The Arcane of life spell was still active hence he was breathing, but something was off. He was sitting right behind Zero's chair as if waiting for Leon.
"That's it Mr. Challes; it's over. There's nowhere left for you to run and you can't fight back. Even I know that you're out of mana, you can't hide it," said Leon.
"So now, leave him be and surrender yourself," he added.
"Zero!" someone shouted beside Leon. He glanced at his side and saw that it was Anya.
She'd recovered and now was standing back on her feet, although she was standing by taking support of Leon's shoulder; she was mostly alright.
"I finally found you," she marveled in a happy voice as she stepped inside the room, tears forming inside her eyes.
"No! Anya wait! This could be a—"
<strong>-Boom!</strong>
The magic circuits inscribed on the floor activated as soon as Anya took a step inside and they shone in a similar red color.
The next second the place where Zero and Challes were, exploded with a loud sound. A wave of heat hit both Leon and Anya as they saw a big mushroom cloud appear which slowly flew out in the sky from the ceiling that was destroyed in the explosion.
The blast was so big that almost the whole room was in range; even Leon and Anya were only a few steps away from the area of effect.
"What happ—," Ellyn came and was about to ask what happened here but she soon understood everything when she gazed upon the remains of the blast.
"Anya," Leon tried to put a hand on Anya's shoulder but his hand never reached there because she dropped to her knees.
She was still staring in the same direction, where Zero was. The tears that have been dwelled up in her eyes flooded out. However, there was a great difference.
They had formed as tears of happiness when she saw that Zero was safe but they came out as tears of sorrow. The water in her eyes flowed, and flowed, and flowed, and…flowed.
It was like a never-ending stream. She was not saying anything, nor was her expression changing.
She was just…she didn't know why but she felt empty. As if something inside her has been broken, something big.
The flames left by the explosion were being reflected in her eyes, and then finally she spoke.
"You liar," she said.
She remembered the words Zero had said to her once: "And even if you do care about my life for some reason I don't know, isn't it a bit naïve of you to think someone can kill me? When you know what I am capable of?"
'You liar!'
"I can say with absolute surety that no one other than Leon can beat me in a one-on-one. You better carve it deep in your mind, so that you don't go falling into others' pranks like this ever again."
'You liar!'
'You said that no one can kill you…then what is this? Why did you die? You said you can use magic; you were better than me in it. Then how did you let yourself be kidnapped like this?'
It was true that Zero was not her real brother, but even so, they had some kind of connection.
Why was Anya crying? Because he was gone…he won't be coming back now! He was erased from this world, she won't see him again.
She bent down and smacked the ground with both her hands, looking at the ground tears dripped from her eyes one after another. She bit her lips but she wanted to scream, her heart was aching so hard that she can't even describe it.
Leon wanted to console her but Ellyn stopped him, according to her it was better to give Anya some alone time.
Hence following her advice, "We'll be waiting for you outside," said Leon and both of them left the room and then the warehouse.
When she was finally alone in the room…
Anya let out a scream she'd been holding in all this time. The tears flooded out more strongly, her face was red and her nose was running.
"Why...you liar…Why you…left me," she groaned as continuously smacked the ground with both of her hands.
…She cried like a child.
***
A day had passed since the death of Zero. After the incident, Leon and Ellyn came back to the academy while carrying Anya with them.
They reported all this to Ryfin and upon hearing the whole story he just responded with, "I see."
Ryfin then reported this to the academy's director and the final decision they arrived at was that Zero's death will be kept a secret to avoid the stain on the academy's reputation.
Now that their student had been killed by their own teacher, the hate they will receive if this news got out is unimaginable.
However, Anya was given the offer that she could tell her parents about Zero's death but only on the condition that they will keep it a secret. She didn't have an answer at that time and said that she needs time to think about it.
A week passed by. Anya was not going to the classes and was even not leaving her room. Ellyn and Leon came by to provide her with food but they didn't know if she ate it or not.
Even now, she was curled into a ball in her bed and her eyes were still wet. The pain in her heart hadn't faded at all. She felt as if being eaten from the inside.
This was because there was a very strong emotion dwelling up inside her…it was guilt. After all, the explosion spell was activated only when she stepped inside the room, indirectly it was because of her that Zero died.
The magic circuits were designed in a way that they will forcefully suck mana from the person who will step on the trigger that was placed around the entrance, activating a custom magic spell set in the center.
She was also aware of this, and that's why she felt guilty.
<strong>-Knock!</strong>
She heard a knock on her door, and a voice followed: "Anya, it's me, Leon."
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