Page 156

Xenia displayed clear discomfort as she faced Vikamon.

There were no servants in the room.

Vikamon had dismissed them, saying that what he had to say was not for their ears.

Now, here they were, just the two of them.

Xenia had no way of guessing what he wanted to talk about.

"This is the last courtesy I'll give you as my brother."

Xenia glared at Vikamon with a cold stare.

Despite her warning, Vikamon remained silent.

She let out a frustrated sigh.

"You said you had something to say, so how long are you going to keep quiet?"

"……."

Seeing that he still wouldn't speak, Xenia twitched her eyebrows.

Then, she abruptly stood up.

"Forget it. If you're not going to talk, I'm leaving. You probably just need money anyway, so it's obvious."

"Xenia."

At last, Vikamon spoke.

He let out a long breath before continuing.

"You are being targeted by a group that worships mystery—the Mystics."

Xenia, who had been standing, turned to look at him.

His words were completely unexpected.

"What do you mean—"

"You know the legend of the hero’s reincarnation, don’t you?"

The legend of the hero’s reincarnation was a well-known tale.

She had heard it as a child, like a fairy tale, so of course, she remembered it.

"You are one of those reincarnated heroes—Zerion."

Xenia’s face went blank.

She looked at him as if she couldn’t comprehend the nonsense he was spouting.

"I know you don't trust me. But no matter what, we are family. I came here to keep you from being targeted by the Mystics."

Vikamon looked at her with sincerity in his eyes.

Xenia stared back at him for a moment.

For something so outlandish, it made a strange kind of sense.

There was no other reason for Vikamon to return.

Xenia sighed.

Because there was one thing that came to mind.

'Father.'

Xenia was the only person in the world capable of using Celestial Magic.

Because of this, her father had recently been claiming that Niflheim carried the blood of Zerion.

He insisted that her ability to use Celestial Magic was proof.

With the count spreading that rumor everywhere,

it wasn’t entirely absurd to think that the Mystics might take interest in her.

Annoying as it was, he was still her brother.

Perhaps he was just trying to fulfill the bare minimum of his duty.

Even if she resented him—one more chance.

Xenia repeated those words to herself and looked at Vikamon.

"Are you really not here for money?"

"I may look like this, but I have enough to live on. I ended up like this while searching for this."

Vikamon reached into his cloak and pulled out a small gemstone.

The blue stone gleamed with an ethereal glow.

"This will allow you to conceal your soul’s presence. It should keep you safer."

So, after all, he still cared for his little sister.

Xenia noticed the scars covering his hands.

They were marks of his struggle.

"Give it to me. I'll use it well."

"Alright. Tell Father, too."

"…Yes."

Just as Xenia answered—

Thunk—

She froze mid-reach and turned back to Vikamon.

Vikamon, still holding out the gemstone, was watching her.

Her brother, Vikamon, had little to no magical talent.

Because of this, their father had always scorned him and treated him with contempt.

"You are not my father. I will never call you that for as long as I live."

The day Vikamon left,

Xenia had clearly remembered those words he had shouted.

His eyes had been filled with tears,

not of sadness, but of resolve—a declaration.

It had only been half a year since then.

If it had been ten years, maybe—

but there was no way Vikamon would suddenly call their father “Father” now.

Xenia and Vikamon’s eyes locked.

Then, Vikamon’s expression subtly changed—he frowned.

"Looks like I made a mistake."

As soon as he said that, a staff shot out from Xenia’s sleeve.

She grasped it and immediately activated a spell.

The Niflheim family’s specialty was high-speed lightning magic.

Proving this, an intense surge of lightning erupted from her.

Crackle—!

The lightning bolt shot toward Vikamon—

But just before it could hit him—

Fsss—

The lightning dissipated right before his face.

Xenia's eyes widened.

He must have some means of nullifying her lightning magic.

A dangerous opponent.

No matter how much of a genius she was, Xenia was still young.

Unlike the reincarnated heroes, who possessed memories of their past lives, she had only her talent.

A chick that had just broken out of its shell may one day become a phoenix,

but for now, it was still vulnerable to hawks.

"As much as I received—"

At that moment, the fake Vikamon snapped his fingers.

"I'll return to you."

Crackle—!

In that instant, her own lightning magic burst forth from him, surging toward her.

Xenia quickly cast a defensive spell, but the impact sent her flying into the wall.

She wasn’t hurt.

Her barrier was sturdy.

But despite the powerful impact, the wall was unscathed.

Normally, it should have been destroyed—but it remained intact.

This much noise—

It would be normal for the family’s knights to rush in, yet the outside was eerily silent.

‘He did something.’

Xenia swallowed hard as she stood up.

She realized that this room was now separated from the outside world.

‘It’s not magic.’

If it were magic, she would have seen through it.

The fact that she couldn't meant only one thing.

‘Mysticism.’

There was no doubt now—he was a member of the Mystics.

This was bad.

Xenia knew little about mysticism.

Mysticism was the power of those who failed to become gods.

Each Mystic wielded different abilities, and unless one was an expert, there was no way to predict them.

"What I do know—"

The ability to create a separate space,

and most likely, the ability to absorb magic and reflect it.

