## Side Story 3: The Azure Knight and the Ashen Witch
### Chapter 9 (Continued)
“How long will that take?”
I asked, looking at the white magic orb, which was glowing brightly. Halo chuckled wryly.
“I don’t know.”
“Huh?”
I blinked, surprised by her unexpected answer. She was staring at the magic orb, which was emitting a blinding light, as if it were her child who had been abandoned by the river.
“I didn’t come here to purify the entire place, it’s more of an experiment. I’m just going to observe it for a few hours and see how effective it is. And then I’ll think about how to make it practical for future use… things like that.”
“I see.”
It was a reasonable explanation.
Halo patted the cloth pouch filled with dirt from the ruins and continued,
“By the way, the sample experiment with the trash dump soil was successful. But this is the first time I’m trying it on such a large scale.”
“How long did the sample experiment take?”
Halo took a handful of dirt from the pouch and held it out to me.
“It took five hours to purify this much.”
“Five hours…”
I felt a little dizzy.
If it took five hours to purify a handful of dirt, how long would it take to purify the entire trash dump?
And then…
“Soran Halo,” a voice, not from anyone present, suddenly cut through the stale air.
All eyes turned towards the voice. And the first to recognize the owner of the voice was Halo, whose name had been called.
“Enzhe Lopetrefer…”
Halo’s tense voice was enough to make the entire ruin, covered in debris, stiffen.
*Since when had she been there?*
Enzhe Lopetrefer appeared before us, her neck, arms, and ankles adorned with magic control devices, as if they were jewelry.
“What are you doing here?”
Senior Lionel, wary of her, stood between Lopetrefer and Halo.
But Lopetrefer ignored him, as if he didn’t even exist.
“Hmm, you joined the Imperial Palace Magic Department. A special recruit, no less.”
Lopetrefer smiled lazily, her gaze condescending.
“…It’s been a while, Lopetrefer.”
“Aren’t you being a little disrespectful to the head of your sponsor family?”
“I don’t have a sponsor family anymore. You know that.”
Halo’s voice was flat.
The dry, sand-like something in Lopetrefer’s black eyes seemed to slowly settle. Or at least that’s how I felt.
“…Khehe. Ha. Whatever, I don’t really care about you anyway.”
Lopetrefer, her shoulders shaking with laughter, suddenly stopped, her face devoid of any amusement.
She lowered her gaze and asked weakly,
“Is Shina doing well?”
A heavy silence fell over the small clearing.
No one here didn’t know who she was referring to when she said “Shina.”
Ariel, her face flushed, licked her dry lips, her eyes darting between Halo and Lopetrefer. I felt the same way.
“Duke Fritz… seems to be busy with work at the Imperial Palace.”
Halo tried her best to answer, recalling what she knew.
“There are constant rebellions happening inside and outside the capital, so it seems like it’s hard to manage… He seems to be struggling.”
“…Pfft.”
Lopetrefer stared at Halo for a moment, then burst out laughing.
“Serves him right,” she mumbled.
“I knew he would be tormented by Lawrence. Lawrence is truly incompetent. He won’t last another 10 years on the throne.”
“You dare insult the Emperor?!”
Senior Lionel, who was technically still serving the Emperor as a knight, shouted angrily.
Lopetrefer ignored him and turned around. She walked towards the center of the ruins.
“Ah, right, it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I don’t care what happens to anyone. I don’t care about anything anymore.”
“…Lopetrefer?”
I called out to her, sensing something ominous. But Lopetrefer ignored me.
She had already reached the dark green sofa. The white magic orb Halo had brought was also there.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“…What are you trying to do?”
Halo, finally realizing that Lopetrefer was up to something, scrambled to her feet. But I knew it was too late.
“I told you we were going to play a game.”
Lopetrefer’s frail voice echoed through the silent ruins.
I was the only one who understood what she meant.
She reached out and touched Halo’s magic orb. The orb’s light seeped through her fingers.
“You call yourself a genius, and this is all you could create in six years?”
I drew my sword and charged towards Lopetrefer the moment I saw cracks appearing on the magic orb.
But I was too late. I was always too late.
The cracked magic orb shattered into pieces, like a vase that had been knocked over.
“What…”
*What had just happened?*
I froze, my breath caught in my throat.
I heard the sound of swords being drawn behind me. It was Senior Lionel and his fellow knight. But their swords never reached Lopetrefer.
Senior Lionel and his fellow knight collapsed in front of me, their swords still in their scabbards.
“…They just fainted.”
