Arlott looked confused and said in a hoarse voice, "My first time here? Isn't it the same for you?"
Kyel replied, "No, I've been here before. 'Never let someone else decide where to meet or hold negotiations, especially if you feel threatened by them.' That's what my father once told me. Don't you think so, Arlott?"
Some fear appeared on Arlott's face.
He didn't understand what Kyel was talking about. Why was he acting like this? Was he trying to scare him? He didn't know why this person was behaving this way. Had he made an enemy of him without realizing it?
Arlott felt fear whenever Kyel spoke, from their very first meeting. It was as if Kyel knew him well, could read his thoughts and expressions, even those he himself didn't fully understand.
Was this Kyel's nature, or was he pretending just to scare me? Perhaps this was a game, and Kyel was simply in tune with his role.
With a nervous laugh, as if trying to lighten the atmosphere, Arlott said, "What's wrong, man? I did what you instructed me to do, didn't I? I think we're done here. I mean, we can be friends, right? If you need friends, what do you say?"
A dark silence filled the room. The fierce wind continued to blow through the cold tower observation room.
They held eye contact, but Arlott looked away every time. He finally gave up trying to make Kyel speak and pulled out some books and diaries. With another laugh, trying to ease the tension, he presented the books to Kyel, saying, "Come on, man, grab your things. It's cold, and we might get caught by the patrols, you know?"
But Kyel didn't take his eyes off Arlott. The latter was terrified. Why was Kyel behaving like this?
Kyel was toying with Arlott's mind. Arlott looked utterly terrified, despite everything he had done or said. Kyel didn't budge even an inch.
Arlott fell to his knees, almost crying, pleading, "Please, man, just tell me what you want. Please, just don't treat me like this! I'm terrified. If that's what you want, you've succeeded in scaring me. If you want me to be silent, believe me, no one will hear. I'm the person most affected by this because I'm the one who committed the theft, so please, just speak out!"
Kyel finally spoke, but Arlott wished he hadn't. His words made him even scarier than before.
With steady steps, Kyel walked to Arlott and gripped his face, looking him in the eyes.
In a cold tone, Kyel asked, "Do you feel threatened by me, Arlott? Do you feel afraid of me, Arlott? Why do you feel that way towards me, Arlott? I haven't even done anything to you. Am I scary when I'm silent? Is it because I stare at you intently?
Kyel continued, "Why do you fear me? You don't know me, and neither do I. We're the same here. I should be afraid of you too! Don't you think so?"
A stream of hot tears ran down Arlott's cheeks, his eyes wide with terror. The look on Kyel's face made him wet himself. Kyel's eyes were like an endless black ocean, with no path to any land.
And Arlott was lost inside this endless black ocean.
Kyel quickly jumped back, a sense of danger washing over him, though he didn't care and faked a smile, saying, "You think so, Arlott? Your acting was good, but the only flaw was that it didn't move me!"
Arlott was now holding a knife in his hand. From the beginning, he had wanted to lure Kyel closer so he could pounce on him. He had known things would turn out this way. He hadn't trusted Kyel from the start, especially after he chose this place to meet.
Kyel said, "The stupidest thing you ever did was come here, knowing I planned to kill you here."
Arlott laughed. "Hahaha, the fool is you, letting your enemy precede you to the meeting place, the place where you planned to kill me."
Arlott, looking at the floor with a smile, said in a low voice, "A good magic circle. It would have restricted my movements, even with my magical concealment item."
Arlott continued, "But thank you, Kyel. A few adjustments, and the circle is working in my favor. You're a fool if you think I wouldn't notice or that you'd succeed in suppressing me using magic circles."
Kyel didn't show any expression, but he was certain of something. "Didn't you think I let you go ahead of me here willingly?"
Kyel continued, "Did you really think I didn't know what you were planning? I let you come here before me on purpose."
Arlott, with a smug look but killing intent in his eyes, said, "Just so I could arrive before you and change the layout of the magic circle, aligning it with the direction of the strange wind flowing through the middle? Did you think I was that stupid, Kyel?"
