Youngest 108
by Cristae108
A blue barrier shimmered to life before Dad’s eyes.
“Rubian?”
A deafening roar rang out. In the dark of night, the explosion was strong enough to brighten the sky for a fleeting moment.
The shockwave sent a whirlwind howling through the air.
Trees splintered and broke, their sharp branches hurtling forward. Spying me, Dad instinctively pulled me close, sheltering me as he dropped to the ground.
“Duke! Rubian!”
Asha reinforced the protective spell.
Clinging to Dad, I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘A suicide magic device?!’
My heart hammered frantically.
Why would he shatter that himself?
After a wild tumble of thoughts, I came to a conclusion.
‘He must have thought it was a different artifact.’
He was tricked—by the Mage King.
To eliminate the ‘Fourth’ for failing his mission.
I ground my teeth.
‘But Dad, Dad is…!’
The wind slowly subsided.
I clung desperately to Dad’s coat, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.
Once I sensed that, my whole body seemed to unravel with relief.
‘He’s alive.’
He didn’t die.
He wasn’t killed by the ‘Fourth’.
‘Did… I stop it?’
My head spun dizzily as I frowned.
The storm that had raged like a wild beast at last abated.
“Rubian! Duke! Are you alright?”
Asha came running in a fluster. Khalid, too.
“Ruby! How did you even get here?!”
Dad quickly scrambled upright to check that I was safe in his arms.
Realizing I was unharmed, he let out a long sigh and hugged me again, visibly shaken.
“What in the world…?”
“Duke, Rubian is…”
“She doesn’t seem to be hurt.”
Khalid let out a shaky breath, bracing himself on one knee.
“Rubian, lift your head. Let me see your face.”
Dad gently cupped my cheek. People who had heard the commotion were starting to gather in the distance.
I found it difficult to raise my head.
The reason was…
‘Wait, wait. Time out!’
A sensation of light, once concentrated in my gut, began to spread throughout my entire body.
‘I—I feel like I’m going to throw up.’
Damn it, Wizeria.
Are you really going to do this to me?
The herb I drank hours ago was only now starting to take effect!
As my vision spun round and round, I cursed my own knowledge.
‘You were supposed to channel mana after drinking the herb…’
Why didn’t anyone warn me in advance?
Ruby!
Dad’s voice rang in my ears like an echo. The strength drained from my hands clutching his coat.
Bracing myself for the oncoming darkness, I hurriedly raised my head.
“Dad, I’m really glad you’re safe. But from now on I’m just going to… sleep a little…”
Whether I managed to say that coherently, I couldn’t tell.
“So you should have listened, and not defied my father.”
I was startled from the outset.
‘Wh-what is this?’
My vision in the dream was crystal clear. The first thing I heard was…
A woman’s voice, bright and distinct.
‘It wasn’t the Fourth?!’
Impossible!
“But now that I see you…”
The woman approached Leviathan, clenching her mana-infused hand.
“You’re cursed.”
Her white priest’s hood cast a black shadow over her face.
The red eyes that glimmered dimly in the pale moonlight were completely clouded.
A face devoid of any will. Like a marionette following her strings…
“…Well. You did face a Dark Mage alone. Surviving that is impossible.”
“…”
“You’ve certainly hidden it well until now.”
Leviathan let out a long breath and fixed her with his gaze.
The war was merciless.
Traces of Dark Mages were incredibly hard to find.
He’d thought the other mages uncooperatively mysterious back then, but now Leviathan understood why.
‘They were secretly trying to seize the power of dark magic for themselves.’
Leviathan had hunted Dark Mages with everything he had.
In the end, he’d succeeded in tracking one down and killing him, but in the process, he had fallen into a trap, sustaining a wound.
A slow-acting death, a curse burning with the Dark Mage’s obsessive madness.
“I thought I’d hidden it well enough.”
His low, hoarse voice barely carried.
His senses had grown so dull he hadn’t even noticed the mage approaching. He accepted it without protest.
“I suppose… my limits are near.”
“A life already forfeit…”
The woman muttered blandly.
“I’ll make it easier for you.”
She raised a hand. Beneath her lifted sleeve, a thin wrist showed the long, branching marks of the World Tree.
Reflexively, Leviathan made to grasp his sword, then stopped himself.
The woman’s eyebrow pricked in response.
