At that moment...
Tadoki stood in the abandoned hangar, facing Uncle Kimi.
"You're awake, after all?" Tadoki asked, holding a large-caliber weapon resembling a sniper rifle.
"You... I knew from the very beginning that you couldn't be left alive!" Uncle growled, with hatred in his voice.
"Damned demon!"
"A demon? Me?" Tadoki repeated, lowering his weapon.
"Is that what you call my actions?" He continued, stepping closer to his uncle. "I'm just getting rid of trash like you."
"You killed my parents, and then Kimi's parents as well."
"?!"
Uncle froze in shock.
"How did he figure it out?! I didn't leave a single trace!" Uncle thought to himself.
"How did I know? You say..." Tadoki smirked.
"That's right, you left no traces, but..."
"You didn't consider one factor."
"It's all too logical: you were the only one around when they died. If an investigation is conducted and we find even one witness who could say how you two were heading somewhere together... then..."
"We can confidently say, more than halfway, that it was YOU who did it!" Tadoki said with a grin, leaning toward his uncle, who fell to the ground.
"Is... is this really Tadoki?!"
"But that's not all," Tadoki continued. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly they were both in the air, in a semi-transparent form.
Everything around them turned black and white.
"Wh-what is this?!"
"Don't remember? These are your memories."
"Impossible!"
At that moment, drops of blood flew toward them—memories of the murder of Tadoki's parents.
"Impossible! This is impossible!"
"You... devil!" Uncle whispered in horror.
Tadoki watched his uncle with a satisfied expression, enjoying his fear.
He snapped his fingers again, and they returned to the real world.
"I did what I wanted," Tadoki said, focusing his gaze on his uncle, who began to turn into a stone statue.
"No! Demon! Devil!" Uncle shouted, and his life was cut short, turning him completely into stone.
Meanwhile, a few people were running toward Kimi... or rather, zombies. I picked Kimi up and flew to the roof of a building.
"Thank you..." Kimi muttered, blushing. "Why am I blushing? Kimi, calm down!" she thought, gently tapping her cheeks.
"It seems the one controlling them doesn't want visitors," I said.
"I feel a large amount of mana from the castle," Kimi added.
"Yes, I noticed too. Judging by the amount of magical power, this mage is strong. He might even be too much for me..." I thought to myself.
"I'll teleport us closer," Kimi suggested.
We held hands, and Kimi teleported us to the castle entrance.
"Is this a magic academy?" I asked.
"Yes, when this country wasn't taken over yet, they held school competitions here," Kimi replied.
"Got it. I guess we can go in now that we're here," I suggested.
"Just be careful!"
I opened the door to the academy. Ahead, there was a large room with a staircase leading to the second floor.
At that moment, I felt a thirst for blood.
"Kimi!" I shouted, pushing her a few meters away.
"Huh?"
A fiery circle instantly appeared around me, engulfing me, rising in a pillar of flames several meters high.
"Well, how is it? How does it feel to be consumed by fire?!"
"This flame destroys the body itself!" the mage laughed ominously.
"Akusa!" Kimi cried out, tears in her eyes.
"He can't hear you anymore. This flame engulfs the entire body instantly, leaving not even a trace..."
"But why..?" Kimi whispered, growing pale.
"Because it's fun!" the mage responded with a grin.
"Is that all?"
"W-what?" The mage's face turned serious.
I stepped out of the flames completely unharmed.
"Akusa?!" Kimi exclaimed with joy, still crying.
"How? Why? How are you still alive?!" the mage asked in shock.
"My regeneration is far beyond what you could imagine," I said with a sinister smile, my right eye turning red.
"Now tell me how to remove the spell cast on everyone in this city," I demanded.
"Do you really think that just because you withstood my spell, I will obey you?" the mage sneered.
In an instant, I teleported to him, grabbed him by the throat, and squeezed.
"Well? Still unwilling to talk?"
"You won't scare me!" the mage rasped, casting a fireball, which instantly vanished.
"What?!"
"You're doomed. Your fate ends right now!"
"Amechi Neriel will never accept defeat!" the mage shouted, cutting off my arm.
I figured that if I killed him, the spell cast on the townspeople would dissipate on its own...
Amechi collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. I used telekinesis to lift my severed arm and restored it.
"Goodbye," I said, piercing Amechi with a sword I had just taken from my storage.
"Khaa!..."
Then, I cast the same spell he had tried to kill me with, and his body vanished.
I think that should be enough...
"I did it!" I said, turning to Kimi with a small smile. My right eye returned to normal.
Dizziness intensified—the mana was running low.
"Akusa, careful!" Kimi shouted, rushing to me when I lost consciousness.
"Akusa, wake up!" Kimi cried, trying to bring me to my senses.
"Several hours later..."
It's so warm... I slowly opened my eyes.
"Akusa, you're awake!" Kimi exclaimed, hugging me. "I was so worried..."
