“Are you really giving up, Master?”
The voice is filled with genuine sorrow.
Well, he’s the only one who truly cares about me.
The others followed me because of my power and magic.
In truth, he’s the strange one.
People like him are rare in the world of magic.
“Yes. I’m giving up. This is the only way to ascend.”
He shed tears, despair written all over his face.
Having lived for countless ages, I can tell fake tears just by the sound of someone sobbing.
And my instincts tell me—he is truly grieving.
His sobs, reminiscent of a pig snorting, grated on my nerves, but strangely, I found myself feeling affectionate.
I don’t know how he’s managed to survive with a heart like that.
Such a fragile fool.
“Master. You have tens of millions of soldiers, millions of slaves, hundreds of thousands of spells, tens of thousands of treasures, thousands of staffs, hundreds of castles, and dozens of disciples. You are the King of Magicians. And yet, you’re willing to give up everything? Everything you have achieved over countless years?”
Hearing it said aloud does make it feel like a waste.
But I have no intention of changing my plan.
Through the years of pressing forward, I’ve learned a painful lesson— Don’t cling to what you must leave behind if you want to advance.
This is no different.
“When you die, nothing matters. If you cannot advance, nothing has meaning. That’s why you became a magician too, didn’t you? To attain immortality.”
“……”
“Even if you enjoy all of it, you will still die in the end. So what meaning does it hold? Don’t ask me such an obvious question again. I’ve already decided.”
Centuries have passed since my last ascension.
This is the first clue I’ve found in all that time.
How could I possibly give up?
He said nothing more.
He must have realized that no words could change my mind.
After a moment of silence, he spoke again.
“Then at least tell me one thing. What is that spell? What kind of spell could possibly allow you, Master, who has already reached the peak, to ascend even further?”
His eyes gleamed with a desperate fire.
Did he really have to speak now?
Did he not realize how crucial this moment was?
I wanted to scold him, but I quickly calmed myself.
Strangely, I could never bring myself to be harsh with him.
“The peak? I haven’t even come close. From the true peak’s perspective, you and I are merely a step apart.”
“……”
I deliberately avoided answering, and he fell silent.
But he couldn’t resist opening his mouth again.
Just then, the space before me split open, and a pair of crimson eyes gleamed.
He trembled and immediately backed away, abandoning any further attempts to speak.
“You saved me the trouble. For once, you were useful.”
[Calling your most beloved disciple a nuisance… You’re insufferable, even on the verge of death.]
“Death? Who’s dying?”
I raised my gaze.
The crimson eyes met mine calmly.
[You magicians are truly hopeless. Do you really intend to go through with this? The chance of success is nearly nonexistent.]
I couldn’t bear to keep looking at those eyes and lowered my gaze.
In my right hand was a staff forged from the heart of chaos.
In my left hand was a grimoire woven from the essence of order.
Each of them held value beyond worlds, universes, and dimensions—no, even beyond that.
I lifted my head again and stared at the magic before me.
“With this magic, I have grasped ‘language.’ But I am already under its influence and cannot command it. So I must be reborn. From the very beginning. I must relearn everything. Only then can I become the master of this ‘language.’”
The crimson eyes watched me intently.
It was my Familiar.
More than anyone, it understood me—and it knew that nothing could break my resolve.
[Then how long must I wait?]
“I’m sorry. But I will return to you. And together, we will reach the end.”
After a brief silence, the crimson eyes slowly closed.
[Fine. Even if it takes an eternity, I will wait.]
A strange dream.
The conversation, the thoughts—everything felt vivid.
But what lingered most was the overwhelming sensation of the countless jewels weighing down my body.
Rings adorned every joint of my fingers, more than ten earrings hung from my ears, bracelets stacked three on each wrist, and five necklaces over my neck.
The weight felt so real, as if it had followed me into reality. My body was unbearably heavy.
“Ughh.”
At first, I thought it was just an illusion, but… No. My body really was heavy. Even lifting my eyelids was a struggle. I barely managed to crack them open, only for the scorching sunlight to pierce through and stab into my eyes.
At this rate, someone might as well gouge them out for me.
“What the hell? You’re still alive?”
I turned my head.
A breath so foul that I instinctively wanted to plug my nose.
A smell I knew all too well.
Despite spending the last month eating and sleeping beside him, I could never get used to it. If anything, his breath itself was magic.
“Oshalo, are you carrying me over your shoulder?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Gotta dump you in the ocean before disease starts spreading.”
Only then did I register the familiar sound ringing in my ears.
The lively crashing of waves.
Or, to be precise, a sound not quite familiar.
It was much harsher, much more vivid than the waves I used to hear below deck.
As the bow of the ship seemed closer, I hurriedly spoke.
“W-wait! I’m alive!”
“I know.”
“Then why—?”
“Shortage of food. Turns out, there’s not as much as we thought.”
Without any emotion on his face, he shifted me to his other shoulder.
The sunlight, searing my eyes, finally allowed me to see my surroundings.
The ocean.
The ocean.
And more ocean.
No land in sight, no islands anywhere.
Just an endless, boundless sea.
Getting thrown here? Even a god wouldn’t survive.
I struggled desperately, but my body barely twitched.
Not surprising—I hadn’t had a sip of water in three days.
I pleaded.
“Oshalo, we spent a whole month together.”
“I know. I even did your share of the work.”
“I-I’m only fourteen! You’re really going to kill a kid?”
“I know that too. I’ve never liked how you talk down to me.”
