The Deathcutter magic from Cageâs hand flashed towards Zeros. The target is clear, and the direction is correct.
But.
âWhew.â
Zeros easily avoided Cageâs attack. He flipped his body in mid air and landed himself on the railing.
âWhoâs the intruder though. Sheesh.â
Zeros murmured, sweeping down his flowing hair. Thereâs some sense of injustice in his eyes looking at Leona.
What? What do you want me to do then? If you want, you can become the 3 years old here.
Leona turned her head away with her arms crossed.
âYes, itâs aww mah fault fow being so young.â
Zeros shook his head, sticking out his lower lip.
While still on alert, Cage found a gap and quickly pulled her sword out.
Clang!
She wielded her blade once more and it striked like an arrow.
But this time again, Zeros avoided easily. No, he didnât avoid it. He grabbed the blade with his hand.
âThis.â
The blade, trapped in Zeros tremendous grip, was gradually losing its aura of death.
He smirked, looking indifferently down at the grinding blade.
âOne more shot, and I wonât let it slide.â
His golden eyes stared at her, almost like it pierced through her flesh. Cage gasped without realizing it.
A sensation she havenât had in a very long time.
An unmistakable hostility.
Cage hardened her eyes. She spread her legs apart and gathered strength in her right hand. She seemed to be wanting to engage Zeros in battle once again.
âWhat awe you guys doing?â
Leona frowned and stood in front of Cage, her back facing her. Leona stared at Zeros.
âCage, wou did a gweat job. And Zeros. Yow a piece of wok. Do wou want to die?â
Zerosâ expression turned gentle, as if doting, as he looked down at Leona.
âYouâre not scary at all when you talk like that with such a small body.â
âWhen Iâm a wittle bigger, yow dead.â
âBut the princess is small right now.â
âBut stiw, one of ush isnât, wight?â
Leonaâs expression turned serious. Like theyâre really going to go for Zeros. So Zeros had a good laugh.
âOh, come on. You should see yourself right now.â
âShut the hew up.â
âOh, you speak beautifully.â
He burst into laughter again and put his hand on the top of Leonaâs head.
Ugh. Leona opened her eyes fiercely.
âWho told wou to touch mah haiw!â
âYes, yes. Iâll stop teasing you.â
âHand!â
âYes, yes. Iâll take my hand off.â
Zeros shrugged his shoulders with his hands up. His scrunched nose while smiling tells me heâs really happy.
Thatâs why Leona felt even worse. Because his snarky attitude was really unpleasant.
Iâll become strong soon. Iâm gonna cut off one of his hands.
Leona was determined.
âI want to play more, but Iâm afraid your sword hates me.â
Zeros sagged his shoulders with a look of great regret. The tips of his red rimmed eyes came down, and his long eyelashes trembled pitifully. His eyes, which sparkle more than jewels, held the waters in.
âHey, enough of yow twicks. Eben if wou do that, you wonât become the watha god.â
âChet.â
Zeros clicked his tongue, erasing his expression as if he had never been depressed.
âIâll see you next week.â
âUn. Go away.â
Tak. He snapped his fingers and said, âIâll be back soon next time.â
âYeah, go.â
âYes, Iâll go safely as you said.â
At that moment, a rough wind blew in the water.
There was a huge whirlwind under his feet. The whirlwind that soared in a spiral quickly covered his body and then it disappeared.
The wind disappeared, and so did Zeros.
I couldnât find any of his trace.
Leona slowly reached out into the air.
I was measuring the amount of mana I could feel in the wind.
Tingling. The tip of my finger hurts.
Heâs definitely a strong guy with just using the time-bind without even blinking.
But itâs weird. Why does he seem so familiar? Really, where did I see him before?
I looked back on my memory, but I couldnât think of anything. As if it were foggyâŚâŚ.
âItâs strange.â
Leona crossed her arms and let out a small whine.
âHighness.â
Itâs Cageâs voice. Leona lifted her chin and looked at her.
âWho is he?â
Oh, Leona answered quickly.
âMattha Zewosh. He teaches me.â
Cage gathered her eyebrows together. Looking at her rare change of facial expression, Leona tilted her head with her eyes wide open.
âMya, do wou know about Mattha?â
ââŚâŚâ
But Cage did not answer. So Leona nudged Cage on the waist.
âCage?â
âAh! Yes.â
Cage came to her senses and answered by bending one knee to level with Leonaâs eyes.
