Chapter 71

[Oh no! Hayden!]

 

Windel, eyes wide in shock, turned his head and cried out.

 

Hayden, who had been right in front of him, had turned into black smoke and dispersed into the air as time passed.

 

“Oh!”

 

Graum also looked on in surprise at Hayden’s form, which had turned into black smoke.

 

Without needing to say a word, both rushed toward the spot where Hayden had been.

 

It had happened in the blink of an eye.

 

They had been slightly distracted, talking seriously about Panz, and in that brief moment, a black sorcerer had appeared and taken Hayden.

 

They hadn’t noticed at all because of the form the black sorcerer had created in Hayden’s likeness.

 

Windel and Graum quickly ran outside to inform the spirits and Caldeon and Enria about Hayden’s abduction by the black sorcerer. This happened barely five seconds after Hayden vanished, enveloped in the black sorcerer’s smoke.

 

 

***

 

 

“Agh, aaaaaah!”

 

The hand that gripped the child’s neck to kill Hayden twisted due to the black magic power.

 

Pahomel, screaming in excruciating pain, clutched his twisted hand and curled up severely.

 

“No-nyaa.”

 

Hayden, with small, fiercely knitted eyebrows, glared at Pahomel. His half-closed eyes perfectly resembled the look Caldeon got when he was displeased.

 

“This accursed child!”

 

With a pain-fueled glint in his eyes, Pahomel instinctively cast black magic to attack Hayden, but black shadows emanating from Hayden’s body completely nullified all of Pahomel’s attacks.

 

Pahomel watched his black smoke blades instantly vanish the moment they touched the black shadows, contorting his face as he glared at Hayden.

 

It was baffling. This was a child who could barely speak or walk, yet he was freely moving the black magic power flowing from his body—just like Caldeon, who was skilled in using it—to attack and counterattack.

 

If he couldn’t kill him here, there would be two users of black magic power, and his ambition to dominate the world with black magic would crumble. The black sorcerer’s face hardened as he recalled how helplessly he had been defeated by Caldeon in the Monster Forest previously.

 

One user of black magic power was hard enough; two was unthinkable.

 

This could absolutely not happen, so Pahomel pulled out a dagger from his robe and rushed towards Hayden. Since black magic was nullified by the black magic power, the only thing he could rely on was direct physical strikes.

 

Of course, the dagger couldn’t even get close to Hayden because the black magic power preemptively blocked even direct strikes, but Pahomel screamed like a madman, continuing to attack Hayden with the dagger.

 

“Bad, go sleepie!”

 

Hayden commanded Pahomel like scolding him, then made a quick swipe with his small hand.

 

Suddenly, the black shadows divided into seven strands, binding Pahomel’s head, neck, two arms, waist, and two legs respectively, lifting him into the air.

 

Rendered completely immobile by the black shadows, Pahomel writhed desperately to escape, shouting at Hayden.

 

“You scoundrel! Release me at once!”

 

But Hayden didn’t seem to hear him at all, turning his head to look somewhere else.

 

Pahomel’s eyes widened when he realized the child was staring at his desk.

 

On the desk laid the Black Sorcery Book that Pahomel habitually kept open.

 

This book, which contained everything about black magic, was about the same size as Hayden himself. Pahomel had never thought of putting it away from the desk in the tower’s hiding place, nor had he imagined anyone else seeing it.

 

Of course, the young Hayden couldn’t read yet, and he certainly didn’t have the ability to read the hieroglyphs passed down only to black sorcerers, so his anxiety wasn’t great. However, as it was a magic book passed down through generations of black sorcerers, Pahomel desperately writhed to break free, not wanting even a baby who could barely walk to see it.

 

Ignoring him, Hayden began waddling toward the desk he had been staring intently at.

 

The child stumbled and fell while walking, but quickly crawled to the chair that was as tall as he was. Hayden wriggled his short legs a few times, trying to climb onto the chair, then briefly paused. Black shadows quietly streamed out of his body.

 

The black shadows naturally supported Hayden’s bottom, helping him easily climb onto the chair. Standing on the chair on his tiptoes, Hayden gazed at the Black Sorcery Book on the desk.

 

He grabbed the open page of the book, which was his own size, with his tiny hands and turned a page, continuously babbling incomprehensibly.

 

Pahomel’s face hardened as he watched Hayden look at the sorcery book quite seriously, almost as if he were beginning to read it. The thought that such a young child could read the Black Sorcery Book was improbable, but if, by chance, the black magic power user could and did read it, an uncontrollable aftermath might sweep over them.

 

That was because the Black Sorcery Book stated that black magic power and black magic were one and the same.

 

Black magic was originally a power derived from black magic power. Although the circumstances and reasons for their separation were unknown, unlike black magic power, which could control everything solely with its own ability, black magic had many shortcomings as it could only be used by utilizing the soul of a living being.

 

Consequently, as time passed, those who used black magic power naturally gained supremacy over those who used black magic.

