The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits

42 – EP4. The Crossroads of Life and Death

He felt the inadequacy within himself.

What Angel Leonhardt had gained from numerous deaths were emotions like fear and pain. But this mission was different. Even though he had already experienced numerous deaths, he felt a fear greater than that, and he had witnessed the battle of transcendental powerhouses with his own eyes.

He felt himself to be so weak.

He saw Grandis.

In just one day, she had conquered a fortress and destroyed another for the sake of mere curiosity.

When he saw her, he was overwhelmed by her and felt a fear greater than death.

He saw the Lich King.

He was already a conqueror who had destroyed countless fortresses and kingdoms, overwhelming those who disturbed the rest of the dead with an overwhelming force.

When he saw him, Ainzel could only gape and resign himself.

And the opponent he had to face was the Demon King. Beings even greater than that.

The Demon King.

The king of all demons, and the most powerful.

How many times had he died by the hands of those who had called him the weakest among the commanders?

What could he do against Grandis, who was called the strongest among the commanders?

Just listening to it made him feel dizzy and his surroundings darkened. That was where he was heading, and that was his goal.

Ainzel realized that he was far too inadequate to face such a Demon King.

And so, he sought out his comrades to receive training.

To be honest, most of the teachings were too difficult for him to handle.

But he did not give up. He couldn’t give up.

During his many lessons, the person he visited the most was Peria.

“…Why do you come to me so often?”

As Peria grumbled, she handed Ainzel a cup of herbal tea.

“Drink it quickly. Herbs clear your mind.”

“Thank you.”

Peria’s face turned slightly red, and she muttered with a slight pout.

“I’m not giving it to hear words of thanks! I’m just trying to make your stupid head a little better!”

Saying that, she seemed to think she was being too harsh and changed the subject.

“Well, then why do you focus on learning magic?”

Ainzel said as if it were obvious.

“Because of its versatility.”

Bowmanship is ineffective against undead enemies, and swordsmanship is useless in sieges. In contrast, a wizard was a being who could handle at least one portion on any type of battlefield.

“I don’t know what kind of enemies I’ll be fighting in the future, so I want to be able to cope as widely as possible.”

“Hmm… Their mindset isn’t bad.”

There is a saying that true sorcerers start as experts.

Those who can only use basic magic before becoming experts are often referred to as magic users rather than sorcerers. Angel reached the level of an expert, but his mindset and experience did not match. He could use magic simply by memorizing the incantations with the blessing of the Holy Sword. However, a true sorcerer’s understanding of the incantations they should possess had seriously declined.

“But… Hm, no. Then what?”

Upon hearing those words, Peria nodded and taught Angel the precise understanding of the incantations. Unlike many others, Peria believed that one could only use magic properly if they had a thorough understanding of the incantations. In the magical realm, she was an extreme traditionalist. Of course, this was influenced by the environment in which she learned magic.

“Instead of blindly memorizing incantations, you need to have a precise understanding of them and even improve or create new ones. That’s how I learned magic, as did my master and my master’s master. Simply unfolding the incantations through memorization isn’t truly walking the path of sorcery, and the road to becoming stronger is even further from that.”

She was proud of the way she learned magic. It was indeed something to be proud of. She was a direct disciple of the Magic Tower.

“Here, look at the Fireball. How many incantations do you think are combined?”

“Flames, explosion, launch.”

When Angel answered, Peria smiled satisfactorily and gently stroked his head.

“Well, it seems you’re not entirely clueless. Then what about Flame Storm?”

Flame Storm was an advanced magic and not at the level that an expert could use. To ask about a magic that not even Peria herself could use, he smirked, and as if expecting it, Peria blew a small puff of air and spoke.

“The incantations of Flame Storm are flames, wind, rotation, acceleration, movement, amplification. What do you think?”

“Hmm… The difference isn’t as big as I thought.”

“That’s right. The difference between low-level magic and high-level magic is not as big as one would think. To those who do not have a precise understanding of the incantations, the difference between low-level and high-level magic is enormous. However, if one has a precise understanding, the difference between low-level and high-level magic is only three incantations. Of course, it is a difficult gap to overcome, but it is not impossible. Do you understand what I’m trying to say now?”

“Ah, I see…”

“There was a time when the Empire was called the Empire of Sorcerers. Although it was during the era when the phoenix, not the dragon, was engraved on the flag of the Empire, the driving force behind the growth of the Empire was the sorcerers. Now, a bunch of idiots who only know how to memorize incantations fill the Empire, but the true sorcerers who built the Magic Towers all had an understanding of the incantations. I hope you become that kind of sorcerer.”

In the past, when the phoenix was engraved on the flag of the Empire instead of the dragon. She had high hopes for him, anticipating a brilliant golden age of magic.

“Now, good. Give this incantation a try. Correct… like that…”

Finally, when he slowly stacked one incantation after another and used a magnificent magic, Peria burst into a wide smile. She hugged him tightly and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Yes, just like that! Well done!”

Angel also smiled.

Peria suddenly realized what she had done and stepped back, clearing her throat.

“Hm, heh… Yes, at least among the idiots in this Magic Tower, I’ve surpassed twenty-seven. With this.”

“Huh? Is that possible?”

Peria, who grew up learning magic in the Magic Tower since she was a child, was a unique case. Most of the sorcerers belonging to the Magic Tower were renowned magicians with a certain level of skill. And the fact that he was better than most of them was enough to raise doubts.

“Are you serious? Those so-called sorcerers just mindlessly practice the magic of the past without any creative spirit. They don’t know the way forward for real magic, only praising the legacy of the past.”

Saying that, she lightly tapped Angel’s back.

“You’re doing well… Well, you can be a bit dumb and frustrating at times.”

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She complimented him but added a remark out of embarrassment.

Angel smiled.

And so, they continued their training.

Angel’s dedication to magic was not the only reason he trained so diligently. He wanted to be able to handle various situations, so magic became his top priority, but ultimately, in order to deal with different circumstances, swordsmanship, archery, and miracles were also necessary. Even when faced with Genome, he was ultimately caught, but by combining them appropriately, he didn’t drag out the time for long.

“Yeah, that’s right. Like that… sounds good.”

Sane guided Angel very kindly. The reason was simply that she had become a high expert, and she had gained peace of mind by combining that with the pressure of marriage disappearing as her father went down to the territory.

And Angel felt a strange feeling when looking at her. The past her and the current her looked completely different.

He looked at her happily celebrating her achievements with a cheerful smile. The sight of her smiling was pleasing, but on the other hand, there was an unavoidable bitterness.

He tried to dismiss such thoughts with training. And when he was absorbed in using his sword, Sane spoke.

“Try using magic or miracles.”

Angel tilted his head. He had prepared and used them before, but the question of whether he could use magic in the midst of a fight spread in his mind.

So, in the midst of sharing his sword with Sane, he released a fireball.

When the fireball came unexpectedly, Sane lost her breath, and as a result, Angel was able to launch an offense against her for the first time in their sparring.

“Yeah! This is great!”

Angel didn’t answer Sane, who said that, and closed his mouth while preparing another spell. This time, it was a miracle.

He placed a protective shield on his body with the miracle and attacked with his sword instead of blocking the enemy’s attacks.

When Sane’s sword was blocked by the shield, she quickly avoided it without bothering to defend.

“…It’s much more impressive than I thought.”

Angel nodded. He felt a faint clue.