Halo, who had quickly checked on them, said, as if trying to soothe me. I felt the warmth returning to my body, which had gone cold.
“Lopetrefer, what the hell are you…!”
“Shut up.”
Lopetrefer, standing amidst the shattered glass, looked up at the sky.
“I just got curious.”
“Curious…?”
“Why are you trying to purify this place?”
Her gaze, slowly lowering, fell on the empty air. Her black eyes seemed to be looking at me, or perhaps at Soran Halo.
“Why are you trying to save those useless trash, when you have so much power?”
At that moment, a swirling energy started to emanate from Lopetrefer.
“Ha, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it for years, but I still don’t know. Maybe it’s because I was born that way?”
Lopetrefer mumbled, her eyes darting around. And then, her long hair started to sway in the wind. The vortex surrounding her was growing larger and larger.
“Well… it doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t care what happens. I’m just going to win this game.”
*Game?*
*What game?*
But I couldn’t speak, the wind was too strong. I could barely keep my eyes open.
Lopetrefer, standing at the center of the vortex, her sharp eyes narrowed with a competitive spirit, smiled like a mischievous child.
“Stop it! You have to stop!”
“No, Ariel, come here!”
Halo blocked Ariel’s path as she screamed, her face pale. Ariel, her path blocked, shouted at Halo,
“We’re all going to die!”
“No, something… something’s different.”
But Halo, sensing something, just silently observed Lopetrefer.
But what had she sensed?
Was she really worth it, even after having her years of research dismissed in a single sentence?
Unlike Halo, I still didn’t trust Enzhe Lopetrefer’s humanity. So I was about to jump into the storm, risking my life to stop her.
“Raines, please.”
Until Enzhe Lopetrefer’s unwavering gaze met mine.
At that moment, her whispering voice, like a phantom, tickled my ear.
*‘Want to play a fun game before you die?’*
*‘Game?’*
*‘Hehe, when I give you the signal… deactivate the magic control device. You can do it with your magic power.’*
As if confirming that my thoughts were correct, a slow smile spread across Lopetrefer’s lips.
I saw the control device on her neck glowing brightly, as if it were pleading for something.
But what should I do?
Cold sweat trickled down my back, I gulped, and time, for a brief moment, stretched into eternity.
Was this a trap? Lopetrefer had called it a game. Then what kind of game was it?
…*No, it didn’t matter what kind of game it was.*
What mattered was what choice I had to make in this game.
Ariel wanted to stop Lopetrefer. Halo had chosen to observe her. Then what about me?
As I reached that thought, I realized that my body was trembling with a tension and excitement I had never felt before. My heart pounded. A burning passion, as if I had been born for this moment, consumed me.
*‘…Yes, okay, let’s do it.’*
I reached out and poured all my magic power into Enzhe Lopetrefer’s control device. The metal rings that had been binding her clattered to the ground.
“Senior!”
Ariel’s desperate cry, realizing what I had done, reached my ears from afar.
And then, the storm surrounding Lopetrefer started to grow larger and larger.
*‘Why did I come here?’*
I couldn’t stand any longer. I felt my body being lifted into the air, and I thought, one last time,
The reason I had abandoned my position as Cavalry Commander and come to the trash dump.
To fulfill my duty as a knight?
To witness Enzhe Lopetrefer’s downfall?
To atone for the people I had never spoken to?
…*No, it was none of those things.*
*‘Isn’t it fun? Atlantis.’*
I remembered the words I had once heard from the person I hated the most.
This intangible game had started back then. That was why I had followed the most wicked woman in the world, the woman who had ruined my life and tried to ruin my friend’s life, to this hell.
For one reason.
To defeat Enzhe Lopetrefer.
I burst out laughing under the dark sky, where not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate.
“Yes, it is fun.”
My consciousness faded as a faint light peeked through the heavy clouds.
***
– Act 3 –
“…Ah.”
I opened my eyes, my body lying on a mountain of trash. My mind was blank, I couldn’t even remember my name.
I slowly looked around and realized I was in the ruins of the trash dump. And then, the memories came flooding back, as if triggered by a single thought.
“…Was I crazy?”
I mumbled, staring at the ruins, which had become even more dilapidated.
I felt a sense of regret, knowing that I had done something irreversible, but strangely, I also felt relieved.
I climbed down the mountain of trash, my body feeling light. A gentle, refreshing breeze brushed past my face.
*‘Gentle and refreshing?’*
I was shocked, those words couldn’t possibly describe the trash dump.