"It's okay now, don't worry," I reassured her, looking around.
I was lying in a large, luxurious room, like a palace chamber, on a huge bed.
"Alright, you can let go now," I said with a light smile.
Kimi released me, clearly flustered.
"Are you really okay?" she asked anxiously.
"Yes, I'm fine. And I'm sorry you had to see that..."
"N-no, it's nothing!" Kimi hastily replied.
"Where are we?"
"After you killed Amechi, all the magic dissipated, and I met the king of this country. He offered to move you here so you could rest."
The magic of Amechi had probably completely disappeared.
"Got it... So, does this mean the relations between the countries are now settled?"
"Yes, in honor of this, there will be a tournament between schools in a month, as well as a small festival."
"Sounds interesting," I replied.
"Maybe you want something to eat or drink?" Kimi suggested.
"Just a little..."
"But I can get it myself!"
"No, I'll bring everything, don't worry!" Kimi hurried to the door. "I'll bring some tea now!"
"Alright, thank you," I agreed, noticing how much effort she was putting in. Though my strength had already recovered, I decided not to refuse.
A few minutes later, Kimi returned with tea and sweet buns.
"Thank you."
While drinking the tea, my thoughts returned to the spell... This mage, Amechi, possessed one of the strongest fire spells I'd ever encountered. Magic capable of destroying the very fabric of reality...
"Akusa? What are you thinking about?" Kimi interrupted my thoughts.
"About how we were both lucky and unlucky... If someone else had been in our place, someone not as strong, surviving would have been impossible..."
The spell really was incredibly powerful.
I finished the buns and suggested to Kimi we take a walk around the city.
We left the city. It was quite large, surrounded by a high brick wall. Most houses were two stories, and in the center was a small park.
"Akusa, who is Tasu to you?" Kimi suddenly asked.
"Ah... Well..." I hesitated. "We've been friends since childhood, so he's my best friend."
"I thought so," she smiled.
"By the way... Aren't you hungry?"
"Ah... No, no!" she replied, blushing a little.
"Alright..."
"Kimi, when do you plan to return to Areon?"
"Probably today, since school starts tomorrow."
We were walking toward the city exit.
"Akusa, what exactly did Amechi say about that flame? I didn't fully understand..."
"He said that this flame completely incinerates mages, or rather, their bodies, leaving absolutely no trace."
"What does that mean?"
"It's an advanced spell that destroys its target without leaving the slightest trace, unlike ordinary fire," I explained.
Kimi stopped in front of me and, blushing, said:
"Thank you, Akusa... for saving me."
"It's nothing," I replied, slightly embarrassed.
"Do you have more questions?"
"Yes, how did you survive such a spell?"
"I just healed," I said, trying to explain as simply as possible.
"So, you have very advanced self-healing magic?" Kimi asked, surprised.
"Something like that. Though I don't completely understand how I defeated Amechi so easily..."
We kept walking.
"I haven't told anyone this, but Tasu and I aren't ordinary mages."
"What do you mean?" Kimi asked, intrigued.
"You might get scared, but Tasu and I were sealed for a thousand years."
"Why?"
"My memory is partially lost, but I remember a war where mages, humans, demons, and undead fought, and if you think about it, the gods were on the side of the demons."
"And you went against the gods?" she asked, shocked.
"No, it's more like the gods went against the humans. As a result, Tasu and I were sealed," I answered. "Maybe you read about it in old books."
"Yes, I've read about a war where a god defeated two instigators of evil..."
Wait...
"Akusa, was that you?!" Kimi asked in surprise.
"Maybe it was us," I smirked.
"But after I was sealed, part of my magic and memories were sealed too.
"However, after today's battle, I remembered several techniques and episodes from the fight with the god."
"Sorry if this seems strange," I added, waiting for her reaction.
"You don't need to apologize, I understand everything," Kimi replied with a smile.
"It must have been hard for you, Akusa..." she said, her expression turning sad.
"I guess so..."
I was surprised that Kimi took this whole story so calmly...
We reached the exit from the kingdom.
"It's time to go home."
We held hands, and Kimi teleported us to Areon.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" I asked.
"Akusa..." — Kimi blushed, stepping closer to me. "Can you lean down a little?"
"...?" I leaned down, and she kissed me on the cheek.
"This is for saving me today," — Kimi said. "And I won't tell anyone your story! See you tomorrow!" — she added, blushing, and instantly disappeared.
I stood there in surprise.
It's time for me to go home too. I teleported to my house.
When part of my memories returned, I was able to copy the teleportation technique... Now it will be much easier to do things.
I entered the house.
"Akusa, you're back?" — Tasu asked, sitting on the couch, with an unfamiliar girl next to him.
"Yes."
"Hello," — the girl said politely, giving a slight bow.
"Ah... yeah..." — I mumbled, slightly confused, not expecting to see anyone new in our house, especially in Tasu's company.