 

For a long time, black sorcerers had continued to study black magic more deeply to narrow this gap in ability. Thanks to this, they realized that consuming a human soul allowed them to use stronger black magic than consuming any other creature.

 

‘Even if he doesn’t understand the content, I absolutely must not let him see it!’

 

Pahomel twisted his body frantically, trying to escape the black shadows.

 

“Get down at once! You scoundrel!”

 

He intentionally shouted loudly to make Hayden fall from his desk.

 

Hayden pointed a finger to his own mouth, “Shhh,” motioning for him to be quiet.

 

The feeling that a sly old fox was inside that small body made Pahomel’s face twist savagely.

 

“This…! This…!”

 

“No-nyaa. Shhh. Shhh.”

 

Hayden continued to shush the enraged Pahomel, then bent his head, grabbed a page of the Black Sorcery Book, and turned it.

 

Pahomel grew uneasy as Hayden stared intently at the turned page, as if he could genuinely read the book’s characters.

 

“You scoundrel! Look at me! Release this at on—!”

 

He purposefully shouted even louder and struggled to break free from the black magic power, trying to draw Hayden’s attention to himself.

 

However, Hayden, who seemed entirely captivated by the Black Sorcery Book, simply swiped his hand once, making the black shadows cover Pahomel’s noisy mouth and tighten their grip on his writhing body, immobilizing him completely.

 

 

***

 

 

Even before Windel and Graum rushed to Caldeon and Enria, Groen appeared as an illusion before Enria, proposing to exchange Hayden for her.

 

 

Windel and Graum, who arrived late, were shocked to hear Groen say that if Enria came to the Sorcerer’s Tower alone, he would safely return Hayden to the Grand Duke’s Castle.

 

Caldeon, who was listening to the proposal next to Enria, furiously attacked Groen with black magic power when he stated that Enria must come to the tower alone to get Hayden back. However, Groen, being a mere phantom, was completely unaffected. He finished what he had to say and then vanished from their sight.

 

As soon as Groen disappeared, Enria called out to Caldeon.

 

“Calde…”

 

“Don’t even dream about it, Enria.”

 

Caldeon glanced down at her, spat out the chilling command, and then looked at Graum.

 

“Can you open a direct gate to the Sorcerer’s Tower?”

 

At his question, Graum said it wasn’t difficult to open a gate to the tower but suggested they should plan a little before crossing over.

 

Ignoring Graum’s advice, Caldeon turned and walked towards the outside, speaking to Windel.

 

“Protect Enria until I bring Hayden back. Don’t make a mistake this time, Windel.”

 

Hearing this, Enria, with shocked eyes, urgently grabbed his arm.

 

“I have to go!”

 

“Don’t say such nonsense.”

 

Caldeon spoke with a terrifyingly cold face in response to Enria’s words, then pulled his hand away from her grip and turned his back on her.

 

“You wait here. I will definitely bring Hayden back.”

 

“He said he would send Hayden back if I went to the Sorcerer’s Tower! If you don’t trust his words…!”

 

“It’s not a matter of trust or distrust! You must never enter that tower!”

 

His patience finally snapped at Enria’s stubbornness. Caldeon spun around to face her and roared.

 

“Not even if a knife is at my throat! Never!”

 

“That’s the only way to save Hayden!”

 

“There are other ways to save him without you going!”

 

“How?! You heard what he said, didn’t you?! The Sorcerer’s Tower is a place with countless spaces twisted by the ancient mages, no matter how much we invade to search for him…!”

 

“You put it well! Do you think I would send you alone into a tower like that?!”

 

“Caldeon!”

 

Frustrated by his unyielding stubbornness, Enria dropped the formal address ‘Lord’ when she called his name.

 

“I told you, don’t even dream of it, Enria. Understand this: you will not take a single step outside the bedroom from now on.”

 

“He is my child! I’m going to save my son!”

 

“He is my son too.”

 

Caldeon seemed even angrier than Enria but was restraining himself to keep from shouting like her.

 

Enria was astonished that Caldeon could compose himself so much in this situation of Hayden’s abduction. That astonishment quickly brought back the memories of the times when Caldeon hadn’t recognized Hayden as his son.

 

He might say he was his son, but she felt he still didn’t truly see Hayden as his child. A mix of sadness and disappointment welled up, and she shouted at him.

 

“Do you truly consider Hayden to be your son, Lord Caldeon?!”

 

“What?”

 

“No, whatever. I’m going to save Hayden.”

 

She glared at Caldeon with a deep frown and quickly turned away, but Caldeon grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him again.

 

When Enria looked at him angrily, Caldeon was staring back with a frighteningly cold face, unlike anything she had seen before. His expression was utterly devoid of mercy, making Enria realize this was the moment Caldeon was most enraged.

 

From Caldeon’s mouth flowed a voice as cold as his expression.

 

“Hayden is my son, no matter what anyone says.”

 

“…”

 

“But I cannot throw my woman into danger to save my son.”