I Will Eventually Become the Hero of Justice

pper-zinc powder break my Volumen Hydrargyrum…
No…
No, I can't believe I'm actually asking you…
I, the prodigy, the Lord, am actually asking you…
What a joke!”

He had lost.

From the moment he asked the question, his defeat was sealed.

Kayneth had lived a highly successful life, rising to become one of the members of the Aristocratic Faction and reaching the peak of his power.
But now, he was reduced to asking his own disciple, someone he considered a fool.

“I have thoroughly researched the methods of creating the Volumen Hydrargyrum and have a deep understanding of its techniques,” Waver continued.
“I applied my knowledge to the copper-zinc powder, allowing it to disrupt the preservation of the Volumen Hydrargyrum and react with the mercury at its core.
Mercury is the essence of the Volumen Hydrargyrum, and when it comes into contact with copper, it transforms into Copper Amalgam, rendering your Volumen Hydrargyrum useless.”

“What is this? What's happening? Is this still magecraft?” Kenneth questioned, his voice filled with confusion and uncertainty.

“Times have changed, Professor!” Waver declared, his voice filled with conviction.
“So magecraft must change as well.”

Kayneth's eyes widened as he stared at the black gun barrel in Waver's hand.
He took a few steps back, clearly in a state of shock.
“I, the Lord of Clock Tower, one of the members of the aristocratic faction, being taught by such a heretic…
I lost…
I lost…”

He had always been the epitome of confidence.
As the son of a famous family, he was intelligent, talented, and had inherited the Magic Crest achievements passed down from generation to generation.
With his rare talent to match, it was no surprise that everyone called him the “Child Prodigy”.
This title was taken for granted, as he never faced any challenges or obstacles to his success.

However, his greatest trial finally arrived when he was defeated by his own disciple, whom he had always looked down upon as foolish.
The world he once ruled began to crumble and his title of “Child Prodigy” was no more.

“Kill me,” Kayneth whispered, his voice filled with despair.

“Why do I have to kill you?” Waver asked, lowering his gun.
“You're my professor.
You're supposed to help me achieve my dream.”

Kayneth scowled.
“You have no value as a magus,” he spat out.
“Allow me to give you one final lesson.
Kindness is a weakness in the war of magi.
Watch closely, I won't let Lancer go easy on you.”

“Rider will not be defeated,” Waver declared.

Kayneth let out a sarcastic laugh.

Just then, a woman's scream shattered the silence.

“Sola!” Kayneth cried out.

He sprang into action, running towards the source of the scream.
Waver followed close behind.

When they arrived, they were stunned by the sight before them.
Diarmuid, dressed entirely in black, had Sola by the neck, lifting her off the ground.

“Lancer, what are you doing? Are you trying to betray us?” Kayneth yelled, trying to charge forward.

“Don't move! He's been infected by the black mud,” a deep voice warned.

Both men turned to see Iskander lying on the ground, half of his body submerged in the black mud.

“Rider!” Waver cried out, wanting to go to him.

“Don't come closer! Run away!” Iskander summoned his horse and told Waver.
“Friend, ride quickly and find Caster, find the King of Knights.
Then come back to fight me.”

“I still have a Command Seal! By the power of Command Seals, Rider, get rid of the black mud!” Waver frantically raised his arm.

“…”

But to no avail.
The command seals were ineffective.

Iskander smiled sadly.
“It appears the mud truly is the Grail.
The Command Seals are now useless.
Run, kid or you will meet your end by my blade.”

The harsh reality hit Waver like a ton of bricks.

“Why? Why is this happening?” he muttered, unable to grasp what was happening.

“Kayneth, save me! Kayneth, save me!” Sola cried out in desperation.

Diarmuid tightened his grip on her throat and used the Yellow Rose of Mortality to slice across her face, destroying her delicate beauty in an instant.

“My face! My face! My face!” Sola wailed in agony.

“Sola!” Kayneth was beside himself with fear and reached for his Mystic Code, but then he realized it was destroyed.
He was helpless.

Diarmuid disfigured Sola and cast her aside.
He raised his dual spears and fixed a cold, deadly gaze on Kayneth.

Without a word, he began to advance toward Kayneth.

Lying on the ground, Iskandar grabbed his short sword and threw it at Diarmuid.

Diarmuid spun around, brandishing a spear.
The clash of metal echoed as Iskandar's sword was deflected.

Iskandar lunged forward, grappling with Diarmuid, but the black mud that coated his foe was hastening his own erosion.

“Hurry! Get away, Master! Don't just stand there!” Iskandar yelled.

“Yes, I am the Master!” Waver wiped away his tears, mounted Bucephalus, took Kayneth and Sola with him, and galloped away.

“Go! Hurry! Run, little Master! I have faith in you and your potential.
Preserve your strength, focus on the future, and return to face me, to defeat me.
I, Iskandar, will be the greatest obstacle standing in the way of your path to the ultimate world!” Iskandar cried out.

Slowly but surely, the black mud consumed Iskandar.

In the end, Iskandar's gaze fell on the golden king, Gilgamesh.

“Why? Why would you do this to yourself?” he asked.

“One who can break fate can rule the future,” Gilgamesh replied.

“Is this why you did not act against my Master?” Iskandar questioned.

“He is already on the path of enlightenment and beyond my punishment,” Gilgamesh declared.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…
Is that so? Do you wish to purify it? Do you wish to enlighten it? Do you wish to make the earth devoid of those who sing praises of heroes, devoid of those who worship the gods, and devoid of the foolish?…
O hero king of Uruk, your sin is wrath! You are too full of anger, you were not consumed by this filth, but by your own karma fire! ” Iskandar spoke before he was completely consumed.

“Clench your fists and your hands are empty.
Open your fists and your hands are full…
Gods, rulers, heroes, mortals…
They are all merely demons in the fiery pits, struggling to survive and unable to die.
Hmph.
Such hubris cannot be compared…
But he, the conquering king, can see more than anyone else.
Perhaps, this is the transcendent perspective after grasping the truth of the world…
“

The words of the conqueror king, with the name of conquest as his crown, took the King of Heroes back to the distant past.

Once upon a time, there was a man…

He was a foolish and comical man who, despite his body being made of clay, had the ambition to rival the gods.

Of course, his arrogance irked the gods in heaven, and he was punished with death.

The hero king never forgot the look on the man's face as he perished, tears streaming down his face.

“Why are you crying?” the hero king asked.
“Do you regret standing by my side?”

“No,” the man replied.
“Who will understand you after I'm gone? Who will be by your side on your journey? My friend, the thought of you facing everything alone in the future brings me to tears.”

Thus, as he watched the man take his last breath, the king who rebelled against the gods understood that the life of this man, who sought to surpass humanity as a human, was more valuable and radiant than all the treasures he had amassed.

Gilgamesh turned away quietly, his silhouette merging with the darkness as he became a solitary figure once again.

But at least he still had him.
Isn't that right?