“……”
Oshalo stood still for a moment, then slightly turned his head to look down at me.
He spoke.
“It’s the captain’s orders. Sorry.”
Damn that breath—it knows no limits.
I half-closed my eyes.
If I could, I’d have blocked my nose too.
“……”
Oshalo’s gaze carried genuine regret.
But I didn’t blame him.
A slave dying on a ship was an everyday occurrence.
Most of the crew didn’t even glance this way.
The first mate, steering the ship, looked more concerned about us finishing up quickly, afraid we might spread disease.
Yeah. I get it. I really do.
But—
My body trembled involuntarily.
I hadn’t eaten in three days, yet I wasn’t hungry at all. My muscles were trembling in pure tension.
Step.
Step.
We finally reached the front of the ship. Below, the waves split into a sharp V, like a gateway to the underworld.
“Hup.”
That sound—I knew it well.
Oshalo always made it when exerting strength.
But—
Why should I die?
I’m only fourteen.
Dragged into slavery, forced to row and work, only to die like this?
So meaningless.
I don’t want to die.
I clenched my teeth.
I don’t want to die!
Then suddenly, something surged from the depths of my mind.
A rush, a spin—
Thud!
I fell onto the deck.
My body wouldn’t move at all, and I crashed straight to the floor. A piercing pain surged through every part of me, rattling my senses.
What…? This isn’t the water?
I barely managed to lift my head and look around. Oshalo, who I thought would be right next to me, was nowhere to be seen.
“What the…? Why the hell are you sprawled out there?”
Oshalo was tumbling on one side along with the first mate.
Above them, I could see the ship’s steering gear—snapped in half.
“T-The rudder?”
“It’s broken!”
“C-Captain! Captain!”
The ship was thrown into chaos in an instant.
Dozens of huge sailors drew their gleaming swords and surrounded me.
The rudder, which controlled the ship’s movements, was broken, and the first mate was injured. That was akin to treason on a national level.
They looked ready to cut me down at any moment.
“It was magic! Magic! I saw it with my own eyes!”
A sailor shouted in a voice filled with fear.
At his words, everyone advancing toward me became pale and froze in place.
Magic?
Who? Me?
From behind them, the captain—his flamboyant hat standing out—shoved through the crew. His face twisted as he looked at the broken rudder, then he shouted at the groaning first mate.
“First mate! What happened?!”
The first mate turned to Oshalo. Oshalo put on an innocent, clueless expression, one so convincing that anyone would believe he knew nothing.
Then, the first mate pointed at me with a trembling hand.
“T-That slave used magic and broke the rudder.”
What the hell? Why do they keep calling it magic?
I turned to the captain and protested.
“Magic? Me? What magic would I possibly—urk.”
Suddenly, my breath stopped, and I coughed violently.
And then—
Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
More than pain, sheer shock hit me first.
What the hell…?
Even in my confusion, I admired at the sheer amount of blood pouring out before me.
I thought every last drop of moisture in my body had long since dried up.
Yet, despite losing this much blood, I was still conscious.
“What kind of nonsense…? If that slave could use magic, why the hell would he have stayed a ship’s slave until now? Wake up, all of you!”
It was a reasonable point.
I wholeheartedly agreed.
But the sailors still looked unsettled, hesitating to make a move.
“Exactly, Captain! Magic? Me? Haha. Then I’ll just go ahead and fall into the sea as planned. Yeah? Haha.”
That was a much better bet than getting stabbed.
But the captain crushed my hopes mercilessly.
“No. You threw the ship into chaos. As an example, we’ll tie you to the pole and let you dry out and die.”
Damn it.
He walked toward me.
Please, move. Please.
Just let me fall into the sea.
I desperately tried to move, but my limbs wouldn’t respond.
The captain reached out his hands toward me, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
Boom—!
The captain flew backward.
He crashed pathetically into a pillar, but the sailors nearby caught him before he could hit the ground.
“M-Magic!”
“It really was magic!”
Everyone took an exact step back.
Did I… really use magic?
At that moment, a searing pain split my head apart.
Fragments of knowledge and shards of memory tore through my mind like knives, shredding my brain to pieces.
“Arghhhh!”
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
A hundred times worse than when I had to work without even a sip of water.
I wished someone would just chop my head off and put me out of my misery.
I clenched my teeth and barely held on through the pain.
“Don’t get near him! Throw a knife or a rock—kill him from a distance! He can’t use magic forever! Hurry!”
The captain’s voice rang clear in my ears.
My head throbbed unbearably. I could hear the sailors rustling around, pulling out weapons. But the pain was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even react.
“T-Throw it!”
“You throw it!”
“Just do it already!”
They all hesitated.
Of course, they were scared.
Who wouldn’t fear magic?
I had no idea how I’d managed to use it, but at least it had bought me a chance. I had to do something—anything.
Damn it, if only this headache would stop.
I tried my best to focus.
“Idiots!”
The captain pushed forward.
He pulled out a short dagger and threw it at me.
Please—just one more time!
Thud!
Unfortunately, the dagger struck me directly in the thigh.
Damn it. Was it just a fluke after all?
The pain in my head was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even feel the wound in my leg.
“W-What?”
“Is the magic gone?”
The sailors’ expressions slowly shifted.
They had looked vicious before, but now they were outright demons from hell.
They all drew their weapons at once and threw them toward me with full force.
Now, I had only one thing to rely on.
A miracle.
I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted at the top of my lungs.
“Stop!”
