༺ 15 Years Ago ༻

“…What?”

The moment I opened the door to leave, I was slammed against the floor with such force that I was rendered helpless.

‘An explosion?’

Since the explosion wasn’t a direct attack aimed at me, I didn’t sustain any major injuries.

But I was still perplexed.

“What the hell happened to cause an explosion?”

‘What could be the reason behind such a phenomenon? There should be no reason for this to happen within the acade-’

-BOOM!

Before I could finish my thought, I heard another massive explosion, but this time it was not close to me.

It appeared to have come from a different building within the academy.

“Hiiii!”

“S-Save me!”

Along with the noise, many screams could be heard throughout the academy.

With the vast majority of applicants failing to gain admission, the few remaining students were the source of those screams.

I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but I quickly realized something was off.

“Why is there magi in the academy?”

In the midst of the academy, I could see masses of magi beginning to form.

Additionally, the situation was only getting worse.

“G-Go away!”

“Cough, cough.”

As if the magi were sentient, it began to move freely, attacking the nearby students.

To normal students, magi was the same thing as poison. As soon as they were exposed to it, they lost consciousness.

“What the hell is going on?”

In the future I knew, nothing like this had ever happened.

[You might think time has gone backward, but it hasn’t. In other words, you don’t have any time left to plan anything.]

Suddenly, I could hear Mane’s voice in my head stating something I had been sure was nonsense.

‘Was she telling the truth?’

I definitely believed that what she had told me was a lie because it seemed far too irrational to be true.

But what if it was?

‘What if that bastard didn’t lose his powers?’

‘Hypothetically, if that bastard who killed us didn’t lose his powers even after regressing, what would happen?’

‘No way.’

Thinking logically, many things wouldn’t make sense. If he had had his full strength from the beginning, why hadn’t he just killed me?

If he had done so, many of his problems would have been solved.

That was just the beginning. If his powers had persisted across the regressions, there would be no reason for him to even host an entrance exam.He could simply destroy the academy and impose his will on its inhabitants.

“Or was there a reason for him to act now?”

Was there a reason for him to not kill me, remain hidden, and hide his power?

“Hey, Hyun-a. Do you know anything related to thi-”

I turned to face her, wondering if she knew anything about the situation.

But I wouldn’t be able to receive an answer to my question.

“…Lee Hyun-a?”

I saw the unconscious Lee Hyun-a surrounded by magi of unprecedented size.

***

“Gahh…”

The little girl shook in fear, as her dream that her mother would be able to save her was shattered in an instant.

Watching her mother lose her life in a flash, the girl’s eyes were filled with fear.

“This is the best! Just watching the look on your face as everything you believed crumbles is so exhilarating!”

As the devil watched the girl cry, he began to laugh with a hint of madness.

Having already lost herself in grief, the girl didn’t even attempt to beg for her life.

“M-Mom, dad…”

As a five-year-old child, the most she could do was sadly call out for her parents.

“Your reaction was hilarious, but you’re boring now, so you can die too.”

Concluding his laughter, the demon launched an attack toward the girl.

It was the same attack that had killed her mother. Even though the S-rank hunter had been defenseless, that same attack had killed her in one blow. It should have been no different for a five-year-old child.

However, something unexpected happened.

“…?”

Even though she had received the attack in full, she was perfectly fine.

As the demon observed the girl shaking with fear, his eyes scrunched closed, he quickly realized that she hadn’t even moved.

“What… are you?”

The attack, which had been filled with concentrated magi, was being fully absorbed by the girl.

That wasn’t all, however.

“What…?”

When a dungeon break occurred, it connected the real world to a dungeon through a gate, consequently resulting in magi being spread throughout the city.

For normal humans, the presence of magi itself was fatal.

For a devil, however, it served as the very foundation of their survival, allowing them to properly function in a foreign environment of a completely different dimension.

But even that magi began to be absorbed into the girl.

The magnitude of magi sucked into her body was beyond imagination. Still, it seemed the girl was unaware of her own actions, as she had lost consciousness.

“Gah…!”

“What’s going on?”

As the magnitude of magi shrank, the expressions of the demons, once filled with arrogance and joy, gradually darkened.

Some even temporarily stopped their massacre as their bodies began to contort.magic

Recognizing the lessening ambient magi would make it difficult for them to continue their rampage, they began to slowly retreat into the gates they had entered from.

“It’s possible to absorb magi.”

He looked down at the girl with an expression of astonishment, seemingly shocked by what she had done.

But at that moment, something else happened.

Suddenly smiling to himself, he seemed to come to a realization.“This could be more fun than I thought.”

His expression, filled with astonishment, soon filled with delight.

Despite losing consciousness, she was still absorbing magi.

As he walked in front of the girl, he seemed excited.

“I’m not sure how you’re doing this, but I can store a lot of power in you.”

Slowly, the devil began to stimulate the magi in her body, and the resulting absorption became even faster.

Now, her absorption of ambient magic had even begun to affect the devil holding her.

Despite his surprise, he continued to hold on for a long time.

After a while, he stopped, seemingly satisfied.

“It’s quite unbelievable that you can expel more magi than you absorb. How on earth did you get this power?”

As if the principles behind her power were reversed, magi began to be expelled instead of absorbed.

However, the amount of magi being expelled far exceeded the rate at which it was being absorbed.

In fact, the amount of magi being expelled continued to increase as time went on.

“With this, we would be able to fill this entire city with magi.”

The devil looked as though he had just hit a jackpot.

For demons, magi was essential to their survival, but the amount of magi they had was limited.

Even though they could kill even S-rank hunters in one blow, it was impossible to spread magi throughout the entire planet.

But somehow, this little girl could make that dream possible.

As a creature that could not survive without magi, he had merely come to indulge in a bit of slaughter. But with this girl, anything was possible.

For example, ruling over this world.

“If you so desire, you can take everything. Obviously, I’ll come back for it later.”

Without hesitation, the devil handed over all of his powers without leaving a drop.

Even as his strength was absorbed, he didn’t seem unhappy. Rather, he was reveling in the pleasure of his power being absorbed.

“H-Hyun-a..!”

In that situation, a man ran toward them.

He didn’t state his identity, yet the resemblance between them made it clear they were related.

The man watched in terror as the unknown entity held his unconscious daughter.

“Hmm?”

The devil also noticed their resemblance.

While he didn’t know exactly how they were related, the important thing was that the little girl he was holding was clearly important to him.

Given the fact that she was still weak, it would be necessary to have someone protect her while she matured to her full potential.

He couldn’t do it because he would be forced to leave as soon as the last of the residual magi vanished.

For that reason, the devil made a proposal.

“Form a contract with me.”

As the devil slowly closed his hand around the girl’s neck, he began threatening the girl’s father.

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