Arlott continued in a mocking tone, "You were watching me that day in Ms. Hallote's class. I could feel your eyes on me, so I deliberately let you witness my method for drawing magic circles. Even when I explained the method for forming a magnetic field to attract things, I explained it quickly, letting you fall into the trap—"
Kyel interrupted, "A fool, thinking I believed you to be a fast drawer of circles. But no, I knew you weren't. That's why I deliberately exposed the magic circle on the ceiling, so you'd think it was just a trap and wouldn't change it. But with your skeptical nature, you'd change it anyway."
Kyel said, "Let me ask you a question, Arlott. Since you noticed the strange wind coming from outside, why didn't you check the outer walls of the tower? Why are you so reckless?"
Arlott was caught off guard as Kyel triggered the magic circles on the outer walls of the magic tower, making them glow faintly.
Arlott cursed. Fuck! He tried to remove the concealment suit and activate his own magic circle, but it was too late.
He was caught.
A fourth-class magic circle, lower class, creating a magnetic field to nullify the effects of magical objects. A third-class magic circle, lower class, with restraint chains restricting movement in a 20-meter diameter.
With disbelieving eyes, Arlott couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. "It's impossible, even for me—merging two magic circles? Drawing five magic circles within three days? It's crazy. Impossible."
Kyel coldly said, "Who said I did it? Someone else drew it for me; I just put it in place." Kyel remembered Professor Hallote's face when he'd asked her to draw him the circles for a mission outside the tower. She was suspicious at first, but ultimately agreed.
Arlott was now trapped, his movements restricted, and the concealment suit's effects had been nullified. Now, he was at Kyel's mercy.
But even now, he had one last card to play, though it wouldn't save him—it might give him a chance.
"In my room, there's a letter containing everything about what happened between us, that I stole Ms. Megan's belongings at your request."
Arlott, with nothing left to lose, continued, "The letter even contains your room number. I stalked you for more than a day after you left—"
Kyel interrupted, "That's why you were so damn sure that day, that I wouldn't find any books in the room you led me to. Unfortunately for you, I knew from the very beginning it wasn't your room, especially when I saw you fumbling with the room key."
Kyel continued, "And I gave you a fake name. The funniest part is that I knew you'd spy on me. That's why I used a room that wasn't mine."
Kyel, though he didn't feel happy or relieved, knew he would feel those emotions eventually. As an infiltrated demon, they had some unused rooms reserved for meetings or situations just like this one.
"Please don't kill me!" Now, it was an honest plea from a scared boy. Arlott was genuinely terrified. He knew, deep down, from the moment Kyel outsmarted him with the magic circles, that he wouldn't get out of here alive, even with his last-ditch effort.
But to be outmaneuvered, even in his final act, was numbing.
These past three days were the most exhausting of his life, from the constant thinking, and from Kyel's relentless intelligence.
He feared failure and knew he wouldn't defeat Kyel in a direct fight. He had been hesitant to come here in the first place, knowing that this was how it would end.
Now, he was truly afraid. He was afraid of death. In his village, everyone praised him for his acumen and intelligence.
Even when he arrived at the Magic Tower at eleven, he had high expectations for the students here, but he found them pathetic.
Everyone... stupider than the next. But ever since he met Kyel three days ago, he began to wish he had never sought out other geniuses and had never come here.
Because people like Kyel pushed him to his limits, made him nervous, and caused him to doubt himself.
Arlott closed his eyes, a desperate wish forming in his mind: I don't want to die. His voice came out in hoarse, low cries, repeating, "I don't want to die."
Then, Kyel's cold voice echoed through the silence. "I won't kill you. Open your eyes, you idiot."
The words pierced him like a bullet of mercy, a fragile peace blossoming in his heart. Slowly, Arlott opened his eyes—only to see an ice spear hurtling forward, piercing his neck and severing his head in one swift motion.
Arlott was dead.
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( Ps : author here , hope you liked the chapter ,if there are errors in the chapter please let me know of it .)