Leviathan asked,
“You mean to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“If you don’t?”
“I’ll be punished.”
“By… your ‘father’?”
She replied with silence. Leviathan gave a quiet, bitter laugh.
“What does that man think his daughter is…?”
“…”
“He seems a wretched father. Have you considered running away?”
The woman stared at him.
“…Where would I go?”
“I don’t know. Anywhere.”
“…”
“The world is a vast place. Surely there’s somewhere to shelter you.”
Her doll-like eyes wavered just slightly. At that moment, the World Tree’s branches branded on her arm seemed to grow a little.
She gritted her teeth.
“That crest looks painful.”
“It’s nothing…”
“Is it this place? The air here?”
Leviathan stepped back a little.
The woman calmed her breathing, her face growing wintry again.
“There’s a steep price for defying our king. That is the law I live by. Spare me your needless talk.”
“I’m telling you, that isn’t right. Who puts that kind of burden on their own daughter?”
To cherish her would hardly be enough.
Muttering with a sigh, Leviathan rummaged inside his coat.
The woman, wary at his sudden move, drew mana.
And at that instant, Leviathan drew a bright blue dagger and smiled.
“Aim for the heart—don’t miss. Everything you want is there.”
“What…?”
“And run. Far, as far as you can.”
A silver arc split the air.
“No—!”
On a dark night.
Under pale moonlight.
“What… is this…”
The Emperor let out a dispirited sigh.
The mansion was a disaster.
He was the first to arrive after the explosion, accompanied by his closest knights.
Had he not kept the mage’s estate under constant watch, he never would have made it so quickly.
It had been a brief but powerful explosion.
Soon, people would start to gather. The Emperor resolved to get the situation under control before that.
‘Did the Kingdom’s mage die?’
He clenched his teeth.
No trace of the mage remained.
No, to be exact—only a shredded scrap of his robe was left…
He had vanished, as if dead.
“Duke!”
The Emperor hurried over, scanning the devastated garden.
Leviathan was sitting on the ground, holding Rubian in his arms.
“What in the world happened here?!”
He frowned and looked up.
“Your cloak, please.”
“…”
“My daughter is asleep. Please lower your voice.”
Grinding his teeth, the Emperor removed his cloak and draped it over Rubian.
His knights fussed in protest, but that wasn’t what mattered.
“What is going on? Give me a proper explanation, Duke Zevert.”
Leviathan rose slowly, cradling the sleeping child.
“It seems to have been a magic overload. He suddenly exploded on his own.”
Magic overload?
The Emperor scowled. Around the area where the mage had stood, only blackened scorch marks remained.
“Hah… How… How did you survive?”
Leviathan’s gaze slid sideways.
“Thanks to the base mage.”
Asha, hair wild, hiccupped.
“You stopped the explosion with your magic?”
At the Emperor’s question, Asha Drukan’s lower lip quivered. She bit down and then nodded frantically.
“Y-yes, yes! I did!”
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
‘The base mage is… more skilled than I thought.’
Better than expected.
He’d thought she was just a practical mage, but she had performed admirably since the kidnapping incident.
Just then, Leviathan started walking away, face expressionless.
“I’ll be returning now. Khalid, come.”
At that, the boy who had been fixated on the sleeping Rubian stirred. On closer look, he was the one who had been outstanding at the riding competition.
The Emperor stepped in his way, his expression turning stern.
“Stop.”
“…”
“You haven’t explained why you and the princess were here.”
His gaze was piercing.
“Hmph. I snuck in because I found it suspicious that someone kept approaching my daughter. There were even signs someone had stolen a look at Rubian’s adoption papers.”
“What?”
“And then I overheard a plot to attack my estate.”
“So you killed him?”
Leviathan looked the Emperor straight in the eye.
“I told you, it was a magic explosion.”
“That so…? Then why was the princess here?”
He would never have brought his precious youngest daughter to a place like this.
Leviathan sighed and raked his hand through his hair.
“That’s exactly what I’d like to ask you.”
What on earth is he talking about? The Emperor frowned deeper.
Just then—drip, drip—a wet sound caught his ear.
Looking down, the Emperor clicked his tongue sharply.
“Duke, you’re… injured.”
Some sharp decoration or other had left a deep gash on one of Leviathan’s arms.