kscans

Chapter 118 - Save Her, Seize the Furnace

Darius rushed to the side of the reclining Ariel.

"…Ariel."

She had changed so much that he hesitated even to speak her name. Her body was emaciated. Nothing but skin and bones. Her cheeks and arms were covered in countless marks of abuse.

No one would believe this was Ariel.

(If only I had come sooner…!)

Tears welled up and streamed down his cheeks. Darius took a High Potion into his mouth and, just as she had done for him shortly after they first met, he slowly administered it mouth-to-mouth.

But her throat did not move to swallow. The potion spilled out, trickling down her chin.

"Please drink… Please, Ariel."

Darius placed a hand on her bruised, swollen cheek and poured healing magic into her. He healed her needle-marked arms and torn fingernails as if caressing them.

"I’m sorry… I’m so sorry for being late…"

His voice trembled, and his tears wouldn't stop. He called her name over and over while pouring his magic into her.

"Ariel… Ariel!"

It was then.

A single drop of the potion that should have spilled, trickled down her throat, just a tiny bit. A weak, faint movement.

"…!"

Her unfocused eyes seemed to moisten slightly.

"Ugh…" A small groan, barely audible.

That alone was enough.

"…She’s alive."

Darius hugged Ariel tightly.

How long has it been since she last ate? This level of thinness wasn't normal.

The force of his hug felt like it might break her bones. But her heart was still beating properly. She could be saved. He stroked her lovingly, again and again.

"Ariel, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was late, I’m sorry I didn’t notice." He shed tears, unleashing his healing magic with enough force to pour out all the magic in his body.

"Ariel, Ariel." Though no voice answered, he called her name again and again.

But her vacant, wide-open eyes reflected nothing.

He applied advanced healing magic to the High Potion. But there was no response.

"I’m taking her to Adrian’s. Leonhard… I’m leaving the rest to you. I’ll send further instructions via Morse code from the communication room here. To restart the Magic Furnace, you just need to flip all the color-coded levers back."

Darius smiled at Leonhard.

"Thank you. I’m going to take her to safety."

He gently lifted Ariel as if handling something fragile.

Darius looked at Ariel once more with love, kissed her forehead and lips, and removed the bracelet he had always worn.

It was like a sacred ritual.

Ariel and Darius’s forms distorted slightly, then vanished from the spot.


Leonhard could only watch the pure love of Darius and Ariel until the very end.

I know the reality that will befall Ariel and Darius after this.

When I saw Ariel’s condition, I felt I didn't even know if she would be saved. If that’s the case, can't they at least be together until the end?

Even though it was someone else’s love story, it was painful, a burning in the back of my throat, an urge to scream.

"To the soldiers. Gather all the mages in one place on the first floor." Leonhard began the complete suppression of the Magic Furnace.

The third floor was anticlimactically empty. According to the mages, it was a zone they couldn't enter without Rainer's orders.

There were many mages’ rooms on the second floor, but what was surprising was the discovery of abandoned corpses gathered in one room, preserved by ice magic.

They said these were mages who died during training or internal conflicts, but no one seemed to know the details.

Everyone had been taught since they arrived that this room existed and that it was natural for the dead to be thrown in here.

The soldiers were all horrified to hear this. They had perceived the Mage Order as an elite group, but here, the treatment of mages was closer to that of disposable human alchemy tools.

In fact, there were almost no elderly mages. It seemed that older mages were not allowed to remain unless they excelled in some area within the order.

Furthermore, the mages’ sleeping quarters consisted of rows of beds crammed onto walls in multiple tiers, a space utterly devoid of privacy.

Normally, the Knight Order and Mage Order were supposed to use the same barracks. That’s where camaraderie and friendship were meant to be nurtured. But he had never seen a mage in the barracks before.

The Magic Furnace was not the Mage Order's headquarters. But because their sphere of activity was limited, the Magic Furnace had become their de facto barracks and base of operations.

No wonder they had refused Darius’s attempts to assess the situation during his time as supreme commander.

A message came through the communication room, "Coup d'état successful. Restart Magic Furnace."

Leonhard flipped the colored levers of the Magic Furnace back, reported its restart, and informed the royal capital about the discovery of a large number of bodies.