He must have trapped her magic within his space,

then reopened it to send it back.

A simple concept—if one could do it.

‘It doesn’t nullify magic.’

Xenia’s mind quickly worked through the situation, and she once again gathered her lightning magic.

Without hesitation, she fired another lightning spell.

However, just like before, the spell vanished before it could reach the fake Vikamon.

But Xenia didn’t stop there.

She continued unleashing lightning magic, attacking the fake Vikamon relentlessly.

The fake Vikamon watched her rampage with a relaxed demeanor.

Yet, Xenia didn’t waver in the slightest.

‘No matter how mystical it is, there must be a limit to its capacity.’

Her first priority was to determine that limit.

‘I mustn’t be fooled by his composure.

She was Xenia, the future head of the Count Niflheim’s family.

She wasn’t someone who would crumble so easily.

A relentless storm of lightning magic.

Xenia maximized her magical efficiency, conjuring countless orbs of electricity around her.

The orbs consumed her mana as they continuously fired lightning strikes.

Crackle—

And after a long, relentless assault,

lightning began to surge violently around the fake Vikamon.

He had been absorbing the lightning into another space, but at last, he had reached his limit.

The space distorted, allowing the stored lightning magic to leak out.

“You truly are the reincarnation of Zerion.”

To wield this much mana—one could indeed call her Zerion’s reincarnation.

“But now what will you do?”

ZZZAAAAAP!

At that moment, the lightning magic exploded outward, illuminating the area in a blinding storm of light.

The lightning spells that Xenia had fired at the fake Vikamon had now turned against her.

How would she respond?

The fake Vikamon gave a twisted smile, intrigued.

Crackling!

That smile was the last thing he saw before the high-output lightning magic surged back toward Xenia.

Just before she was engulfed—

The fake Vikamon’s eyes widened as he witnessed her hair, for a brief instant, glow with the light of starlight.

Xenia was wrapped in a radiant glow.

Behind her,

the celestial gate, which had remained closed until now, opened.

Countless constellations were engraved within.

Xenia’s pale fingers tapped one of the constellations, awakening it.

Before the incoming lightning—

the constellation of the Mirror of the World, reflecting the night sky, emerged.

A woman crafted from glasswork raised a mirror, in which the lightning magic was reflected.

Stellar Magic: Celestial Mirror.

She wasn’t the only one who could return attacks.

Xenia pointed her staff at the fake Vikamon, making her stance clear.

Stellar Magic: Creation of the Stars.

The lightning spell, now transformed into starlight, was launched back.

A violent celestial surge rushed toward the fake Vikamon.

No matter how he manipulated space with his mystical power, this was beyond his ability to handle.

The fake Vikamon let out a hollow laugh.

And in the next moment, his body was swallowed by starlight.

* * *

When the violent surge of stars finally settled,

the guest room had been completely devastated.

Although the fake Vikamon had used his mystical power to isolate the room in a separate space, even that barrier had shattered, causing an uproar in the surroundings.

From a distance, the household servants were seen rushing over.

For some reason, the knights of the household were nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps the fake Vikamon had done something to them.

Xenia exhaled slowly.

It was over.

She could figure out the details later.

She lowered her staff.

“You’re late.”

She was just about to reprimand the approaching servants when—

Suddenly, her body jerked violently to the side.

Splat—

In that instant, blood gushed from her side.

And emerging from the wound—his face and body half-destroyed—was the fake Vikamon.

Xenia’s eyes trembled faintly.

At some point, a dagger had been lodged into her side.

She had maintained a constant barrier spell.

Yet, the dagger had pierced through effortlessly, striking her without resistance.

As she struggled to endure the pain and resist—

Schlick!

The fake Vikamon ruthlessly pulled the dagger out.

A blade wound was far more dangerous when withdrawn than when stabbed in.

“Guh—!!”

A massive amount of blood spilled, and unbearable pain surged through her body.

“You’re still just a fledgling.”

The fake Vikamon wasn’t finished.

He shoved his hand into the open wound, forcibly widening it.

“AAAAAAGH!”

Xenia screamed in agony.

The servants rushed toward her in desperation, but the fake Vikamon moved faster.

“If you were truly Zerion, I wouldn’t still be here.”

From within his garments, he retrieved a blue gemstone—the same one he had taken out earlier.

Mystic Power: Soul Hunter.

The same mystical force that once stole Narea’s soul.

Just as the fake Vikamon prepared to shove the gemstone into Xenia’s wound—

CRACK!

His body suddenly twisted violently to the side.

BOOOOOOM!

He was sent flying, crashing into the ground with tremendous force.

Smoke billowed from the impact.

Xenia, barely holding onto consciousness through the pain, slowly opened her eyes.

And standing before her—

A man with black hair and black eyes.

His facial features were strikingly unfamiliar, exuding an aura of a foreigner.

She didn’t know who he was.

But he gently held her in his arms,

his touch filled with warmth.

“Rest now.”

With those gentle words, he turned to glare at the fake Vikamon, who was struggling to get up.

“I’ll make sure you pay for this.”

For some reason, Xenia couldn’t take her eyes off him.