Chapter 37: Baal’s defeat

Kerman was being chewed to pieces before the eyes of the three onlookers.  

His legs, dangling in the air, twitched slightly with each movement of Baal’s jaws.  

Hilia, forced to witness this up close, foamed at the mouth and collapsed in a faint.  

Blena, who had grabbed Seth’s hand to flee, froze in place, rooted to the spot.  

That was when Rita arrived.  

“What… what is this…?”  

***

Floria, arriving moments later, was equally speechless at the horrific sight.  

After a few seconds, Rita’s fists trembled with rage.  

“Piercing Flame.”  

Her staff transformed into a flame-wreathed spear, and Rita charged forward with blinding speed.  

Her unfocused golden eyes were fixated on the severed lower body sprawled on the ground.  

Half out of her mind, Rita plunged the spear into Baal’s neck, preventing it from swallowing any further.  

“Don’t eat him!”  

The impact of the spear piercing its neck caused Baal’s head to falter and crash to the ground.  

The contents it hadn’t fully swallowed surged back up its throat, and its face began to swell grotesquely.  

Releasing the spear, Rita stomped on its jaw and clutched her forehead.  

She then unleashed raw mana directly at Baal.  

SCREEECH!  

Baal, barely clinging to consciousness, struggled desperately to protect its vital point. 

Its hardened skin repelled Rita’s magic entirely.  

Yet Rita didn’t stop, relentlessly firing mana at it.  

Baal, trembling beneath her, raised its arm with effort, slashing at Rita with its scythe-like limbs.  

Even as her legs were cut and bled under its ferocious attacks, Rita didn’t flinch, continuing to target its vital point.  

“Die! Die! Die!”  

Amidst this, Baal frantically worked its throat muscles to swallow the regurgitated contents.  

Its relentless gluttony stretched its blocked throat horizontally, widening its esophagus.  

The mass filling its mouth slid down with a gurgling sound, finally disappearing into its throat.  

Rita’s fury reached its peak.  

Her fingers, gripping. 

Her forehead, sharpened, and golden mana erupted from them like an explosion.  

Unlike Rita, who was unscathed by the blinding blast, Baal’s forehead was stripped of its outer layer, exposing raw, red flesh.  

Confirming its defenses were broken, Rita unleashed another burst of mana.  

Though she groaned from the recoil, she didn’t relent until she reached Baal’s vital point.  

The golden mana engulfed and crushed it thoroughly.  

CRACK. 

The sound of shattering stone echoed, and Rita finally released her grip.  

Baal’s thrashing body went limp beneath her.  

Covered in Baal’s blood, Rita turned her blank gaze toward the severed lower body.  

That was when it happened.  

“Ri…ta?”  

A trembling, fearful voice—one Rita knew well—called out.  

Her unfocused eyes widened instantly.  

Turning like a madwoman, she saw Blena and Seth sitting slumped under the shade of a tree.  

“Oh…”  

Rita’s rigid expression softened briefly.  

But only for a moment.  

Turning again, she spotted Hilia nearby and realized who the severed body belonged to.  

Rita’s face twisted with self-loathing for her momentary relief, and she covered it with her hands.  

“Rita…”  

Blena, worried, called out, while Seth, standing behind her, silently bowed his head.  

This tragedy was the result of his stubbornness.  

If he hadn’t insisted on chasing Baal, Kerman wouldn’t have followed, wouldn’t have died.  

Seth stood in silence, consumed by guilt.  

“Rita-nim, are you alright?”  

Floria, who had been at a distance, approached to check on her.  

Rita, kneeling in despair, looked utterly lost. 

Floria glanced back and forth between the severed body and Baal’s corpse, grimacing.  

At that moment, black mana began to rise like smoke from Baal’s limp body.  

“Rita-nim!”  

Floria instinctively moved to shield her.  

Trying to pull Rita back from the ominous black mana, she was stopped by Rita, who waved her hand as if to say it was fine.  

“It’s corruption.”  

Rita, speaking weakly, walked unflinchingly into the space thick with black mana.  

Floria, startled, rushed after her, calling her name and trying to stop her, but Rita’s resolve was unshaken.  

“It’s dangerous! And your condition right now…!”  

“It’s just purification. I’m fine. My body’s fine too.”  

“Purification itself is dangerous! You know that better than anyone!”  

“I know. But it’s really fine. This is my second time.”  

Floria, caught off guard by Rita’s firm stance, found herself surrounded by the black mana.  

Panicking, she flailed, but Rita calmly extended her arm and began the purification.  

It wasn’t difficult.  

She had done it before with Mamon’s fragment.  

With even greater mana than before, Rita effortlessly gathered the corrupted energy.  

“What in the world…”  

The black mana in Rita’s hands began to transform into golden light.  

Floria, witnessing the purification, was stunned. 

Any mage would know how dangerous this was—most wouldn’t dare attempt it, fearing their own mana would be corrupted.  

Rita’s casual execution left Floria speechless.  

But it was too late for her to intervene.  

