The Luminarch had experienced many things in his life.
He had clawed his way up to his current position. He had made many sacrifices and met many more powerful people.
He thought he had seen it all.
That he had experienced it all…
But then, right at this very moment, he felt an uncontrollable feeling well up from deep within him as he stared at the figure standing behind him.
From the moment his eyes opened, something changed.
Jophiel felt his entire body shiver under his gaze as his heart pressed tightly against his chest.
‘No, I have to do something quick!’
His every instinct screamed at this moment.
They screamed…
Danger.
“N-no, this makes no sense.”
He didn’t understand what was happening, but he had to move quickly. Extending his hand, the sword in his grasp grew even brighter as his expression twisted, and he took a step forward in an attempt to attack the merchant.
But right as he was about to move, the merchant raised his hand and pulled it up in one single motion.
“W-what…”
Jophiel’s feet came to an abrupt stop in that moment.
He wanted to move, but found that he couldn’t move at all.
“Haa… Haa…”
His chest rose and fell unevenly, his breathing growing rougher and rougher.
Sweat started to form in his palms, his chest trembling even more as his legs remained glued to the wooden floor.
‘Move, move, move…’
Jophiel screamed at his body.
Told it to move, but as if he had lost complete control of it, his body refused to budge at all.
What in the world was happening!?
Jophiel slowly raised his head to see the merchant staring at him, his clear eyes staring right at him.
Right into him.
“A-ah.”
That was when it suddenly hit Jophiel.
Staring at the distant figure, he felt his breath leave his body.
‘Why does he look so big?’
He took a step back.
This time, his body listened to him.
But the trembling didn’t stop.
Staring at the merchant in front of him, he felt a deep and primordial feeling within his body.
He didn’t understand it at first, but he soon understood it.
Fear…
Yes, he was feeling fear.
“A-ah.”
Fear? Me…?
Jophiel tried to deny the possibility, but as his palms grew more sweaty and the heavy feeling in his chest grew, the feeling became more and more obvious, and as it sank into his mind, Julien’s figure became even larger in his eyes.
His pupils dilated, and his eyes trembled.
‘N-no…’
He started to look pathetic.
But this wasn’t something he could control.
He had long since lost his ability to control his mind.
Right at this very moment, his mind was within Julien’s control as the purple orb within Jophie’s body rose uncontrollably.
It expanded so much, completely overwhelming the other orbs within his body.
“A-ha… Ah-…!”
His behavior didn’t go unnoticed by those around, as everyone stared at the scene in shock.
What was going on?
Was this really the Luminarch? For him to be rendered in such a state…?
How was it possible?
Nobody could believe their eyes.
But then, they all turned towards the source of it all.
Towards Julien, who stood indifferently before the Luminarch’s.
His gaze flickered continuously.
Hazy. Clear. Hazy. Clear. Hazy. Clear. Hazy. Clear.
It was a chilling sight.
One that made many shivers.
…In this very moment, Julien appeared extremely terrifying.
The purple orbs within the chests of those around him started to rise. This was an unintended effect of his actions.
However, Julien couldn’t control it.
He was still not in full control of his powers.
But this didn’t matter to him. He had one goal at the moment, and that was to get rid of the Luminarch before him.
To get the ship moving.
Everything else was meaningless.
As such, Julien continued to fiddle with the Luminarch’s emotions. In this state, he felt in complete and utter control.
He knew that the Luminarch was within his grasp.
So was everyone around him.
At this very moment, nobody could stop him.
But at the same time…
Julien started to feel it. He started to feel the slow and steady dissipation of his character.
His eyes grew hazier and hazier.
The clarity that had been present moments prior started to fade completely.
At the very moment, Julien felt his consciousness starting to grow numb.
He was…
Starting to fade.
He was threading extremely dangerous territories.
But this was necessary.
He couldn’t afford to let go of this feeling as Lazarus started to take over.
Be it Julien or Lazarus…
They both understood just how important it was for them to hold onto this sensation.
This sensation was the key to reaching the fifth level of emotive magic. This had been their goal their entire time, and so, they couldn’t let go of the feeling.
All they wanted to do was cling to this feeling. Memorize it. Internalize it. And finally, embrace it.
More and more orbs appeared within the bodies of all the people around him.
Lazarus raised his hand.
The orbs within a selected few rose.
Like balloons, they expanded more and more.
Lazarus wanted to see what would happen if he raised them more. And so he did. He focused his attention on a specific individual as he raised the purple orb within their body.
“No, no…”
As if sensing that they were being targeted, the man took a step back, but his body refused to move.
Lazarus fixed his gaze on him.
Or more specifically, the purple orb within his body.
