— The topic of his research was to save those who couldn’t find salvation. If he abandoned someone like that so he could continue his research, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?
He saw the contradiction in his introspection, and that voice echoed in his mind.
When did he start fearing death so much? When did he start to fear the unknown, and hesitate in stepping forward? When did he become so weak and cowardly, like those without power?
And so, he thought about it carefully. What was the power he possessed. He had been working hard to learn magic that surpass all the powerful mages since he was young. Didn’t the mystic exist in order to solve all the problems in the world? Wasn’t this the power that existed in order to not leave anyone who couldn’t reach salvation behind?
… The dilemma in his heart was wavering. But he arrived at this only answer a bit late. No, this only truth. Even though his heart was in conflict, the alarm in his head kept ringing. He wanted to put his own plans, victory, and defeat onto a scale and weigh them. But—
— It was for this reason that he swore an oath on that day.
“That’s right, Yakagi Suimei, you are a mage of the Association. As a mage, going against the ideals you decided on is wrong…”
He was talking to himself, as if he wanted to stop his thoughts from freezing up, a ritual to return his goal back into his heart.
And at this moment, something new happened.
“......”
Closing his mouth shut, Suimei’s eyes turned cold and sharp.
There was the presence of someone standing up from behind him. With a corrupt aura like those of a Mazoku, it walked towards him like a ghost. Something that didn’t show any signs of life was suddenly filled with vigour and ferociousness.
— So this was why the healing magic didn’t work well…
This revealed the mystery of the body behind Suimei. The reason why the Astral body was damaged so unnaturally. It was impossible to exhaust the Astral body through normal physical attacks. Even a lethal attack wouldn’t diminish the volume of an Astral body. The power of one’s psyche would be weakened if one was injured, but that would just make the psyche more frail, but won’t damage the soul.
Hence, the adventurer suffered attacks in addition to the external injuries he had. In the beginning, he didn’t know the Astral body was harmed because of an attack that was effective against the soul, or because if it was damage due to corrosion of the soul. It was undoubtedly the latter this time.
This must be a trap for the careless Lefille.
“— All of this.”
“Warrghhhh!!”
Behind Suimei who was thinking about chasing the girl who shed tears of suffering due to her self reproach, the walking dead was approaching.