She could only watch, repeating in disbelief as the scene unfolded.  

“It’s done.”  

Moments later, the mana orb, which had seemed so precarious to Floria, now glowed with pure golden light.  

Relieved by the change, Floria cautiously approached.  

Rita’s body floated slightly off the ground, enveloped in radiant golden particles.  

“This is impossible…”  

Floria was astounded by Rita’s unscathed state.  

Her body should have been ravaged by the backlash of corrupted mana.  

Yet Rita, with only a light sheen of sweat, stood calmly—almost divinely—holding the golden orb.  

“How can this…”  

How could purification be so easy and stable?  

As Floria marveled, Rita released the purified mana into nature.  

It was just like before.  

The black space surrounding them dissipated, and Baal’s body, now a husk, left behind a mana stone.  

As Blena and Seth, watching from afar, exchanged confused glances, Rita blinked at the mana stone that had fallen into her palm.  

“What’s this…?”  

She glanced at Floria, then back at the stone.  

The radiant golden stone emanated an indescribable, overwhelming mana.  

Staring at it, Rita unconsciously swallowed hard.  

‘What would happen if I destroyed it here?’

She had harshly criticized Talos for his greed-driven madness.  

Yet, ironically, Rita found herself entertaining the same thoughts.  

My situation is different from Talos’s. 

Maybe I could absorb it again.  

Talos had likely made the same foolish choice with that hope.  

Though she was vaguely aware of this, Rita clung to an absurd hope.  

‘If even a fraction of this stone’s mana is absorbed, I’d become a supreme-rank mage unmatched by any other. With that power, I could better eradicate Iskis and its fragments.’

Rita rationalized her fleeting desire.  

The hypothetical “what if” and her imagination threw her mind into chaos, filling her with excitement.  

Swallowing hard again, she tightened her grip on the stone.  

“Rita-nim!”  

A hand grabbed her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.  

Her eerie smirk froze into a shocked expression.  

“What was I just thinking…?”  

Startled, Rita dropped the mana stone and stumbled back.  

Her terrified demeanor alarmed Floria, who checked on her.  

Rita, staring at the fallen stone, broke into a cold sweat.  

What was that just now?  

The greed that had briefly overtaken her mind was undeniably strange.  

Confused, Rita struggled to understand why she had nearly succumbed to the same greed as Talos.  

“Rita-nim? Are you okay?”  

Floria’s face grew increasingly concerned at Rita’s lack of response.  

As her patience reached its limit, Rita finally met her gaze.  

Her hazy golden eyes gradually cleared, and she took a slow, deep breath.  

“I remember now.”  

“What?”  

“How I gained this power.”  

Rita stood with a calm expression and pointed to the fallen mana stone.  

“Pick it up.”  

Though puzzled, Floria followed her instruction. 

Even to her, the suspicious golden stone clearly held pure power.  

“Destroy it.”  

Floria’s eyes widened as she examined the stone.  

It was an order to absorb its mana.  

“No way…!”  

Clever Floria understood immediately, staring at Rita and the stone in shock.  

“So that’s how you became supreme-rank…”  

If she followed Rita’s words, she could gain the same power.  

But Floria wasn’t certain her body could handle such immense mana.  

She hesitated for a long time, doubting herself.  

“This… how could I… This is something for Eilin-nim or the other supreme-ranks…”  

“It’s not dangerous. And supreme-ranks are already at their mana limit, so destroying it would be pointless for them.”  

It was meant for Floria alone.  

Yet she looked around with uneasy eyes, spotting Blena and Seth in the distance.  

Noticing this, Rita shook her head.  

“You know best who should take this power in this situation.”  

Rita quietly replied, gazing into the distance.  

The presence of the rest of their group was drawing closer.  

“If you don’t want it, you can give it to someone else.”  

After much deliberation, Floria made up her mind and gripped the stone tightly.  

The mana stone, impacted by her force, shattered into dust.  

“The mana…”  

“You have to endure it.”  

Golden chains soon extended from all directions, wrapping around Floria’s body.  

As expected, she writhed in pain, choking under the overwhelming mana piercing her.  

“Release all the excess mana building up in your body. That’s how you’ll survive.”  

Though unsure if her voice would reach Floria in this state, Rita stayed by her side, offering constant advice.  

Fortunately, Floria, still conscious, followed Rita’s words and extended her hand.  

Struggling to contain the unknown mana, she soon began to release it.  

What’s that?  

Rita frowned as mana arrows shot like wedges from Floria’s fingertips into the air.  

It wasn’t the time to release mana yet.  

But with sharp mana bursting from Floria’s body, Rita could only watch, unable to intervene.  

If she absorbs it properly, she’ll gain golden eyes.  

Rita closely monitored Floria’s eye color.  

But, contrary to expectations, her lime-green eyes showed no change.  

“I… I can’t do this anymore…!”  

Spitting out a handful of blood, Floria collapsed, sobbing.  

The golden chains faded, on the verge of disappearing entirely, and Rita, flustered, was at a loss for words.