His neck jerked toward Elohim, a cold glint dancing in his eyes.

“Why not, Leon, huh? Or Telmo?”

“Why not ROSE?”

“Why not IRIS?!”

His voice cracked into a scream.

“WHY DIDN’T THEY DIE?!”

Elohim’s expression didn’t change.

“They are necessary.”

His voice was absolute.

“Each of them has a role to play. Their presence maintains the harmony of this world. Ethan’s departure would not disrupt that balance.”

Aestrea stopped.

Then, his grin fell.

Silence.

His eyes slowly widened… his pupils shaking.

He looked… broken.

Dead silent.

But then, he began to laugh again.

“…Ah… I see.”

His voice was trembling now, full of something sick and furious.

“You looked at Ethan… and you thought he was disposable.”

His smile came back, but now it was twisted. His teeth clenched behind it.

“You fucking worm in the sky…”

His body started shaking.

“You play balance-maker, and you chose him to die so Lucas could have a little trauma boost?!”

CRACKK!

The ground around him cracked as his aura surged, completely unstable, something that rarely happened to Aestrea.

The cold wind turned sharp, biting like knives.

“You called his death growth…?”

“You called his pain a lesson…?”

His voice turned to a low growl.

“I’ll show you something, then… Elohim.”

He stepped forward, his face split between a grin and a snarl.

“Let’s see how balanced your world stays when I rip your divine head off.”

Fwoooosh!

Dark violet energy burst out from behind him, violent and swirling like a storm.

His eyes locked on Elohim, who still hovered calmly in midair, looking at him like a parent watching a child throw a tantrum.

CLANG!

Aestrea raised his hand, and in a flash of frozen mist, a massive black and blue scythe burst into existence.

Its curved blade shimmered with frost, glowing red cracks running down its length like veins filled with pure hate.

He charged.

BOOM!!

The ice cracked beneath his feet as he launched forward. His scythe spun in his grip and came crashing down at Elohim from above with a loud—

CLAAAAANG!!!

—But it hit something invisible.

A golden ripple flashed in the air, like glass resisting a hammer.

The scythe bounced back with a loud snap.

Aestrea growled and slashed again.

CLANG!

Left.

CLANG!

Right.

THRASH!

Diagonal swing!

But nothing.

The golden barrier surrounding Elohim didn’t budge.

It didn’t even ripple.

“…Still swinging?” Elohim asked, bored. “You can’t even scratch me.”

Aestrea gritted his teeth. His grin cracked.

“You’re throwing a tantrum,” Elohim continued. “Like a child, upset that his toy broke. Pitiful. My power is divine. Your rage is… noise.”

Everyone watched, breath caught in their throats.

They didn’t dare to utter anything.

“Haah…”

Aestrea suddenly stopped his attacks, letting out a deep breath.

Then…

He smirked.

Just slightly.

He raised his hand, two fingers lifted lazily, and whispered.

『 Curse Mark 』

At first, nothing happened.

Then…

SHHHHHK…!

A black mist slithered through the air like a snake. It twirled toward Elohim, brushing past the golden barrier without resistance.

“Hmm?”

Elohim’s brows twitched.

BZZZT!!

A deep crackle sounded like air tearing.

And suddenly, right above Elohim’s head…

A floating deathly skull appeared.

Its eye sockets glowed red. Its grin stretched wide and wrong. A thin ring of dark script circled its head like a halo made from pure curse magic.

The god’s eyes narrowed.

“…What is this?”

After all, there were very few things his barrier couldn’t block, and now, a mortal like Aestrea used a power that passed right through his barrier.

Aestrea slowly lifted his head.

His smile was sickly mocking.

“You’re right,” he said, dragging the scythe along the ground with a loud scrraaape of steel on ice.

“I can’t hurt you right now…”

He stopped.

“But now… you’re marked.”

The skull above Elohim’s head pulsed once, and the temperature in the air dropped even further, turning breath to fog instantly.

Aestrea licked a bit of blood from his lip and whispered with a giggle:

“…and cursed things don’t stay untouchable for long.”

The skull didn’t move at all.

It just hovered, spinning slowly above Elohim’s head like it was waiting for something.

Watching and smiling creepily.

Elohim frowned for the first time.

“That’s not mortal magic,” he muttered.

To his words, Aestrea let out a deep laugh.

“Why? Just because it passed through your little divine barrier?” Aestrea grinned wider, tilting his head to the side.

His hair swayed with the freezing wind, and his glowing red eyes were now streaked with black veins crawling down his face.

“You’re right, though, it really isn’t mortal magic.”

He spun his scythe once in his hand and rested it on his shoulder like a toy.

‘After all, it’s a type of Devil Magic.’