He pushed his palm up, and the purple orb within the man’s body increased. Lazarus continued.
The orb expanded.
“A-hak…”
A sound akin to someone choking echoed.
It spread throughout as Lazarus ignored it and continued to push things further. The purple orb increased in size.
The man’s face turned completely pale.
His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. His entire body was trembling, and his pants showed signs of leakage. It looked like he had been completely overwhelmed by fear.
Lazarus stared at the result in front of him before settling his gaze back on the Luminarch.
What would happen if he tried it on him?
The thought crossed Lazarus’s mind as he raised his hand.
However, just as he was about to repeat the same thing, he heard Anne’s frantic voice from beside him.
“The reinforcements from the temple are here! Get the ship to continue moving! Raise the shields!”
The moment her words echoed, Lazarus turned his head to see several groups of people appear from a distance.
His eyes narrowed before turning back to the petrified Luminarch.
He could still see some defiance in the Luminarch’s eyes, and Lazarus thought about finishing him directly, but he stopped.
His eyes grew even more hazy.
Tak!
He took a step forward, the sound of his step echoing throughout as he made his way towards Jophiel.
“What are you doing?”
The Luminarch’s body tensed as he saw Lazarus walking up to him.
‘No, not yet. Not yet…!’
He needed just a little bit more time. He needed a little bit more time to escape the current predicament.
He had panicked before, but he was starting to understand the situation.
The man before him was an Emotive Mage.
A terrifying one at that.
…As a Tier 8 Mage, Jophiel’s mind was rather strong. It was only natural considering his strength. However, in the face of the man in front of him, it was all useless.
Just what sort of mental fortitude had he reached?
Jophiel tried to steady his mind, trying his best to pull the shackles away from his mind.
But his attempts were futile as a soft voice echoed in the air.
“There’s no point in struggling anymore.”
Jophiels’ mind blanked at the sound of the voice as his head slowly lifted towards the merchant… whose eyes were even hazier than before.
“You should give up your meaningless struggle. It’s over. No reinforcement is coming for you.”
Something about the voice felt enchanting.
…It pulled at his thoughts and mind.
And eventually, snapping out of it, Jophiel felt a hand press against his shoulder.
“Why do you keep struggling? It’s already over. You’ve lost… everyone can see it but you. All that’s left is pain. And yet you cling to it, like it means something. But it doesn’t. Let go. End it. You’ll finally feel peace… maybe for the first time in your life.”
The merchant’s words resonated deeply with Jophiel.
He thought back to his past. To how he had clawed his way towards his current position. To everything he had to sacrifice in order to get to where he was.
He thought about everything, and..
Peace.
When had he ever felt peace?
Jophiel’s mind was blank as he thought of such words.
He tried to think about his past. About everything he had gone through, and regardless of how much he searched through his memories, he couldn’t find one single moment where he truly felt at peace.
Not once.
And that thought…
That thought completely broke him.
“Why do you keep pushing yourself like this? What are you hoping to prove… and to whom? Life was never meant to be a struggle. It’s meant to be peaceful. Quiet. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? Just rest. Let it all go. There’s no shame in ending the pain. I’m here. I’ll stay with you until the very end.”
The merchant’s words slithered into his ears, soft and hushed, like a devil’s advocate, coaxing him toward the edge with every whisper.
“So..? What do you say? Why don’t you—”
“No!!!”
Jophiel’s loud voice echoed as his eyes turned red.
A tremendous pressure burst out of his body shortly after, as the merchant was suddenly flung away.
“…..!”
He didn’t even have enough time to react before Jophiel went on the offensive, several magic circles forming around him as they shot towards the helpless merchant.
BANG! BANG!
The difference in power between him and the merchant was rather massive.
He didn’t even have enough time to react before being thrown off the boat and onto the pier.
“Haa… Haa…”
With heavy breaths, Jophiel didn’t waste a second and dashed towards the merchant, attacking with everything he had.
“Haaa!”
BANG!
He was consumed with anger.
His chest heaved up and down unevenly as he attacked the merchant with everything he had. Although he was slippery, he was still barely holding on.
Die! Die! Die! Die! Dieee!
Anger had completely taken over him.
He was so consumed by it that he didn’t even realize that Lazarus was nowhere near him.
Everything before him was an illusion, and…
The people he had been attacking were none other than the reinforcements sent by the temple.
“Aaahh!!”
“Help! Someone stop him!”
BANG!
As the chaos unfolded, a pair of hazy eyes stared at the scene from a distance as the ship sailed away.
His eyes remained fixed on the Luminarch in the distance, his eyes growing hazier and hazier by the second.
Until…
All semblance of clarity faded.