"You'll die if you keep fighting like this."
Gaia stared at Kenneth, who suddenly said that then replied in annoyance.
"That's none of your business, human! Won't you also die if you keep hesitating like this? Is that person's life more valuable than your own?"
"No. Therefore, I will seriously kill him this time."
Gaia looked shocked when she heard Kenneth's answer. The earth fairy found that she couldn't say anything when she saw the expression on Kenneth's face. The prince didn't want to attack his teacher. But at the same time, Gaia could also see Kenneth's determination to stop this fight once and for all.
"I intend to use my strongest attack to stop him once and for all. But to do that, I need someone to immobilize him for a while." Kenneth looked at Gaia seriously, then continued his words. "Therefore, can you immobilize him for a while? A few seconds is fine too. I will stop him at that time."
Gaia saw the pain in Kenneth's eyes and then decided not to make things difficult for Kenneth.
"Alright. I'll bet all my remaining mana to keep him from moving for a few seconds."
"Thank you."
Gaia tried to ignore the wry smile Kenneth showed and turned to focus on Kael, who was already preparing to attack them again. For Kenneth, Gaia was determined to do everything so that Kenneth could launch one last attack to finish off his teacher. Gaia took a deep breath. The moment she opened her eyes again, Gaia's yellow eyes glowed as the last of her mana reserves were released until they formed a yellow aura around Gaia's body.
"Infinite prison, activate!"
The ground beneath them shook and slowly moved to form countless hands. The hands could extend, bend, and all move to catch Kael, who was trying to avoid the thousands of hands. Kenneth noticed how Gaia was going all out to catch Kael. The prince knew that he had to get serious too. And so, Kenneth immediately prepared his attack as well.
"Now!"
Once Gaia finally managed to catch Kael and wrap the man's body with thousands of hands, the earth fairy immediately shouted to inform Kenneth. Gaia could see Kenneth chanting a long spell, then imbuing it into his sword. The ordinary sword turned into a sword made of fire after that. Kenneth used acceleration magic to move quickly and attacked Kael with it.
By the time Kenneth attacked, Kael had managed to free himself from Gaia's magic. The man tried to use shield magic to block Kenneth's attack. But no matter how many shields he cast, they were continuously destroyed by Kenneth's sword. Kael's face finally showed an expression as he watched Kenneth's sword hit his body. But it was too late. As soon as Kenneth saw the light return to Kael's eyes, his teacher's body had been pierced by his sword until it penetrated the man's body.
"Teacher!"
As soon as Kenneth realized that Kael no longer had the will to attack, he immediately released the magic that was covering his sword. Kenneth's grip on his sword began to tremble, especially when he saw the familiar expression on his teacher's face.
"... Thank... you... Your Majesty. I... I am relieved to see that you remembered my teachings until the end."
"Teacher!"
Tears welled up in Kenneth's eyes as he realized that his teacher was no longer breathing after that. Kenneth didn't know what had happened to his teacher before this. But in his final moments, Kenneth knew that the one who spoke to him was the teacher he knew.
Kenneth had killed his teacher using the attack that Kael had taught him. Kael said that he was relieved that Kenneth remembered his teachings. But for Kenneth, Kael's words only made his guilt grow even greater.
Kenneth had killed Kael. He had killed the person who had saved him from the abyss of despair with his own hands.
"Human, let Aqua do something about the poison."
Kenneth turned as Gaia, who had also transformed into a small fairy, approached him along with Aqua. Aqua seemed to have healing powers, so even if she had previously received a stab wound from Kael, she had gotten a little better after being allowed to rest for a while. The water fairy was also able to remove the poison from Gaia's body. So when the water fairy saw that Kenneth had also received the same poison, she immediately asked Gaia to help her approach Kenneth.
Fairies are all creatures who will never forget the kindness of those who have helped them. Although Aqua was shy and a little afraid of Kenneth, that did not stop her from using her remaining mana to remove the poison in Kenneth's body.
"I...."
"Okay, just let him heal you."
Kenneth was not given a chance to answer as Gaia guided Aqua to approach Kenneth so that Aqua could immediately use her powers.
As soon as Aqua's hand touched his, Kenneth slowly felt that his body was light again, while the tight feeling in his chest slowly disappeared. Kenneth looked at Aqua, who was trying to heal him when he was not fully healed, and then thanked her when the water fairy finally finished using her healing magic.
