Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 71

EP.71 Goodbye, Erie

The Flower of Life, the core of a corpse golem, had a fatal flaw.

‘No matter what method you use, you can only create one golem using the Flower of Life.’

This limitation meant that sacrificing the golem or creating multiple units to overwhelm opponents was not an option. Naturally, using it came with certain restrictions.

‘The problem is…’

The current situation was one where that flaw posed an issue.

‘Embedding the Flower of Life into Erie’s corpse and turning her into a corpse golem to create a believable act isn’t the problem. The real issue is…’

After reuniting Esich with Erie, retrieving the Flower of Life from her corpse would be quite tricky.

‘Esich is a particularly troublesome opponent.’

Not only had he risen to the rank of Second Grand Mage at a young age, but he had also outshone other senior mages, earning the title of the next Grand Mage. Manipulating him to do what Jeong-hyeon wanted would take a considerable amount of effort.

‘How annoying…’

Needing effort meant having to devote attention, and Jeong-hyeon considered whether it was worth the trouble. The thought crossed his mind to simply kill Esich and store him in the subspace, but…

‘No, just killing him wouldn’t be satisfying enough to screw over Karina.’

Deciding it was worth the extra work, Jeong-hyeon sighed and began laying out his plan.

***

Esich stared at the mountain of reports stacked on his desk, closing his tired eyes.

‘Crisis after crisis… it’s overwhelming.’

His life had been a straight road, free of obstacles, without any significant twists or turns. But ever since Erie’s death, it felt as if all the obstacles he had never faced were suddenly piling up in front of him.

‘How frustrating.’

It wasn’t just any ordinary crisis. This was wartime, a moment where the very survival of the human race was at stake, and yet personal tragedies kept interrupting his focus. Overwhelmed, he sighed deeply and reached for a hidden file beneath the reports.

“Erie…”

The reason he had followed Princess Karina to this place was to uncover the truth behind Erie’s death. But upon his arrival, he found himself tangled in one complication after another, making it impossible to properly investigate.

‘I’ve gathered some information, but…’

It wasn’t nearly enough to draw any conclusions. His investigation had stalled entirely.

‘It’s infuriating.’

Just as he was thinking about how clueless he felt, he suddenly recalled something Jeong-hyeon, a student, had told him.

‘Regina killed Erie.’

The dungeon rampage connected to the Asiris club and the strange disappearance of the second-year students… It all pointed to something suspicious. If there had been solid evidence, he might have believed it without question, as the story was quite plausible. But unfortunately, no definitive proof had surfaced, so for now, it remained a mere speculation.

‘Still… I can’t stop thinking about it.’

As Jeong-hyeon had pointed out, if it wasn’t Regina, then who could have caused the dungeon rampage? The suspicion naturally fell on her. But…

‘No matter how much I think about it, Regina has no reason to kill Erie. If anything, they were on good terms.’

Why would Regina, the younger sister of a future Grand Mage and the youngest daughter of the prestigious magic family L’rusié, kill Erie? The losses would far outweigh any gains. Regina knew this better than anyone.

With this in mind, Esich found himself grappling with a throbbing headache, unable to pinpoint a clear motive for Regina to have killed Erie.

‘But soon enough…’

Among the royal guards that were being dispatched, there were specialists in investigations. Soon enough, the questions that had been plaguing him would be answered. Deciding to wait just a bit longer, he started to file away his reports.

Then—

Thud.

A strong gust of wind blew in, swinging the slightly open window wide. Esich thought the wind seemed unusually fierce, and as he rose to close the window, he froze.

“…Erie?”

Off in the distance, he saw the figure he had longed to see: Erie. At first, he thought it was a trick of the eye, rubbing his tired eyes just to be sure. But no matter how hard he rubbed them, the figure remained. His breath caught in his throat.

‘It can’t be… but if by some miracle she’s really alive…’

He should run to her immediately. Dazed and captivated by the sight, he instinctively cloaked himself in mana and leapt out the window, racing toward Erie. But before he could reach her, she disappeared into the building.

“…”

He was too late. He couldn’t catch up to her.

‘What in the world…’

He couldn’t begin to comprehend what was happening. He wanted to organize his thoughts, but right now, finding Erie was more urgent. He set his confusion aside for the moment and decided to follow his sister.

“Erie!”

As he hurried in pursuit, another odd realization struck him. Despite the evening hour, there were no students or staff anywhere to be seen. It was strange, given that there should at least be someone around. Esich briefly wondered if he was dreaming. But…

‘Considering I still feel the impact from the fall…’

Though it was undoubtedly real, the fact that his mana wasn’t functioning at all made things even stranger. He briefly entertained the idea that he might actually be dreaming.