He thought inwardly.

He didn’t know what kind of creatures Lumi’s body had absorbed, but there were plenty of questionable skills.

And one of them was obviously this one.

FWOOOM!

Before anyone could react, Aestrea vanished in a cold blur, appearing right in front of Elohim in the blink of an eye.

CLAAANG!!

His scythe slammed into the golden barrier with a shrieking metallic echo, sparks flying as violet aura clashed against gold.

CREEECHH!

The skull above Elohim suddenly opened its mouth, releasing a slow, heavy breath of black mist.

It poured out like smoke from a dying fire, curling around the divine shield like it was eating it.

Cracks started to form.

Tiny at first.

Then—crack!

Another.

KRK-KRRK!

More.

Elohim’s brows furrowed deeper.

“This curse…” he muttered.

“It’s… eating my divinity?”

Aestrea didn’t answer.

He just smiled, eyes wild, his voice low like a whisper in a nightmare.

“Break.”

CRACK!!

The golden barrier shattered like glass under pressure, pieces flying outward in glowing shards.

And before even a breath could pass—

SWISH!

Aestrea spun with inhuman grace, black ice and violet mist trailing from his blade as he aimed a lethal strike at Elohim’s neck.

But just as the edge was about to cleave through—

FWOOSH—

Elohim’s entire form dissolved into golden wisps of light, disappearing like dust in the wind. But before he entirely disappeared, he spoke his final words:

“𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔬𝔫’𝔱 𝔢𝔰𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔱𝔢, 𝔏𝔲𝔫𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔰…”

Silence followed.

Only the crackling of ice and faint echoes remained.

Aestrea stood still for a moment, his shoulders heaving slightly.

Then, he scoffed, and the red in his eyes faded.

The black veins receded, and his face returned to its usual cold expression.

As if none of it had ever happened.

He turned to Lucas, who was still on the ground, trembling, sweat dripping from his brow.

Aestrea walked over, stopped a few steps away, and said coldly:

“Lucas… you better fucking get strong without needing help from that fucking god…”

His eyes narrowed.

“Because if not…”

He tilted his head just slightly, his eyes glowing maliciously.

“I’ll fucking kill you myself.”

Then he turned and started walking away.

But just as he reached the edge of the battlefield—

“AESTREAAAA!!”

A desperate voice tore through the air like a roar of thunder.

BOOOM!

From above, a figure streaked down through the clouds and slammed into the ground just ahead of Aestrea, rocks and dirt exploding from the impact.

It was none other than Ulgar.

His armor was cracked and dented, blood smeared across his cheek. His breaths came out in heavy gasps, each one tight with rage… and something else.

Desperation.

A huge amount of it.

Behind him, Rayn and other faces from Eira’s group landed one after another, their faces pale, eyes filled with panic. All of them looked straight at Aestrea, not with defiance, but with pleading.

Rayn dropped to his knees first.

Then the rest

Even proud Ulgar, still trembling, took a single shaky step forward—

And dropped.

Hard.

KNEELING.

He slammed both knees into the ground without shame. His hands clenched into fists as he bowed his head low.

“Please…” he growled, voice rough and shaking. “I don’t care what you do to me. Call me a coward, a hypocrite, a dog… I don’t give a shit anymore!”

He raised his head, his eyes glassy.

“But Eira… She’s… She’s dying, Aestrea…”

“She’s the only one who ever gave a damn about all of us!”

His voice cracked.

The pride in it shattered like glass.

Rayn spoke next, bowing even lower. “The Princess… the others… they’re still infected with that poison. We can’t stop it, we tried everything.”

A girl wiped her tears, her voice small.

“You’re the only one who has the power to do it…”

Then—

Ulgar did something none of them expected.

He crawled forward.

His armored gloves scraped against the broken ice. Inch by inch, he moved until he was at Aestrea’s feet.

Then, he wrapped his arms around Aestrea’s legs.

And held on tight.

“…Please…” he whispered.

“…Please… save her…”

He didn’t look up.

He just buried his face against Aestrea’s leg like a child begging a parent, his body trembling, not from fear, but from finally breaking.

“I’ll never be able to face her again if she dies because I wasn’t strong enough to protect her…”

A heavy silence followed.

Everyone stared at the scene in disbelief.

Ulgar, the loudest, proudest, most arrogant person they had ever met, was reduced to begging at Aestrea’s feet.

“…Aestrea…” Rayn spoke softly.

“Even if you hate us, even if we all don’t deserve it…”

“Please. Don’t let them die.”

All of them pleaded.

This scene made Aestrea frown deeply.

After all, he didn’t actually heal Ethan, and instead…

He swallowed the poison.

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