Beruel was completely flustered at this point. He had lost in a battle of words—an exchange of insults, for that matter.

The most humiliating aspect was that it was a human who brought him such shame.

Beruel was blazing with internal fury. There was no way he could let them live now—not that he was planning on doing so from the start.

“That’s it!” Bright white light shot out of his body as he glared at the offenders.

“Hold on, man! Let’s talk fir—”

“DIEEEEEEE!!!”

A surge of brilliant light burst from Beruel, lunging at the targets at light speed.

>BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!<

Once again, the surroundings suffered damage. Heat emanated from the ground, producing hissing sounds.

However—

“Sheesh, so impatient…”

—the two humans were unharmed.

“I guess this is to be expected… since you have that Arcana.” Beruel sighed, ashamed of himself for losing his anger.

“Arcana, uh? So you’re indeed a part of their group. I see…” The blond human murmured, his tone slightly changing.

“Alright, human. Fine… I suppose I’ll listen to you for a little whi—”

>VWOOOOOMMMMM<

Before Beruel concluded his speech, the boy was already in front of him, baring his fist at the King’s face.

>BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!<

An explosion erupted mid-air, and both parties were sent flying in opposite directions.

Both were unharmed, but they were certainly not as casual as before.

“You dare?! I have you a chance to speak, yet you abuse that privilege!”

“Sorry, man. There’s no need to talk anymore. You’re a part of their Organization, which means you’re after the Arcana I hold… and also…”

The boy summoned two blades—one glowing with darkness, and the other glowing with bright light.

“… You’re the ones responsible for the tragedy of the Demon Incident.”

>WHOOOSHHH!!!<

The boy darted at the Fairy King, brandishing both blades as he began striking.

He was a natural at aerial combat, expertly twisting his body as he sent every powerful strike at the Fairy King with absolute vigor.

However, compared to Beruel… the boy was too sloppy!

>BOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!<

All of his strikes were nullified by Beruel’s light shield.

“You’re not bad, but you’re not strong enough. I don’t know how much you know about the Nether Cult, but I’m the Fourth Seat, you know? I’m not that easy to beat!”

The human boy’s eyes widened when he heard that.

“You’re… the Fourth Seat?”

“Yeah, I know, right? I should be ranked higher, but what can I say? That bitch just keeps getting in my wa—”

“Then… why are you so weak? I thought the Upper Seats would be far stronger than this, but…”

Beruel’s eyes bulged, and veins began appearing all over his face.

“Human… you….”

“… I’m sorry, but you’re just too weak. This is so underwhelming.”

“You bastaaaarrrrddd!!!” Beruel’s face was currently the epitome of rage as more brilliant light pervaded the area.

He rushed at the blonde and gave more devastating strikes, but the boy evaded every single one of them.

“DIEEEE!!!” Several orbs of destruction were sent at the human, but he deflected some with his light blade while nullifying the others with his dark one.

Ultimately, their battle was at a stalemate, though intense to the young lady who observed from the ground.

“You’re better than Aloe, by far. You’re the strongest Light User I’ve faced, but… I expected more.” The human kept taunting, until the Fairy King couldn’t take it any longer.

“I’ll show you then… my Original Magic!!!”

The blond human smiled, ready to accept the challenge.

“But first… I’ll need to clarify something.”

>VWOOOOOOOSSSSSSHHHHH<

In a sudden flash of teleportation, Beruel disappeared from the sky and captured the human girl on the ground.

“W-wha—?!”

“Hahaha! Now that I have a hostage, will you cooperate!” He grinned, completely shrouding the girl in his Magic so that she was unable to move.

“What… what do you want?” The human asked, now visibly shaken by the sudden turn of events.

“Hahaha! Now that’s more like it! Now, then, answer my question, and I’ll release the girl before killing both of you with my Original Magic!”

“Tch.”

“Tell me… where is the location of Kido’s nephew? The one who has been hunting down our members!”

“Uh?” At this point, the human looked dumbfounded.

“Don’t play dumb!”

“Kido? Who is that?”

“Argh! You might not know him, but I’m asking about his nephew!”

“If I don’t know someone, how am I supposed to know he has a nephew? How dumb are you?”

“Hey!” Beruel growled, tightening his hold on the hostage he had.

The human got the message and was reminded of his position. His expression turned mellow, but no answer was given.

“I… I don’t know any Kido.”

“Tch… useless. Ah, I can’t remember his name. Oh wait, their last name… that’s right!”

The Fairy King seemed all over the place, but his grin showed that he finally arrived at the perfect question to ask.

“Midas! Yes, Midas! Do you know the location of that Midas boy that went to your Academy?”

Fairy King Beruel was terrible with names—especially when they didn’t interest him.

He forgot so many things easily—perhaps it was because of his old age.

Though he looked youthful outwardly, Beruel was quite ancient.

“Midas… Kuzon?”

“Yes! That one! Where is he?!”

“Why would you even ask that? Of all things…? Wait, Kuzon has been hunting you guys down? He’s the one behind those deaths? He killed Damien Lawcroft? Him? Now I’m even more confused…”

“Answer my question already!”

“I don’t know where he is, dude. I’m even more surprised than you are. What’s going on exactly.”

“Urgh! Useless! Humans are so useless. To think I wasted my time.”

“So… can I get the hostage back? Or do you have any other questions?”

“There’s no need for the farce. I know this is just a fake. I don’t know who taught you Magic Engineering, but you’re good. For a human, that is.”

“W-wha—?!”

The human’s face displayed surprise. He wasn’t expecting this.

‘He knew?!’ Jared’s mind rang.

*

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*

A

/N

Happy new month, everyone! Special thanks to to my dear fans and readers. I cherish and love you all.

Remember, this month there’s a 90 Percent Privilege Discount. Think of it as my happy new year present.

Do have a lovely time.