‘Teleportation, blink, even binding or enhancement magic—all of it is unusable. Maybe this really is a dream.’

Esich had never heard of feeling pain in dreams, but mages, with their natural talent for “manifestation,” could potentially carry that ability into their dreams as well. It was a strange thought, but it felt like the only explanation.

‘Everything is an illusion…’

If this was a dream, then nothing was real, and following after Erie any further was pointless. Just as he was about to stop in his tracks, he caught sight of Erie entering a room labeled “Asiris Club.”

‘Ha…’

He scoffed. Recently, his mind had been preoccupied with Asiris, and now it seemed those thoughts had followed him into his dream. He chuckled bitterly, thinking he had let himself get too absorbed in his investigation.

‘But still… just once…’

Even if it was a dream, he wanted to see his sister. Slowly, he began walking toward the Asiris Club.

‘Asiris… Regina.’

Making any definitive conclusions without solid proof was a dangerous game. Yet, he couldn’t shake the suspicion that Regina had killed Erie. Grinding his teeth, he tried to calm himself. But as he opened the clubroom door—

“…Erie?”

There she was, lying on the floor, motionless.

“…Erie! Get up! Erie!”

He rushed over and tried to lift her, but her skin was cold and stiff under his hands. His strength drained from his body, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t lift her.

“Ah… ahh…”

So, this is what despair feels like. A wave of grief and helplessness crashed over him, pressing down on his soul. Overcome by anguish, he cursed the world in a mix of despair and frustration.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from behind him.

“Instructor, are you okay? What are you…?”

It was Jeong-hyeon.

Esich turned around, still cradling Erie’s body, and saw the young student staring at him in horror.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Esich wanted to tell him it didn’t matter, that he didn’t need to know. But then he remembered—this was the student who had first told him that Regina killed Erie.

Forcing himself to suppress the overwhelming emotions threatening to engulf him, he spoke.

“In the Asiris Club… Erie’s body was there.”

“What? Erie’s body? Then… the one you’re holding right now…”

Without a word, Esich nodded. Jeong-hyeon stared at him in shock, his face pale with disbelief. Esich, overcome with despair, squeezed his eyes shut.

A brief silence settled between them, broken only by Jeong-hyeon’s voice.

“…By the way, isn’t this the Asiris Club room? If so, my previous speculation must have been correct.”

Esich remained silent, struggling to process what he had just heard.

“But why would a corpse be in the club room…? Wait a moment. No, never mind.”

“…You can talk about it. It’s okay.”

“It’s just a ridiculous rumor, but I’ve heard that Regina killed Erie on the kingdom’s orders.”

In an instant, Esich felt his mind go blank. The kingdom had ordered Erie’s death? Why would they do that? He looked at Jeong-hyeon, seeking further explanation.

Jeong-hyeon, appearing somewhat flustered, continued.

“It’s something I heard, but I was told that the dungeon rampage was orchestrated by the kingdom.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense.”

Esich stared at him, disbelief etched on his face.

Jeong-hyeon explained further.

“If I remember correctly, the reason for the dungeon rampage was to activate a magic circle created underground. The kingdom was aiming for something, and they used Regina to lead the students to their deaths.”

It sounded like nonsense. No matter how dire the kingdom’s situation was, they wouldn’t sacrifice the academy’s students, let alone leave such a task to a mere student like Regina.

‘But…’

Esich’s mind raced with troubling possibilities. Maybe he should confirm this directly. Just then, Jeong-hyeon added something else that caught his attention.

“Also, there’s a rumor that the reason the second princess was sent here is somehow connected to this.”

Though this was a dangerous statement, Esich felt too overwhelmed to respond. Instead, he remained silent as Jeong-hyeon opened the door.

“In any case, we can’t leave Erie like this. We should hurry and move her!”

Esich nodded silently, lifting Erie into his arms and standing up.

***

As he watched Esich carrying Erie out, a small smile crept across Jeong-hyeon’s face.

‘It’s starting to go in the direction I want.’

He stifled a laugh while placing the Flower of Life into his spatial pocket.

‘Well, the retrieval is complete.’

Just as he was about to follow, Esich calmly asked him.

“Did you say the magic circle is located underground?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. If what you said is true… I’ll be sure to reward you.”

With those words, the door to the club room slowly closed. As the door clicked shut, Jeong-hyeon could no longer hold back his laughter, bursting into a grin.