âYes, I have. One thing I heard.â
âWhat?â
âHe crazy.â
âAha.â I must admit. He truly is crazy.
Leona nodded her head.
âDo wou think heâs stwong?â
ââŚâŚStrong. More than the emperor, maybe.â
âWeally?â
âBattle, past, Hariel Plain. Overwhelming, that guy.â
The Battle of Hariel Plain, which Cage speaks of, took place during a war between the Hasis Empire and the now-defunct Eastern nation.
Ida.
The battle was famous because the empire had only one death. But the Eastern nation has tens of thousands of deaths.
They suffered a crushing defeat, and eventually the Hasis Empire won.
But how can he be that strong? I felt that heâs strong since he started using the Time Bind magic at willâŚ
Damn it, itâs killing me.
I wanted to ask Cage more about Zeros. But her expression was so strange that my mouth wouldnât open.
Leona stared silently at Cage.
âButâŚâ
Cage narrowed her brows even more.
The Deathcutter she shot was by no means a weak one. No one has ever held her blade with his hands like that except the emperor.
But how dare him, that mage.
âIâm getting angry.â
Cageâs eyes flared up. She was obviously angry.
âMay I kill him, next time?â
âWhy are suddenly talking like this?â
Leona had no choice but to put on a tired expression.
***
âAwwow.â
After sitting for a long time, Leona felt stiff so she stretched out her body.
Oh, my god. That felt good.
I tapped my shoulder and let out a sigh of relief.
I left the room early today with Cage. It was to practice developing my mana.
It has already been revealed what magic she has, and with the emperorâs permission, Leona no longer had to hide and be able to practice magic.
Thatâs why Iâve been coming to the training room since morning, but my body wouldnât follow me as I thought it would even though Iâve been doing mana cultivation for a very long time.
âPyu, this ish hawdah than I thawt.â
If I hadnât been betrayed by Racus, this wouldnât have happened.
Bastard. Iâll take that head off within 10 years.
Leona relaxed her gritted teeth and closed her eyes again because she couldnât rest. She continues to breathe in and cultivate her mana.
The amount of potential mana of this body is 5 stars. This is enough for me to basically make up to 5 circles.
But now I am young and my body is imperfect. So, if I forcefully increase the circle, mana exhaustion could happen.
So I have to slowly draw the mana into my soul. That way I can use magic without a circle.
I hadnât used circles when I was a witch. I simply felt and used the flow of mana.
Letâs not rush. First of all, raising the potential mana of this body comes first. Then letâs bring in mana into my soul.
Whooo.
Leona took a deep breath. She transferred her inhaled breath into the middle of her chest and felt a tickle.
âLetâs make it open to 4 mana at least this year.â
Whooo.
The full mana inside Leonaâs body began to flow out. The ground she was sitting on vibrated low.
âAnd I should only use 3 circles in moderation.â
However, I do not know how skilled the people of the imperial family are.
The emperor is excluded because he seems to be a being close to the transcendent.
Iâm probably the only different one among the members of the royal familyâŚ
Iâve never fought properly, so I donât know.
I would want to know how far I could hide and how much skills I need to reveal.
However, I canât fight blindly, and I have to be careful about rumors.
It was at this time that I continued to worry.
â⌠What?â
I could feel the eyes looking at me. It wasnât Cageâs aura.
Leona slowly raised her eyes, capturing the pulsating mana. She obviously told Cage not to let anyone in, but who was it this time? She quickly looks the other way.
âWho?â
Standing not far away was Ivek getting intercepted by Cage.
Ivek was holding something, and as soon as their eyes met, he smiled and waved his hand back and forth.
âOh, dear.â
Leona tried to ignore him. But a flash of thought crossed her mind.
âThe Awshmage Woman.â Leona murmured before jumping up and stood. She immediately ran to Cage and Ivek.
âAibek!â
Ivek stared blankly at Leona running towards him.
Her white hair, fluttering with her every move, was like a fluff. Fluffy fluff.
How about her milky white skin? It looked so soft that his hand would probably buried if he poked it.
Short limbs, round eyes, and reddish cheeks were all fatally cute.
Ugh. Ivek unknowingly grabbed his chest.
It seemed like you did a really great job coming to see Leona one last time before leaving this world.
âHah, hahâŚâ
Leona took deep breaths after arriving in front of Ivek.