"Thank you very much."
"Th, those should be my words. Th, thank you very much for saving Gaia and me. You... you even had to fight your teacher to protect us."
Even though Aqua was under Gaia's protective magic during the fight, the water fairy could sense someone through the emotional aura they emitted. From Kenneth's fight, Aqua could tell that the prince was sad because he had to kill his teacher. Kenneth also felt devastated, especially when he heard Kael's last words to him.
"... I only did what I was supposed to do."
Even though Kenneth said that he could only feel his heart throbbing in pain every time he saw his sword still stuck in Kael's chest. Kenneth tried to convince himself that he did the right thing. Destroying a beautiful place just for the sake of human greed was not something he should defend.
Gaia and Aqua exchanged glances as they saw how Kenneth tried to look strong in front of them. Gaia let out a long sigh as she approached Kael's corpse and started to touch it.
But after a while, Gaia realized that Kenneth was confused about her purpose in touching Kael's corpse. So before there was any misunderstanding, Gaia immediately explained her purpose to the prince.
"We fairies can help souls find their resting place. Even though he hurt Aqua, I think he at least deserves to rest in peace because of you."
Gaia knew that Kenneth felt guilty for killing his teacher. So, in return for helping her, Gaia intended to use her power on Kael. The earth fairy uttered ancient words while touching Kael's hand. But not long after, she suddenly removed her hand with a surprised expression.
"This is...."
"Is there something wrong with him?"
Gaia looked at Kenneth, then glanced at Kael's corpse again. The process of guiding the soul allowed Gaia to see everything that happened to Kael, like watching a movie. And from Kael's memories, Gaia finally found one surprising fact.
"Your... your teacher seems to have been the object of research by an organization called the Magician's Association. His body went through various terrible experiments to make him stronger than ordinary humans. They also brainwashed him so that he turned into something more than a doll used by other humans."
Gaia's gaze was sad as she explained everything to Kenneth. From what she saw in Kael's memories, the man was originally just a human with a good heart. Kael was a genius child who immediately got a job as a teacher for the princes when he became an adult. However, because of his past from an ordinary background, in the end, Kael was dragged into the evil hearts of humans who did not like Kael teaching Kenneth too much until the prince stood out more than his other siblings.
At one time, Kael was suddenly arrested on charges of stealing valuables belonging to the kingdom. At that time, Kael's family was in economic difficulties, so those who previously did not believe were also easily incited after that. Poor Kael was sentenced to death for something he did not do. Kael was not even given the chance to say goodbye to his family or Kenneth, who had been looking for him all the time.
While Kael was waiting for his execution, people from the Magician's Association came and said that King Ducan had permitted them to do anything to Kael. Letting a powerful genius like Kael die seemed too wasteful. Kael was taken to the Magician's Association headquarters after that. And there, Kael finally went through various tortures until he finally lost his identity.
Even so, Kael had a moment of awareness when he saw Brox trying hard to protect Kenneth because Kenneth was his teacher. Brox's actions made Kael remember Kenneth, so he ended up sparing Kenneth's life.
But what happened next was even more cruel to Kael. Since the Mage Association could find out everything Kael did while he was still alive, they immediately captured Kael again and gave him a harsh punishment for failing to complete his mission. The punishment not only destroyed Kael's body but also destroyed his soul until nothing remained. After that, no matter who called his name, Kael would never remember who he was.
Kael returned to life as a perfect puppet, with false memories created by the people who tortured him. However, because his body had reached its limit, Kael was no longer as great as before. Even if the people from the Mage Association had made him so strong, a body that had reached its limit finally allowed Kael to be defeated by his disciple.
The moment Kenneth stabbed his body, the almost exhausted lifespan made the pieces of memory that refused to leave finally return to Kael's body. The man remembered his extraordinary disciple. Kael remembered Kenneth's face and then ended up dying with a sense of relief filling his soul.
Gaia told everything without missing a single thing. The earth fairy could see Kenneth starting to lower his head as he heard the story until the prince finally couldn't hold back his tears anymore. Aqua, who was listening to Gaia's story, could understand why Kenneth looked so devastated. The water fairy also had red eyes before she finally flew to hug Kenneth, who looked so desperate.